SpareDick (10 page)

“I’ll notify Adam’s old department that you guys are on
their turf and why, so we can get the necessary permission in writing.
Meantime, I’ll send a car over to Shelby’s place here in town to pick him up
for questioning, if he’s there. You guys better be righteous. If we haul in a
teacher, we might as well be hauling in a public figure. Even if we’re wrong,
the man’s career is ruined.”

“I don’t think we are, Sarge. Once we see what’s what at
this farm, I’ll give you a call.”

“Give me a call anyway as soon as you arrive. If you’re
right and this guy is cracking, this is a situation that could explode right in
your faces. Be careful. I want your vests on.”

“Yes sir.”

“By the way, tell Hell he had a phone message telling him to
check on an Adam Gregory.”

Kevin looked hard at Adam. “Will do. We’ll be in touch.”

Kevin started to jam his phone in his pocket when it beeped
at him. “Damn. My battery’s gone and the charger’s still at my house.”

“I’ve got my phone. With any luck, you can charge your phone
at your own house tonight.”

“Uh, Adam.”

Adam had slowed so they could spot the address. “What,
dude?”

“You had a phone message at the station to check on an Adam
Gregory. Does anyone besides Jill know about your alter ego?”

“No fucking way.” Adam grinned. “Maybe she’s rethinking
things.”

Kevin was almost afraid to hope and now he was impatient to
have this over and done with so they could both find Jill.

Right after they turned off the main road onto the long,
shaded drive, Adam stopped the car and popped the trunk. They grabbed their
tactical vests, put them on and reholstered their weapons. If their suspicions
were true, Shelby had already killed two women after cold-bloodedly holding
them captive for years.

Jill returned from her ride, entering a kitchen as empty as
the rest of the house without Kevin there, especially knowing he wouldn’t
return in the evening to relieve the emptiness. She had forced this situation.
Now she hoped her mail to Adam would work. With a glance at the clock on the
microwave, she hurried upstairs to check her computer. If he’d gotten her
message, then he might have already responded, but there was nothing there. She
sighed, trying to convince herself it was okay. They were working a case, so
the chances were good they were out of the office.

As she showered, Jill toyed with trying to run by the
station on her way into work, but that was silly. This wasn’t a conversation
they could complete in minutes. She wanted them to know in no uncertain terms
how sorry she was for overreacting.

She’d had a lot of time to think over the past couple days,
not only about what had happened but also the discussions leading to it. She’d
also heard Adam’s words over and over after her comment about feeling used.
Kevin’s concerns about a stranger had also come back. He was a cop, so of
course he would be concerned about them connecting with someone he didn’t know
or trust.

Adam had been his solution, someone he knew and trusted, but
someone she didn’t know. The night had been spectacular, something she would
have repeated under any other circumstances, but they’d caught her off guard
and embarrassed her. Jill considered the possibility Kevin and Adam might
already have a relationship, but she shook her head. This was where trust came
into play. Kevin had said no, so she had to believe him. Adam had reinforced
that. And what she’d shared with Adam while Kevin had slept had simply blown
her away. All his actions and reactions had been those of a man looking for
something deeper, not simply satisfying his lust.

Without giving herself more time to think about it, Jill
grabbed the phone and speed-dialed Kevin’s cell. It threw her into voicemail.
She glanced over at the wall and saw his charger still plugged in. His phone
was dead. She’d tried the station again, but it kicked into Kevin’s voicemail,
a sure sign he was out of the office. Damn.

A glance at the clock told her she would have to try later.
Right now she had to get ready for work. She would find them tonight, whether
Adam replied to her mail or not. She wanted her marriage back and she wanted
Adam—this time to see how he would fit in their lives. She already knew he
cared for Kevin and that was the biggest positive of all.

* * * * *

“The place looks deserted,” Adam observed as they entered
the farmyard.

“Yeah, but logic tells me you wouldn’t keep paying for
utilities on a place you never use.”

“True.” Adam pushed the shift to park and cut the engine.
“Let’s look around. I don’t want to spend too much time out here if they
apprehend Shelby at home, but by the same token, if he’s holding these women
anywhere, this seems the most logical place.

Kevin peered out the passenger window toward the house. “Why
don’t we split up, so it goes faster? I’ll take the house, you go to the barn.”

“Sounds good.”

They exited the car with their hands on their weapons. Adam
scanned the area, looking for places not only where Shelby might hide someone,
but also where
he
might hide. Adam waited while Kevin headed toward the
house then strode quickly to the barn. The paint on the old wooden building had
faded and peeled over the years though the structure seemed to be in good
repair.

Despite the deserted air to the whole farm, Adam couldn’t
shake the feeling something wasn’t quite right. The silence was too complete.
He glanced over his shoulder, saw his partner walk up the steps and knock on
the door. Adam waited, but no one answered. Kevin tried the door and found it
locked. When he moved away to check in the windows, Adam turned back to the
barn.

The big double sliding doors in the front were locked with a
chain and padlock. Around the side was a smaller door that looked as if it led
into what might once have been a milking parlor. He jiggled the knob then
peered in the windows along the outside wall, seeing nothing but the old milking
stalls, metal bars separating one from the other. Dust and dirt made it
difficult to see much, but what was visible appeared to be vacant. The concrete
pad in this portion of the barn would have made hiding anyone nearly impossible
anyway.

He stood back and gazed upward. Dairy barns almost always
had enormous hay lofts, especially the older ones. Converting them into a
livable area was possible, but making such a location secure enough to hide
someone for years seemed improbable. He might have dismissed the idea of a
bunker earlier, but something along those lines seemed far more likely in this
location.

The silence continued to creep him out, not even the birds
or bugs seemed to be making a sound.

Adam started toward the rear of the barn then stopped when
his cell phone vibrated. He pulled it from his pocket, saw the station number
on the display and answered.

“Heller.”

“I thought I told you to call me when you got there,” Sarge
barked.

“Ramsey’s phone died.”

“Yours works. Never mind. I got a call from our patrol unit.
No one’s at Shelby’s address in town.”

Adam’s gaze shifted. Everything still appeared deserted, but
his unease grew. “Ramsey’s taking a look around the house.” He turned and
headed back to his partner. “Let me find him and I’ll call you back. If you
don’t hear from me in the next five minutes…send backup.”

He didn’t wait for a reply, just punched End and slid the
phone back into his pocket. If Shelby wasn’t at home, chances were he was
either in transit…or already here. Adam’s brain started turning in different
directions now, targeted more toward where Shelby might be hiding…and if he
could be armed.

Casting his gaze back and forth across the empty farmyard,
Adam palmed his weapon and jogged toward the house. Kevin must be around back.
If Shelby was already here, he had any number of places to hide his vehicle or
he’d parked somewhere else on the property and returned on foot. And if he was
here, chances were more than good Shelby knew two police officers were too. As
he moved along the side of the house, he called softly, “Ramsey?”

Kevin hurried from around back, his weapon already in his
hand too. “What’s up?”

“Shelby’s not at his house.”

Kevin nodded. “I just spotted a vehicle matching his around
behind the equipment shed in back, so I came to warn you.” He looked along the
house’s side. “The house has a cellar. Outside doors are in back—padlocked—but
it doesn’t mean there’s not an entrance inside. In looking through the windows,
there’s a door in the kitchen that’s either a pantry or the cellar access.
Anything in the barn?”

“I didn’t get to the back before Sarge called, but it looks
as though the lower level’s locked tight. I couldn’t see inside the main part
of the barn, but there’s an old milking parlor on the opposite side—it’s
vacant. The loft and the main barn below are still question marks.”

“I’m in a similar situation here. The house has an upstairs
and a cellar. I haven’t been able to get in either one.” Kevin met his gaze and
held it. “I think we need backup and I think we need to stick together while we
continue our search.”

“Can we claim exigent circumstances?”

Kevin nodded. “I’m good with that. If Addy Brown’s here, we
need to find her and not wait for a warrant.”

Adam put in the call to their sergeant. They were now
working in conjunction with Adam’s old department, but they were a small force,
so Sarge would be dispatching most of the backup from downtown.

“Don’t wait. But be aware, Shelby does have a
concealed-carry permit, so expect him to be armed. You’re also dealing with a
farm. Chances are excellent there’s at least one rifle on the place and he
knows how to use it.”

Adam slipped the phone back in his pocket and nodded to
Kevin. “You want to go in the front or the back?”

“Front. If Shelby has a rifle, there’s too much open space
and woods behind the house where he would have an unobstructed view. The barn
limits the angles.”

“It also gives him a vantage from which to hide.”

“True. I’ve got your back while you get the door open.”

“On three.”

They moved in unison along the front of the house, Adam
keeping an eye on what might be behind them as he knew Kevin watched the barn
and the areas around it. They reached the steps and Adam heard three things
almost simultaneously—a thud, a grunt and the crack of a pistol. Kevin’s dead weight
crashed into him before Adam’s head slammed against the stair railing.

Adam fought for balance, crouching and spinning. As soon as
his gaze caught sunlight reflecting on metal, he raised his weapon. There was
no time to think. At the same time he squeezed off a three-shot burst, a
white-hot poker pierced his thigh. Pain nearly made him puke, but he had to get
Kevin. With his gun still raised toward the rear corner of the barn, Adam
watched for any signs another shot was imminent.

This was no time to be cautious, he had to get Kevin moved
out of harm’s way. Wrapping his fingers in his partner’s pant leg, Adam dragged
Kevin backward, using the house for shelter. Not the best solution, but if he
hadn’t hit Shelby and the man were able to move, they were no better than
sitting ducks. He darted a glance at Kevin, didn’t see any exit wound, so he
rolled him over, half afraid of what he might see, but other than a cut near
his hairline, he saw no bullet wound, then he spotted the flattened and
distorted slug embedded in his vest.

Fingers shaking, Adam checked his pulse, his breath hitching
when he found the steady beat. Although unconscious, it appeared Kevin was not
in immediate danger. Pain clouded Adam’s vision as he scooted flush with the
corner of the house and peered around. Everything was still. Nothing moved, not
even a breeze. He needed to call, to let their backup know Shelby was armed.

Adam had to move his injured leg so he could get his hand in
his pocket and grab his cell. His heart dropped to his feet when he saw the
crack in the case. Fuck! Somehow in everything that had happened, his phone had
gotten enough damage he couldn’t get it to work. That left the radio in their
car.

The wound in his leg wasn’t just oozing blood, it soaked his
pant leg. Before he made an attempt to get to the radio, he had to stop the
bleeding. Adam yanked off his tie then grabbed the shoulder seam of his dress
shirt and jerked, relieved to hear it rip. With one eye on the barn and his
weapon where he could grab it in a hurry, he explored the wound on his leg. An
entrance wound, but no exit wound. He folded the sleeve into a pad, wrapped the
tie two times around and tied it off as tightly as he could.

Beside him, Kevin groaned.

“Easy, babe,” Adam muttered. “Stay put. I’ve got to get to
the car radio. My phone’s busted.”

He started to ease forward when Kevin grabbed him. “No.”

“I got to, man. We can’t let backup drive into an ambush.
Can you cover me? Don’t aim. Just fire a couple shots in that direction to keep
him from taking aim at me.”

Kevin nodded, but he didn’t let go. They stared into each
other’s eyes. Adam blinked at the emotion he saw there.

“Don’t you die,” Kevin whispered.

Adam swallowed, grabbed Kevin’s neck and pulled him in for a
quick, hard kiss. “No fuckin’ way are you getting’ rid of me that easy.”

He rolled to his feet and heard Kevin move into position
behind him. With a deep breath, Adam lurched across the gap between the house
and their car, but the only gunfire he heard was from Kevin firing toward the
barn. He rolled against the sedan’s side and looked back. Kevin gave him a nod.
As soon as Adam opened the door, Kevin fired another shot.

Adam grabbed the mic and pulled it next to him. “Any units
responding to ten-five-seven-nine Hyde Cemetery Road, suspect is armed.
Approach with caution. Officers down. Need ambulances.”

He heard the acknowledgement from a dispatcher, followed by
a rebroadcast of his transmission. Adam leaned back against the car, staring
over at Kevin for an instant. He wanted to be there with him, without the few
yards separating them, but he couldn’t press his luck. Blood had already soaked
through his makeshift bandage, the pain now making him feel lightheaded and
sick. Raising his gaze again, his eyes widened. Grady Shelby was coming around
the back corner of the house, blood staining his shirt, and the wild look in
his eyes showing he’d lost touch with reality.

Even worse, his gun was pointed at Kevin’s head and Kevin
was so intent on the barn, he had no idea Shelby was there. Adam raised his
weapon. For an instant, his partner’s eyes widened at the gun barrel that had
to look as if it pointed directly at him.

“Duck!” Adam yelled and fired.