Tidal Falls (Wounded Hearts Book 1) (22 page)

“Honey child, I’m getting
the feeling you didn’t come completely clean with me about what kind of trouble you’re in. Now you sit yourself down, Grace is on her way over and we’re going to figure this out,” Tess said the moment she walked through the door.

Feeling rather like a chastised child
, Sara sat.

“Okay then, while we wait you can tell me about those v
ery nice looking young men Nick seemed to know rather well.”

“He does know them. T
hey all worked together when he was in the Marines. The one I met today, they all apparently thought had died.” Tess sucked in a shocked breath. “I know, right? It’s a long story, I don’t know all the details yet. Did you notice the tall sandy haired guy standing by the hulk? You’ll never guess who that is, it’s Grace’s son!”

Tess clapped her hands together and brought them to her chest.
“Oh my good Lord, Jared is back. I thought he looked familiar but it’s been so many years. Has Grace seen him yet? She’s going to be over the moon. It broke her heart when that boy left like that. He’s not been back in probably eight years or so. Life is too short for those kinds of misunderstandings. I hope the two of them can work things out now.”

Sara hoped for Grace’s sake they could too. She couldn’
t imagine anything keeping her away from Jessica. Except maybe death. The reality of what she stood to lose should she fail hit her, firming her resolve to end this. Her years of subjugation were over. She was her own woman, and it was time Tom learned that.

W
ith a quick knock, Grace came breezing into the little kitchen, a pan of freshly baked cinnamon buns in her hands. “I hear we have ourselves a state of emergency, so I brought reserve sustenance. Okay, Sara Sunshine, tell us all about it, and then we’ll figure out how we’re going to fix it.”

Quick tears sprang to her eyes. T
hese two scarcely knew her, but had taken her and Jess under their wings and treated them like family almost since day one. She thanked God every day for bringing her here to Tidal Falls.

“Have I mentioned how much I love you guys? I don’t know what I would have done without your friendship these last months.”

“Oh honey, you’ve been every bit as special to us. We hate to see you under all this stress, let us help you, Sara.” Both women rushed to hug her and the warmth and love she felt flowing between them gave her the strength to explain everything to them, including the guilt she had carried for so long now.

“As you already know my marriage was a mist
ake. I think maybe the fact I’d spent my childhood in and out of foster homes made me hope for someone for me, to give me the safe and secure home I’d never had. And I thought for a while Tom was that man. In the beginning everything was perfect, he treated me like a princess, we were happy. Then I became pregnant and he changed. He became possessive, cutting my friends and my art out of my life. Then he began to drink, and turned mean.” She picked at the still warm cinnamon bun between her fingers. The crumbs falling to the table were like her dream of a happy marriage.

“One day a call snuck through security. It was one of my old friends. She invited me out for lunch. W
e spent the day shopping and had so much fun. It was late when I returned home. Tom was angrier than I’d ever seen him. He freaked, and accused me of horrible things. Then he hit me.” She shuddered in remembrance. “I thought that was the end of it, but instead he followed us to our room and raped me.” There, she’d said it aloud, surprised by how freeing it felt to admit.

After a moment of shocked silence Tess sa
id, “It’s a good thing that son-of-a-bitch is nowhere near here, I’d shoot him.”

Grace disagreed, “I wish he was here, I always wanted to try a Lorena Bobbitt.”

A startled, laugh escaped Sara’s throat, “I had no idea you ladies were so blood-thirsty.”

“Only when it’s necessary
, dear,” Tess replied as she poured them each a cup of steaming tea into delicate porcelain cups.

“Well I
appreciate it, but I’m okay now. It only happened the once, after that he never touched me again.” She didn’t see the need to upset them further by telling them about all the belittling times until she escaped.

“I found out he’
d created liaisons with people from a Mexican Cartel. He’s a U.S. attorney, they paid him well to keep them out of the jail system. In addition, he was transporting drugs, guns and who knew what else for them.” She smiled half-heartedly at the tsking sounds coming from her friends. “I found out he’d made a file detailing all of his transactions, including dates and names. An opportunity arose and I took the file, grabbed Jessica, and ran.

“Good for you, I hope they slam the book on the SOB.” Grace said, rocking forward and bumping the table, sloshing the tea.

Sara reached across and grasped her hand. “My friend Fiona, she helped by giving us a vehicle and cash, we couldn’t have made it without her. Now, somehow Tom found out and kidnapped her. He’s threatening to hurt her if I don’t return to him with the file, and I know he will. I have to help her.”

“Of course you do,
but not alone. What about Nick? I’m sure he would want to help.” Tess insisted.

“Yes
, he would, and that’s just it, Tess, I can’t let him. If he was hurt because of me, I couldn’t handle it. Besides, like I said before, this is something I need to do for me. Please tell me you understand?” She used her free, slightly sticky hand, to catch Tess’s as she went to walk away in frustration.

“We
do understand, but we can’t let you do this alone. So if not them, you’re going to have to accept our help. Do
you
understand?” Tess’s gaze speared her own, willing her to agree.

Overwhelmed at their generosity, s
he answered in the only way she could. “Yes, ma’am.”

Grace heaved a relieved sigh,
“Okay then, this is what I propose we do. I just happen to have the perfect venue for this little exchange, Grits and Grace.” And at Sara’s instant denial, “No really, it’s perfect. It’s public, downtown, and our own domain; we’ll have the upper hand.”

“Grace, you’ve had that restaurant for twenty years, are you sure you want to take that chance?” Tess looked as worried as Sara felt.

“Darn rights. It’ll be fun.” Grace squeezed out a smile.

“
Fun
, that’s it, now I know you’ve gone and smoked something funny. It’s going to be dangerous, that’s what it’ll be. I think we’d better hedge our bets. I’m going to call Jack. Remember, Sara, I told you about him. He’s the Chief of Police, he’ll know what to do.”

Sara nodded, liking the idea of someone with a badge showing up to save the day. As long as Nick and Jessica were safe, that is.
“Tess’s right, Tom is clever. He’s going to know we’re planning something. We need to distract him long enough for the police to make their arrest. That’s where I come in, he feels that I’ve betrayed him, he’s going to want revenge. We can use that.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing
, honey child. That daughter of yours needs her Momma.”

Which
was exactly why this had to work.

The strident ring of the doorbell reverberated down the hall, echoing through the quiet rooms,
and causing all three women to jump. Sara hopped out of her seat first, waving Tess back down, it was probably Nick, wondering what was keeping her so long. Whereas with Tom she had felt smothered by his overbearing watchfulness, with Nick she only felt cherished, loved.

Smiling as she flung open the do
or, she said, “I know, I’m la…” The blood drained from her face and her knees went week as she latched onto the door for support, too stunned to do more than stare blankly at the surprise visitors.

“Hello
, dear. Aren’t you going to invite us in?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Nick looked towards the back door for the tenth time in so many minutes, where was she? Intellectually he knew that she was perfectly safe next door at Tess’s house, but he still fought an almost irresistible need to keep her next to him where he could make sure of her
well being.

The mingling of deep voices behind him along with the lighter tones of Ms. Holt as she tried without much succ
ess to explain the protocol the DEA had to adhere to, was a welcome reprieve from his thoughts. He hated that they had decided to bring Sheridan to them. Nick would have much rather held ball in the other man’s court rather than having him anywhere near Sara and Jessica.

The only spot of relief was
that Adam had assured him there was a team watching the Sea-Tac airport and would be following Sheridan and company like white on rice. He knew their investment in the case dealt with Tom’s involvement with the Syndicate, but for Nick it was much more personal than that. He hoped to see the bastard fry for what he’d done to Sara, and even to Jess. That little girl had managed to burrow her way into his heart; he would do anything to protect them.

Wonder what they would think if he asked
them to settle in Tidal Falls—with him. Just thinking it made his palms sweat a little as his heart leap-frogged in his chest, marriage. He was really contemplating marriage, wow.

“What are you looking so serious about? Don’t worry buddy, we won’t let anything happen to your girlfriend.” Deep in thought
, Nick hadn’t noticed Adam coming to stand next to him.

“You better not, I would be
extremely unhappy if that dickwad gets within a mile of either one of them, so you better make fricken sure your guys don’t lose him.”

“We won’t, don’t worry we want this case over with every bit as much as you want that guy
’s nuts on a skewer.”

“I doubt that, it’s Sara’s story to share
, but trust me, jail’s too good for that asshole. If it was up to me his life would be over, and it would end slowly and painfully.”

“I hear you
, brother, I hear you. If it’s any consolation, when they find out he snitched on the syndicate, which you and I both know he’s going to bend over backwards to do, his life on the inside will be a series of unfortunate events. He’ll be singing Soprano for the rest of his short existence.” Adam grinned.

Nick ached with the nee
d to avenge Sara, but acknowledged Sheridan’s last days would not be good ones. It would have to suffice.

“So what’s with you and the beauticious Ms. Holt? I sensed a little history bet
ween you two, am I right?” He’d missed so much of his friend’s life, it was hard to fathom that he could ask the man about it now, instead of talking to his spirit.

“W
e have a past, but that’s what it is, in the past. I was a real dick for a while, did some things I’m not very proud of and it cost me a smart, gorgeous, incredibly sweet, woman. I’m lucky she forgave me enough to remain my friend and partner. I would’ve hated like hell to lose her completely due to my own stupidity and who knows, maybe one day she’ll see what a great catch I truly am.” Adam smiled, but it was empty of humor.

Nick
gave his friend a little manly nudge, hard shoulder to hard shoulder. “You’ll meet someone one day and things will click, you know? Any woman would be lucky to have you—even if you are a moron.”

“Aw,
I love you too, you homely son-of-a-bitch.” Adam shot him a grin, this one filled with affection.

L
aughter rumbled through the room, and they turned to see Frank smiling at something Jared had said, and Nick’s chest filled with satisfaction. No matter what else happened, he needed to make sure they all remained this close.

He noted Maggie standing off to one side, her attention riveted on Frank as he replied to Jared, laughter still light
ing his grey eyes. He hoped Adam was too busy watching the two men to notice. He sensed whatever had happened between the two of them, Adam still had strong feelings for her. He would hate to see his friends torn apart over a woman, not after they just found each other again.

Seeking a distraction, he cleared his throat loudly, then said, “Maybe we
should go ahead and start. I’ll open the file, Jared, throw on a pot of coffee. I think we’re going to need it before the night is over.”

“Always the slave, never t
he master.” He quipped, already opening cupboard doors in search of Sara’s stash of cups.

“Whine, whine, w
hine, I can’t imagine why some hot young babe hasn’t snatched you up yet.” Frank said as he pulled one of Sara’s suddenly diminutive looking kitchen chairs towards him and gingerly sank down, letting out a faint grunt as his knees protested.

“Back at ya, big guy.
Fine looking man such as yourself, in the prime of life, what’s not to love?”

“Whate
ver, is that coffee done yet, peon?”

“Okay
, sheesh, you two should get married.” Adam broke in as he joined Frank, gesturing Maggie to come have a seat. Instead, she went to the counter, waiting while Jared filled the mugs with steamy, rich smelling nirvana in a cup, carrying two over to the table for the men, smiling as Jared brought her one.

Nick listened to the banter with ha
lf an ear as he dug through the kitchen drawer where they’d stuffed the printed copies, grabbing the cup left sitting on his way to the table.

“Okay, before I hand this over I n
eed a promise from the DEA.” He focused first on Agent Holt, then Adam. “Sara is free and clear of any charges of theft for these documents, otherwise we have no deal.”

Adam chortled, while
Maggie affirmed, “Mrs. Sheridan was married at the time of the, dispersal shall we say, of said file, therefore she has as much claim to ownership as Mr. Sheridan does, unless so noted. Now if he wants to claim sole responsibility for said file, we would certainly have to look into the matter. However, as
said
file is supposedly loaded with crucial information critical to our case, we would consider those issues and act upon them accordingly.”

She glared
at Frank as he clapped, a sarcastic smile on his full lips that did not extend to his gunmetal eyes. “Nice job,
Special Agent,
how many years of schooling did it take to learn that claptrap?”

Maggie visibly bristled at the condemnat
ion apparent in Frank’s tone. “Not that it’s any of your business,
Chief
, but I became a lawyer before entering the academy. I know what I’m talking about.”

“Well
, I’m glad one of us does…ma’am.”

Pisse
d off, Maggie turned to Nick, “Look, you don’t have to trust us, and in fact you probably shouldn’t. I recommend you call a lawyer as soon as we tag this person. That way you’re covered. Now why don’t you let us see what you have and then we can determine how much use it’s going to be.”

“Oh it’s useful
, all right.” He laid the folder on the table and pulled the overflowing file from within. “There are a lot of names here our government’s been watching for a long time. Some we were even tasked with keeping an eye on. I think you’ll find everything you need, including a few surprises.”

As the two heads, one straw
colored, the other raven black, bent over the sheets of paper, Nick shot a look at Frank, wondering what had climbed up his ass. The big man’s gaze was on the dark head, a look of such hunger in his eyes Nick had to turn away. Fuck, nothing good was going to come of this.

“Holy shit, did you
guys notice whose name keeps cropping up? General Baker. He’s a friggin’ four-star General. What the hell is he doing in here? Look at how far back this goes, there’s got to be six years or better. No wonder our boy has stayed under the radar. With this kind of network it’s a wonder we got as close as we did.” Adam’s face lit up with excitement.

“Adam look, it goes right b
ack to before you were shot. I’m betting that’s how they found out about you. No wonder they wanted you out of the way, you were too close. They already knew you were watching Sheridan, so it was only a matter of time before you came up with the fact the General had appointed him there in the first place. I bet if we dig a little deeper we’re going to find out it was probably so that they could set up their trafficking ring with the Iraqis.”

Suddenly Nick remembered the
episode at the bar, his gaze shot to the Chief’s to see if he had connected the dots also. Yep, that was affirmative. Crap, they’d been right on top of the ring and hadn’t even comprehended it. His stomach churned. No doubt that was how that poor American girl had ended up there. How many more had been sold into slavery?

After all the shit he’
d seen in his life, it still amazed him how depraved people could be, mostly for the sake of power. He wished now he’d done more to help that poor girl, and others like her, instead of turning away from their plight as if they’d brought it on themselves.

“Look here,
what’s this Phoenix name that keeps showing up? And there’s several passages mentioning a Guerra. I’d place odds on the fact that’s Ramos Guerra, so called Lieutenant to El Capo of the Sinaloa Cartel. We’ve had dealings with him in the past, remember, Chief?” Jared stabbed his finger on the name, loathing oozing out of his expressive eyes.

“Yeah I remember. He’
s as slippery as a snake, into everything from guns to methamphetamine. This is pointing to a very large network. We know the Cartel has affiliates in Africa, France and England. I guess it’s not much of a stretch to assume they would want a piece of the Middle Eastern pie.”

“Obviously our pal Sheridan has bee
n a busy man the last few years. No wonder he was fast-tracked into the U.S. Attorney’s office. It’s not who you know, it’s who you…” Jared brought himself up short, glancing sideways at Agent Holt.

“I believe I’ve heard the term a time or two
, Mr. Ford,” she said absently without even looking up, her attention on all the beautiful Intel laid out before them like a banquet. “And you’re right, we always wondered how Sheridan managed to climb the ropes so fast. With friends like this, it’s no wonder.”

It pissed Nick off that Sheridan had gotten away with this shit for so long
, even though he’d been under surveillance by Uncle Sam’s supposed elite. Why had no one stopped him before now? Sara shouldn’t have had to endure all that she had if only these guys had stepped up to the plate. Shit, give him a rifle and he’d be more than happy to handle it for them.

“Hey Nick, can you catch the lights
? It’s getting a little too dark to read by.” Adam asked, glancing out at the evening sky.

It was getting gloomy out. C
hecking his watch on the way over to the wall switch, he noted that it was a little after nine. Funny, he’d already spent four months in the tiny town and still felt no urge to head back to the bright lights. He liked the slower pace here, the friendly faces that were no longer strangers, the general feeling of safety, so different from city life.

Crossing the room he stopped at the kitchen sink, ostensibly to grab some H2O, but in actuality he was becoming concerned with Sara’s continued absence. He understood her
need to assure her friend she was fine, but still, it shouldn’t take three hours to do that.

He could see lights on over there,
and an occasional shadow moving beyond the curtained windows, but that was about it. Maybe he should call her. And that was the crux of the problem right there, after what she’d told him about Sheridan needing to know her every move, he was loath to have her thinking he was the same way.

Maybe he’
d wait for another hour or so, and then if she still hadn’t come home, he’d go over and ask for a cup of sugar.

***

“How did you find me?” Sara fell back as Tom pushed his way inside, followed closely by Sam, and then she caught sight of Fiona being led in by two other men. Her friend was cuffed, her arms pulled taut behind her back. Her mouth, covered by a bright red handkerchief tied so tight it cut into her whitened cheeks, highlighted an obscene bruise. Her eyes, one of them black and blue, filled with tears, begging Sara to forgive her.

“GPS
, my dear, you’ve heard of that I presume? I traced you from your own phone, that wasn’t very smart of you. So, this is where you’ve been hiding.” He waved the others into the room, locking the door behind them. “What, no kiss for your Husband? You do recall you have one of those, don’t you?”

He looked the same, so tall and handsome standing there in his perfectly pressed suit and tie, not a hair out of pl
ace. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. It was so obvious to her now. The narrow, cold eyes, the supercilious attitude, the rigid stance, the not-so-well-hidden-anger, had he always been that way? She didn’t like to think so. How could she have been so wrong about him? He’d pulled the wool over her eyes from the beginning. A shiver skated over her chilled flesh, it hadn’t taken long for his true form to seep through.

“Let her go
, Tom. Are you afraid your goons can’t handle two little women?” She spoke loudly, hoping that Tess and Grace would hear her and escape out the back door.