HAZARDOUS HOMECOMING

Witnessing a prison break, FBI agent Julianne Martinez is within seconds of death...before she’s rescued by the one man she thought she’d never see again. She’d know her long-ago love, Brody Kenner, anywhere, even with a sheriff star on his chest. Years ago she left Texas and Brody, and had no plans of returning...until the trail of a missing agent brought her home to both. Brody won’t let her investigation proceed without him, and he needs her and her K-9 dog to track his escaped prisoner. But partnering with Julianne to solve two cases only leads to danger when the hunted becomes the hunter. This is a mission that cannot fail...because Brody lost Julianne once, and he won’t lose her again.

The low growl sent chills up her spine.

“What is it, boy?” Julianne pulled her gun from the holster on her waist and glanced around the parking lot as if searching for whatever had gotten her dog’s attention.

“Does he do this often?” Brody put a hand on his gun, too.

“Only when he senses danger.”

They’d taken a few steps toward her vehicle when Thunder abuptly stopped and backed up a step. He growled low in his throat, and pushed at Julianne with his nose, as if to move her out of the way.

“What is it?” The moment Julianne said the words, Brody saw a figure running away from the parking lot.

He grabbed her arm. “We have to get out of here. Now!”

CLASSIFIED K-9 UNIT:

These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners

Guardian—Terri Reed, April 2017

Sheriff—Laura Scott, May 2017

Special Agent—Valerie Hansen, June 2017

Bounty Hunter—Lynette Eason, July 2017

Bodyguard—Shirlee McCoy, August 2017

Tracker—Lenora Worth, September 2017

Classified K-9 Unit Christmas—Terri Reed and Lenora Worth, December 2017

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed Sheriff, the second book in the Classified K-9 Unit series. I’m honored to be in such great company with such amazing authors. All the books in the K-9 series are wonderful, and while each book stands alone, the ongoing suspense kept me on the edge of my seat as I read the entire series.

Reunion stories are one of my favorites to write and I hope you enjoy them, too. When K-9 FBI Agent Julianne Martinez returns to her home state of Texas, the last person she expects to come to her rescue is Sheriff Brody Kenner, her ex-boyfriend. Now that Julianne is a key witness in Brody’s case, the two are forced to work together and to reconcile their past. Will they be able to heal the wounds from their breakup to find love the second time around?

I hope you enjoy Brody and Julianne’s story, along with the other books in the K-9 series. I love hearing from my readers. If you’re interested in contacting me or signing up for my newsletter, please visit my website at www.laurascottbooks.com. I’m also on Facebook at Laura Scott Books Author and on Twitter, @laurascottbooks.

Yours in faith,

Laura Scott

LAURA SCOTT is a nurse by day and an author by night. She has always loved romance and read faith-based books by Grace Livingston Hill in her teenage years. She’s thrilled to have published over twelve books for Love Inspired Suspense. She has two adult children and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband of thirty years. Please visit Laura at laurascottbooks.com, as she loves to hear from her readers.

Sheriff

Laura Scott

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Answer me when I call to You, my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

—Psalms 4:1

This book is dedicated to a dear friend and wonderful fan, Vicki Lynn Christman, and her adorable Westie Sophie. Here’s the K-9 story you’ve been waiting for! Thanks for being such a strong supporter of my books.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

Extract

Copyright

ONE

The low rumble of a car engine caused FBI Agent Julianne Martinez to freeze in her tracks. She quickly gave her K-9 partner, Thunder, the hand signal for stay. The Big Thicket region of east Texas was densely covered with trees and brush. This particular area of the woods had also been oddly silent.

Until now.

Envisioning the map in her pocket that Dylan O’Leary, the team’s technical guru, had drawn up for them, she realized she must have gone too far south, heading toward the rural road, barely paved, instead of north to the cabin where their missing colleague, FBI Agent Jake Morrow, could very well be held captive by the criminal mobster Angus Dupree.

Moving silently, she angled toward the road, sucking in a harsh breath when she caught a glimpse of a white-and-black prison van.

What in the world? The van abruptly halted with enough force that it rocked back and forth. Frowning, she edged closer to get a better look.

The reason the van had stopped was that there was a black SUV sitting diagonally across the road, barricading the way.

Reacting instinctively to the perceived threat, Julianne rushed forward. As she drew her revolver, she heard a bang and a crash followed by a man tumbling out of the back of the prison van. The large bald guy dressed in prison orange made a beeline toward the SUV. Another man stood in the center of the road pointing a weapon at the van driver, who held his hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender.

A prison break!

“Stop!” Julianne pointed her weapon and shot at the gunman, hoping, praying she could save the van driver’s life. Her aim was true, and the assailant flinched, staggering backward, but didn’t go down. Instead he turned toward her, a fierce expression etched on his face.

He had to be wearing body armor.

Seconds later, the situation spiraled out of control. The gunman shot the driver through the windshield, then came running directly at Julianne. She gave her K-9 partner two hand-signal commands.

Hide. Stay.

Good boy, she thought, as Thunder slinked behind a large tree. He was an English foxhound, and his brown-and-black coat, along with his black FBI bulletproof vest, worked well as camouflage. She didn’t want him to get hurt, but she also needed him to protect her back.

Just as she’d protect his.

She ducked behind a tree, then took a steadying breath. Tightening her grip on her 9 mm, she peered around to where she’d last seen the shooter. She fired at him once again, then ducked behind the tree.

Keep moving.

Julianne eased from one tree to the next as Thunder watched, waiting for her signal. Now the silence was suffocating, the slightest rustle of a leaf unbearably loud.

When she couldn’t take the quiet for another moment, she peeked out trying to identify where the gunman was located.

Crack!

She ducked, feeling the whiz of the bullet miss her by a fraction of an inch, a piece of bark flying off the tree. The perp was roughly twenty feet in front of her, far closer than she’d anticipated.

After a long moment, she was about to risk another glance, when the assailant popped out from behind a tree. He looked her square in the eye, the barrel of his gun pointing directly at her chest.

“Stop right there,” he shouted in a hoarse voice. “Put your hands in the air.”

Angry that she hadn’t anticipated the gunman’s move, Julianne held his gaze, refusing to glance at Thunder, hoping the thug hadn’t seen her partner.

“Put your hands in the air!” he repeated harshly.

She continued to stare at him, knowing if she did as the gunman demanded, he’d shoot where she stood. He’d already killed the van driver, what more did he have to lose?

Nothing.

So why hadn’t he shot her already? Was he looking for information?

“Fire that gun, and I’ll plant a bullet between your eyes,” a familiar, deep husky Texan drawl came from out of nowhere.

Brody Kenner?

The gunman jerked and glanced to his left. In that split second she fired at the arm holding his gun. Her FBI training didn’t fail her. He screamed in pain. Blood spurted from his right arm, and he dropped the weapon.

Then he turned and fled.

“Thunder, fetch!” Julianne didn’t bother to look over at the man she’d once loved, the man who’d just saved her life, but remained focused on not losing the perp.

She wasn’t nearly as fast as Thunder when it came to running through the woods, dodging trees. And it seemed like just mere moments later when she heard tires squealing as a car drove away. She slowed down, gasping for breath, knowing it was too late.

The gunman and whoever had run from the prison van had escaped.

Frustration clawing through her, she headed over to the vehicle to check on the driver. The poor man was dead. She murmured a prayer, wishing she had something to cover him with before turning her attention to the issue at hand.

“Thunder?”

Hearing nothing but silence, her heart lodged in her throat. Had the dog jumped into the getaway car? Or had someone attacked him? But then her partner came bounding back through the woods toward her. When he saw her he let out his usual, strangely musical foxhound howl.

“Good boy,” she said, bending over to give him a good rub, scratching the soft spot between his ears. “Good boy, Thunder.”

“What in the world was that noise?”

Taking a deep breath, she straightened and turned to face Brody Kenner. He was taller and broader than she remembered, but had the same dark hair and brilliant blue eyes that she’d tried not to dream about after he’d broken her heart six years ago. He was dressed in a deep brown uniform with a sheriff’s star on his chest.

So he was the Clover County sheriff now?

Somehow she wasn’t surprised.

Brody looked good. Better than good. Her chest felt tight and she had to concentrate in order to breathe normally.

What was wrong with her? What she and Brody once had was over and done with. Had been for a long time. A familiar flash of resentment twisted, turned into something softer. Regret? Seeing him again, she hated to admit that maybe things weren’t as finished as she’d wanted them to be. Just looking at him standing there, so big and strong and formidable, wreaked havoc with her emotions.

Erupting her buried feelings to the surface where they had the power to hurt her all over again.

* * *

Brody’s pulse still pounded at how Julianne had nearly been shot to death right in front of his eyes.

What was she doing here? As far as he knew, she hadn’t stepped foot in the Lone Star State since joining the FBI academy six years ago.

“Thanks for helping.” Julianne’s clipped voice was colder than the Clover River in January.

“Hey, what are friends for?” He grinned, but she didn’t smile back. Her long ebony hair was pulled back from her face and her large dark eyes, a legacy from her Puerto Rican father, never made it easy to guess what she was thinking.

She wore khaki slacks paired with a dark shirt, a small FBI K-9 logo over the left breast pocket. He’d known Julianne had left Texas to attend the academy but hadn’t known the FBI had a K-9 unit. Or that she’d joined it. Although she always had loved dogs.

She frowned. “How did you get here so fast?”

He lifted a brow. As the sheriff he was the one who should be questioning her about what she was doing trampling through the woods in his county. “I was following the prison van.” Then he scowled at where the van sat stationary in the road, the dead driver slumped over the steering wheel. “Obviously not closely enough.”

If Julianne thought his actions strange, she didn’t say anything. This wasn’t the time to bring up how he’d intended to watch his former best friend, Nathan Otwell, walk into the maximum security prison for himself. It had taken Brody a long time to gather the evidence he needed to prove his former juvie roommate had actually participated in luring troubled young men and women into drug running, prostitution and human slavery.

Several months of fourteen-hour days, because he hadn’t wanted to believe it.

Until he’d seen the evidence with his own eyes.

“I’m sorry the prisoner got away.” She swiped a hand across her forehead. “He must have had a backup plan.”

He nodded, glancing curiously at her dog, sitting straight up at her side. When faced with a stranger, he didn’t bark, aside of the weird howl he’d let out.

What had she called him? Thunder?

“Excuse me, I need to call this in.” She slid her service weapon into her hip holster and then pulled a mobile phone from her pants pocket.

“Wait a minute. Are you here in Clover on official business?” Brody scowled. The feds were supposed to notify local law enforcement when they were doing an investigation.

As a courtesy at the very least.

But he hadn’t been told anything at all about an FBI investigation taking place in his county. Which was why he’d been shocked to find Julianne facing the wrong side of a gun.

“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate, which only added fuel to the slow burn of anger and resentment in his belly.

What, had he really thought she’d come back to find him after six years?

No, of course not. He’d given up on that foolish hope a long time ago. She’d made her decision, one that hadn’t included him.

“Max? It’s Julianne. I have a situation.” A brief pause as she listened, then nodded. “Okay.”

Brody ground his teeth, wondering who Max was. Her partner? Or a personal friend? Something more than a friend?

He cocked his head, listening to the sound of someone making their way through the woods.

A tall, muscular man with short blond hair emerged from the brush, a caramel-brown female boxer at his side. The man’s rugged face bore a concerned look. “Julianne? What happened? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” There was a sharp edge to her tone. “I would have gotten the assailant if he hadn’t been wearing body armor.”

“Who are you?” the man, who he guessed was Max, demanded, noticing Brody.

“Clover County Sheriff Brody Kenner.” Brody folded his arms across his chest. “Who are y’all? And what brings the FBI to my neck of the woods?”

He didn’t appreciate the silent exchange Julianne shared with Max.

“FBI Special Agent in Charge, Max West.” The fed stepped closer and offered his hand. “My partner, Opal, and this is Agent Julianne Martinez and her partner, Thunder.”

Brody shook Max’s hand, more pleased than he had a right to be to know his former flame wasn’t married. “I know Julianne, we went to college together.”

“I see.” Max glanced at Julianne who still wasn’t smiling.

“A guy I sent to prison just escaped,” Brody continued. “His associate came after Agent Martinez. He took a shot at her, but thankfully missed, although not by much.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Max asked, reaching out to put a hand on Julianne’s arm.

She shook off his grip. “I’m fine, but Brody is right. I witnessed the prison break. The perp who shot at me killed the van driver. I managed to hit him in the arm so all the hospitals in a hundred-mile radius need to be put on alert.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Brody assured her. Using his radio, he notified his dispatcher to put all the deputies on notice. He also ordered roadblocks on every major highway and for his deputies to follow up with the law enforcement agencies and hospitals located nearby. From the way the gunman had been bleeding, he felt sure the guy wouldn’t last too long without medical care. Lastly, he requested several of his deputies to report to this location in order to attend to the crime scene.

When he finished he overheard Julianne and Max speaking in low tones.

“Y’all still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.” Brody stepped up, making it clear he wasn’t going to be ignored.

“Following up a lead,” Max said, resting his hand on his boxer’s head.

Brody bit back a flash of impatience. Why the secrecy? “What kind of lead? Who are you looking for?”

Once again, Julianne and Max exchanged a long look, as if debating how much to tell him.

He scowled, crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

“The information I’m about to tell you is classified, understand?” Max said. Brody nodded his agreement, so he continued, “We’re part of the FBI Tactical K-9 Unit, working a case related to one of our agents, Jake Morrow, who went missing several weeks ago.”

“Missing?” He frowned. How often did FBI agents, especially those in some sort of secret elite team, go missing? “That’s strange.”

“I don’t disagree. We’re here because we received an anonymous tip via a disposable cell phone, one that we were unable to trace, that Jake is being held in a secluded cabin in the area,” Julianne explained. “We’re not sure who our informant is, but we’re determined to check out each clue no matter how improbable, so if you don’t mind, we need to get back to work.”

“I’m afraid I do mind,” Brody drawled.

She ignored him, looking at her superior. “What did you find at your cabin?”

“Opal didn’t alert on anything. It’s deserted and looks as if it’s been that way for a long time.”

“Okay, then that leaves the cabin here as the primary search zone.” Julianne pulled some sort of computer-engineered map out of her pocket.

“What’s that?” Brody asked, stepping closer to get a better look.

“A map put together by Dylan O’Leary, our team’s technical expert. He’s located back at headquarters, helping to coordinate our activities. Here.” She tapped the map, glancing up at Max. “This is where I veered off track. We need to head due north.”

“Maybe you didn’t understand what I meant,” Brody interjected. “I’m going with you.”

She frowned. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary. We can take it from here.”

“This may be your jurisdiction, Agent Martinez.” He emphasized her formal title with a hint of sarcasm. “But this is my county, and I’m going with you. Whether y’all like it or not.”

She stared at him for several long moments. “What about the crime scene here?”

“My deputies will be here any moment—they’ll take care of things.”

He wasn’t going to let anything change his mind. Whatever Julianne and Max were doing was just as important as searching for Nate Otwell.

Now that Julianne had reappeared in his life, there was no way she was going anywhere without him.

* * *

“I see you’re just as stubborn as ever, Brody.” There was no time to waste, so Julianne didn’t bother trying to talk him out of joining them.

She hadn’t been able to convince him to believe in her, to come with her to join the FBI academy six years ago, either. The man could teach stubborn to an ox.

“Are you sure you want to keep going?” Max asked for the third time. “I can take over.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Stop asking already.” She was annoyed at the way her boss was treating her, as if she were some helpless damsel in distress who couldn’t hold her own.

She was a trained FBI agent. Getting shot at came with the territory.

And if she were honest, she’d admit that seeing Brody again, hearing her name spoken in his familiar southern drawl, had shaken her up more than any gunman. Especially since it looked as if her ex wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

Ignoring the four deputies who’d just arrived at the crime scene, she retraced her steps, looking for the evidence bag she’d dropped in her mad rush to stop the prison break. Fifty yards back, she found the sack containing an old shirt belonging to Jake Morrow. Kneeling on the ground, she opened the bag and encouraged Thunder to take a deep sniff.

Thunder buried his nose in the bag for several long seconds.

“Find, Thunder.” She pointed north in the direction where the cabin was located. “Find Jake.”

Thunder’s tail wagged, then his nose went to the ground. He walked in a few circles, then trotted north. Julianne followed, trying to ignore Brody dogging her heels.

As they made their way through the woods, the brush grew more and more dense. Twice Thunder made a few circles, as if he’d caught a whiff of something important, but he never alerted.

The trees offered significant shade from the hot May sun, but that didn’t mean it was cool. Sweat beaded along Julianne’s scalp, rolling down her temples.

“Do you know the people responsible for Agent Morrow’s disappearance?” Brody asked.

Julianne glanced at him. If in fact Angus Dupree had a cabin in the area, Brody deserved to know. “We have reason to believe that Jake was captured by a highly organized crime family headed up by Reginald Dupree. We raided a warehouse owned by the Duprees, capturing the head of the family, Reginald, but his second-in-command, Angus, got away. Angus is running the show now. Upon further investigation we found evidence that Jake had been there. Unfortunately he’s been missing ever since.”

“How long ago?”

“Too long.” Julianne’s voice was curt. “But I’m convinced that with Thunder’s help, we’ll find him.”

“Are you sure your dog knows where he’s going?” Brody asked as they wedged their way through a particularly dense thicket. “I can’t believe there’s a cabin anywhere in this mess.”

“He knows,” she said in a terse tone. “Besides, I have a map.”

“I’d like to see it.”

Julianne shook her head, there wasn’t time, besides, they’d already told Brody more information than they should considering the confidential nature of their team. Keeping her gaze trained on Thunder, she noticed her partner was slowing down thanks to the denseness of the woods and she wondered how much farther they’d be able to go. By her estimation, the cabin was still a good mile away.

A mile that may as well be twenty based on the difficult terrain.

“I should have brought a machete,” she grumbled as she forced her way through another bush.

“Wouldn’t help.” Brody was so close she was surrounded by the spicy scent of his aftershave intermixed with his unique male essence. Breathing through her mouth to avoid his intoxicating scent, she tried her best to fight the memories.

Both the good and the bad.

Don’t, she warned herself. Don’t go there.

Abruptly, Thunder veered right, heading straight for a large tree. Julianne held her breath, closely watching her partner.

Thunder sniffed along the base of the tree, then jerked his head back to the right side of the tree. Then he scratched at the spot and plopped down on his butt, staring at the ground as if there was something to see.

“What in the world?” Brody sounded incredulous.

Julianne glanced at Brody. Max and Opal were bringing up the rear. Opal was a bomb-sniffing dog, so Max had given Julianne and Thunder the lead in attempting to pick up the trail.

“Thunder alerted on Jake’s scent. He was here, Max. Jake Morrow was here.”

“I see that, but where’s the cabin?” her captain asked.

Good question. She joined Thunder. “Good boy,” she praised him. “Good boy. You found Jake.”

She stood near the large tree for several moments, then pulled Dylan’s map out again.

“Max? Hand me your binoculars.”

Brody took them from Max and brought them over. Raising them to her eyes, she peered through the magnified lenses and incrementally moved the glasses from right to left.

There! She used the dial to sharpen the image.

“I found it,” she said excitedly. “There’s a house, not a cabin, but a large house roughly three hundred yards away. The only problem is, I don’t see a driveway or even a path that could be used to get in there. All I see are trees.”

“There has to be a way in,” Max insisted.

She inched the binoculars over the wooded area, then stopped abruptly when she saw the wire. “There’s a chain-link fence well disguised with brush and trees, topped by barbed wire.” She pulled the glasses from her eyes and turned to her boss. “This has to be it, Max. It reeks of Dupree.”

“Yeah, but how are we going to get in? Obviously not on foot,” he said.

Max was right. She battled a wave of frustration. They were so close. She knew Jake Morrow was being held against his will somewhere inside that house.

They just needed to figure out how to get in to rescue him.

TWO

“I know a way,” Brody drawled, drawing skeptical looks by the FBI agents. The way the dog had alerted on the trail had been impressive, but he didn’t appreciate the way the feds acted as if he wasn’t even there.

Especially Julianne. Her indifference hurt, more than it should have.

They’d retreated from the woods, returning to the road. Two of his deputies’ vehicles were parked on either side of the prison van, and Brody knew that he needed to head over there to talk to them. But not yet.

She stared at him. “How?”

“From the air.” He waved a hand. “I’m a trained paratrooper, I can parachute down landing inside the compound.”

Genuine surprise widened her eyes. “Brilliant.” She swung toward Max, who nodded in agreement.

“We need to contact Dylan, see if we can get a chopper here, ASAP,” Max said. “Not too close, though, because we don’t want anyone from inside the compound to hear it.”

Brody scowled. “Para-jumping with dogs can be dangerous.”

“We learned to do this in our training program,” Julianne said in a brisk tone. “We can go in alone, no reason for you to come along.”

“Yes, there is. My county, my problem.” He couldn’t stand the thought of her going in without him and possibly facing an ambush. “Besides, this will be tricky. It might be better if you stay here in the woods as backup in case the whole thing goes south.”

She took a step closer and jabbed her finger into his sternum. “Listen, Brody, this is our case and I’m going in. You want to come along? Fine. I’m not staying behind. Understand?”

The steely determination in her eyes proved he was fighting a lost cause. Julianne had always been driven to prove herself capable and he knew she’d go in no matter what. He wanted to capture her hand and press it against his chest, but he didn’t.

She’d only pull away from him, the way she had six years ago.

“Okay, okay. We’ll do this, together.”

“Max and Opal are going in, too.” She tilted her head. “Where did you train to be a paratrooper?”

“Brief stint in the army.” Brody didn’t want to mention his messed-up knee that had sent him home early. Three surgeries and it was almost as good as new.

Almost.

Unfortunately, the army didn’t want to take a chance with his bum knee, so they’d given him a choice, climb the officer ladder or an early honorary discharge. Climbing up the ranks hadn’t interested him so he’d returned home and was offered a job as a deputy. Then somehow managed to become elected sheriff the following year.

Hometown hero and all that. Which was ridiculous since he was anything but. Julianne had left him after their disagreement over her best friend Lilly’s disappearance. She’d insisted Lilly would never have run away, despite all the signs that pointed toward the girl doing just that.

Forcing himself to let go of the past, he swept his gaze over the area. “It would be nice to have deputies guard the perimeter, but that means taking them off roadblock duty, something I’m not willing to do.” Brody knew even if he could mobilize every officer he had on staff, it still wouldn’t be enough.

Max finished his phone call. “Dylan’s looking for a place for a chopper to land. He’s also looking for an area for us to use as a landing spot near the house. He figures that there must be something to use if the Duprees are using the air to get access.”

Despite his annoyance with his authority being usurped, Brody was impressed. “Wish we had those kinds of resources.”

“We’re getting the chopper, a pilot and one additional staff member.” Max’s gaze was on Julianne and Brody couldn’t help wondering if there was more between the two of them than professionalism. The flash of jealousy was annoying and unwarranted. Julianne’s personal life wasn’t his business.

No matter how much he wished otherwise.

“Who?” Julianne asked with a frown.

“Zeke Morrow, and his K-9 partner...an Australian shepherd named Cheetah. Zeke asked to join the team weeks ago, and I’ve been working on getting him assigned as Jake’s replacement. The paperwork has finally cleared, and Zeke really wants in on this.”

She stared at Max in apparent surprise, but then blew out a breath and nodded. “I get it, Jake’s his half brother. If I were in Zeke’s place, I’d want in on the mission to find him, too.”

“Boss?”

Brody turned to where two of his deputies waited beside the prison van. The other two deputies were combing the area, looking for clues. “Coming. Julianne, I’ll need your help with recreating what happened.”

She hesitated, but Max nodded. “Go ahead. It will take some time to get things rolling here.”

“The sooner we get inside, the better,” she muttered. But she fell in step beside Brody and headed over to the van.

Brody did a quick round of introductions. “Deputy Dan Hanson and Deputy Rick Meyer, this is FBI Agent Julianne Martinez.”

Julianne offered her hand. “Nice to meet both of you. I’m the one who stumbled across the prison break.”

And almost died for her efforts, Brody thought grimly.

Julianne took them through the events step by step. When she got to the part about the gunman telling her to stop and raise her hands in the air, Deputy Rick Meyer interrupted.

“You get a good look at him?”

Julianne nodded. “Yes. About five-ten, weighing roughly 180 but some of that bulk could have been from the body armor. Thin blond greasy hair and narrow, light eyes. He wore a scruffy beard and had a half-inch scar at the bottom left corner of his mouth.”

Once again, Brody couldn’t help being impressed. “You got a better look at him than I did.”

“Really? You’re the one who threatened to plant a bullet between his eyes.”

“I know, but that was mostly a way to distract him, so that he’d focus on me, instead of you. To be honest, I didn’t have a clear shot from where I was standing.”

“I managed to hit him in the right arm,” Julianne continued. “He dropped his weapon, then took off.”

Brody glanced at Thunder. “Your dog might be able to track him for us.”

“Yes, but only if you have some clothing of his to provide Thunder the scent to follow. Blood alone won’t work.”

Brody considered that idea for a moment. He didn’t have anything belonging to the gunman, but he certainly had personal items belonging to Nate Otwell, the man who’d escaped.

His former best friend whom Julianne had never completely trusted.

He let out a disgruntled sigh. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, there was no way to deny he needed her help, and the dog’s, too.

The time had come to fill Julianne in on what had transpired before the prison break.

Even if that meant proving that she may have been right to leave him, six years ago.

* * *

Thunder found the gun and they also discovered several drops of blood left behind by the gunman, but of course the trail disappeared at the edge of the road.

“Did you see what kind of vehicle was waiting for him?” Rick asked. Deputy Dan Hanson was sending antagonistic vibes, but Rick Meyer seemed genuinely willing to partner with her.

Maybe Hanson was one of those who resented having women in law enforcement. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to deal with overblown macho egos. Or the last.

In her line of work, she was often surrounded by an overabundance of testosterone.

“No. I was still making my way through the trees when I heard the vehicle take off.”

“Too bad Thunder can’t tell us.” Brody patted the animal’s head and she bit back the urge to snap at him. Thunder wasn’t a pet, he was her partner.

“Thunder, heel.”

Instantly, the dog came to her side and sat straight upright, waiting for the next command.

“He’s on duty, just like I am,” she explained when the three men stared in surprise. “We need to figure out our next steps.”

“The medical examiner is on his way to pick up the driver’s body,” Rick said. “We already know the slug should match the weapon you recovered in the woods.”

“Keep looking for the other slug,” Brody said. “Julianne can show you where she was when the guy fired at her.”

“This way.” She led the team of deputies to the area where she’d been. “Here’s the rent in the tree bark from the path to the bullet.”

They’d found the empty shell casing near where the gunman had dropped the weapon, so Julianne held it out for Thunder. “Find, Thunder. Find!”

Her partner went to work, scouring the area and tracking the scent of gunpowder. The ground was covered in leaves, twigs and other brush, but she knew Thunder could find the missing bullet fragment.

Fifteen minutes later, he alerted on the spot, circling the area, scratching at the ground, then dropping onto his rump. Julianne walked over, gently edged the debris aside, and smiled with grim satisfaction.

“Found it.”

“Well, I’ll be,” Rick said in amazement. “That dog is smarter than most of the people I know.”

“Good boy.” Julianne rubbed his silky ears and slipped him a treat. “Good boy, Thunder.”

Dan made a rude noise under his breath, but drew on gloves then picked up the bullet fragment and dropped it in a specimen bag. “How many shots did he take at you?”

Julianne lifted a brow. “Just the one.”

“Hmm.” Deputy Hanson took the evidence back to his squad car.

She decided not to waste time worrying about Hanson’s opinion of her abilities. Glancing at her watch, she realized roughly ninety minutes had gone by, and she was feeling dehydrated and hungry. Which meant Thunder needed to eat and drink, too. The hour was close to dinnertime and she hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast.

“Max? What’s the ETA on the chopper?”

“Two hours, maybe less. They’re coming in from Houston and Dylan has found a small airstrip not far from here for them to use. He sent us a secure email with the location. He’s still working on an aerial view of the compound.”

She wondered how Dylan was holding up back at headquarters while his fiancée, Zara, was training at Quantico to become a part of their team. “We need to take care of the animals. How about I meet you at the chopper in ninety minutes?”

“Sounds good.” Max turned and walked with Opal through the woods. No doubt he’d left his vehicle near the cabin he’d investigated before the gunfire rang out.

Julianne headed in the opposite direction, but then halted when Brody came along. “I’ve got things to do before the jump.”

“I know, but we also need to talk about the prison break. I thought we could grab a bite to eat at Rusty’s...they have outside tables now, which would work out well for Thunder.”

Rusty’s was their old hangout, and the last place she wanted to go was tripping down memory lane. But Thunder needed to eat and so did she, so she pushed the past back where it belonged and nodded stiffly.

“Fine, I’ll meet you there.”

Brody hesitated. She could tell he wanted them to drive together, but too bad, he’d have to get over it.

She needed some time alone before facing him again. Being home for the first time in six years was bad enough, but seeing Brody again?

That was something else entirely.

* * *

Brody tried to look at Rusty’s through Julianne’s eyes, noticing the changes that had been made to the bar/restaurant over the past few years.

The place had been painted a deep forest green with white trim. The tables outside were covered by green-and-white umbrellas to shade customers from the relentless sun. Patrons actually came here for the food, which hadn’t been the case when they were young.

Rusty’s had blossomed under new management, and he thought for sure Julianne would notice and approve of the changes.

She was late, and he wondered if she’d stood him up. Not her style, but then again, things hadn’t ended well between them.

He saw her drive up in a black SUV with a very small K-9 logo on the back. She slid out from behind the wheel followed by Thunder who jumped gracefully to the ground. The years they’d spent apart disappeared as if they’d never happened. She was still as stunning as ever. And he found himself wishing things had turned out differently for them.

After opening the back, she set one dog dish on the ground and filled it with water. After he drank his fill, she fed him from her hand, which he found curious. Only when the dog was cared for did she cross over to where he was waiting.

“The outside is different but has the menu changed?”

“Yeah. Joe Clancy runs the place now with his wife, Sue Ellen.” He pushed a menu over. “We’ll talk after we order.”

A server came over with water and sweet tea, took their requests then disappeared back inside.

Julianne drew designs in the condensation that collected on the side of her glass. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had Texas sweet tea.”

Six years, two weeks and three days, but who was counting?

She finished her water first, then tried the tea. “It’s sweeter than I remember.”

“You don’t have tea where you live now?”

“I got out of the habit of drinking it.” She pushed her glass aside, sidestepping his not-so-subtle question. “So tell me. What’s the story behind the prison break?”

He held her gaze. “I arrested Nathan Otwell for drug running, human trafficking and prostitution. The judge agreed to hold him without bail because of the overwhelming evidence against him.”

“Evidence? Like what?”

“I tracked him to an abandoned cabin where he was holding five people hostage, getting ready to sell them to the highest bidder.” To this day, Brody would never forget the scene he’d stumbled upon. “Because of my testimony, Otwell was being transported from our small jail here to the maximum security prison over in Cadworth County.”

“Nathan Otwell,” Julianne repeated, her expression incredulous. “I don’t know what to say. The guy who escaped was huge and bald, I didn’t recognize him as Nate. I can’t believe it.”

“Sure you can,” Brody countered in an even tone. “You never liked him in the first place, even before Lilly ran away. You were convinced Lilly’s disappearance was the result of foul play just because she and Nate were seeing each other.” He paused, then shrugged. “You were right about Nate, though. In the time I was gone in the army, he reverted back to his criminal ways.”

She surprised him by reaching over to put her hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry, Brody. I know how much you believed in him. That must have been difficult for you.”

For a moment he wished they could go back six years, to the time before their last argument had torn them irrevocably apart. But he knew better than most there was no going back.

He needed to keep moving forward. No matter how difficult.

“It was worse for the people he abused and sold into slavery.” He didn’t try to hide the bitterness in his tone. “They’re the real victims here. And I can’t imagine what they’re going to think now that he’s escaped.”

“I know.” Her gaze was sympathetic.

“I’m not going to let him get away with it. I need to find Nate, Julianne. I need your help.” He gazed down at the dog lying beneath the table at her feet. “Yours and Thunder’s.”

The dog perked up when he heard his name, his tail thumping on the ground as if in acknowledgment.

“I have to get Max’s approval,” she warned. “But since I’m an eyewitness to the shooting of the van driver, I’m sure he’ll agree. From what you’re telling me, we need to get Nate and his accomplice back into custody as soon as possible.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me, yet. First we need to get into the Dupree compound and hopefully rescue our missing FBI agent. Once we’ve done that, we’ll focus on picking up Nate’s trail. Hopefully he won’t have gotten too far, especially with the roadblocks and other measures you’ve put into place.”

“Agreed.” He paused, as the server brought their food. They ate in silence for several minutes, enjoying their Tex-Mex meal when Thunder unexpectedly shot to his feet.

“What is it, boy?” Julianne pulled her gun from the holster on her waist and glanced around the parking lot as if searching for whatever had gotten the dog’s attention.

“Does he do this often?” Brody put a hand on his firearm, too, but didn’t see anything out of place.

For all they knew, Thunder had scented a squirrel. Or some other animal.

But even as the thought filtered through his mind, he rejected the idea. He might not know much about K-9 officers, but he knew they were trained not to be distracted from their duty. And Thunder’s duty included protecting Julianne.

“Sometimes, but I don’t see anything amiss, do you?”

“No.” Brody couldn’t deny that having the dog standing on all fours, ready to attack, was unnerving. “Maybe we should take the food to go.”

“Works for me.” Julianne finally glanced over at him. “We’ll be early, but that’s okay.”

He waved to get the server’s attention and pulled out his wallet to pay for the meal. The outside patio was mostly deserted, patrons favoring the air-conditioned inside rather than the hot and humid outside tables.

A low growl rumbled from Thunder’s throat.

“He senses danger,” Julianne said in a low tone.

Brody nodded and tossed cash on the table. “Forget the leftovers, let’s get out of here.”

She nodded and fell into step beside him. They’d taken a few steps toward her black SUV when Thunder abruptly stopped and backed up a step. He growled low in his throat and pushed at Julianne with his nose, as if to move her out of the way.

“What is it?” The moment Julianne said the words, Brody saw a figure wearing black running away from the parking lot, toward the back of the restaurant.

Reacting instinctively, he grabbed Julianne’s arm. “We have to get out of here now!”

They’d gotten a good ten yards from the SUV when a loud explosion rocked the earth, sending them tumbling to the pavement.

He rolled over, raking his gaze over the scene. The FBI vehicle was on fire. Restaurant patrons leaving the building screamed and ran away from the restaurant.

Where was the guy dressed in black?

“Thunder! Heel!” Julianne’s panicked voice had him searching frantically for the dog.

Thunder came running from behind the back of the building heading straight for Julianne. Brody was relieved the dog was all right, and wondered if the guy once again had a getaway vehicle to flee the scene.

“What do you have there, boy?” Julianne asked, struggling to her feet.

It took Brody a minute to realize there was a bit of fabric caught in the dog’s mouth.

Thunder had been close enough to get a piece of the perp, but once again, the guy had evaded capture.

Grimly, Brody knew that this was only the beginning. They’d see this assailant again. There was no mistaking the fact that he and Julianne had been the main target of this guy’s attack.

All trails leading back to Nate’s jailbreak.

THREE

Julianne swept her gaze over the area, grappling with their near miss.

Someone had tried to kill them. Her and Brody, specifically.

“I’m glad Thunder managed to bring back a clue.”

Brody’s comment helped her focus. She still held the ripped piece of fabric in her hand, the one Thunder had brought to her. Pulling an evidence bag out of her pocket, she quickly placed the scrap of fabric inside and sealed it shut.

Then she dropped to her knee, placed her arm around the dog’s neck, and gave him a hug and a treat. “Good boy.”

Thunder let out his musical howl, making her smile.

“The guy must have planted a bomb under your SUV,” Brody continued grimly. “If your dog hadn’t alerted us to the danger...” He didn’t need to finish his thought.

“Thunder has saved my life more times than I can count.” Rising to her feet, she scrutinized the area around the restaurant. Thankfully, it appeared no one else was hurt, the waitress was crying, but as far as Julianne could tell, she wasn’t bleeding. The picnic table Brody had chosen was covered in black soot from the fire, but seemed to be the only damage to the restaurant itself. Her vehicle wasn’t parked too close to other cars, although there was a yellow pickup truck with broken windows as a result of the blast. “I don’t see anyone with injuries, and there doesn’t appear to be much damage, other than to my car and the yellow truck parked close by. We were fortunate.”

This time.

Brody nodded, phone in hand. She listened as he called dispatch to let them know about the bomb and subsequent fire.

“How did he find us?” she asked, when he’d finished his call. “We came in two different vehicles and at two different times. I know I wasn’t followed.”

“Me, either. But it’s a good question,” Brody admitted. “Could be they just happened to drive past and noticed the K-9 logo on the back of your SUV. K-9s aren’t common around here.”

“Maybe. But how did they know it was mine? Max has one, too.” She didn’t like it. Surely the gunman she’d injured had made a point of getting away from here. Why bother to stick around?

Unless he knew about the roadblocks and decided to seek revenge. Given the history between Nate and Brody, revenge seemed plausible, but she couldn’t help thinking there was something else keeping Nate around. Unfinished business? Maybe.

A short round guy with short gray hair wearing an apron over cotton pants and a T-shirt came rushing outside. He paused, giving the waitress a hug, then made his way over to them.

“Sheriff, what happened? What’s going on?”

“Joe Clancy, this is FBI Agent Julianne Martinez. Julianne, this is Joe Clancy. He and his wife own Rusty’s now.” Brody paused, then sighed. “I’m sorry about this, Joe. I have reason to believe Agent Martinez and I were the intended targets. Don’t worry, it looks like only the cars next to Julianne’s were damaged, not your restaurant.”

“Looks like my truck has broken windows, but I guess that’s what insurance is for, right, Sheriff?” Joe blew out his breath in a heavy sigh, taking the attack on his property better than she’d anticipated. He ran his hand over his hair. “It could be worse. I’m glad no one’s been hurt.”

“Me, too. How’s your waitress?” Julianne asked. “She was the only other person in close proximity to the blast. Might be best if she went to get checked out in the ER.”

“She has a few bruises from landing on the ground,” Joe said. “I think she’s more scared than hurt.”

Julianne didn’t blame her. The incident had shaken her, too. Just standing here in plain view was making her nervous. What if the guy who’d set the bomb came back? She and Brody being here could very well be placing innocent lives in danger. Sirens wailed, indicating help was on the way. “We need to leave, Brody.”

“I hear you.” He turned to the restaurant owner. “Joe, Deputy Hanson is on his way to take over for me. He’ll file a police report that you can submit to your insurance company.”

Joe Clancy nodded and lumbered over to where the waitress still stood, wiping at her eyes.

“Do you need to stay until your deputy arrives?”

Brody shook his head. “For now, it’s probably best if we stick together.”

She couldn’t argue his logic. Besides, there wasn’t time to worry about it, they were expected to meet up with Max West at the chopper. “We’ll need to take your truck, since mine is toast. I’m also going to need to replace Thunder’s equipment that was inside. Thank goodness I still have the evidence bag with Jake’s shirt in my backpack.” The thought of losing one of their key leads made her stomach clench. This incident only proved she needed to keep the evidence with her at all times.

“Sure.” Brody led the way to his SUV, with the words Clover County Sheriff painted across the side. He automatically went to the driver’s side door, then hesitated. “Okay if I drive?”

“Yes, of course.” The Brody she knew wouldn’t have bothered to ask. Why was he being so open-minded now? Had he changed in other ways, too? Probably, but she told herself it didn’t matter.

The bottom line was that Brody hadn’t cared about her. He hadn’t trusted her.

Hadn’t believed in her, the way she’d needed him to.

Brody was a part of her past, not her future. As soon as they’d finished here, they’d both return to their respective lives.

On opposite ends of the country.

An hour later, after they’d stopped to pick up the items Thunder needed replaced, she joined Max at the designated meeting spot. The chopper arrived early, which suited her just fine.

Julianne wanted very badly to find Jake Morrow and knew that it was highly likely the hidden house in the woods belonged to the Duprees. Several weeks ago, after a shoot-out at a desolate warehouse, the kingpin Reginald Dupree had been arrested, but unfortunately, his second-in-command, Angus Dupree, had gotten away with Jake Morrow as his hostage. Jake’s K-9 partner, Buddy, had been injured but had thankfully recovered. Their team was desperate to find Jake, worried Angus would attempt to force Jake to provide inside information. Or, worst case scenario, ask for a trade: Jake’s life in exchange for letting Reginald Dupree go.

Each member of the team knew that freeing Reginald from custody was not an option.

“Zeke, this is Julianne Martinez and Sheriff Brody Kenner.” Max performed quick introductions.

“I appreciate being brought in as part of the team,” Zeke Morrow said, his expression solemn. He was tall, broad-shouldered with dark brown hair and dark eyes, and his partner, Cheetah, was a beautiful Australian shepherd with a black-and-white coat, mostly white around the animal’s neck and chest. Julianne found herself sending up a silent prayer that they’d find Zeke’s half brother alive and well.

“We’re glad to have you,” Max assured him.

Julianne echoed the sentiment, then tugged Max’s arm. “There’s an incident I need to tell you about.”

Her SAC’s expression turned grim. “Now what?”

“Somebody planted a bomb under my SUV while Brody and I were grabbing dinner at Rusty’s, one of the restaurants located outside of town.”

Max looked at Brody, then turned back to her. “A bomb?”

“Yeah. Thunder alerted us to the danger, and I happened to catch a glimpse of someone running away from the parking lot, toward the back of the building,” Brody said. “We managed to get away unscathed.”

“Thunder saved our lives,” Julianne added. “He alerted us to the danger. We caught a glimpse of someone running toward the building, and it’s likely he triggered the bomb early. Thankfully, no one else was hurt.”

Max leveled Brody a stern look. “This latest development is related to your prison break, isn’t it?”

“I think so, yes. I know this mission to find your agent is top priority but as soon as we’ve checked out the cabin, I’d like Julianne and Thunder’s help in tracking our escapee. When I checked in, the deputies manning the roadblocks hadn’t seen any sign of him, so that means he either slipped away or is seeking revenge against me personally for bringing him down. Based on the bomb, I’m figuring it’s the latter. I’m concerned about placing more innocent lives at risk.”

“Good idea. Better to go on offense rather than remaining on defense.”

Brody grinned at the football analogy and Julianne remembered how they’d loved to watch college football games on Saturdays. She lived in Montana now, and they had a college team but she still followed Texas A&M, her favorite.

Did Brody still watch them, too? A bittersweet longing swept over her. She missed what they’d shared.

She missed him. At least the way he’d been before Lilly’s disappearance.

“Thanks,” Brody said. “Now, let’s check the equipment, make sure we’re ready to roll.”

Once Brody was assured that they had everything they needed to parachute successfully into the Dupree compound, Max spread out a topographical map on the hood of his SUV so he could outline the plan.

“According to Dylan’s estimate, this is where the house is.” He drew the outline with a felt tip marker. “To the southwest, there’s a small clearing, here.” He made additional marks on the map, then glanced up at them. “This is our target landing zone.”

“Looks like there are a lot of trees.” Julianne kept her tone matter-of-fact. “How big is the landing area?”

“Roughly twenty by twenty.”

“That’s feet, not yards,” Brody pointed out. “Y’all know it won’t be easy, but it’s doable. Are you sure we all need to do this? Do you need anyone to stay behind?”

“The four of us are going,” Max said, gesturing to include Julianne, Zeke and Brody. “And the three dogs. That’s nonnegotiable.”

“Okay, I’ll have my deputies on the ground, surrounding the area as backup. You, Zeke and Julianne will have to drop in carrying your dogs.” Brody flashed a reassuring smile at Max. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, especially since your team has done this before.”

“We have.” Julianne glanced down at Thunder, glad to have him as her partner. She depended on the animal to back her up, sensing danger the way he had outside of Rusty’s. Besides, she needed Thunder’s evidence-retrieving expertise in following Jake’s scent so they could find him. She’d stuffed the bag containing Jake’s shirt into her small backpack so they’d have it within the compound.

“When are we going airborne? Soon?” Zeke was clearly anxious to get going.

“Yeah.” Max nodded, glancing up at the sky. “Dusk isn’t as good as going in at night, but since we have everything ready to go, I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Good.” Julianne was relieved, she didn’t particularly want to wait, either.

Time was their enemy.

* * *

Brody helped Julianne into the chopper, wishing there was a way to convince her to stay behind, far away from the heart of danger. Logically, he knew she was a well-trained, capable FBI agent, but on a personal level, he couldn’t stand the idea of anything happening to her.

The only good part of this entire scenario was that he’d be down there, with her. Close at hand if she needed backup.

If he were honest, he’d admit that she was the main reason he’d insisted on coming along in the first place. He figured between him and Thunder, they’d keep her safe.

He assisted Julianne with her harness. Thunder was remarkably calm despite being airborne in a noisy chopper. Clearly they had done this before.

For the first time since seeing Julianne again, he wondered what it would be like to have a K-9 partner. He’d always thought the animals were a bit overrated, but after the way Thunder had alerted them to the impending danger, he realized he hadn’t given the four-legged officers enough credit.

Their skills were amazing.

Clearly, Julianne had done well for herself. It hurt to realize that leaving him had been the right thing for her to do, in so many ways.

And he only had himself to blame.

At the time, he’d been determined to keep searching for Lilly, not just because Nate asked him to, but because he wanted to prove to Julianne that she was wrong.

He hadn’t anticipated she’d turn her back on him and walk away.

He shook off the troublesome thoughts. Glancing at Julianne, he gave her a thumbs-up. The rotors of the chopper were too loud to allow conversation, although they could communicate through their headsets. The only problem was that everyone on board could hear what they said to each other.

Maybe once this was over, they’d have time to speak privately and finally put the past to rest.

“ETA five minutes.” The pilot’s voice came through the intercom.

Their mission was a go. Brody edged over to the door, filled with a sense of urgency fueled by adrenaline. This was it. They’d be jumping two at a time. He and Julianne would go first, followed by Max and Zeke.

Julianne bent down and lifted Thunder into her arms. The dog’s front paws went over her shoulders and she held his hindquarters firmly against her. Brody secured the strap, holding the dog in place. With a brief nod, he pushed the door open. Holding up his hand he counted down from five.

Four. Three. Two. One.

Julianne and Thunder went first; he jumped shortly thereafter.

The most difficult part of the mission was to make sure they landed in the appropriate spot. Getting their chute tangled up in the trees would be catastrophic.

Brody concentrated on steering his parachute in the appropriate direction. Julianne was directly in front of him. Thunder didn’t bark or growl during the parachute ride, which was reassuring.

The ground rushed up to meet them and when a gust of wind hit hard, he cranked on the leads to stay on course.

His heart thundered in his chest. What if Julianne didn’t have the strength to make the adjustment?

He dropped onto the twenty-by-twenty landing spot, his left knee jarring a bit from the force of his feet meeting the earth. He didn’t waste a second, but quickly gathered the parachute into a ball, ducking out of the way to make more room as Julianne and Thunder descended, landing a few feet away.

He found himself thanking God for their safety, despite the fact that he hadn’t prayed in a long time.

Without speaking, he shucked his harness. Then he stepped forward to assist Julianne and Thunder. Holding his weapon ready, he led the way to the side of the clearing and took shelter behind the largest tree. There was a faint path through the woods, leading to what he assumed must be the house.

The structure wasn’t easy to see because the dark wood blended in with the surrounding foliage.

“Do you think they heard the chopper?” Julianne asked, coming up to stand beside him.

“Probably. I’m hoping whoever is here assumes that the chopper belongs to the Red River Army Base. It’s roughly sixty miles to the east and it’s not uncommon for choppers to come and go.” Brody returned his gaze to the path. “How many guards do you expect?”

Julianne shrugged. “Four or five on the outside, but I’m sure there are a lot more inside.”

He scowled, realizing he should have asked more questions about the Duprees and what they were capable of. He didn’t like being outnumbered.

Having deputies surrounding the compound wouldn’t be very helpful if they couldn’t get inside.

Soft thuds signaled the arrival of Max, Opal, Zeke and Cheetah. Five minutes later, they came over to join them.

“We’ll split up,” Max directed. “Julianne, I want you and Kenner to go in from the right. Zeke and I will cross over to cover the other side.”

It was on the tip of Brody’s tongue to ask that Julianne stay back with Zeke while he and Max went in first, but he managed to hold back.

With four to five outside guards, it probably didn’t matter one way or the other.

He and Julianne gave Zeke and Max time to make their way around the property so they could approach the house from the other side. After an excruciating ten minutes, he nodded at Julianne.

“Our turn.”

He crept along the path, moving silently through the brush. Julianne and Thunder covered his back.

When they’d gone about fifty feet, he paused and took out a pair of binoculars. The structure was closer now, just another forty to fifty yards away.

He caught a glimpse of one guard near the front door. If there were others, they were too well hidden for him to see. But he suspected there was at least one more, patrolling the perimeter.

“Found one,” he whispered, handing her the binoculars. “At the door. He’s not even trying to hide, but maybe there are others.”

Julianne handed the glasses back to him. “Seems awfully quiet. I expected the chopper to garner some attention.”

Brody didn’t disagree. Even if the guards assumed the chopper belonged to the army base, which was located near the border of Texas and Arkansas, wouldn’t they at least come out to make certain?

“Ready?” He looked at Julianne who nodded. “Let’s go.”

He shook off a wave of apprehension and moved forward. They covered another twenty yards, the house now dangerously close, when he signaled for her to wait.

Raising the binoculars again, he could see the single guard near the front door as clearly as if the guy were standing right in front of him. He was dressed in army green, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, but he also lounged against the wall of the house as if he were bored out of his mind.

Something about this wasn’t right. He took his time, carefully checking the vicinity for others who might be hiding nearby.

Nothing.

Could this Dupree guy Julianne was tracking be that arrogant? Did he really think the thick woods and the fence offered him enough protection?

If so, maybe this wouldn’t be as dangerous as Brody had feared.

With the guy leaning up against the wall, he couldn’t go in to take him from behind. But Brody could rush him, bringing him down before he had a chance to pull his weapon.

“I’ll take the guy at the door,” he said using the mic to make sure Max and Zeke knew the plan. “I need everyone else to keep alert in case there are other guards who may come running.”

“Roger,” Max replied. Julianne simply nodded and moved a few feet ahead, putting herself and Thunder in position.

With stealthy precision Brody moved from one tree to the next, coming up on the guy’s right-hand side. The gun was slung over his right arm, so Brody had to assume he was a lefty.

He rushed the guard, hitting him hard and taking him to the ground with a muffled thump. He pressed the guy’s face into the earth so that he couldn’t shout for assistance. But it didn’t matter because within seconds the front door swung open and a second guard appeared in the doorway, his weapon pointed directly at the spot where he’d left Julianne.

Crack! Crack!

Two shots echoed through the trees. Brody’s heart slammed to an abrupt stop in his chest. The guard in the doorway fell backward into the house from the force of Julianne’s shot.

Brody yanked on the guard’s arms, pulling them behind his back to cuff him when more gunfire rang out. The guard tried to head-butt him, so he was forced to hit back, knocking him unconscious. Then he finished tying the guy’s wrists behind his back and his ankles together so the guy couldn’t escape.

When he rose to his feet, he saw that Max, Zeke and Julianne were huddled near the front door. Unfortunately, it looked as if the gunfire had been exchanged both ways; there was a bit of blood on Zeke’s arm and two guards, he’d been right about one patrolling the perimeter, were dead, leaving only one to question once they’d cleared the house. Max and Zeke quickly took control of the fallen guard’s weapons.

“Ready to go inside?” Max asked in a low, urgent tone. “I’ll take the lead.”

Julianne nodded and pulled out the same evidence bag she’d used earlier that day, the one with Jake Morrow’s shirt inside. She opened the bag. Thunder buried his nose inside, taking his time to imprint the scent.

“Find Jake.”

Thunder put his nose to the ground, but Julianne kept her hand on his collar, giving him a hand signal of some sort. The dog stood at her side, his nose twitching with the need to follow the scent.

Max approached the door first, taking the right side. Zeke came up on the left. After a moment they both disappeared inside, each heading in opposite directions.

Julianne stepped up to the doorway, following Max. Brody didn’t like being separated from her, but took the left, following Zeke and Cheetah.

The house was plush, with at least a dozen different rooms, but there was no sign of a captured agent.

In fact, there wasn’t anyone at all. Other than the three guards they’d taken care of, the place was empty.

* * *

Julianne couldn’t believe that Angus Dupree and his henchmen had gotten away. Frustrated, she let go of Thunder’s collar. “Find, Thunder. Find Jake.”

Her partner went to work, nose to the floor, instantly alerting in the main living area. But then he kept going, down the hallway to one of the bedrooms, where he alerted again.

In the kitchen. The bathroom. Another bedroom.

Thunder found evidence of Jake in nearly every room in the entire house.

“He was here,” Julianne said, glancing at Zeke. “Probably recently. We must have just missed them.”

“Julianne, come look at this,” Max called from one of the back bedrooms.

“What did you find?”

His expression was grim. “Blood. Fresh blood along the side of the desk chair.”

She sucked in a harsh breath. “Thunder, heel.”

The dog bounded to her side.

“Find Jake,” she repeated. He’d already alerted in this room, but over by the side of the bed, not the desk.

Thunder put his nose to the floor, sniffing along the edge of the desk. When he got to the side where the blood was, he alerted again.

“We’ll need to test the blood to match Jake’s DNA, but according to Thunder it’s likely his.” She glanced around the room. “Maybe this is where they kept him locked up, either at the desk or on the bed.”

“That’s the picture I’m getting.” Max opened the desk drawers, but they were empty.

Julianne went down on her knees to look under the bed. A flash of silver caught her eye. “Thunder, find Jake.”

The dog crawled on his belly beneath the bed, emerging a moment later with something in his mouth. Julianne gently pried it out of his jaw.

“What is it?” Max asked.

Zeke and Brody came into the bedroom. Zeke took one look at the item she held in her hand and asked, “Where did you find that?”

“Under the bed.” She looked at the heavy silver watch. “Do you recognize it?”

Zeke paled, his expression full of anguish as he nodded. “It belongs to Jake.”

“How do you know?”

Zeke took the watch and turned it over. “See here? I had it engraved.”

J: Proud to be your brother—Z.

She swallowed hard, handing the watch back to Zeke. “The evidence proves Jake was here.”

“Yeah, but where is he now?” Zeke demanded, jamming his fingers through his hair. “And what’s with the blood? Are they torturing him in order to make him talk?”

Julianne shook her head, feeling helpless. She didn’t know where Dupree had taken Jake, or why there was blood on the edge of the desk.

The news didn’t bode well for Jake’s safety.

And worse, they were back to square one.

FOUR

“Okay, now what?” Zeke demanded, staring at Max. “You must have some idea of what our next move should be. We have to find Jake before Dupree kills him.”

Brody remained silent, feeling the same frustration as the rest of the FBI team. The loss of their agent was clearly taking a toll, especially on Jake’s half brother. Zeke looked mad enough to take on the world.

He couldn’t blame the guy. He’d feel the same way in his shoes.

“We need an evidence team to come in and sweep this place, make sure we haven’t missed anything,” Max said. “And we’ll take the guard into custody, see if we can get him to talk.”

Zeke scowled. “You’re assuming he knows something worth telling us.”

“Zeke.” Julianne rested a hand on the newest agent’s arm in an attempt to calm him. “At this point, we’ll take every bit of information we can get. Have faith, we’ll find your brother.”

Brody knew that Julianne’s faith was strong, while his had wavered over the years. Once again, he hated the idea that she was clearly better off without him. Their disagreement over Lilly’s disappearance as well as her bluntly negative opinion of Nate, had created a rift between them wider than the Mississippi River. Besides, as much as he felt bad for the FBI’s missing agent, he had a bigger problem to contend with.

Finding Nate Otwell and the gunman who’d assisted his escape.

“We’d better get outside,” Brody interjected. “We’ll need to get the guard airlifted out of here, along with the rest of us.”

“Yeah.” Max jammed his fingers through his short blond hair before turning and heading back through the house, Opal at his side.

The two guards they’d been forced to shoot in self-defense were of course lying where they’d left them. But when Brody looked over to the side of the house where he’d tied up the guard he’d bound and left unconscious, the guy was nowhere to be found.

“Where did he go?” Zeke demanded.

Good question. Looking closer, Brody noticed that one of the dead guards’ bodies had been disturbed. Had the guy managed to roll over here to get access to a knife? “I bound his wrists and his ankles, but he may have managed to get ahold of a knife. Still, he couldn’t have gone far.”

“Let’s see if any of the dogs can pick up his scent,” Max instructed.

Julianne took Thunder over to the spot on the ground where the bound guard had been. She pointed with her finger. “Find, Thunder. Find.”

Thunder took his time sniffing the area, then trotted off toward an area of dense brush, where the branches were broken as if someone had recently barged through.

“We’ll go in at another angle,” Max said.

Brody battled a wave of guilt as he followed Julianne and Thunder. He wanted desperately to find this guy. If the guard managed to escape, it would be his fault.

Just like Nate’s return to his criminal past was. If he hadn’t gone into the army...but he had.

So far, he hadn’t exactly been much of an asset to Julianne and Max’s case. Granted, the FBI agents had also searched the fallen guards for weapons, but he still felt responsible.

Thunder stopped for a moment, alerting on the base of a tree. Brody wondered if the guard had paused there to catch his breath.

“Good boy,” Julianne praised. “Keep going, Thunder.” She opened a bag of leaves for him to sniff. “Find.”

In the brief moment of silence, the sound of a tree branch cracking echoed loudly. Brody instantly spun north. Thunder reacted at the same time, heading in the same direction from where the sound had come.

Brody clung protectively close to Julianne. She wasn’t his responsibility anymore, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. She was still important to him, even after all this time.

He didn’t see how the guard could have gotten ahold of a gun, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances. For all he knew, they had weapons stashed somewhere on the property.

Sure enough, a loud boom echoed through the air, something hitting a tree branch above their heads. He jerked her arm, covering her body with his. “Get down.”

Julianne dropped to her knees as he fired back, hoping to make the guard seek cover. He knew very well Max and Zeke wanted to capture the guard alive, in order to question him.

There was more movement in the trees off to the east, and Brody was hopeful that Max and Zeke were also hot on the guy’s trail.

“Get up,” Julianne whispered, pushing him out of the way so she could stand. “We need to keep going, to help box him in.”

Brody didn’t want her anywhere near this guy, but he held his tongue. Silently, he prayed for God to keep them all safe.

Another boom rent the air, followed closely by a second shot. He instinctively stepped in front of Julianne, but there was no indication the bullet had come in their direction.

“I hit him,” Zeke shouted. “Fetch, Cheetah!”

He headed toward the sounds of Julianne’s teammates. By the time they reached the guard lying on the ground, the other two FBI agents and their K-9 partners were already there.

“He’s dead,” Max said in a grim tone. “Shot in the head.”

“I didn’t aim to kill,” Zeke protested. “See the wound in his thigh? That was where I hit him.”

“Then what happened?” Julianne demanded.

Max slowly rose to his feet. “Looks like he shot himself in the head, rather than risk being captured.”

For several long moments, they all simply stood there as the grim reality sank deep.

What kind of power did Dupree wield over his men that this guard would rather shoot himself than allowing himself to be interrogated?

And what did that say about Jake Morrow’s ability to get out of this mess alive?

* * *

The next morning, Julianne woke up feeling groggy. They hadn’t gotten out of Dupree’s house until well after midnight. Brody would be there around nine to pick her up for breakfast, so she dragged herself upright, smiling as Thunder simply lifted his head without moving from his place on the floor next to her bed.

“Come on, Thunder, we have more work to do.”

Her foxhound slowly rose and stretched languorously. Then he trotted over to the door, looking at her over his shoulder as if to say hurry up, already.

After snapping on his leash, she took him outside the small motel she and Max were staying in. Once Thunder took care of business and she finished cleaning up after him, she returned indoors. She filled Thunder’s food and water bowls then quickly took a shower and dressed in a clean casual uniform, khaki pants and a short sleeved polo with the K-9 logo on the upper left pocket.

At 0900 hours, she and Thunder stepped outside the motel room at the exact same moment Brody pulled his SUV into a parking space a few spots down from her doorway. When Brody slid out from behind the wheel, dressed sharply in his brown sheriff’s uniform, she was reminded that a big part of the reason she hadn’t slept well had been because she’d been taunted by memories of how close they’d once been.

Of how much she’d once loved him.

Before he’d pushed her away, choosing to stay here in Clover supposedly to help his buddy Nate Otwell find Lilly, instead of joining the FBI academy with her. Brody had refused to consider the possibility that Nate had something to do with Lilly’s disappearance, focusing instead on the runaway angle.

It still hurt that Brody hadn’t put any faith in her opinion. That he hadn’t trusted her. He and Nate had been best friends since their juvie days, but hadn’t their relationship meant more to him?

Obviously not.

Over and done with, she reminded herself. Sure, she cared about what happened to him the same way she cared about all of her friends in law enforcement, but that was it. Nothing more.

So why was her heart thumping wildly in her chest every time he came near?

Memories, that’s why. Julianne took a deep breath, and remained where she was, forcing Brody to come toward her.

“How are you?” he asked, his blue eyes raking over her as if she’d been injured.

She flushed, far too aware of his penetrating gaze. Granted, she had a few bruises from the activity the night before, but nothing serious. Zeke had been the one who’d been grazed by a bullet. Thankfully, his injury was nothing more than a flesh wound.

“Fine.” She willed her heart rate to return to normal, glancing over to the room next to hers. “When we’re finished Max wants to debrief.”

Brody shook his head. “There’s no time. I received a call from dispatch while I was on my way over. We have a report of bloody towels left behind in a motel room, a place called the Broke Spoke Motel. It’s off Highway T about twenty miles from here.”

“From our injured gunman?” she asked, trying to rein in her excitement. This would be a huge help: the towels would hopefully provide a decent scent for Thunder.

“It’s possible,” Brody agreed. “I figured you’d want to come with me to check it out.”

“Absolutely.” She didn’t hesitate for a second. The guy had already tried to kill her twice; the sooner they could get hot on his trail, the better. “Just give me a minute to let Max know we’re leaving.”

Brody gave Thunder a pat on the head, then fell into step beside her as she crossed over to rap on Max’s door. After a few minutes, Max greeted them. “Come in. As soon as Zeke arrives, we’ll start.”

“Actually, we can’t stay. Brody has a lead on the gunman.”

Max raised a brow. “That’s good news.”

“We’re going to head over to check it out, but I also need to know the status on my replacement vehicle.” She felt bad asking, knowing that headquarters wouldn’t be too happy about losing a car, but it was hardly her fault she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Max grimaced. “I’m working on it. The office in Houston isn’t thrilled, but they’ve agreed to provide something for you during the duration of your stay here in Clover.”

“Good. Any idea when I’ll be able to get the keys?” It wasn’t so much that she needed her own set of wheels, but she was desperate to avoid spending too much one-on-one time with Brody. Working this closely to him only reminded her of how much she’d lost when they’d broken up.

How much his refusal to choose her over Nate still hurt.

“Zeke and I can pick it up later today when we drop off the evidence we’ve gathered so far,” Max said. “The Houston office is going to ship everything we have to the lab in Quantico.”

“Would you be willing to send my evidence, too?” Brody asked. “Our state lab is severely backed up, and I need all the help I can get to find my escapee and the gunman who assisted in breaking him out.”

Max shrugged. “Sure, why not? Julianne is a witness, so finding them helps our team, as well.”

“Great, give me a minute and I’ll bring everything in.”

Brody left to return to his car, leaving Julianne and Max alone for a moment.

“How’s Zeke?” she asked quietly.

“As good as can be expected.” Max watched Brody, then turned toward her. “If you need help with Kenner, let me know.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry, I can handle him.”

“Yeah, well hurry up and put this case to rest, okay? In the meantime, I’ll work with Zeke and Dylan to see if we can come up with additional information. I’m hoping that identifying the guards at Dupree’s compound will give us something to go on.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Julianne stepped aside, giving Brody room to hand off the evidence he wanted processed.

When he’d finished, she and Thunder accompanied him to the SUV.

Silence thickened as the vehicle rolled along the highway. Julianne had hoped to avoid rehashing the past, but it seemed there wasn’t much else to discuss.

“Did you ever find out what happened to Lilly Ramos?” she finally asked, bringing up the one subject that had started the rift in their relationship.

Brody’s expression hardened, and he shook his head. “No. I’ve kept her on our list of missing persons, but everyone else in this town believes she up and ran away.”

Julianne scowled. “You know as well as I do that Lilly wouldn’t have run away without telling me. We were best friends, Brody. The four of us—me, you, Nate and Lilly. We double-dated all the time. What possible reason did she have to take off without leaving so much as a note?”

Brody blew out his breath in a heavy sigh. “I don’t know. Lilly disappeared six months before graduation, and I’m confident Nate didn’t go back to his old ways until I left him here alone, to join the army, which was eight months after we graduated.”

Julianne didn’t necessarily agree. “You really think that Nate returned to his life of crime because you weren’t here to keep him on the straight and narrow?”

“Yeah, I do.” Brody’s blunt tone contained a hard edge.

“So you think Nate’s crimes are your fault.” Couldn’t he see how wrong that was?

“Not exactly,” he reluctantly admitted. “He chose to hang out with the old crowd. Partially because I wasn’t here. But maybe because he wanted easy money, too.”

She could easily believe that—Nate Otwell had always seemed to prefer looking for quicker ways to make a buck, rather than working hard to get what he wanted. Hadn’t she warned Lilly that Nate might not be as nice as he seemed?

But Lilly hadn’t listened, claiming she loved him. Then she disappeared. Brody believed Lilly’s parents when they claimed their daughter had researched Houston on her computer, that she’d run away rather than telling Nate they were through. But Julianne still thought that Nate had something to do with Lilly’s disappearance. Either their friend had found out something about Nate and had run off, or she’d told him they were over, and Nate didn’t like it, finding a way to shut her up for good.

No point rehashing the past, she told herself sternly. Right now, she needed to stay focused on finding Otwell. And the gunman.

The Broke Spoke Motel was a completely run-down establishment sitting right off to the east of the highway. Julianne had no problem believing that the injured gunman had been able to get a room without anyone asking any questions. It appeared the motel catered to a rough crowd.

The vacancy sign in the window was lit up, and Julianne was grateful she had a better place to stay. Not that the Clover Inn was a four-star motel by any means, but this place barely ranked one star.

And even that was being kind.

She slid out of the passenger seat and went around to open the back to let Thunder out. After snapping on his leash, she rounded the vehicle to join Brady.

“What do you have?” she asked, noticing the evidence bag in his hand.

“I stopped by the jail to get one of Nate’s T-shirts,” Brody explained. “I know you have that bit of cloth from the gunman, but I’m hoping Thunder can prove that Nate and the assailant are together.”

“Good idea.” Julianne had the bag with the bit of cloth Thunder had brought back after chasing the gunman. She opened the bag and held it out for Thunder.

“Find, Thunder. Find.”

Thunder buried his snout in the bag for a moment, then wheeled around to put his nose to the ground. Julianne let her partner take the lead as he followed a trail toward the line of motel rooms that only he could see. Or smell.

Thunder sniffed along the base of the motel room doors, coming to an abrupt stop at room number six. He walked back and forth, jerked his head to the side, scratched at the ground then sat down on his rump right in front of the door.

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