Cooper's Choice, page 17
“Yeah.” Acting on impulse, Mia hugged the female cop. “I’ll miss you. Take care of yourself.”
“You too.” Felicia hugged her back, then turned away. “Be safe, Mia.”
Mia sank into the chair and stared at the four walls surrounding her. She had no idea how long it would take for the new marshal to arrive, and she reminded herself that patience was a virtue.
But she soon found that sitting and waiting all alone was worse than she could have imagined. In the short time she and Cooper had been together, she’d grown accustomed to his presence beside her. Not that he was a chatty man by any stretch of the imagination, but she still missed him.
Deep down, she knew her heart would always belong to Cooper Orchard.
“Cooper? Are you listening to me?” Hailey’s tone was light and teasing. “Or are you still fixated on your girlfriend?”
He pulled himself together with an effort, eyeing Hailey and Rock who were seated across from him. Hailey and Rock had insisted on taking him out to lunch, and he’d agreed, even though he knew he should be working.
One sketch, even with a nice tip, didn’t come close to making up for the days he’d lost.
Yet it wasn’t every day a guy met up with his long-lost sister. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Yeah, so you keep saying.” Hailey smirked, but then frowned. “What is going on anyway? What danger is she in?”
He tried to come up with an answer that was vague yet satisfying enough that Hailey and Rock would drop it. Although learning Rock was a Park Ranger made him realize his law enforcement instincts would make it difficult to let this go.
“Mia’s story isn’t mine to tell,” he said solemnly. “Suffice it to say, she’s only in danger because she did the right thing in coming forward to report a crime. And it doesn’t matter now, she’s safe at the Gatlinburg police station. I’m sure the FBI has already come to pick her up.”
“The FBI?” Hailey echoed. “That sounds big time.”
“She must be a federal witness,” Rock added. “Let me guess, WITSEC?”
Cooper sighed. “As I said, it’s her story to tell and the less you both know, the better. Bad enough she nearly lost her life.” He truly didn’t want to talk about Mia. It was painful enough to know she was already out of reach.
Forever.
His chest tightened to the point he couldn’t breathe. Dear Lord, what had he done?
“I know Sergeant Kellen,” Rock said. “He’s a decent cop and a good guy.”
Cooper nodded. “Yeah, he seems to be on top of things.”
“Cooper, look at me.” Hailey leaned forward, her gaze drilling into his. “If you care about Mia, then you should go and be with her.”
“It’s not that easy.” He forced himself to scan the menu, although he wasn’t very hungry. Then he set it aside. “Tell me about Sawyer and Darby. What are they doing?”
“You’re changing the subject,” Hailey said with a sigh. “Sawyer is a cop in Chattanooga, and Darby lives in Knoxville with her fiancé and their son, Leo.”
“Sawyer’s a cop? Darby has a son? Wow.” He shook his head and grinned. “That sounds wonderful for both of them.” And made him feel like a bit of a failure.
“Sawyer is engaged too,” Hailey confided. She glanced at Rock. “We’re getting married mid-October in the church across the street from where you were sketching today. We would love to have you join us.”
“I’d be honored.” He was honestly happy for the both of them, they looked great together. He found it curious that Hailey and Rock were getting married in a church but didn’t ask.
“You really haven’t heard from Trent lately?” Hailey asked. “Sawyer mentioned how the two of you took off on your own, years ago.”
“We did, yes.” He flushed, then said honestly, “Sawyer was bossy, kept telling us what to do. Trent really didn’t like it, and I decided to stick with him. I guess it makes sense now that I know Sawyer became a cop.”
“Yeah, and a good one,” Hailey said defensively. “He broke up a sex-trafficking ring in Chattanooga and saved his fiancé Naomi’s life. But I know he was worried about you, Cooper. He’ll be thrilled to know you’re alive and well. Unfortunately, I’m bummed we don’t know where Trent is.”
“I’m sure Trent is fine. He plays guitar for the Jimmy Woodrow Band, so that’s probably keeping him busy.” At least, he hoped so. Cooper took a long drink of his water. “Hard to believe that Jayme and Caitlyn are the only fosters that we haven’t seen or heard from.”
“I know. Sawyer has been trying to find them, but no luck so far.” Hailey’s expression was troubled. “Do you know what Trent is using for a last name? That may help us find him.”
“Trent Atkins. Apparently, he remembered his real last name, unlike me.” The early years of his life were nothing but a blur. It was only his time with the Preacher that he remembered with stark clarity. Despite how much he’d rather forget. He managed a grim smile. “I made mine up, but we both have driver’s licenses and IDs.”
“Trent Atkins,” Hailey repeated. “That’s a place to start. And don’t feel bad, my ID is fake too.” He had to smile at how Rock grimaced at that. “Sawyer will be very glad to have Trent’s information. We’ve been hoping the others are alive and well.”
“Yeah.” He understood what Hailey meant. In some ways it was a miracle they’d survived at all. Living on the streets hadn’t been easy, worse so, he guessed, for the girls. He and Trent had dodged their share of predators, using teamwork to get away relatively unscathed. He could only imagine what Hailey, Darby, Jayme, and Caitlyn had faced.
It shamed him to realize that he hadn’t tried to find any of them. Sure, he’d thought about them at times, but that was it. Apparently, his selfishness knew no bounds. Looking out for himself was understandable in the beginning, but now that he was twenty-six years old, it made him feel petty.
“I should have done more.” The words popped out of his mouth before he could call them back.
“Cooper, don’t.” Hailey reached across the table to touch his arm. “I know you’re thinking about what may have happened to the others, but there’s no sense in thinking the worst. We survived, there’s every reason to believe they did as well.”
“Yeah.” He forced a smile. “I’ll try to remember that.”
“Now, about Mia.” Hailey sat back in her seat. “You must have a way to contact her, right?”
“No.” And suddenly the thought of never seeing her again filled him with panic. “Listen, I need to go.”
“Go where?” Hailey demanded. “Can’t you finish your lunch first?”
“No. I’ll try to find you later, or you can find me. I’m usually working the sidewalk in tourist season.” He jumped to his feet, grabbed his knapsack, and quickly threaded his way through the tables.
A sense of urgency hit him hard. What if he was too late? Why had he waited so long? What if she was already gone? He knew it was highly likely she’d already been taken someplace safe by the FBI.
Would Kellen or Zurich know more? Was he crazy to try and find Mia? And to what end? There was no way for this to work out between them. Mia absolutely needed to be safe from Junior.
Unless . . . he gulped and dodged a group of tourists. Was he really going to give up his life, his foster family to go into WITSEC?
Everything inside him recoiled from that thought, but at the same time, he knew Mia was an important part of his life.
Maybe even the most important part.
Sitting across from Hailey, watching the casual intimacy between her and Rock, had touched a nerve. It was exactly the sort of relationship he’d had with Mia. Simply being with her had been like a balm to his soul.
Her kisses were intense and overwhelming, like nothing he’d ever experienced before, which sounded crazy since he and Trent had once prided themselves on dating one woman right after the other.
And most importantly, Mia’s faith and relationship with God, something he’d found oddly comforting yet elusive.
He sincerely cared about his foster siblings. Hailey, Sawyer, Trent, Darby, Jayme, and Caitlyn—seeing them again was something he’d never allowed himself to even consider, much less dream about. Especially Trent. He missed his brother, more than he could say.
But Mia . . . his chest ached so much he almost doubled over in pain. He called himself all kinds of a fool as he lightly jogged on his already sore feet, his backpack digging into his shoulders as he took one street, then the next. He searched for every back road that would keep him away from prying eyes while reaching the police station as quickly as possible.
When he caught a glimpse of a police car through the trees, he stopped, instinctively seeking cover. It was a Gatlinburg police cruiser, but it was just sitting there, doing nothing. The car engine wasn’t running, which he thought was strange. How could the cop behind the wheel give chase upon catching someone speeding or breaking some other law?
He rested against a tree trunk, unable to take his gaze from the squad. It wasn’t as if a cop would have parked it there to walk to a nearby restaurant for lunch.
No, something about the police car was off. And he thought about the Gatlinburg police car that he’d seen driving through Pigeon Forge.
The same one? If so, why?
Cooper didn’t want to believe he was imagining things. He decided to get a bit closer, to see if someone was behind the wheel. If the squad was empty because the officer had gone off to check something, then fine. He’d move on his merry way.
The knapsack was unwieldy, but he couldn’t make himself leave it behind. Staying low, he drew from his former skills of evasion to ease silently from one tree to the next. He made sure not to draw any attention to himself, and the good thing about his pack was that it was olive green, blending nicely into the forest.
There. He sank to his knees, peering at the squad. There was absolutely someone sitting behind the wheel. Doing what? He had no clue.
It occurred to Cooper that the cop could be simply on break, maybe catching a quick nap. Not all cops were like Sawyer, who he knew with absolute certainty would never sleep on the job.
Then the figure behind the wheel moved. Okay, so not asleep.
Waiting for someone? The dark head behind the wheel moved from one side to the other. Yeah, it seemed like the only explanation.
Cooper wanted to get close enough to get a look at the cop. If he could see the guy’s profile, he felt certain he’d be able to match the image with the man he’d seen in Pigeon Forge.
And if they were one and the same, he’d call Officer Zurich. Or Sergeant Kellen.
He reluctantly eased the pack off his back. Getting closer was a risk, he didn’t need his knapsack to trip him up. But he took a moment to dig out his phone. It was only charged to 15%. Great.
After assessing his surroundings, Cooper decided on the best path forward. He needed to be parallel to the passenger side window. The driver’s side was facing the road, so getting close there wasn’t an option.
Leaving his pack behind the tree, Cooper slithered through the brush on his belly, moving with excruciating slowness. This part of being on the run he hadn’t missed, although he hadn’t forgotten how to stay hidden. He thought about how much Mia had hated the time they’d spent in the woods. The memory of how upset she’d been at eating a bug made him smile.
When he judged he was close enough, he edged up onto his knees, peering through the bushes. The person behind the wheel was facing his driver’s side window, making it impossible for Cooper to see his profile.
The scrub of facial hair along the guy’s jaw indicated the cop was a man.
Come on, come on, he silently urged. Face the front. Or better yet, turn to look this way, toward me.
He waited for what seemed like forever before the guy swung his gaze around in his direction. Cooper froze, his heart lodging in his throat when he saw the man’s face.
Same guy who was driving through Pigeon Forge. He was certain of it.
But he didn’t dare move, not even to slap a mosquito buzzing in his face. The cop appeared to be alert, clearly looking for something.
Or someone.
Mia? Ice congealed in his blood.
After another twenty agonizing seconds, the guy turned to look out the windshield. Cooper didn’t hesitate to ease back down so that he was once again lying on his stomach. Despite having his phone, he inched backward through the brush until he was out of the cop’s line of sight.
If the guy in there really was a cop. Cooper had no way of knowing for sure.
When he reached his backpack, he finally pulled out his phone. He called Felicia Zurich first, but his call went straight to voice mail. Was she finally sleeping? Probably.
He swallowed hard and called 911. Then he hung up before the call could go through. What if the guy in the squad had his radio on? Would he hear the 911 call? Cooper wasn’t sure how it worked, but he wasn’t about to bank his life on it.
Or Mia’s.
Hadn’t Sergeant Kellen given him a card? He quickly dug through his knapsack but came up empty-handed.
Okay, he couldn’t afford to waste any more time. He’d have to get past this cop and into the police station as quickly as humanly possible.
Oh yeah, and without getting caught.
He turned to retrace his steps. After purposefully using back roads, he now decided he was better going on the main highway.
And why hadn’t he taken Hailey’s or Rock’s phone numbers? Because he was an idiot, that’s why.
When Cooper decided he was far enough away from the parked squad, he looped the backpack over his shoulders and picked up his pace. He wanted that cop to stay right where he was until Sergeant Kellen could verify the guy was legit.
Ten minutes later, he was at the police station. He quickly went inside. “I need to talk to Sergeant Kellen right away.”
The woman behind the desk didn’t bat an eye. “He’s busy.”
“This is important.” Cooper took a step toward her. “Please, I know he’s probably meeting with the FBI about Mia, but there’s a cop parked along the side of the building that I saw earlier today in Pigeon Forge. Please, call him. I promise this won’t take long.”
The woman sighed and picked up her phone. Cooper could only hear her side of the conversation, brief as it was.
“Yes, sir, I’ll send him through.” The woman replaced the receiver and held out her hand. “I need to search your knapsack.”
“How about I leave it here?” He didn’t want to waste another moment. The cop could already have moved on.
“No, how about you let me search it to make sure you’re not carrying a bomb?” She wiggled her fingers. “Now, please.”
He handed her the knapsack, tapping his foot impatiently as she methodically searched it. Without a word, she handed it back. “You should be glad Sergeant Kellen is willing to see you. He’s waiting in Interview A.”
The same room he and Mia had been in earlier. The room where the walls had begun to close in on him, giving him the same feeling of claustrophobia that he’d experienced while being locked in the Preacher’s cellar.
There was no time to worry about that now. “Thanks.” He went through the door and quickly found the room. He was shocked to see Mia was still there, but he didn’t bother to ask about the delay. “Sergeant Kellen? There’s an officer sitting in a squad along the east side of the building. The car is not running, and the driver is the same man I saw driving the Gatlinburg police car in Pigeon Forge.”
The news made Kellen frown. “I heard about that from Zurich. Did you get a plate number?”
“No.” Cooper bit back a wave of frustration. “But I can show you where he is.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Kellen rose and strode to the door.
“Wait!” Mia jumped up. “I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not,” Cooper said sharply. “You need to stay here where it’s safe.”
“I’m coming,” she insisted. “Stop arguing and let’s go.”
Kellen muttered something beneath his breath, and Cooper knew the guy wasn’t happy. “Can’t you make her stay here?” Cooper demanded.
“How? By handcuffing her to the table?” Kellen waved a hand. “She’s not under arrest, so no. Come on, let’s go.”
Cooper was surprised and somewhat confused when Kellen headed out the back. “Do you plan to drive? Or go on foot?”
“On foot.” Kellen glanced at him over his shoulder. “You said he’s sitting to the east of here, right?”
“Yes.” Cooper agreed.
“It’s not that far. You can point me in the right direction.”
“Okay.” Cooper had a bad feeling about this. He hoped the sergeant wasn’t going to just walk up to the car and demand the guy roll down his window.
But Cooper hadn’t given the seasoned cop enough credit. After threading through several squads, the sergeant hunkered down and pulled a pair of binoculars off his belt. For several long moments, he scanned the area.
“Southeast,” Cooper whispered. “There’s a road lined with trees and brush on one side.”
Another pause. “Yeah, okay. I see it.” Kellen peered through the binoculars for a long moment before he lowered the binoculars. His expression appeared to have been carved from stone. “I don’t recognize him. He’s not Officer Huber, that’s for sure.”
Cooper assumed Huber was the officer who should have been behind the wheel. “Do you know where Huber is?”
“No. Although someone should have alerted me if Huber didn’t check in as usual.” Kellen scowled, his expression grim. “Cooper, you get Mia back inside the police station. I need other officers to assist me in taking this guy down.”
A loud crack had Cooper yanking Mia down behind the squad. “Gunfire,” he croaked.
But Kellen was already speaking into his radio, using numerical codes that Cooper didn’t understand, ending with, “Shots fired, repeat, shots fired.”
Cooper curled his body over Mia’s, determined to protect her.
And for the second time in his life, he prayed.
