First Wave, page 13
“Okay then.” She set the duffel down. “How are you both feeling?”
“We might’ve been exposed, but I can’t be sure,” Dakota said.
“Wait.” Dr. Stevens waved a hand. “Exposed?”
Dakota nodded. “To whatever killed Mrs. Johnson.”
“And the dog.” Josh pointed to where the animal lay.
Doctor Stevens blew out a breath, her gaze on the animal. She pulled a phone from her jacket pocket and tapped, then swiped the screen. “I’ll let the vet know. If we have to run tests he may get answers faster than I’m able to. Especially if we’re dealing with a contaminant.”
Dakota led her to the house and showed her the body from the safety of the front porch. “Could be a simple poisoning, the dog maybe getting ahold of whatever it was she ingested.”
Doctor Stevens’ brow furrowed as she studied the body in the hallway. Then she bent and pulled a flashlight from the duffel, which she shone at the dead woman. “What makes you think it’s some kind of pathogen?”
“She coughed.”
It was the first thing out of Dakota’s mouth and the second she said it, she realized how ridiculous it sounded.
Josh to the rescue. “Plus the fact we found a lab at the compound.”
“Yes.” She pointed at Josh in agreement. “That too.”
Doctor Stevens glanced at her. She reached up and touched the back of her hand to Dakota’s forehead. “Your face still hurts?”
She said, “Yep.”
“I’d wager you have a slight fever, also. Did you take the meds I gave you?”
Dakota glanced at her watch. “I might be due for the next dose.” Where had she even put them?
“You should be resting right now, not out here working. But I’m not going to argue with you when I have other things to do.” Doctor Stevens shot Josh a look. “Another stoic federal agent determined not to let on that they’re in serious pain?”
“No, ma’am.” Josh touched a hand to his chest. “Hurts like judgment day over here.”
Doctor Stevens chuckled.
Dakota spun around. “Why didn’t you say something? Go sit down.”
“I will when you do.”
Doctor Stevens said, “Both of you should go take a nap. I’ll call you when I’m done here.”
Dakota didn’t like that idea when it meant leaving someone at an unsecured scene with no law enforcement experience.
Acknowledging their silence, the doctor said, “Okay, I didn’t figure you’d actually do it.” She chuckled and stepped inside the house. “Worth a try.”
Dakota said, “Be careful in there.”
Another vehicle pulled in. Dakota stepped past Josh and down the front walk, purposely not looking at the dead dog on the drive over by the garage.
The vet was gray-haired with rough hands. Josh went with him to the spot where the dog lay. She watched them talk. Saw the reaction on the veterinarian’s face at the sight of a dead dog. The vet felt the loss of an animal like a physical blow.
Dakota glanced back over her shoulder at the front door and could make out Doctor Stevens inside. Professional. Like Victoria, she kept her emotions divorced from her work.
The constant grind helped Dakota tamp down the hot ball of frustration and anger in her stomach. It whirled, slithered like a snake curling into a circle, and threatened to send her breakfast back up. Part of her wanted to know why she even cared about a dog and a dead woman she didn’t know. The other part of her couldn’t get past being tied to that chair.
It was done. She’d survived it just the way she’d survived everything else. And just like every time and with everything else, she was left with anger. Rage, actually, over the fact she’d been helpless. Frustration that she couldn’t fight hard enough to have freed herself before the pain started.
“You don’t look so good.”
Dakota shrugged. “It is what it is.”
He moved to touch her forehead like the doctor had done. Dakota shifted her head and stepped back. He frowned. “Sorry.”
She shook her head. “Don’t make it worse.”
Josh leaned close and spoke low, so only she heard him. “Perhaps if you’re barely hanging on, you should let go. You might be surprised to find that the people around you are here and ready to catch you.”
. . .
She looked at him like he’d grown two heads. Josh sighed. It had been worth a try, at least.
He wasn’t an expert at relying on the people around him. He would much rather be fine on his own. The reality was that most of the time he wasn’t fine, and it wasn’t realistic to try to be either. Eden had encouraged him to share what was on his mind. To find someone to speak to who knew the kinds of things he’d seen and done.
Dakota seemed determined to ignore her feelings. To push aside any attempt he made to sympathize with her, because she didn’t think it worked. Like she thought feelings were a weakness, instead of one of the best parts of living.
Another vehicle pulled onto the property, this time a sheriff’s deputy. The vet had agreed to look over Neema as well, just to make sure she hadn’t come into contact with anything nasty. An older guy, and nice it seemed, who clearly cared about the animals under his care.
Neema stared at him through the window of the car while Josh wandered to meet with the deputy sheriff.
The man retucked his shirt and shook his head as he ambled over. “Feds?”
Dakota called out, “I’m Special Agent Pierce. This is Special Agent Weber.”
Never mind that they were with two different agencies, and she worked with a counter terrorism task force. Right now he did as well, but was that the point?
The deputy didn’t seem all that impressed. “You’re gonna have to explain to me how this isn’t harassment. Cause last I heard, Mr. Johnson didn’t want y’all at his house.”
Josh said, “If you can find him, I’m happy to apologize.”
Dakota came to stand beside him. “I won’t. And not only because he’s probably dead.”
The deputy blustered. “He…what?”
“We’ll let you see for yourself,” Dakota said. “Mrs. Johnson is dead.”
“So is the dog,” Josh said.
“And Mr. Johnson needs to be located.” She waved at the house with a sweep of her hand. “Whether or not he’s still breathing, we have no idea. But we’ll leave finding him up to you. After all, we wouldn’t want to be harassing him.”
Josh bit down on his molars to keep from smiling. The deputy sheriff muttered a string of expletives under his breath and made his way over to the house. “I don’t think you made him happy.”
Dakota shot him a look, a gleam of humor in her eyes. “Not part of my job.”
She really did look like she needed a hug. And a nap.
He sighed instead. He had no idea if Dakota was even attracted to him. But really, how could she be immune? The sparks between them were obvious enough to him.
From the look on her face when he’d nearly kissed her in the hospital, he’d say she knew. But maybe she was in denial about this, the way she was in denial about certain dogs. Maybe that was why she’d stopped him from touching her forehead this last time. Definitely in denial—at least, he hoped.
The deputy strode out, pink-cheeked. “The doc says it looks like poison. Some kind of chemical killed her.”
“Any sign of the husband?”
“Kitchen.”
Josh said, “Dead?”
The deputy nodded, looking a little sick. “Same as the wife.”
“So someone else did this to them?” Josh glanced between the deputy and Dakota, not necessarily looking for an answer.
Dakota said, “I got the vibe the husband might’ve been the kind to snap and hurt his wife. Maybe even kill her. But it’d be a spur of the moment, grab what’s handy. Beat her, or strangle her.”
The deputy swallowed.
“Both of them dying like this, plus the dog, though?” Dakota paused to let her question hang in the air. “They were targeted.”
Josh said, “Getting rid of loose ends?”
“Pretty drastic way to do that. Why not just shoot them?”
If they’d done that, they wouldn’t have had to kill the dog. Josh chewed on it, then said, “So they’re testing a substance, seeing how effective it is. Using it or getting rid of it. Or both.”
“Two birds?”
He shrugged.
“It’s a good idea,” she said. “I’m interested to know what Doctor Stevens comes up with as far as the substance. See if we can trace its source.”
He turned his body to face her. “And it’s what they were working with at the compound?”
She nodded, doing the same so they were face-to-face. “Some kind of drug, or chemical weapon maybe.”
“Excuse me—the compound?” the deputy cut in, his tone incredulous.
“Yeah,” Dakota said. “Clare Norton and her posse.” She pointed at her face, with its patchy purple spots. “The ones who did this to me.” Then she pointed at Josh. “And shot this DEA agent. Any idea where they are?”
The deputy blustered. “They’re God-fearing folks. Live off the land types. Not like bikers or vagabonds, who get their kicks out of breaking the law and hurting good people.”
“Right.” Dakota dragged the word out. “God-fearing or not, we need to know where they are.” She stepped closer to the deputy. “And if I find out you have a way to locate them, or even a clue where they are hiding, and you didn’t share that information with us…” She blew out a breath. “I’ll have you charged with impeding a federal investigation.”
“Now you…” He flapped his mouth open and shut. “Listen here…”
Dakota put one hand up, then drew out her vibrating phone with the other. “One sec.” She stepped away and answered it, the look on her face inordinately pleased at the timing of the call.
Josh studied the deputy. “Any inkling whether Clare and her people have been up to something lately?”
Give or take throwing a grenade at his truck, kidnapping Dakota, shooting him and maybe also killing Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, of course.
The deputy blew out a breath and scratched at his stubble-free chin. “They’re not exactly your run of the mill residents.”
“No bake sales, or church potlucks?”
He didn’t react to that. “I see them at church. And maybe they’re a little rough around the edges, but poison?” He shook his head again.
“Right now we have agents at the compound combing through everything they left behind after Dakota escaped. Do you have any idea where they might’ve gone?”
It was clear enough to Josh they intended to keep what they were doing a secret. But how many others were going to get hurt before this ended? For the first time since he walked up behind Dakota at the orchard on Friday night, Josh didn’t care about going back to his desk. This weekend had been exhausting and painful—not to mention the biggest test of his life so far—and it wasn’t even over.
“I don’t know where they’d go.”
Dakota strode back over, done with her phone call. “I think we might be on track to finding out.”
“Talia?”
“Gotta roll. Time to track down one of Austin’s friends.” She motioned to the house and asked the deputy, “You got this, right?”
“Uh…”
“Great.” She walked away, and Josh figured that was his cue to follow. At the car, she said, “You think I hurt his feelings?”
“I think you blindsided him.” He glanced at the vet, who had already loaded the dead dog into his truck. Then said to Dakota, “Do you have a problem with local law enforcement?”
“Generally, no.” An expression washed over her face, and she shot the deputy a look. It was almost like she was mad at herself. She sighed. “Let’s go find that teen.”
Chapter 16
Dakota shifted in the seat and realized that not only was she back in the car, but she also had fallen asleep. The car was parked in the lot outside the gym, and she was in the passenger seat. Alone.
She moved some more, wincing when her bruises and aching muscles made themselves known. She hardly remembered what feeling “fine” felt like right now, she was so uncomfortable.
Josh stood by a grassy area to the left, his attention half on the front door of the gym and half on his dog. Neema sniffed around the base of a scrawny tree, then squatted.
Dakota shoved the door open and clambered out. Ouch. She tried to walk like her whole body didn’t hurt, all the way to where he stood.
Josh saw her coming. “Hey.” His voice was soft.
She was still pushing away the remnants of sleep when she said, “Hey back at you.”
His lips twitched. “You feel better, then?”
Or she was just off her guard enough she was acting weird. “How long was I asleep?” She looked at her watch. It wasn’t even noon yet. On a Sunday.
“Thirty minutes or so.”
“Why does it seem like that breakfast we had yesterday morning was weeks ago?” She tried to stretch, but it just hurt more than it made her feel better, so she gave up and huffed out a breath.
“I know what you mean.” A smile teased the corners of his lips.
“Did you get anything on Austin’s friend?”
“He’s still in there working out. I called the front desk, pretended to be his parole officer and got the guy to confirm he’s checked in.” Josh pointed at a rusty pickup truck. “That’s his car.”
Dakota nodded. Same kind of pick-up truck as Austin. The letters on the back had been picked off, leaving, “YO.”
Neema wandered over, so she pet the dog on her head just to be polite. When she looked up, Josh was studying her. “What?”
He opened his mouth, then shifted. “There he is.”
They closed in on the teen. The guy strode to his truck in basketball shorts, tennis shoes, and an oversized sweater.
Josh called out, “Gavin.”
He didn’t turn.
Dakota closed in enough to tap his shoulder. He spun around, elbow first. She shifted out of the way. He saw her and flinched, then pulled the headphone from his right ear. The white cord trailed to a bulging sweater pocket. “What?”
She pulled her badge out and flipped it open, giving him a nice view of the gun under her arm. Josh did the same. Gavin’s eyes widened, taking them both in as well as the slender but imposing dog.
“Turn the music off, Gavin.” She waited until he complied, then said, “I’ll cut to the chase, no beating around the bush. Where’s Austin?” She paused half a second then said, “Now you do me that same respect and answer.”
She watched the battle take place on his face. Who were they? Why were they asking about Austin? How much trouble would he be in if he didn’t answer? Why did she look like she’d had the crap kicked out of her?
She said, “Speak.”
His mouth opened. Jaw worked side to side. “Fine.” He shook his head. Disappointed in his friend? “His dad has a hunting cabin up in the mountains.”
“His dad is dead.”
“If Austin is hiding, that’s where he’d go.”
Josh said, “And if Austin is with his brother, his aunt, and all of the rest of them, where would they go as a group?”
“Not the cabin. It’s tiny.”
Dakota said, “Any other properties you know of?”
“I don’t know where they'd go. I’ve never even been to that compound.” Gavin sniffed. “Austin’s changed. They’ve got him doing stuff for them. He’s different, you know? Maybe it’s better he split town. Makes it easier to get on with my thing, if I don’t gotta explain why I can’t hang. You know?”
“Uh.”
Dakota ignored Josh’s reaction and nodded. “You don’t have to worry about letting down your friend, because he’s not here. And you telling us where he is could save his life.”
Gavin studied her.
“Give me the location of that cabin, and you can get on with your day.”
Soon as he did they watched him drive off, then headed back to the car. Dakota sighed, tried to roll some of the tension out of her shoulders. She didn’t want to empathize with the guy, but her emotions were on a knife-edge right now. Since she’d seen Mrs. Johnson dead on the floor of her hallway, she’d been having a hard time keeping them contained.
No good was going to come of it if she let go of the hold on her emotions. Last time proved that.
She just couldn’t help commiserating with a teen living in a small town with little prospects for the future. Friends falling victim to things they weren’t equipped to handle—whether that were family pressures, drugs or alcohol.
This whole case hit entirely too close to home. As much as she wanted to believe she’d lived life past that point, coming here felt a whole lot like walking back in time. Different town. Different Dakota. She wasn’t that scared kid anymore.
Still.
She called Talia and explained about the cabin.
Her friend sighed. “Let me get to my computer. I’ll pull up an image and get you some pictures of the area so you know what you’re walking into.”
“Thanks. You’re a doll.”
“Remind me of that when I tell you what I want for Christmas.”
Dakota laughed. “I’ve created a monster.” Wait a second. There had to be a reason Talia thought Dakota owed her big. “Are you at the compound? Wearing your purple boots?”
Josh frowned at her from the passenger seat.
Talia said, “We have a winner.”
Dakota groaned, a smile on her lips. “Sorry.”
“Really?” She sounded suspicious. “Are you okay?”
“Are you?”
Talia chuckled. “We’ll be talking about that later. After I’ve washed this backwoods dirt from my life, and I’m at home in my fabulous condo sipping a Nespresso latte.”
“Maybe I’ll fall into a coma before then. Or drop dead.” It should have been funny, but her brain decided to remind her of that dead dog on the driveway. And the dead woman with white foam on her lips.
“I’m not laughing,” Talia said.
“Neither am I.” Dakota leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Sorry you have to do the dirty work.”
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