Threat Detection, page 10
She kept her eyes on the vehicle, watching for any movement. She was about to look away when she saw a flash of something reflective. It was too dark to see anything else.
Was her attacker out there?
She took a step back from the window and then turned off all the lights so no one could see inside. When she returned to the window, what she saw caused her to gasp. Taz was standing just outside the circle of illumination created by the single working streetlamp. He was alone and his leash dragged on the ground.
Not bothering to turn on the lights, Aubrey raced to her room. Her phone glowed on the nightstand. Her fingers trembled as she pressed Isaac’s number.
“Yes.” It sounded like Isaac was running.
“Something is really wrong,” said Aubrey. “Taz is wandering the parking lot by himself. I wonder what happened to Brandie.”
“Oh no.” He didn’t answer right away. She thought she heard footsteps. “I just found Ruby. She’s been knocked unconscious. Pepper is still with her.”
“Isaac?” They were still connected. She could hear thudding noises as if someone was moving around.
Aubrey’s heart pounded. When she turned, Freddy sat protectively at the door leading into her room. Tension coiled around her torso making it hard to get a breath.
Something had happened to Brandie. Ruby was unconscious. Isaac was out there alone. He needed her help. Still holding the phone, she hurried up the dark hallway back into the living room.
“Isaac, if you can hear me, I’m coming to you. Where are you?” In the dark, she ran into a piece of furniture. She cried out. Her phone fell out of her hand.
A breeze came from the window that faced the forest. Someone had opened the window.
A hand went over her mouth.
Freddy’s rapid-fire bark filled the air.
She tried to swing free of the man who had grabbed her. She crashed into a table, knocking a lamp to the floor.
The door was dead bolted. Isaac would not be able to get in from the outside even if he had heard her.
Though he no longer had a hand over her mouth, the attacker had snaked an arm around her waist. The crook of his elbow pressed against her neck.
Freddy made growling noises. The man seemed to be shaking one of his legs. Freddy must have put his teeth into the man’s pant leg.
“Get off me, you stupid mutt.”
The distraction allowed Aubrey to get away. She pulled free with so much force that she landed on the floor. She crawled away toward the door then rose to her feet and ran.
Freddy yelped as though he had been kicked.
Her hand reached out, fumbling for the knob that opened the dead bolt. She twisted it. The attacker grabbed her from behind. While he held on to her shirt hem, she swung her body to face him. She lifted her hand to land a slap, but he punched her in the rib cage first. The blow knocked the wind out of Aubrey and disoriented her.
Again, she heard Freddy growling. It sounded like he was leaping up. If the little dog wasn’t going to give up, neither was she.
The man had to have been dressed in black and wearing a mask. She could hear him as he fought off Freddy, who must have grabbed a sleeve. The white parts of Freddy’s fur were visible.
If she ran to the door she could get away, but Freddy might end up hurt or worse. She felt around for something she could use as a weapon and found only the TV remote, which she threw toward where she thought the assailant might be.
A yelp told her she had hit her target.
“Come on, Freddy.” She sprinted toward the door and flung it open. The man grabbed her and pulled her back inside.
He was breathing heavily as he turned her around and clamped his hands on her neck. Still squeezing her throat, he slammed her back against a wall. Pain radiated through her body.
She clawed at his gloved hands.
She couldn’t hear Freddy anymore. Had something happened to the brave dog?
She gasped for air and grew light-headed.
Her hands reached for the man’s collar and scratched his neck. She could feel herself about to pass out.
There was shouting and a clamor of noise coming from a distance. The pressure on her neck stopped and she was floating through space and then falling down down down. She saw a bright flashing light far away and then there was only darkness.
* * *
With Freddy at his heel, Isaac raced up the stairs to the suite. Freddy had found him as he tried to revive Ruby. He’d called for backup. The dog was frantically barking and rushing back toward the sidewalk and then back to Isaac. If Freddy had gotten out, something had happened to Aubrey.
The park police had just pulled into the lot when he got to the top of the stairs. Some light from the parking lot spread into the room. Aubrey lay by the door on her side. He heard noise across the room. Someone was crawling out the open window.
When he ran over to the window, he saw a ladder, and a man running toward the forest. He returned to make sure Aubrey was okay. An officer appeared at the top of the stairs. It wasn’t someone Isaac had dealt with before.
The officer shone his flashlight in the dark room. “What is going on here?”
“I’m taking care of her. The perp escaped out that window into the trees.”
“On it.” The officer disappeared.
Isaac gathered Aubrey into his arms. She was still breathing. He’d called an ambulance for Ruby, who had a bloody gash on her forehead. He still didn’t know what had happened to Brandie.
He patted Aubrey’s cheek. “Come back to me.”
Freddy let out a whine and licked his muzzle, nudging Aubrey’s arm with his nose.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Isaac. I was coming to help you.”
“You should not have taken such a risk,” said Isaac.
“After the way you protected me, how could I not come to your aid?”
Relief flooded through him. He touched her cheek lightly. “So glad you’re okay.”
Her eyes filled with fear. “He was here in this room. He came after me.”
He took her into an embrace. “I know. I’m so sorry. We were set up. I never should have left you.”
“Are Ruby and Brandie okay?”
“Ruby was injured.” His voice intensified. “Not sure what happened to Brandie.”
“I saw her dog in the parking lot.” She touched his cheek. “You had no choice. You had to go help the members of your team.” A tear streamed down her cheek. “Oh, Isaac, I was so afraid.”
He held her, stroking her hair and making soothing sounds, finding a comfort in having her so close. The embrace eased his own fears. He pulled back to look her in the eyes. His finger traced a pattern on her forehead and down her temple. “I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”
His lips found hers and he kissed her tenderly. She responded at first and then pulled away. Her eyes searched his. He kissed her on the forehead, rocking slightly as he held her. Her hand rested on his chest.
The kiss, however wonderful, had been impulsive, driven by a need to make her feel safe, to quell the fear that had engulfed her.
She released herself from his embrace and reached out to pet Freddy, who sat close to them. “If it wasn’t for Freddy, things would have ended up much worse.”
He was grateful when Ruby appeared in the doorway, breaking the awkward moment between them.
Ruby had a bandage on her forehead. “We found Brandie, or I should say Taz led us to her.”
Isaac rose to his feet and held a hand out to help Aubrey up. “Is she okay?”
“I think she’s fine physically. She was tied up and gagged,” said Ruby. “Needless to say, she’s been shaken up by the attack.”
Ruby touched Aubrey’s arm. “He came for you, didn’t he?”
Aubrey nodded. “Freddy saved me.”
Isaac took Aubrey in a sideways hug. “I need to get her checked out by the paramedic.”
“Understood. Brandie is down there now.”
Ruby turned and walked ahead of them down the stairs. Pepper sat at the bottom. Freddy took up the rear as they walked over to the ambulance.
Brandie was standing just outside the open ambulance doors holding Taz’s leash. She came toward Isaac and Ruby. “I’m so sorry. I feel like I dropped the ball. He jumped me from behind. He had pepper spray to keep Taz away. I think Taz only got sprayed a little. He’s sneezing but his eyes aren’t watery.”
“You handled yourself just fine, Brandie. This took us all by surprise,” said Isaac. “Such a bold move.”
Aubrey brushed his arm and stepped toward the ambulance. The sensation of her touch lingered as he remembered the kiss. He steeled himself against the renewed attraction he felt toward her. He’d been caught up in the moment. Fear over what might have happened to her had driven his action. He could think more clearly now. Opening his heart to her would just give her the chance to dump him. He wasn’t about to live through that again.
One of the park police signaled that he wanted to talk to them. “I’ll go talk to him,” said Ruby. She trotted toward the officer.
Isaac turned toward Brandie. “Did you get a look at the guy?”
Brandie shook her head. “He was dressed in black and wore a ski mask on his face.”
He suspected that Aubrey wouldn’t be able to identify him either. They spoke for a few more minutes to see if Brandie could remember any more details. He didn’t want to press too hard. The attack had to have been traumatizing, though Brandie seemed to be holding her own. The incident proved that Brandie did not fall apart in the face of violence.
Ruby walked back toward them just as Aubrey emerged from the ambulance.
“The park police have offered to post extra cars here for the rest of the night. It’s too late to try to find another place to stay,” said Ruby.
Isaac let out a heavy breath. His gaze moved toward Aubrey. How did she feel about that?
“Ruby is right,” said Aubrey. “We’ll be driving through the night to find a hotel. We all need sleep.”
“The police are going to search the area until daybreak,” said Ruby. “With such a large police presence, I don’t think he’ll feel comfortable coming back for round two.”
“Okay,” said Isaac. “But we’re going to wake the night clerk and get moved to a different room.”
“I’m going to go with the police to help with the search,” said Ruby.
“No,” said Isaac. “We need you here for extra protection. Brandie will need to get some sleep. Someone has got to stake out Emily’s apartment tomorrow.”
“You trust me to do that on my own?” Brandie shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
“Yes.” Ruby and Isaac spoke in unison. Brandie, like the other candidates, was a K-9 officer with some experience under her belt. She’d proven herself to Isaac tonight with how she’d handled the attack.
“Besides, you won’t be alone. Taz will be with you,” said Isaac. “He should be recovered from the pepper spray by then.”
Within minutes they had gotten another second-floor suite. Ruby left to patrol the grounds. Brandie took one room and Aubrey took the other. Isaac settled on the couch in the living room area. Freddy lay down at his feet. Isaac had pulled his gun from the holster and set it on the coffee table, ready for whatever else the night threw at him and his fellow officers.
ELEVEN
When Aubrey opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Freddy sitting on the carpet staring at her.
He offered a couple of tail thumps when she looked at his round brown eyes.
From where she lay on her stomach, she reached her hand toward him. “Are you keeping watch over me?”
Freddy licked her hand. She got up. The beagle waited for her in the bedroom while she showered and dressed. When she entered the living room, Isaac was on the phone. He acknowledged her with a hand wave and pointed toward where the coffee maker was.
Seeing his face, the sparkle in his blue eyes, brought back the memory of the recent kiss and even the ones they had shared ten years ago. Though kissing Isaac felt like the most natural thing in the world, she knew there was too much that was unresolved between them.
She could only hear one side of the conversation, but it sounded like he was talking to Jasmin.
“Yeah, that hotel isn’t too far from where we are,” he said. “I’ll go see what I can find out.”
Isaac remained silent while Jasmin spoke on the other end of the line.
“Okay, let me know if you dig anything up on the other guy. I’ll be in touch.” Isaac ended the call.
She stirred sugar into her coffee and lifted the mug. “What’s going on?”
“Brandie’s watching your sister’s place and working on finding us a more secure location to stay. Ruby is getting some much-needed sleep. She’ll check out late. We need to take all our stuff with us and assume we’ll be somewhere different tonight.”
“I guess me going into work is out of the question.”
“For now, you need to stay close to me. We are still low on manpower until my colleague Tanner can get here. After last night, I feel an urgency to move this case forward. Jasmin hit a snag with the man pictured outside the hotel from the photos on the thumb drive. Obviously, that is not his home. He must be from out of state.”
“So how do we figure out who he is?” asked Aubrey.
“From the photos, we know what room number he stayed in or is staying in. You and I are going to go question the hotel staff and see if we can ferret out some information about him. Maybe he is still there. It’s taking a chance for you to be out in the open, but staying here is not safe either now that the police presence is less. Besides, we need a break in this case before there’s another attack.”
“I think the important thing is that you are with me. I feel safe as long as you are close,” said Aubrey.
“Thanks for saying that.” The compliment made him smile. He lifted his phone. “Jasmin sent me an enhanced pic of the guy to show around.”
Isaac didn’t bring up what the kiss had meant, so she wouldn’t either. As they made their way out to his vehicle, Isaac’s demeanor seemed more guarded. She’d felt so close to him last night, but now the walls had gone back up.
They drove to the hotel where the third man pictured on the thumb drive had stayed. Two three-story towers with a courtyard between them contained an abundance of flowers, trees and a fountain.
“Pretty swanky. Wonder what a room in this place goes for?” said Aubrey.
“Nothing I could afford,” said Isaac.
She wondered what he meant by that comment. Isaac’s family came from generations of money. “Really?”
He studied her. “After my parents died, I put my share of the inheritance into nonprofits. My brother oversees them. I live on my salary as a police officer.”
The news surprised her and made her admire Isaac even more. “I had no idea.” Maybe Isaac’s mom had been all about wealth and appearance, but he certainly wasn’t.
“Money can do a lot of good in this world, but it can also make you think you are special when you’re not.” He pushed open his door.
She wanted to ask him what experiences had led him to make such a dramatic change in his life, but he had turned away from her, with body language that suggested he didn’t want to talk about things that had happened in the past.
She got out while he unloaded Freddy. “Stay close to me,” he said. “As in don’t leave my side.”
They entered the hotel. Isaac approached the desk clerk, a dark-haired woman who was probably in her late forties. The woman’s expression remained neutral as they stepped toward the counter, but she smiled when she saw Freddy.
“Excuse me,” said Isaac. “We’d like to talk to you about a man who may still be staying here.” He brought the photo up on the phone.
The woman studied it for a moment. “Yes, I remember seeing him around. He spoke with an accent and had a couple of guys following him around like they were his bodyguards.”
Aubrey pressed closer to the counter. “What kind of an accent?”
The woman shrugged. “I’m not very good at discerning accents. I guess European but not English or Irish.”
“We believe he was staying in room 314 and might still be?”
A man dressed in a white shirt and black pants who must have overheard the conversation stepped toward them. “He’s not there anymore. I just helped a family transport their luggage to that room.”
Isaac whirled around to face the bellman who seemed eager to talk. He showed him the photos. “Was it this man?”
The bellman nodded. “That was the guy.”
“Can you tell me anything about him?”
“He was a big tipper, very imposing demeanor, like he was the boss of everything when he walked in a room. And I’d say his accent was more like Russian. He said he was in the States on business. When he was ready to check out, he didn’t ask about the shuttle to the airport. The car I loaded the suitcases into was a rental. One of the guys he was with was studying a map on his phone.”
“So you got the impression they were still going to stay in the area?”
The bellman nodded. “I thought I heard one of the guys he was with call him Dimitri.”
Isaac turned back toward the woman at the counter. “Can you confirm the man’s name?”
“I know he signed the guest registry. He checked in three days ago.” She indicated a book at the end of the counter. “I have some business to take care of elsewhere.” She walked away from the counter.
Isaac stepped toward the guest book.
The bellman wandered away as well.
Aubrey slipped in close to Isaac and scanned the signatures once he turned to the right page. “Good thing they wanted to cooperate.”
