ONE LIFE GONE (Special Agent Ricki James Book 3) Page 2

  “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Really?” Ricki continued to watch him as she thought that one over for a full minute, silently eliminating possibilities until she hit on the most logical one. “Is she moving in with you?”

  The direct question had his cheeks going from a light red to a glowing crimson. “If she is, that’s my business. I don’t ask you what’s going on with Thomas, do I?”

  Clay Thomas was the local chief of police for the three small towns that occupied the shore of Dabob Bay. To save money, they pooled their resources to share most of the community services, including a single police department. Brewer, where Ricki lived, was the southernmost of the three, with Massey occupying the shoreline at the very top of the bay, and Edington, the largest of the towns, sitting in between. Collectively, the residents referred to the three towns as the Bay.

  She and the police chief had worked several cases together and had become a team on the job. They were also working at doing the same thing after hours. Formal dating was new for Ricki. She’d hadn’t tried it since she and Bear had become a couple in high school, so this whole thing with Clay was still a work in progress.

  “Chief Thomas isn’t moving in with me,” Ricki said. “Or expecting to be hired on as an employee of our business.”

  “When he was off duty, he practically lived at that diner of yours.”

  “It’s a diner, not a bedroom, and we sure haven’t been hanging out there lately,” Ricki stated baldly, which had Bear looking guilty for a moment.

  She didn’t bother to add that since the fire, Clay usually came over to her cabin for a beer and pizza. Most of the time, the chief and her son ended up on the couch together playing video games.

  “About Cathi?” Bear persisted, his momentary guilt vanishing like a dollar bill lying on the sidewalk. His jaw had taken on a stubborn set and there was a challenge in his brown-eyed gaze.

  Annoyed, but knowing it wasn’t an argument worth getting into, Ricki slowly nodded. “All right. A compromise. We’ll hire her. But only for the season. After that, she’s officially laid off, and you get to give her that news.” When Bear started to protest, she held up a hand. “And we’ll see about taking her back on next season.”

  Bear looked like he was going to argue before he abruptly nodded. “Sounds fair enough. So through October then?”

  Ricki snorted out a short laugh. “The season, Bear. That means through September.” She kept her gaze level and direct. “Take it or leave it. In between seasons, she’ll have to find other work.” Or live off you, Ricki thought.

  Since his grandparents had left their only grandchild a good chunk of money, her ex could afford to support his girlfriend without any problem. Bear had always been very generous with his money when it came to their son, and with Ricki too when they were married, so she didn’t begrudge how he chose to spend it.

  But even though they weren’t together anymore, he had been her husband for ten years, not to mention her first and only boyfriend for a long stretch before that. They’d married young, had their son when she was twenty, and like it or not, they shared a long history together. Which meant she was more concerned about cheerleader Cathi being good for him than she was about Bear spending his money on the woman.

  He was Eddie’s father, after all, so she’d just have to keep an eye on the situation. In the meantime, she could do with a change of subject.

  “Are you all set for your trip into Seattle with Eddie?”

  Bear’s easy grin was back in a flash. “Yep. Got us a five-day reservation at the Four Seasons.”

  Both Ricki’s eyebrows winged upward. If the Four Seasons wasn’t the most expensive hotel in Seattle, it certainly came close. “That’s pretty fancy for a fourteen-year-old.”

  “It’s more for me than him since he’ll be dragging me around to all kinds of science exhibits at the university, and who knows where else along those same lines. How many of those bots do you figure I’m going to have to look at, anyway?”

  “Automated crawlers,” Ricki automatically corrected, using the term her son preferred for the robots that were his passion. “And I have no idea.” She poked a long, slender finger lightly into Bear’s chest. “But better you than me. His crawlers have completely taken over my garage.”

  Laughing, Bear gave her a friendly one-armed hug. “Our son is smarter than both of us put together, isn’t he?”

  Ricki grinned back at him. “I’m not sure how high a bar that is, but it’s true enough.” She looked up and studied the darkened sky for a moment, then gestured toward the barely visible path leading from the river up through the trees. “We’d better get the group packed up, fed, and on the trail. There’s no reason to hike in the rain any longer than we have to.”

  It was just after three o’clock in the afternoon when the tired, wet group reached the parking lot that marked the start of the trailhead. The van, with the Adventure Tours logo on the side, was exactly where they’d left it.

  The rain hadn’t poured out all at once but had come down in a steady drizzle for the final four miles of the hike. It had managed to soak through Ricki’s ball cap, drip down her long ponytail, and snake its way underneath the collar of her poncho just enough to make the heavy cotton shirt she wore underneath cold and damp. She led the way into the small, mud-covered lot, her gaze automatically quartering the area, stopping when it landed on a lone figure standing next to the front bumper of a black Lexus.

  His long gray trench coat was buttoned up to his neck, barely showing the top of a collared shirt and knotted tie. The legs of his suit pants that weren’t covered by the coat were rapidly becoming wet under the relentless drizzle, and so were his expensive-looking leather shoes. He’d left the dry comfort of his car as soon as their group had come into view, and was not even trying to hide the fact he was watching her.

  Ricki slowed her step, letting the rest of the hikers stomp past her in their haste to reach the van and its promise of shelter from the rain. Her deep-blue eyes narrowed, but she kept up a slow, steady pace as she casually swiped away the water dripping down the side of her face, all the while keeping her gaze on the man who was staring back at her. Bear stepped up beside her and nudged her arm with his elbow.

  “Not in a hurry to get out of the rain?”

  Without taking her eyes off the stranger, Ricki inclined her head toward the van and the three couples waiting beside it. “You go ahead and open the van and get everyone settled.”

  Bear followed the direction of her gaze. “Who’s that?”

  “I don’t know,” Ricki said. “But I’m going to find out.”

  “Give me a minute to unlock the van, then I’ll go with you.”

  “Unlock the van and get everyone settled inside,” Ricki repeated. “You stay with them. This won’t take long.”

  She strode off before he could voice a protest. Once she’d crossed half the distance, Ricki stopped and slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and inclined her head to the side. Getting her message, the stranger slowly took his own hands out of his pockets, lifting them up to show her that they were empty. Letting them drop to his sides, he made his way toward her, ignoring the splash from the puddles he stepped in as he kept his gaze locked on hers.

  When he got within ten feet, Ricki smiled but left her hand in her jacket pocket. It was a bluff since the only thing in there was a wadded-up bandanna. But it was good enough to draw his attention and keep him guessing. “Can I help you?” She shifted her gaze to the pricey car with mud splattered halfway up the side and then cut it back to him. “Are you lost?”

  “Not if you’re Ricki James.”

  “I am.” She paused. “And you are …?

  “Special Agent Fionn Sullivan, FBI.”

  Ricki’s smile faded. FBI? Why was the FBI waiting for her in the rain, in a deserted parking lot?

  “Do you have a badge, Special Agent Sullivan?” She didn’t move a muscle as she watched him carefully withdraw a folded square of black
leather from an inner pocket of his jacket. Flipping it open, he held it out and waited.

  Knowing this couldn’t mean anything good, Ricki gave it a quick once-over before folding her arms across her chest. “What can I do for you, Agent Sullivan?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” the tall dark-haired man replied, his expression blank and his green-eyed gaze remaining locked on hers. “But I’m here to deliver some bad news.”

  Chapter 2

  “Bad news?” Ricki shifted her gaze to the ground, a sure-fire way to buy a little time as she silently weighed the possibilities. It didn’t take her long. There were only two people in the FBI she had a connection with.

  There was Dr. Jonathan Blake, one of the country’s premier profilers working out of Quantico, and whom she’d met in person exactly once. It had been Josh’s recommendation to ask the psychiatrist-turned-profiler for help with one of her cases four months earlier, and that was the last time she’d talked to the doctor.

  And then of course there was Josh. But she hadn’t seen him for over a year until he’d shown up two months ago to tell her he was looking deeper into Marie’s murder. Just like with Dr. Blake, it had been a onetime meeting, although they’d talked on several occasions since then.

  Wondering why an FBI agent would seek her out about either man, Ricki braced herself to hear something that was guaranteed to ruin her day. Locking her knees in place, she slowly nodded. “All right. What’s the bad news?”

  “I’m sorry to inform you that Special Agent Joshua Crawford has been killed.” Sullivan’s expression hardened, but his tone was soft. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Ricki stared at him as the meaning of his words sank in. A trickle of icy cold moved through her chest and down her arms. Dead? Josh was dead? She started to shake her head in denial and then stopped herself. There wasn’t any reason for the man to come here and lie to her. She and Sullivan stared at each other from across the five feet of mud separating them, not saying a word for several long moments as rain dripped down their shoulders. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, Ricki let out the breath she hadn’t been aware that she was holding.

  “Where are you staying, Agent Sullivan?”

  Surprise flashed through his green eyes. “Some hotel over near the airport.” When she lifted a brow, he shrugged. “After a while, all the hotels look the same. I put their address into the GPS and go where it tells me to.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Ricki turned on her heel and strode over to the van. The side door was still open, and Bear stood next to it. His forearm leaning on the edge of the roof as he waited for her.

  “Ready to go?” he asked, frowning when she jerked her head to the right and headed to the front of the van. “I’ll just be a minute,” he said to the couples huddled inside the vehicle before walking away to join Ricki. “What’s up?”

  She slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, then looked off, half-wishing they’d spent another night in the forest, where things were a whole lot easier than what had been waiting for her in the parking lot.

  “Come on, Ricki,” Bear demanded. “It’s wet out here. I saw him pull out a badge and show it to you. What’s going on?”

  Sighing, she kicked a boot out, connecting solidly with the van’s front bumper. “Josh is dead.”

  “Josh?” Bear looked confused for a brief second, before understanding dawned in his eyes. “Marie’s fiancé, the FBI guy? That Josh?”

  “Yeah. Him.”

  Bear gestured toward the figure standing alone across the parking lot. “Is he with the FBI too?”

  She nodded. “Special Agent Fionn Sullivan. He came to let me know.”

  Her ex frowned as he returned his gaze to her. “Why? I thought you hadn’t seen Josh since . . .” He grimaced slightly as he trailed off. “Well, since, you know.”

  “The funeral?” Ricki supplied. Bear had always tended to shy away from hard truths, which was exactly why she hadn’t told him about seeing Josh a couple of months ago, and still had no intention of telling him. It would lead to too many questions, and right now she had plenty of her own that needed answers. “Look. I’m going to ride back to Brewer with him. Without me tagging along, you can go on to Tacoma and spend some time with Cathi after you drop the group off at the lodge in Quinault.”

  “Sure. I could do that, but I want to hear what happened to Josh.” He set his jaw into a stubborn line and drew himself up to his full height. “And why that guy came all the way out here to tell you about it.”

  Ricki looked up at the gloomy sky and shrugged. “Hearing about it in a few days isn’t going to change anything or make Josh any less dead. And I’m going to want to go into all those pesky details involving law enforcement stuff that you never did like knowing, so right now, I need you to take the group back to the lodge and show up in two days to take Eddie on that Seattle trip.” She reached out and laid a hand briefly on top of his folded arms. “Can you please do that, Bear? Marie was more than a friend and partner to me, she was family. You know that. I need to hear what happened to the man she loved.”

  Bear looked down at her hand before lifting his gaze and nodding. “Okay. I get that.”

  She gave his arm one last, absent-minded pat, her thoughts already back on what she intended to get out of Sullivan. “Then it’s settled. I’ll see you back in Brewer in a couple of days.”

  As she walked off, Bear yelled after her. “You know, you could call me tonight and let me know what’s going on.”

  Ricki simply waved a hand in the air and kept on walking. She’d barely reached the spot where Sullivan was waiting for her when the door to the van slammed closed, the sharp noise bouncing across the parking lot.

  Satisfied that her ex would take care of his end of things, even if he wasn’t too happy about it, Ricki walked past the agent and opened the passenger side door to his car. “I need a ride back to Brewer.”

  Not waiting for an answer, she slid into the seat, watching as Sullivan crossed in front of the car, heading toward the driver’s side. He opened the door, then quickly shrugged out of his overcoat before getting behind the wheel of the car. Giving the coat a brisk shake before pulling it inside, he folded it in half and turned to lay it on the floor behind the seat. He flipped on the heat as he glanced over at the puddle forming on the seat next to Ricki’s thigh.

  “Water and leather seats don’t mix well.”

  She wiggled out of her poncho, more because it was cold than to protect the seats, and tossed it onto the back floorboard. “Something for the rental company to deal with unless you want to tell me you drove your own car all the way from Quantico.”

  He carefully pulled out of the slippery lot onto the equally slick, unpaved road that led back to the highway. “What makes you think I’m out of Quantico? The odds are better that the Bureau would send someone from the local office.”

  Ricki leaned back, closed her eyes, and let the heat wash over her. “Aside from the fact I know the agents stationed in Seattle, the local guys don’t drive cars this expensive, especially when they’re going to a trail head, not to mention that the plate on it is for a rental. Which tags you as being from out of town. And that’s an expensive suit and watch that you’re doing your best to ruin in the rain and mud, which means Quantico might as well be stamped on your forehead.”

  “You’re right,” Sullivan conceded. “I’m based out of Quantico.” He glanced over at her. “I don’t know where Brewer is, exactly. You’ll need to enter it into the GPS unless you want to end up at SeaTac. The airport and my hotel are the only two things in it.”

  Ricki opened one eye and looked over at him. “My place won’t show up on any GPS. It doesn’t have an official address. Just follow this road until you get to the 101, then turn left and go north for a couple of hours.”

  When she went silent, he frowned. “How do I get to Brewer from the 101?”

  “There will be a sign on the road that says, ‘Welcome to Brewer’.
”

  “Funny.”

  Taking a hint from the underlying note of anger in his single-word response, Ricki straightened up in her seat and ran a hand down the long ponytail hanging over her shoulder, pressing out a small trickle of water that landed on the already thoroughly soaked leather seat. When the agent glared at her, she only shrugged, not caring she’d just added fuel to his clearly visible temper. “Still a rental, Sullivan.” She settled a hand on top of the armrest separating the two front seats and forced her shoulders to relax. “So tell me what happened.”

  “Ambushed.”

  The single word was a punch in a the gut, taking the wind right out of her. First she and Marie were ambushed, and now Josh? It couldn’t be a coincidence. “Where?” she managed to get out.

  “San Antonio. Along the River Walk.”

  “Riverwalk,” Ricki corrected, putting the emphasis evenly on all the syllables.

  Sullivan frowned. “What?”

  “Riverwalk.” Ricki repeated, running it together to sound like one word. It was just a distraction while she mentally steeled herself to hear the details of how Josh had died. “Unless you want to sound like a tourist, don’t pause between the words.”

  The FBI agent rolled his eyes. “Not that I give a rat’s ass at the moment, but it’s in the report as two words.”

  “Proper, but not the local version, so I suggest you stay away from San Antonio unless you intend to be tagged as an outsider. Where along the Riverwalk was Josh found?”

  Blinking at the rapid-fire question, he automatically answered it. “Going out past the missions on the south end of town.”

  That had her eyes narrowing as she brought up a mental image of the area. There were five missions in San Antonio. The most famous was the Alamo, which was under the care of the state of Texas, but the four other missions to the south were all on national park land.

  She’d been to the Missions National Park once a good four or five years ago, to investigate a possible drug sale in conjunction with the local police department. So she could accurately place the Riverwalk on the eastern border of the park since she’d taken a stroll along a good piece of it before she’d headed home.