Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

A dead man was found on the old farm property. The immediate threat of the shooter showing up at her home paled in comparison to the news Detective Cole Roberts dropped on her like a bomb. She sat in her kitchen, reliving the interview. When he’d mentioned the dead guy, she’d momentarily feared the worst. That she had in fact killed the man who’d tried to climb into her bedroom window twelve years ago.

But she knew he’d run off, so they couldn’t be one and the same. Yes, she had found a bit of a blood trail, but nothing significant. Not like an arterial bleed or anything like that.

And she absolutely had not bashed his head in.

That image brought back the incident in college when Rory Glick had tried to force himself on her. She had smashed her laptop computer against his head but hadn’t killed him either. She’d reported that incident to the campus police who arrested him and took the computer in as evidence. Rory had done time in jail for two years before being released. A condition of his release was that he had to be listed on the sex offender website. The last time she’d checked, he was still in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his parents lived.

Could he be the shooter? Not likely. He wouldn’t know she was a cop. And really, why come after her all these years later?

Which brought her back to the dead guy who’d been found on her parents’ property. She hadn’t liked lying to Cole when he’d asked about anything strange happening back then. Maybe she should have told him about the stalker incident, but since she hadn’t reported the case twelve years ago, giving out that information now would only make her look more guilty. Sure, she hadn’t killed anyone other than in the line of duty; however, Cole would be forced to consider her a suspect.

A blemish on an otherwise spotless career.

No, she wasn’t going to let that happen. Could her stalker have been this Bradley Crow guy who’d gone missing? If so, how? And why? She couldn’t find a logical explanation, unless Crow had stalked some other girl whose father, brother, or boyfriend had smashed his skull. That was far more likely in the big scheme of things.

It was fruitless to wish she’d done something different back then. At seventeen, she hadn’t understood how the legal system worked. She’d been afraid she’d be arrested. So she’d kept her mouth shut.

Had her stalker gone to the emergency department at the local hospital? She felt certain he hadn’t because a gunshot wound would be an automatic report to the police. And surely he would have turned her in as trying to kill him. Unless he’d fabricated another story about how he’d been injured.

One thing was for sure, nobody had come to the farmhouse to interview her or her parents. Her parents hadn’t been home that night anyway, so they were clueless.

But Shelly knew the truth.

Jina shot out of her chair to pace the room. She couldn’t call Shelly now. Not only was it well past midnight, and her pregnant sister needed rest, but if Cole obtained a subpoena for her cell phone, the call at this hour right after her interview would only raise more questions.

A disposable phone might work, but Shelly’s phone records would reveal the call too. Too risky. A better idea was to hop into her car and drive the eighty miles to Madison.

But that would mean missing work. She raked her hand through her hair and winced, hating the thought of disappointing her bosses Rhy and Joe, but it couldn’t be helped.

Tactical team captain Rhy Finnegan and lieutenant Joe Kingsley were always good about supporting members of the tactical team when personal time was needed. She hadn’t taken a vacation in over a year, so she doubted they’d deny her request.

But they might ask questions. Questions she wasn’t ready to answer.

When joining the police academy, she’d answered honestly about not committing any crimes. And firing at a stalker climbing into her bedroom window who’d subsequently fled on foot wasn’t exactly a crime. Yet she had covered up a potential crime against her and her role in scaring him off. At the time, she’d told herself it didn’t matter.

Now she wasn’t so sure. The one sticking point was that she had used her father’s gun without permission. With a wince, she pressed her fingers into her temples. Her head was pounding, and not because of the kickboxing work out. For the first time in years, she felt unsure of herself.

She didn’t much like it.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, she grabbed her key fob off the table. There was no point in sticking around here, driving herself crazy. She would drive to Madison now so she’d be at her sister’s bright and early. She’d sleep in her car—it wouldn’t be the first time—then first thing in the morning, she’d call Rhy to ask for time off.

As plans went, it wasn’t stellar, but it was the best she could do. And hopefully getting out of town would confuse the gunman too.

Could the two incidents be connected? Nah, that made even less sense than Rory coming after her all these years later. She’d been targeted by gunfire prior to knowing about the dead guy. And she was annoyed that Cole had hung around the gym waiting for a chance to interview her. His watching her hadn’t been out of any personal interest after all.

After taking the time to shower and change, she packed an overnight bag. Then tossed her laptop computer in, too, just in case. Over the past few months, her teammates had gotten into some dicey situations in which she’d helped facilitate keeping them safe. Based on the gunman who’d fired at her outside the MMA gym, it seemed to be her turn. It would be good to leave town for a few days.

The last thing she wanted was to put Mr. Glen in harm’s way.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, she headed back outside. The half-moon hung low in the sky, but there was more than enough ambient light for her to see. Still, she scanned the area carefully as she made her way to the garage.

After she dealt with Cole and his intent to interview her sister, she’d need to go back through her records to see which perp she’d put away over the past eight years may have recently been released. One of them had to be the shooter, although how he’d known she attended Mike’s MMA gym was concerning. She usually kept an eye out for anything suspicious, but the shooter must have followed her to the gym at some point. And had followed her to the duplex too.

The timing of both incidents nagged at her. She headed out of Greenland to the interstate. She’d driven the trip to Madison and back dozens of times and had to admit there was something to be said for driving in the middle of the night. There was hardly any traffic, especially once she was outside the suburb areas of the city. Smooth sailing , she thought with a sense of relief. Then she saw the signs indicating the next two exits were for the town of Peabody.

And irritably, that made her think of Cole Roberts.

Tracking her down and asking questions about the time she’d lived on the farm was a routine part of the investigative process. It bothered her that she’d assumed he was just another member of the gym when he’d come there specifically to find her.

Then again, she’d first noticed him right after she’d joined the gym four months ago. He was good-looking, but that wasn’t what had drawn her attention. She worked with good-looking guys every single day. The fact that he’d watched her with interest while staying away had piqued her interest. Stupid, really, since she still didn’t know if he was married, engaged, or seeing someone special.

And now it didn’t matter. As the detective interviewing her and her sister about a cold case, he was way off-limits.

How long ago had the dead body been found? It couldn’t have been that long, or he’d have sought her out before now. She kicked herself for not digging into the details surrounding that discovery prior to hitting the road.

It wasn’t like her to be so rattled. As one of the sharpshooters for their tactical team, she was known to be cool under pressure. She really needed to pull herself together.

She took note of a pair of headlights behind her. Far enough away that she wasn’t concerned. But then with slow persistence, the gap closed between them.

Her weapon was on her hip, but she didn’t reach for it yet. It seemed highly unlikely the shooter was behind her, but she found herself easing off the gas, hoping the driver would pass her.

He didn’t.

Tightening her grip on the steering wheel, she considered her options. Despite how she hadn’t put the top back on the Jeep, she considered going off-road. But that meant exiting the interstate first.

Or maybe not. A quick glance confirmed she was on a stretch of the highway that was rural. Flanked by farm fields on either side, there wasn’t any place to hide.

She slowed her speed again, forcing the driver behind her to do the same. Then she gunned the engine and abruptly switched lanes. It took a few minutes for the driver of the car to come up alongside her. Without glancing at him, she hit the brake hard enough to make her tires squeal in protest. As soon as he shot past her, she crossed back into the right lane and drove right off the interstate, heading straight into the farm field. There had been a barn off in the distance, and her hope was to get there before this guy could follow.

Hitting the phone button on her steering wheel, she called 911. Out in the middle of nowhere, the state patrol would have jurisdiction. She had little hope they’d get there in time, but she had to try.

“This is 911, what is your emergency?” a calm voice asked.

“MPD Officer Jina Wheeler reporting a car attempting to run me off the road. I’m—ah”—she tried to remember the last exit she’d passed—“I’m a few miles past Johnson Creek. Please send a patrol car to this location.”

“Roger that, Officer, please stay on the line as I radio for backup.”

Jina was too focused on the rocky terrain beneath the wheels of her Jeep to pay any attention to the dispatcher. Farm fields might look nice and flat from far away, but they rarely were. This field was full of soybean plants that she was ruthlessly trampling beneath the wheels of her Jeep in her effort to escape.

She didn’t pray, but the thought crossed her mind. Mostly because her teammates would have done that if they were sitting beside her. Checking the rearview mirror, she saw the headlights of the pursuing vehicle had also headed out into the farm’s field.

Persistent jerk , she thought darkly. She pressed harder on the accelerator, increasing her pace despite the way her four-wheel drive bucked and swayed over the uneven ground.

Relieved to see the driver drop back, she failed to notice the patch to her right where there were no soybean plants. Until her right tire struck the rock protruding from the earth with enough force to flip the Jeep upside down, making her teeth rattle. The airbag deployed, smashing her in the face.

Batting at the airbag, she hung there for a moment like an upside-down turtle. A sense of urgency had her reaching for the seatbelt. Bracing herself with one arm, she released the latch and managed to roll to the side rather than falling on her bruised face. Without hesitation, she crawled out of the Jeep and looked around for the car.

At first, she thought the vehicle had made it back to the interstate and drove away. Until she noticed the dark shape of the car sitting in the distance with the headlights off.

A shiver of apprehension snaked down her spine. Then a flash of anger hit hard. She eased her weapon from the holster and inched backward beneath the Jeep, using it as cover.

She stretched out on her belly, her arms outstretched and the barrel of her gun pointed at the car. She would have loved to pepper it with bullets, but the distance between them was roughly eighty yards.

Almost the length of a football field. She sincerely wished she hadn’t left her sniper’s rifle behind in her apartment. Normally, she took it everywhere, but she hadn’t expected to need it at her sister’s.

Now she was too far out of range for her handgun to even hit the perp’s vehicle, much less render it useless.

But she could be patient.

Regardless of the red tape, if that idiot behind the wheel was the shooter and came any closer, she would shoot first and ask questions later.

Unable to sleep after his less than satisfactory interview with Jina, Cole was listening to the police scanner when the 911 call came in. Hearing her name, he jumped off the sofa, quickly dressed, grabbed his weapon, and hit the door at a run.

Of course, Jina had headed to Madison, he thought with a burst of annoyance. No doubt she’d wanted to be there when he arrived at her sister’s place the following morning for the dreaded interview.

While he found the move on Jina’s part to be highly suspicious, his immediate concern was her report of a vehicle trying to run her off the interstate. As it was now just past one o’clock in the morning, the only logical explanation was that the driver was the same shooter who had shown up at the gym.

As he took the exit onto the interstate, he thumped his fist on the steering wheel. He knew he should have stayed in his car outside her duplex.

Cole hit the switch to turn on the red and blue light strip along the back of his SUV and floored the gas pedal, racing as fast as he dared toward Johnson Creek. The state patrol would probably arrive first, but he didn’t care. After the event barely an hour ago, he had a vested interest in this gunman too.

Not to mention his need to confront Jina over her late-night trek to her sister’s place. For claiming not to know anything about the dead guy on her family’s farmland, she was mighty determined to keep him from doing his job.

What was up with that anyway? Was she really concerned about her sister’s delicate condition, or was there something else going on?

His gut was screaming at him that there was far more to this situation than Jina had admitted to knowing.

No more professional courtesy. After this latest stunt of hers, their next interview would be at the Peabody police station. And if Jina didn’t come clean this time, he’d toss her in jail until she did.

Up ahead, bright red and blue lights from the state patrol lit up the sky. He searched the right-hand side of the road for signs of Jina’s Jeep Wrangler but didn’t find it.

Until he glanced over at the farmer’s field. His jaw dropped when he saw the four wheels of her Jeep pointing at the sky. His gut clenched with fear.

Was she hurt? Killed?

His previous annoyance vanished behind a wave of concern. She could play the tough cop all she wanted, but she was still flesh and blood. And being an expert in jujitsu and kickboxing didn’t mean she could survive a car crash.

He pulled in behind the patrol car and jumped out. There was no sign of the officer, so he shouted, “Jina!”

There was no response, which only made his pulse kick into high gear. Was she unconscious? There hadn’t been a top on the Jeep an hour ago, and he prayed she hadn’t been thrown from the vehicle.

As he grew closer to the upside-down car, Jina crawled out from beneath the Jeep and stood to face the patrol officer. A staggering relief hit hard, but he didn’t slow his pace. “Jina, are you okay?”

“Cole?” She couldn’t have looked more surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard the call come through the scanner.” He raked his gaze over her, grateful there were no obvious signs of injury. Maybe some bruising to her face, but nothing too serious.

Thank you, Lord Jesus!

“And who are you?” the cop asked.

“Detective Cole Roberts.” He felt slightly foolish for barreling out here like a bereaved boyfriend. “I’m with the Peabody Police Department.”

“Detective Roberts was at the gym earlier when an unknown perp took two shots at me,” Jina said, giving him an exasperated look. He belatedly realized she had an overnight bag slung over her shoulder. “I told you about that earlier. It looks like we’re both working under the theory that these two incidents are related.”

“What happened?” He gestured to the Jeep. “Did he ram into you?”

“No, I drove out here to avoid him.” She scowled, clearly upset at the state of her vehicle. “I was watching him try to follow me across the farm field in the rearview mirror when my tire hit that giant bolder over there. That’s what flipped me over.”

“And where is that vehicle now?” the patrol officer asked. The guy’s name tag indicated his last name was Parsons. “Are you sure you haven’t been drinking?”

“I don’t drink,” Jina snapped, glaring at him. “If you want to do a field sobriety test, go ahead. As I already told you, the vehicle followed me only partway into the farmer’s field. He must have realized he couldn’t get all the way across without risking me firing at him, so he backed up and took off.”

“Because he knows you’re a cop,” Parsons said with a frown.

“Yes, I identified myself as a police officer when he fired at me outside the gym.” Jina looked annoyed with having to repeat herself. “Cole was there; he can corroborate my story.”

“She absolutely identified herself as a cop,” he repeated. “We tried to find him, but he managed to escape in an SUV after he tried to run her over.” He glanced at Jina. “You think it was the same car we saw earlier?”

“It looked similar, yes, but I wasn’t close enough to say for sure.” She rubbed her left shoulder, and he imagined it was sore from the strap of the seat belt locking up across her chest. “When he was behind me, all I could see were his bright headlights.”

“License plate?” Parsons asked.

“I didn’t see one,” Jina said.

Parsons looked at him, then at Jina. Apparently, the patrol officer had given up on the idea Jina had driven out into the farmer’s field and flipped her Jeep because she was under the influence. “I can try to issue a BOLO, but without any identifying marks...” His voice trailed off.

“No license plate should be enough for the guy to get pulled over,” Cole said.

Jina snorted. “That hasn’t stopped him yet.”

Parsons seemed a bit out of his depth. Cole knew rookies often ended up working the graveyard shift, and based on the fact that the guy didn’t look old enough to grow a beard, he figured Parsons to be a newbie.

“We can take it from here,” Cole told the officer. “I don’t think there’s anything more you can do tonight, other than issuing the BOLO.”

“Yeah, okay.” Parsons looked relieved. Then he frowned. “What about the Jeep?”

“I need you guys to help me flip it back over.” Jina eyed her vehicle critically. “If all three of us work on this side, we should be able to roll it back up on the wheels.”

Parsons didn’t look happy about that, but Cole nodded, knowing Jina was stronger than she looked. And he worked out on a regular basis too. “Let’s do it.”

Amazingly, they were able to flip the car onto its passenger side, then again upright on all four wheels. Jina eagerly climbed into the driver’s seat and tried to start the engine.

There was a grinding sound, then nothing. She tried again with the same result. He was no mechanic, but obviously, the car wasn’t going anywhere tonight.

“I’ll drive you home,” he offered. “You need a tow truck. The windshield is shattered, and you probably broke the front axle, anyway, after hitting that rock.” He didn’t want to add that the insurance company would likely total the vehicle.

“Yeah.” Dejected, she slid out of the seat.

“Let’s go.” He gestured for her to take the lead.

“Ah, Detective Roberts? I need your phone number,” Parsons said. “For my report.”

He gave the rookie his office number at the Peabody PD. Then the three of them crossed the farmer’s field. At about eighty yards from where Jina’s car was located, she stopped to examine the ground with her phone flashlight.

“Now what are we looking for?” He scanned the area too. “Did he shoot at you?”

“No, he was too far away. I was hoping he would come close enough so I could nail him, but he didn’t.” She continued scanning the ground, then dropped to one knee. “Here, two sets of tire tracks. Mine and his.”

“I see them.” He glanced at Parsons who took out his phone to take pictures. “She was right about the car following her.”

“Yeah. I’ll—uh—add this to my report.” Parsons looked a little embarrassed for doubting Jina in the first place. As he should.

After a few more minutes of examining the ground, Jina stood and nodded at Parsons. “Thanks for your help.”

“No problem.” Parsons climbed the embankment toward his patrol car. “Take care.”

“I’ll try,” Jina muttered, mostly under her breath. “Although it would be nice to know who this joker is. ”

“Did you notice anyone following your Jeep from your place?” he asked.

“No, and I was watching for a tail.” She rubbed her sore shoulder again. “The interstate was mostly deserted, which caused me to let my guard down. I honestly wasn’t expecting the shooter to show. Even when I saw the headlights of his car coming up behind me, I slowed down, assuming he’d pass me by. Only he didn’t.”

He hated to imagine what might have happened if Jina hadn’t driven her Jeep across the farmer’s field. “I take it you didn’t see his face?”

“No.” She scowled again. “Although there is a suspect I should have considered earlier.”

His interest peaked. “Oh yeah? Who?”

“Guy by the name of Rory Glick. His last-known address is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so it didn’t occur to me until tonight that he might have come seeking revenge.”

“Revenge over what exactly?”

“He tried to rape me until I slammed him in the head with my computer. He was arrested and did two years in prison. He was released too early for my peace of mind, his lawyer argued he was drunk and wasn’t thinking clearly, but the fact that my clothes were ripped proved otherwise.” She shrugged. “One condition of his release was that his name was placed on the sexual offender registry.”

He hated thinking about Jina suffering a sexual attack. No wonder she’d put so many of the gym rats at Mike’s down on the mat. He’d silently cheered her on, and now he knew why she was so determined to stick up for herself. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“I’m fine.” She said the words carelessly, but he suspected those moments before she’d gotten a hold of the laptop had been terrifying. “What doesn’t make sense is why Rory would come after me nine years later? He’d attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, same as I did, but he was from Oklahoma. How could he have found me at Mike’s?” She waved a hand at her Jeep. “And again tonight?”

“Those are good questions.” He filed the name Rory Glick in the back of his mind for later. The gym shooting had not taken place in his jurisdiction, but that wasn’t going to stop him from looking into what the sexual predator had been up to. “We can work on that later. For now, let’s get out of here.”

“Okay.” She opened the passenger door and tossed her overnight bag onto the floor.

Seeing it reminded him of her intent to talk to her sister before he could. “Taking a trip?”

She flushed, her gaze sliding from his. “Yep.”

“Give it up, Jina,” he said in a clipped tone. “Don’t lie to me. I know you were heading to your sister’s house in Madison when this guy caught up with you.”

“So what?” Jina shrugged as if she took middle of the night trips to see her pregnant sister every day. “I’m worried about Shelly. She’s barely twelve weeks along in her pregnancy. I told you I wanted to be there to support her through this.”

“No, you asked me why I’d bother to talk to her at all,” he corrected. “Tell me the truth. Do you know Bradley Crow?”

“No, I don’t.” She spoke with confidence. “I meant to look him up on the computer but forgot. Why don’t you show me a picture? Maybe I’ll recognize him.”

He hesitated, then pulled out his cell phone. Thumbing the screen, he brought up Bradley Crow’s school picture. It was the only one he had of the guy. “This was taken his junior year.”

As she looked at the screen, he could almost see the wheels turning in her mind, imagining where she may have seen him before. Then she handed the phone back. “Nope. I don’t recognize him.”

“I don’t believe you.” He slid the phone into his pocket.

“Believe what you want,” she shot back. “Doesn’t matter to me.”

He waited until they were settled in the front seat and back on the road before turning to her. “You can come clean now or spend the night in jail. Your choice.” He gestured to the interstate stretched out before them. “You have until we reach the Peabody city limits to decide.”

She didn’t answer, sitting back against her seat and staring straight out the windshield as if he didn’t exist.

He suppressed a sigh. It was going to be a long twenty miles.