Chapter 13

It was strange the way her hand looked so small in his. Raelyn was touched by Isaiah's concern for her.

"It will be fine," Isaiah said in a low voice. "Have faith."

Faith in God? Or in the team? Or both?

"Okay." She squeezed his hand, then stood. Deep down, she didn't like it. And was frankly surprised Rhy would even go along with Isaiah's plan to set him up at the church to draw the shooter out.

Glancing over to see Rhy and Joe with their heads together, she told herself they wouldn't be reckless. They wouldn't expose Isaiah to danger without a solid plan, but she still had a bad feeling about this. The church itself was in a rough neighborhood. And really, how many places would there be to hide members of the team anyway?

The basement could work. She wondered if Isaiah could convince the neighbors across the street to cooperate with them on this. They had given statements about the initial shooting, but that was a far cry from allowing a cop in their house or their yard.

She took a step toward her lieutenant and captain, but Isaiah grasped her arm. She turned to face him. His blue eyes were intense. "Raelyn, you should know?—"

"Rae? What's this about a plan?" Grayson interrupted whatever Isaiah was about to stay.

"Rhy and Joe are cooking it up." She didn't take her gaze off Isaiah. "What were you about to say? What do I need to know?"

"Never mind." Isaiah released her. "We can talk more later."

She frowned, assuming he'd wanted to mention something about the idea of setting himself up as bait to draw out the killer. She wished Grayson had held off for a few minutes, but now she turned to her teammate. "Did Rhy call you?"

"No, Joe sent a text." Grayson glanced to the side door where Steele and Jina had just come in. "I assume he included all of us, except Brock because he and Liana are on vacation."

Brock and Liana had renewed their wedding vows last month and were taking a well-deserved vacation that Brock referred to as their honeymoon. Apparently, they hadn't taken one when they'd originally gotten married a year ago, and Brock was determined not to make the same mistakes he had in the past.

She was happy for them; their love shone brightly during the ceremony. She'd also been a little sad over knowing she'd never have what they did.

Now, she wasn't so sure. Oddly, she couldn't imagine her life without Isaiah. Which was ridiculous since a relationship between them would never work out.

"Look, there's Roscoe and Zeke too." Grayson sighed loudly. "Roscoe, ditch the cowboy hat. You're not in Texas anymore."

"I'm still a Texan," Roscoe drawled. "Moving from one part of the country to another doesn't change that."

"Whatever, dude," Zeke said. "You look ridiculous."

"Where's Cassidy?" Raelyn joined the conversation to interrupt what she knew would be nonstop teasing.

"She's on her way," Jina said with a shrug. "She was on the other side of town when the text came through."

The three female officers tended to stick together in times where there was an excess of testosterone. Like now. She and Jina exchanged a knowing glance as the Zeke punched Roscoe in the shoulder.

"Hey, aren't you from the church?" Steele asked, looking at Isaiah. "You're the preacher, right?"

"Yes. Isaiah Washington." He nodded at the team that had gathered around them.

"You already met Grayson. The others are Steele, Jina, Roscoe, and Zeke," she said, gesturing to each one. "Cassidy is on her way, and I'm sure Flynn will arrive shortly. Brock is the only member of the team that is out of town."

"Yeah, he's missing the action," Zeke said with a snicker.

"Nice to meet you," Isaiah said, nodding to them. "I appreciate you coming to help us find and arrest the gunman."

"Just one gunman?" Roscoe asked with an arched brow. "From what I'm hearing, it seems like there's always another waiting in the wings."

"True," Raelyn agreed. "The attempts against Isaiah have continued to escalate since the initial shooting outside the church. We have Hugo Morrison in custody, but he's still in the hospital. He's in the ICU and on pain meds, so we can't interview him."

"And I don't think he'll cooperate, even if we can talk to him," Isaiah added. "Hence this plan to draw the shooter out."

"What makes you think the next shooter will give up the boss?" Steele asked.

He had a point. She glanced at Isaiah, then shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "But it's worth a try."

Joe crossed over to join them. "We're still working out a few details. When the rest of the team gets here, we'll discuss the details in the big conference room." He turned to Isaiah. "Are you sure about this? If you want to back out, now is the time. We won't hold it against you or think any less of you. We will do everything possible to keep you safe, but there is no denying this plan comes with some risk."

"I'm sure." There was a steely determination in Isaiah's blue eyes. "I want the danger to be over. And that won't happen until we have the Chief in custody."

"No clue who the infamous Chief is, huh?" Jina wore a perplexed expression. "I'm kinda surprised he's been able to keep his real identity hidden for so long. Usually those kinds of secrets are not easy to keep."

"Yeah," Isaiah agreed with a frown. "Having grown up in that neighborhood, I can't help but think that I might recognize his legal name if I knew what it was."

"Well, that's the goal, right?" Raelyn tried to smile, thinking of how Donte Wicks was brutally murdered while they were outside in the Jeep mere feet from the property. "No one can stay anonymous forever."

Flynn and Cassidy arrived within five minutes of each other. She quickly introduced Isaiah before they headed into the large conference room. There wasn't enough room for everyone to sit, but they crowded around the table anyway. She sat beside Isaiah, while Joe stood at the front.

"Okay, we're still waiting to hear from Reed Carmichael," Joe said. "He's stopping along the way to talk to the residents in the houses across the street from the church to see if he can use their place as a place to hide. We'll know more soon."

"What if they choose not to cooperate?" Isaiah asked.

"That's their right." Joe shrugged. "We'll make do."

Raelyn didn't love that idea and found herself praying the residents would allow the police to stay on their property. She almost reached for Isaiah's hand but managed to stop herself. Bad enough they were discussing a plan where he'd be used as bait. She did not want the team to know how deeply emotionally involved she was.

In the past few months, both Brock and Steele had faced difficult situations with women they cared deeply about. Emotion tended to interfere with the ability to think clearly and logically. She needed to stay focused on the mission before them.

"The idea is to get everyone in place during the night," Joe went on. "Then we'd like Raelyn to drop Isaiah off in front of the church early in the following morning. We assume someone is watching the church, waiting for him to show up."

She frowned, realizing this was going to take much longer than she'd thought. It was barely ten thirty in the morning. Full darkness was a good eleven hours away, and even then, they'd want to wait until after midnight to get into position.

"That seems like a long way off," Isaiah said, as if reading her thoughts. "We can't set this up sooner?"

"Not if they're watching the church," Joe said. "If they see cops getting into place, they'll sit back and wait us out."

"Isn't there another place we can use other than the church?" Jina asked.

"Unfortunately, Isaiah's house is a crime scene," she said. "I'm not sure it's been cleared by the third district officers after I shot Hugo Morrison there."

"And it needs to be cleaned up," Joe added. "The front door was repaired, but I'm sure there are blood stains inside."

"I can do that cleaning myself," Isaiah said. "My house would work as a secondary location. It wouldn't be unusual for me to head there to clean up after the shooting."

"We'll see what Reed Carmichael comes up with," Joe said. "We need to make sure we have at least two sniper locations for Jina and Steele."

"Hold on," Isaiah protested. "I thought the goal was to take the shooter alive, so that we can question him about the Chief?"

"That is the goal," Joe agreed. "But we'll have sharpshooters in place as a backup plan. We need to be prepared if things go south."

There was a long moment of silence as the team digested that. Isaiah still looked unhappy about that part of the plan, but she was relieved to know they had two excellent sharpshooters on their side.

"It's a last resort," Steele said reassuringly. "We don't want to shoot anyone when we head into these situations. But we do need to keep the community and you, safe."

Joe's phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and said, "This is Reed. I'll be back in a few."

Those who were standing moved out of Joe's way as he left the conference room.

"Did anyone find Reggie?" Isaiah asked, breaking the silence.

"Who?" Grayson frowned.

"Reggie Vallera was convicted of selling drugs several years ago. Isaiah identified him from a mug shot." She quickly explained about the possibility of Reggie Vallera being related to a teenager with the street name Tiger, because of his orange Afro.

"I think we should follow up on this Reggie lead," Steele said. "That's something we can do while we're waiting for nightfall."

"I planned on asking for a replacement vehicle so Isaiah and I could check out Reggie's last-known address." When Steele frowned, she added, "Its possible Reggie would open up to Isaiah over those of us in law enforcement."

"What happened to the Jeep?" Jina asked.

She was filling them in on the recent gunfire and the GPS device that Mike Callahan found on the vehicle when Joe returned.

"Okay, Reed was able to sweet talk one of the neighbors across the street to use their home." Joe grinned. "That's one less hurdle. We still need help to cover the back of the church. Which reminds me." Joe turned to Isaiah. "What was that building used for before it was renovated?"

"It was a pizza joint." Isaiah grinned. "Sometimes I can still smell the pepperoni."

"Great," Zeke muttered. "Now I want pizza for lunch."

"Me too," Flynn added. "But I want a pie with the works, not just pepperoni."

"We're discussing our upcoming mission, not lunch," Jina said sharply. "Stop talking about food already."

"I didn't see a large kitchen, though," Raelyn said, getting back to the church. "There was only a small kitchenette."

"The part of the church where the altar is located is where the original kitchen was," Isaiah explained. "The pews are set up where the restaurant tables were once located."

"Why did the pizza joint go under?" Cassidy asked. "You'd think people would love to have a pizza place so close."

"The owner was shot and killed one night when he was closing up," Isaiah said. "The shooters were looking for money, of course, but the owner resisted. He was shot and robbed. After that, his wife decided to move south."

Shot and killed? There was another long silence at that sobering news.

Beneath the edge of the table, Isaiah's hand sought hers. Her fingers interlaced with his, offering support.

She knew he faced danger on a regular basis, but the reality was like a sucker punch to the gut.

She desperately wished he'd move out of that neighborhood as soon as possible. Yet she also knew he never would.

"Okay,that only reinforces the need to take the streets back from the drug dealers and other thugs," Joe said solemnly. "Getting the Chief off the street is a good place to start."

"I agree," Steele said. "I feel bad for those who have little choice but to live there."

"Mayor Critten is working on a strategy to decrease crime," Isaiah said. He released Raelyn's hand, knowing she wouldn't want the others to see their brief touch. "His son, Beau, was in my grade during high school. Beau was one of the few who made it out of the neighborhood to attend college." He didn't add that rumor had it Beau never finished his degree. But some higher education was better than none.

"I hate to say this, but based on recent events, I don't think Mayor Critten's strategy is working." Grayson spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. "I know change takes time, but the shoot-out in front of your church was not good."

"I know that." Isaiah was as frustrated as the rest of the neighborhood. "At least the mayor has added an additional twelve police officers to the third district."

The way the team members glanced at each other, Isaiah could tell they were not impressed. Remembering Officer Stern's attitude, he could understand why. Yet it was clear they needed to get the crime under control for those who wanted to live in peace to flourish. During the last two years he'd had his church, Isaiah had met enough good and decent people to know change was possible.

He prayed every day for the violence to end.

There was more discussion about how to cover the church without attracting undue attention. Flynn wanted to play the role of a homeless guy, and Joe agreed.

After they'd finished hashing out a few more details, Joe brought the meeting to a close. They'd done as much as they could for now.

Raelyn caught Joe before he could leave the conference room. "I need a vehicle, Joe. I'd like to swing by the last-known address of Reggie Vallera. I'm supposed to have Reed as a backup but he's not here yet and we don't have time to waste."

"Yes, I think I can convince him to talk to me," Isaiah said. "If not Reggie, then possibly his younger brother Tiger."

Joe frowned. "You're not heading back there alone. You need to take someone else from the team with you."

"I'll ride along," Grayson offered. "I was there when things went south with Hugo Morrison."

"Zeke and I can follow them," Jina said, joining the conversation. "We can hang back, though, only moving in if needed."

With four cops along for the ride, Isaiah wasn't sure he'd get anywhere with Reggie, but he felt as if he had to try. "Whatever you think is best."

"Fine." Joe glanced at his watch. "Rhy offered to buy pizza for lunch, so try to get back here by twelve thirty. This is a one-and-done scenario. Setting up the decoy operation is the priority."

"Understood," Raelyn said with a nod. "Thanks, Joe."

It took a few minutes to straighten out the vehicle situation. Joe offered Raelyn the use of his SUV since they didn't have many undercover cars available. Zeke had a spare sedan too, an older model that wouldn't look out of place.

He was feeling antsy by the time they were ready to go. Zeke and Jina left first so they could swing by for Zeke's sedan. He hoped they would stay out of sight while he, Raelyn, and Grayson approached Reggie's place.

He felt certain Reggie would see them coming from a mile away and take off. But he hoped Tiger was there. Having spoken to the younger boy at his after-service meals, he hoped he could convince him to help.

"We'll scope out the place first," Raelyn said. Grayson was driving while Raelyn gave him directions. "See if anyone is out and about."

"Okay." He doubted anyone from the neighborhood would be hanging around in plain sight, not after all the recent events that had taken place. The initial shooting, then the subsequent shooting of Hugo Morrison. Lastly the fatal shooting of Donte Wicks. Anyone involved would be hunkered down, waiting for the heat to die down.

"Reed was upset that we didn't wait for him," Grayson said. "I think he feels partially responsible for the area in his district."

"I'm just glad he got the neighbor to cooperate," Raelyn said. "That was huge. Did you tell him he could meet us here? I was given orders to include Reed in our investigation."

"I did. He's on his way," Grayson confirmed.

"What happens if I sit in the church for hours and no one comes after me?" Isaiah asked. "How long do we wait?"

Grayson and Raelyn exchanged a long look. "As long as it takes," Raelyn said. "It's possible things will stay quiet until dusk."

Yeah, that's exactly what he was afraid of. Long hours of waiting and watching would not work in their favor. He reminded himself that Raelyn and the others were well trained on this sort of thing.

Raelyn directed Grayson to drive by the dilapidated home that was supposedly Reggie Vallera's last-known address. Of course, there was no one sitting outside on the porch, the way there normally would be in the nicer weather months.

The entire block looked deserted, although he knew that wasn't likely. Many of these residents didn't work full-time jobs for a variety of reasons. Some legitimate, others not so much.

"Does Mayor Critten live around here?" Raelyn asked.

He barked out a laugh. "Not hardly. Why?"

"I was just wondering why he would come way out here to attend church services." She turned in her seat to look at him. "You said you went to school with his son, so he must have lived here at some point."

"He did, yes. But once he became mayor, he moved to a nicer area." He shrugged. "I can't blame him. That's what anyone would do if they had the chance."

"Yeah, I can see that." She shrugged, then added, "Do you know which house he lived in back then?"

"Yes, the one he rents to me," he said. "Mayor Critten still owns it. When he helped support the renovation of the church, he agreed to rent the house to me for a very reasonable rate. I jumped on the opportunity."

"That makes sense." She turned back to look through the windshield. "Hey, is that Tiger?"

He looked out the passenger window in time to see a young skinny kid with orange hair disappearing into a home across the street. It wasn't the place Reggie had listed as his address, but it was possible the guy had moved.

Or that the kids were hanging out there with someone else in residence.

"Do me a favor and go around the block," Raelyn instructed Grayson. "I don't think we want to park in plain sight."

"Agree," Grayson said. He turned right at the next intersection.

"Are you planning to approach that house rather than Reggie's address?" he asked. "That's a risk since we don't know how many are inside."

"This whole neighborhood is a risk." She waved an impatient hand. "We know Tiger went inside, and he knows you, Isaiah, so I think we should head there first." She glanced back at him. "Unless you'd rather stay behind."

"No, I'm going." He wanted Raelyn and Grayson to stay back but knew asking them to do so would be useless.

He swallowed hard as they parked the SUV and shut down the engine. Then he caught sight of an older model Ford rolling past them. "Is that Jina and Zeke?"

"Yes." There was no acknowledgment from either vehicle as the Ford turned at the next corner. "They're in position."

"Let's do this." He pushed open the door and climbed out. Both Raelyn and Grayson were dressed in uniform, so he didn't have high hopes for this encounter.

But he had to try.

They walked around the block in the opposite direction from where Jina and Zeke were staked out. He led the way along the eerily deserted side streets.

People were hiding indoors as if there was a plague sweeping through the neighborhood. As they passed one house, he caught the flutter of a curtain in front of the window.

And so it starts, he thought with a sigh. Phone calls would be made, warning others of the pastor and uniformed cops walking down the street.

No one would dare leave their homes now.

He rounded the corner and approached the house where he'd last seen Tiger. The place still looked deserted on the outside, but that was to be expected. He found himself quickening his pace to reach the front door.

He rapped on it hard, then called, "Tiger? It's Pastor Washington. We need to talk!"

No response. Which was really no surprise. He tried again.

"Tiger? Is Reggie with you?" He hammered his fist on the door. "Please open up. I just want to ask a few questions!"

Leaning forward, he listened intently but couldn't hear anything from inside. He was reminded of how they'd done this at Donte's house, only to end up hearing gunfire.

"Hey! Stop! Police!" Raelyn's shout had him turning from the door. He caught the flash of orange movement as Tiger took off running from the back of the house.

Isaiah broke into a run, jumping down from the rickety porch to follow Tiger.

Behind him, he could hear Raelyn on the radio, letting Jina and Zeke know what was going on. He increased his pace, hoping to catch up with the boy, when he disappeared around the corner.

No! He couldn't let him get away!

Having a bit of a head start on Raelyn, he reached the corner first. He searched both sides of the street, intent on finding Tiger, but there was nothing.

Had the kid ducked into one of these houses? Or was he hiding somewhere?

"Where is he?" Raelyn asked as she and Grayson stopped beside him.

"I don't know." He walked down the street, still searching for Tiger.

"Nothing on this side," a female voice said through Grayson's radio.

"He couldn't have gone far," Raelyn groused. "He must be here."

The truth was that Tiger could have been anywhere. Some neighbors stuck together in an us-against-them stand against cops. Knocking on doors wouldn't help much.

"We can try Reggie's address," Grayson said, after another long five minutes of searching.

"Yeah, sure." Isaiah went along with the plan, waiting as Grayson fruitlessly knocked at the door. No one answered and this time, there was no movement either.

"Let's try the neighbors," Raelyn suggested. They split up to knock on more doors.

This wasn't going to work, Isaiah abruptly realized. No matter how well Joe and Rhy had planned to hide the officers nearby, the shooter wouldn't be fooled into attempting to kill him.

Not unless Isaiah was completely alone.

There was no other choice. He needed to ditch Raelyn and the rest of the tactical team.

From here on out, he'd work on his own.