Top Secret Target Read online

  Fear accelerated his breathing. Work the scene, he told himself savagely.

  “I told you to stand down,” Carpenter barked, a radio in one hand, as he and Titus hurtled from the truck. “I’ve got an APB out on her vehicle. My people are inside checking.”

  “Titus can check faster.” He didn’t wait for an answer, clipping Titus to the leash and pulling his sidearm. “Tell your cops I’m coming in.”

  “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

  “Tell them,” he snapped.

  Carpenter relayed the message. “I ordered them all to the yard. Clear the house and if you find him, don’t be a hero.”

  Ethan didn’t answer as he and Titus ran to the front door and pushed their way inside.

  * * *

  Kendra drove slowly, her mind searching for escape possibilities. Andy kept a firm hold on her throat, his nails cutting into her skin, and a handgun at her temple.

  “Cozy, huh? Our reunion? Just the two of us without G.I. Joe and his dog.”

  “You don’t want to do this,” she said.

  “Oh, yes, I do. I really, really do.” His breath was hot and sour on her cheek. “You betrayed me and I got sent to prison while you went off and had your jolly life as a PI. That’s why you’re playing at being G.I. Jane, isn’t it? Undercover work? Made it harder to find you, but I’m a good investigator, too.”

  She battled back the fear. “They’ll come after you. They know you ducked your parole.”

  “That’s my problem to deal with, but judging from the level of cop expertise around here, I’ll be fine. You called them, I assume. They’re probably out in front of your house now. They’ll look for your car soon, but they won’t find it in time.”

  In time.

  “They’ll be busy for a while, cleaning up the mess.”

  Her heart stopped. “What mess?”

  He laughed. “G.I. Joe’s going to have an accident.”

  “No,” she said, twisting. He pressed the gun harder until it ground against her skull.

  “Drive the car,” he grated out through clenched teeth.

  Tears of pain and fear blurred her vision as she drove slowly around the block. There were no houses along the stretch, just a cement-covered culvert that funneled water back out to the river and the woods beyond.

  “Here,” he said. “Turn here.”

  “There’s no road. I can’t—”

  He tightened his hold and she coughed.

  “Drive over the culvert, Kendra.”

  No, her mind screamed.

  “We’re going to take a walk in the woods, just you and me.”

  “I won’t do it,” she whispered.

  His fingernails sliced into her neck. “You will do what I want,” he said as he squeezed harder, “or I’ll knock you out, but that wouldn’t be as much fun.”

  Hardly able to breathe, she guided the car over the culvert and onto a flat section of ground that paralleled the back of the fenced properties. Why didn’t he want them to drive away from the house? To put some distance between him and the police? Fingers clutching the wheel, she kept the car creeping forward until he commanded her to stop.

  He peered past her at the fence next to the car. A fresh eruption of goose bumps swallowed her up as she realized they were parked behind Jillian Masters’s property.

  “Do you know who killed those girls, Andy?”

  “What girls?”

  He would give away nothing and she would never know the truth.

  “This is the perfect spot,” he said. “Park the car.”

  With quaking hands she turned off the engine.

  Andy laughed. “So easy. One quick stop at the hardware store. Cell phone, pressure cooker bomb, little camera to let me know when they make entry. Too easy.”

  A bomb. Her mind struggled to process the information. It could not be true. He was bluffing. “Andy, no,” she started.

  Not loosening his grip, he kicked open the door and dragged her from the car, walking her to the nearest tree.

  “Sit,” he ordered.

  “I don’t want to.”

  With a kick he swiped the legs out from under her and she collapsed to the wet pine needles, falling onto her knees.

  “You’ve got to watch this, Kendra.”

  He shoved the cell phone in front of her face. “Would you look at that? G.I. Joe has just pushed the door open. Let’s see what happens next.”

  She saw Ethan there on the screen, crouched low, Titus nosing forward past him through the hallway, checking for intruders, looking for her. Everything inside her screamed in terror. “No,” she said. “No, please don’t, Andy. Please.”

  Andy just smiled, madness glinting in his eyes. “Watch, Kendra. You won’t want to miss a minute.”

  Ethan’s face, raised to the camera, was grainy, indistinct, but her mind filled in the fine details, eyes tender and filled with humor, strong shoulders that had helped carry her burdens, a heart that beat for others.

  “Please,” she said to Andy one more time. “Hurt me, don’t hurt him.”

  “Oh, I will, Kendra. Don’t worry about that.” He stepped back and pulled the phone away from her. She bent into a tight ball, her fingers finding the gun in her ankle holster. Her skin was slick with sweat, hands trembling. One shot, one chance. In one fluid movement she stood and drew her weapon.

  “Stop, Andy.”

  He tipped his head back and laughed. Her finger pulled the trigger as his tapped the cell phone.

  * * *

  Ethan kept low as they breached the door of the mother-in-law unit. Titus did not alert on any intruders but still he kept the dog close. Andy wouldn’t hesitate to target the dog. The lights were on in the small kitchen, and he cleared the small place quickly. Nothing. So sign that Andy had ever been there.

  Final stop was the kitchen. That was where his eyes latched onto the device on the counter.

  Pressure cooker bomb.

  Adrenaline flashed through him.

  He grabbed Titus and hurtled for the back door, ripping it open as the bomb exploded. He felt a massive force of air pick them both up, heard a sound that detonated inside his head with such percussive force that everything went quiet. As if in slow motion, he saw himself tumbling over and over, blown into the wet yard, saw Titus landing several feet to his right. Still.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Kendra realized the scream that split the air was her own. There were voices, shouts from behind her that she finally understood came from Jillian’s backyard. On limbs that refused to cooperate, she scrambled to Andy, who was sprawled backward on the ground, and kicked the cell phone away from where he’d dropped it, pocketing his gun. His eyes were closed, blood staining his windbreaker. With fingers that seemed to belong to someone else, she checked his neck for a pulse.

  A tiny beat thrummed. He was alive. Her bullet had caught him right of center, missing his heart. His eyes flicked open and he stared at her.

  “Didn’t think you’d have the guts, Kendra.”

  She was too frantic to answer, too crazed to get to Ethan, yet terrified of what she’d find. The gate opened and Officer Carpenter ran toward her with another officer, both with weapons drawn.

  “Andy Bleakman?” he asked, eyes on the moaning man.

  She nodded.

  “Ambulance is rolling.”

  “Thanks,” Andy said, his mouth pulled into a grimace. “Nice to know I’ll be well cared for.”

  “Oh, we don’t care much at all,” Carpenter said. “We just want you well enough to stand trial so we can send you to prison for good this time.”

  Kendra was staring at the gate, willing her legs to carry her into the yard so she could see. She had to see. But her body would simply not respond to the commands of her brain. Legs gone rubbery, she could only stand
there, gaping, fearing, mourning, afraid to know, afraid to not.

  The seconds ticked by. She looked at Carpenter, her expression somber.

  “Is...?” she started, then stopped when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

  Ethan stumbled through the gate, his eyes latching on hers and then flicking to Andy on the ground. Blood dripped from his forehead and his expression was dazed. Nerves firing and spirit soaring, she ran to him and he crushed her in an embrace. He pressed a kiss to her mouth that brought praises welling into her soul, a comfort so sweet she thought she might die of it. Then he wrapped her in a tight hug that smelled of smoke and sweat and she clung to him.

  “Ethan,” she murmured. “Ethan, I love you. I love you so much.”

  He did not react, simply squeezed her tighter. Then he seemed to sag and she pulled away. “Ethan?”

  He watched her mouth and pointed to his ear. “I can’t hear.”

  The explosion. He hadn’t heard her profession of love, not one word.

  “I...” She was going to repeat it, but instead she touched her fingers to his face, to his trembling mouth.

  Tears welled in the brown depths, grief that robbed the light from his eyes. Grief for...?

  She jolted as she realized Titus was not with them.

  “Oh, Ethan...” The lump in her throat squeezed off the sound.

  His head sagged, his forehead pressed to hers.

  “No, no,” she whispered.

  He heaved in a ragged breath, pressed close for one final moment, then turned and limped back into the yard. Heart pounding, she followed. The backyard was abuzz with activity. A fire engine had arrived, pouring water through the broken front window of the mother-in-law unit, where a small fire licked at the kitchen curtains. Three police officers were directing neighbors away. Kendra saw Mindy in the distance, offering a tentative wave, her face white as paper in the darkness.

  Kendra could not lift her hand to return the gesture.

  An officer beckoned Ethan, who knelt next to a dark heap on the grass. Titus. No, her mind screamed. God, please let it not be Titus.

  But it was and the dog did not move, even when Ethan knelt over him, cradling the still form as if it was a child. His shoulders were shaking, and then he stood quickly when the cop finished his radio message.

  “We’re ready,” the cop informed him. “We called your people at the number you gave us and asked them to meet us at the nearest animal hospital. I’ve got you a ride out front.”

  Ethan couldn’t hear and the officer gestured toward the squad car that awaited. Tears streaming down his face, he lifted Titus in his arms and turned one anguished look at Kendra.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

  She knew he could not hear her as he turned and carried his dog out of the yard.

  * * *

  Hours later, Kendra could not sleep. There had been no word from Ethan about Titus’s condition and she suspected the worst. Her heart broke a little with each passing moment. What had she done to him? What had she cost him by bringing Andy into his world like some horrible pestilence? Worst of all, she’d thought she could handle it herself, deal with Andy alone, and her arrogance had seemingly cost the life of a noble animal, Ethan’s closest friend. Her arrogance, like Jillian’s, had cut him down.

  She remembered how Ethan and Titus had hunted for Baby, scoured the bushes and shrubs for hours to rescue a bony cat for a stranger, and one who was impersonating his ex-wife to boot. They’d come so many miles since then, sharing little bits of themselves, the slivers of pain and joy and mistakes and triumphs, and best of all, laughter. She smiled through her tears thinking about his wild story about marrying her on the beach.

  Just a story, but sweet enough to last her for a lifetime. She would try to see him once more, to say goodbye and thank you and... How could she express the terrible regret she felt at what she now expected had happened to Titus? She’d have to try before she left town. She owed him that at least. The doorbell chimed. Ethan? Heart soaring she ran to the door and threw it open.

  Mindy stood there holding a container of soup, startled. “I...um... It seemed like a good time for soup.”

  Kendra sighed. “You’re very kind. Thank you.” She stood aside to let Mindy into the kitchen.

  She set the container on the counter. “What happened, Jillian? The police said there was an explosion, but they wouldn’t tell why.”

  “Someone set a bomb in the mother-in-law unit.”

  Her eyes rounded. “Who would do that?”

  “The ex-boyfriend I told you about.”

  Mindy shook her head. “What did you do to upset him that much?”

  Kendra kept her flare of temper in check. “Mindy, it’s late and I’m not going to get into it. He’s in custody, that’s all that matters.”

  “Is Ethan okay?”

  “Yes, but Titus...” She swallowed hard. “He’s at the vet with him.”

  “Oh.” Mindy shoved her hands into her pockets. “You must feel terrible.”

  “I do. The bomb could have killed them both.”

  “I meant, how you’ve treated Ethan.”

  “How I’ve...?” She’d almost forgotten. She was Jillian, not Kendra. She could go ahead and explain it, but until she was officially dismissed by the colonel, she was still Jillian Masters, and she owned her friend’s mistakes as well as her own. “I’m tired, Mindy.”

  She ignored the remark. “I mean you cheated on him. Repeatedly.” A bright sheen crept into her eyes. “And he took you back, even though you didn’t deserve it, and now you’ve cost him his dog. I hope he doesn’t forgive you for that.”

  Kendra jerked back. “I know you were hurt, Mindy, but you don’t have the right—”

  “Sure I do,” she said. “My husband cheated on me with two other women, you see. He wasn’t just sleeping with you.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Your ex is...”

  “Billy Madding, the man you’re going to deploy with.” She glared. “Isn’t that nice? You’ll have all the time in the world to rekindle your tawdry affair.”

  “Mindy, this isn’t what you think.”

  “No? That’s what the other two said before they died.”

  Chills erupted along Kendra’s spine. “The other two?”

  Mindy cocked her head. “Elizabeth and Jackie. The two young bimbos he was having affairs with. I killed them,” she said. “And buried them in the woods.”

  Jillian’s words came back to her.

  I dumped him when I saw the text on his cell phone from someone named Lizzie with all the kissing emojis. Lizzie... Elizabeth. The truth crashed home with a vengeance. The woman accomplice wasn’t an accomplice at all. They’d been so focused on the trees they hadn’t seen the forest.

  “That’s why I moved to this house, next to you, with the woods behind. It’s taken a long time to work it all out.” She sighed. “Titus almost ruined everything prematurely when he sniffed out one of the bodies a few days ago, but I pretended to see a stranger and rode down into the creek, threw the binoculars under a shrub. Clever, huh? It worked so well. You two were completely freaked. Totally distracted you from the bodies.”

  “Mindy...”

  “It was a matter of time until Titus found the dead girls, of course, but I was having trouble getting close to you. Shooting your tires out would have put anyone else out of commission, but not you. No, not you. The wasps were fun, but that was pure theater. Running you down after your wilderness survival drill didn’t work, either.”

  “All those attempts, they were your doing, to punish me?” Not Sullivan? Not Andy? Her brain struggled to process it all.

  “Surprised, aren’t you? Who would expect the mousy neighbor? So easy to ignore. Billy certainly ignored me on a regular basis. Well, I’m not as dumb as you all think I a
m. I made those girls pay for cheating with Billy. I buried them deep, but you know what?” She stepped closer. “I left a spot for you.” Madness, like in Andy, like in Sullivan, shone in Mindy bright as a neon sign.

  “I’m not Jillian,” she blurted. “My name is...”

  “Nice try,” Mindy said, cutting her off.

  Kendra fumbled for the drawer behind her. If she could get a knife, a rolling pin, something to defend herself...

  Mindy took a Taser from her pocket and fired.

  Kendra’s scream was locked inside as ribbons of fire coursed through her and she fell to the floor.

  * * *

  Bleary-eyed, Kendra swam back to consciousness. Images of Andy, an explosion, Ethan’s tears, jumbled through her mind as she gradually resurfaced. It took her several moments to figure out that she was in the driver’s seat of Mindy’s car, the same car that had nearly run her down on the bridge, parked in Jillian’s garage. Her wrists were duct-taped together around the bottom of the steering wheel and there was another strip of tape across her mouth. Her whole body pulsed with one message...terror.

  “You’re a bad person,” Mindy was saying matter-of-factly. “I mean, you have a stalker ex-boyfriend trying to kill you, and me. Plus I heard rumors that you’re a target of this Red Rose Killer who the air force is hunting. Three people want you dead. That should tell you something right there.”

  Kendra tried to flex her wrists, breathing hard through her nose.

  Mindy leaned in the open window. “I had an even better idea than burying you in the woods, one that will draw less attention from the cops,” she said with a girlish giggle. “Here’s how it goes. You borrowed my car, see, since yours was impounded for evidence, and unbeknownst to me, you were so overcome with remorse about being such a tawdry home wrecker and killing Ethan’s dog, that you decided to kill yourself. Tragic, huh?” She patted Kendra’s hand.