Page 66 of Vanishing Legacy

Alana jumped in her seat when her phone trilled through the car speakers. The name on the display read Det. Matt Williams. She answered the call through her earpiece to keep little ears in the back seat from hearing something they shouldn’t.

“Hey, Matt, what’s going on?”

“Alana, we found Juliette in the parking garage. She’s unconscious and Dr. Thomas is missing.”

“Missing?” Alana’s heart slammed into her chest. Her mind raced with a barrage of questions about Juliette and Cash, but Matt started talking.

“We executed a warrant at Trejo’s house this morning. Things didn’t go well. There was a standoff, and someone inside started shooting. Multiple officers and civilians were wounded.”

“The mass casualty incident Cash left to help with...” Alana said it more to herself than to Matt. Cash was missing, and her partner, her sweet friend Juliette, was hurt. “You found Juliette? Is she okay?”

“She’ll be fine. Video surveillance showed Cash and Juliette attacked in the parking garage. They were caught off guard and outnumbered. Juliette did the right thing—pushed Cash between two cars—but they anticipated it and had someone hiding. They incapacitated them with Tasers and a fast-acting drug. Diazepam, probably. They left Juliette but loaded Cash into a black SUV. We’ve got the plates and put out a BOLO so officers will be on the lookout.”

“Was this Trejo?”

“I just don’t know, Alana.” She could hear frustration in his voice. “If this was ordered by Trejo, then we have a bigger problem than we thought.”

“Why?” Traffic on the bridge slowed. The green line on her map program turned red and alerted to an accident ahead.

“Because he’s dead. Died on the operating table.”

“Dea—” Alana caught herself before she repeated the word. Alana was even more convinced this wasn’t Trejo, but she didn’t have permission to tell Williams about Sonia and her money laundering. At least, not yet. Not when it could blow an entire undercover operation. Could she possibly get in contact with Bailey through the special agent in charge?

She looked in the mirror at Penny. She seemed engrossed in her book, oblivious to the world around her. Still, Alana knew children were always listening and was careful to choose her words. “They pulled up the car this morning. Did they find anyone inside?”

“You mean, did they find a body?”

“Yeah. I’m stuck in traffic with Penny right now. Gridlocked due to an accident up ahead. Can’t really go into details on my end.”

Matt was silent so long she checked to see if the call had dropped. It hadn’t. Probably he was deciding how much he could tell her. Finally, he said, “No. No human remains in the car. It was empty.”

A cold knot tightened in the pit of her stomach. “I expected as much, but a small part of me wanted to be wrong.”

Her phone bleeped. The screen showed the call had disconnected. The icons on her display showed zero bars of service. “Great,” she muttered.

“Great!” Penny echoed.

Yep. Kids were always listening.

Alana glanced in the mirror. The same blue sedan was four cars behind. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel. They had a bigger problem than a dropped call. They were being followed.

* * *

Cash’s head throbbed. His entire body felt weighted like sandbags. He slitted his eyes and blinked. Tried to focus on his surroundings. Why was his vision so blurry? He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn’t respond. Thick, rough ropes bound his arms and legs to the chair.

“What is this?” he muttered.

He tugged at the ropes, gritting his teeth as the fibers dug into his skin. His muscles grew taut as he strained against the bindings. He flexed his arms, trying to summon every ounce of strength in his body, but the ropes didn’t budge.

It was then that he noticed the stinging pain in his chest. He lifted his shirt to see two round puncture wounds, the skin red with purple bruises forming around the marks. “Stun gun,” he groaned.

What had happened? Think. He had to think.

The ER had been overrun with injuries today, and they’d paged Cash to assist. Yes, he’d operated on patients injured in the shootout at Trejo’s house. But how had he gotten here? And where exactly was here?

He closed his eyes and searched for memories. Okay, yes. Now he remembered. The officer had come out of surgery alive but critical. Once the ER was under control, he’d finished his charts and headed home.

Oh, Brooke had stopped him. Said Trejo died in the OR from his injuries. And Juliette had been there when he left the hospital. He’d been distracted, though. Unable to believe that Trejo was finally dead and that he and Penny were out of danger.

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