Page 4 of Counter Attack

Nathan and Alexis—he’d never been able to call her Alex like most of her friends—had taken different routes to becomepolice officers. She’d wanted to get out of Russell County and Pearl Springs and jumped at the chance to study criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati. It’d been far enough away for Alexis to be independent, but close enough to check on the grandparents who raised her. And Cincinnati was way more exciting than Pearl Springs.

It’d surprised him when he heard she took a job with the Chattanooga police department. He’d figured she’d land in Cincinnati or even Nashville, but with her grandparents getting older, Chattanooga was probably a compromise. He’d watched her grandfather struggle with disappointment when she chose Chattanooga over working for him as a Russell County deputy.

Nathan sipped the drink again and noted his confidential informant in the corner of the room, talking to a woman. He looked up and his head moved in an almost imperceptible nod, Nathan’s cue to rendezvous in five minutes. He noted the time on his watch.

The CI had asked to meet at the Lemon Tree, and Nathan had agreed once he learned the CI had information on who was behind the supply of heroin coming into Pearl Springs.

Three overdoses at the high school in the past week, and if it hadn’t been for Narcan, three teens would have died. Nathan glanced toward the door in time to see a hefty bouncer-type leave the bar—Alexis’s backup. Nathan had made the cop as soon as he saw him. And as backup, he should have left the minute she walked out the door.

He scanned the room again and recognized Ken Parker sitting at the end of the bar. He knew the detective from the shooting range. Parker worked vice and was more than likely another backup.

Too bad Nathan didn’t have a delete button to get rid of the image of Alexis in that outfit. Her shapely legs looked as fit aswhen they’d dated back in high school. He’d almost not recognized her with the blood-red lipstick and dark eyeshadow and fake eyelashes. At least he didn’t remember her lashes being that thick and long.

Worry gnawed at his gut. He knew, courtesy of her grandparents, that Alexis lived only a few blocks from the Lemon Tree. If she decided to walk home, it’d be more than a little nippy in that outfit. But the temps weren’t what worried him.

He’d been keeping up with news articles on the Queen’s Gambit Killer and knew two of the victims were associated with the Lemon Tree. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know Chattanooga’s homicide department was using Alexis as bait to draw the killer out.

Another check of his watch. Five minutes were up. Seconds later, J.R. stood and walked to the restroom. Another minute and Nathan made his way to the restroom as well. When he reached the hallway, it was empty as he expected. The men’s room door opened, and his informant stepped into the hall. He looked both ways then walked toward Nathan, bumping into him.

“Watch where you’re going,” Nathan snapped.

“Sorry, man.” J.R. held up his hand. “Didn’t see you come in,” he said, lowering his voice as he kept walking.

Nathan felt his coat pocket. Like before, his CI had slipped an envelope there in the exchange. This was the third time they’d met like this, and each time the brief exchange for information had been worth the trip into Chattanooga.

When Nathan returned to his table, his drink was gone and a couple had taken over the table. Just as well. He had what he came for. He’d wait until he got into his pickup to look at the contents of the envelope. And then maybe drive by Alexis’s house on his way out of town to make sure she made it home okay.

A few minutes later, Nathan let the motor idle while he read the slip of paper. Four names. One wasn’t a surprise—a known drug dealer—and Nathan recognized the other three as boys who occasionally attended his church’s youth group, mostly to check out the girls. The ringleader was the son of Pearl Springs’s top defense lawyer. He’d have to have more than a name on a paper to even interview the boy and the other two as well.

When he pulled out of the parking lot, he turned toward the street Alexis lived on. She would be furious if she saw him, but something in his gut said he needed to check on her.

5

Alex hadn’t walked far before pain shot through her feet. Three-inch spiked heels were not made for walking.

What was that?She stopped and cocked an ear. Alex would have sworn it was footsteps, but when she looked over her shoulder, the sidewalk was empty.

Even for almost midnight, the neighborhood had an eerie quiet about it. She took another step, and her feet protested. Maybe she’d take off her shoes and walk barefoot. She shuddered. Not a chance with all the germs crawling on the sidewalk.

Alex pushed the pain to the back of her mind and kept walking. Again, a noise behind her sent her heart into overdrive. She looked over her shoulder, but again, nothing stirred. The creepy sensation of someone watching lingered. Three more blocks, and she would be home. But would she be safe?

Safer than now—at least once she was home Watkins and Parker would be nearby her house keeping watch. Where were they, anyway? Usually by now they would’ve made a pass by her. Up ahead a bus stop beckoned like a glass of water in the desert. She hobbled toward the bench, texting her backup that she’d stopped for a minute to rest her feet.

A silver Mazda pulled to the curb and parked before she reached the bus stop. The driver’s door opened and a woman climbed out. Kayla?

Before she could call out to the waitress, cold steel pressed into Alex’s side and a man’s arm snaked around her waist, holding her tight.

Where had he come from? She should have been paying more attention to her surroundings instead of focusing on her feet.

“Don’t do nothing stupid unless you want to die here.”

She wasn’t dying period and tried to jerk away, but his grip held strong.

“One more move like that, and I’ll kill the girl,” he said as Kayla walked toward them.

She had no doubt he would. The sour odor emanating from the man indicated he was stressed to the max. The slightest thing could set him off. Alex couldn’t let him hurt Kayla.

“Keep walking,” he whispered. “If you say anything to warn her, I promise, I’ll kill her. Got it?”

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