Page 51 of Justice for Aleta

“Good afternoon, TrooperFletcher. Can you see me okay?”

“Yes, sir. Just fine.”

“You’re coming in okay here too. We’re about to be joined by the FBI field office supervisor and the local DEA supervisor, as well as the KDCI supervisor. I know they’ve been involved for a while now, but they have a special focus now. Ortiz has stepped into a sex crime by holding the Stone girl, and that’s their field. Anything that happens to her, they’ll be investigating and handling.”

“Yes, sir.”

The conference room door opened and people started trickling in. Jack was pleased to learn that, along with the SRT, the FBI intended to continue their surveillance and protection of his home, and were planning to bring some people up from Texas. He didn’t know if Cruz would be one of them, but he hoped someday he’d get to meet the FBI agent from SanAntonio who’d gone to the mat for him time and again during the investigation.

As soon as the conference was over, Jack shut down his computer and sighed. There’d still been no sightings of Moss. Nobody could find him. If they raided Ortiz’s compound, they might be able to get him to give them some information, but there was no guarantee. Apprehending Moss would lead to kidnapping charges against Ortiz, and the wannabe drug kingpin didn’t want that tacked onto the already-obvious charges. He wanted everyone to believe KennedieStone had come to him of her own free will. But they had to get to Ortiz before Menendez did or it would all be for nothing.

Jack’s nerves were frayed but his resolve was deepening. Nothing could happen to Aleta. Nothing.

* * *

Fused together,his hardness softening inside her, Jack wrapped his arms around Aleta and she pressed herself to his chest. He loved the feel of her legs around his hips as they lay there on their sides, his lips buried in her hair. Heather had been the love of his life, or so he’d thought, but this woman was much, much more. He didn’t just love her?he admired her. She was tenacious, tender, fierce, warm, determined, vulnerable, so many things that he respected not just in her but in anyone. She wanted to live, to laugh and sing and dance, and a pang of regret shot through him. Because of their religion, Aleta had never been able to go to a dance, and he wanted desperately to take her dancing. The idea that it might not ever happen darted through his brain, but he shut it down. They were going to be fine. Somebody out there was going to find Moss and when they did, it would all be over.

His text pinged, and he looked at the clock. It was after two in the morning. Who in the world would be texting him? When he picked it up, his heart froze as he saw Cruz’s name in his feed.

Raid accomplished. FBI has Ortiz and Stone in custody. Be ready. He’s coming for Aleta. We’re sure of it.

He sent back a simple answer:Thanks. Will do. Keep us posted.Nothing else was really necessary.

Jack lay there in the dark, wondering what would happen. Would he manage to sneak up to the house somehow? Steal some kind of vehicle and come crashing up the drive to get to the front door? Did the agents outside have the kind of firepower that would keep him at bay? What exactly were their orders? It spun ‘round and ‘round in his head until he was almost dizzy. There was nothing he could do at that point except wait and hope they were all ready.

The clock just kept ticking. Time passed, but he was frozen there, hugging her tightly to him. At some point he thought about telling her to put on her pajamas, but he decided against it. They were safe as long as they were in the house.

He’d almost managed to fall asleep when he heard something, a distinctthudon the roof. Reaching to the nightstand, he flipped on the radio and heard chatter that bled over to the dispatch channel, so he flipped it to channel seventeen.

“Unit four, did you see the object.”

“Affirmative, but I can’t tell what it was.”

“Did you see the direction it came from?”

“Negative, unit four, but if I had to guess, I’d say west.” That was behind the house. Jack sat straight up in bed and grabbed the mic.

“Unit four, this is trooper. Did you say west?”

“Roger, trooper.”

“Unit four, that’s the old rock quarry. There’s access and open space.”

“Unit twelve, you’re on the western side of the property. See anything?”

“Negative, unit one. I don’t see anything. Sending one member of our unit to investigate.”

What was the object on the roof? He’d heard it. They’d seen it, although they couldn’t identify it. There’d been no sound of anything rolling down the slope of the roof. He was thinking about climbing up into the attic when he heard something that chilled him.

“All units! All units! Alert! Incoming!” Before he had a second to react, more noises caught his attention. They sounded like small charges, and he stared out the window, but he couldn’t see anything. The next sight chilled him.

A bright red flame outside the window, coming from the southwest. The minute he heard it hit, the sky lit up.

A propellant. The first projectile was something filled with gasoline or another combustible liquid. And the second? A flare. The radio chatter went wild, but Jack didn’t have time to think about that. “Aleta! Babe, wake up!”

“Whaaa? What’s?”

“Get up. Get dressed. The house is on fire.”

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