In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(125)

His shoulders jerking back into his earlier tense posture, Schwartz shot a furious glare toward Viggy and snarled, “No dog. No way. I know how you people work. You’ll come in here, into my house, and plant evidence against me. No one’s coming in.” His hand jerked slightly, and Theo had his gun holster unsnapped before he even paused to think. He wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the threat. Theo saw that Blessard had his TASER drawn, holding it behind his left hip, out of Schwartz’s view.

Hugh hadn’t made a move toward his weapon. “How about this, Gordon. Why don’t we let the dog go first? At the entrance to each room, we’ll have the dog check things out, but we won’t go in until we get an all-clear. That way, we couldn’t plant anything, even if we wanted to, and our guys will be safe from any explosions. Romanowski doesn’t want us to bring him in. Who knows what he’s doing right now. I need to keep my friends safe, just like you want to keep your friends safe. Sound like a plan?”

Even before Schwartz gave a grudging nod, Theo knew that Hugh had succeeded in talking Gordon into letting them onto his property. Giving a cowering Viggy a sideways glance, Theo’s stomach burned. Everyone’s safety depended on their ragtag team of two.

They were so screwed.





Chapter 6


Five Days Earlier

The boys looked startling enough with their buzz cuts, like junior military recruits, but Dez was the real shocker. Jules kept glancing in the rearview mirror of their new-to-them SUV, unable to keep her eyes off of the mini-stranger in the backseat. Dez had the same problem. At the garage-slash-beauty shop-slash-car exchange-slash-new-identity-pickup-place, disappearance expert Dennis had given Dez a pocket mirror, and her eyes had been fixed on her reflection ever since.

“You okay, Dez?” Jules asked, starting to get uneasy about the mesmerized silence behind her.

“Yes.” Her eyes didn’t move from the mirror.

“Do you like your new look?”

“I love it,” Dez breathed. “I look so…different.”

She did. Her long, blond curls were now a dark brown, cut in a pixie that made her blue eyes look huge. The fake pageant glamour was gone, replaced by a normal, cute little girl. She’d changed out of her school uniform into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

“We look like real sisters now, too.”

Jules shifted so she could see part of her own face in the rearview mirror. Her hair was the same color as Dez’s, but Dennis had cut it so it went just past her shoulders. He’d also given her cute bangs. Except for the way Jules’ blue eyes were narrow and tilted up at the corners rather than round, she and Dez did look a lot alike.

“We’ve always been real sisters, D,” Jules said teasingly as she passed a semi.

“I know,” Dez said to her mirror. “But now we really look like sisters.”

“J-Ju.” Sam’s abrupt tone made her tense. “C-c-c…”

Glancing behind her, she knew what he was going to say even before he could force it out.

“C-cops.”

The highway patrol car was right behind her. Even though she knew the cruise control was set at two miles per hour below the speed limit, she still had to resist the urge to slam on the brakes.

“Don’t be an idiot, Jules,” she muttered. “Just stay calm.” Without touching the brake pedal, she signaled and moved into the right lane in front of the semi. The patrol car moved over as well, staying behind them.

As if he’d sensed the tension in the car, Ty woke from his doze with a snort. “What’s going on?”

“Cops behind us,” Tio said tightly.

“Shit.”

“Language,” Jules snapped.

“Seriously?” Ty gave a short laugh. “I think cops following us deserves a ‘shit’ or two. Maybe even a ‘f*ck.’”

“Swearing is a bad habit.” Realizing that she had a death grip on the wheel, Jules forced her fingers to relax. Her siblings couldn’t know how close to blind panic Jules was. “Especially when your little sister is sitting right next to you.”

“Sorry, Dez,” Ty muttered.

“It’s okay. Courtney swears a lot more than you do.”

Choking back a mostly hysterical laugh, Jules asked, “Why do you call her Courtney?”

“You’re seriously asking that now?” Tio interjected before Dez could answer. “When there’s a law enforcement officer following our getaway car? Especially since Courtney most likely knows by now that you took us out of school, so it’s highly probable that there is a warrant out for your arrest on multiple kidnapping charges.” Each word was precisely enunciated, which was typical for Tio when he was scared.

“If I don’t relax,” Jules said through her teeth, “then I’m going to do something stupid, like hit the brakes or jerk the wheel or, I don’t know, roll down the window and flip off the nice cop behind us. I need you to cut me some slack right now.”

“Sorry.” He sounded young and subdued, and guilt rose in Jules for snapping at him. “Go ahead, Dez.”

“I’ve forgotten the question,” Dez said in a tiny voice.

Jules’ eyes flicked to the rearview again. Instead of looking at the occupants of the backseat this time, she checked out the squad car. It was a reasonable distance behind them, and the lights weren’t flashing—both positive things. All she had to do was not screw up and draw attention. “Um…I asked why you call your mom Courtney.”