Forsaken Duty (Red Team #9)(87)

He drove a good ways onto BLM land, then came back toward the Fed’s place on a little-used dirt road that dead-ended in the woods, then had to go the rest of the way on foot.



Owen was watching Addy, Rocco, Mandy, and the three kids ride around in the parking area in front of the stable. They were all having fun, doing the same simple maneuvers that Addy and Troy were learning. The parking lot gave them a bigger area to move around in. Troy was a natural, even though he looked tiny on the back of the big horse he was riding. Addy…not so much. The point of the exercise this afternoon was to get them both comfortable with communicating to their horses. Owen could tell the work was completely absorbing to them.

“Owen, Rocco,” Kit’s voice came over their comms. “Deputy Jerry’s gone rogue. Sheriff’s on his way over. I don’t know where Jerry is. Get everybody inside. Do it now.”

Shit. Owen ran toward the group. Rocco was grabbing kids off saddles. He handed Troy to Addy, swung Zavi under his arm, and was hurrying Casey and Mandy out of the parking lot. Mandy was resisting leaving the horses loose. Rocco caught her and forced her to focus on him. “We got incoming. Forget the goddamned horses. You and the kids need to get to safety. Now.”

That got through to her. Owen picked up Troy and grabbed Addy, then ran them up the hill and into the stable. Rocco brought up the rear. The horses followed him, so he let them into the corral. Just as well, Owen thought. Gave the deputy less opportunity to hide. A siren was wailing in the distance, coming up from town.

Owen told everyone to wait just inside the stable door while he started clearing the stalls. The deputy wasn’t in there with them, so he moved them deeper inside, getting them into the hay storage area, which was on the end of the stable nearest the house.

No sooner had he done that than the deputy stepped into the big opening. Owen drew his gun. “Deputy. We weren’t expecting you.” He kept his voice calm, as if drawing a weapon on a cop wasn’t an illegal activity. Jerry didn’t seem particularly stressed, which helped Owen relax some. He was just messing around with his phone.

“Put the phone down, deputy, and step away from the barn,” he directed him.

Jerry pocketed the phone, then frowned as he looked up at Owen. “What’s the big deal? Can’t an old friend stop by and check in? Mandy and I are friends. You know that.”

Kit was running from the house. Owen had to keep the deputy’s focus. He knew Rocco was coming around the corral side of the stable. The siren had stopped, but he could see lights flashing from the parking lot, so the sheriff was there, too.

“You know, deputy, I don’t want to make this anything it’s not,” Owen said. “Where’s your vehicle? I didn’t see you pull up. Feels a little bit like you were sneaking up on us. Why would you do that?”

“I wasn’t sneaking. I had to check out a dead cow incident. Just over on BLM land. Saw you guys and thought I’d say hi.”

The sheriff came up, his hand on his undrawn weapon. “Jerry, I’d like you to come with me.”

“I can’t do that, sheriff. I left my vehicle back a ways.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll have one of the other guys bring it in for us.”

Jerry heard Kit behind him. He whirled around. Owen lunged, body-slamming Jerry before he could draw his weapon. The sheriff cuffed him while Owen kept a knee on his neck. They disarmed him, then the sheriff hoisted Jerry to his feet.

“I’m disappointed in you, son,” the sheriff said. “You were supposed to be one of the good guys. Who are you working for? What were you doing out here?”

“Check his phone,” Owen said. “He was messing with it.”

“The sheriff’s call was the last one for a few hours,” Max said over their comms.

“Sheriff, if you don’t mind, we’ll take that phone,” Owen said. “My guys can check out what he was doing with it.” The sheriff handed it to him. It wasn’t passcode protected. Owen frowned. “There’s only one app on it.” He handed it to Kit. “Get this to Max.”

“Owen,” Mandy called from inside the hay room. “Something’s wrong with Addy. She fainted.”

Owen ran into the hay room to the women and kids. Addy was draped across Mandy’s lap, out cold. Owen knelt and felt her pulse, glad it was there and strong. He wondered if it was another situation like what had happened with Wynn and the bumblebee drone.

“Did you see a bee or bumblebee or another bug? Was she stung?” Owen asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see one,” Mandy said.

“She okay?” Kit asked.

“She’s breathing. I need to get her up to the house,” Owen said. “Max, Greer, are we clear out here?” he asked via his comms. “There any other tangos we need to know about?”

“Negative,” Greer answered. “We did a sweep of our systems. Jerry’s the only one who got through.”

“Did you do something to her?” the sheriff asked Jerry.

“I wasn’t near her,” the deputy said.

“Let’s go back to the house.” Owen lifted Addy and started for the house. Rocco followed with the kids and Mandy. Kit stayed to help the sheriff.



Owen took Addy to his room and set her on the bed. He loosened her clothes, washed her hands and face, and put a cool rag on her forehead. Nothing revived her. He remembered Troy saying his mom fainted a lot and wondered if this was normal for her. She hadn’t fainted in the time they’d been reunited. He had smelling salts in his first-aid kit. He grabbed them and waved the pungent capsules under her nose. They had no effect on her.