Delores Fossen - The Marshal's Justice

Love.

One look at his daughter and Chase was as smitten as April was.

“They didn’t hurt her,” Chase said, gulping in a long breath.

The love was mixed with a hefty dose of relief. Again, that love and relief didn’t extend to April. Chase’s gaze was practically icy when it landed on her.

“You should have told me when she was born,” Chase snarled and likely would have said a whole lot more if Jax hadn’t cleared his throat to get their attention.

“I hate to break up this family reunion, but it’s not a good idea for us to be hanging around out here. There could be other gunmen.”

Jax was right. Plus, he was still dealing with Renée. He kept his hand clamped over her mouth so she couldn’t yell, but she was struggling to break free.

Chase glanced around, probably trying to keep watch and figure out a solution to this. “Don’t say anything about where we’re going,” April reminded him. “Renée’s wearing that wire.”

“I disconnected it, but it’s still taped to her fake baby bump.”

Good. Because April didn’t want any more info relayed back to whoever had hired the woman or any other of those thugs.

“Where are you parked?” Chase asked Jax.

Jax tipped his head toward the road. “I left the cruiser about a quarter of a mile from here.”

Not that far, but he would have to fight Renée every step of the way. Chase obviously figured that out right away because he opened the driver’s side door of the black car and got in.

“I’ll drive you to the cruiser, and I can come back later and get my own car,” he told Jax. “You and Renée get in the front. April can ride with Bailey in the back.”

Good, because April didn’t want Bailey next to the woman. At best, Renée seemed unstable, but she could also be a hired killer. How the heck had Quentin gotten involved with her?

Or maybe he hadn’t.

April wasn’t sure anything coming out of Renée’s mouth had been the truth, but maybe they could sort it all out at the sheriff’s office. It was possible they’d also get some info from the wire she was wearing. First, though, April needed to try to sort out things with Chase. Or rather make peace with him.

“Let me go!” Renée snarled again when Jax put her in the cruiser. “I want to talk to Quentin.”

“Take a number,” Chase muttered under his breath.

April wanted to talk to her brother as well, but she wasn’t sure if he’d actually played a role in this. This had Crossman written all over it.

“Crossman must have hired someone to hack into WITSEC files to find me,” April said, thinking out loud.

Chase met her gaze in the rearview mirror. “Then why didn’t the hacking include Quentin? If Crossman found you yesterday, he could have found your brother, too, and he wouldn’t have needed to use Renée.”

True, and she definitely hadn’t heard anything from the marshals about Quentin being injured or killed. Of course, perhaps they didn’t know yet. That didn’t help the throbbing in her chest.

April forced herself to think this through. “Maybe the hacker did get Quentin’s file, but it’s possible he’s not staying at the place the marshals arranged for him. He’s not exactly a rule follower.”

Since Chase had known Quentin for two years, as long as he’d known her, there was no way he could argue with that. Plus, Chase and plenty of other lawmen had investigated Quentin. For a good reason, too. The bar her brother owned was a hangout for all sorts of criminals.

At one time, that included Tony Crossman himself.

And yes, Quentin had gotten involved with Crossman’s schemes and had in turn gotten her involved since April handled the finances for him. Worse, Quentin had tricked her into helping Crossma n with some money laundering. Chase would never believe it was a dupe, though. No. He would always think she’d done it willingly.

In a way, she had.

Chase pulled to a stop behind the cruiser, and Jax didn’t waste any time getting Renée out of the car. “Tell Quentin I need to see him right away,” the woman shouted.

“Oh, I will,” Chase assured her. He glanced back at April. “I’ll deal with your brother soon.”

April had no trouble hearing the implied threat—Chase would do that after he dealt with her. He didn’t use the rearview mirror this time. Chase turned and looked at her. Despite the horrible circumstances, April still wasn’t immune to that face. Hot seemed like much too mild a word when it came to Chase. He’d gotten to her from the first time they met. Was still getting to her.

But she forced that heat aside.

It was easy to do when his gaze went from her to Bailey. He couldn’t actually see Bailey’s face because of the rear-facing infant seat, but his expression softened a bit. Well, for a few seconds anyway. It would no doubt take him a while to come to terms with the realization that he was the father of a two-month-old baby.

“I need to call the marshals first,” he said, taking out his phone. “They should check on Crossman’s former CPA to make sure her identity hasn’t been compromised, too.”

That was a good idea, especially since it’d been the CPA, Jasmine Bronson, who’d been the one who’d actually witnessed Crossman talking about the murder he’d committed.

“After I’m done with the call,” Chase added, “I want to hear everything. And I mean everything.”

“Just be careful what you say when you make that call. The breach in security could have happened right there in that office.”

He didn’t dispute that, though it looked as if that’s exactly what he wanted to do. Chase made the call to his boss, and he asked him to check to see if April’s identity, or anyone else’s, had been compromised.

“Start talking,” Chase insisted the moment he finished the call. He didn’t have his attention on April now. He was watching as Jax maneuvered Renée into the backseat of the cruiser. “You’d better have a darn good reason for keeping Bailey from me for even a minute much less two months. And I’m not buying your excuse that you gave me earlier about those thugs finding you through me.”

“It wasn’t an excuse.” April took a deep breath before she continued. “The morning I went into labor, I got a call from Deanne, and she said she’d heard on the streets that someone was watching you with the hopes of finding me. Needless to say, I believe the person behind that was Crossman.”

Chase immediately shook his head, and he drove away once Jax had everything under control with Renée. “I didn’t see anyone watching me, and I would have noticed something like that.”

Yes, he would have. Especially in the past couple of months. He would have been on high alert because of Bailey’s impending birth and because he’d also been recently attacked by a serial killer. April didn’t know the details of the attack, but she was betting Chase had been looking over his shoulder a lot.

“Deanne said she’d heard the watching was being done through cameras,” April explained, “that someone had managed to set them up in or near your house and by the marshals’ office. The CI also told her that there was an informant in the marshals’ office, too.

“And you believed Deanne?” he snapped. He took the road toward the town of Appaloosa Pass.

“Why wouldn’t I? Deanne’s never lied to me. She was trying to help me tonight, and that’s why she’s dead.” That caused her chest to tighten, and April had to fight back a fresh batch of tears.

“Jericho has the guy who was working with Deanne’s killer in custody. We’ll get justice for her,” Chase reminded her. No doubt to get her mind back on their conversation.

“Yes, but justice won’t bring her back.”