Delores Fossen - Trouble With A Badge

“Why’d you stop at the gas station where the attack happened?” Levi asked, hoping this would be the start to figuring all this out.

“Because we were running out of gas. I didn’t know the place was closed. I also thought I’d managed to ditch the guys following us, but I soon figured out that I hadn’t when the car pulled up behind us. The guy had been driving with his lights off, so I guess that’s why I didn’t see him until it was too late.”

Since they had the killer’s car parked right outside, Levi would make sure every inch of it was processed. Once they had the identities of the gunmen, then he could work on figuring out why this dirtbag had come after them and put an innocent baby in danger.

Levi eased down in a chair and motioned for her to continue explaining what happened.

“When we were at the gas station, one of the men got out of the car. He was the one who demanded we go with him, that it wouldn’t do us any good to go to the local cops. He was armed and came straight for us. We didn’t have a weapon, so I told Tasha to take the baby and run.”

“And you thought you’d fight this guy off with your bare hands?” Levi knew he sounded skeptical.

She met his gaze. “I figured I’d give Tasha and the baby a chance to get out of there.” But Alexa quickly turned her focus back to the little girl. “Obviously, I was wrong. The guy shot Tasha in the back of the head. She didn’t fall but more or less crumpled to the ground with the baby still in her arms.”

It was hard to hear and it was obviously hard for her to say it. “And that’s when you bashed the guy with a flashlight?” he pressed when she didn’t continue.

Alexa nodded. “I hit him as hard as I could and thought I heard his skull crack. He went out like a light. But then the other guy came out of the car, and I knew I had to get out of there. I grabbed the baby, started running and then sneaked back and got in their car when the guy was trying to pick up his partner from the ground.”

She was lucky that the second gunman hadn’t just shot her in the head, too. Then, heaven knew what would have happened to the baby.

“Why were you coming to Appaloosa Pass?” he asked.

“Like I said, I thought they’d believe it was the last place I’d go. Obviously I was wrong since Lockwood’s already called here looking for me.”

Yeah, Lockwood. Levi would soon have to figure out how to deal with him. There was no way he could exclude the marshals from this unless he got some solid proof that the lawman was dirty.

“The medic’s on the way,” Mack relayed when he got off the phone. “He’ll bring baby supplies with him. The other call I got was from Dexter. He’s out at the gas station now, but he doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Definitely no bodies or anything like that.”

Alexa frantically shook her head and stood, clutching the baby to her. “Tasha was murdered there.”

Mack made a sound of disagreement. “Then somebody must have cleaned up the scene real fast because according to Dexter, there’s no blood and no signs of any kind of struggle.”

“Tasha was murdered there,” Alexa repeated, turning to Levi.

“You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I watched her collapse. She was dead.”

Maybe. Of course, if the woman had only been wounded and wandered away from the scene, then Levi doubted she’d taken the time to clean up her own blood. Plus, where was the man whose head Alexa claimed she’d bashed in with the flashlight?

“I’m not lying,” Alexa insisted. “Everything happened just like I said it did.”

Levi doubted even Alexa would lie about a dead body. Still, he wanted proof.

“Should I get a CSI team out to the gas station?” Mack asked. “We’ve already got one with the DB Jericho found, so we’re stretched pretty thin.” Clearly, he had doubts about Alexa’s account.

Levi nodded, and he hoped like the devil they found something. Anything. A CSI search like that would put a dent in the budget. While he really didn’t have a choice about ordering such a search, if it didn’t produce results, it was going to make him look like a fool for trusting a woman he shouldn’t be trusting anyway.

Levi saw the headlights outside the building and figured it was the medic arriving to examine Alexa and the baby. He barely spared the guy a glance. Unlike Alexa. Her attention snapped right to the window.

And gasping, she stood again.

Levi soon realized why.

Marshal Elroy Lockwood walked in.

Lockwood was the sort of man who tended to grab everyone’s attention just by being there. For one thing, he was big. At least six foot four. And he had the weight to fill out that tall body. He was imposing, and the stare he gave Alexa was equally imposing.

Except it quickly turned into a glare.

“Alexa,” he said, and that wasn’t a friendly tone. “Hand that baby to the deputy. Now. Because you’re coming with me.”

Chapter Four

Alexa had to fight through the panic and force herself not to run. She couldn’t. Because running would mean putting the baby right back in the line of fire.

Ditto for her.

But she was in hot water either way. If she voluntarily went with Marshal Lockwood and he was indeed dirty, she could be dead by morning. If she stayed here with Levi, the same might happen at the hands of those attackers. And worse, she’d be putting Levi, his family and the baby in danger.

“Why would I go with you?” Alexa managed to ask Lockwood. It was hard to speak, though, with her breath suddenly so thin.

“Because you’re still a witness in an upcoming trial, that’s why. Or did you forget that?”

Alexa didn’t miss the marshal’s sarcasm. “Forget that a thug like Marcos Culver wants to kill me so I can’t testify against him? No, I didn’t forget.”

“Good. Because your testimony against him is the only thing that prevented you from being charged with hacking into FBI databases.”

Alexa didn’t need to be reminded of this. It was true. She had hacked into the databases looking for the Moonlight Strangler. Had gotten caught, too. And to stop charges from being filed against her, she’d agreed to testify against Marcos, who had worked part time for her as an investigator at her PI agency. She’d learned just enough about Marcos to help put him behind bars for extortion and money laundering, though everyone was certain he was guilty of a lot more than that.

But Lockwood might be guilty of those same things.

Both men were free, too. Lockwood because he hadn’t been officially accused of anything, and Marcos because he was out on bail awaiting the trial.

“I know you’ve continued your investigation into the Moonlight Strangler. Did you hack into WITSEC files, too?” Lockwood asked. “Is that how your identity was blown?”

Levi looked at her, silently asking if that was true. Part of it was. She had indeed been running her own investigation, but she hadn’t done the rest. “I haven’t hacked into anything since I’ve been in WITSEC.”

“But you’ve been investigating the Moonlight Strangler again,” Lockwood corrected.

“Of course I have. He killed a friend of mine and lots of other women. He nearly killed me. I want to catch him.”

Something that Levi and she actually had in common. Not that he or his family would consider that common ground. Still, she was hoping that Levi would want to protect an innocent baby.

Even if that protection didn’t extend to her.

Alexa didn’t bother to hide her frustration. “How could hacking into WITSEC files possibly help me find the Moonlight Strangler anyway?”

“You know there are several people out there who got glimpses of him.” Lockwood didn’t hesitate to say. “People who asked to be protected and given new identities. I believe you wanted to find those people and question them.”