Susan Sleeman - Christmas Conspiracy

“Then negotiations are off the table, and we’re going in strong.” Jake mentally called up the center’s blueprint he’d viewed in the truck.

A main hall ran down the middle of the building. Doors for classrooms and a kitchen faced that hall. Each room had at least one exit leading to playgrounds behind the tall fence. The baby room was the second room on the south side of the building, with two exterior doors.

Jake shifted his steel-plated tactical vest. “Cash, keep us updated on any movements.”

“Roger that,” Cash said.

Jake started forward as sharp winds howled down the Columbia River, sending trees rustling. Directly ahead sat a fenced yard with two gates—and one of them stood open. Jake held up a hand and paused to check for any sign of danger.

Finding none, he peered at Brady. “I’ll intercept the deputy in the hallway. You hold at the side entrance to the baby room.”

“Affirmative,” Brady replied before moving swiftly toward the open gate.

Jake approached the front door. A fragrant pine wreath with a red Christmas bow caught his attention for but a moment. He turned the doorknob. Entered. Paused again.

Darkness obscured the hallway, but light escaped from under the baby room door and through the window. The wayward deputy stood looking through the window, but he hadn’t yet opened the door.

“Stand down,” Jake announced loud enough for the deputy to hear but, he hoped, not loud enough for his voice to carry into the baby room.

The deputy spun, his weapon raised. He hadn’t rotated fully when he fired.

Bam. Bam.

The bullets slammed into Jake’s vest. The crushing force felt like a baseball bat to the chest, pushing him back and knocking him to the floor while stealing his breath. His first instinct had his hand going to the Velcro to rip off his vest, gain a breath and ease the pain, but the kidnapper would have heard the shots and could open the door and fire off a few rounds.

“Oh, man,” the deputy cried out and ran to Jake. “Man, I didn’t... I mean you’re...”

“Shooter spooked by shots fired,” Brady announced over the comms.

“Roger that,” Jake managed to get out as he continued to fight for air. “Make entry now.”

“Affirmative,” Brady replied.

The deputy dropped down beside Jake. Jake glared at the guy and wanted to give him a piece of his mind, but he wouldn’t waste any more time on the deputy. Not when Brady counted on Jake for backup.

He struggled to his feet, his anger barely in check. He should have been the one to breach the perimeter. He was in charge. He was the best trained. He should have taken the risk. Thanks to the yo-yo staring at him, Jake had lost all control of this op. Losing control meant people died.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The shots sounded from a handgun inside the room. Brady carried a rifle, which meant the masked man had opened fire. Jake listened for Brady’s return fire.

Nothing.

The kidnapper could have taken Brady out, or maybe Brady took cover and didn’t have a shot. Either way, Jake had to get inside.

He eyed the deputy. “Go back to your car and don’t leave it until you’re told to do so. You got me?”

He nodded.

“Now!”

Jake waited for him to step off, then bolted for the door.

“Entering,” Jake said into his mic as he jerked open the door to find Brady, rifle raised, his concentration on the sight as he marched toward the back door.

“Got in just in time to draw the kidnapper’s fire,” he called out. “His shots went wide. Missed the director. He fired on me and took off with the baby. I had to take cover. Couldn’t get a clean shot without risking the baby’s life.”

Jake wished Brady could have taken the shot, but as an extremely capable deputy, if he said there hadn’t been a clean shot, then no shot existed.

Jake glanced at the director. She lay on her back, but she stirred, and her eyes blinked open. Her gaze met Jake’s for a moment before they closed again. He wanted to check on her, but the baby took priority right now.

At least he knew Brady had been wrong in the truck. They weren’t too late, and Ms. Long was alive.

Now Jake needed to make sure she stayed that way.

TWO

Jake charged to the door, his chest aching like crazy, but with lives on the line, his pain didn’t matter. Finding the baby was what mattered now. He moved forward, caution in his steps, and scanned the playground. Mulch crunched under his feet near the pint-size playground structure, and the gate ahead swung in the breeze.

He wanted to burst through the opening, but that would be foolhardy, so he paused and swept the area. A larger playground in the distance held a tall play structure with a thick layer of mulch in the fall zone. A six-foot fence surrounded the area and Brady, rifle slung over his shoulder, scaled the fence boards.

“Report,” Jake said into his mic.

Brady didn’t lose a beat at the command but hurled over the top. “Kidnapper went over the fence here. Couldn’t take the baby.”

Jake looked down and spotted the carrier sitting near the fence. The child squirmed and kicked her little feet. He let out a heavy sigh.

“Continue foot pursuit,” Jake commanded. “I’ve got the baby.”

He crossed the playground and directed his voice at his mic. “Cash, call in backup to track this guy, and get some uniforms on scene to set up a perimeter. We’ll need a detective dispatched. Skyler has the best closure rate of county detectives, and I suspect she’ll be assigned to the investigation, but give her a call so she has a heads-up and can ask to work the case.”

“Roger that,” Cash replied, and Jake knew he would immediately phone their teammate.

When not working as a negotiator on the FRS, Skyler served as a Special Investigations Unit detective, and since this case involved a young child, Jake wanted the best investigator on the job.

He crossed the yard and bent over to pick up the carrier. His chest screamed in agony. Of course. His adrenaline was subsiding, and the pain from the deputy’s shots would grow by the minute.

The baby blinked her lashes at him, her eyes wide and interested when he’d expected tears. Some babies were good-natured, and nothing riled them. His little sister had been like that. All giggles and smiles, all the time. That could be true of this child.

Her smile widened into a toothless grin, and his pain receded. His team had done a good thing today. They’d successfully stopped the abduction of this little princess. That felt good. Real good.

She suddenly frowned and narrowed her tiny blue eyes, then screwed up her face like a wrinkled prune and started to whimper.

“Shh.” He gently shook the carrier, mimicking motions he remembered from helping care for his brother and sister. “It’s okay. You’re safe, Kelly. At least that’s what the director said your name was.”

She didn’t settle but wailed in earnest, flailing her arms and legs in her pink snowsuit. Jake stopped and stared at her for a long moment.

What in the world was he supposed to do with a crying baby?

He commanded an emergency response team, leading them into some of the most volatile and dangerous situations law enforcement deputies could encounter, but a baby, let alone one whose cry gave emergency sirens a run for their money, brought more fear to his heart than the toughest spots he’d been in.

He hadn’t had any experience with babies since he’d lost both of his siblings when he was a mere kid himself, but he figured she wanted to be held. Or changed. Once they got inside, he’d hold her. But the other? No way. He wasn’t about to attempt that.

To comfort her, he gently swung the carrier as he walked, each swing like a knife to his chest, but the motion served to slow the crying to a whimper. Inside, he found the director still unconscious on the floor. He hurried over to her, set down the carrier and knelt next to her. He released the carrier to lay two fingers on her wrist. Her pulse beat hard but her breathing seemed shallow.