Hill, Gerri: Angel Fire

She returned her gaze to the trees beyond the motorhome. That was where he took her. She didn’t know how she knew, but she felt it in her gut, in her heart. That was where he took Sam. She took a few steps in that direction, then stopped. She knew it would be futile to set out alone.

And alone was what she was. She stared up into the night sky, feeling as lonely at that moment as she had when her family was killed when she was a child. Maybe more so. She knew Sam meant everything to her, knew Sam was the most important thing in her life. She knew that. But she didn’t count on the complete emptiness she felt at her absence.

She heard a twig snap, and she turned, surprised to see Casey heading toward her.

“What the hell, O’Connor?”

Casey shrugged and stepped close to her, their shoulders touching.

“You’re supposed to be with Les.”

Casey shook her head. “Right now, I think you need me more than she does.”

“Oh, hell, Casey. You need to be with her.”

“I need to be with you.” Casey bumped her shoulder. “Besides, she made me stay.”

Tori nodded. Yeah, Leslie would do that. “Okay.”

“Come on,” Casey said. “We got that bottle of scotch. I think we need a drink.”

Tori’s gaze drifted back toward the forest. “Yeah. Okay.” She looked at Casey. “But I don’t want to talk, O’Connor.”

“Hell, we’re not going to talk. We’re going to drink and wait for your people to call you.”

Chapter Four

Andrea held her tight as Cameron collapsed on top of her. Their skin was damp and they both struggled to catch their breath.

“Making love in the afternoon…it’s the best thing ever,” Cameron murmured against her neck.

Andrea laughed quietly. “I thought pizza was,” she teased, referring to the frozen treat she’d fixed for a late lunch. They hadn’t been anywhere near a pizza place for eight days. Cameron’s love of the pie brought out the only frozen one they had left.

“It was pretty good for frozen.” Cameron rolled off her and took a deep breath. “I love you, Andi.”

Andrea smiled as she leaned up on an elbow. Those words came easily to Cameron now. “I love you too.” She reached out and lightly traced the scar that slashed across Cameron’s breast. She watched as Cameron’s nipple turned rigid. “And you’re right. Making love in the afternoon is kinda nice. Although I think the afternoon is well behind us,” she said as she glanced out the window, seeing nothing but darkness.

Cameron rolled her head toward her. “Are you tired of this life yet?”

Andrea shook her head. “No. I love all the traveling that we do.”

“And being cramped in this motorhome?”

“I don’t feel cramped.” Andrea studied her. Yes, they’d done a lot of traveling in the last year. Murdock had kept them plenty busy, and they’d hit nearly every western state except New Mexico. She didn’t mind the constant movement. And she knew Cameron was used to it, not only from growing up in a military family but being in the military herself. But there was a look on Cameron’s face that Andrea had not seen before. “Are you tired of it?”

Cameron took her hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it softly. “I sometimes think it would be nice to settle somewhere. Maybe do something normal.”

“Tired of the FBI?”

Cameron met her eyes. “We see so much…so much crap, Andi. Death. Heartache. Tears.” She looked away. “We don’t see laughter very often.”

“No, we don’t.” Andrea squeezed her hand. “But if you’re ready to settle down somewhere, we should start thinking about it. Although I wouldn’t even know where to land. I loved Sedona and the sheriff’s department,” she said. “I don’t think I’d ever want to go back to a large city and a large police force. Talk about no laughter.”

“So maybe we’ll settle in a little mountain town where they need a couple of very experienced and highly trained ex-FBI agents,” Cameron said with a grin.

Andrea matched her smile. “We seem to land in Colorado a lot, don’t we?”

“Yeah, we tend to come back here between cases. Maybe—”

But Cameron’s phone interrupted her and they recognized Murdock’s ringtone.

“Haven’t heard from him in a week,” Andrea said.

Cameron nodded as she fumbled for the phone. “Ross,” she said in her most professional tone, causing Andrea to smile. If he’d called five minutes earlier, she’d have been breathless as she answered.

Andrea’s smile faded as Cameron looked at her.

“I’ll log on right now. Give me a second,” Cameron said. “We’re…outside.”

Andrea got out of bed, trying to find her jeans. Cameron had pulled on her T-shirt, not bothering with her bra.

“What’s up?” Andrea asked as she found her shirt.

“He wants us on video. All he said was ‘a hell of a situation,’” Cameron said as she pulled her jeans on. “I’m going to log in.” She paused. “How do I look?”

Andrea walked closer, running her fingers through Cameron’s hair to tame it. “You need a cut.”

Cameron leaned closer and kissed her. “You should probably check the mirror before you come out.”

Andrea hurried into the small bathroom, smiling. Her hair was a tangled mess. She splashed water on her face, then took a brush and brought some semblance of order to it. She took a moment to finger it, wondering what Cameron would say if she got it cut shorter. Well, now wasn’t the time to think about it. She scooped Lola up as she walked into the living area of the motorhome. Lola purred loudly as Andrea nuzzled her black fur.

She sat the cat down when Murdock’s face came up on Cameron’s laptop. He didn’t bother with pleasantries.

“Have you had a chance to catch the news today?”

Cameron looked at Andrea and they shook their heads. “I try to avoid it as much as possible,” Cameron said.

“Well, it’s been a whirlwind of a day. We’re just now piecing everything together,” he said. He looked at a sheet of paper he held in his hand. “We had an armored-car heist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, late morning. Four men, armed with assault rifles. This company stocked ATMs. Estimated net haul is three million,” he said. “Two guards killed. The armored car was abandoned about a mile away. Money gone. Three hours later, two of the men were found shot dead. Their bodies were found in what we assume was the getaway car, south of Taos, New Mexico. Midafternoon, there was a traffic accident east of Taos on Highway 64. Five vehicles involved. Drivers in two of the vehicles had been shot. Four shooting victims total at that scene.”

He put the paper down. “And that’s only the beginning. A family of four was murdered in their home, off Highway 64, going toward Eagle Nest. That’s about thirty miles or so from Taos. The family was that of a Forest Service personnel. With the sheriff’s department tied up with the accident, the ranger who took the initial call from the wife commandeered the service of an FBI agent who happened to be camping near there. They found the husband, wife and one daughter dead at the scene. The other daughter was taken, presumably already dead, as a decoy. She was used to summon help from nearby campers.” He paused. “And now we have a hostage situation. Or at least we think we do.”

“That’s a lot going on, Murdock. I’m assuming everything is related. Got IDs yet?” Cameron asked.

He nodded. “Video surveillance at the armored car company caught all four men. That’s how we identified the two dead outside of Taos. Another man is believed to be one of the victims in the accident on 64. That leaves one of the four remaining. Identified as Angel Figueroa. Ring a bell?”