“Can you pick me up?” Violet asked. “It will be easier if I don’t have to worry about running, too.” She lifted her arms and April scooped her up. Violet wrapped her legs around April’s waist and tightened her arms securely around April’s neck.
Echo was still a fair distance away, but April didn’t miss him raise an eyebrow to their actions.
“Go for the gate,” Violet instructed. “Don’t worry if it doesn’t open, I’ll open it. Just go and don’t look back. I won’t let you get hurt.”
April didn’t miss the tremble in Violet’s voice even as her own heart raced so hard it felt like it was about to beat right out of herchest. That this sweet little girl was more worried about her then herself only proved that she didn’t belong here.
Then like a horse that had just been kicked, April took off as fast as her feet would carry her to the gate on the other side of the premises. It would take at least fifteen seconds to make it there. So much could happen in that short amount of time.
“Stop!” Echo screamed, his voice carrying across the courtyard, but nothing short of a bullet to the brain or heart was going to stop April. From the moment she’d signed on to work at DynaTech Corp, all she ever thought about was getting Violet out of here. Now that Violet was ready to go, she wasn’t going to let anyone or anything stop her from escaping this torture.
“Stop!” Another voice yelled, just as the sound of a bullet whirred, but true to her word, Violet dropped it behind her. More bullets came and Violet did away with them, too.
“The gate,” April reminded her and within seconds, the gate flew open, its hinges crumbling as the heavy metal piece fell over onto the driveway. April ran right over it. Glad she’d worn tennis shoes and not her heels today.
Just as April was about to run past the guard, he lifted his weapon at them and April froze. The gun was just a few feet away from her face and Violet was still stopping the bullets that were coming at her back.
“Don’t,” April said. “Please. You don’t know what you’re doing. Let us go.”
“Can’t do that, Mam. You need to go back.”
“I can’t do that. So, I’ll guess you’ll have to -”
His weapon flew out of his hand and smacked him in the temple, leaving a trail of blood dripping down the side of his face as he lost his balance and fell backwards into the nearby bushes.
“Run, Aunt April, get us out of here. Go!” Violet screamed. More bullets came at them, but she kept dropping them like flies. April ran harder and faster than she’d ever run before, butit still didn’t feel fast enough. Violet might’ve been small for her age, but she still weighed more than April was used to carrying for this long, and especially when running. She was just about to run across a major intersection when a slew of cop cars with lights and sirens pulled up in front of her. More guns, and men and women in uniform, wearing badges, surrounded them on all sides.
“I can stop them,” Violet said.
“No,” April immediately ordered. “Don’t, Violet.”
“Mam, you’ll need to come with us. We have reports of you kidnapping that child.”
April knew from watching too many crime shows that talking to a cop, especially when guilty, was never a good idea. And technically, it was true. Shewasguilty.
“Mam, put the child down and come with us, please.” The man wore a cowboy hat and had a Texas Ranger badge. He glared at her with hardened greyish blue eyes, but April wasn’t about to be deterred by him. She glanced at his name tag that read H. Wilder, then swallowed hard and tightened her arms around Violet. No matter what, there was no way she was letting her sweet niece go back to that monster of a step dad. “I’ll come with you,” April said, choosing her words carefully. “But I’ll only talk to Detective Tanner Rhodes.”
Wilder took a step back and opened the back door of his vehicle. She slid inside, never letting go of Violet. Once they were situated in the back seat, Wilder closed the door and came around to the front driver’s side. “I think there’s been a mistake,” he said, buckling his seat belt. “Detective Rhodes is in the homicide unit. You’re being taken in for kidnapping.”
“I will only talk to Detective Rhodes,” April repeated, making it clear from her tone that she was not mistaken and would not budge.
Wilder gave her a slight nod and turned to face forward. Another Texas Ranger came and sat in the front passenger seat. Then they were moving. For the first time in three years, April breathed a sigh of relief. Tanner had been asking to meet Violet. Now, he finally would.
“Who is Tanner Rhodes?” Violet whispered in April’s ear.
April held her niece tight and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’ll meet him soon.”
Chapter 14
“Are you sure?” Tanner asked Caden who’d just called him to say that another biker who went by the road name, Rocky, had been killed using the same M.O. as Arlo J and Baby. This time in Oklahoma City.
“No doubt,” Caden said. “The Deathly Hollow MC has a chapter in Oklahoma City, and the member that was killed used to be affiliated with the local chapter until he moved to be closer to his wife’s family last year. We’ve already started looking into all the members who’ve left the Dallas area, but someone is killing bikers in a very gruesome way. I’m going to have to take point on this case, Tanner. These murders are starting to make national news and the governor wants the Feds on this pronto.”
Tanner blew out a breath. As much as he loved his friends at the FBI, he hated when they took over his cases. “All right, I’ll see if I can pull everything together for you. Stop by anytime. Maybe I’ll even offer you a cup of coffee from our break room.”
Caden faked a gag. “Ugh, I didn’t know you hated me that much. See you soon.” Tanner ended the call and went back to sifting through all the files he’d collected over the last month from Arlo J’s case, and cross referenced them with Baby’s murder. Oklahoma City was only a little over three hours away from Dallas. It was very likely the murderer simply drove up there, killed the biker, then drove back in the same day. Thequestion was, why? Tanner would give Caden whatever he asked for, but there was no way Tanner was going to stop working this case.
A ruckus at the front of the precinct drew his attention. Nico walked past half a dozen reporters all shoving a microphone in his face, and from the murderous look in his eyes, Tanner still wasn’t sure Nicowasn’tthe guilty party himself.