Dying to Kill (Angel Delaney Mysteries Book #2) (31 page)

He thanked the woman and hung up. If it turned out that Justin had taken his father’s car and killed Christy, all the fishing boats in the world wouldn’t do him any good. Callen planned to do some fishing on his own. Time to set the hook on the boy and reel him in and see what the DNA evidence turned up.

His pager vibrated as he slid into his unmarked Crown Victoria.
He glanced at it and frowned. Pulling his cell out of the console, he dialed Angel’s number. Still busy.

As she headed toward the school, Angel called Rachael and Callen, leaving a message for each of them. Gracie wasn’t waiting out front like she said she’d be. Angel stopped and climbed out, scanning the area. A number of kids were milling around. Angel asked several of them if they’d seen Gracie. They had earlier but had no idea where she was now. One had talked to her at her locker. “She seemed, I don’t know, scared, I guess. Said she needed to get home right away.”

“Who was she with?” Angel asked.

“Uh, no one . . . except . . .” She frowned. “Justin came up to her right when I was leaving. He wanted her to go with him. She told him she had to wait for somebody. I’m sorry, that’s all I heard.”

Angel talked to several other kids, but no one else seemed to know anything. Growing frantic, she ran inside, looking down each of the empty halls, then back out to her car. She grabbed her phone and called Callen. Busy. She didn’t have his beeper, so she had dispatch put her through to him. He called back within a few seconds.

“Angel. What’s going on?”

“Gracie. She called and asked me to meet her, said she knew who killed the cheerleader. She sounded scared. I got here as fast as I could, but she isn’t here. One of the kids said they saw her with Justin. I’m driving around the school to see if his pickup is still here. If not, I’m heading out to the farm.” Angel put the car in gear and eased onto the road.

“You think she went with the Bailey kid?”

“I don’t know. One of the girls told me she was anxious to get home and he was with her.”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s where he’s headed. Stay where you are. I’m on my way.” He hung up before she could object.

Angel drove past the school and back again, parking on the other side of the street. The crowd had thinned out. There was no gray, primed pickup in the parking lot. Angel was torn. Should she head out to the farm or wait for Callen? He’d asked her to, but why? What had Gracie learned? She and Justin Bailey were obviously friends. If Callen was right, and Justin had killed that girl . . .

Please, God, don’t let Gracie be the next victim.

Callen pulled up behind her, and she climbed out to meet him. “Gracie said to meet her right here. Did you find out anything about Justin?”

“Plenty. He wasn’t in school most of last week—his folks suspected he’d been skipping school to go fishing. I’ve got Nick checking his story out now. Haven’t gotten hold of Justin yet. I wanted all my ducks in a row before talking with him directly.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. It may be too late.” Angel raked both hands through her hair. “If Justin killed Christy, and Gracie found out about it, she could be in danger too.”

“When did she call you?”

Angel checked her watch. “About fifteen minutes ago.”

Callen reached into his car and pulled out his radio and asked dispatch to put out an all points bulletin on the boy’s truck, taking the description and license plate information from Angel’s notes. As he climbed into his car, he said, “You need to go back to my place. I’ll keep you posted.”

Angel got into his car instead. “I have no intention of going to your place. Gracie asked me to meet her. She’s in trouble, and I’m not going home until we find her.”

Callen started to argue, then stopped. “All right, but I want you to remember, you’re a civilian, not a cop. And you’ve been injured. No matter what happens, I need you to do what I tell you.”

Angel agreed. She whipped the seat belt around herself, forgetting for a moment that she’d injured her arm. She bit into her lip, almost drawing blood. She wasn’t about to let Callen see how much pain that little movement had brought her. Not now. Callen started the car, not seeming to notice her discomfort.

Dispatch reported that an officer had seen the pickup heading out of town toward the Jenkins place.

“Is he sure?”

“Affirmative. The deputy knows the kid and the vehicle.”

“I’m on my way.”

“He’s taking her to the farm?” Angel asked.

Callen nodded. “It’s isolated and the main road goes straight into the forest. Easier to get lost there than on the coast highway.”

Angel hung on as Callen made a U-turn and headed back the way he’d come.

“You’ll have to give me directions.” He placed the light on top of the vehicle and flipped on the siren. “I’ve never been out there.”

Angel focused on the road, trying to keep her arm from hitting the door as Callen squealed around the corners, breaking speed records in getting out to the Jenkins’s farm. Callen told the deputy who’d been following them to go straight out the main road in case they kept going, but as soon as they saw the pickup in the driveway, Callen called for backup.

The pickup was the only vehicle parked in the driveway. Candace’s parents were probably still in town with the younger children. Angel hoped they stayed there. “This is weird. If he was abducting her, why come here?”

“Maybe Gracie talked him into stopping. She might have been stalling for time.”

As they pulled in beside the pickup, Callen unbuckled his seat belt and ordered her to stay put. When he opened the door, a gunshot came from the barn. Callen ducked, using the door as a shield.

“Stay where you are and you won’t get hurt!” someone yelled. “Just don’t make me shoot you.”

Angel had heard that voice before, but it wasn’t until she saw the motorcycle at the side of the barn that she put two and two together.

“Gracie!” Angel yelled.

“Angel, help us!” came the muffled cry. It too had come from the upper level of the barn. The sliding door had been closed to within six inches.

“It’s Darryl,” Angel said. “He must be the one Gracie was talking about. Darryl must’ve stolen the car from Mitch. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before. I knew he’d left his motorcycle here and came back to get it on Tuesday.”

Callen got on the radio to dispatch. “Looks like we have a hostage situation out here.” He gave them the necessary information and requested additional backup.

“What do we do now?”

“Wait.”

Within minutes, five more official vehicles arrived, including an ambulance.

Darryl had to be close to panicking. Angel forced back the terror rising in her own chest. She hadn’t been in a hostage situation since Dani.

“I have Gracie and her boyfriend,” Darryl yelled. “Stay away—all of you—or I’ll kill them.”

“What do you want, Darryl?” Callen yelled up at him.

“I just want to get out of here. That’s all. Gracie had no business telling lies about me. I didn’t kill anybody, and she knows it. I tried to tell her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“Okay, just calm down. We’re listening to you, Darryl.” Callen sounded calm and collected, but the tightness in his shoulders and neck told Angel he was anything but.

“Maybe I could talk to him,” Angel suggested. “I talked to him at the casino.”

“No.”

“Callen, I can negotiate with him. I have the training.”

“Stay put!” Darryl yelled again. “Don’t make me shoot you. I said stop!” Another gunshot and a scream.

“Gracie!” Angel bolted for the barn.

It may not have been the smartest move she’d ever made, but she didn’t think about that. She only thought that while Darryl was distracted, she could get inside the barn and see what was going on. Maybe she could make a difference.

“He shot Justin,” Gracie hollered from the loft just above Angel’s head. Her screams turned to sobs, then everything went quiet.

The other officers moved around, taking position as Callen directed. He glared at her from his position at the car, and Angel put a finger to her mouth.

THIRTY

W
hat are you thinking?” Nick growled at Callen. “How could you let Angel go in there?”

“I didn’t
let
her.” Callen’s insides had turned to jelly, and he expected his body to do the same. He hadn’t felt this helpless since Karen died. There was nothing he could have done then, but he could do something now. He could rush the barn, maybe getting himself or one of the other officers killed in the process. He could try to distract Darryl and get another officer in there.

But was that the best strategy? Too much chaos and Darryl might kill Gracie. He may have already killed the Bailey kid.

“I’m going in after her,” Nick said through clenched teeth.

Callen clamped a restraining hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Let her be.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Angel’s a cop.”

“Not anymore,” Nick insisted.

“She’s still a cop inside,” Callen tried to explain, “or she’d never have done what she did. Angel isn’t thinking like a civilian right now. I say we leave her alone. She’s a negotiator. Let her do what she’s trained for and pray she knows what she’s doing. Our job right now is to back her up.”

Callen cringed, hardly believing those words had come out of his mouth. This was Angel. His Angel. He couldn’t let her confront Darryl alone. Unfortunately, at the moment, his options were somewhat limited.

Let her go.
She was destined for this.
The thoughts came from somewhere outside himself. Something Tim talked about in church Sunday hit him square between the eyes. Had God chosen Angel for police work? Had he chosen her for this?

“You’re crazy,” Nick muttered. “I’m writing this up.”

“Trust me, Nick, or better yet, trust God.”

“What’s God got to do with it?” Nick shook his head in disgust.

Callen thought Nick might ignore him, but then his big shoulders rose and fell. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

“So do I, Nick. So do I.” He glanced back at Angel and gave her a thumbs-up sign. Angel nodded and headed for the ladder to the loft.

Callen gave directions for the small contingency of officers to move quietly into position. He wished they had a SWAT team—or at least more officers who’d been trained in this sort of thing. He’d have preferred negotiating with Darryl on a cell phone, but that wasn’t an option now. Any movement on his part might endanger Angel and the teenagers’ lives.

Like soldiers, the officers dispersed, behind the barn, at the house, behind the vehicles. He posted two officers at the outer perimeter to keep out unwanted types like the media. Seconds later they were all in place, weapons at the ready.

“Darryl? Is that you up there?” Angel called out in a voice more suited for a social gathering than a hostage situation. “It’s me, Angel. We met at the casino, remember?”

“What do you want?” Darryl sounded scared and unsure of himself.

“To talk. Tell me what’s going on. Maybe I can help.”

“You can’t help. No one can.”

“What if I can get you out of here?”

“Like how?”

Callen swallowed back the fear still lodged in his throat. Darryl
was listening. No wonder Angel was good at this. A guy couldn’t help but listen to a voice like hers.

Angel’s throat was dry. She swallowed hard before speaking again. “Darryl, did you go to the police with the information you had about your uncle? I asked you to do that, remember? Did you tell them that Gracie had been here just before you and that when you got here your uncle was dead?”

“N-no. I couldn’t do that. I was afraid.” Darryl lowered his voice; Angel could barely hear him.

“Because of the picture in the paper?” She gripped the ladder and took one step up. “Were you afraid they might recognize you as the guy who killed the cheerleader?”

“That was an accident.” Feet scraped above her and to the left. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I just wanted to have some fun.”

Angel closed her eyes, trying to block out the gut-wrenching reaction his confession brought.
Don’t think about it, Angel. Don’t think about Christy or how sick and disgusted you feel. Focus. Get him away from those kids.

“I know you did, Darryl.” Even Angel was surprised by the sympathy in her tone. “But you gotta believe me, holding Gracie and Justin hostage isn’t going to help you.”

“They’re my ticket out of here.”

“No, they’re not. I am.” Angel had to convince him, had to somehow get him to let the teenagers go.

“You?”

“How far do you think you’ll get? You’ve already shot Justin. All you have now is Gracie, and the police aren’t going to be too worried about what you do to her.”
Don’t say anything, Gracie, please. God, keep her quiet.

“W-what do you mean?”

“She killed your uncle, remember? You told me you saw her and Justin leaving when you were coming in. You said your uncle was dead. If that’s true, then Gracie must’ve done it. You need to let her and Justin go so the police can arrest them. If you really want to get out of here, let them go and take me instead.” She inched up another step.