Meeting Danger (Danger #1) (25 page)

Not sure where to try next and out of leads, he headed back to Pennsylvania.

Columbus, Ohio

Autumn had been riding on the back of Wade’s bike for hours when he finally pulled off the interstate around sunset and into the lot of a rundown motel. She’d been inside her own head all day, letting the roar of the engine soothe her as the scenery zipped by.

They were seated inside the diner next door to the motel, taking the first bites of the dinner they’d ordered before she attempted another question.

“Where are we headed?”

“East Coast. I can get some work there.”

At least he had a plan. But then it hit her. Wade wouldn’t need to travel for work as a mechanic. If he was afraid of the police, then he had to be doing something illegal.

“What kind of work?”

“Forget it,” he mumbled.

She chewed on her lip as she watched him plow through his pasta. Wade didn’t seem happy to see her. If anything, he seemed annoyed that she’d found him.

As the reason dawned on her, Autumn shut her eyes. Wade saw her as a burden and nothing more. The thought hurt more than she expected, and her eyes stung as she opened them again.

Clearing her throat, she said, “Listen, if you’d rather travel by yourself, I can leave.”

But where would I go? Back to Camden?

Would he even want her back after what had happened? Maybe it was time to find a women’s shelter. She could get help there, find a way to take care of herself.

“No,” Wade said a little too quickly. “I mean, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do, right?”

The smile he gave her seemed insincere and faded a moment later. He gestured toward the grilled chicken salad she’d been picking at.

“Better finish up. We’re going to be hitting the road again early in the morning.”

Autumn nodded, only slightly mollified as he grabbed their bill and headed for the counter. She watched his retreating form. She’d give it another day and then reevaluate things.

After they entered their motel room, Wade said, “I’m going out for a smoke.”

Since when did her brother smoke? Autumn frowned as he left the room, but pulled out things from her duffel bag and headed for the bathroom. It had been a long day on the road, and she was tired and grimy.

By the time she got out of the shower, Wade was back in the room, sitting on his bed with the TV remote in his hand.

He clicked through the channels on the battered television, giving her a sidelong glance as he said, “Where did you say you were living with the cop?”

She blinked at the unexpected question. Given his initial reaction, she wasn’t in the mood to provide more details.

“In Pennsylvania.”

Wade didn’t have much more to say after that. She crawled into one of the two full-sized beds and tried to get comfortable on the scratchy, threadbare sheets as he headed into the bathroom. Despite her depleted emotions and her exhaustion from traveling, she was awake long after her brother began snoring.

The past days ran through her head. Wade’s reception was upsetting, but it was Camden who took up most of her thoughts. The way she’d insulted him, he was probably glad she’d gone. The thought brought on a heavy sadness.

She forced the thoughts aside and glanced across the room to where her brother lay sleeping. There was a time when she and Wade had been close. Hopefully that connection would return, because at this point, they felt like strangers.

But maybe it was just the exhaustion making her feel this way. Maybe things would look better in the morning.

Shavertown, Pennsylvania

Camden paced the floor of his living room, running his hand through his hair with one hand while he gripped the phone tightly with the other.

“You’re back home?” Grayson asked.

“For now. I ran down every lead I could in Saint Louis, then drove home through the night. I got back this morning and crashed for a while.” He’d hoped to find her at home. But she hadn’t been here.

What was I thinking keeping things from Autumn? I could have prevented all of this if I’d just told her about her brother. Stupid!

“You’ve been checking the credit card?”

“No activity since the bus station.”

“Surprising.”

“What is?”

“The fact that she hasn’t used your card again since taking that cash advance. I mean, since you’re obviously funding her trip.”

Anger surged as Camden clenched the phone. “Don’t say shit like that to me.”

“Cam—”

“She was desperate to find her brother and had no money of her own. She had no choice.”

“Fine.” Grayson backed down, and Camden could practically hear his gears turning on the other end of the line. “Did you request the APB on the brother’s bike?”

“Yes.”

“That’s all you can do then.”

“Actually, there’s more. The report on Mason listed an address in Ohio. I’m going to head there in the morning.”

Grayson blew out a breath. “On a wild goose chase.”

“It’s mine to make.”

Camden had no intention of just sitting here. As it was, he was going crazy. He’d been staring at his phone, willing Autumn to call, but she still hadn’t. With nothing else to do, he’d go to Ohio. He’d track down every lead until he found her. The depth of his feelings for this girl amazed him.

Unwilling to prolong the tense conversation with his friend, Camden quickly said good-bye. With an early start in mind, he went upstairs to bed.

• • •

Camden blinked his eyes open and looked at the clock: 3:37 a.m. What had woken him?

At the sound of breaking glass, he bolted upright. For a second, hope surged within him that Autumn had returned, but he quickly dismissed the thought. No way it was Autumn. She would never have broken a window to get in. He’d given her a key several days before she left, and if she’d lost it, she would have rung the doorbell.

Throwing back the covers, he grabbed his Glock from the nightstand. Floorboards creaked as the intruder made his way through the first floor. Camden stepped behind his bedroom door, pulled back the slide of the gun, and tried to slow his breathing as he waited.

The shadow of a figure holding a pistol became visible as the intruder came up the stairs. He was three feet away. Now two. One.

Camden swung the door hard, jamming it into the intruder’s arm. As he slammed the door for a second time, the man’s gun went off.

The man scrambled for the staircase. Camden launched onto his back before he reached it, quickly getting his arms into a hammerlock.

“Who are you?” he spat out.

The angry-looking man cursed but didn’t answer.

“Get up!” Camden kept the man’s arm locked as he propelled him into the master bedroom.

Blood dripped from the man’s nose as Camden reached for a set of handcuffs. When he loosened his hold on the man to put the cuffs on, the intruder pulled back a hand and sucker-punched Camden’s side.

“Fuck!”

White-hot pain in Camden’s healing ribs stole his breath. The intruder scrambled out of the room and Camden struggled to give chase, tackling the man just before he reached the staircase.

This time, Camden put the intruder into a chokehold. He dragged him back to the bedroom, jammed a knee into his back, and cuffed his wrists. After pulling the man into a sitting position, Camden stepped back and glared at him.

“Why did you choose this house?”

The man was silent and had a stony expression on his face as he stared at the floor.

Camden’s fists tightened. He wanted nothing more than to beat the hell out of this guy, but what he really needed was answers.

Keeping his gun trained on the man’s head, Camden dialed 911 and reported the break-in. This hadn’t been a robbery—that much was clear. His SUV was parked outside, so the guy had to have seen it.

Camden fished the intruder’s wallet out of his back pocket. Staring down at the address on the man’s license, he blinked rapidly.

Thomas Cooper.
The guy had a Philadelphia address. Could he be here because of Brian’s case? Had Camden gotten too close to something during his investigation?

“Who do you work for?” he demanded, but Cooper just looked away.

Camden gritted his teeth as his question was met with more silence. Maybe the local police would be able to get something out of this guy. He was clearly getting nowhere, and he turned his attention back to the dispatcher, who had put him on hold for a moment while she called in for a unit to respond.

Thank God Autumn wasn’t here tonight. Hopefully she’s somewhere safe.

The dispatcher came back on the line with Camden. “They’re less than five minutes out.”

He answered a few more questions for the dispatcher and then disconnected the call.

A police siren sounded in the distance and grew closer. Camden grabbed the intruder’s arm. He yanked the man to his feet and muscled him down the stairs to open the door for the cops.

It was only when he turned on the front light that he spotted it—the guy’s tattoo. Camden stared down in disbelief at the image of a dagger on the guy’s forearm.

Moments later, two uniformed officers arrived. When Camden opened the front door, one of them asked, “He broke into your house?”

“Yes.” Camden gestured toward the cuffs he’d put on the man. “I’m a federal agent out of DC.”

The younger officer took hold of Cooper’s arm and nodded at Camden. “You can go get dressed. We’ll put him in the patrol car, and then we’ll have more questions for you.”

Camden handed over the license and wallet to the other officer. “These are his. I’ve been investigating a murder case in Philadelphia, and I think that might be why he broke in.”

He hurried upstairs and pulled on some jeans over the boxers he’d worn to bed. As he lifted a T-shirt over his head, he sucked a sharp breath through his teeth at the pain in his ribs.

Once he’d returned downstairs, he told the officers, “A witness from a case in Philadelphia I’ve been looking into described a tattoo like the one this guy has.”

Camden’s gaze shot to the edge of his property and a thought hit him.
How did Cooper get here?

“Did you see any cars parked on the street?” he asked.

“No.” Walking over to the patrol car, the older officer opened the door. “Where’s your vehicle?”

When Cooper didn’t respond, the officer leaned forward and fished a set of keys from his pocket. After glancing at them, he shut the door and said, “We’re looking for a Toyota.”

Camden pointed to the side of the property. “My guess is he parked on the other side of the woods.”

Borrowing a flashlight from the officer who stayed behind, Camden and the other officer made their way through the pine trees. A Toyota Tacoma was parked on the side of the road.

Camden gave the officer a brief overview of the murder of Lee Wells. “Can we call in your forensics team? Get a search done on the car? If this guy was involved, maybe there’s some evidence in it.”

The officer nodded before gripping the radio attached to the shoulder of his uniform and firing out instructions.

• • •

Camden was nailing a sheet of plywood over the broken back window when Grayson pulled up later that morning.

Grayson took his sunglasses off as he got out of his SUV. “You woke me up this morning when you called, you know. Jerk.” Stifling a smile, he asked, “Need a hand with that?”

“No. I’m almost finished.”

“You’re lucky you heard him come in.”

“Tell me about it.” Camden pounded in another nail.

“You got a glass guy coming out for that?”

“Yes, but he can’t get here until tomorrow.”

Grayson looked around the property. “Anything else that needs to be fixed?”

“No.” Camden explained the forensics work he’d requested on Thomas Cooper’s truck. “I’m going to keep looking for Autumn in the meantime.”

“In Ohio?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll come with you.”

As he gathered up his tools, Camden glanced at his friend. “You don’t need to do that.”

“I want to.”

“Why?” Camden felt his anger rise when Grayson didn’t answer. “You think I’m stupid to even be looking for her.”

At the sheepish look that crossed Grayson’s face, Camden’s annoyance grew. He shook his head as he walked into the shed.

Grayson followed. “Cam, I’m just wondering . . .”

He turned around. “Wondering what?”

“How do you know Autumn even wants to be found?”

“Forget coming with me.” Camden dumped his tools onto the workbench and took off for the house.

“Come on, man,” Grayson called out as he trailed behind. “I’m not trying to offend you. It’s just that I’ve never seen you like this. You don’t think straight when it comes to her.”

Camden stopped and turned around. “It’s because I love her.”

Grayson squinted at him, seeming confused by his words. “You what?”

“I love Autumn.”

And he believed Autumn was falling for him too. Or she had been before he’d gone and messed everything up.

“I had no idea.” Grayson’s eyes widened for a second before his expression gentled. “Listen, I meant what I said, okay? I want to help you find her. I’ve got a bag all packed in the car. Grab your shit and let’s hit the road for Ohio.”

Columbus, Ohio

Autumn pressed her ear to the door. Wade was outside their cheap motel room, talking to someone on his cell phone again. They were supposed to have left this morning, but Wade had told her when she woke up not to pack up yet. And last night, he’d quickly wrapped up his conversation when she’d walked outside. Who was it that he kept calling?

Her heart pounded. Could it be Butch?

No.
She shook the thought off. She was jumping to conclusions based on what Camden had said.

When Wade walked inside, she asked, “Who were you talking to?”

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. “What?”

She pointed toward the phone in his hand. “Who did you call?”

“No one.”

She swallowed against a dry throat. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Please let that be it. Camden has to be wrong . . . he has to.