within five minutes of home. Now I have to call Phoenix to have a helicopter fly into Payson.”
Matt folded his arms across his chest. “Let me ask you something,” he said. “When you proposed to Julie, how did you do it? Did you do the whole get-on-a-knee thing?”
Nick grinned. “Really? You think you’re ready for this?”
“I know I am.”
“Well,” Nick said, “if you really want to know, when I first proposed to Julie, we were having dinner at Flemings, and I actually did get down on my knee.”
“And?” Matt asked, his eyebrows raised. “How did it go?”
“She said no.”
Matt laughed. “Are you serious?”
Nick nodded. “You bet. We’d only been dating four months and she thought it was too soon.”
“Wow, what a bummer. That must’ve been an awkward dinner. Did you at least wait until desert before you asked?”
“I wish,” Nick said. “We hadn’t even gotten our drinks yet. I was so nervous I just wanted to get it out of the way. She came to me two weeks later, though, and said she was ready.” Nick patted his partner’s shoulder. “Listen, Jennifer’s completely head-over-heels for you. You’re a changed man from your younger days. She knows that. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Matt had a distant stare. Maybe he was imaging what came after the proposal, maybe he was thinking of something else. The both stood there watching the drone make its passes around the parking lot, until finally Matt said, “I’m going to get some coffee. You want something?”
“Yeah,” Nick said. “What about food?”
“What about it?”
“Forget it,” Nick said, holding his stomach, thinking about the corruption they were going to have to confront. “Just get coffee. I can’t eat a thing.”
* * *
Julie Bracco was in the kitchen feeding Thomas when Jennifer Steele came in and told her to pack up.
“What do you mean?” Julie said, swirling a miniature spoonful of mashed peas and landing them into her son’s mouth.
“I mean, Matt just called and said we weren’t safe here.”
Thomas became fussy in his highchair, kicking his legs flailing his arms.
“Okay, sweetie,” Julie said with a forced smile. She waved the next spoonful of peas. “Here comes the airplane.”
Thomas’s eyes sparkled in delight as he gobbled up the food. Julie used his cotton bib to wipe up his green chin.
“They’re sending a helicopter to take us to a safe house in Phoenix,” Steele informed her.
Julie kept smiling at Thomas while she said. “It shouldn’t be this way. I thought we left Baltimore so we could relax and avoid the hustle and bustle of the city. Now it just seems we stand out. I think I liked it better when we were surrounded by buildings and neighbors.” Julie glanced out her kitchen window. “I can’t even see my next door neighbor.”
Steele followed her gaze, but Julie knew that Steele was a country girl at heart and tempered her anger toward their surroundings.
“I mean,” Julie said, “It’s quiet and peaceful, but. .”
“I know what you’re saying,” Steele said. “It’s nice up here. But, look, I don’t like being a target either.”
They watched the setting sun while Thomas slurped at his meal.
The security alarm beeped and the TV on the kitchen counter came to life. On the screen a white pickup truck made its way up the long gravel drive to the Bracco’s cabin.
“It’s Miguel,” Julie said, recognizing the truck. “He’s our landscaper.”
“He comes this late in the day?” Steele asked.
“Sometimes,” Julie said, adding another spoonful to her son’s open mouth.
Steele left the kitchen for the living room.
“Come here,” Steele said.
Julie frowned, but handed Thomas a plastic train from the table to keep him occupied. She turned off the alarm button and met Steele by the front window as the landscaping crew drove up. There were two men in the cab and two more in the back of the truck, jumping out as soon as the vehicle came to a stop.
“You see Miguel?” Steele asked.
“No,” Julie said, eyeing the truck closely. “But that’s his truck. He doesn’t come every time.”
Even as the words left her mouth, Julie felt her heart pound a little faster. The crew was pulling rakes and chainsaws from the back of the pickup, but they seemed fascinated with the front of her house.
“Get out,” Steele said. “Right now. Get Thomas and run out the back door. Go to a neighbor’s until I call you.”
Julie wanted to tell Steele to relax, that she was rushing to a wrong conclusion. But with every unfamiliar face Julie saw, she knew what she had to do. She ran to the kitchen and scooped Thomas from his highchair. He screamed and reached for his toy as it fell to the floor. Julie picked it up and handed it to him, her eyes on Steele as the FBI agent went into action.
Steele pulled the pistol from her holster while keeping her attention on the action out front.
“Go,” Steele urged with her back to Julie.
Julie crept out the kitchen door and trotted through her backyard with Thomas in her arms. She ducked down behind a patch of bushes on the outskirts of her property and waited. At first, there was no activity, while Thomas cooed at his toy train. Then, the back door opened and Jennifer Steele came out with her gun drawn, swinging it side-to-side as she inched toward Julie.
They came at her all at once, two from her left, two from her right. They dashed around each side of the house with controlled precision. One gunman came wide, the other remained close to the building. Steele fired off the first round to her left, then dove to the ground and let off another round. The shots echoed throughout the woods and startled Thomas into a loud shriek.
Steele put down one gunman, then rolled over and caught another one on the same side of the house, but the two behind her had too much time and they fired off successive rounds, relentlessly shooting as Steele desperately tried evasive maneuvers. Even as she was taking on bullets, she attempted to steer away from Julie and drag herself in a different direction. She returned fire until she’d emptied her magazine and struggled to get to her feet, but it was too late. The two gunmen were on top of her now firing direct hits while her body collapsed onto the ground.
Julie watched with blurry eyes as the two gunmen stood over Steele’s lifeless frame firing shots until they were obviously wasting bullets. As the firing ceased, the silence was filled with the sound of Thomas’s cries. With a frantic whisper, Julie attempted to hush her baby, but it was too late. The lead gunman had spotted her and he crouched low and headed straight for her. Julie backed away and began to run. Her mind raced with crazy thoughts of stopping and pleading for mercy. She pumped her legs as fast as they could go, but when she dared to look back, the gunman was gaining too quickly. With the remaining moments she had, Julie managed to pull her phone out, knowing she had to slow even further to push Nick’s contact button.
Thomas fought to get out of her grasp as she clutched him with all her might and heard the phone ring.
Chapter 8
Nick was sitting at Decker’s desk when his phone vibrated. He checked the number and saw it was from Julie.
“Hey, sweetie, I was just about to-”
“Jennifer’s dead,” Julie blurted. She was panting and Thomas was nearby crying. “They came in Miguel’s truck and shot her and now they’re coming for us.”
“Where-”
