She exhaled loudly as she looked toward the window. She hated being cooped up like this. It was a warm sunny day and they were forced to stay inside. She was getting hungry, too, and she knew the snacks in the back wouldn't cut it. She'd thought Alec would have called with an update by now. What was going on? She didn't like this one bit and an uneasy feeling came over her. But she had to mask her feelings in front of Kendall and Johanna. The feeling intensified and she knew this wasn't going to end well. She'd do everything in her power to protect Kendall and to protect the woman she loved. No one would ever hurt Johanna again if she could help it.
She sat down at her desk and absentmindedly leafed through Kendall's file. A few minutes later, Johanna appeared at her side. “How's Kendall really holding up, do you think?”
Johanna frowned. “As well as can be expected under the circumstances. Why hasn't Alec called by now?” She bit her bottom lip. “I'm getting antsy for information.”
“I don't know. I was wondering the same thing. I put your gun in your top desk drawer. I don't want Kendall to see it or she may become alarmed.”
Johanna nodded. “You have yours on you?”
Frankie pointed to her ankle.
“Do you think they're going to come here?”
“I don't know. They could be anywhere.”
“You think they'll show up here if the mayor gave our ID's to Thatcher and he told them.” She opened her desk drawer.
“It's possible. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“I feel better now that the wig is off,” Kendall said walking back into the main room. “Any word from Alec?” she asked hopefully.
Johanna looked at her gun and then closed the desk drawer without retrieving it.
“Nothing yet,” Frankie said, still amazed by Kendall's change back to her normal self. She was wearing one of Johanna's dresses. The dark green dress hung a little looser on Kendall, but was still a decent fit. Her feet were in matching pumps. She wondered if Johanna and Kendall wore the same shoe size.
“Did you stuff them with tissue like I suggested?” Johanna asked.
“Yes, thank you for the suggestion. And thank you so much for letting me borrow these things.”
“I'm just glad we have them here.” She rubbed her hands together. “I'm going to see what we have for snacks. Would anyone like some more coffee? I'll put on a fresh pot.”
“Sounds good,” Kendall replied.
“I'd like a cup too. Need some help?” Frankie asked.
“You can stay here and keep Kendall company.” She stood. A loud rap suddenly sounded on the door. She hesitantly looked at Frankie.
“I put the closed sign out,” Frankie said. “Besides, no one's ever knocked on the door.”
The knocking persisted, only louder. “Hey, Frankie, Johanna, it's Kate. Open up. I need to talk to you.”
Johanna started toward the door.
“Wait!” Kendall cautioned. “Who's Kate?”
“She's a deputy in the sheriff's department and a personal friend. She's probably come with news,” Frankie explained.
“I'll let her in.” Johanna rushed to the door. She unlocked it, but before she could open it, the door was shoved open knocking Johanna back and off her feet.
Chapter 18
Kate was roughly shoved inside. Johanna surveyed the situation from where she was sprawled on the floor. Becca Manning had a gun pointed at Kate's back. Kristin brought up the rear. Johanna caught Frankie's eye. If Frankie went for her gun, Kate would be in the line of fire. Even if she wasn't she'd most likely be shot in the back by Becca. Kendall stood on stilted legs, a look of terror on her face. She's in shock, Johanna thought.
Frankie ran to Johanna's side. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.
She nodded. “I'm concerned about Kate, though. How the hell did this happen?” she whispered. She looked toward Kate and caught her eye.
“I don't know,” Frankie whispered back. “They must have ambushed her.”
“Get in there,” Becca ordered, shoving Kate farther into the room.
Kate straightened her shoulders. “You two won't get away with this,” she said calmly. “I don't know what you hope to gain. If you two give yourselves up now, it'll go easier for you.”
“Looks like we already have gotten away with it,” Becca smirked. “We even managed to get your gun. I wouldn't be looking for a promotion any time soon if I were you.”
Johanna looked at the older woman. In person she looked much older than she did on the website. She wore a long overcoat, which surprised Johanna because of the warm evening. She was not an attractive woman and the website picture actually made her look better than she did in person, and that wasn't saying much. Johanna realized that since the sun had set and the shops next to theirs had closed for the night, the cover of darkness gave Becca and Kristin access to the office without being detected. But Johanna wasn't worried. Becca and Kristin were trapped, and if they didn't see that then they were even bigger fools. They just had to keep the situation calm and wait them out.
Kate laughed. “Where do you think you're going to go? This place will be swarming with police in a matter of minutes.”
“Do we look like we're frightened? No one knows where you are. They'll never suspect us of bringing you here.” She pushed Kate toward the filing cabinets. “Get over there and don't try anything.” She flashed the gun around. “The rest of you get over there too.”
“Look, this isn't going
