Joe Clancy nodded and lumbered over to where the waitress still stood, wiping at her eyes.
“Do you need to stay until your deputy arrives?”
Brody shook his head. “For now, it’s probably best if we stick together.”
She couldn’t argue his logic. Besides, there wasn’t time to worry about it, they were expected to meet up with Max West at the chopper. “We’ll need to take your truck, since mine is toast. I’m also going to need to replace Thunder’s equipment that was inside. Thank goodness I still have the evidence bag with Jake’s shirt in my backpack.” The thought of losing one of their key leads made her stomach clench. This incident only proved she needed to keep the evidence with her at all times.
“Sure.” Brody led the way to his SUV, with the words Clover County Sheriff painted across the side. He automatically went to the driver’s side door, then hesitated. “Okay if I drive?”
“Yes, of course.” The Brody she knew wouldn’t have bothered to ask. Why was he being so open-minded now? Had he changed in other ways, too? Probably, but she told herself it didn’t matter.
The bottom line was that Brody hadn’t cared about her. He hadn’t trusted her.
Hadn’t believed in her, the way she’d needed him to.
Brody was a part of her past, not her future. As soon as they’d finished here, they’d both return to their respective lives.
On opposite ends of the country.
An hour later, after they’d stopped to pick up the items Thunder needed replaced, she joined Max at the designated meeting spot. The chopper arrived early, which suited her just fine.
Julianne wanted very badly to find Jake Morrow and knew that it was highly likely the hidden house in the woods belonged to the Duprees. Several weeks ago, after a shoot-out at a desolate warehouse, the kingpin Reginald Dupree had been arrested, but unfortunately, his second-in-command, Angus Dupree, had gotten away with Jake Morrow as his hostage. Jake’s K-9 partner, Buddy, had been injured but had thankfully recovered. Their team was desperate to find Jake, worried Angus would attempt to force Jake to provide inside information. Or, worst case scenario, ask for a trade: Jake’s life in exchange for letting Reginald Dupree go.
Each member of the team knew that freeing Reginald from custody was not an option.
“Zeke, this is Julianne Martinez and Sheriff Brody Kenner.” Max performed quick introductions.
“I appreciate being brought in as part of the team,” Zeke Morrow said, his expression solemn. He was tall, broad-shouldered with dark brown hair and dark eyes, and his partner, Cheetah, was a beautiful Australian shepherd with a black-and-white coat, mostly white around the animal’s neck and chest. Julianne found herself sending up a silent prayer that they’d find Zeke’s half brother alive and well.
“We’re glad to have you,” Max assured him.
Julianne echoed the sentiment, then tugged Max’s arm. “There’s an incident I need to tell you about.”
Her SAC’s expression turned grim. “Now what?”
“Somebody planted a bomb under my SUV while Brody and I were grabbing dinner at Rusty’s, one of the restaurants located outside of town.”
Max looked at Brody, then turned back to her. “A bomb?”
“Yeah. Thunder alerted us to the danger, and I happened to catch a glimpse of someone running away from the parking lot, toward the back of the building,” Brody said. “We managed to get away unscathed.”
“Thunder saved our lives,” Julianne added. “He alerted us to the danger. We caught a glimpse of someone running toward the building, and it’s likely he triggered the bomb early. Thankfully, no one else was hurt.”
Max leveled Brody a stern look. “This latest development is related to your prison break, isn’t it?”
“I think so, yes. I know this mission to find your agent is top priority but as soon as we’ve checked out the cabin, I’d like Julianne and Thunder’s help in tracking our escapee. When I checked in, the deputies manning the roadblocks hadn’t seen any sign of him, so that means he either slipped away or is seeking revenge against me personally for bringing him down. Based on the bomb, I’m figuring it’s the latter. I’m concerned about placing more innocent lives at risk.”
“Good idea. Better to go on offense rather than remaining on defense.”
Brody grinned at the football analogy and Julianne remembered how they’d loved to watch college football games on Saturdays. She lived in Montana now, and they had a college team but she still followed Texas A&M, her favorite.
Did Brody still watch them, too? A bittersweet longing swept over her. She missed what they’d shared.
She missed him. At least the way he’d been before Lilly’s disappearance.
“Thanks,” Brody said. “Now, let’s check the equipment, make sure we’re ready to roll.”
Once Brody was assured that they had everything they needed to parachute successfully into the Dupree compound, Max spread out a topographical map on the hood of his SUV so he could outline the plan.
“According to Dylan’s estimate, this is where the house is.” He drew the outline with a felt tip marker. “To the southwest, there’s a small clearing, here.” He made additional marks on the map, then glanced up at them. “This is our target landing zone.”
“Looks like there are a lot of trees.” Julianne kept her tone matter-of-fact. “How big is the landing area?”
“Roughly twenty by twenty.”
“That’s feet, not yards,” Brody pointed out. “Y’all know it won’t be easy, but it’s doable. Are you sure we all need to do this? Do you need anyone to stay behind?”
“The four of us are going,” Max said, gesturing to include Julianne, Zeke and Brody. “And the three dogs. That’s nonnegotiable.”
“Okay, I’ll have my deputies on the ground, surrounding the area as backup. You, Zeke and Julianne will have to drop in carrying your dogs.” Brody flashed a reassuring smile at Max. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, especially since your team has done this before.”
“We have.” Julianne glanced down at Thunder, glad to have him as her partner. She depended on the animal to back her up, sensing danger the way he had outside of Rusty’s. Besides, she needed Thunder’s evidence-retrieving expertise in following Jake’s scent so they could find him. She’d stuffed the bag containing Jake’s shirt into her small backpack so they’d have it within the compound.
“When are we going airborne? Soon?” Zeke was clearly anxious to get going.
“Yeah.” Max nodded, glancing up at the sky. “Dusk isn’t as good as going in at night, but since we have everything ready to go, I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“Good.” Julianne was relieved, she didn’t particularly want to wait, either.
Time was their enemy.
* * *
Brody helped Julianne into the chopper, wishing there was a way to convince her to stay behind, far away from the heart of danger. Logically, he knew she was a well-trained, capable FBI agent, but on a personal level, he couldn’t stand the idea of anything happening to her.
The only good part of this entire scenario was that he’d be down there, with her. Close at hand if she needed backup.
If he were honest, he’d admit that she was the main reason he’d insisted on coming along in the first place. He figured between him and Thunder, they’d keep her safe.