Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Laura Scott (christmas read aloud TXT) 📗

door and motioned with his gun for the driver to get out. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Duncan, do you think that once we testify against these guys we can go back to our normal lives?”

He glanced at her, remaining silent until they’d reached the cargo plane. “Honestly, I don’t know, Chelsey. If these guys are the main players, then maybe. But you have to understand the wheels of justice don’t move fast. And with Wolfe’s high-priced legal team, I wouldn’t be surprised if this dragged on for years.”

“Years?” The tiny flame of hope withered and died.

“Hey, we’re going to be okay.” Duncan smiled. “I’ll be with you the entire time.”

“Wait, what? You can’t give up your family for me, Duncan. That’s too great a sacrifice.”

“After what I’ve witnessed here, I don’t think there’s any other option,” he countered, his expression turning serious. “I heard them talk about how glad they were you were dead, Chelsey. And they mentioned Brett’s murder, too. I’m just as much a part of this case as you are.”

She stared at him for a long moment, knowing he was right, yet wishing he was wrong. “Even so, that doesn’t mean we’d be relocated together. In fact, it would be more likely that the federal marshal program would insist we be separated.”

His brow furrowed. “That’s not happening. We’re sticking together, Chelsey. You have my word.”

“But...I don’t want you to feel obligated to stay with me.” It wasn’t easy to put her feelings into words. “You have a family to return to when the trial is over.”

Duncan’s dark brown gaze bored into hers but before he could respond, Slade crossed over.

“The police want us to go to the station to provide statements about what transpired here.” Slade glanced over his shoulder, then added, “I don’t love the idea since we still don’t know who to trust within the department.”

“I know. Wolfe in particular mentioned how he was paying for the guy on the inside who might help them.” Duncan gestured with his hand. “Colt heard it, too.”

Slade gave a grim nod. “My plan is to have me and Colt go with the cops and the prisoners to the station together to make sure they don’t escape. But that leaves you and Chelsey to get there on your own.”

There was a moment of silence as Duncan considered Slade’s offer.

“I feel safe with Duncan,” she offered, in case there was any doubt.

“Okay, but we’ll have to get a rental car. You guys should take the SUV,” Duncan said.

“No, I think you and Chelsey need it more than we do,” Slade protested. “We’ve requested a police transport van. The limo will remain here until it can be processed.”

She glanced at the limo curiously. “You mean they’ll look for evidence?”

Slade nodded. “Exactly.”

“They need to look at the plane, too,” Duncan said. “And they need to wash the inside of Wolfe’s hangar with luminol. I’m convinced the murder of Roland Perry took place there. Brett’s photos don’t show enough of the building, but the photographs along with finding blood evidence should be enough to put Nettles away for a long time.”

“Maybe he’ll roll over on Travis Wolfe,” Slade mused. “I’d think he’d be anxious to try to make a deal for a lighter sentence.”

“A lighter sentence for murder?” Chelsey couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Don’t worry, he’ll spend plenty of time in jail,” Slade assured her.

“Looks like the police transport van is on its way,” Duncan said, jutting his chin toward the road. “It should be here shortly.”

“Take the SUV.” Slade lightly tossed the key fob in the air. Duncan easily caught it. “We’ll see you down at the station.”

Chelsey watched as Slade made his way back to the group of law enforcement officers. The SUV wasn’t far, and once the transport van arrived, Duncan cupped her elbow in his hand and nudged her forward.

“Let’s go.”

She nodded, glancing back at the cargo plane before sliding into the SUV’s passenger seat. For a moment, she wanted more than anything to ask the pilot to whisk her and Duncan far away from there, but then a flash of shame followed.

She wouldn’t be a coward, slinking away from this. If she needed to testify, she would.

Even if that meant losing everything—especially, and most importantly, Duncan.

Duncan kept an eye on the rearview mirror, watching the group of five men, the original four plus the pilot, being ushered into the police van. They grew distant as he pushed the accelerator to the floor.

In theory, the worst was over. They had the three main men in custody and felt certain they’d stay there, even if they had a cop on their payroll.

He had to physically unclench his fingers from the steering wheel in an attempt to relax his grip. For some reason, he couldn’t relax. Couldn’t find a way to believe the horror of Brett’s murder and that of Roland Perry was over.

There was no reason to be paranoid, but he kept a keen gaze on the traffic behind them as they left the Jackson airport. He wanted to be ready to react, just in case.

So far, so good. He turned off the highway and headed through town to the local police station.

From what seemed like nowhere, a squad car pulled up behind them, red and blue lights flashing. The driver of the squad car also hit the siren, indicating Duncan should stop.

“Why is he pulling us over?” Chelsey asked, worry in her tone. “We didn’t break any traffic laws, did we?”

“No.” Duncan’s gut instincts were screaming at him. Instead of pulling over, he wrenched the steering wheel to the left, and hit the gas. The SUV responded well, barely screeching as he took a hard left.

“What are you doing?” Chelsey gripped the armrest between them. “We can’t outrun a cop!”

“Keep an eye on him,” Duncan ordered, as he took more turns in an attempt to shake the squad car off his tail. Not as easy to do in downtown Jackson, a place he wasn’t familiar with.

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