Shielding You (Baytown Boys Book 13) Read online

  John remained silent, his gaze moving beyond Dylan as Hannah approached. A strange flare of possessiveness coursed through Dylan and he flexed his fingers, fighting the urge to put his fist into John’s face, warning him to keep his eyes off Hannah. “It’s only a matter of time before we find out who you met with.”

  Jerking his head to the side, Dylan ordered, “Take him in. Book him on suspicion of possession with intent to distribute, to begin with. Make sure to get photographs of any tattoos.” Turning toward Joe, he said, “Impound his vehicle.”

  Hannah stepped closer, her gaze intense on the men walking away. The blanket was still wrapped around her body, and he wanted to get her inside and warm. “Let me get you checked out. Then I’ll take you home before heading to the jail.”

  “Don’t you want to know what I saw with the boat?”

  Blinking, he cocked his head to the side. “What?”

  She laughed and said, “I didn’t just rescue the pack, but before that, I got a visual of the boat. Sea Witch. 92-343. There were two people in the boat, and it won’t take long to find out who the boat is registered to.”

  Throwing his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her wet body closer. “Damn, Chief Freeman.”

  “I’m more than just a pretty face,” she laughed.

  Bending so that he could whisper into her ear, he said, “Let’s get you home, dry, and warm. And then we can fuckin’ celebrate.”

  Standing on her toes, she rested her hand on his chest and whispered in return. “I say we celebrate by fuc—”

  Her words were cut off as he kissed her before they walked away from the harbor.

  24

  Hannah balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear, nodding her thanks to Pearl as another cup of coffee, fixed just the way she liked, was placed on her desk. “I appreciate any insight you can offer,” she said.

  “Hey, whatever it takes to get my baby sister to call me.”

  Knowing that the suspect from last night had prior offenses, Dylan would be able to obtain his previous records. But, discovering that he was from Hope City, she wanted to reach out to her brother, Alex, to see if he had any inside information.

  “I never dealt with him, but I can tell you he’s never stayed in jail very long. Obviously, you can see his records, but he always made bail. He was picked up a couple of times in Miami as a juvenile and has one arrest in Atlanta. He’s now got two arrests with us in Hope City. The last time, he was picked up in a sweep with others but only spent six months in jail for that offense.”

  “Any idea if he’s related to a specific gang?”

  “He claims allegiance to Mara Salvatrucha. At least, that’s what’s in the report.”

  Gang activity was present but not prevalent on the Eastern Shore, but knowing it was on the increase, Hannah stayed advised on the major gangs running up and down the coast, making sure her officers were educated and knew what to look for as well. While it might seem counterintuitive to most people, gang members readily shared their affiliation. To not do so would be an insult to the gang.

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  “He was always small potatoes, so he was able to fly under the radar. It also doesn’t look like any of the detectives had dealings with him.”

  “Thanks anyway, Alex. At least we’ve got him in jail for now.”

  “I can’t believe you stumbled onto him while putting up security cameras,” Alex laughed.

  “Oh, shut up. I’ll take an arrest any way I can get it, even if I had to take a flying leap into the water to get the evidence.”

  Alex barked out another round of laughter. “By the way, I got a call from Mom the other day. She said she liked your new man.”

  “New man? She called him a new man?” This time she heard Alex snort.

  “Yeah, that would indicate you had an old man at some time, right?”

  That was one of the things she loved so much about her brother. Fun conversation. And he was interested in what she did. No judgment.

  He continued, “I’ll also tell you that Dad mentioned he thought maybe you’d made the right decision with your career.”

  “He indicated that to me just as they left. You could have knocked me over with a feather!”

  “I figured the old man would come around sometime. What you do is important, and you love it. How much more can he possibly want?”

  After a few seconds of silence, both spoke in unison. “FBI career!”

  He added, “Yeah, I guess we both disappointed Dad with that one.” She heard a rueful chuckle from Alex. “It looks like I’ve got a meeting, so call if you need anything else. And next time, don’t wait till it’s about a case.”

  “Love you too, brother.”

  Disconnecting, she took a grateful sip of her coffee. She and Dylan had only gotten a few hours’ sleep before coming into work. She imagined he felt very much like she did as the adrenaline wore off and caffeine was the only thing propping her up. She started to pick up her phone but glanced at the clock and decided to wait until their meeting. It hadn’t been a full month since the last LEL meeting, but they’d all agreed, in light of the incident at the Seaside Harbor, a face-to-face sharing of information would be prudent. The meeting would be held in Baytown to make it easier for someone from the Virginia Marine Police to join them.

  Bobby walked to her door and knocked. “Got a minute, Chief?”

  She looked up and nodded toward the chair in front of her desk.

  “Would you have an objection if I asked for two days off in a couple of weeks?”

  Cocking her head to the side, she replied, “Of course not. It’s helpful for scheduling if you can let me know as soon as possible which days you want, but you’re due.” She observed him nod, a small smile crossing his face.

  “I’ve been spending a little time on my days off at the Seaside harbor,” he said, immediately drawing her attention, having seen him on the security feed. “I know that some of the fishermen have trouble keeping steady crews and a few of the farm workers have indicated that they’d be interested in learning how to commercially fish but had no idea how to approach the boat owners.”

  “So, you’ve been scoping things out for them,” she said, meeting his smile with one of her own.

  “I have several of them that are interested, and I told them that I’d spend a day or so on the pier to make sure they were matched up.” He hefted his shoulders in a shrug. “I just want to help them out during the down season for working the farms.”

  “I think that’s great, Bobby. Thank you for letting me know. Get the dates to me and I’ll make sure to schedule you for annual leave.”

  She watched as he disappeared down the hall and some of the tension left her neck. Her phone vibrated, and she glanced down, smiling as she viewed the text.

  Pick you up in five.

  Within a few minutes into the drive to Baytown, she was stifling a yawn while sitting in Dylan’s SUV. He looked over and laughed, and she poked him in the shoulder. “Shut up. You’re no more awake than I am.”

  “I’ll have you know I had four cups of coffee so far today,” he quipped.

  Her eyes snapped open as her jaw dropped. “If I’d had that much coffee, I’d be bouncing off the walls.”

  He reached across the seat and placed his hand on her leg, giving a little squeeze. “By the way, I had a chance to talk to Todd today.”

  “Really? What did he say?”

  “The day we saw him at the pier was a teacher’s workday so the students had it off. He got to the pier early and decided to see if any of the fishing boats with early runs needed help unloading their catch.”

  Lifting her eyebrow in surprise, she said, “Wow, that was industrious of him… do you believe him?”

  “Well, let’s just say that he gave me the names of some of the fishermen he talked to. He admitted he preferred working the afternoon there instead of at his dad’s store. After he finished, he went back to Owen’s to sit and do a little stu
dying for upcoming exams.”

  “Believe it or not, I had a chance to talk to Bobby. He was out there because he’s helping some of the migrant farmers who’d like to stay in the area find employment during the winter months.”

  “Looks like Bobby and Todd are in the clear. Wonder about Luke.”

  She wondered the same thing but remained silent.

  “So, did you learn anything from your brother?”

  “Probably nothing that you didn’t already get from the files, but he did say that John had been picked up last time in a sweep, so it wasn’t a big undercover bust. There were no detectives that had any notes on him. He did mention the Mara Salvatrucha gang.”

  “Yeah, I had a look at his tattoos, and it’s obvious he’s involved with them.”

  “Did Lynette get back this morning?”

  Nodding, he turned onto the road heading toward Baytown. “I should have the analysis report this afternoon, at least the initial one. But she did say the tech went ahead and tested. It was heroin.”

  “That ought to make a difference with what happens to him here.”

  “With his priors and the amount that he was carrying, yeah.” Turning toward her, he grinned again. “I don’t even remember if I said this last night, but thanks for being there. If you hadn’t have come along with me, I doubt we would have caught him and certainly wouldn’t have had the evidence.”

  “Hey, it worked out perfectly. Anyway, I wasn’t going to let you leave our bed by yourself in the middle of the night. Not when I could go with you.”

  Pulling into the Baytown Municipal Building’s parking lot, he nodded toward one of the trucks. “Looks like Callan is already here. Maybe we can finally start clamping down on what’s going on.”

  They walked into the Baytown police station, greeted by the sight of two women standing in the reception area, their appearance so much alike. Same body shape, same wire-frame glasses, both with tight grey curls. The major difference was one had blue-tinted grey hair and the other one was purple-tinted. Mildred Score and her sister Mable had grown up in Baytown and had their hands in almost everything.

  “Mildred. Mable,” Dylan greeted as Hannah nodded toward them.

  The two women smiled with enthusiasm, Mildred pleased when Dylan asked about her husband. Mr. Score had been a coach at Baytown High School back when Dylan had attended and according to his wife remembered all the boys fondly.

  Ushered to the workroom, they were greeted by the other law enforcement leaders as well as Callan Ward and Ryan Coates. An original Baytown boy, Callan had joined the Coast Guard and after several years away was stationed with the unit in Baytown. At the end of his tour, he took a position with the Virginia Marine Police and married another local girl, Sophie. Ryan was his superior, and as Hannah shook his hand she felt the power of his blue-eyed gaze. A little older with a touch of gray at his temples, he exuded raw masculinity and confidence. She dropped her gaze and spied his naked ring finger, wondering why a woman didn’t have a claim on him and instinctively felt he’d known tragedy. God, I am tired! Giving a little shake of her head to dislodge the random thought, she turned to sit down.

  Everyone was on a tight schedule, so Mitch quickly got down to business. The others had already been informed of the arrest the previous evening, and congratulations rang out at the recovery of the evidence.

  “The sack contained heroin,” Dylan began. “The first initial report showed that it was pure, not cut with anything. I’ll find out more from the lab when they send their full report.” Inclining his head toward Hannah sitting next to him, he continued. “Hannah was able to get the identification for the boat.”

  Callan and Ryan shared a look, capturing the attention of the others.

  “The boat was reported stolen two days earlier,” Ryan stated. “It belongs to a couple who had it parked outside their vacation home.”

  “The drug runners must have decided to ditch the boat quickly since someone saw them,” Callan said. “In their hurry, they didn’t do a very good job. It was scuttled on one of the barrier islands, visible to a fisherman out of Manteague. He saw it this morning and called us, thinking someone might be in trouble.”

  “Damn,” Dylan said.

  “Well, like I said, they didn’t do a good job. I’ve got a crew that’s looking, and we’ll at least do fingerprinting to see if anything comes up.”

  “I’m sure you know John Ortega’s prints are in the system. I talked to my brother, a detective in Hope City, this morning, and the only extra thing he was able to tell me was that the most John’s ever spent in jail was six months. He’s a flight risk, though, so after this meeting, Dylan and I’ll go to talk to the magistrate. Hopefully, we can keep that from happening if he can talk to the judge.”

  “I took a look at his tattoos. It jives with what Hannah’s brother said. It looks like he’s part Mara Salvatrucha, which is disconcerting considering we already know that Liam’s county has a few Crips and Bloods that are starting to come down,” Dylan said.

  “The last thing I want,” Liam added, “is for DMI to get their hands on any of these drugs coming through. I hate for them to have a hold on the Maryland Eastern Shore, but I want them the fuck out of our counties in Virginia.”

  She knew DMI was a local gang, not violent at this time, but ripe for getting in with a larger, more organized gang.

  As they left the building, Dylan pushed open the door and held it for Hannah, his hand reaching toward the small of her back before suddenly jerking away. She glanced to the side and watched as he mouthed ‘sorry’. Her lips curving, she gave a small shake of her head.

  Once they were inside his SUV, he said, “Damn, Hannah, that’s hard. My hand was reaching out for you without me thinking about it. I never want to do anything to embarrass you when we’re in uniform.”

  Now that they were in the privacy of his vehicle, she slid her hand over the console and linked fingers with him. “It’s fine, Dylan. We’re still figuring this out.”

  “It’s important for you to know that I respect you. Your uniform. Your position.”

  She squeezed his fingers in acknowledgment. “I know you do. Just as I respect yours.” Grinning, she added, “But, of course, when I’m out of uniform…”

  “Damn, woman, don’t remind me. Then all I want to do is jump you!”

  Laughing, they drove back to Easton. Once there, he said, “I’m going to go in and see what Marcus needs. I’ve already put together a report about his priors.”

  “That’ll be perfect. We can be certain that if he gets out on bail, he’ll never show up here for a trial.”

  25

  Hannah and Dylan walked past the courthouse and entered the jail. Making their way through the security checkpoints, they headed straight to the magistrate’s office.

  Marcus looked up and smiled. “Well, Chief Freeman and Chief Hunt. Two chiefs together at the same time.” He looked back down at the file on his desk and chuckled. “But then, it seems like you two had an exciting night.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “You can say that again.” Handing him the information she’d received from Alex, she knew Dylan and the magistrate had several things to discuss. “I’m going to stop by the clinic. I received a message about one of my prisoners being treated for a medical condition. He’s an older resident in my town, and Margaret made it sound like he wasn’t doing well.”

  Receiving a chin lift from Dylan, she said her goodbyes to Marcus and walked down the hall. It was a short distance to the clinic, and as she entered, she nodded to the guard just inside and greeted Margaret.

  Thomas, the older prisoner sitting on the examining table, was only in his sixties but looked twenty years older. Hard living, hard drinking, and hard smoking had left him with clogged arteries, battered lungs, and ulcers. He lived on the edge of town in a small shack. His wife had died young, and with no children, he worked odd jobs for years to make enough money to live on. Recently, he’d started stealing. She had a feelin
g he wanted to get caught, deciding that jail with a clean bed, medical care, and three-square meals a day would be better than the way he’d been living. He smiled as their eyes met, always appearing glad to see her.

  “Chief Freeman,” he rasped. “Am I just lucky today or what?”

  “I actually came in to check on you.” She smiled as his eyes widened at her statement. “How are you doing?”

  “I was feeling mighty poorly earlier, and Miss Margaret said she might have to send me to the hospital. I just don’t want all those doctors poking all over me.”

  She looked toward Margaret, who gave a little shake of her head despite her smile. Turning back to Thomas, she smiled brightly. “Well, I think a trip to the hospital might be just the thing for you.”

  Noise in the hall caused them to turn their gaze toward the door. Gary showed up with John in tow, a trail of blood running down John’s arm. Hannah stepped to the side and said, “Looks like things are about to get busy here so I’ll step out—”

  “Can you hang on for a moment?” Margaret asked. Turning to Gary, Margaret called out, “Officer Perkins, EMTs are right behind you to take Thomas to the hospital. You and your prisoner are going to need to wait in the hall until I can take care of him.”

  Luke walked into the clinic, his gaze sweeping around the room before landing on the older man. “Thomas, let me help you.” He assisted Thomas from the bed, holding him firmly.

  Margaret turned back to Hannah, her face tight as she whispered, “Thomas is in a bad way. I know you’ve been involved with him for the past few years and wanted you to know.”

  She reached out and squeezed Margaret’s arm. “Thank you so much for telling me. I’ll be sure to visit him in the hospital.”

  Nodding, Margaret turned to follow Luke and Thomas into the hall. “Officer Perkins, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Gary’s gaze shifted over Hannah as he leaned against the doorframe, and his smile slithered over his face. “Why, I’ll have no problem killing a little bit of time with the pretty Chief.”