Brody, this is our case and I’m going in. You want to come along? Fine. I’m not staying behind. Understand?”
The steely determination in her eyes proved he was fighting a lost cause. Julianne had always been driven to prove herself capable and he knew she’d go in no matter what. He wanted to capture her hand and press it against his chest, but he didn’t.
She’d only pull away from him, the way she had six years ago.
“Okay, okay. We’ll do this, together.”
“Max and Opal are going in, too.” She tilted her head. “Where did you train to be a paratrooper?”
“Brief stint in the army.” Brody didn’t want to mention his messed-up knee that had sent him home early. Three surgeries and it was almost as good as new.
Almost.
Unfortunately, the army didn’t want to take a chance with his bum knee, so they’d given him a choice, climb the officer ladder or an early honorary discharge. Climbing up the ranks hadn’t interested him so he’d returned home and was offered a job as a deputy. Then somehow managed to become elected sheriff the following year.
Hometown hero and all that. Which was ridiculous since he was anything but. Julianne had left him after their disagreement over her best friend Lilly’s disappearance. She’d insisted Lilly would never have run away, despite all the signs that pointed toward the girl doing just that.
Forcing himself to let go of the past, he swept his gaze over the area. “It would be nice to have deputies guard the perimeter, but that means taking them off roadblock duty, something I’m not willing to do.” Brody knew even if he could mobilize every officer he had on staff, it still wouldn’t be enough.
Max finished his phone call. “Dylan’s looking for a place for a chopper to land. He’s also looking for an area for us to use as a landing spot near the house. He figures that there must be something to use if the Duprees are using the air to get access.”
Despite his annoyance with his authority being usurped, Brody was impressed. “Wish we had those kinds of resources.”
“We’re getting the chopper, a pilot and one additional staff member.” Max’s gaze was on Julianne and Brody couldn’t help wondering if there was more between the two of them than professionalism. The flash of jealousy was annoying and unwarranted. Julianne’s personal life wasn’t his business.
No matter how much he wished otherwise.
“Who?” Julianne asked with a frown.
“Zeke Morrow, and his K-9 partner...an Australian shepherd named Cheetah. Zeke asked to join the team weeks ago, and I’ve been working on getting him assigned as Jake’s replacement. The paperwork has finally cleared, and Zeke really wants in on this.”
She stared at Max in apparent surprise, but then blew out a breath and nodded. “I get it, Jake’s his half brother. If I were in Zeke’s place, I’d want in on the mission to find him, too.”
“Boss?”
Brody turned to where two of his deputies waited beside the prison van. The other two deputies were combing the area, looking for clues. “Coming. Julianne, I’ll need your help with recreating what happened.”
She hesitated, but Max nodded. “Go ahead. It will take some time to get things rolling here.”
“The sooner we get inside, the better,” she muttered. But she fell in step beside Brody and headed over to the van.
Brody did a quick round of introductions. “Deputy Dan Hanson and Deputy Rick Meyer, this is FBI Agent Julianne Martinez.”
Julianne offered her hand. “Nice to meet both of you. I’m the one who stumbled across the prison break.”
And almost died for her efforts, Brody thought grimly.
Julianne took them through the events step by step. When she got to the part about the gunman telling her to stop and raise her hands in the air, Deputy Rick Meyer interrupted.
“You get a good look at him?”
Julianne nodded. “Yes. About five-ten, weighing roughly 180 but some of that bulk could have been from the body armor. Thin blond greasy hair and narrow, light eyes. He wore a scruffy beard and had a half-inch scar at the bottom left corner of his mouth.”
Once again, Brody couldn’t help being impressed. “You got a better look at him than I did.”
“Really? You’re the one who threatened to plant a bullet between his eyes.”
“I know, but that was mostly a way to distract him, so that he’d focus on me, instead of you. To be honest, I didn’t have a clear shot from where I was standing.”
“I managed to hit him in the right arm,” Julianne continued. “He dropped his weapon, then took off.”
Brody glanced at Thunder. “Your dog might be able to track him for us.”
“Yes, but only if you have some clothing of his to provide Thunder the scent to follow. Blood alone won’t work.”
Brody considered that idea for a moment. He didn’t have anything belonging to the gunman, but he certainly had personal items belonging to Nate Otwell, the man who’d escaped.
His former best friend whom Julianne had never completely trusted.
He let out a disgruntled sigh. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, there was no way to deny he needed her help, and the dog’s, too.
The time had come to fill Julianne in on what had transpired before the prison break.
Even if that meant proving that she may have been right to leave him, six years ago.
* * *
Thunder found the gun and they also discovered several drops of blood left behind by the gunman, but of course the trail disappeared at the edge of the road.
“Did you see what kind of vehicle was waiting for him?” Rick asked. Deputy Dan Hanson was sending antagonistic vibes, but Rick Meyer seemed genuinely willing to partner with her.
Maybe Hanson was one of those who resented having women in law enforcement. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to deal with overblown macho egos. Or the last.
In her line of work, she was often surrounded by an overabundance of testosterone.
“No. I was still making my way through the trees when I heard the vehicle take off.”
“Too bad Thunder can’t tell us.” Brody patted the animal’s head and she bit back the urge to snap at him. Thunder wasn’t a pet, he was her partner.
“Thunder, heel.”
Instantly, the dog came to her side and sat straight upright, waiting for the next command.
“He’s on duty, just like I am,” she explained when the three men stared in surprise. “We need to figure out our next steps.”
“The medical examiner is on his way to pick up the driver’s body,” Rick said. “We already know the slug should match the weapon you recovered in the woods.”
“Keep looking for the other slug,” Brody said. “Julianne can show you where she was when the guy fired at her.”
“This way.” She led the team of deputies to the area where she’d been. “Here’s the rent in the tree bark from the path to the bullet.”
They’d found the empty shell casing near where the gunman had dropped the weapon, so Julianne held it out for Thunder. “Find, Thunder. Find!”
Her partner went to work, scouring the area and tracking the scent of gunpowder. The ground was covered in leaves, twigs and other brush, but she knew Thunder could find the missing bullet fragment.
Fifteen minutes later, he alerted on