Free Closer Than You Think by Karen Rose Page B

the officer an unamused stare, he gave the guy a few seconds to react. Wait for it, wait for it . . .
    The officer didn’t disappoint, flinching when his eyes met Deacon’s. ‘What the f—’
    ‘Special Agent Novak, FBI,’ Deacon interrupted, showing his badge. ‘Update, please.’
    The officer’s eyes narrowed as he scanned Deacon from head to toe. ‘Nice contacts, asshole, but Halloween’s over. Now move along and take your fake ID with you.’
    Dammit. I really hate Halloween. Deacon had come to depend on that flinch. Had spent years honing the image he projected, maximizing the window of distraction his slightly less-than-normal irises offered. But Halloween ruined his rhythm, totally axing his advantage.
    Now all he had left was his bubbling personality. Shit.
    ‘Officer,’ he said, lowering his voice to a menacing growl, ‘I do not have time for this. Who’s lead here?’
    ‘I am.’ The dry reply came from an older uniform. ‘Deputy, get back to your post.’ When the younger officer was gone, the older man leaned forward to study Deacon’s badge, then straightened to meet his eyes. No flinch. Just a disbelieving blink from which the sheriff recovered quickly. ‘Sorry about that, Agent Novak. I’m Sheriff Palmer. We, uh, don’t get many FBI agents around here.’ And none that look like you went loudly unsaid. ‘I have to admit that I’m surprised to see you. I called CPD, not the FBI.’
    ‘I work a joint task force with CPD – MCES, the Major Case Enforcement Squad. We cover homicide, abduction, and assault.’ Deacon had joined the newly formed squad the month before. CPD wanted an FBI member with joint task force experience, and Deacon had needed to come home, so his transfer from the Baltimore field office to Cincinnati had been a mutually beneficial one. ‘What’s the status here?’
    ‘We responded to the 911 at 5.14 P.M. , eight minutes after it was called in. The victim was lying in the road, bleeding. Her face was bruised and she had a bullet hole in one thigh and stab wounds all over her torso. Deep enough to hurt, but not enough to kill.’
    ‘Her abductor was playing with her,’ Deacon murmured, stowing his anger.
    ‘Yeah. We haven’t found any ID around the scene. No clothes either, or personal effects.’
    ‘Did she at any point regain consciousness?’
    ‘No. When we got here, she was unresponsive. She was nude, but the woman who found her covered her with her own coat. She was also standing guard over the girl.’ Palmer lifted one eyebrow. ‘With a fully loaded .380.’
    Surprised, Deacon turned to check the woman out more thoroughly. She was watching him, the stunned look gone from her eyes. Now he saw only intelligence. And a guarded calculation that put him on alert. ‘Was it her gun?’ he asked Palmer.
    ‘She said it was, and based on her grip and stance, I’d say she knows exactly how to use it. When I bagged it, she didn’t argue.’
    ‘Had she seen anyone around the girl? Anyone coming or going?’
    ‘She said she hadn’t, but she might have been in shock. When I asked for her weapon, she handed it over, then collapsed. Not a faint, but like her legs wouldn’t hold her up anymore.’
    ‘Is she hurt?’
    ‘Cuts and bruises on her hands and knees and a nasty gash on her head. She said she swerved to keep from hitting the victim, went down that embankment. This way.’
    Feeling the woman’s watchful gaze as he walked away, Deacon followed the sheriff to the edge of the road. For a moment he stood there and gaped. He’d expected a small wreck. He hadn’t expected this. A red Jeep rested on some trees halfway down the embankment, looking like it had been hit in the side with a wrecking ball. The embankment was not only treacherously steep, but rocky as well.
    He looked back in disbelief at the Good Sam. ‘She climbed up here from down there ?’
    The sheriff shrugged. ‘Unless she has wings or stashed a helicopter, she climbed.’
    ‘Was anyone