Ericka folded her hands over the image. “Heather, we have footage of you flinging the knife that killed Ann Marie.”

  “That’s impossible! I’m going to send that Joey Malone back to New York and have every mob leader in the nation take him down. He promised not to give that to you.”

  The lawyer sitting beside her tried to stop her, but it had been no use.

  That had gone much quicker than Greg had thought it would.

  “What do you want?” The lawyer’s voice held defeat.

  “We want a signed confession that she killed Ann Marie and therefore killed Ann Marie’s child.”

  “That little witch!” Heather rose to her feet and slapped the table. “She was just trying to take Michal away. There wasn’t a baby.”

  “Oh, no, Heather, there was a baby. No matter what your boyfriend told you. He just wanted you to get rid of her so that his career wouldn’t be over. He used you.”

  “Yes, he used me.” She fell back in the chair.

  “If you agree to testify against him, then maybe we can get you a reduced sentence.”

  “I’ll do it!”

  The lawyer rolled his eyes. “I should have asked for payment before you guys came in here.”

  “What is your problem? This helps me, right? I mean, I’ll only get a couple of years or something. And I’m only seventeen so they’ll probably try me as a child. I’ll be out in a year.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “You could get the death penalty.”

  “What? B-but they said…”

  “Reduced sentence. Which could mean life in prison or possible parole in fifty-one years.”

  “Fifty-one years…” She drew in a deep, shaky breath. “B-but I didn’t mean to kill her. I was just mad. And Michal said that we wouldn’t get to move to L.A. and I wouldn’t get to be the wife of a Dodger. And that’s my dream! My dream!”

  Greg opened the door, and the officer outside came in and took Heather away. The lawyer grabbed his briefcase.

  “I don’t know how these kids are getting more and more dumb.” He shook his head. “What do you need from her?”

  “Signed statement of guilt with information on Michal’s part in the murder. We’ll ask the prosecutor to take the death penalty off the table.”

  “That’s what I figured. I’ll let her know.”

  Greg closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Can you believe we’ve only been here a few short weeks, and we’ve already had our office and housing destroyed, solved three cases, and found people we should never have found?”

  “Sounds like our lives.”

  “What should we do for an encore?”

  He laughed, pulled her to her feet, and wrapped her in an embrace. “We could get engaged?”

  She cocked her brow. “That’s not funny.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be funny. Well… maybe I was.” He stepped back and released her before she slapped him. “Quinn and Fanny just got engaged. Apparently, Maggie and Tristan have been for a while.”

  “What? Since when? Why didn’t she tell me?”

  “No idea. I found out in the car on the way from my parents’ house.”

  “About your parents…”

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to take you down and tell my mother we were dating in person. Then we got sent here, and I’ve only talked to her once and she wasn’t making sense that day and I didn’t have time to tell her and…”

  The kiss came out of nowhere. Suddenly her lips were moving on his. Her hands were at the nape of his neck weaving up through his hair. He placed his hands on her waist but didn’t move them. He was afraid to get any closer. He might drown in her.

  When she pulled back, she said, “You talk too much.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  “Let’s go book this girl and see if there is, anyway, we can go home. I have a feeling if we don’t, we might have a mutiny on our hands.”

  Greg agreed. The two couples now in their midst needed more stability. Traveling the country solving cases wasn’t going to work anymore.

  They needed to go home.

  ****

  Marty Benton was making a report when Heather Worley was dragged in wearing cuffs. With all the commotion in town, some idiot had run into the medical examiners office. The New Yorkers office had been destroyed days ago and now everything was being conducted by at the original police station.

  After seeing the couple in the dark at the park, he’d made the decision to turn Worley in. He’d seen her climb the hill and throw the knife at Ann Marie. Ann Marie hadn’t deserved that. But his current girlfriend was buddies with Heather, so Marty had played nice.

  Until today.

  “Are you done?” The officer went to take the paper from him.

  Marty grabbed it and ripped it into tiny pieces. “You know, I don’t think I need to make that statement anymore. Thank you for your time.”

  “Suit yourself.” The young officer went back to answering the phones.

  Marty walked onto the street and started to whistle.

  ****

  Director James Manis opened his email and read about the trouble in Clifton. He’d sent Greg there because his mother wanted to visit with him. It hadn’t been ideal, and he shouldn’t have done it, but she acted like it was important.

  Now he discovered that it was because she was trying to hook him up with an old girlfriend. He barely kept his fury at bay. Reading how they had solved a murder helped. At least his officers were continuing to prove their worth.

  Reading the part that they helped to blow the Malones’ cover made things worse once more. That explained why the witness protection office had been calling him.

  He needed to bring Alpha Team home anyway. He had a case in town that was brewing, and it was something that the entire office would need to be involved in.

  The other teams were scheduled to arrive within the week. He’d tell Alpha Team to come home as well. From the rumors he’d heard they would be ecstatic to hear the news.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Run!” Ericka cheered for the Clifton baseball team. The members were a little thin, but those who remained were still excellent players.

  All the team members who had visited Ann Marie on that hill had been questioned and released except for Michal. Many of the other members, despite their lack of personal involvement in the murder, had been removed from the team’s roll. Arthur Lewis, Jaxon’s, father had threatened to sue the school, but it hadn’t done a bit of good. He’d been removed from the team as well.

  Ericka rose to her feet as one of the kids hit a homerun. She participated in the wave with the crowd. Greg stood and did it with her.

  He smiled and laughed and acted goofy with her. She liked it. She liked it a lot.

  “You want something from the concession stand? I’m getting a little parched.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll take a diet cola and maybe some nachos and cheese?”

  “Will do.” Greg left the full stands.

  Ericka refocused on the game. Their luggage at the B&B was packed, and they were ready to roll out first thing the next morning. They were happy to go. The locals were happy for them to go. It was a win-win.

  Across the field, Ericka spotted a dad helping a little girl tie her shoe. When he finished, he stood and took her hand in his and walked her back to a waiting car. Those were the kinds of things that she’d missed as a kid. Just the simple things. Where someone took care of her for no reason.

  A woman close by ran her hands through her hair over and over. She turned from side to side. She cupped her hands and yelled. The little girl that was being held by the man, turned slightly like she heard her name.

  Ericka didn’t hesitate. She jumped over the three bleachers and ran toward the man. If she made a mistake and it was his little girl, then no harm. If she didn’t then she was saving a girl from being taken.

  When she reached them, she was gasping and had to bend over and try to catch her breath.

  “Can I help you, miss?”

  She looked around at the mother who was still looking frantically for her child.

  “Um, yeah, I think, I think that I might be lost. Can you help me?”

  “Of course. Where do you want to go?”

  She looked back at the lady again. She held a puppy in her arms, and she was smiling broadly.

  Ericka relaxed and straightened. “I think that I just found it. I was looking for the concession stand and it’s over there. I got all turned around in this heat.”

  “No problem. That’s why we’re leaving. Roxy said she was getting hot.”

  The little girl did look really hot. In fact, she didn’t look well at all.

  “I think maybe she needs to go to the hospital. I think she’s going to faint.”

  “No, she’ll be fine. I just need to get her to the car.”

  Ericka pulled out her phone and dialed 9-1-1. The guy’s eyes widened.

  “Now, why did you have to do that? Everything was fine. She’s fine.” The gun that flashed when he moved to the side caused Ericka to pause.

  Right then the girl collapsed. Ericka caught her before her head slapped the pavement.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Ericka saw Greg. He was running, jumping over benches, weaving around people. He looked almost like he was flying, he was going so fast.

  “I-I got to go.”

  “But your daughter. She’s sick.”

  “You keep her!” the man shouted over his shoulder as he started to run.

  Sirens from the ambulance echoed around her. Ericka held tightly to the little girl until an EMT tapped her shoulder.

  “Can I have a look?”

  “Yes. Please.”

  He took her vitals. “We need to get her to the hospital now.”

  “Can I ride with her?”

  “Do you know her?”

  “No. But I think she was kidnapped, and I’m not going to leave her alone until I find her parents.”

  “Very well. Let’s go.”

  Greg ran past her. “I’ll catch up!”

  “Get him!” she yelled.

  Inside the ambulance, she caught one more glance of Greg as he entered a copse of trees and disappeared from her sight.

  ****

  “How does she do this? We’re just watching a baseball game! A game! Then she spots a kidnapper.” He mumbled some more, but he was getting out of breath, and it was getting more difficult to talk and keep up his pace.

  He entered the trees and slowed. A chip of wood popped off a tree and he moved to hide.

  “Just let me go. You’ll be happier if you do!”

  Ah, the kidnapper.

  How had Ericka spotted the man so quickly? He’d been at the concession stand when the lady came by screaming that someone had disappeared. One glance at Ericka running around the field, and he knew that she’d noticed the situation.

  They were supposed to be going back home tomorrow. Now that wasn’t a possibility. She’d have to be interviewed as a witness and placed on the stand. They’d have to go back and forth more than once.

  “Are you leaving?”

  “Are you coming with me?”

  “That wasn’t my plan.”

  “Oops, seems like we have different plans.”

  “Dude, let it go. I need to leave.”

  “Afraid not.”

  He could hear the guy’s sigh from his location. He must be fairly close.

  “Let’s just go in peacefully. I’m sure you have a reasonable explanation for taking the kid. If you come in without a fight, it’ll help.”

  Although he had already shot at an officer and tried to kidnap a child, so Greg doubted it.

  “Do you think I’m stupid?”

  “Well, I’ve met some less than intelligent people in this town, so I wasn’t sure.”

  “Maybe you should ask that chick why she wasn’t watching her, um? Why doesn’t anyone ever ask that question?”

  “Oh, that question will be asked. Trust me.” Greg had wondered that himself. It seemed that the lady thought her child was waiting by herself on a blanket at the side of the field while she went to the concession stand. That was not cool.

  “I’m not going in. I’ve been in jail before. I didn’t like it.”

  “So, what’s your plan? Run for the rest of your life?”

  “The thought crossed my mind.”

  “You don’t think you’ll get caught?”

  He laughed. “With the officers in this town, highly unlikely.”

  Greg groaned. The guy was right. And here they were leaving the town with no one to defend them against criminals like this guy. Maybe he should call Manis and say he couldn’t come back. His family was only an hour away from this madness. They would suffer as well. The crime could spill over into the next town.

  Why did he and Ericka need to go back? They could settle in the little town of Clifton. Sure, it would be a curveball in their plan, but it could be done.

  “What are you plotting over there, lawman?”

  “My future.”

  ****

  “Roxy! Roxy, are you okay? Daddy’s here, I’m so sorry. Don’t your worry, that nanny is so fired.”

  “Um, excuse me, who are you?”

  He noticed the woman hidden in the shadows of the corner. “Oh, forgive my manners. I’m Colin Ryner. I’m running for Mayor.” He held out his hand. The strange woman had a firm grip. One that shot tingles up his arm and along his spine. “And you are?”

  “Detective Ericka Stone.”

  “Oh, you’re who I have to thank for saving my daughter.”

  “Daddy?” The meek voice from the bed sounded on the verge of hysteria.

  “I’m here, Pumpkin. You’re all right.” Roxy launched herself into his arms and he held tight. He smoothed her hair. It smelled of baby shampoo. It was the one thing he’d insisted on with the nanny because he knew his wife would have wanted that.

  “Do you know who tried to take her?” He mouthed the words above her head in hopes that she wouldn’t hear him or understand.

  “It was Uncle Jerry.”

  The detective heard. He could tell because her eyes almost bugged out of her head.

  “Jerry?”

  How was that possible? How had he come back to town without Colin knowing about it?

  The heat of the detective’s gaze was enough to express that he had some explaining to do, but he wasn’t in the mood to do that now.

  All he wanted right now was to hold his little girl and never let go.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Ericka stepped out of the room to allow the daughter some privacy with her father. Plus, she wanted to check the validity of the man’s claim. Not to mention the Jerry that rolled off the little girl’s tongue. She’d known the person who took her. That’s why she’d gone so quietly.

  Maggie and Quinn were there outside the door. Maggie vigorously shook her head. “You just couldn’t wait one day. Just one day to find another case.”

  “Well, she did stop a kidnapping.”

  “True, true, but if she’d let the locals do it…”

  “Might have saved some trouble.”

  “Is this a new routine you two are working on? One where you talk to each other and ignore me? It’s quite good. Maybe consider taking it on the road.” The road that was farthest from her. She had other things on her mind.

  “We were trying!” Maggie seemed the most genuinely upset.

  Her actions might have cost them a few more days. In her opinion, it didn’t warrant the grief they were dishing out.

  “Look when you guys can listen, I need to know if Colin Ryner is really Roxy’s father.”

  “Yup, he is. He’s also the biggest business owner in Clifton and running for mayor.”

  “He mentioned that.” She paused. “He also mentioned someone named Jerry. Roxy said Uncle Jerry took her. She didn’t put up much of a fight, so a relative makes sense.”

  “Then how did you know?”

  “It was a fluke. All a fluke.”

  “Nah, she has great instincts.” Greg’s deep voice injected from close by.

  “Greg?”

  “I got him.”

  “Oh, good.” Now Ericka could breathe.

  “Not really. He’s not talking.”

  “Doesn’t really matter. I saw him take her.” Ericka planted her hands on her hips. This perp wouldn’t walk. She’d see to it, if she had to stay close to testify.

  “I think there may be more to the story.”

  Maggie groaned.

  Quinn cringed.

  “What is up with you two?”

  “We got called back to New York, remember? And we have fiancées that have already left and are headed back.” Maggie’s tone wasn’t understanding about this new curveball in their plan.

  “Fine, go. Greg and I will figure it out then come later.” Ericka locked arms with him and moved closer to his side.

  They could do this together, no problem.

  ****

  Greg looked forward to working with Ericka, to spending time with her with no one else around, but he wasn’t sure this was the way. Their suspect was lying in a hospital bed. He’d walked into a bear trap and almost lost his leg. Greg had gotten him help before it was too late.

  “Greg, are you sure about this?”

  Staying would help the locals finish the case quicker; however, they might lose their relationships. He didn’t want that on his conscience.

  “Yes, Ericka and I got this.” He didn’t want to contradict her in front of them.

  “We can help until tomorrow. What do you need us to do?”

  Greg and Ericka went back and forth with a list of items that would help.

  When they finished, Quinn said, “I don’t think we’re leaving tomorrow.”

  Maggie sighed. “I don’t think so either. Guess we better call our significant others and give them a heads up.”

  “Agreed.”

  Greg watched them walk away. “I almost feel bad.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “We should talk to the father.”