Trouble with a Badge Read online

  Lockwood continued to stay put while volleying his glares between Levi and her before the glare finally settled on Levi. “You want proof she was involved with the security breach that compromised her own identity, then here it is in a nutshell. Alexa has been contacting anyone and everyone associated with the Moonlight Strangler. Yeah, she used fake names, but it didn’t take long for it to get around that somebody, a woman, was searching hard to find the killer.”

  “So?” Levi challenged.

  “So, she reached out to the wrong person.” Lockwood looked at her, motioned for her to finish. “Obviously she reached out to someone who learned where she is so that Marcos could get to her.”

  Levi looked at her, probably to see if that was possible. Her expression let him know that it was. She had reached out to a lot of people, and despite all the precautions she’d taken, it was possible that one of them had connected all the dots and figured out who she really was.

  “Here Alexa is, involved in another investigation that might have gotten another woman killed,” Lockwood added. “Tasha McKenna, this time.”

  Levi obviously had a lot to absorb. He also likely had plenty more questions for her, but his attention stayed on Lockwood. “Do you have a warrant or a judge’s order to take Alexa into custody?”

  Lockwood flinched a little. “Not with me. Didn’t think I’d need one.”

  “Well, you thought wrong,” Levi insisted. “Mack, show the marshal out and lock up after him.”

  Levi put his hand on her back and got her moving toward the sheriff’s office where the medic was waiting. He put her inside but didn’t go in himself. Instead, he stared at Lockwood, waiting for him to leave. Alexa wasn’t sure that was going to happen, but she finally heard the front door open and then shut.

  “He’ll be back,” Levi said under his breath.

  Levi was right. Even if Lockwood wasn’t dirty, he obviously thought he had a job to do by taking her back into custody. And if he was dirty, then he wouldn’t just give up. He was probably heading somewhere now to get that warrant for her arrest.

  “You want me to examine them?” the medic asked, drawing both Levi’s and her attention to the young man.

  “I’m all right,” she insisted. “But you should make sure the baby is okay.”

  She eased Violet onto the desk. Not the most comfortable place for an examination, but it would have to do. It was too dangerous to try to go to the hospital right now, unless the medic did indeed find something wrong. Then they wouldn’t have a choice.

  Levi continued to volley glances between her and the front door. “I know you only got a quick look at the man who attacked us, but could it have been Lockwood who came after us tonight?”

  She took a deep breath, nodded. “He was the same size and weight, and it was just a glimpse so I can’t rule him out. But I also can’t rule out the most obvious suspect, Marcos.”

  “Or Scottie.” Levi added some profanity under his breath.

  Yes, and if it was Scottie, then he’d sent those goons after Tasha and the baby. Levi and she had just gotten caught in the middle. But if this was Marcos’s doing, then it was all on her.

  Again.

  Alexa couldn’t stop the nightmarish images from coming. Of another attack. The one that’d left Paige dead.

  “God, what if I’m responsible for Tasha’s death, too?” Alexa pressed her hand to her mouth, tried to blink back the tears.

  “Don’t go there, yet,” Levi snarled. Despite the snarl and the tacked on yet, there was still something in his voice that she hadn’t expected to hear. Sympathy. “I’ll get both you and the baby someplace safe so I can start trying to unravel this.”

  He opened his mouth to say something else, but the sound snagged both their attention.

  Violet whimpered.

  But it didn’t stay a whimper. The baby started to cry.

  “She’s not hurt,” the medic announced, easing the blanket back around her. “There’s not a scratch or bruise on her.”

  “She could be hungry,” Alexa suggested. “Or just tired.” Heaven knew Alexa was. The exhaustion seemed bone deep now.

  Levi nodded, stared at her. “How much do you know about taking care of a baby?”

  “Nothing,” she admitted.

  Another nod, more softly spoken profanity and he glanced up at the ceiling as if asking for divine assistance. They sure needed it and anything else that would keep Violet safe.

  “Take the baby,” Levi finally said to her. He thanked the medic and picked up the bag of supplies the medic had brought with him. “Mack, we’re leaving,” he called out to the deputy.

  “Where are we going?” Alexa asked, alarmed that Levi was suddenly moving so fast and with a great sense of urgency.

  “Someplace you’re not going to like.” Levi didn’t stop. Maneuvering her along with him, he headed for the exit.

  Chapter Five

  The coffee sucked, probably because it was six months past its expiration date, but Levi drank it anyway. He would have downed pretty much anything right now if it rid him of the dull ache throbbing in his head. Of course, that was asking a lot of mere coffee since the ache was there from worry and lack of sleep.

  Especially worry.

  For hours he’d wavered between wondering how the hell he’d gotten himself into this mess, and then he’d look at baby Violet and knew the answer was right there bundled up in a pink blanket. As much as he didn’t want to be involved in anything to do with Alexa, there was no way he could walk away from the baby.

  Well, not until he was sure Violet was safe, and he was a long way from making sure that happened.

  He took another sip of the coffee, grimaced again and walked to the front window to look around. Something else he’d been doing throughout the night.

  Levi had alerted the ranch hands that he was in the guesthouse and that there might be trouble, so despite the chilly temps outside, Levi saw several of the men patrolling the grounds. Exactly what he wanted them to be doing. He didn’t want anyone sneaking on to the ranch and especially trying to get in the main house.

  That was the reason he’d brought Alexa and Violet to the guesthouse and not to the main house or even his own place. He’d recently had a log cabin built, but unlike the guesthouse, it didn’t yet have a security system. Plus, it was on the far back edge of the property. Hard to guard.

  At least the ranch hands could help keep watch at the guesthouse, because Levi hadn’t wanted to bring any possible danger right to his family’s doorstep. His pregnant sister, Addie, and her husband lived there full time. Ditto for his mom. No sense involving them in this. His involvement was plenty enough.

  His phone buzzed, something that it’d been doing a lot throughout the night, and Levi answered it right away when he saw Jericho’s name on the screen.

  “Don’t ask me again if I’ve lost my mind,” Levi greeted. He’d heard it enough over the past eight hours since he’d called Jericho and told him that he was taking Alexa and the baby to the guesthouse on the ranch grounds.

  But Levi thought that maybe he had indeed lost his mind. He just didn’t want to hear his brother spell it out again.

  “I won’t ask,” Jericho said. “But the jury’s still out on it. How’s the baby this morning?”

  Levi automatically glanced into the makeshift bed they’d made for her in a large laundry basket that was sitting on the kitchen table. “She’s asleep for now. It’s a lie, you know. When people say they sleep like a baby, that’s a lie. Babies don’t sleep much at all.”

  Levi nearly winced. He didn’t often walk on eggshells when it came to his brothers, but Jericho had recently found out he’d fathered a child who was now a toddler. Jericho hadn’t dealt with the pleasure of sleepless nights because of a newborn and gladly would have traded those hours
of sleep for the experiences he’d missed.

  “How about Alexa? Did she sleep?” Jericho asked.

  “Not much. When she wasn’t trying to soothe the baby, she was doing her own share of crying. She’s in the shower now.” And Levi hoped that would soothe her still tangled nerves.

  “Considering the guesthouse isn’t much bigger than an average-sized bedroom, that sounds, well, cozy.”

  “It’s not. It’s damn uncomfortable.” And it was time for a change in subject. “Anything on Tasha or the hired guns who attacked us?”

  “No sightings, but the CSIs did find traces of blood at the gas station.”

  Levi jumped right on that. “Enough blood to indicate a murder?”

  “Nowhere near it. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t enough before someone cleaned it up. It appears somebody used the hose to wash away the blood.”

  So, Tasha and the other man could indeed be dead. But why would the person responsible want to move her body and do a cleanup when there’d been a witness to the murder?

  Levi didn’t have an answer for that, either.

  “What about the car Alexa was driving, the one that belonged to the gunmen?” Levi added. “Has it been processed yet?”

  “Still working on that, too. There were smeared prints in various places, but so far they’re only a match to Alexa.”

  Not surprising since she’d driven the vehicle, and the hired guns could have worn gloves.

  It was time to move on to a question that Levi had to ask, but he dreaded hearing the answer. “Has it gotten around yet that I’m claiming the baby is Alexa’s and mine?”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m guessing the medic blabbed to everyone who’d listen. Or maybe it was Lockwood.” Jericho paused. “Mom heard. And Jax.”

  Great, just great. All of his family was holding a grudge against Alexa, but his brother, Jax, had the biggest reason, since it was his wife who’d been murdered after Alexa had gotten Paige involved in the Moonlight Strangler investigation.

  “Do Jax and Mom know the truth yet?” Levi asked.

  “They’ve probably figured it out. If not, I’ll fill them in first chance I get. Any ideas, though, as to how I fill them in? How much do I tell them? Or do you want me just to keep lying?”

  Lying was the last route Levi wanted to take with this. Not where his family was concerned. Still, the truth could increase the danger. “That depends on what we learn in the next few hours. Please tell me you found something to pin this on Lockwood or anyone else.”

  “No. Sorry. But here’s what I do know. Most of Lockwood’s fellow marshals think he’s an SOB. After talking with him, I agree. But while no one, including me, likes him much, there’s no proof he’s dirty or responsible for those attacks last night.”

  “Then who is responsible?” Levi snapped out of frustration.

  “My magic crystal ball is a little cloudy this morning, but Marcos always turns up when something dirty’s going down.”

  True. It was hard to get dirtier than Marcos. “Any chance Marcos is pulling Lockwood’s strings?”

  “Maybe. Marcos wants Alexa dead so she can’t testify against him next month, and I think anyone after Alexa is just doing Marcos’s bidding.”

  That’s what Levi thought, too. “Is there any way we can try to put a leash on Lockwood in case he’s Marcos’s henchman?”

  “I’m working on it. But I’m keeping Chase out of it for a least a little while, agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  His brother, Chase, was a marshal, but he was also recovering from an attack that’d happened just a few weeks earlier. Chase hadn’t been cleared for duty, and Levi didn’t want to put any of this on Chase’s shoulders. Besides, this had another personal connection for Chase. The woman carrying his baby, April Landis, was also in WITSEC and would testify against another criminal connected to Marcos’s illegal activities.

  “Is there another marshal who can help us?” Levi asked.

  “Dallas Walker,” Jericho answered without hesitating. “He’s agreed to keep eyes on Lockwood to make sure he doesn’t try to harass Alexa again.”

  That was a good start. “What about Lockwood’s threat to force Alexa back into his custody?” But the question sort of died on his lips when Alexa came out of the bathroom.

  She was dressed, her hair damp from the shower, and she was wearing jeans and a white shirt she’d gotten from the closet. The clothes were too big for her, concealing her body, yet somehow not concealing it at all. The shirt skimmed in all the wrong places. Wrong because Levi noticed.

  Something he shouldn’t have been doing.

  “What about Lockwood’s threat?” she repeated, moving closer to him.

  Levi caught her scent. Not just the soap from the shower but something else beneath it. He knew because he’d used the same soap about an hour earlier, and it darn sure didn’t smell like that on him.

  “Alexa’s awake,” Jericho said. Obviously, he’d heard her voice. “Put the call on speaker then so she can listen.”

  Levi did, but he moved to the other side of the room so they wouldn’t wake the baby. Of course, as small as the place was, the baby would probably be able to hear them anyway, but Jericho had a tendency to curse. A lot. And even though Violet was way too young to understand the words, she might still pick up on the mood. Now that his brother would be talking to Alexa, Levi figured that mood was going to get a lot darker than it already was.

  “Marshal Walker doesn’t believe there are grounds for Lockwood to force her back into his custody,” Jericho explained. “Unless Lockwood can come up with proof that she did hack into WITSEC files.”

  “There’s no proof because I didn’t do it,” Alexa insisted.

  “I believe you,” Jericho said, surprising both Levi and her. “Lockwood claims you did the hacking to find the Moonlight Strangler. Really? Now, while I believe you’d commit a felony or two to find that particular killer, I doubt you’d go about it this way. It’s too inefficient.”

  It wasn’t a resounding endorsement of Alexa, but Levi was glad Jericho was on their side about this.

  Levi frowned.

  Since when had this become their side?

  Man, he really needed to put some distance between Alexa and him. And that was his next step.

  “Until Lockwood’s cleared of any suspicion, I think we all agree it’s not safe to turn Alexa over to the marshals,” Levi said, speaking to both Jericho and her. “But she and the baby need protection.”

  “You volunteering to do that?” Jericho asked.

  Levi opened his mouth to give a quick no. He wasn’t volunteering, but someone needed to do protection details. Not Jericho. He was too busy with the investigation and the other cases he was already handling.

  Jax was out, too, because of Paige’s connection to Alexa.

  That left the deputies. Experienced, yes, but it wasn’t as if they didn’t have full plates with this investigation and others. In fact, the heavy workload was one of the reasons Jericho had jumped to offer Levi a deputy position after he’d left the SAPD.

  “Alexa and the baby will need a safe house,” Levi finally said to Jericho. “And bodyguards who are used to dealing with newborns. That’ll free me up to help you find whoever put them in danger.”

  Jericho made a sound of agreement. “I’ll get started on that. And I’ll call when I hear anything about Lockwood or all the other rattlesnakes in this woodpile,” Jericho added before ending the call.

  Levi wasn’t usually a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but nothing about this situation was ideal or even going his way. Well, except for the fact Alexa, Violet and he were all still alive.

  Alexa had a look at the baby and then helped herself to a cup of coffee. She made the same grimace Levi was sure he’d made, and like him, she took another si
p.

  And she stared at him.

  Probably waiting to see what, if anything, he was going to volunteer. Maybe bracing herself for the worst, as well. Too bad she had to look so dang hot while doing that.

  What was wrong with him?

  His head was already a mess what with everything else going in his life. He definitely didn’t need to add Alexa to the mix.

  “I know you’re eager to get me out of your hair.” She glanced at the bedroom. “Out of your bed, too.” Almost immediately her eyes widened, and she actually blushed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I just know you’d rather have someone else, anyone else, guarding me.”

  Levi waved it off. Maybe he wasn’t the only one feeling these weird, unwanted vibes. Another glance at Alexa and he got verification of that. Her gaze slid over him, slowly, before she mumbled something he didn’t catch and looked away.

  “Any news on Tasha?” she asked.

  Levi didn’t know which of them seemed more relieved to be moving on to something that didn’t involve long, lingering looks. And thoughts about the way she smelled. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much in the way of helping this conversation along.

  “Nothing. The CSIs are still at the scene, though. They found some blood. Also found that someone had tried to wash the blood away. Something else might turn up, though.”

  She eased down in the chair across from him. “Why wasn’t Tasha’s body at that gas station?” Her voice cracked. So did the thin composure, and the tears threatened again.

  “Only two explanations as to why she wasn’t there.” Levi had given this plenty of thought. “Either someone moved her or she moved herself.”

  “Tasha didn’t move herself. I saw that man shoot her in the head. I saw her fall.”

  “You’re sure?” And Levi saw the hurt flash through her eyes. “No, I’m not accusing you of lying. It’s just I’ve seen another death the marshals faked for someone going into WITSEC and it was pretty realistic. What if Tasha set all this up so she could disappear for good, and she could have done that to get away from Scottie?”