WITNESS PROTECTION 02: The Baby Rescue Read online

  “You’ve given me something to think about. I’d started to believe the Lord didn’t care about the evil that occurred all the time.”

  “Evil is in our world. It’s how we deal with it that’s important. Do we let it overtake our lives or do we do our small part to stop it? We all have choices.”

  Lisette angled toward Colton, the passion in his words washing over her. Free will. She’d forgotten the Lord had given them that.

  “I thought we could grab something to eat before I take you back to your car at the office. There’s a small café not too far from there that has great food. I’d like to go over what we’ve discovered today. It helps me to talk it over.”

  “I often end up talking to myself about the suspects and leads. It would be nice to talk to someone who will answer me back, and I love finding good restaurants.”

  Colton took the off ramp. “Good, because I’m starved.”

  “That’s because all we had for lunch was coffee.”

  “I like coffee. Okay, I love it, but it’s better with food or so my stomach tells me.”

  Five minutes later, he pulled into a parking space next to a redbrick building. As they rounded its side, snow began to fall.

  Stepping under the green awning in front, Lisette shook the flakes off her overcoat. “I’m hoping this will stop soon. We don’t need to deal with bad weather on top of everything else.”

  “Bad weather seems to go with Saunders, starting with my trip to the airport in St. Louis. But he didn’t seem to appreciate the way I handled the car in that snow.”

  “He complains about everything. There’s not enough mustard on his sandwich. The coffee is too strong. The next day too weak. The list goes on and on.”

  “Right now a sandwich could be drenched in mustard and the coffee could grow hair. I wouldn’t mind.” Colton opened the door to Maxie’s Café and waved to an older woman across the room. “That’s Maxie. She’s a jewel.”

  Maxie approached them as Colton held the chair out for Lisette, then took his seat. “It’s good to see you, Colton. You haven’t been around for a while. I know it isn’t the weather that keeps you away.”

  “What can I say? Work.”

  “I’m always reassured that you are hard at work. That means the bad guys are being taken care of.” Maxie smiled at Lisette while handing out the menus. “I’m Maxie. Are you a marshal, too?”

  “No. FBI. I’m Lisette.”

  “Is this a date or a big case?” the older woman said with a twinkle in her blue eyes.

  “A case. You know me and work.” Colton handed her the menu. “I want my usual. You make the best hamburger in Denver. No. The whole state, and I’ve been thinking about one for the past couple of hours.”

  “How about you?” Maxie turned her attention to Lisette.

  “I love a good hamburger so I’ll have what he’s having.”

  “Just so you know, I use buffalo meat for my hamburgers. Okay?”

  “I’m game, and I’d like a seltzer to go with it.”

  Colton waited until Maxie left before pulling out his pad he used to write down information about a case. “Let’s see. We identified the type of car the clown left the hotel in. A silver Lexus no more than two years old with a partial plate number 891.”

  “I’m having an FBI agent run a list of silver Lexus cars with that number on their license plates. That could give us a lead.”

  “We have a general description of the man—a long hooked nose, brown eyes, about six-foot-three and weighing two hundred give or take ten pounds. I’d like you to work with the sketch artist on the shape of his head, the width of his eyes, high cheekbones. We may need it.”

  “I can do that tomorrow morning before we head to the cabin to pick up Saunders.”

  Colton spied Maxie returning with their drinks—a hot steaming coffee for him and the soda for Lisette. “How can you drink something cold with the freezing weather outside?”

  “I guess I could ask for hot seltzer, but I doubt it would be as good as a cold one. If I don’t switch to something without caffeine, I’ll be up all night. I need a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is going to be long and, I imagine, trying.”

  “Yeah, even if everything goes smoothly, we’ll still need to deal with an unknown baby and finding the middleman.” His gaze snared hers.

  For a long moment she didn’t want to look away or talk business. The other customers faded from her consciousness, and it was only Colton and her sharing a dinner. No case. Just two single people. Suddenly she pulled up short and tore her look away.

  Colton cleared his throat. “The waiter who bumped into Saunders is the most promising. Neither one of us could identify him from photos in the employment records of the waitstaff last night. So who is he?”

  “He could still be the last-minute replacement for that one waiter who called in sick. We should get confirmation tomorrow of who took the man’s place.”

  Colton took a sip of his coffee, keeping his attention on the paper in front of him. “Then there is Little Bo Peep. We’ve got a good picture of her without her mask in the lobby. I’ve got a marshal checking with some people who attended to see if anyone knows her.”

  What in the world happened a moment ago? Lisette wondered. She didn’t like losing her focus in the middle of a case. That could lead to a slipup. She had to do everything perfectly and by the book if she was going to prove herself. Her career couldn’t take anything going wrong. And Colton had a way of making her attention stray.

  “Lisette?”

  She blinked and forced her mind back to the task at hand. “The one we need to find for sure is the man who turned off the lights. He has to be involved in this somehow. Was that supposed to be a diversion to allow Saunders to escape? Or someone else?”

  “Sinclair Limousine didn’t tell us much. They picked him up, then dropped him off at the same downtown corner. No telling where he went after that.”

  “We got a confirmation from the limo driver on the security guard’s take on what the man looked like at least.”

  “Also we’re working on the logo. Big Creek Lodge. There are several in the vicinity. We’ll start with them and move outward.”

  “When I think of moose, I think of Alaska, although I know they’re in the lower states, too.” She saw Maxie heading to their table with a tray of food. “We may be wasting our time. Everything will go all right tomorrow, and we’ll catch the middleman.”

  “But we want to catch everyone involved in this ring in Denver.” Colton sent Maxie a huge smile. “It smells wonderful. If I could afford a cook, I’d steal yours.”

  Maxie set the plates down in front of them. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll back off my cook or I can’t be responsible for what the other customers might do.”

  “You don’t have to worry. My pay scale doesn’t allow me that luxury. I have to be satisfied coming here.” He winked at Maxie, who laughed as she left them alone.

  Lisette watched her greet two customers by name.

  Colton tossed a look at Lisette. “If you come into this restaurant, Maxie will remember your name and greet you like she’s been waiting all day for your appearance. That’s part of the charm of this place.”

  Lisette took her first bite, savoring the smoky flavor of the buffalo burger. “I’d come back just for this. This is delicious.”

  “I’m glad you like it. We’ll have to come back when we finish with this case and send Saunders on his merry way.”

  “Now that’s something to celebrate.” She raised her glass and clinked it against his mug.

  Fifteen minutes later Lisette sat back, stuffed with an extra-large burger and fried onion rings. “Great ending to a long day.”

  Colton signaled Maxie for the check. He pulled out his wallet to pay for both meals.

  “How much is mine?” Lisette opened her purse.

  “This is my treat. You can pay when we come back to celebrate saying goodbye to Saunders.”

  She th
ought about protesting. She didn’t want anyone to think it was anything but work, but Colton didn’t give her a chance. He hurriedly laid the dollar bills down on the checkered tablecloth and stood as though he knew what she was going to do.

  “Let’s go.” He turned away to say good-night to Maxie.

  Lisette rose, and Colton started for the door. She paused for a moment to tell Maxie, “Your café is wonderful. I’m glad Colton brought me here.”

  “Then I hope to see you again. I was kinda surprised to see him with you. He never brings anyone in here when he comes to eat.”

  She was the first?

  Colton waited at the door for her before opening it and letting her leave first. “What did Maxie say to you? You got a funny look on your face.”

  “She told me you always eat here alone.”

  “I don’t like my dinner being ruined with unnecessary talk. I usually gobble down food except when I come here. I found this café my first month in Denver and probably come at least once a week to eat. It’s not far from my place or work.”

  “It’s not that far from my apartment, either. I’m honored you shared it with me.” The wind sliced through her heavy coat. Ice pelts stung her face. “This weather doesn’t bode well for us.”

  “This can be normal for February. I’m praying for a beautiful, clear day tomorrow. If not, we’ll handle it.” He opened the passenger door for Lisette, then rounded the front of his car.

  As he did, Lisette thought about this evening. From all she’d learned concerning Colton Phillips, he was a loner. Maxie’s statement about Lisette being the first person he’d brought to the café only supported that impression. She knew the other marshals he worked with respected Colton, so why was he a loner? Now that she’d been around him, she realized he was easy to talk to and was a good team leader.

  Earlier she’d come close to saying something about her mother. The fact that she’d even wanted to talk about her to Colton alarmed her. She never talked about her mother to anyone. To this day she couldn’t understand why her mom had done what she did. When her mother had been blamed for some money missing from a crime scene and then later hadn’t backed up her partner, John, who ended up getting killed, she couldn’t prove her innocence and ended up resigning from the FBI. No charges were brought against her mom because the money had disappeared. Since she’d been the poster woman for the FBI, illustrating how far and high a female could go in the Bureau, the FBI didn’t pursue the investigation. When she’d point-blank asked her mother about the accusations, she told Lisette she’d never taken any illegal money, but when Lisette wanted to know about her partner’s death, her mom refused to say anything. How could her mother not back up her partner? When Colton climbed into his Firebird, he looked at Lisette as he shut the door. “Are you all right?”

  She couldn’t answer him honestly without mentioning her mother. She wouldn’t do that and dig up all the angst she’d gone through because of her.

  “If you’re worried about tomorrow, we’ve done all we can. Think of it as the first step in no longer having to deal with Saunders.”

  “Thanks for the tip,” Lisette finally said, then slammed the lid on her past before it affected her ability to do her job.

  I can’t keep doing that. I need to somehow forgive my mother, so I can move on and do my job. But how, Lord?

  SIX

  Colton waited with Lisette in the airport’s main terminal for the marshals and local police who were assisting them. Their associates were following passengers with babies from the flights feeding into the west side of baggage claim and the center carousels. The flight with the courier with the baby was arriving at ten o’clock in the morning, but there had been no information on where they might be coming from. Colton and his team had narrowed down the number of incoming flights at that hour to three, with a total of seven passengers traveling with children under the age of two years. One jet had been delayed and would land in half an hour. That gave them some time to see if the courier was on the second plane. They had vetted the first flight, which had arrived ten minutes early. The three passengers with babies didn’t approach Saunders and had already left the baggage claim area.

  “We’re about to leave the secured area of the airport. I’m tracking a man with a baby. Janice is following a woman carrying a child in a car seat. She stopped to go to the restroom.” Neil’s voice came through clearly into Colton’s earpiece.

  “Good. We’ll follow behind you.” Colton looked at Lisette as she listened to the same message he was hearing. “I have Quinn and Brad in place as a skycap as well as Mark, dressed as a custodian. We have to play this as if someone is watching the exchange.” He was using two other U.S. Marshals, Brad Worth and Mark Kirkland, besides his team and some local police to cover the exchange.

  “I see you. Here we go.” Neil emerged from the secured part of the airport, not far behind a man with a baby in a stroller.

  Colton drew in a fortifying breath, picked up his carry-on and fell into step next to Lisette. “This should be over soon.”

  Posing as his traveling companion, Lisette also carried a small bag. When they entered the west side of the baggage claim area, she said, “I hope this is the one, and we don’t have to wait for the delayed flight.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I hate the idea that Saunders is by himself, not even handcuffed.”

  Colton spied Saunders, alone, standing between carousel fifteen and the doors that led to the outside. “We have local police outside if he decides to make a run for it. We have to give him a certain amount of freedom, which doesn’t set well with me, either.”

  “I keep having to remind myself where’s he going to go. We’ve got this place locked down. You made that clear to him earlier. I just hope he listened.”

  “I know. But in spite of all our work to make plans to cover anything that could go wrong, I’m starting to doubt we thought of everything.”

  Lisette frowned. “We’ve done what we can. It’s out of our control now.”

  “And in Saunders’s and the courier’s hands.”

  “Now I’m beginning to panic, too.”

  Colton positioned himself several yards to the left of the man with the baby, putting his carry-on on the floor next to him. The conveyor belt began moving. His body tensed when the passenger looked around the baggage claim area. His gaze landed on Saunders for a few seconds but moved on. The man wheeled the stroller closer to the carousel and lifted a piece of luggage off.

  When the man with the stroller started for the exit not far from Saunders, Colton picked up his carry-on, facing Lisette while he issued an order to the team. “The first target on flight 453 is on the move. Wearing blue jeans and a heavy tan sweater, he’s pushing a stroller and dragging a rolling bag. He’s looking at Saunders again. Moving toward him. Keep your distance until the trade takes place. If it does, then, Mark and Brad, you two follow him. We won’t apprehend yet. Repeat. Do not approach. We’ll put him under surveillance.”

  The man approached Saunders. “Do you know where the taxi stand is?” came through the mike Saunders wore.

  “It should be right outside the door.” Saunders pointed in the direction indicated. “If not, I’m sure there’s someone who can tell you out there.”

  “Thanks. This is my first time here and traveling with my child. It isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.” The father headed for the nearest door.

  Colton scanned baggage claim. “The trade didn’t take place, but, Officer Middleton, the man with the stroller is coming your way. Note which taxi he gets into.”

  “You think that guy is the courier?” Lisette asked as they took up their place for the next passenger a carousel down from where Saunders stood.

  “Probably not, but he did talk to Saunders.”

  “He didn’t use the correct catchphrases.”

  “True, but it doesn’t hurt to know where he goes. We don’t have enough man power to track every person with a child, and it really is
n’t necessary. I’m only interested in the courier.”

  “Colton, my woman left the restroom without the car seat and is carrying her baby now. We’re almost to the baggage claim,” Janice said over the comlink.

  “What took her so long? Where’s the car seat?”

  “She changed a diaper and then stopped at a gate not being used and fed her baby. The car seat is still there.”

  “Strange. Why leave the car seat?”

  “The child was screaming and has been ever since coming off the plane. She appears to be flustered, but it still is odd she left it. I think she’s the courier.”

  “I agree, Janice. Stay as close as you can without being suspicious. Lisette and I are at the carousel next to where the woman will pick up her luggage.” Colton peered outside. “Officer Middleton, notify security to pick up the car seat. We don’t want anything left unattended.”

  Lisette turned her back to the incoming crowd of passengers to allow Colton to stare in that direction while carrying on a conversation. She slanted a look toward Saunders. “I sat behind a mom with a baby on my flight back to Denver a couple of months ago. I felt sorry for her.”

  “The baby or the mother?”

  “Actually both. She was trying to keep the baby quiet and got upset when she couldn’t. Of course, the situation was made worse with some of the comments by the people sitting around her. Is she here yet?”

  “Just came into baggage claim, holding a baby while carrying a diaper bag over her shoulder. She appears harried, as Janice said.”

  “Believe me, you would be, too, if you’d been dealing with a child crying on a plane. I don’t hear any crying so feeding the baby must have worked.”

  “She’s coming this way. She’s searching the crowd waiting for the passengers. She sees Saunders and is hurrying her pace.” Suddenly Colton wrapped his arms around Lisette and pulled her against him. “She glanced this way,” he whispered into Lisette’s ear, the aroma of apples swirling around him as he breathed in the scent of her hair.