Find Me, Save Me Read online

  Find Me, Save Me

  Full Heart Ranch Series #1

  By: Barbara Gee

  Copyright ©2015 by Barbara S. Gunden

  All rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Barbara Gunden, except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 1

  Tucker ended the call and leaned back in his chair, staring narrow-eyed at the ceiling as he considered the implications of what he’d just learned. It was what he had expected to hear, and yet the verification left him feeling disconcerted, filled with equal parts hope and dread. Hope because he finally had a solid new lead on the man he’d been after for two years. Dread because the existence of that lead meant his sister was in danger.

  He raised his phone and summoned Siri.

  “Call Detective Anderson,” he said, getting up to pace as he waited for an answer. After a few rings he heard a click.

  “I was just about to call you, Agent Simon. Any news on those photographs?”

  “Yeah, just got the word. The two men in your photos are definitely linked to Jimmy Callahan. Time to get Libby to a safe place, Detective.”

  “Roger that. She just arrived at her apartment building and we’re pulling in behind her. I’ll introduce myself and ask her to come with me. We should be able to have her to the station within ten minutes.”

  Tuck rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. “I’m pretty sure she’s not going to be happy about it. If she gives you any trouble, tell her you’re following my orders and I’ll explain everything when I get there.”

  “Got it. I’ll tell her.”

  “I appreciate you working with me on this, Detective. Hopefully you can get her in the car before she causes a scene.”

  Tuck kept the phone to his ear as he shut down his computer and took his gun from his desk drawer. He shoved it into his shoulder holster and grabbed his jacket before hurrying outside to his car. “If you can, I’d like you to keep your men on the two guys we’ve already identified to see whether they meet up with anyone else. It’s entirely possible that Callahan has more than one team sniffing around up there.”

  “No problem,” the detective said. “We’ll keep up the surveillance until you say it’s okay to pull off.”

  “All right. I’m leaving my office now, so I’ll be there to take Libby off your hands in a little over an hour.”

  “That’ll be fine. We’ll keep your sister safe, and I’ll let you know if anything new comes up with the guys we’re watching.”

  Tuck’s jaw clenched. “I know it’s a long shot, but I’m hoping they screw up and do something that’ll lead us to their boss.”

  “I hope so, too,” Detective Ryan Anderson said. “Your sister is exiting her car now, Agent Simon, so I’ll get her to come with me and we’ll see you shortly.”

  Special Agent Tucker Simon, out of the FBI field office in Charlotte, North Carolina, thanked the police detective and buckled in for the drive to the smaller town of Chandler. Located about a hundred miles northeast, Chandler was home to about 40,000 residents and was the place Tuck’s sister, Libby, had called home for the past two and a half years. She jokingly told everyone that moving back to her home state had been her mid-life crisis, even though she was only twenty-six. Tuck figured it was easier for her to give that flippant response than to admit that life in the big city of DC hadn’t lived up to her expectations.

  The truth was, he had been as shocked by her return to North Carolina as anyone, because DC had seemed to be a perfect fit for his independent little sister. She had started her dream job there a week after graduating from college, and for a while, she had loved her new fast paced life. Two years later, however, the luster had faded. When Libby finally admitted to Tuck that her high pressure job in the city was no longer her dream, he had suggested she give their home state another try. Libby was the only family he had, after all, and Tuck liked the idea of having his little sister around again.

  To his surprise, she had followed his advice. After sending out her résumé and receiving multiple offers, she had chosen a job in Chandler, and within a few months she had happily left DC behind and settled back into small town life. Although she had changed jobs several times since then, she was content being back in North Carolina, and it was fun for Tuck to have her close by. Even though Libby could be high maintenance, he enjoyed seeing her a couple times a month and he’d had no reason to regret encouraging her to return to the state.

  Until three days ago. Seventy-six hours, to be exact. That was when Tuck had realized that because of her relation to him, Libby might be in danger from a criminal named Jimmy Callahan—the man Tuck had spent the last two years of his life trying to put away. The man at the center of a case that had consumed Tuck like none other. The man who was the last person Tucker wanted anywhere near his sister.

  Jimmy Callahan was, as far as Tuck was concerned, the worst kind of human. Operating out of the backwoods of North Carolina, the low life, redneck brute specialized in black market weapons sales, methamphetamine cooking and distributing, and his newest endeavor, human trafficking. He had come to the attention of the FBI three years ago, when one of his weapons buyers was arrested. When presented with the opportunity for a plea deal, the buyer had given Jimmy up as his source, putting the FBI on his tail.

  Tuck had been offered the case after two other agents in the state had asked to be taken off of it, claiming it was impossible to find anyone willing to risk giving up information on Jimmy. The agents complained that those who actually knew the man well enough to have useful information were also well aware of what happened to those who double crossed him, and that knowledge kept their mouths firmly shut.

  Never one to pass up a new challenge, Tuck started digging into the case, appalled as he began to realize the full scope of Jimmy’s criminal activities. Before long, Tuck’s life became consumed with taking the man down. He knew he needed to put together a flawless case, and that meant no cutting corners. Tuck was patient and methodical, relying on undercover officers and his own considerable investigative skills to pile up evidence.

  And then he’d managed the coup de grâce. His perseverance finally gained him the damning testimonies of two of Jimmy’s ex-employees, who were in return given new lives far away from the woods of North Carolina.

  That testimony had been the clincher. It had taken over a year to get
enough evidence to lock Jimmy Callahan up for good, and it had been every bit as hard as the agents who had gone before him said it would be. But Tuck had done it; he had succeeded where the others had failed. Jimmy had been arrested, the witnesses were lined up, and a conviction was all but guaranteed.

  Yet Jimmy was currently a free man.

  It was infuriating and galling. As careful as he’d been while putting together his case, in the end Tuck had been betrayed by insiders bought off by Jimmy. The man’s cash had turned the heads of two local cops who had assisted Tuck with various aspects of the case. The crooked cops had then managed to call Tuck’s investigation into question, resulting in Jimmy being granted bail by a judge who didn’t want to risk holding a man who might have been the victim of a setup.

  While Tuck was being investigated for possible planted evidence, Jimmy had posted bail and, predictably, fled the state and completely disappeared.

  The two cops who had double-crossed Tuck may have thought they were wily enough to get away with it, but Tuck quickly ruined whatever plans they had made for the money Jimmy funneled their way. They were no match for the furious and relentless Agent Simon, and within two months they were sitting behind bars themselves, dreaming about what might have been.

  Unfortunately, proving the cops’ betrayal had been the easy part. Almost a year had passed since Jimmy Callahan had disappeared. Leads had been few, none of them very productive. The kicker was that although Jimmy was no longer living in North Carolina himself, his criminal activities in the state continued. He had been able to use his wealth and many well compensated and thus loyal employees to keep his operations going. They moved around frequently, buying off local law enforcement as needed so they could stay hidden until the next location was scouted out. And Jimmy efficiently managed everything from afar.

  Tuck’s frustration grew by the day, and Jimmy was never far from his mind. It was imperative that he be stopped, and yet Tuck had very little to show for the many hours he continued to put into the case.

  The biggest problem was the same as always. Jimmy had lots of money to spread around, and when that wasn’t enough, there was always the threat of brutal violence. Although Tuck’s promises of protection had previously managed to convince a couple of key people to spill Jimmy’s secrets, Jimmy was now lauded by his associates for having beaten the FBI at its own game. No one was willing to take the risk of revealing Jimmy’s current whereabouts, even when witness protection was offered.

  In spite of his best efforts, most days Tuck felt like he was losing ground. The Agency allowed him to keep the case open, but as months passed with little progress, he was assigned to new cases as needed, leaving him less time to devote to Jimmy. Giving up was out of the question, and yet the lack of leads and the increasing demands on Tuck’s time made it an uphill battle, with the hill getting steeper as more time passed.

  Then, three weeks ago, Tuck had received a phone call from the very man he had been tracking for so long. Speaking as if he were a long lost friend, Jimmy boldly informed Tuck that he planned to return to North Carolina, and he needed to know how much it would take to convince Tuck to look the other way when he did.

  Apparently, being chased out of his home state hadn’t lessened the audacity of Jimmy Callahan.

  Although his first instinct was to tell Jimmy exactly what he thought of his plan, Tuck had bitten his tongue, neither encouraging nor discouraging the man, because he knew maintaining communication with him was the best way to gather clues. It was a fine line, though. He couldn’t appear to capitulate too easily, because Jimmy would suspect a trap. He also couldn’t shut the other man down completely, because he needed him to call again.

  So Tuck listened, making the caustic comments Jimmy would expect but not outright refusing to accommodate him. After a few minutes, Tuck ended the call by saying he had a meeting to get to. He was pretty sure he had given Jimmy just enough hope to warrant further contact.

  Tuck had immediately discussed the situation with his boss, Special Agent in Charge Timothy Warner. As Tuck had expected, Tim wanted him to play along with Jimmy, giving the guy some hope that he could be convinced to help take the heat off and clear the way for his return to the state. The key was to get Jimmy to keep calling so they could try tracing the calls. Or, even better, Jimmy might request to meet up with Tuck.

  Tucker agreed to try, but the more he thought about it, the more certain he became that Jimmy knew he wasn’t, and never would be, on the take. Tuck suspected that Jimmy had opened the line of communication merely as a way of gauging what he was up against if he returned, as opposed to believing he could bribe Tuck to sabotage his own case.

  Jimmy pretended to be a dumb country hick, but Tuck knew better. Jimmy was a master manipulator, adept at using his bumbling redneck persona to get people to underestimate him. And he was currently trying to play Tuck.

  After three maddening calls, all using prepaid, untraceable burner phones, Tuck decided to switch tactics. With Tim’s blessing, he stopped the pretense. He told Jimmy what he could do with his so called bribe money, and he advised Jimmy to keep his miserable ass put in whatever hole he was hiding in and stay the hell out of North Carolina. Because this time he wouldn’t get away, Tuck would personally see to that.

  Jimmy had bristled at Tuck’s threat. He hated to lose, and even though he’d managed to avoid being imprisoned, being forced to flee North Carolina had been a big blow to his pride. Having Tuck rub that in and basically challenge him man to man demanded a response in kind. Jimmy levelled a nasty round of cursing at Tuck, threatening to get even and make him sorry he’d ever dared to go after him.

  Tuck smiled grimly as he listened, because getting Jimmy’s ire up was exactly what he’d intended. He hoped it would be enough to get his foe to hurry on back home to try to prove himself the bigger man.

  It hadn’t worked. Not yet at least. The last call from Jimmy had been ten days ago now, and hope that Jimmy’s fury would lead him to do something rash was fading. None of Tuck’s sources had heard a word about Jimmy coming back home, and it appeared Jimmy’s little information gathering foray was over and done with and he was sinking back into oblivion. It was anyone’s guess as to when he would make his next move, and it looked like Tuck was back to playing the waiting game.

  Until three days ago, when he’d finally caught a break.

  All of this played through Tucker’s head as he drove out of Charlotte on his way to get his sister. It was a huge relief to know Libby would soon be out of Chandler, and he was grateful for the help he had received from Detective Ryan and his department.

  The fact that Tuck even knew about the danger posed to Libby was, in his opinion, a miracle. After a frustrating week of no new contact from Jimmy, an off-duty FBI agent from Tuck’s team had overheard a phone conversation while filling his car with gas. The customer at the adjacent gas pump was on his phone, and Agent Dan Larson’s ears had perked up when he heard the man say “that federal pig, Simon.” Before hanging up, the man had said he’d be in Chandler by supper time.

  The alert agent had headed straight back to the office to discuss what he’d heard with Tucker. When his colleague told him what he’d overheard, Tuck had known immediately that Jimmy was involved, and it appeared that Libby had been chosen as his next pawn in the game.

  Using an innocent woman was a low move, but perfectly acceptable to a man as evil and vindictive as Jimmy Callahan.

  With this new knowledge, Tuck and his team had quickly begun working out their own strategy. Knowing how Jimmy operated, they were convinced that he intended to abduct Libby and use his possession of her to torment Tuck. That meant the men sent to Chandler would have to spend time observing Libby in order to plot out the best way to take her. This would in turn give Tucker some time to track them down, and hopefully get a step closer to Jimmy as a result.

  Tuck had contacted the Chandler police department and explained the situation in detail to Detective Ryan Anderson, emphasizing that
the most crucial task was keeping Libby safe. He requested that officers be immediately assigned to Libby 24/7, without her knowledge so as to not disrupt her routine in case nothing came of the threat. In addition, he had requested that officers on their regular patrols work their contacts on the street and be on the lookout for any strangers in town who might mention the name Libby Simon.

  It had been a long three days of waiting, and Tucker had begun to worry that they were on the wrong track altogether.

  Finally, an hour ago, Detective Anderson had emailed surveillance photos of two men who had developed loose lips at a bar near Libby’s neighborhood.

  Tuck didn’t recognize the men, but Dan Larson confirmed that one of them was indeed the man he’d seen at the gas station. Tuck then had the forensic agents in his office run the photos through the system, and ten minutes ago he had received word that the men had both recently been arrested for running meth, and the lawyer who had gotten them off on a technicality had been known to work for Jimmy Callahan.

  That was good enough for Tuck, and he immediately made the call to Detective Anderson requesting that Libby be brought in and kept at the station until he could get there. The officers who had been assigned to watch Libby would now switch to surveilling the men in question. If they showed their hand, Tuck would capitalize on whatever information they revealed. If not, at least he’d managed to keep Libby safe.

  That was the most important thing. Tuck knew only too well what Jimmy was capable of, and he would take no chances with his sister.

  Merging onto I-85, Tuck set his cruise control for five above the speed limit. He realized his jaw was clenched tight and he tried to force himself to relax. He hated that Jimmy had the power to get to him the way he did, but after two years of being immersed in the other man’s dark, evil world, it was impossible for Tuck not to have a visceral reaction.

  The fact that he had not been able to put Jimmy behind bars, even though he’d done everything right, still tormented him. True, he’d been double-crossed by dirty cops, but in hindsight he realized he had missed some warning signs of that betrayal, and he blamed himself for that, as well as for the continued success of Jimmy’s criminal enterprise.