Framed For Murder

“Are you okay?” she asked in concern, immediately forgetting her own pain. She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Aaron because of his loyalty to her.

“I’m fine,” he dismissed her worry. “How bad is it?” he asked gravely when he saw the way she cradled her injured wrist.

“Not too bad,” she lied. She sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes as bile rose in her throat and she fought to keep the world around her from spinning out of control.

He clearly wasn’t convinced. “Liz, you need to come in with me and have that looked at. We can’t stay here. Either that bomb was intended for Michael or someone knew you’d come here and they wanted to eliminate the threat you posed. They don’t need you alive to frame you, Liz,” he added in a quiet tone. “Let me protect you.”

She stumbled to her feet. Cradling her injured wrist close, she put much-needed space between them. “You can’t protect me.” She swept the devastation with her good hand. “Isn’t this obvious? You can’t keep me safe. Let me go,” she urged passionately. “Please. I’m better off on my own.”

He came after her and she backed away, every step taunting her with the realization that alone, she wasn’t sure she was up to what lay ahead.

“I won’t let them do to you what they did to Michael,” he said and she believed he would do everything in his power to fulfill that promise, but at what cost to him?

“Then help me,” she pleaded. “I can’t stay here any longer. If nothing else, the team will have seen the explosion. It’s less than five miles to headquarters. They’ll come here to investigate. It’ll be over for me.”

Liz could see him wavering and she realized how much she needed his help. She quickly told him about the mysterious text message she’d received minutes before she’d found Michael and about the information in the envelope Michael left her. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him about her missing weapon just yet.

Aaron shook his head. “It’s compelling, but it’s not enough to prove you didn’t kill Michael. According to Reyna’s time of death, Sam was killed first and you were the last person to see Michael alive.” The doubt on his face was hard to take.

“Then help me find out who’s behind this,” she forced the words out. When he didn’t answer, she went for broke. “Aaron, you know me. You know I wouldn’t do this. I loved Michael like family and no matter what Sam did, I wouldn’t take the law into my own hands. It goes against everything I believe.” Her voice stumbled for a second.

“Please, I just need time to get to Black Bear and find the evidence Michael left there. That’s all I’m asking.” She needed Aaron on her side. “Aaron, please. Help me prove my innocence.”

Something in the distance dragged her attention from the man standing close to her. She turned in time to see multiple car lights bouncing along the gravel road nearby. Michael’s property was the last place on a dead-end road. No one would deliberately come this way without good reason.

* * *

Aaron whirled as the approaching vehicles shot through the entrance without regard for the makeshift gate. Right away he knew this was not his people, which left only one explanation. It must be whoever set the explosion.

“We have to get out of here now. Come with me—I have a snowmobile parked just over that ridge.” The relief on her face was worth any amount of difficulty he knew they’d face in the future.

Before she could answer, the vehicles opened fire on them.

They ducked low behind a group of trees. “I’ll cover you. Get the envelope and head for that ridge over there. I’ll catch up with you.”

She shook her head stubbornly. “No, I’m not leaving you, Aaron.”

“Now, Liz. I’ve got this.”

With one final look his way, she crouched low and hurried for the truck while Aaron shot at the approaching vehicles, forcing them to stop. Several men got out and returned fire.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw Liz tuck Michael’s note with the map to the cabin inside her boot. He’d seen her do that many times in combat. Usually, the enemy didn’t think to look inside a person’s boot.

Once he was sure Liz was safe, he ducked deep into the woods and zigzagged up to the ridge until he caught up with her. “They’ll hear the engine noise, but I know this land like the back of my hand. I’ve lived here for years.” He hopped on the machine and she got on behind him. “Hang on tight. It’s pretty rough back here.”

Aaron shoved the machine into high gear and took off at a fast speed through the wilderness without any lights. At least the men following them would have to work to find the direction he and Liz had gone.

As they bounced over the rough terrain, he struggled with what to do. He knew Liz hadn’t killed Michael—or Sam for that matter—but it appeared someone was trying to set her up to take the fall. If he took her into custody, would he be signing her death certificate? Whoever was behind the murders had proven they could get to whomever they wanted at any time. He couldn’t let that happen to Liz. With his head screaming what he needed to do, his heart wouldn’t let him. Right or wrong, he wasn’t going to let her down.

“I can’t keep Jase in the dark for the four days’ time it will take to reach Black Bear. Too many things can go wrong in between and we risk the chance of being caught by those men or our people. We’ll need a faster way to get there. If we can reach my place, I have a plane I bought and restored a few years back. I keep it at the small airstrip I built on my property.”

Truth be told, owning his own plane had been a dream of his for years. Even as a child in Texas, he’d loved the idea of flying. As a teen he’d taken lessons. And when his family moved to Colorado, he’d continued to hone his skills. Then he’d used his flying experience to excel in the military. After he’d left the military, Aaron had become a trainer for special ops. His expertise in flying along with his training skills were some of the reasons why Jase Bradford had initially recruited him for the Scorpions.

Since joining the team, he’d flown just about everything imaginable in all sorts of dangerous situations.

“We can refuel in Talkeetna and then go on to Black Bear once we’ve spoken to this Rick Evans Michael mentioned in his note.” She squeezed his shoulder and her gratitude was worth every risk he knew they’d have to take.

The snowmobile bounced over the snowy landscape strewn with remnants from a recent forest fire. It took all his skills to keep from burying it multiple times while he continuously checked behind them.

The explosion had left him jumpy. So far, they weren’t being followed, which he didn’t like at all. The men would have reached the destroyed cabin by now. They had to hear the noise of the snowmobile and the direction it was heading. These people were smart. Why weren’t they sending people after them?

His hands clutched the handlebars in a tight grip. It seemed like forever before the lights appeared from his makeshift airstrip. He’d smoothed the area out himself. Under normal conditions, there would be no problem taking off or landing, but these weren’t normal weather conditions. It had been snowing for a while. Clouds blanketed the mountains from view, and it was still dark out. He dismounted the snowmobile and headed for the hangar. With just the two of them, would he be able to protect her? He didn’t dare call in backup; Liz would never make it to Black Bear and her chances of staying free would vanish.

Liz was his friend and he’d seen how violent these men were. They’d gone after Sam in a heavily guarded facility. They’d killed a federal agent. They had nothing to lose. Liz wouldn’t stand a chance on her own. He wasn’t about to let her fall victim to these monsters.

Like it or not he was all-in, which meant they were on their own.

Something disturbing tore his attention to the edge of the landing strip. Additional vehicles were closing in. Now he understood why the men hadn’t followed them. Whoever was behind Michael’s and Sam’s murders wasn’t taking any chances. They’d stationed men where they believed Liz would go for help. Michael’s place and his. Which meant they knew about his friendship with Liz. They’d anticipated this move.

“We have to get airborne now if we stand a chance at escaping. I need your help,” he yelled over his shoulder.

She didn’t hesitate. Once they reached the hangar where the plane was stored, Aaron threw open the doors. Liz helped him unpin the jet and then they got inside. Aaron fired the engine and taxied down the runway.

More than half a dozen vehicles charged the airstrip trying to cut them off. Aaron dodged the two lead vehicles, then swerved hard and managed to keep a somewhat steady path in spite of multiple rounds of gunfire coming their way.

With a silent prayer for their safe assent, Aaron throttled the plane sharply and they were airborne. Once he’d reached a safe height, Aaron veered right, and headed over Painted Rock Mountain while the men below continued firing to try to bring them down.

He grabbed his phone.

“Who are you calling?” Liz asked on edge. It hurt that she thought he’d betray her.

“Jase needs to know what just happened back there.” He squeezed her good hand. “Please trust me.” She stared at him with those worried eyes before slowly nodding.

Nothing about what happened over the past few weeks made sense. He’d imagined once Sam was in custody, they’d locate the missing weapons and everything would be finished. Yet reality hadn’t proven that to be the case.

Time was quickly running out for the investigation to remain with the Scorpion team. If they didn’t figure out what was going on soon, Liz would be left to take the fall for everything and they might never find out who was behind the killings or locate the missing weapons.

It took forever for the call to finally go through and once it did the service was so sketchy that he lost it several times.

When he could hear Jase clearly enough, Aaron quickly updated him on what had taken place at Michael’s hunting cabin and then again at the landing strip. He didn’t mention Liz.

“I know she’s with you, Aaron. You need to bring her in for her own safety. This thing is escalating and there’s more. We have uncovered some financial records that show a large amount of money was transferred into Liz’s bank account recently.” The moment he heard those words the bottom fell out of Aaron’s stomach. Coupled with what Jase had texted him earlier, things looked bleak.

“I’ll get Gavin and some men on the way to your place and Michael’s. Whatever else is going on here, bring her in for her own protection, Aaron. And before the stink of this thing lands on you.”

Aaron disconnected the call without answering, his thoughts reeling. Jase was smart. It wouldn’t take long before he realized Aaron had disobeyed his orders and they’d both gone rogue.

He needed to go dark and soon. Aaron slipped off the back of his phone and took out the battery. They could trace the phone easily enough when it was on. Taking the battery out would make it more of a challenge. The first opportunity possible, he’d destroy it.

“Where’s your phone?” he asked when she stared at him without understanding. “They’ll keep coming after us. They’ll find a way to track us. We won’t have much time.”

“It’s my burner, Aaron. I left my personal phone at the house. No one on the team has this number,” she assured him.

He remembered what she’d said about the text message. “Someone knows it. They texted you the warning.”

She squared her shoulders. “We need some way to contact Rick Evans when we get close to Talkeetna. In the note, Michael mentioned he could help us. And how else are we going to reach this Jessie Chena we’re to get in touch with in Black Bear?”

He blew out a sigh. She was right. They’d have to risk it. “You’re right. But keep it off. We’ll only use it as necessary.”

She touched his arm. “Thank you, Aaron,” she said humbly. “Thank you for believing in me.”

He managed a smile...for her. In spite of everything, Liz was a good person. She’d shown that to him time and again. He’d walk through fire to protect her, but he just hoped they could stay alive long enough to figure out who was behind the murders and how the attack tonight was connected to the missing guns.

“What I don’t understand is why are they trying to kill me? They’ve planted enough evidence to make me appear guilty. Wouldn’t killing me only shed suspicion on that theory?”

He spared her a searching look. “Not if you’re discredited already. And if you’re dead, you can’t defend yourself.” He watched her shiver at the implication.

“These people are cunning, Liz. If they were able to kill a federal agent and get to Sam in a secure prison, once they realize you’re still alive and not in prison, they’ll be worried you might know something. You’re better off dead to them. Hopefully, they don’t know about the cabin in Alaska or we’re in big trouble.” He shook his head and tried to rally his confidence.

They’d been so sure Sam was acting alone. Transporting the weapons to the US for his own diabolical purpose, but what if Sam were just the supplier? How did Michael’s death fit into any of this? The note he left Liz seemed to implicate him. The only question was, in what?

He knew Liz was watching him closely and he didn’t want to show his doubts. “We’ll figure it out,” he said with as much conviction as he could muster and then focused his full attention on the task of flying the plane in high-altitude weather conditions while trying to make sense of the last twenty-four hours. Nothing about the murders added up. He had to be missing something key.

“I need you to tell me everything you and Michael discussed and what your last minutes were like with him. I know you said he was acting out of character, but did anything unusual happen?” he asked.

She hesitated and his internal radar went ballistic. Why did she have to think about her answer?

Stop it—this is Liz.

“Beyond his wanting to speak with Sam in prison, you mean?” She glanced his way.

That certainly had been unexpected, as was the outcome of the visit.

He nodded. “Go on.”

“After we left the compound, we went straight to his house...” She stopped as if she’d remembered something. “The car. The one that looked the same as the car last night. It was behind us in his neighborhood. Michael kept watching it. I could tell it made him uneasy, but when I asked if he recognized it, he said no.” She turned in her seat to look at him. “Aaron, I’m almost positive it was the same car.”

Which seemed to indicate Michael’s killer not only knew where he lived but had been keeping tabs on him. Waiting for the moment when he was alone perhaps?

Something she’d said earlier troubled him. “You mentioned that Michael insisted on talking to Sam, but he never spoke to him. I watched the interview. Michael didn’t say a word...” He remembered what happened right before Liz and Michael left the cell.

“He hugged Sam.” Aaron glanced her way. “Right before you left, Michael hugged Sam. He whispered something the recorder didn’t pick up. What was it?”

She shook her head baffled. “Are you sure? I didn’t hear anything.”

Regret hit him like a brick wall. He didn’t believe her. The video surveillance hadn’t lied and she’d been close enough to hear the exchange.

“Aaron, it’s true,” she said, seeing his doubt. “I admit I was surprised when he hugged Sam. He’d been so angry with him earlier. I just thought it was Michael’s way of making peace with the situation.”

He recalled what the previous field commander Kyle Jennings had said. He’d had suspicions that someone from the Scorpion team might have been working for Sam’s organization. Could it have been Michael? If so, then why were both Michael and Sam dead unless there was someone bigger involved? Perhaps, the intended buyer for the guns. Had Sam and possibly Michael double-crossed that person? If so, it had resulted in a deadly outcome.

With no clear answers in sight, Aaron focused on another direction. “Michael obviously had access to your passkey. He could have seen where you put it. The only question is who did he give it to and why did they kill him?”

Liz thought about it for a second then shook her head. “I wish I knew...” She hesitated. There was something else she hadn’t told him, he could tell.

“Aaron, when I got home after we found Sam...” She stopped for a second. “I’m almost positive someone had been inside my cabin. And there’s more.” She hesitated and then said, “I keep my spare weapon in my bedroom closet. It’s missing. Someone took it.”

Shocked, he stared at her in disbelief. He knew she kept a Glock. Would it turn out to be Michael’s murder weapon? Coupled with what Jase had uncovered about Liz’s past, he was certain she was being set up to take the blame for everything.

“Liz, after what happened with the missing weapons in Pennsylvania and the accusations made by Sam’s second-in-command about one of our team being dirty, we’ve been digging into the personnel files of everyone. You’re the only one who has a connection with Sam from the past. You went to the same university for crying out loud, and then you end up attending the CIA training facility around the same time? That’s an awfully big coincidence and to anyone else looking on, it appears the two of you have known each other for a while. It speaks of a possible connection to a terrorist.”

Her face fell. “I told you Sam and I were friends. I was honest about that.”

She was right. Liz had told him that she and Sam had hung out a lot while Sam’s team was working in the same area as the Scorpions and that they’d become friends. Which was Liz’s nature. She rarely met a person she didn’t befriend.

“Yes, but you didn’t tell me about attending the same university or that you were at the CIA training facility around the same time.” He paused for a second to take in her startled reaction.

“That’s because I didn’t know about them. Aaron, I never knew Sam when I was in college and the training facility is big. You know that.”

“There’s more, Liz.” He told her about the large amount of money that had been transferred into her account.

There was no way she could fake that much astonishment. In his mind there was no doubt. Liz wouldn’t betray her team or her country in such a way, but proving her innocence against the increasing evidence that said otherwise was going to be a near-impossible task.

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