Twin Targets Read online

  “I’m sorry.” Micah’s words were pitifully inadequate. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  Guilt gnawed at him. He’d been relieved that Jade’s tearful breakdown at the news of her sister’s death enabled him to get her safely away without any further delays. She shook her head, sobs twisting her body. He clamped his teeth together, hands tight on the wheel. The sensible thing to do was to keep driving, get her home as swiftly as possible. But he couldn’t bear to watch her grieve without trying to comfort her. Maybe that wasn’t the professional response, but it certainly was the human one.

  “It’s going to be all right,” he whispered. Neither of them really believed that, but she needed to hear it right now. A complicated mix of tenderness and protectiveness flowed through him. He shouldn’t be doing this…shouldn’t be caring about her.

  But he didn’t regret it for an instant. Protecting the Witnesses:

  New identities, looming danger and forever love in the Witness Protection Program.

  Twin Targets—Marta Perry, January 2010

  Killer Headline—Debby Giusti, February 2010

  Cowboy Protector—Margaret Daley, March 2010

  Deadly Vows—Shirlee McCoy, April 2010

  Fatal Secrets—Barbara Phinney, May 2010

  Risky Reunion—Lenora Worth, June 2010

  Books by Marta Perry

  Love Inspired Suspense

  In the Enemy’s Sights

  ‡ A Christmas to Die For

  Land’s End

  ‡ Buried Sins

  Tangled Memories

  Final Justice

  Season of Secrets

  Twin Targets

  ‡ Hide in Plain Sight

  ‡The Three Sisters Inn

  Love Inspired

  A Father’s Promise

  † Unlikely Hero

  Since You’ve Been Gone

  † Hero Dad

  * Desperately Seeking Dad

  † Her Only Hero

  * The Doctor Next Door

  † Hearts Afi?re

  * Father Most Blessed

  † Restless Hearts

  A Father’s Place

  † A Soldier’s Heart

  ** Hunter’s Bride

  Mission: Motherhood

  ** A Mother’s Wish

  †† Twice in a Lifetime

  ** A Time To Forgive

  †† Heart of the Matter

  ** Promise Forever

  Always in Her Heart

  *Hometown Heroes

  The Doctor’s Christmas

  **Caldwell Kin

  True Devotion

  †The Flanagans

  † Hero in Her Heart

  ††The Bodine Family

  MARTA PERRY

  has written everything from Sunday School curricula to travel articles to magazine stories in more than twenty years of writing, but she feels she’s found her writing home in the stories she writes for the Love Inspired lines. Marta lives in rural Pennsylvania, but she and her husband spend part of each year at their second home in South Carolina. When she’s not writing, she’s probably visiting her children and her six beautiful grandchildren, traveling, gardening or relaxing with a good book. Marta loves hearing from readers, and she’ll write back with a signed bookmark and/or her brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes. Write to her c/o Steeple Hill Books, 233

  Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279, e-mail her at [email protected], or visit her on the Web at www.martaperry.com.

  TWIN

  TARGETS

  MARTA PERRY

  Published by Steeple Hill Books™

  Special thanks and acknowledgment to

  Marta Perry for her contribution to the Protecting the Witnesses miniseries.

  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou are with me, Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

  — Psalms 23:4

  This story is dedicated to my Love Inspired Suspense sisters who worked with me on this project. And, as always, to Brian, with much love.

  PROLOGUE

  MEMO: TOP SECRET

  To: FBI Organized Crime Division; U.S. Marshal’s Office

  From: Jackson McGraw, Special Agent, Chicago Field Office,

  Federal Bureau of Investigation

  Date: January 3, 2010

  Re: Martino Chicago crime family

  An informant has come forward since the recent announcement that Salvatore Martino, notorious former head of the Martino crime family, is near death. The woman refuses to give her name or connection to the Martino family, but to this point her information has been extremely accurate.

  The informant has thus far consented to speak only to Special Agent McGraw and is carefully concealing her identity. She is apparently between fifty and sixty, about five feet five inches tall, approximately 150 lbs. Her speech is educated and unaccented. Her motives and identity are unknown.

  In her most recent conversation, she passed on a vague rumor that Vincent Martino, currently the acting head of the Martino family and his father’s heir apparent, is planning an unknown, but probably bloody, tribute to his dying father. Please contact Agent McGraw with any information as to the woman’s identity or the possible intent of this supposed tribute.

  ONE

  The woman’s body lay on the cold, dirty concrete floor of the garage, a few feet from her car. She’d probably been trying to run to it when the murderer caught up with her. Her hands reached toward it, the right one smeared with dirt, in a silent, futile plea for help. Deputy U.S. Marshal Micah McGraw forced down the sick feeling in his gut. A law enforcement professional couldn’t get emotional about crime victims. He could imagine his police chief father saying the words. Or his big brother, the FBI agent. They wouldn’t let anything as soft as emotion interfere with doing the job.

  “Pity.” The local police chief grunted the word, but it sounded perfunctory.

  Natural enough. The chief hadn’t known Ruby Maxwell, aka Ruby Summers. He hadn’t been the agent charged with relocating her to this small, supposedly safe environment in a small village in western Montana. He didn’t have to feel responsible for her death. Bless her, Lord. Speed her soul’s journey straight to Your hands.

  The brief prayer helped to center him. Shoving aside all distracting thoughts, Micah leaned over the body, studying the wounds. One shot to the chest, a second to the head. Her killer wanted to be sure Ruby was dead.

  “Her apartment was tossed, too. Might have been a robbery, but nothing’s missing that we can tell.”

  “I’ll have a look before I leave.” He’d been in Ruby’s apartment a couple of times when he’d come to check on her.

  “This looks more like a professional hit than a robbery gone bad.” Chief Burrows made it sound like a question.

  “Yeah.”

  He knew only too well what was in the man’s mind. What would a professional hit man be doing in the remote reaches of western Montana on a cold January night?

  Why would anyone want to kill this seemingly inoffensive woman who’d been waiting tables at the Village Café for the past year?

  And most of all, what did the U.S. Marshals Service have to do with it?

  All good questions. Unfortunately he couldn’t answer any of them. Secrecy was the crucial element that made the Federal Witness Protection Program so successful. Breach that, and everything that had been gained in the battle against organized crime would be lost. He straightened, brushing his hands together even though he hadn’t touched anything. “My office will have a team here in a couple of hours. Until then—”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know.” Chief Burrows let annoyance show. “Cordon the scene, don’t touch anything, don’t say anything to anyone.”

  “That’s
about it. Sorry,” he added.

  He was sorry, though Burrows probably didn’t believe it. Brownsville was the chief’s town, and he was responsible for keeping the people in it safe. Burrows probably hadn’t had a murder in this sleepy place in years, and now that there was one, the feds were brushing him aside. Micah’s father, a police chief in a Chicago suburb before his death, would have felt the same way about a crime on his turf.

  His cell buzzed, and he turned away from the disgruntled chief to answer it. “McGraw.”

  “The crime scene team is on its way.” The voice was that of Mac Sellers, a fellow marshal sidelined to desk duty after an injury. “Should be there in about an hour.”

  “Good. Make sure they know to check out the apartment, as well as the garage.”

  “Will do. You wanted the address for the woman’s next of kin?”

  “Right.” Ruby had a twin sister, he knew. She’d have to be notified. Since she lived back east, at least he wouldn’t be the one to do that.

  “Jade Summers.” Mac was probably reading from a computer screen. “Librarian. Current address is 45 Rock Lane, White Rock, Montana.”

  For an instant Micah froze, the cell phone pressed against his ear. “Are you sure of that?” He barked the words.

  “Course I’m sure.” Mac sounded offended. “I can look things up, as well as anyone.”

  Uttering an apology that probably didn’t placate the man, Micah hung up, his mind buzzing with questions. He turned to stare once more at the empty shell that had been Ruby Summers. She’d made mistakes in her life, plenty of them, but she’d done the right thing in the end when she’d testified against the Mob. She hadn’t deserved to end up lifeless on a cold concrete floor.

  As for her sister…

  What exactly was an Easterner like Jade Summers doing in a small town in Montana? If there was an innocent reason, he couldn’t think of it. That stretched the long arm of coincidence a bit too far.

  Ruby must have tipped her twin sister off to her location. That was the only explanation, and the deed violated one of the major principles of witness protection. Ruby had known the rules. Immediate family could be relocated with her. If they chose not to be, no contact was permitted—ever.

  Ruby’s twin had moved to Montana. He frowned. White Rock was probably forty miles or so east of Billings. Not exactly around the corner from her sister. But the fact that she was in Montana had to mean that they’d been in contact. And that contact just might have led to Ruby’s death.

  He glanced at his watch. He’d have to wait until the team arrived and all the routine that followed a violent death rolled into motion. Then he’d get back on the road toward Billings and beyond, to White Rock. To find Jade Summers and get some answers.

  Jade pulled a warm sweater over her head. After nearly a year in Montana, she’d learned to love the Big Sky Country, with its spectacular scenery, clean air and friendly, independent people. But if she stayed her whole life, she’d probably never get used to the cold winters. Her indoor-outdoor thermometer declared that it was two below zero now, and the weather forecaster had cheerfully announced that it felt like sixteen below. The thought made her shiver even in her warm bedroom.

  Still, the good things about the move far outweighed the bad. She had her own little house, neat and clean and everything she had once dreamed of. She could run the small county library to suit her ideas of what a library should be. She’d made friends here. She was settled. Had Ruby adapted yet to life in Montana? Her twin had loved warmth—warmth, comfort, luxury. All the things their early life had denied them. Was she happy now with the way things had turned out?

  Or was she pestering the Witness Protection Program to relocate her someplace warm? Jade had to smile at the thought of her sharp-tongued twin taking on some hapless U.S. Marshal. The sound of a vehicle coming down her narrow lane caught her attention. That probably wasn’t Herb or Ellen Trask, her landlords. Herb had been over at first light to plow her lane for her after last night’s snow, and Ellen knew that Jade would be headed for work soon. Jade moved to the bedroom window and raised the shade.

  A black-and-silver 4x4 stopped at the front porch. She was already learning to identify her neighbors by their trucks, but she didn’t recognize this one. It was old but looked well-cared-for, like most of the trucks she saw out here. People knew that in bad weather their lives might depend on the reliability of their vehicles. A man got out on the driver’s side. He paused for a moment, staring at the house, and she looked down at him, her hand pressed against the cold pane. He was tall, she could tell that even from this angle. Beyond that, his jeans, boots, heavy parka and Stetson could belong to anyone. He moved toward the front door, his stride that of someone fairly young and agile. Definitely not Herb, whose paunch was visible even when he wore a down parka. The stranger turned slightly, and the sunlight struck the object pinned to his jacket, making the metal glitter. A badge.

  Jade’s heart stopped for a second. Then it started thudding against her chest. Ruby—it must be something to do with Ruby. She raced down the stairs, feet keeping time to the violent beating of her heart. She hurried to the door and yanked it open while the man’s hand was still raised to knock. That faint shock in his brown eyes—was it because of her precipitous approach, or because he was looking at an identical replica of Ruby?

  “Are you Jade Summers?” His voice was a deep, mellow baritone, roughened by some emotion. She nodded, taking a step back, motioning him in. He stepped across the threshold, the movement bringing a wave of cold air into her cozy room.

  He was even taller than she’d thought, with an air of authority that seemed to suck all the air out of the space around him. He removed his hat, holding it in one hand, revealing thick, glossy brown hair cut in a vaguely military manner.

  He had a slash of straight dark brows, a lean, tanned face and a jaw that might have been carved from teak. A faint hint of sympathy in his brown eyes softened the harsh impression.

  Sympathy? Or pity? Her eyes focused on the badge. U.S. Marshal. The U.S. Marshals ran the Witness Protection Program.

  Nausea hit like a blow to her stomach. Something had happened to Ruby.

  “I’m Deputy Marshal Micah McGraw.” He held out some sort of identification.

  She shook her head in denial of the news he undoubtedly carried. “Ruby…” Her voice failed.

  “I’m sorry.” His baritone deepened even more. “I’m afraid I have bad news.”

  She couldn’t stand dancing around it. “Tell me. Just say it.”

  His eyes hardened at her tone. “Your sister, Ruby Maxwell, died last night.”

  Maxwell. That had been the name she’d taken when they’d relocated her out here after she’d testified. It didn’t sound right.

  “Died.” She repeated the word. It was odd that no tears sprang to her eyes. Maybe because she couldn’t picture Ruby—vital, eager, annoying Ruby—as anything so final as dead. She took a harsh breath. “You mean, killed, don’t you? Murdered.”

  That would be the way it ended. That was the only thing that would bring a U.S. Marshal to her door.

  “She was shot in her garage.” He paused, as if editing what he was saying. “I’m sorry. She would have died instantly.”

  Was that supposed to comfort her? She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came. Instead her knees buckled.

  She sensed him move. He guided her to the sofa, lowered her to a seat, steadying her with a hand on her elbow.

  “Easy. Just take it easy. Take a deep breath.”

  She wanted to snap at him that deep breathing wasn’t going to help her, not when her twin would never breathe again.

  Why, God? Why? The plea formed before she thought about it.

  Why did she bother? Ruby had always said you couldn’t rely on anyone else—certainly not God. Once she’d have argued the point, but in the past year she’d begun to think Ruby had it right. If God cared, why was her twin dead?

  She sucked in air. She
had to say something—had to make him stop hovering over her.

  “Last night.” She swallowed. “They say identical twins can sense it if something traumatic happens to one of them. I didn’t feel a thing. But we’ve been apart so long.”

  “Have you?”

  She gaped at him, not sure she’d heard correctly. He’d moved a step away, taken off his heavy jacket and tossed it on the back of the sofa. Now he sat, pulling the straight-backed chair up so that they were knee to knee.

  “I—I don’t know what you mean.” She stammered the words, mind racing. Ruby had broken some rule, probably, in letting Jade know she was being sent to Montana. A vague need to protect her sister moved through Jade.

  “I haven’t seen Ruby since she went into Witness Protection. You must know that.”

  His gaze probed, as if he looked for a chink in her armor. “You’ve corresponded with her. E-mailed, maybe.”

  “No.” What was he getting at?

  “What are you doing in Montana then, Ms. Summers?

  This is hardly normal stomping grounds for an Easterner like you.”

  She had control now. She wouldn’t let him rattle her.

  “I can’t think of any reason why that would be your business, Marshal McGraw.”

  “It wouldn’t,” he said. “Except that if Ruby broke the rules in order to bring you here, that might explain what happened to her.”

  For a second she stared into those stern brown eyes, feeling like a jackrabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming pickup. Then a cleansing wave of anger washed through her.

  “What are you saying? Are you accusing me of contributing to my sister’s death?”

  He looked as if he might respond, but before he could speak, she swept on. “How dare you? How dare you imply such a thing? Ruby testified in that Mob case because you people offered her a fresh start. You promised you’d protect her. You said no harm would come to her. You cited all kinds of statistics to prove she’d be safe. If anyone’s responsible for my sister’s death, it’s you!”

  McGraw rose, and for a second she thought he was threatening her. But he raised his palm, signaling her to silence.

  She heard what he must have picked up first—the sound of a vehicle coming down the lane.