Page 40

THIRTY-NINE

Hours later, exhausted, Jenna climbed from the Beast, and grabbing her cup of to-go hot chocolate, headed inside to her office. For once in her life, she regretted having her office at the top of a flight of stairs. Her back had been getting worse over the last couple of days, and with Wolfe being away and Norrell being so busy conducting the autopsies, she didn’t have anyone to ask if this was a normal part of pregnancy. She went into her office and sat down in her chair, putting her feet up on the footrest Kane had given her. Keeping her feet elevated prevented swollen ankles he had insisted. She smiled as she recalled his concerned expression as he slipped it under her desk and lifted her feet onto it. She checked her watch. It was a little after five and she wondered what he was doing right at this moment. Not knowing was driving her crazy. She had dated many men in the military during her time with the DEA while living in DC and realized that being the wife of anyone in the military would be extremely stressful. Forcing her mind back to work as Raven came into the office carrying bags of takeout, she glanced up at him. “All the sightings of the escaped prisoners that came in on the hotline didn’t pan out. Rio and Rowley have been running around town all day. I just sent them home. We might need them later.”

“It’s been a washout.” Raven went to the coffee machine and refilled it before sitting down in one of the chairs before her desk. “They can’t have been noticed by the prisoners. They visited anywhere that sells food and swapped venues back and forth all day. Oh, and Styles went to collect Beth and drop Jo at the ranch. Beth did the same group of eateries and didn’t see any of the escapees. I’ve no idea what they’re eating unless they took supplies from the last cabin they ransacked.”

Ravenous, Jenna pulled a pack of sandwiches from one of the bags. She’d missed lunch, but Raven had insisted she drink the milkshake he grabbed for her from the convenience store at the end of town. “That’s likely, but after being away for so long, a burger would be tempting. The eateries are open late, so maybe they’ll come into town again tonight.”

“I figure what’s tempting them is more likely to be someone to murder.” Raven helped himself to a burger and fries. “Beth and Styles are grabbing a meal at Aunt Betty’s. Carter is on his way in, so I ordered enough food for everyone.”

The egg salad sandwich tasted like ambrosia, and Jenna let out a long contented sigh. “That’s good. I hope you ordered a ton of it because I’m starving.” Recalling that Raven was a registered GP, she eyed him over the top of her to-go cup. “I know you’re not an obstetrician, but do you know if a really bad backache is a problem in pregnancy?”

“Many women suffer backaches during the third trimester. Mainly due to the weight of the baby and the position. I can see that your baby has dropped dramatically in the last forty-eight hours or so. This is quite normal as they are getting ready to be born. When are you due?”

Rubbing her belly, Jenna smiled. “About three weeks, but my obstetrician believes the baby is a little more mature than the dates would indicate. She believes it will be early.”

“Well, sometimes backache can be early labor pains, so if you get any contractions, you’d better let me know.” Raven gave her a long look. “I’ll take you to the hospital and notify your obstetrician you’re on your way. Don’t panic, babies take their own time, but if your water breaks, we’ll need to leave right away.”

Nodding, Jenna smiled. “No contractions and my back feels better now I’m sitting down, but thanks. It’s good to know I have you looking out for me.”

“My pleasure.” Raven nibbled on a fry. “I’m enjoying being involved in this case. I’ve learned a great deal being with you this week.” He turned to toss his dog, Ben, a fry. “Do you have any dog food here? I’ll be happy to replace it. It’s time to feed Ben.”

Jenna pointed to the closet behind her. “In there, the stuff in the blue bag belongs to Carter. Zorro is picky. We have bags of it at the ranch as well because Duke will eat anything. The red bags are high protein and they make Duke drool just looking at the bag, so I think in dog food, they must be like steak. Use what you like, no need to replace it. He’s one of the team and it goes on the office tab.”

“Thanks.” Raven went to the closet, took out a clean bowl and filled it. He placed it beside the water bowl and indicated toward it. “There you go, Ben. Enjoy.” He sat down and lifted his burger. “Best burger in town, like everything else from Aunt Betty’s.”

“You got that right.” Carter walked in the door. “I hope there’s one of those burgers in the bag for me.”

“Yeah, I ordered enough for everyone.” Raven pushed the bag toward him. “Hot food in this bag and there’s peach and apple pies in the refrigerator.”

“There’s always pies in the refrigerator.” Carter removed his toothpick and tossed it into the garbage. “Dave usually has a constant supply. When they’re cooking cherry pies at Aunt Betty’s Café, he doesn’t need to order. They just bring them right along.” He grinned and pulled out a burger and a packet of fries. As he sat down, he looked at Jenna. “I figure the prisoners are going to move into town at dusk. They won’t be together. I believe they will drop one of them on the outskirts of town, and the other two will split up.”

Chewing slowly, Jenna swallowed her bite of sandwich. “I was just discussing that with Raven before you arrived. We are all trained to handle missions and move around unnoticed when necessary. The storeroom here is filled with tactical gear and everything we’ll need to move around town like shadows. The problem is this is a big town, and we’d need to have sightings before we move out. We can’t just hang around town on the off chance that one of them walks by.” She sipped from her to-go cup and then placed it on the desk. “It has been very quiet in town. People are staying off the streets, and if Kalo had noticed them, he’d have called right away. We need to be alert, so we rest up for the next couple of hours.” She looked from one man to the other. “If you’re not aware, there are showers and plenty of fresh towels in the men’s locker room.” She took a key from the drawer in her desk and pushed it across the table toward them. “Here’s the key for the storeroom. The small key opens the gun locker. Take what you need, including ammo. When you’ve finished eating, we’ll meet back here in my office at seven and hope that these escapees make the mistake of walking into my town tonight.”