Page 30 of My One and Only (Blackhawk Security #10)

W hen Cam rushed into the Ogden Police Station, he stopped at the desk. The officer sitting there looked up. “Help you?”

“My… assistant was brought in here ten or fifteen minutes ago. She was abducted and involved in an accident near the river. Her name is Jo Hatch. Where would I find her?”

The officer glanced at something on his desk. “Detectives Miller and Peters were the responding officers. Their desks are in the bullpen.” He pointed to his right. “Down that hall.”

“Thank you,” Cam said, already hurrying in the direction the officer had indicated.

When he reached a large room filled with desks, he stopped and looked around. Didn’t spot Jo. So he stopped at the nearest desk, one bearing a name plate identifying the woman as Detective Owens. “My bodyguard was brought in a few minutes ago by Detectives Miller and Peters. Where would I find them?”

“They’re in interrogation room one.” She gestured toward the back of the room. “You can watch them questioning her through the one-way mirror. There’s a knob that’ll turn up the volume from the room.”

Cam clenched his fists together at his side. “It was an abduction, and Ms. Hatch was the victim,” he managed to say calmly. “Why is she being interrogated?”

Detective Owens sighed. “She was the victim of a crime. They need to get all the details, all the information while it’s fresh in her mind. That’ll be important when the perp goes on trial. And they use the interrogation rooms because they have an automatic recording system. If you don’t want to watch, you can take a seat next to Detective Peters’ desk.”

“I’ll watch,” Cam said, his mouth tight. He hurried over to the observation window and saw Jo sitting on one side of a table, her back to him. Two men sat on the other side. He turned up the volume and took a deep breath. Cam ignored the chairs at the window and remained on his feet.

“… Don Kincaid threatened to shoot three girls on the playground at the school if I didn’t go with him. I believed him, so I got into his truck.” She nudged the phone on the table, which Cam recognized as hers. “Listen to the audio. I recorded everything.”

One of the two men glanced at the phone. The other said, “We will. But we need to have your answers to our questions on tape, okay? Just bear with us while we ask our questions.”

Cam saw a muscle in Jo’s jaw twitch. But she nodded. “Ask away.”

As Cam listened to her describe how Don had forced her into his truck by threatening to shoot three girls on the playground, he sucked in a breath. Was she talking about his Don Kincaid? The man he loved like a brother? Everything she said about him was the complete antithesis of the man he’d known for almost twenty years.

When she told the detectives that Don had admitted to killing Ashley, and told them how he’d done it, Cam gasped. Dropped into one of the chairs. He wanted to see Jo’s face. Badly. Although he believed what she was saying, he couldn’t connect his partner Don with the man who’d killed his wife and tried to kill Jo.

The detectives listened to Jo’s recording, then questioned her for a long time, making her repeat her statements several times. Finally one of them stood up. “You’re free to go, Ms. Hatch. If you want to wait a while, I’ll make a copy of the recording on your phone so you can take the phone with you.”

“Yes, I’ll wait,” she said.

One of the men helped her stand up, and both detectives and Jo left the room. A few minutes later, they walked into the bullpen. Cam rushed over to Jo and swept her into his arms. “Jo,” he murmured into her hair. “Are you all right?”

She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. “I’m fine, Cam. Don didn’t hurt me.” Her arms gripped him as if she’d thought she’d never see him again. “I had to shoot him, though. Twice. To stop him from driving me into the river.” She swallowed, and her neck rippled against his. “He’ll survive, but he’ll have a long recovery.”

“Sounds like he’ll be recovering in prison.”

“I hope so,” she said. She sucked in a breath. “He wanted to kill both you and Fiona. To get control of PK Construction. So he could continue to use shoddy products and pocket the difference to pay off his gambling debts.”

Cam pulled away from her. “He promised me he’d stopped gambling.”

Jo nodded. Touched his cheek. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “I know you thought of Don as your brother. But he was the one behind everything that happened.” She dragged in a ragged breath. “Now that he’s in jail, maybe Phil Gwynn will be willing to talk. He clearly knows a lot of damaging information about Don.”

Cam didn’t give a damn about Don right now. All he cared about was Jo. “Can you leave?” he asked. “I want to get you out of here.”

“I’m going to wait for a bit. I want my phone and my purse back. And at least one of my guns, because I’m not sure Don was acting alone. They printed him at the hospital, and the fingerprints on the truck bomb weren’t his. So there’s at least one more person involved.”

She cupped his face in her hands. “He killed Ashley,” she murmured. “I’m so sorry. Fiona lost her mother, and you lost your wife. I know you said things were over with Ashley, but she’s still Fiona’s mom. Even if she wasn’t a very good mother, she’s the only one Fiona had.”

They stood together, holding each other, and Cam inhaled Jo’s scent. Held it in his lungs and savored it. He could have lost her today. If she hadn’t been so resourceful, so clever, they’d be dredging the Fox River for Jo’s body right now.

His eyes stinging, he held her tightly against his chest, thankful that she had outwitted Don. His best friend. No, the man he’d thought of as his brother. How had he been so blind? Why hadn’t he seen the man Don really was?

He and Jo stood together for a long time, breathing each other in. Gripping each other tightly.

Finally, one of the detectives said, “Ms. Hatch? Would you come over to my desk and have a seat?”

She eased away from Cam but fumbled for his hand. Held it tightly as she walked over to Detective Miller’s desk. She slid into one chair and kept hold of Cam’s hand as he sat on the other chair.

“I’ve listened to the recording on your phone again and made a copy of it,” Miller said. “Kincaid would be a fool to contest his guilt. We have it in his own words. I think his lawyer will try to convince him to plead guilty.” He shrugged. “But we’ll see. He could come up with some excuse or explanation. But he’ll be damned by his own words.”

“Am I free to go?” Jo asked.

“Yes. We’ll need you to testify at Kincaid’s trial, if there is one. We’ll have more questions, and I’m sure the DA will have questions for you, as well.”

Jo nodded. “I understand. I’ll be happy to cooperate with you and the DA’s office.” She swallowed. “Right now, though, I just want to go home.”

“Where is your home, Ms. Hatch?”

“I live in Montana. But I’m staying with Mr. Pierce. He hired me as his bodyguard after his truck was targeted.”

“Will you be in Ogden for a while?” Peters asked.

Jo shrugged. “Probably, but I’ll have to check with my boss. She may have another job for me. If that’s the case, I’ll be happy to talk to you on the phone.”

Miller blew out a breath. “Thank you.” He studied her for a long moment. “You saved those girls’ lives at the school today, Ms. Hatch. I’m sure their parents would like to thank you.”

“No thanks necessary. I couldn’t have stood there and watched Don shoot those kids.”

“We’re all grateful. And we have your phone number if we have more questions. Thanks for your cooperation.”

“You’re welcome.” She reached for Cam’s hand, and he wrapped his fingers around hers. He didn’t want to ever let her go, but she was right. She might have another job waiting for her.

Clinging to Jo’s hand, he turned to Miller. “You’ll keep us informed?” he asked.

“We will,” Miller said.

They both stood up, and he wrapped his arm around Jo’s shoulders. Led her out of the police station and helped her into his truck. Took her hand and held it tightly.

When they were on their way back to his house, he twined his fingers with hers. “God, Jo. When I realized Don had taken you, my heart almost stopped. Fiona told me exactly what happened. And that you sent her back to the school to find me. I can’t thank you enough. What if he’d gotten her into his truck?” Cam shuddered. “He could have killed both of you.”

“But he didn’t,” Jo said. “Fiona did exactly as I told her to do -- she ran for the school door. I knew I had a chance to get away from Don, but if Fiona had been forced to come with us, Don would have used her against me. Things might have turned out very differently.”

“I know,” Cam said.

“Where is she now?” Jo asked.

“After I called the police and told them what had happened, I took her over to my parent’s house. Explained what had happened after Fiona ran into the living room. Told my mom I’d fill her in when I could. We’ll stop there and pick Fiona up.”

Ten minutes later, Cam pulled his truck to a stop in front of his parents’ house. They hurried to the door, Jo clinging to Cam’s hand, and he rang the doorbell. It had barely stopped chiming when his mom opened the door.

“Jo!” she said. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Cam told me you’d been abducted. I’ve been worried to death.”

“I’m fine, Mrs. Pierce. Carole. How’s Fiona doing?”

“She had dinner, then fell asleep on the couch. I put her to bed.” She glanced at Cam. “Do you want to leave her here tonight? Let her sleep?”

Cam frowned. “I don’t want her to worry about me or Jo.”

“I told her you were both fine. That Jo had gotten away from Don and was safe, and you were, too. She seemed satisfied by that.”

Cam drew in a deep breath. “Then I think I’d like you to keep her for tonight. She needs the sleep, and if we wake her up, it’ll take her a long time to fall asleep again.”

“I agree,” Cam’s mom said. “I’ll call you as soon as she wakes up in the morning.”

“Sounds good, Mom. Thanks.” Cam bent to kiss his mother’s cheek, and Jo reached in to hug her.

“I don’t know what Cam and Fiona would do without you, Carole.”

Carole’s cheeks pinked, and she said, “You know I adore Fiona. I’d do anything for her. And for Cam.” She fluttered her hands at them. “Go home and have dinner. A glass of wine. Relax. We’ve got Fiona.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Cam said.

Bending to kiss her cheek again, Cam turned and walked down the sidewalk, holding Jo’s hand. After what had happened, he didn’t want to let her go.

Hell, he never wanted to let her go. But she had a job, and it wasn’t in Ogden, Illinois.

He wasn’t going to think about that right now. All he wanted was some time with Jo when they could focus completely on each other.