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“There’s too many to search here.” Coy said, “Will anyone notice if we sign them all out and take them back to the ranch?”

Kenzie plopped on a nearby table and looked at the rows and rows of shelving containing box after box or old case files. “Who would notice? I don’t think anyone is grabbing cases from this many decades back.”

“You don’t have an active cold case division?” Coy asked as he leaned against a metal shelf.

“No resources. No funding. No need. They’re all cold for a reason, and nobody is asking why.” Kenzie admitted. “I say we take as many as we can fit in your rig.”

Coy stepped beside her and began putting files back in the box he’d been going through, “We can get several years’ worth in there. Might need to make a second trip, but hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.”

“You really think we’re going to find your Jane Doe in these files?” She asked while following suit.

“I sure as hell hope so. We haven’t been lucky enough to find anything in electronic files yet. It’s got to be here, or…”

“Or, nobody missed her and filed a report.” Kenzie finished his thought. “You are prepared for that, right?”

“I’m prepared for just about anything at this rate.” Coy snorted. “I’m ready for answers. I’ll take anything at this point. We just need that one little break to get this thing going.”

“So, you can leave again, or…”

Coy leaned his hip against the table she was sitting on and faced her, their proximity so close he could nearly hear her pulse race when he looked at her, “So my family is safe. So, you’re safe.”

“Me?” she questioned with surprise, turning her body to face him.

“I have a bad feeling Kenz. A really bad feeling. Everything important to me is right here, in this town, and someone is trying to take it away from me. Including you.”

She sheepishly grinned, “Including me, huh? I appreciate the concern, but I do think I’m the safest of the group. I’m the sheriff. Coming after me, to get to you, would be foolish and the wrong way to go.”

“If that lawyer we went to see the other day is who we think he is –– in deep with the wrong side –– then you have as much to worry about as the rest of us do. I’m serious, Kenz. Don’t take any of this lightly.”

Kenzie studied his expression and noted the pain and pleading that rested there. She cradled his face and looked him in the eye, “I don’t. I understand, Coy. We’re all being safe, and we’re going to get to the bottom of this soon.”

He rested his forehead against hers in a vulnerable moment, “Not soon enough. I’m as patient as they come when working any other case, but this one… it feels like I’ve been holding my breath for days, and my lungs are burning, the world is spinning, and the weight on my shoulders…”

Kenzie gently pulled away so she could look him in the eye, still cradling his face in her hands, her thumbs gently sweeping his chiseled cheekbones, “It’s not all on you, Coy. You don’t have to carry this alone. There’s an army behind you, and we’re all here to take care of each other, and that includes you. I know you think you brought this here, but my gut says you didn’t. My intuition is strong, too, and it tells me this problem landed here a long, long time ago, and it’s just now coming to a head, and you need to be protected from it as much as the rest of us. You don’t have to be the hero, Coy, or anyone’s savior but your own.”

“Kenz…” he whispered.

“I mean it. The only one holding you hostage and suffocating you right now, burying you with the weight of the world, is you. Let that go. Let yourself breathe. Let yourself live, Coy. Nothing before you arrived here was your fault, and nothing since… You’re not the bad guy. You never have been.”

Coy stared deep into her gaze, braising her soul with that single look that caused her breath to catch. There was something electric between them, a chemistry that never died and was suddenly reborn with a familiar craving and desire. Kenzie’s hands snaked around his neck, and she pulled him closer.

“Kenz…”

“Shh.” She leaned in, “Stop thinking. Just… let it go.”

“And if I can’t?”

“Then you’ll never get to be happy again, Coy. It’s your choice. You can live in pain or choose to be happy.” She said, and her voice dropped to a breathy whisper, “And I hope you choose happy.”

Coy took her mouth fast and hard and kissed her like the taste of her was the air he needed to breathe. His body turned to hers as he stepped between her legs and slid her to the edge of the table so her body was pressed against his. His hands gripped her waist and roamed up her back and down her sides, feeling her body, learning it all over again. She was different now. Curves where there weren’t any before, soft where she wasn’t before, muscles flexing beneath his graze that were tense and crying for release. He’d known Kenzie his entire life, but not this version. This version was equally scarred, branded by life, and beautifully made into the perfect soul that was exactly what his heart needed.

As her fingers ran through his hair and gripped handfuls, a surge of heat coursed through him, thrilling him as he felt something for the first time in as long as he could remember. It wasn’t lust or desire. No, this was different. It was an awakening of something entirely new and different. It was as if he'd woken from a long slumber, and the world was suddenly… new. Was this happy , he wondered. Was it wrong that he liked it here and wanted this moment to continue on because the shell of the life he’d been living was far more dark, isolating, and cold, full of ghosts and nightmares? If this was happy, he hoped it was also a new beginning where the past stayed where it belonged, and he could forge on, never losing this sense of whatever it was flooding through him.

Kenzie quickly pulled away, and it was as if the light dimmed when she did.

Breathing heavily, she rested her head against his and whispered, “Cameras.”

Coy snorted, “Of course, there are cameras in here. Not a single one in the entire town, but here.”

“Yeah, well, you’re lucky I just remembered. That could’ve been a little more embarrassing than it already was.” She giggled.

“I can have it erased,” Coy said, stepping back and looking at her. “Thank you.”

“It’s just a kiss, Stone.” She blushed.

“No, thank you for the rest. I-I don’t know how to let go entirely or how to simply choose happiness when reminders of my past and why I don’t deserve it are all around me, but…”

“I’ll help you. Never forget the past, Coy. There’s lessons and purpose in it, but I’ll help you give it a place where it can rest, and you can move forward.” She said, “If… that’s what you want?”

“What I want, right now, is to get through these damn files, find the break we’ve been searching for, and solve the circus of mysteries around us so everyone is safe. Then, I’ll worry about what I want.” Coy shared.

“Fair enough.” Kenzie said, sliding off the table and stealing one last quick kiss, “Go grab that cart over there, and we’ll stack these suckers on there and get out of here.”

They quickly filled the flatbed cart and wheeled the boxes they thought they could fit in the small SUV Coy borrowed from the ranch. The ride on the service-like elevator from the basement to the back door where they were parked was full of heat and tension. It wasn’t uncomfortable tension. It was the kind budding emotions and feelings were born of. The kind that made you sweat and gave you butterflies in the deepest part of your belly. The kind full of intrigue and wonder that left you imagining all of the what-ifs.

The duo kept their hands to themselves and flipped off their feelings like they were on a switch. They were alone in the basement, safe, and their guard was safely down. Outside, in public, where people were coming and going in wide open spaces, their guards were fully erect, and they saw everyone and everything around them move before it actually did. They were hyper-aware of their surroundings, predicting movements, paces, and activity. That’s what they were trained to do. Out here, they weren’t alone. Out here… they were in the crosshairs of something heinous.

“I should’ve brought a horse trailer, and we could have grabbed all of them.” He teased as they quickly filled the vehicle to the brim.

“Nope. We don’t need it.” Kenzie said, handing him the final box. “The answer we’re looking for is somewhere in here. I can feel it.”

“Is that some sort of superpower or just a wish and a prayer?” he laughed.

“Both.” She shrugged as she watched him try to maneuver the last box into the back of the vehicle. “I’m telling you. Our slow or bad luck is done. It’s all answers from here on out.”

“I don’t ever remember you being a cheerleader.” Coy teased. “It somehow suits you.”

“A cheerleader?” she grabbed the cart and began to walk off with it. “Is that your thing, Stone?”

“It could be.” He grinned, still rearranging boxes so the hatch could close. “Hey, where are you going?”

“I need to put this back and lock the archives up. I’ll be right back.”

“Give me a second, and I’ll go with you.” He warned.

“Coy, it’s the sheriff’s station. The only person inside is the Deputy Shanks on dispatch. It’s safe.” She continued on.

“Still. I’d feel better if…”

“Stone.” She lifted her shirt slightly and revealed her waist, where a weapon was strapped. “I’m good.”

“Alright. But be quick, or I’m coming in after you.” He said.

She saluted him, “Yes, sir.”

“Sir?”

“Don’t let that go to your head, Stone. I’ll be right back.”

Coy’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and saw Nash’s name scroll across the screen.

“I’ll be here, juggling boxes and watching your six,” Coy said, pulling the phone to his ear as he watched Kenzie disappear inside.

“What’s going on, brother?” Coy said, finally getting the last box tucked inside, and he sat on the back of the SUV.

“Well, I have a problem.”

“Don’t we all?”

“No, this is of the urgent kind,” Nash said, sounding out of breath. “And I can’t find my damn keys.”

“How would I know where your keys are and why do you need them? Where you goin’?”

“After Charlotte.” He shared. “She left. She just up and left.”

“What did you do?”

“What do you mean, what did I do ? Why did I have to do something?” Nash was flustered. Worry was laced in his words.

“Well, do you really want me to answer that?”

“Damn it, I didn’t do anything. Charlotte was helpin’ get the babies down for Nora and lettin’ her rest, but she disappeared when she was done. She left a note. Found’em.” He shouted, tossing his keys in the air and catching them again.

“You better not go after her alone.”

“That’s why I’m callin’ you. How far out are you? Almost done there? I was hoping you could meet me.”

Coy was still when he heard an all-too-familiar sound come through the phone: “Nash, was that your gun?”

“Locked and loaded, brother. I know better than to head out unarmed. Don’t worry, it’s all legal, and I’m a damn good shot. You taught me, remember?”

“Shit, Nash. I don’t like this. Where’d she go?” Coy ran his hand down his face, a gesture of frustration, before pinching the bridge of his nose, as if willing the right next move to make itself known. “Guessin’ her daddy’s place. She was real concerned learnin’ that he was in a bunch of the pictures y’all saw at that crooked lawyer’s office. Charlotte was real torn up about it, said she was going for answers.” Nash said.

Coy could hear the background change on the call –– gravel. Nash was outside, in the driveway, headed for his vehicle, clearly not listening to reason.

“I’m about ten minutes out,” Coy said. “Wait for me.”

“Aren’t you at the sheriff’s station?”

“Yes.”

“You’re at least twenty minutes out, barring no cattle crossing the road or tractors puttin’ along.”

“Not the way I drive. I can be there in ten, max.” Coy looked at his watch and looked back at the sheriff’s station. “I just need to grab Kenzie.”

“Grab her? Thought she was with you.”

“She was… is. She took something inside but should have been back by now. She must’ve got caught up talking to that deputy inside. I think he has a little crush.” Coy headed for the door to the office.

“You sound jealous.”

“You sound…” Coy froze when gunshots rang out.

“Coy? What the hell was that?”

“Trouble.” Coy ran toward the building, hand on his weapon, ready to draw.

“Tell Rip what’s going on and ask Ransom for one of his agents. I’ll meet you at Charlotte’s.”

“Copy that, brother. Be careful.”

Coy disconnected the call, slid his phone back into his pocket, and pulled out his weapon. As he reached the glass door, he saw Deputy Shanks clearing the space, gun drawn. He looked right at Coy, who knew better than to rush in on an armed officer in pursuit of danger. When Shanks saw him, he signaled for him to enter, and he did.

“Kenzie?” Coy asked, his voice cracking with nerves.

“She went down to the storage locker and hasn’t been back since.” Deputy Shanks answered.

“Who else is here?”

“It’s only me, Coy. Everyone on tonight is out on patrols.”

“Then who the hell just fired their weapon?” Coy asked as they methodically moved, little by little, clearing the floor.

“Good question. It’s only her down there, and the cameras have been clear.” The Shanks said. “We’re all clear up here.”

Coy nodded and hit the elevator button as they passed it, calling it to their floor.

“What are you doing, Stone? The elevator, really? The minute the doors open…you’ll draw fire.”

Coy nodded, “That thing gets here. Clear it and then send it down empty.”

Coy opened the door to the stairwell leading to the basement level and went in. The deputy propped the door and stood at the entrance, where he’d have a clear view of the main floor and the stairs should anyone breach from that direction.

“You got this, Stone?” Shanks asked, nodding down the stairwell.

“Shoot first, ask questions later,” Coy replied. “Anyone you don’t know. Your patience is thin, deputy. They don’t comply immediately, you shoot.”

“Copy that. I got you.”

Coy proceeded down the stairwell, evaluating every sound and shift in the air. Worry was settling in, and fear was threatening to take over. He didn’t hear her. Surely, if she were still down here, he’d hear her in some capacity. But it was deafeningly silent. So much so that he could hear the air softly flowing through the vent and the subtle hum from the lights above. If you asked him, he could hear someone’s pulse race and the sound of their rapid breathing. Nothing else.

The real question plaguing him was whether or not to call out to Kenzie. Instinct said no because he would hear the elevator begin to descend, and he would have the element of surprise while whoever was down here would be fixed on the elevator. When he reached the basement floor, nothing was out of order, or so it seemed. He also didn’t see Kenzie.

His approach was stealthy as he followed his intuition and swiftly, albeit carefully, moved in the direction of the elevator in hopes his ploy would work and draw out whatever danger was sharing the space with him. Rows and rows of shelves stacked to the ceiling with boxes of files that told a story of a town and its dark history of crime and mischief. He cleared each row, one by one. No enemy… no Kenzie.

A shuffling footstep masked the ping of the elevator. He wasn’t alone. Someone was tactically positioned, just as he hoped, to take out whatever calvary they thought was on the other side of those chrome doors. The joke was on them as the surprise would be behind them, and he was the surprise, ready to bring whatever threat lay just one steel shelf away to its knees.

When the doors to the elevator opened, he was ready to spring into action, but there was nothing to react to. His enemy was more intelligent than he’d given credit. It wasn’t going to be as simple as he thought because they didn’t fall for his setup. Coy looked around, assessing the space, trying to determine how he would maintain the upper hand without exposing himself. He was out of options. Coy didn’t have a choice if he wanted to find Kenzie –– he had to go toe-to-toe with whoever was on the other side of the last wall of shelves and come out in the open like he was ready to play a game of chicken with an unknown enemy. An armed enemy.

However, Kenzie was still nowhere to be found, and he didn’t see her standing over her assailant or engaged in a fiery battle. That could only mean one thing, and he couldn’t let that thought dominate space in his mind or his heart. All he could do was come out fighting and… pray.

“C-coy?” Kenzie’s voice was choppy and winded.

Shit. He began to move, trying not to give into the temptation that was the sound of her in trouble. This could be a ploy and someone playing with his heartstrings and about to win if he didn’t slow down and reel in the emotions that were nearly crippling. Though a familiar feeling, it was one he hadn’t felt in a very long time, and last time, it didn’t end happily.

“Coy… I hear you breathing.” She said faintly. “And I smell you…”

Weapon ready, he rounded the last obstacle between them and found Kenzie on the floor, her face swollen and bleeding, an arm wrapped around her waist, leaning against a wall.

“It’s clear.” She said. “They went out the back.”

“They?”

“He? She? I don’t know which. I think it was just one person. Had a ski mask on, and they blind-sided me.”

“Deputy!” Coy yelled, looking at the stairwell as if it would throw his voice farther while he knelt beside Kenzie and looked her over. “Where are you hurt? Were you shot?”

“No.” she cringed as he helped her sit taller.

“I heard the shot. They miss?”

“That was me, and I never miss, Stone.” She smiled, then winced and cupped her jaw. “Got me good in the mouth, though.”

“Yeah, you’re bleeding. Lip’s split pretty good.” Coy ripped off part of his shirt and used it to apply pressure to a gash across her forehead just below the hairline.

“Oh shit. Sheriff Gray. What happened down here?” Shanks asked as he slid to the ground beside her, pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and dabbed at a wound at the corner of her mouth that was bleeding.

“Someone got the jump on me.” She said with a snort.

“How? There hasn’t been anyone here since the last shift change.” Shanks said.

“Back exit,” Kenzie said, pointing to the rear of the facility. He went out that way.”

“The camera should have picked them up. Not a single alert.” Shanks said.

“Unless the camera was disabled or infiltrated,” Coy said, pulling his phone out and tapping at the screen.

“Here? In Coyote Creek? Why?” Shanks pulled his handkerchief away, and her wound began to bleed again. “Shoot, Sheriff. I think we need to call an ambulance. You’re just bleeding everywhere. What else is hurting?”

Kenzie took the handkerchief from Shanks and applied pressure herself, pulling the cloth away every so often to see how soiled it was. “No, I’ll be fine. It looks worse than it is. I think I got them worse than they got me –– caught my slug.”

“You fired on them?”

“I sure did. Not sure where it hit, but I know I got them –– let out a nice grunt as soon as it hit.” She tried to smile and was quickly reminded of her wound again. “Shit, that one hurts. The rest will heal. Mostly just bruised my pride because they got the jump on me.”

Coy slid his phone back into his pocket. “Let’s get you out of here. Are you okay to walk?”

“Sure.” She said, but when she tried to stand, she grimaced. “I might need a second.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’, but we don’t have a second.”

She gripped Coy by the arm, and fear filled her words, “What happened?”

“Charlotte. She’s gone rogue. Nash went after her, and I’m worried he didn’t listen and take anyone with him.” Coy informed. “I got to get to him before he does something stupid, especially after this.”

“What’s going on? Your family in some sort of trouble?” Shanks asked.

“Nothin’ we can’t handle, Deputy.”

“If you need help…”

“Thank you, but we got it.” Coy didn’t intend to sound so harsh, but his protective instinct got the better of him.

“Well, if I can be of any assistance…”

“You’re the first one we’ll call,” Kenzie said, trying to pull herself to her feet again.

“Hang on, darlin’,” Coy got to his feet and swooped her off the ground before she could respond. “I’ll drop you at the ranch and…”

“No, you won’t. I’m going with you.”

“Kenz.”

“I’m going with you. End of discussion.” Kenzie warned.

Coy shook his head and turned to Shanks, “You going to be okay here?”

“Of course, I’m locking the place down and implementing the alert system.”

“Keep it as quiet as you can. No details,” Kenzie instructed.

“Got it, Sheriff. Whatever you say. I’ll see what I can find on that security footage, too. Somethin’ ain’t right about that.” Shanks said.

“Shanks, I have a team coming your way to sweep this area. Can I count on you to let them do their job, no questions asked?”

“So, it’s true,” Shanks said with a knowing grin.

“What’s true.”

“You’re some sort of Special Forces type.”

Coy snorted, “Special Forces?”

“I’ve heard the rumors. You and your sister. Some kind of secret military specialists.”

“Something like that,” Coy said, moving toward the stairs. “When they get here, you didn’t see them, if you catch my drift.”

“Saw who?” Shanks all but giggled with excitement.

“Um, yeah. Okay.” Coy started up the stairs, Kenzie in his arms.

Shanks quickly followed, “Listen, I was in the military. I tried SEALS but didn’t quite get there, injury. But I’m real good on a long gun and can shoot with ninety-nine-point nine percent accuracy from several miles out. Not too bad at working most facets of combat. I’ve seen it all. If you need me––”

“You’ll be the first one I call,” Coy said, leaning into the glass doors to leave.

“Anytime. I’ve always respected what you Stone’s stand for. You have a capable ally if you need one.”

“Appreciate that, Shanks. Be safe.”

Shanks saluted and quickly pulled his hand down, regretting the moment as soon as it happened. Coy nodded and let the door swing closed behind him, and Shanks was quick to lock it up.

“I think you have a fan.” Kenzie chuckled and reached out to open her car door for Coy.

He carefully slid her inside and helped her with her seatbelt. “Just what I need.”

“He’s a good kid. You can trust him if you need to.”

“Let’s hope we don’t need to.”