Page 4

THREE

Kenzie’s phone rang just as she turned out of the SWAT parking lot. She tapped the screen. “Hey there.”

“Hello. Are you done for the day?” Amelia Watson’s voice came through the speakers and Kenzie sighed. Amelia was dating Kenzie’s second-oldest brother, Kash, and while Kenzie liked her okay, the woman wasn’t her first choice for an after-work conversation buddy.

“On my way home now,” she said.

“Kash and I are having a little dinner party next Friday night. We were wondering if you’d like to join us.”

A dinner party? Since when did her brother do dinner parties? “Uh—”

“It’s for his job. His boss and his boss’s son are going to be in town and Kash thought it would be a good gesture.” Kash worked for an investment firm, and even Kenzie would admit he was a genius with all things numbers. He made a lot of money and had a lot of happy, wealthy clients.

“Kash did? Or you did?”

“Well, I didn’t figure it would hurt to put the offer out there. Kash thought it was a brilliant idea.” The smile in the woman’s voice surprised her. Maybe Kenzie needed to give Amelia more of a chance than she had. She’d be the first to admit she’d made assumptions about her character simply because she was dating Kash. Her brother only went out with snooty women who had money. And Amelia definitely had money.

“I don’t know, Amelia, dinner parties aren’t exactly my forte. I’m not sure I’d know how to act.” Especially one where her brother was half of the host team. He thought she should have gone into a different line of work.

Amelia scoffed. “I happen to know that your grandmother taught you how to act like a lady should the need arise. So, I’m asking you to come and do her proud.”

Well, how could she say no to that?

“No.” The word came out easier than expected. “I really don’t think—”

“Please?”

Kenzie bit off an exasperated sigh. “Let me check my schedule. I need to see if I’m working.” She didn’t think she was on the schedule, but maybe she could trade with someone. “Do I need to bring a plus-one?” Kenzie wasn’t sure what part of her brain decided to ask that, but she needed to find a shutoff switch for it.

“Do you have one to bring?”

“Um...”

“That’s what I thought. Then no, I’ll take care of everything. All you have to do is show up.”

Why didn’t she like the sound of that? Kenzie glanced in the rearview mirror and frowned. The person behind her was following awfully close. She tried to get a look at the driver, but the windshield was too grimy to make out anything other than the shape of a man. She sped up a little and relaxed a fraction when the car turned off.

“Makenzie?” Amelia asked.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m here.” She’d given up asking the woman to call her Kenzie. Apparently Amelia didn’t do nicknames.

“So, you’ll check your schedule?”

She sighed. The woman was a pit bull. “Sure, Amelia. I’ll check it. And don’t set me up with anyone. I’ll bring someone.”

“Who?”

“Does it matter? Just a guy I know.” What was she doing? Stop talking and stop now!

“Okay. Be at my house at seven o’clock sharp. We’ll dine at 7:30.”

So they’d be dining fashionably late. Was that even a thing?

“Got it. Seven o’clock. Next Friday night. Hold on a sec, who else is going to be there?”

“Just the family.”

So, that meant Logan and Paul too? She opened her mouth to ask.

“See you then,” Amelia said and hung up.

Kenzie blinked. Wait a minute. Had she just agreed to be there? Yes. Yes, she had and she’d promised to bring a date. She was an idiot.

Too tired to worry about it at the moment, she pulled into her garage and shut the door. It didn’t take long to get inside her house and breathe in the scents that said she was home. Vanilla and lavender along with a hint of pine cleaner.

Grandma Betsy had finally decided it was time to move to an assisted-living home and signed her house over to Kenzie. “Lock, stock, and barrel, it’s yours,” she’d said and handed her the keys. No one had been more surprised than Kenzie, but she’d been beyond grateful and had moved in as soon as possible.

Not that she didn’t love her three brothers and her father, but there came a point when a girl needed her own space. And she’d been way overdue.

Her father.

Now there was a subject worthy of a multitude of therapy sessions. A former chief of police, he’d been known as The Dictator. TD for short. And then the accident—

But no ... she wouldn’t think about that. Not tonight.

Shortly after her two older brothers, Paul and Kash, had moved out of the family home, she did the same. Her youngest sibling, Logan, still lived with their dad. Their mother was dead.

As always, the arc of pain swept through her when she thought about her mother. It had been twenty years, but some days it seemed like yesterday.

Kenzie placed her weapon and purse on the counter, then headed to her bedroom while she dialed Lainie’s cell.

“Hello?”

Lainie’s sweet voice was a balm to Kenzie’s battered nerves. “Hey, are you still at work?”

“Still here for the next five minutes or so.”

“I just wanted to check on Cowboy.”

“Your SWAT buddy.”

Kenzie smiled. “Yeah. His last name is McEntire, but everyone calls him Cowboy because of his Texas accent and penchant for boots and Stetsons when he’s off duty.” She paused. “And the fact that no one knows his first name.”

“I did notice the accent. And he’s doing all right. Last time I looked in on him, he was sleeping.”

“Sleep is good. You going to bust him out of there tomorrow?”

“As long as nothing changes overnight, that’s the plan. And I’m only telling you that because he cleared me talking to anyone on the SWAT team who called and asked.”

“Good to know. You don’t happen to have his first name on the chart, do you?”

“Um ... says Cowboy.”

“What does his driver’s license say?”

Lainie laughed. “You’ll have to ask him that.”

Near her window, a shadow caught Kenzie’s attention and she walked closer. The blinds were open to filter the last rays of the sun before it sank below the horizon. However, she had some time before sunset. She peered out the window. A glance to the left and right didn’t reveal anything to cause alarm, but she shut the blinds anyway.

“Kenz?”

“I’m here. Sorry, got distracted.”

“You okay?”

“Sure. Fine. It’s been a long day, so I think I’m going to crawl into a hot bubble bath, binge a few episodes of something, and crash.”

“You’re coming to the lake house Friday, right?”

“Uh ... this Friday? I thought that was tomorrow. Thursday night.”

“And if you scroll down the text messages, you’ll see we had to change it to Friday. Stephanie has to host an emergency baby shower for a friend there tomorrow night. The other hostess came down with the flu or something.”

“Okay. So Friday. This Friday.” Which Friday had she inadvertently promised to attend Amelia and Kash’s shindig? Next Friday, right? Or—“Cole mentioned something about it, but...”

“When are you going to start reading your texts?”

“I saw them.”

“You saw them but didn’t read them. You’re the absolute worst when it comes to communicating by text, my friend.”

“I know. I’ll catch up before I go to bed, I promise.”

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing that you don’t have your nose in your phone all the time.”

“I hate the thing, to be honest. But I know it’s a necessary evil.”

“You’re hilarious. Get some sleep and we’ll talk later. Night.”

“Night.” Kenzie hung up. She might not have much interest in her personal phone, but her work phone was different. She checked it regularly and kept it turned on with the volume up at all times.

She dug her personal phone out of her purse and tapped the screen. She scrolled through the messages and a wave of gratitude swept over her. It hadn’t been that long ago she’d been doing nothing but working, focusing on her goal of finishing medical school and getting on SWAT, knowing the obstacles she would face if she ever found herself on Lake City’s all-male team. She’d been lonely and tired and had thought of quitting more than once. Then, thanks to a bullet graze, she’d been sent to the hospital where Lainie had walked into her life and befriended her within seconds.

And brought her into this circle of friends without hesitation. In addition to Lainie, there was Jesslyn McCormick, a fire marshal, and Kristine Duncan, an air marshal. And, of course, Stephanie Cross, Lainie’s best friend since childhood. Jesslyn, Lainie, Kristine, Allison, and Steph had a special relationship, but they’d all pulled Kenzie into the midst, making her feel welcome without the slightest hint of awkward.

At the time, Kenzie hadn’t realized Cole was a part of that group, and when she’d discovered it, she almost pulled away but couldn’t quite bring herself to give up her newfound community. A community that she’d craved for as long as she could remember.

Just thinking about Cole made her antsy. His on-again, off-again attitude was about to drive her up the proverbial wall. Today he’d been more on than off. And offering to go running with her? What was he really up to? His explanation about trying to set an example for the guys made sense, but she wasn’t sure she believed it.

Not that Cole had ever lied to her before. That she knew of anyway.

She was too tired to think about it. The call with Lainie had perked her up a bit, but that was long gone, and now she wanted nothing more than to crash. She didn’t even have the energy for that bubble bath. After a quick supper of leftover chicken pot pie, she changed into sweats and an old T-shirt, then turned on the gas logs—best upgrade she’d done to the house thus far—curled up on the couch, and aimed the remote at the flat-screen on the wall.

Unfortunately, not even Tom Cruise and his top gun flying abilities could keep her mind from reliving the day. The moment she’d rushed in to find Cowboy’s head drenched with his blood, to the moment in the hospital where she felt—if only for a moment—that she belonged with the unit. And then almost getting flattened by the car with the careless driver.

She might not always read her texts in a timely manner, but she had no problem sending one when it suited her purpose. She pulled up Cole’s number.

Any news on who the car belonged to?

Just got the answer. The plate didn’t belong to the vehicle. The owner didn’t even realize it was gone. So, no way to trace the one that nearly ran you down.

His response was almost instantaneous. She shook her head. Did all of her friends stay glued to their phone? Three little dots said he had more information coming.

I’ll be honest. That whole incident makes me a little nervous. Like there’s more to it than just a random close call.

You think he WANTED to run me over?

I don’t know, but it sure looked like it.

Right.

Anything else weird been going on for you?

Like someone trying to turn me into roadkill? No.

Well, that’s good.

I’m restless, though. I’m going to go get in a workout and hope that takes the edge off. See you in the morning.

Night, King.

Kenzie stared at the words for a brief second before swinging her legs over the side of the couch and standing. Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? Not that he was ever mean , but...

She went into a stretching routine and, once she had the kinks out, headed to the kitchen and down the stairs to her basement, skipping the one that squeaked out of childhood habit.

Some might consider the area creepy with the concrete floors, dim lighting, and drafty head-height windows that needed to be replaced, but she’d played hide-and-seek in this place from an early age—especially when she wanted to get away from her brothers—and found the space her safe zone.

She’d set it up as a home gym and made her way to it several times during the week—or when she knew there was no reason to try sleeping. Kenzie walked to the nearest window to assess whether the tape was holding fast. Her grandmother had done nothing to the house before her transfer to the assisted living home, but over the past two years, Kenzie had started with the big stuff.

New roof, new HVAC system, new hardwood floors, and new electrical wiring. The windows had to wait, so she’d taped them up. Not exactly HGTV worthy, but it did the trick. Sort of. “Okay, windows next,” she muttered.

She walked to the punching bag and turned it until the worn and wrinkled picture faced her. She’d punched it a lot but could still make out the face.

A noise near the window to her left spun her attention from the bag, and she froze at the sight of a pair of booted feet facing her on the other side of the glass.

COLE GRIPPED THE STEERING WHEEL of his 4Runner and aimed the vehicle toward Kenzie’s home. He couldn’t get the whole incident with the car trying to run her down out of his head, and the word why kept spinning in his mind. If the person had been aiming for Kenzie, why ? If the person had followed them back to HQ, why ?

And then the haunting question “Would he try again?” was right there with every breath he took.

The exchange of text messages had eased his anxiety somewhat, but still...

He’d just ride by. Check on her. Then he sighed. Never before had he been compelled to go by one of his unit members’ houses.

Then again, none of them had ever been deliberately targeted like Kenzie had.

His phone rang and his heart plummeted. Mariah. He tapped the screen. “Hey, brat, what’s up?”

“I have a little girl who wants to say hello to you. She insisted on calling to let you know she was going home.”

“Well, put my favorite four-year-old on.”

Less than a second later, Riley said, “Hi, Unca Cole. I’m better and I’m on da way home.”

“I’m so glad, little soldier. I’m going to try and see you soon, okay?”

“Thank you for giving me your Cole-y juice.”

Cole’s throat tightened unexpectedly. He’d give her the moon if it would make her better. “Anytime. You can have it all.”

She giggled. “Nuh-uh. You need most of it.”

He smiled. “What are you going to watch when you get home?”

“VeggieTales. Bob and Larry.”

Most would think VeggieTales was outdated, but as far as he and his sister were concerned, it was timeless. Riley thought so too. “Okay, kiddo, you tell your mama to let me know when you’re up for an ice cream date and we’ll get some chocolate and strawberry swirl.”

“Yay! Bye, Unca Cole. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweet girl.” She hung up without passing the phone to Mariah, and he went back to worrying about Kenzie.

Okay, that was it.

He blew out a harsh sigh and wished he could just ignore the little voice urging him to make sure she was okay. But he couldn’t. He voice-dialed her number and waited.

Voicemail.

He hung up. Tried again.

He sighed, slapped his phone onto the magnet attached to the dash, and pressed the gas a little harder.