Chapter 19

NINETEEN

Kenzie sucked in a hard breath just as Butler looked up, his eyes landing on hers. He flinched and immediately swung his attention to Cole.

Anger flashed across his face for a brief second before it was gone, and he stood to make his way over to their table. "Garrison. King."

"Butler," Cole said. "This is a surprise."

The man flushed. "I didn't lie about a family emergency. You know Woodruff is like a brother to me. He's having a tough time"—his accusing gaze landed on Kenzie, then flicked back to Cole—"and asked me to meet him. ASAP. I told him I could meet him here since it's not too far from HQ. I was going to take the rest of the day to visit my dad. He's not doing so great either."

Cole frowned. "You never said anything."

Butler shrugged, looked at Kenzie, then away again. "I try to keep my personal and professional business separate. Talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure."

Kenzie kept her mouth shut. Butler walked back to his table, and Cole rubbed his chin. "Well, that went better than I thought it would."

"But?"

"But I find it odd he took half a day to meet with the guy who was your competition for the SWAT position."

"You think he's trying to get rid of me on behalf of Woodruff—out of some sense of loyalty to a friend who got beat out of a job he wanted?"

"I won't say it didn't cross my mind."

The waitress reappeared and they gave their order.

Kenzie sat back. "Now what?"

"Well, we keep an eye on Butler for sure. In the meantime, I have a little project I'm working on."

She raised a brow at him. "What's that?"

"You might think it's stupid," he hedged. The look of uncertainty on his face floored her.

"Why would you think that?"

"Past experience," he muttered, then shrugged. "Okay, so ... uh ... I want to give Micah and his buddies a basketball court."

"Oh." Past experience? Had to be Tracy. "A basketball court?"

"Not what you thought I was going to say?"

"No, but that's a fabulous idea."

He blinked, then a slow smile curved his lips. "You really think so?"

"Yes, so why do you have that silly smile on your face?"

"Silly?"

"Or something. Regardless, why the smile?"

"I don't know. I guess I just didn't know what you'd think about that. I'm going to have to pay for it myself out of pocket, but it's something I want to do."

"I can pitch in some." She could always wait to replace the plumbing in the guest bathroom.

He frowned. "I didn't tell you that to get money out of you."

"Didn't think you did. It's a great cause and I'd love to be a part of it."

"Really?"

"Of course. The team probably would too, if you asked."

"I hate to ask them since they've already given for the groceries. I don't want them to feel obligated—or pressured in any way."

"So, ask them privately and give them permission to say no."

He pursed his lips. "Not a bad idea. You mind if I get this started?" He held up his phone.

"Go for it."

Their food arrived and Kenzie enjoyed the savory flavors while they discussed the logistics of how to replace the court without a ton of expense. "I got it," Cole said. "There's a guy in my church who does reno stuff. I'll check with him."

The excitement in his voice made her smile, and her eyes lingered on his face while he was focused on his phone. Longing, swift and sharp, pierced her and she swallowed a gasp. Stop it. He's not for you. But she couldn't help the little question that snuck into her subconscious. Why not?

Just as she washed the food down with a swig of her tea, her phone pinged with a text from Tabitha. "Well, she's no help."

Cole looked up. "Couldn't find anything on Cliff?"

"No. Said all of his old files are in the document room and look to be in order. Even the accident file is there."

"So he made a copy of everything before filing the false report."

"Which doesn't help much, does it?"

"Nope."

Butler chose that moment to slide out of the booth and wave to them. Woodruff looked over and saluted Cole. His eyes landed briefly on Kenzie, and he gave her a short nod with a faint frown. Then he aimed himself toward the door.

"Wow," she said. "He didn't look too happy."

"Nope. And neither is Butler if the look on his face is any indication." He eyed her. "What are you going to do the rest of the day?"

She tossed enough cash to cover her meal and a generous tip onto the table and stood. "We're going to follow them."

He added more cash and joined her. "My thoughts exactly."

They hurried out of the restaurant and climbed into Cole's 4Runner. "Where'd he go?" she asked.

"Not sure." Cole checked his phone and frowned. "He cut off his location."

"What? Well, that's not sketchy at all."

"What is he doing?" Cole mumbled the words under his breath, and Kenzie didn't bother answering.

"You think he knows we tracked him to the restaurant?"

"A guilty person would wonder."

"And a guilty person would turn off his location."

Cole sighed, cranked the vehicle, and pulled out into the street. "We'll try this way, heading back to headquarters. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. All of this ‘evidence'—or whatever you want to call it—is circumstantial. There could be a reasonable explanation behind it all."

"Like he's in an area without a signal?"

"Yeah. He said he told Woodruff to meet him at that location because it was close to HQ, but why did it matter if he was taking the rest of the day off?"

"Maybe taking the rest of the day off was a last-minute thing?"

"Hm. Maybe."

A motorcycle whipped past them, the rider leaning into the wind.

"If I didn't want to find Butler, I'd pull him over," Cole said. The 4Runner shuddered and tilted, then Kenzie heard the thwack of a flat tire rotating against the asphalt. "Ugh, seriously?" Cole groaned and pulled to the side of the road. He got out and Kenzie joined him. They stood there, staring at the flat. "I hate to admit this, but I have no idea how to change a tire."

She choked. "What? You can't be serious."

He shrugged. "I've never had a flat before."

She couldn't help it—she gaped.

He laughed. "I'm sure I can figure it out, I've just never had to before."

Kenzie shook her head. "Okay, the tire is underneath the car so you have to get the tools out and use the doohickey to remove the spare. Then you take the other tire off, put the good tire on, and drive to a service station, where they either patch the old tire or you spend a fortune on a new one."

His lips quirked into a sideways smile. "Thank you, Google."

He grabbed the tools from the small storage area in the rear. Once he had the two pieces of the thin rod put together, he turned and opened his mouth to say something. Kenzie saw his eyes widen and he dove for her.

Cole's shoulder caught her in her midsection. Pain arced, but she also heard the crack of a high-powered rifle and the shattering of glass just as she hit the asphalt.

"Get under the car!"

Still gasping for breath, she rolled under the 4Runner and Cole dashed behind it.

Kenzie finally managed to fill her lungs. "I'll call 911!" She pulled out her phone. "Shots fired," she said, then rattled off their location. "Officers need backup. Now!"

Behind her she could hear Cole speaking on the phone as well. She waited for the next shot, hyperaware that the bullet had been meant for her, and if Cole hadn't tackled her, she'd most likely be dead.

She scooted to the other side and came up next to Cole. "Backup's on the way."

"I called too."

"What tipped you off? What'd you see?"

"A motorcycle parked just a little ways ahead with no rider. It looked very out of place to me, especially since it looks like the same one that buzzed us. Then there was a flash beyond the tree line. It spooked me."

"Well, I'm very grateful you were spooked."

She peered around the back of the 4Runner just in time to see a figure, rifle strapped to his back, dart to the motorcycle and hop on.

It wasn't going to work, but ... "Stop!" The engine roared and Cole ran past her, aimed his weapon, then lowered it when the bike rounded the next curve.

COLE SPUN TO RUN BACK to Kenzie. She leaned against the 4Runner and pressed a hand to her side while the other hand still gripped the phone. "They're on the way. I gave the direction he was traveling, so we'll see. They're sending a chopper."

"Good. How's your side?"

"Painful, but not ripped open or anything. I'm good."

"Sorry I had to hit you so hard. I didn't mean to, I just reacted."

"Don't worry about it. I can recover quickly from this pain. Might not get the chance with a bullet."

"Right." He walked to the rear of the vehicle and squatted next to the tire. "It's cut. Big enough to let the air out pretty quick, small enough to allow us to get away from the center of town."

"The guy on the motorcycle obviously followed us from the restaurant," she said, her eyes narrowing. "Butler has a bike."

"Yeah, but I doubt he'd use his own to try and commit murder."

"True, but he knows how to handle one. And he has access to a high-powered rifle."

"So do a lot of people."

"True."

"Look, I'm not saying it wasn't him, I just ..."

"Want to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Yeah."

She pursed her lips. "Fine. I get it." She brushed the debris from her jeans as backup pulled in behind them.

Thirty minutes later, they were in the back of a squad car, heading toward Kenzie's home. James had promised he and Cowboy would bring Cole a rental—another 4Runner, please. In the meantime, Cole had no plans to let Kenzie out of his sight from now on. "I think you should lay low. Work on your father's cold case. But stay out of sight."

She stilled and kept her gaze on the window. Then, when he thought she wasn't going to answer, she turned. "Would you do that?"

Would he? Probably not.

"He was definitely aiming for me, wasn't he?"

"I'd say so."

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not quitting. At least I don't want to. I don't want to give him the satisfaction."

"I get that. Though if you quit, and he knows it, he may have what he wanted and disappear."

"Never to be heard from again? I don't think so. I want him. I want to look him in the eye and tell him he doesn't get to be the killer bully."

He could see her doing just that.

"And what's to say that he'll stop coming after me should I concede? I mean, it's not like he's going to keep his word and leave me alone if I quit."

"Very true."

"But I don't want to be a danger to others." She sighed. "Have you talked to the commander?"

"He said it's up to you."

She hesitated with another long silence that lasted until the officer pulled into her drive. Then she turned to Cole. "I want to ask the team what they think."

"That could really go either way, Kenz."

"I know, but they have enough to worry about with the job itself. And I know that I can be a distraction all by myself. But if I'm a bigger distraction than usual—simply because they're afraid each time I'm with them that they're going to be attacked by the person after me, then..." She bit her lip. "I can't do that to them without running it by them. And I think it needs to come from you. They'll be honest if they don't have to look me in the eye."

He nodded. "All right. Let's get inside and I'll give them a call."