Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWO

PRESENT DAY

Cole shut his laptop and rubbed his eyes. Three quiet days had passed since they'd implemented the plan, and Kenzie seemed to be feeling back to normal. They'd had two legitimate calls in the three days, and Magic Man had taken the call that was over two hours from Kenzie's house. They'd alternated "bodyguard duty" for Kenzie and it had worked well. No attacks on the team had occurred, but Cole wasn't ready to drop his guard. He just didn't know where to look next. The guy was lying low, which was good. But not.

At least they'd all been able to work on other cases they had to stay on top of outside of their SWAT duties. Cole had made great progress on several and thought he'd be closing them out before too long.

Unfortunately, that didn't include Kenzie's father's cold case, and the man had been about as accusing and belligerent as one could be. Kenzie had finally quit looking at her phone. More so than usual.

"You're thinking hard there, my friend," James said around a bite of a chicken biscuit. Cowboy and Greene had ridden up the road to a fast-food place and returned with breakfast.

"Just can't believe how quiet it's been."

"You trying to jinx it?"

"I don't believe in that and neither do you."

"Nope, I don't."

Footsteps pounded up the stairs and Butler joined them at the table, grabbing two of the biscuits from the plate. "All the weapons are clean, I changed the oil in Dolly, I've even shined my boots." He sighed and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. "Can we get any more bored?"

"Be grateful for it and work on the cases stacked on your desk—or laptop."

"I've done that too, of course. Closed three of them with about a hundred phone calls and sent officers to make the arrests. Where are the other guys?"

Greene and Otis chose that moment to come in the front door after a short run. Otis headed straight for his water bowl while Greene grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and three biscuits from the plate.

Kenzie walked in, looked around, took a deep breath, and did a one-eighty. Cole rose and followed her into the sunroom—the only unoccupied space in her house. She sat on the wicker sofa and pulled her knees up to rest her chin on them.

He shut the door behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"Antsy. I have too much protection. He's not going to make a move with all of you here. The hospital is wondering when I'm going to come back to work and I don't have an answer, which sits well with no one. I haven't left my house in three days and I'm about to climb a wall."

"Well, you got most of the storage room cleaned out and we hauled everything off for you. So that's progress, right?"

She shot him a small smile tinged with weariness. "Yes. True. I just have a few more boxes and my grandmother's trunk to go through."

And she needed a distraction. "Well, the next call is yours if you want it. You're officially back on duty."

Her eyes widened. "I want it."

She said it so fast he laughed. "Okay then, it's yours." He turned serious. "But you're right. He's not going to make a move as long as you're holed up here. We'll take all the precautions we can, but you're going back to work."

"Thank God," she whispered.

"In the meantime, you want to go get the rest of that room done?"

She looked up and wrinkled her nose at him, and his mind snagged on how cute she was. Then he struck that thought away immediately. He would not notice the fact that she was cute, attractive, funny, highly intelligent—

"Sure, why not?"

"Right. Let's do this."

They walked back into the den to find Buzz on the couch. If he couldn't go back to work yet, he was going to be a bodyguard. Butler had joined him and the two were playing cards. Cole smiled. Kenzie might not realize it, but the team had her back whether she wanted it or not. He glanced at Butler. Well, most of the team. Butler had been cool to Kenzie and hadn't mentioned the lunch with Woodruff, but he'd basically kept his distance and had little interaction with her. If he was trying to kill her, he was biding his time.

The thought did not comfort him. "Kenzie's back in the rotation, guys. Next call is hers."

Buzz gave them a thumbs-up. Butler sighed.

"I'm going to help her in the storage room a bit, then we can figure out the rest of the day." He followed Kenzie into the storage area and smiled. "It's almost empty. What will you do with the space?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking about moving my workout room up here and turning the basement into a little Airbnb or something now that I have the separate entrance you guys put in. It's already got the bathroom down there and space for a small kitchenette." She shrugged. "Just a thought."

"That's a great idea."

She walked to the trunk and ran a hand over it. "This was Grandma Betsy's. When we moved her out, she brought me in here and said she'd put some stuff inside that I might find interesting. I just haven't had a chance—or made the time, really—to go through it."

"You want to do that while I tackle this box?" He set the nearest one on the card table.

"Sure."

She flipped the latch on the trunk and lifted the lid.

KENZIE LOOKED into the trunk and drew in a soft breath.

"What is it?" Cole asked.

"Her wedding dress. It's in plastic and perfectly preserved." She ran her fingers over the pearl-covered front.

He walked over to look down. "How awesome. Now you don't have to go buy one."

She shot him a look. "Um, I wasn't looking for one."

His cheeks went red and he huffed a laugh. "I didn't mean now. One day, though. Don't you want to get married?"

She wasn't going there. "Maybe. I don't know. When I was a teen, I told my mother I was never getting married for a lot of reasons. Not much has changed since then."

"You're kidding, right?"

She tapped his chin to close his mouth. "Stop. Why do you look so stunned?" When he didn't answer, she frowned. "Why? Do you want to get married?"

"Yep. Sure do."

"What happened to you're not looking for romance?"

"I still have dreams like anyone else. I just ... have to get past some stuff. Doesn't stop me from enjoying an evening out with someone."

She paused. "Tracy really did a number on you, didn't she?"

"Yeah." The flush in his cheeks faded and a sadness she'd never seen before flashed across his face. "I hate to admit it, but she did. I know not everyone is like her, but it's hard letting your guard down after something like that." He shrugged. "I just have to figure out how to trust again. I think the right person will help me overcome that." He smiled. "But yeah, I'd like to get married, have a family. Just don't know if or when that will happen. Doesn't stop me from wanting it, though."

"With the right person."

"Of course." The look in his eyes sent her heart thudding, and that was the last thing she needed. Right?

But she had to admit the thought of Cole married to someone other than her made her stomach hurt. She cleared her throat. "Well, I wish you luck in the hunt for the right person." She went back to the trunk and spotted an old book. "Speaking of a hunt. Look what I found. It's a journal. Maybe my grandmother's?" She let it fall open carefully, noting the pages had yellowed and become brittle with time. But they were perfect and still readable. "Wow. I can't wait to read this."

Her work phone pinged. Cole's did too. He grabbed it. "We've got a call." He raised a brow. "At the abandoned mental hospital."

She set the book on the card table for later. "Let's grab the gear. I'm ready."

With Cowboy at the wheel of Dolly, they left her home and headed toward the hospital. Butler groaned. "I hate places like this."

Kenzie shook her head and bit her tongue.

"Okay, folks," Cole said, "looks like drug dealers have moved into the hospital and there are reports of shots fired. Officers are en route, we're simply backup in case of trouble."

They left the main part of Lake City and headed up the mountain road. Cowboy took the turns tight and with a skill Kenzie envied. Her medical kit was tucked under her feet and her weapons loaded and ready to go should she be called to use them. Today there was no heckling, which she found interesting, but she wasn't about to question it. Her side still ached but had healed enough that she was confident it wouldn't slow her down much. If at all.

By the time they arrived, officers on the scene had surrounded the place. Cowboy parked at the edge and all but Kenzie climbed out. Cole was already in touch with the chief of police, Rav Badami, who was on-site. He walked over to the man, and Kenzie could hear Cole through the comms as she grabbed her medical kit and stepped out of Dolly. "Any contact?" he asked.

"No. We're going to let you breach at this point. We can't find any sign of life and definitely no shots fired. At least not at us."

An instant breakout of goose bumps pebbled her arms. "Cole, this doesn't feel right. Feels like last time. This is an ambush. Tell everyone to take cover. Take cover!"

Her team moved, officers scrambled, and her shout ended in a spate of gunfire from the building.

"Return fire and cover us," Cole told Badami. "Team! As soon as the gunfire from the building stops, go!"

Bullets from the officers' weapons peppered in the direction of the shooter, who ceased firing, and Cole led the way through the main entrance of the hospital.

Kenzie had taken cover inside Dolly, ears tuned to what was happening in the building, eyes scanning the outside. The hospital was spread over a thousand acres, but the main building where the action was taking place was just ahead. It curved into a wide U-shape with the covered drive. On either side of the drive, the overgrown courtyard sprawled. In its heyday, it would have been quite a sight. Today it was falling apart and looked like it was destined to be a battle zone.

She saw a figure. "There! Movement in the window on the third floor, second room from the end." She grabbed her weapon and exited Dolly. The figure pulled away from the window and ran to the next room. Then the next, glancing out the window each time. "Keep going, he's headed for the east wing exit, I think. Who's on the blueprints?"

"I've got them up in here." Badami's voice came through the comms. "Officers are moving to cover that exit."

Kenzie darted in that direction as well since she was closer. She ran across the broken drive and toward the fire escape on the side, stopping to peer around the corner just as the door opened and the figure started down. "Freeze!" She stepped out and took aim. "Drop your weapon now!" He was almost to the bottom when he vaulted over the wrought iron railing and hit the ground with a thud and a yell, his rifle skidding from his fingers. He rolled to his feet as the other officers closed in behind Kenzie. She leapt up and rounded the bottom of the stairs to go after him. "Get the rifle!" She threw the words over her shoulder to the officers behind her, then turned and yelled, "You! Stop!"

He ran faster. Naturally. The rest of the team was coming in from different directions, but she was in the lead and she really wanted to get this guy now.

But he had a motorcycle waiting. She recognized it as the same one the shooter who'd punctured Cole's tire had been on. "No!"

But he was already riding toward the back of the property. "He's heading north," she said. The brick wall that used to run the perimeter was spotty now, broken in many places, but he wasn't going for that. What was he doing? Surely he'd have an escape route planned, but he seemed to be driving in a random pattern through the grounds that had become an overgrown jungle. A chopper roared overhead, sweeping the area.

Kenzie stopped running to watch the shooter, but when he took a sharp right turn, she sped up again. "He's turned now. Going east again." The chopper banked at her words.

And then the guy—and the motorcycle—disappeared.

"What in the world?" She skidded to a halt.

"What is it?" Cole asked, racing up next to her.

"He just vanished. Dropped into the ground. I don't even hear the bike anymore."

Together, joined by the others who'd caught up with them at this point, they followed the motorcycle tracks until they stopped amid the thick, overgrown bushes. "There." She pointed. The ground gave way to a sloping drive that led to a tunnel. "Seriously?"

Cole shrugged. "Let's go." They descended into the place, Maglites leading the way in the darkness.

Kenzie grimaced. "I hate this kind of stuff. Dark places, tight places. Places with no exit."

"When was this hospital built?" Greene asked.

"Early 1900s?"

"It's an air raid shelter," Cole murmured. "Probably had the ramp for the gurneys."

"I think I remember hearing about this," Kenzie said. "They built it after Pearl Harbor. No one knew if they were going to be next."

Cowboy stepped around her. "It's huge."

"Would have to be," she said. "They had over two thousand patients back then."

"Well, it's big," Cole said, "but not that big. There's no way they would have fit everyone in here even if the ones who cared fought to do so."

"No," she said, her voice soft, "but the staff would fit. Not sure why they'd build a ramp if they weren't going to save the patients, though."

He blew out a low breath. "Yeah. I can't believe all of the caretakers were bad, but it seems like patients were really low priority."

"Overcrowding, experimental treatment. The stuff nightmares are made of."

They hurried through the shelter until they came upon the motorcycle leaning against the wall. A crude exit had been dug through the wall, slanting up, then with a ladder leading to the top, allowing the shooter to climb out. "Well, that's not original to the structure," Cowboy said from behind.

"Nope, but maybe Otis can track him down now that the guy's on foot?"

Greene nodded. "The bike can be the scent article." He pointed and Otis's ears pricked. "Otis, scent."

The dog went to the bike and did what he did best. He barked once, then padded to the ladder, his nose up and quivering.

"All right, everyone," Greene said, "guess we're going up." Man and dog climbed.

Once Otis and Greene were up top, Kenzie turned to Cole. "I guess we are too."

"After you."

Kenzie climbed and pulled herself out of the shelter to find herself on the other side of the fence and next to a road.

Otis was pacing, sniffing, and searching. He took off east and Greene followed behind him. "Guy's on foot," Greene said through the comms. "I don't know if we'll catch him, but I'll follow as far as Otis'll take me."

"We're right behind you," Cole said. They all trailed Otis down the road, loping along while the dog zigzagged his way into the old cemetery across the street from the hospital. The dog finally stopped and sat, looking at Greene for his next command.

"The guy's gone," Greene said. "He must have had transportation stashed around here. Another bike or a car."

"Or a driver waiting to pick him up."

Butler raked a hand over his head. "I've about had enough of this guy."

Kenzie looked at him and raised a brow. "I know the feeling."

COLE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK. Obviously Butler wasn't the shooter in this instance, but it didn't mean he wasn't working with someone.

Like Oscar Woodruff?

They finished up at the scene and headed back to HQ. While Kenzie's home was a fine place to wait for a call or to work on a current case, HQ was more convenient if they could use it.

But all the way back, Cole couldn't get the thought out of his head. Butler and Woodruff working together to get Kenzie off the team?

It made sense, unfortunately, but he had no proof, and a lunch meeting between two men known as friends didn't a killer make.

With his thoughts still spinning, he walked into the kitchen to find Butler, Cowboy, and Greene sitting at the table, snacking on chips and sucking down water. "Everything okay?"

"She's got to go, Garrison," Butler said, thumping his water bottle onto the table. "Can't you see that? Her first day back and we're dodging bullets at another fake call. All because she won't back down."

"Would you?" Kenzie asked, stepping into the kitchen.

The room went silent.

Butler flushed, but his eyes glittered. "Yeah. Yes, I would if it meant my leaving was for the good of the team."

Cowboy choked and Greene snorted. Butler turned his glare on each of them, then back to Kenzie.

Kenzie studied him. "No," she said, her voice low, "you wouldn't."

He stood up, stepped forward, and jabbed a finger at her. "Now, look here—"

She swatted his hand away and planted her fists on her hips. "No, you look here. You're many things, Butler, but you're not a coward. And you're not a quitter. You have the support of this team and they'd make sure you didn't have to quit."

Everyone went still once more. Even Cole wondered where she was going with this.

"That's my point." She drew in a shuddering breath. "I may not like you, but you're my team member, and believe it or not, no matter how you treat me, I'll have your back. And if you could put aside your snark and your prejudice, and whatever else is going on inside you about me being in this position, then you might see that accepting me would be a lot more advantageous than working so hard to be my enemy."

The silence was so thick, Cole was tempted to try the whole "cutting it with a knife" thing just to see what it looked like.

"Hear me out," she said, her voice low, almost vibrating with the intensity of the feeling behind her words, "because I'm only saying this once. If I quit, he wins. If you convince me to quit, you help him win." She lifted her chin another notch. "I was under the impression that this topic had been dealt with, that you guys wanted me to stay—or if you didn't want me to, you were at least okay with it. But apparently that's not the case. So ... here's my compromise. If the majority of you feel like I'm putting you all in danger, then I'll take a leave of absence until this guy is stopped. But know this. I'm not quitting or giving up my spot permanently. Ever. And nothing you say or do will change that. I'm here for the long haul. Accept that and move on and we might finally be a real team." She looked each man in the eye, ending with Cole. "You can let me know what they decide."

"I can give you my vote right now," Butler said. He turned his scowl on Cole. "You and I both know the position should have gone to Woodruff. She stole it from him and I'm never going to get over that!"

"Shut up!" Cole's shout reverberated and everyone froze. He curled his fingers into fists at his side, ordering himself to stay in control. "Just shut up. You've crossed the line and this is going in your record."

And once again, the room fell silent with Butler glaring at Kenzie. The other men had dropped their eyes. "I'm going to make a couple of phone calls and get my things," Kenzie said. "I need a decision before I leave."

She swept out of the room and Cole crossed his arms, looking at each member. His gaze lingered on Butler, who looked away, a tinge of shame in his eyes. That little bit of remorse gave Cole a fraction of hope.

"Think about what she said and text me your thoughts," Cole said.

Greene shook his head. "Don't have to. She's right and I'll say it here in front of everyone. I don't need any anonymous, snowflake junk. We told you we were fine with her on the team, but I don't think we really were. At least not unanimously. But that girl's got more guts and stubbornness than anyone I've ever met. I like her and I respect her. I vote she stays and we start acting like the team we're supposed to be. That includes you, Butler." He stroked his dog's head. "Now, Otis has business to do. We'll be outside." He clicked to Otis and they headed out the back door into the fenced area behind HQ.

Cowboy nodded. "Ditto what Greene said."

Butler scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No, not kidding you," Cowboy said. "The division in this team isn't because of her. It's you and your attitude and it's time someone told you that. So, man up, grow up, and let's pull together to help figure out who's trying to kill her. We owe her that."

"We don't owe her squat," Butler said.

Cowboy looked at Cole. "Maybe he's the one who needs to go."

Butler flinched like the man had punched him in the face. "Really?"

"Really." Cowboy's instant—and cold—response obviously took Butler aback. Cole didn't think he'd ever seen the man at a loss for words like he was at that moment.

"While you two work this out," Cole said, "I'm going to call Buzz, James, and Magic Man, fill them in, and get votes. They're still at Kenzie's house holding down the fort and making sure it's a safe place for her. You know, acting like team members would act. So I'll see you all back at her place in a bit."

He left the room and went to find Kenzie.

He searched the living space, the conference room, the computer area, and finally stopped outside the women's bathroom and heard what sounded like crying coming from it. He knocked. "Kenzie? I'm coming in."

"Go away."

"Not a chance." He found her on the bench next to the row of stalls trying to stem the tears. "Aw, Kenz."

He dropped beside her and she swiped her face. "I'm fine. I'm not usually a crier. I just had to let it all out."

"Nothing wrong with crying. I've done it a few times in my life."

She gave a short chuckle and a final sniff. "You shouldn't have told him to shut up."

"I would have told him that, regardless of who he was firing off at." He slid an arm around her shoulders, disregarding the fact that it was probably a bad idea. "Kenzie, the guys are supporting you. They admire you." He told her their responses. "And they mean it this time. It's not just lip service."

"But not Butler." She sighed.

"I think even he may come around if he wants to stay on this team."

"Assuming he's not the one trying to kill me?"

"Yeah."

Another sigh shuddered through her. "I hate giving in to a bully," she whispered. "Butler or the guy causing all of the problems. And if they're one and the same, then..."

"I know." He pulled in a breath and dropped his arm. "How'd you like to go visit Oscar Woodruff?"

"And ask him if he's working with Butler to get rid of me?"

"Great minds think alike."