Chapter 5

FIVE

Would she? It worried her that she wasn't sure. Kenzie lay in bed, eyes on the ceiling, unable to sleep. Because of the intruder, yeah, but mostly because Cole was on her couch. She should have sent him home. Had in fact told him to go home and he'd asked her if she was comfortable staying alone.

Ugh. She'd dug out a pillow and blankets, pressed them into his arms, and pointed out the guest bathroom. Once he was taken care of, she wound her way to her room where she lay in tangled sheets unable to close her eyes. She could fall asleep on her couch thirty minutes after someone broke into her home and shot at her, but once she was all tucked into bed, she was pulled tighter than a tripwire.

The truth was, she wasn't comfortable.

The other truth was, she could have called someone else.

But Cole was already there, and if she called Lainie or Jesslyn or Kristine or Steph, she would feel like she was ... infringing. Or imposing. And while in her head she knew they wouldn't see it that way, she still couldn't help hesitating.

She could have called one of her brothers, but that was a hard no way . She wasn't in the mood for the "told you so's," which would lead right into the smothering, protective helicoptering. Minus Logan, though. Maybe. She couldn't help but wonder and was almost afraid to find out. The fact that he'd checked on her earlier was a positive, though.

Regardless. Cole was definitely the better option.

Maybe.

She groaned and punched her pillow. Too many dumb maybes. She shifted to her side and mentally started going through the steps to clean her weapon. She must have dozed off finally, because the next thing she knew her work alarm was buzzing. She slapped at it and knocked the clock on the floor. She'd forgotten to turn it off the night before.

"Kenzie? You okay?"

At Cole's voice from the hallway, she shot out from under the covers and to her feet. "I'm fine. I knocked my clock off the end table. You still want to go running?"

"I don't exactly have the clothes and shoes for it, but yeah." He was still in the hallway.

"We can run by your place and grab them if you want. I'm just going to get ready. Be out there in a few." She hurried to the bathroom and completed her morning routine in record time. Then found a toothbrush still in the package and met Cole in the den. "Just in case you might need one."

He took it. "Definitely."

"Should have given it to you last night. I'm sorry."

"It's all good. I don't mind the washcloth in an emergency, but a toothbrush is my first choice."

She laughed. "The electrician is coming to repair the primary bathroom wiring and may be here before you're done, so if you hear voices, you know who it is."

"Got it."

As though on cue, the doorbell rang. She headed to answer it, and Cole aimed himself at the half bath off the kitchen.

By the time he emerged, she'd gotten the electrician started, texted her neighbor about checking on the whole situation, and was pacing the floor in front of the mantel. She was tired but wanted answers and prayed a run would help clear her head.

Although now that Cole was in her den, she was having second thoughts. Running with him would not clear her head, it would probably just muddle it more. But he'd offered and she'd agreed, and after yesterday, running with company was probably a smart idea. Safety in numbers and all that, right?

She had no idea why her emotions were all over the place when it came to him, but she thanked the good Lord that because of her brothers, she had lots of practice in keeping a poker face.

He insisted on driving and she didn't bother to protest. Ten minutes later, after a stop at his place, she climbed back into the passenger seat of his 4Runner.

"The park?" he asked.

"Sure."

Once they were on the back road that would take them to Lake City Community Park, Kenzie tried not to give off "I'm uncomfortable" vibes because she really wasn't—even though she was slightly weirded out by the fact she was riding with Cole in a nonprofessional capacity.

He cleared his throat. "So, should we go ahead and address the elephant in the room?"

She blinked at him. "Why?"

He laughed and snorted. "Or we can ignore it."

"Look, Cole, I'm not overthinking this if that's what you're worried about." At least she was trying not to. "Let's just enjoy the day."

He shot her a perplexed look, then shrugged. "Fine by me."

She fell silent for the next couple of miles, then rubbed her nose. "What's the elephant?"

He laughed. A belly laugh that crinkled the corners of his eyes and pulled his dimples out of hiding.

Oh my, he was one good-looking man. Not that she hadn't known that, but ... sheesh, it shouldn't take that much effort to put it out of her mind.

"Just us, I guess. Hanging out together without the company of anyone else. I thought you might be uncomfortable with that."

"Oh, I am."

His laughter filled the vehicle once again, and when it died off, he shot her an amused look. "You're ... intriguing. I don't remember you being that way from our teen years."

It was her turn to laugh. "That's because you never paid me a bit of attention when we were teens. But the truth is, I'm not really intriguing. Just honest." She cleared her throat. "Yeah, it's weird because I'm never sure what you think of me. At work, I believe you trust me to do my job."

"I do."

"But you've been mostly aloof and distant. Until now." She shrugged. "I'm not trying to read any more into that."

"I'm sorry, I just ... well, let's just leave it at that. I had my reasons to keep some distance, and while they seemed like good ones at the time, I'm not sure they're good ones anymore. So, I'm sorry."

His contriteness reached her, and once he turned into the park entrance and wound around to the parking lot to stop, she looked him in the eye. "Tell me this. Do you have any resentment that you had to choose me over Logan because I was better qualified to be on the team?"

"No."

His instant response relaxed something inside her. "Okay, good. Now that we have that resolved, I'll say this. While we've known each other forever, I wouldn't call us friends. You hung out with my brothers in the summers when we stayed with my grandmother, and I did my own thing. I'll admit to a teenage crush but was also aware enough that you didn't think twice about me."

"I wouldn't say that," he muttered.

She frowned. "What?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"All you guys talked about was law enforcement, and when you weren't talking about it, you were role-playing it. I just wanted to join in."

He raised a brow. "Is that why you—"

"Joined SWAT? No. Not really. I'm sure that had some influence in my decision to do what I do, but mostly it's because—" She bit her lip, not sure she wanted to get that personal.

"Because?"

"It really doesn't matter."

"It does to me."

He sounded like it really did. "Because of my dad. Because of the way he raised us. From the time my mother died until I put a stop to it, he pitted my brothers and me against each other. There was always some kind of competition to win. Or lose. And, truthfully, because of the smear on his name. It nearly destroyed him, and I had a front-row seat to it. When he learned he was going to be accused of stealing evidence from the evidence room, he nearly lost it."

"So that rumor is true?"

"Yes."

"But charges were never pressed."

"No." She shot him a sideways glance. "But he was never declared innocent either, just that there wasn't enough evidence to bring charges, not because it was proved he didn't do it. The damage was done." The day of the car accident that had left her father with a broken spine and a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas had been the worst day of her life. It had also been the day her mother was ripped from her life at the tender age of fourteen. Her father had run a stop sign and smashed into another vehicle. The other car had been stolen and the driver was never found. "Dad swears he had nothing to do with that missing evidence, that he was framed."

"You believe him?"

She swallowed and looked out the window. "I don't know what to believe. And it kills me to say that." But it was something she'd secretly been investigating since she'd earned access to the database of cases. "I've searched and I just can't find any evidence one way or the other. He ran the stop sign, hit another car, and my mother died. The evidence he supposedly stole was never found, but the man the evidence would have put away for good, Shady Talbot, was released and went on to kill someone. And my father continues to have a black mark on his name."

"I'm so sorry, Kenz."

"I am too, but you know what?" She drew in a deep breath. "Let's leave the past in the past and enjoy the day. What do you say?"

"I say that's a great idea."

They climbed out of his 4Runner, and after stretching, she looked at him. "How many miles? Ten?"

" Ten ?"

"Too many?"

"You're quite the jokester, aren't you?" She raised a brow and he frowned. "Uh, how many miles do you normally run?"

"Depends on what I feel like at the time." She shrugged. "We don't have to set a number, we can just go until you need to stop."

He blinked. "Until I need to—" He chuckled. "That sounds like a challenge."

"Nah, not at all."

"Right."

Kenzie smiled, wondering if she should warn him she'd been training for months for an Olympic triathlon. She smothered a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

She gave him her best innocent look. "Nothing."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why do I think that's a lie?"

"Cole. Seriously? What are you worried about?"

"I'm not sure. Something, though." He nodded. "Definitely worried about something."

Kenzie laughed and started off with a slow jog. "Come on. You'll be fine. You're a big bad SWAT man."

He muttered something she missed and didn't bother asking him to repeat it. It was a glorious morning, and if she didn't have the heaviness of the unanswered questions about the break-in at her home and almost being flattened in the hospital parking lot, she'd feel lighter than she had in ages. But it had happened and it seemed to be all she could think about. Had the intruder thought she wasn't there? Or just hadn't cared? Well, he'd shot at her, so "just hadn't cared" was probably the answer.

Which was disturbing.

"You're thinking about last night," Cole said.

"I am."

Silence fell. From the corner of her eye, she caught him taking a glance at her. Then he looked back at the path. Then back at her. "That's it?" he finally said.

"Pretty much. Going over the same questions in my head that we already talked about. But let's talk about something different. How are your parents doing?" They still lived next door to her, but she didn't see them for more than a wave most of the time.

"Great. They're visiting my sister Addy and her family in South Carolina and will be back Sunday night."

"That explains why they didn't show up when all the commotion happened last night."

"Yeah, but be prepared for questions once they get home. It will be the talk of the neighborhood."

She sighed. "Already is."

The park trail was two and a half miles of mostly flat land, but there were some slopes at various points, and they were coming up on her favorite. The bridge overlooking the waterfall that crashed into the flowing river. Once they were on the other side of the bridge, they followed the path that would lead them into the shady, wooded area. Moms with jogging strollers rolled past. Young twenty- and thirty- and the occasional older-somethings pounded the asphalt with their dogs at their sides. Kenzie loved Lake City and the small-town feel with all of the big-city amenities when she wanted them.

But not the crime that seemed to be ramping up lately. The fact that they had their own SWAT team and crime lab said a lot about the city. It was forward-thinking, true, but it made her sad that, in many ways, it wasn't the same city she'd grown up in.

Cole turned and ran backward for a moment, facing her. His eyes scanned the area behind them, then he spun like the athlete he was to continue his jog beside her.

"See anything?" she asked.

"No, nothing that worries me."

"Could the two incidents truly be a coincidence?"

"I suppose they could."

"But you don't believe it."

"Having a hard time convincing myself of that, yeah."

"Right."

They fell silent, ticking off the minutes and the distance until Cole finally stopped and rested his hands on his knees.

Kenzie went a little past him, then turned and jogged back to him. "You okay?"

"How many miles have we run?"

She glanced at her smartwatch. "Just under six."

"How many more miles can you run?"

She couldn't stop the smile that curved her lips. "Come on, we'll head back to the car."

"You can keep going, can't you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"How far?"

"Cole—"

"How far, Kenzie?"

"I usually do between thirteen and fourteen miles on my days off."

He blinked. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Why not?"

His eyes narrowed. "You're keeping something from me. What is it?"

"Oh, for crying out loud." She chuckled. "I'm training for a triathlon, okay?"

"A triathlon? And you didn't think to tell me you could run a hundred miles without stopping for a breath or a drink of water?"

"A hundred is a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?"

He laughed. Another big laugh that was rare for him. And he'd done it three times this morning. Interesting.

He walked over to the nearest park bench and lowered himself onto it, wiping the sweat from his face with the hem of his shirt.

And continued his obnoxious chuckling.

"Cole? You okay?"

When he finally caught his breath, he looked up. "You got me."

"I wasn't trying to get—" She clamped her lips together, then let a small, reluctant laugh escape. "Okay, maybe a little."

"Well, it's a good thing we've been running in circles and are near the car because I'd never make it back if I had to do six more miles."

She wasn't sure she believed that. "I'm sorry. I should have been straight with you. I've been working up to the longer distances for a while now." She grinned at him and headed toward the car, which was only about a quarter of a mile away. He made it without any trouble, and she raised a brow at him as they exited the walkway to head to his 4Runner. "You could have gone a lot farther."

"What's next? The swim or the bike ride?"

She laughed. "The swim. But not today."

"What now? Food?"

She started to answer when his phone buzzed.

He glanced at the screen. "Well, so much for the day off. I've got a call."

COLE LOOKED AT HER. "You mind the ride to headquarters? We go right past there and it will allow me to ride with the team."

"Of course I don't mind. Let's go." She climbed into the passenger seat, and Cole slipped behind the wheel, putting his phone on Bluetooth.

"Some day off, huh?"

"I'm used to it, just like everyone else."

He shot her a glance as he connected to HQ. She truly didn't look bothered.

Commander Hill's voice came through the speakers. "Hostage situation at an abandoned warehouse."

"Address?" he asked.

"Holmes Street."

"We'll be at HQ in less than five."

"Dolly will be waiting."

He hung up and Kenzie grimaced.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just lots of memories from that part of town from my less-than-stellar high school days. Seems like every call we get is in that vicinity."

"Crime happens everywhere, but never so much as where people are poor and desperate."

"Yeah," she said, her voice low.

"What does your family think about your occupation?"

She raised a brow at him. "I have three brothers, and a father who was the former police chief. What do you think?"

He chuckled. "I know what Logan thinks, what about the rest?"

"The same as Logan. They would prefer it if I had a nice safe job as an accountant or something, but honestly, it doesn't really matter what they want. It's my life and I've chosen my path. They don't get a say in it."

The faint ring of defensiveness didn't escape him. He'd thrown out the question in an attempt at small talk to get to know her a little better and managed to punch a hornet's nest. "I'm sorry." They fell silent a moment while he drove, then he said, "And Paul?" Her oldest brother. "I heard he quit the force about the time your dad was in the accident."

"And my mom was killed."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about that. I only saw her a few times when y'all visited your grandmother, but I liked your mom a lot."

"I miss her every day. Thank God my grandmother stepped in and took over. I don't know what I—we—would have done without her. Even though they were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, they were close."

"Why did Paul quit?" He took a corner with a tight turn and raced toward headquarters. The others were still gathering, and they had time to get there so he could join them in Dolly.

"He was furious at the rumors swirling about Dad," she said. "I know he faced some harassment, but I was fourteen, I'd just lost my mom, and I thought I might lose my dad. I just wanted it all to go away, but the press was relentless with all of us. Paul was twenty-six years old and had been with the department for five years. When another officer, one Paul considered a good friend, nastily wondered if ‘the apple didn't fall far from the tree,' that was the last straw. He felt betrayed by people he thought were his friends, his brothers and sisters in uniform. That day, Paul walked out and never went back."

He'd heard some of that but had been so busy with his own career over the last few years that he hadn't kept up. "What's he doing now?"

"Bouncing from job to job. These days he's security for a hotel downtown. He's been there for about a year. Seems to like it okay."

He pulled into the parking lot of headquarters and parked. "To be continued. I have more questions."

"I have clothes and gear in my locker. I'll get changed."

"You don't have to come. Magic Man is on this shift." The team's other medic was Max Mann, but he'd quickly been dubbed Magic Man.

"But you're missing Cowboy. I can fill in. You know I can. I'm a fully trained SWAT officer, Cole. Let me do the job."

He studied her. She was a good officer. Actually, a great one. She'd gotten—and was still getting—a raw deal from the other guys and was handling it like the pro she was. "Fine. Let's go get some bad guys."

She almost smiled. "Let's do that. Give me five minutes."

True to her word, five minutes later, they were both in Dolly, with the rest of the team shooting questioning glances at Kenzie and him as they rolled out toward Holmes.

"Thought this was your day off," Magic Man said, glancing up at Kenzie from checking his weapon.

"It is."

The medic raised a brow, then shrugged. "All right then."

"Don't worry," she said. "I'm not treading on your territory. You do you and I'll do me." She patted the med sling pouch on her lap. "This is just backup."

"Works for me." He hesitated. "If I need help, I'm glad you'll be there."

After that exchange, everyone fell silent, doing their best to mentally prepare for what was to come. Most larger cities had more than one SWAT team. In Lake City, they were it—with a few officers they could call for help if needed. Their days off were staggered enough that getting called to a situation was few and far between. And frankly, Cole had to admit he was a little annoyed at the interruption of his day. He'd been enjoying the time with Kenzie.

Then again, this would give him time to really think about what he was doing. Because enjoying time with Kenzie could have consequences he wasn't sure he was ready to incite.

Dolly swept out of the more affluent area of Lake City and into the less. It was like someone flipped a switch. One moment, you were in a clean, well-kept part of town and the next ... you weren't.

The old abandoned mental institution coming up on the right, Lake City State Hospital, never failed to send shivers up his spine. His grandmother had been a patient there, and he always wondered about her whenever he passed by the place. Built in the early 1800s, it was finally shut down in the 1990s after numerous allegations of abuse and an investigation led by a bulldog of a reporter. Almost every native of Lake City had a family member who'd once walked those dark halls. The place had been left to rot, although kids sometimes thought they were being cool by partying in the "psycho house."

"That place creeps me out," Mann muttered, as though reading Cole's thoughts.

Kenzie caught Cole's gaze. She knew the story of his grandmother, Eliza Crane, as well as he did. From everything he'd heard, the woman hadn't been mentally ill at all but was the victim of his sociopathic great-grandfather. Kenzie's paternal grandmother, Betsy King, had been Eliza's best friend, and Kenzie's paternal grandfather had been the doctor who'd saved her life.

"Looks like we know where to have Kenzie's Christmas gifts shipped to once she cracks from the job," Butler joked. "Right, Buzz?"

"Whatever, man."

Butler laughed and shook his head. "Oscar Woodruff and I used to sneak out of his house and walk over to the place to party. His dad never did catch us." He chuckled. "We still laugh at how we outsmarted the chief of police back then." He looked at Kenzie. "Your dad had resigned by then."

Kenzie remained silent and Cole wanted to punch Butler. But then Kenzie would punch him, so that wouldn't help matters. He planned to have a heart-to-heart with Butler in private.

"You and Oscar, huh?" Greene said. "You two still tight?"

"We are. In fact, it should be him on this team, not—"

Cole's glare cut him off.

"As teenagers, you do stupid things," James murmured.

Butler rolled his eyes.

Cole rubbed his. Oscar Woodruff was a good man, having served as a medic in Afghanistan. Now he was a detective with the Lake City Police Department and well-liked by all who knew him.

"My grandfather ran that place for a while," Kenzie said, "implementing changes that offered the residents a better life, like humane treatment, decent food, and a clean place to sleep." She lifted her chin a notch. "I'm proud of him and the history my family has related to that place, the impact they had on caring for the misunderstood and mentally ill. So, say what you want, it doesn't bother me."

"Should have known you'd have ties to the loony bin," Butler said.

"More than one of us have ties to it, and you know it, so lay off." Cole's quiet voice cut through the laughter. "Stay focused, guys."

Kenzie stiffened and lasered a hard look at Cole. He sighed. She didn't want him interfering, but the truth was, he would have done it regardless. They all needed to focus.

With the abandoned institution in the rearview mirror, Cole's thoughts turned once more to the situation. He checked his phone. Nothing new. Police were on scene and working to make contact with the hostage taker.

When Dolly pulled to a stop, Cole was the first one out the door and made his way to the officer in charge, Ryan Hollingsworth. They'd worked together before and Cole shook his hand. "Any word?"

"Nothing."

"Who's inside?"

"No idea. That's what's so weird. We got a call that it was a domestic violence situation. A husband holding his wife and two kids hostage, but it's been crickets since we got here. Working on getting eyes in there."

"We're ready to move when you give us the word."

"Have at it."

Cole pressed the comms tighter into his ear. "All right. Let's get some eyes on the situation. Cross, go."

James nodded and followed the command, darting forward, ready to use the small camera to help them get some feedback on the situation. Cole scanned the area once more. Buildings gone the way of the mental institution stood silent and still, windows like eyes that had seen too much of life and had checked out when the junkies checked in.

Usually, the place was a beehive of some kind of illegal activity but was now a ghost town, thanks to the law enforcement presence.

Just in front of James, a window shattered and a grenade rolled to a stop.

"Grenade!" Cole's shout echoed.

But his friend and teammate was already diving behind the cover of a big metal dumpster. Cole threw himself behind the nearest police vehicle and slammed his palms over his ears. Less than a second later, the grenade exploded with a boom that sent debris flying.