Oh, she was pitiful. Her mind was a mess. Waffling one minute and the next, desperate for something that would never happen again.
She steeled her resolve to hide her feelings and shifted to stare at the terrifying-looking vehicle as she approached him. They’d been inside the SUV that now sported bullet holes too numerous to count. She had the urge to touch one of the cavities, just to be sure the shooting had been real, but the terror deep in her soul told her it was real. Told her that someone tried to murder her and Erik.
She wrapped her arms around her stomach and faced him.
“You didn’t have to come out here,” he said, but he didn’t sound like he was unhappy with her presence.
“That’s what I told her.” Drake cast her another snarky look.
She ignored him. “I wanted to see if I could do anything to help.”
“I appreciate that.” Grady gave her the same warm smile he’d offered when she’d met him before he’d left with Erik. “But with the armor plating, the removal is going to be tricky, if not impossible, without taking the vehicle apart.”
“It’s probably going to be an all-nighter.” Sierra yawned. “And I, for one, am not going to help. Asher awaits me.”
“Thanks, Sis.” Erik bit his lip as if he wanted to say a whole lot more.
“I’ll get the slugs to you for printing and DNA before I analyze them and obscure anything,” Grady said without looking up from his camera. “But I have to say, I can’t guarantee I won’t smudge anything with how embedded some of them are.”
“You recovered what?” she asked. “Over sixty casings? If the guy left his prints or DNA, we should be able to get what we need between the bullets we recovered and that quantity of casings.” She picked up her case. “Okay. I’m out of here. Night all.”
“Thank you for your help, Sierra,” Kennedy said.
“Any time, but please don’t go out and get shot at again.” Sierra wrinkled her nose and pressed her fingers on the biometric reader by the door, which popped open for her. She disappeared inside the building.
“If you don’t need me to babysit Kennedy any longer,” Drake said. “I’ll take off too. Need my beauty sleep.”
“No amount of sleep is going to fix that ugly mug.” Erik chuckled. “But seriously, thanks, man.”
Drake gave Erik’s shoulder a playful punch and strode off in the same confident way all the Byrd brothers moved. Their dad had the same way about him. They’d also picked up a sensitive side from him, not that a one of them would admit that. Well, except Erik when they’d been together. He’d often been tender. Mix that with the assuredness and protectiveness, and it was a trifecta of attraction that left Kennedy’s heart pounding.
“You two should take off too,” Grady said. “There’s really nothing you can do here. I need to remove these slugs.”
“I’m trained to remove bullets,” Kennedy said.
“Sorry, but I’m a control freak. Especially in a tricky situation like this one. And one that involves people we care about. So…” Grady shrugged.
“I could help take the vehicle apart,” Erik offered.
“I can handle it.” Grady shifted his gaze between Erik and her. “Besides, you look like you’ve got something you might want to talk about.”
If Grady was picking up on her emotions when he was busy doing the thing he loved the most, she wasn’t hiding her growing feelings for Erik very well.
“Then we’ll head out,” Erik said. “Call me if you need me. Or if you want to stop by, I’m bunking with Drake.”
Grady’s rust-colored eyebrow rose, but he quickly turned his attention back to his work.
Erik spun, and Kennedy headed for the door. In the hallway, he strode past her to the elevator keypad to call the car.
“It’s going to take a boatload of cash to fix the SUV,” she said, preferring to keep the charged atmosphere in control by sticking to business.
“Aiden assures me that our insurance will cover most of it.” The elevator car arrived, whooshing open, and he held the doors for her.
“I’d like to cover any deductible.” She entered and leaned against the back wall.
“That’s not necessary.” He joined her and stabbed the button for the second floor.
“But if you weren’t protecting me, you wouldn’t have incurred the damage.”
“It’s all part of the business.”
She didn’t want to be even further in their debt. “Are you sure your brothers agree with that?”
“If they don’t, my mom will set them straight.” He laughed.
Despite her desire to keep things calm and neutral between them, she laughed along, remembering the past when he could easily go from serious to playful.
He sobered. “We were once really good together, weren’t we?”
And back to serious just as quickly. She didn’t know how to reply, so she simply nodded and hoped it didn’t encourage this topic to continue when she was so uncertain of her feelings.
“I wish I could let go of how I feel and we could try again.” He held her gaze. “If I could, would you want to do that?”
Oh, man. She shouldn’t answer, but she couldn’t hold back. “Want to? Yes. Would I? Not unless I knew without doubt that you really had let go of the pain and hurt I caused. I couldn’t get serious with you again, only for you to bring that up all the time.”
“Yeah.” A pensive look consumed his face. “Yeah, that would be important.”
The bell for their floor dinged, and when the doors opened, he held out his hand. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“I didn’t think it would be easy,” she replied as she passed him.
He gently took hold of her arm and pulled her close. He smelled masculine and like the outdoors, and she wanted to step into his arms and cling for dear life. But she froze and waited for his cue as to their next move.
“But I want to,” he whispered in her ear, his breath warm against her neck. “I really want to.”
Her heart skittered, and she looked up at him. The searing intensity in his eyes burned to her soul. She should say something. Do something. But the words or actions wouldn’t come.
His phone buzzed. He let out a long breath, but instead of answering it, he slid his fingers into her hair and cupped the back of her head.
“I’m going to kiss you again if you don’t stop me.” His phone buzzed again. It had to be important, and she suspected he would regret not answering it. He was just giving in to the moment. He hadn’t let go of the way she’d hurt him. Maybe he never would.
“You should answer that,” she said, regretting the words the moment they came out.
He let her go and muttered something under his breath as he lifted his phone to his face. “This better be important.”
She heard a male voice on the other end of the call say it was. She watched Erik’s face but couldn’t tell if the news was good or bad.
“I was just walking Kennedy to my place. We’ll be right there.” He hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Clay located the race team that wore the hawk bracelets. He’ll meet us at my place. Maybe you can ID one of the men on the team as your intruder.”
Erik opened the door to his condo, and Pong came running, his tongue hanging out, his eyes alight with what Erik believed was love. Before Erik had left his condo, he’d crated Pong as he usually did, but Clay must’ve let the dog out.
“Sit,” Erik commanded. He didn’t want Pong to forget his obedience skills just because he was retired and was doted on by Erik and his family.
Kennedy entered the condo and stopped to ruffle Pong’s ears. She was rewarded with a sloppy kiss. “Aren’t you just precious?”
Erik groaned.
She looked at him. “What?”
“Precious?” Erik feigned a gulp. “He’s a former working dog and has his standards to uphold. Fierce is a much better word.”
Kennedy ch
uckled. “Sorry, no can say.” Kennedy ruffled Pong’s ears again. “You’re precious, aren’t you, boy?”
He yelped his agreement.
“See. He knows who he is.” Kennedy gave Erik an impish grin, then chuckled and headed into the condo.
Erik wanted to tug her into his arms and tickle her like he’d often done, tickle her until she surrendered and their tussling turned into kisses. But even if Clay wasn’t waiting for them, Erik wouldn’t touch her again. Not now. Not when he didn’t know who he was anymore since he’d reconnected with her. Maybe he should take lessons from his dog, who was confident enough to let her call him precious.
Erik sure wouldn’t like that, but honestly, Kennedy once could have called him anything, and he wouldn’t have balked. The thought had him smiling as he followed her into his home, his dog on his heels.
Clay was sitting at the dining table, laptop open in front of him. He looked up, excitement burning in his eyes. “We may have found our shooter.”
Erik wasn’t as excited. Sure, finding the person who wore the bracelet was a good lead, but he couldn’t see the shooter ripping off the bracelet and leaving it behind as evidence. Not under any circumstances. Still, they needed to follow the lead.
“The team call themselves the Redhawks which makes sense with the wristband and the fact that they’re former Oregon Air National Guard 142nd Fighter Wing.” Clay narrowed his eyes, looking so much like their dad that Erik felt like Clay planned to scold him for doing something wrong. “Have a look. There are a few guys on the team who fit your intruder’s build, but one in particular that I’m really liking for this.”
Erik would’ve expected Kennedy to race over to Clay, but she dragged her feet as if they were encased in wet cement. He got it. She was nervous about seeing the man who’d likely chased her with a gun and fired a hail storm of bullets at their vehicle.
Erik followed her, and they both stood behind Clay to look at the big picture on the computer screen. Erik eased closer to Kennedy, and their fingers touched. She glanced at him and offered a soft smile. He should let go as he’d just sworn off touching her, but her smile encouraged him to lace his fingers with hers.
She clung tightly and leaned over Clay as Pong came to lie on Erik’s feet and look up at Kennedy, his expression worried. Erik had known he was falling for her again, but he hadn’t expected his dog to fall in love with her too.
The picture showed nine men and three women wearing camouflage T-shirts and black shorts standing in front of a fighter jet and holding a banner that read Redhawks Fly Through the Hood to Coast Race.
Clay tapped the screen on one of the men. “This guy seems to fit the build of your intruder best. He our guy?”
She squinted. “Could be, but why did you choose him over the guy behind him? They’re about the same size and build.”
“Guy in the front is missing his wristband.”
Kennedy sucked in a breath. “He is, isn’t he? He would’ve had to leave the race, set up the shot and get back in time for this picture.”
“It’s a stretch, but it could happen and he could be our shooter or at least know something about it,” Erik said. “And it wouldn’t be any stretch to think a guy with the skills former military might have could shoot at us. Far more likely than the wife of a scammer, a college professor, or a student.”
“Agreed,” Clay said. “And the suspect at Wanda’s place was wearing military boots and camo. Could be another point in this guy’s favor.”
Erik nodded. “You have any names to go with the picture?”
Clay shook his head. “You’re the internet guru. Figured that would be your job.”
Clay leaned back, forcing Kennedy and Erik to separate and step back.
“I’ll get started on it right after I look through Wanda’s college records,” Erik said.
“But you just said this was more promising.” Clay closed his laptop.
“I think it is in regards to the shooting, but Kennedy and I were discussing who would have access to anthrax or another Select Agent, and it could be someone in the science department at OHSU where Wanda taught. So I’ll start there as I assume Kennedy will want to look through the boxes, and if I search for the name first, she’ll have to wait on me to review the boxes.” Erik looked at her. “Do you?”
“Want to look through them? No.” She bit her lip. “Will I do it? Yes.”
“You guys want help?” Clay asked.
“It’s only a few boxes,” Erik said. “And it’s getting late. I figure you might need to check in with Toni to go over wedding plans.”
“That would be good.” Clay smiled widely. “Fourteen days and counting. There must be some crisis or other that needs my help. Or maybe she just needs moral support. Especially if Mom’s been trying to be too helpful.”
“I don’t mean to be thankful for Toni’s distress,” Erik said. “But the wedding sure has distracted Mom from bugging me in person about the anthrax scare. Not that she hasn’t texted a million times a day. Guess weddings trump anthrax.” Erik laughed.
Clay snorted. “I think weddings trump everything in Mom’s life. At least until she has us all safely married. Then she’ll probably start on our spouses’ siblings. Malone ought to watch out. Or maybe she’ll change her focus to increasing the number of grandchildren.”
“Congratulations on the upcoming wedding.” Kennedy gave Clay a luminous smile. “I’m so happy you found someone who makes you smile like you do when you talk about her.”
“Oh, he’s hooked all right.” Erik laughed.
“And proud of it.” He punched Erik in the arm. “Time you took the same plunge.”
Erik opened his mouth to protest but Clay started across the room and down the hallway.
“He really looks happy.”
“He is. As are all my siblings right now. Family gatherings are almost enough to make you want to gag,” he said, but honestly, he enjoyed seeing everyone happy.
Odd that he really hadn’t been jealous until that moment. Until Kennedy came back into his life. But that wasn’t something he would dwell on.
“You should know,” Erik said as he went to the end of the table and lifted two of the three boxes onto it. “I researched Tile trackers while Sierra and Grady did their thing and found out that they don’t have serial numbers, just a Bluetooth ID. Once we know who put the device in your bag, we can tie the account to that person via that ID, but it won’t allow us to trace the trackers back to the owner now.”
“Another dead-end then.”
“For now, yes.” He slid one of the boxes over to Kennedy. “Let me grab gloves in case we find something important.” He dug in his computer case for two pairs, then handed one to Kennedy.
She opened a box, and he lifted the lid on the one next to it. He started digging to find it contained mostly awards, desk supplies, and old journals, which he set on the table. In the bottom of the box, he found a leather-bound book that raised his hope for a lead.
“Calendar and diary,” he said to Kennedy and sat down to look through it. He set the book on the table and it opened in the middle.
“See this.” He pointed at the paper near the spine. “Someone ripped pages from the book in the diary section.”
“My mom could’ve done it.”
He met her gaze. “Yeah, or someone who didn’t want anyone to read what she’d written.”
“What’s before and after the missing pages?”
He turned back a few pages. “Before it are notes about student labs she wanted to include in her curriculum.”
“And after?”
He flipped more pages. “She was going to propose a research project for her advanced students. She’s made a list of pros and cons she would use to get her supervisors on board with it.”
“Does she say what they would research?”
“Medicinal chemistry and blood cancers.”
Kennedy rubbed a hand on her forehand. “I didn’t know she was interested in that.”
“Did she know anyone with a blood cancer?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Do you think she might’ve had cancer?”
Kennedy’s eyes flashed open. “Wouldn’t they have found that in an autopsy?”
He shrugged. “That’s a question we need to ask a medical examiner.”
Kennedy shook her head. “Surely if she was sick, Finley would’ve seen it. It’s too late to ask her about it tonight, but I will first thing in the morning.”
“And speaking of morning, we need to get to work so I can get at least a few hours of beauty sleep before interviewing the guy in the photo.” Erik chuckled.
Kennedy’s narrowed eyes said she found no humor in his comment. “You don’t even know his name.”
“I will by morning.”
“That’s overly optimistic, isn’t it?”
“Nah. With the former military connection, I can find him.”
She locked gazes with him. “Then I’m coming with you to the interview.”
She looked ready for a fight, but it wasn’t needed. “You’re the one who might be able to identify him, and I didn’t plan on stopping you. But we won’t rush off. If he’s our guy, he’s already tried to kill us and Aiden. So the team will do recon at the guy’s house then meet to formulate a plan.”
Erik’s phone rang, and he answered. “Good evening, Maya.”
“I wish it were a good one. The toxin came back positive for anthrax.”
He was glad he was sitting or he might drop to his chair. For the first time since he’d been exposed, he had a valid reason to be concerned for his life.
17
Kennedy couldn’t think of a better way to start her day, even if the entire Byrd clan sitting around Erik’s dining table was a bit intimidating. With spouses and significant others and new children, there were so many more of them now. But then she was more self-assured than she’d been as a college girl, and she knew she could hold her own.
Night Watch Page 17
