by Dana Mentink
Rounding up eggs, cheese and mushrooms, Ethan started an omelet in one pan and a mess of bacon in the other. Since he could not love her or any other woman with his present state of brokenness, he would jolly well fix her problems, the first one being her unsated appetite. The aroma of bacon and eggs had the desired effect, Kendra appeared in a fresh Marine battle dress uniform, her hair neatly caught up low on her neck. He’d hoped she would not bring up their near kiss and she didn’t, though he thought he saw a faint pink blush underneath the bruise on her cheek when she encountered him.
“Feel okay?”
“Hungry,” she said.
“I can fix that.”
She poured herself a cup of coffee from the machine, sighing as she sipped the brew. “Did you talk to your people at Canyon?”
“Yeah. I have the interview scheduled. You game to come with?” He feared she would say no, and wondered what kind of plan he’d need to come up with if she did. There was no way he was leaving her alone, whether she liked it or not.
She ate a mouthful of eggs. “I’m in. I worked this morning on tracking Andy’s movements, but I didn’t get very far. He’s not using his old credit cards, nor the same car.”
“We’ll get him.” He sat across from her. The click of utensils and the sipping of coffee wasn’t enough to break up the silence. He wished he could undo his bonehead behavior in the cave and then the truck, close the unprofessional gap he’d created between them. He had the uneasy feeling he’d led her on somehow, made her care about him in a way that just wouldn’t do.
“Kendra, I’m sorry about—”
“Nothing to apologize for,” she said quickly. “You saved my life. I don’t want you to be in danger again, but I can see that you’re not going to budge until Sullivan is caught.”
“And Andy is in prison.”
“That’s not your problem.”
“But like you said, I’m not going to budge.”
She held up a hand. “Ethan, I’m too tired to go through this at the moment. For now, we’ll follow the trail we have on Sullivan and see where it goes.”
And I’ll work my own leads to find Andy. He’d already put in calls while Kendra showered to the contacts Hector had given him, locals in town who would recognize Andy from the mug shot he’d gotten from Carpenter, and emailed them. The coffee shop owner, the gas station attendant, a couple of bartenders.
“Fair enough,” he said. They finished their breakfast on somewhat neutral ground. “Let’s go get your cat before I wake up the beast.”
“Some beast,” Kendra said with a snort. “I can practically hear him snoring from here.”
He was so glad to see her smile, he grinned back like a fool. “He worked overtime.”
“You’re right,” she said. “He went into the river right along with you to save my life, so I owe him a steak dinner.” She eyed him. “And you, too.”
“Ooooh, dangerous offer,” he said. “Titus and I can eat our body weight in beef.”
She laughed, even better than the smile. “I’ll start saving my pennies.”
They washed the dishes together, shoulder to shoulder, and things were easy again between them. Once the kitchen was clean and bottles of water and kibble packed into the truck, at 10:00, she tapped on Mindy’s door.
Mindy pulled it open, wearing a pink robe, curlers bristling all over her head. Baby snuggled in her arms, mewing when she saw Kendra. Kendra took the bony cat, murmuring baby talk against her small head.
“Thank you for taking care of her.” She smoothed the cat’s fur.
“Oh, she wasn’t much trouble,” Mindy said. “We watched silly television and ate ice cream until we fell asleep. Well, I ate the ice cream,” she said with a laugh.
Ethan inhaled. “Wow. That smells great. What’s cooking?”
Mindy looked pleased. “It’s minestrone. Kind of a ritual. Every time before my ex deployed, I’d make a big batch. I heard through the grapevine that he’s shipping out.” She shrugged a shoulder and sighed. “I guess it’s harder for me to let go than it was for Billy. He’ll never be lonely. Women swarm to combat pilots like moths to porch lights. Anyway, do you want some soup? I’ve made a big batch because I don’t know how to cook a small pot.”
“We’re on our way out now, but thank you for the kind offer.”
Mindy nodded. “I heard sirens during the night. I wondered if there was an accident at the training.”
It was no accident, he wanted to say. “Everyone is okay, but, ma’am, I have a favor to ask.”
Mindy shook her head. “I’m no good with dogs.”
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to ask you to dog-sit. I was going to ask if you get any more calls asking about Jillian, would you mind writing down the caller’s number and letting us know?” He handed her a card. “And if you see anyone, any strangers hanging around, especially this guy, call me right away.” He showed her Andy’s mug shot on his phone.
A frown creased her brow. “Uh, sure. Are you thinking it’s the guy from the woods that made me fall off my bike? Is he stalking Jillian?”
Ethan smiled. “We have reason to believe that he wants to hurt Jillian, but we can’t prove he was in the woods. Just being cautious. Thank you, ma’am.”
“You’re welcome,” she said. She was still frowning as she closed the door.
As soon as the bolt slid into place, Kendra turned to him.
“You’ve been busy. You got Andy’s mug shot?”
He shrugged. “I’m not military police for nothing, you know.”
“If Andy was the stranger in the woods, he won’t bother calling anymore. He knows where I am. All he needs to do is wait for the right moment.”
“He’s not going to get the right moment, and it always pays to have a friendly neighbor watching out for you, the nosier the better.”
“I’m not sure Mindy’s going to be much help.”
“We’ll take every little bit we can get.”
* * *
Kendra’s cell phone rang as they returned to the kitchen. Recognizing the caller, she punched the speaker button.
“Hi, Jillian. I’m here with Ethan.”
“Did you recognize the driver?” Jillian asked without preamble.
Kendra gripped the phone tighter. “No. And the plates were obscured, too.”
“Yeah, I got that from Dad, but I figured maybe your memory kicked in with some other details.”
“No, I couldn’t see the driver’s face well enough.”
“She didn’t drown, though,” Ethan snapped. “That’s a plus.”
Kendra heard Jillian blow out a breath.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Jillian said. “I should have started with that.”
“Yeah, you should have,” Ethan said under his breath. Kendra hoped Jillian hadn’t heard. Then, in a louder voice, he informed Jillian, “Andy Bleakman’s out of prison and skipped out on his parole officer.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds. “Yeah? So this might be Andy going after you, not Sullivan?”
“I wish I knew,” Kendra replied.
Jillian heaved a sigh. “If that creep messes up this investigation, I’ll wreck him myself.”
“That’s good to know,” Kendra said. “In the meantime, we’re proceeding with the Sullivan case.”
“Good. What is your next move?”
She looked at Ethan. A scowl crept over his face.
“Well...” she started.
Ethan shook his head. Should she keep things from Jillian? She wasn’t sure, but Ethan was insistent. He shook his head again.
“We’re chasing down a lead,” she said.
“What lead?”
“I’ll fill you in later.”
“You’ll fill me in now,” Jillian said, her voice shrill. “Sullivan wants
me, Kendra. I should know everything.”
Ethan stepped closer to the phone. “And Kendra’s standing between you and him, so you’ll get the info when we have something concrete to tell you.”
“My father—”
“Jillian,” Ethan said, blowing out a breath and sounding suddenly weary. “Don’t pull the father rank card here, okay? We are both doing everything in our power to bring Sullivan down. We want you safe, just as much as your father does.”
Jillian laughed. “I thought you’d be the first one to celebrate if he took me out.”
Ethan looked stricken. “No, Jillian, I wouldn’t. Things were bad between us but I don’t want to see you hurt. We’ll call you when we’ve got something.”
Jillian disconnected without another word.
Ethan stood, arms braced on the table, staring at the phone.
“You okay?” Kendra said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Tension made his muscles tight as steel.
“Yeah. I just... I mean... How bad did I let things get if she thinks I want her dead?”
“I’m sure she doesn’t really believe that.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “She hurt me bad, yeah, but hating her is hurting me worse.”
She squeezed his shoulder. “Is it time to forgive?”
He opened his eyes. “It’s time to start praying for God to help me do that. I don’t think I’m gonna make it on my own. Too much damage and I’m too shallow.”
“I’ll pray, too.”
His eyes brightened like a sunlit autumn leaf and his smile touched a tender place inside her. He gazed at her until she felt she could not tear herself away.
“Thanks,” he said after a moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a woman pray for me besides my mother.”
“I’m a newbie, like I said, but I’m making up for lost time.”
He bowed his head so his lips grazed her fingers, sending sparks tripping up her arm. No, Kendra. He doesn’t want this and he doesn’t want you. She pulled away, missing the connection immediately. “Ready to go wake up your slowpoke dog?”
“Sure. Did you finish fussing over your spoiled cat?”
She huffed. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going to fix her a special breakfast to enjoy before we leave.”
“I would expect nothing less,” he said, grinning as he went to wake up Titus.
SIXTEEN
He’d arranged to meet ammo specialist Lara Dennis in an empty classroom at Canyon. They arrived with plenty of time to spare. Ethan settled Titus in the room and Kendra took a chair at the table.
Linc Colson strolled in, his rottweiler, Star, brightening when she saw Titus. He greeted Kendra politely and declined the chair Ethan offered.
“I’m on my way to a meeting but I wanted to brief you on my interview with the other suspect, Jolie Potter.” He glanced at Kendra. “She’s a—”
“Scientist in a biomed lab,” Kendra finished.
Ethan raised an eyebrow at her.
Kendra filled them in. “I did my homework.”
Ethan fought a grin. The woman had skills. “What’d you get from her, Linc?”
“Nothing substantial. They dated casually, looks like Sullivan dumped her for being too much of a brainiac.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “That figures. What a chump.”
“Yeah, so most likely a dead end there. Let me know if you get anything new from Dennis.”
“Will do.”
Linc called to Star. “I forwarded you Sullivan’s prison visitation list.” His frown said it all.
“What’s up?”
“There’s a name on it that wasn’t there before.”
Ethan didn’t bother to hide his shock. “How can that be?”
“You tell me.”
“Name?”
“Senior Airman Chase McLear.”
“No way.”
Linc lifted a shoulder. “It shocked me, too. I’m just telling you what I know.”
Ethan explained it to Kendra. “McLear’s former Security Forces. Now he’s at Canyon, raising a toddler on his own, almost done training to be a K-9 handler. He wasn’t on the list when we did our initial investigation.”
“Is this an official list from the prison we’re talking about?” Kendra asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She looked from Ethan to Linc. “How could McLear’s name suddenly appear?”
“Question of the hour,” Linc said. “This document says he visited a week before Sullivan’s escape.”
Frustration kicked at Ethan. “Every time I think we’re making progress...”
Linc sighed. “I hear you.”
“I’ll arrange to meet with McLear before we leave today.”
“All right.” Linc left with Star.
Ethan began to pace. He didn’t want to believe Chase had anything to do with Sullivan. He liked him personally, and from what he’d seen, the guy was doing a great job raising a little girl all by himself, which had to be harder than anything either of them had done on the battlefield.
Kendra eyed him. “The pacing’s not going to help, you know.”
“It might.”
“It just makes Titus go bug-eyed trying to watch your every move.”
He stopped. It was probably agitating Titus as she said, and the dog had been through enough. Besides, fatigue from Ethan’s wrestling match with the river bogged him down, too. “Gonna get coffee. May I get you some?”
She lit up like a string of Christmas lights and his stomach got a weird flutter. “I would adore a cup of coffee, you wonderful man.”
He laughed. “And I thought you admired my killer MP skills. Turns out I could have just impressed you with a cup of coffee.”
“I’m already impressed, but the coffee gets you extra points.”
“Coming right up.” He went to the vending machine, whistling as he went. Already impressed? It felt good, he could not deny it, to have Kendra think well of him. That thought both thrilled and scared him. You care too much what she thinks. Just get the coffee and do your job, Webb.
At the vending machine, he found former combat pilot Isaac Goddard collecting his own cup of joe. Shadows smudged Isaac’s eyes. Clearly, combat did not come without a price and Isaac had paid it many times over. Getting help for his PTSD was the first step. Bringing home the dog who saved his life was the second. Beacon had kept him alive, though his handler, Isaac’s good friend Jake Burke, did not survive. Ethan wondered what would happen to Isaac if bringing Beacon home proved impossible.
“Hey, Isaac.”
He looked up, his green eyes hazy for a moment. “Hey, Ethan. I heard you found one of the missing dogs.”
“Yeah. Little Malinois pup.”
“Gonna be okay?”
“He’s improving daily from what I hear from Westley.” He considered whether or not to bring up Beacon, but one thing he’d despised about his return after combat was people treating him like an egg, as if he might crack at any moment. So he asked the question.
“Any word on Beacon?”
Isaac frowned. “He’s been spotted in enemy territory. Guy from my outfit’s been trying to lure him over, but no success yet.”
“I’ll keep up the prayers.”
Isaac blew out a breath. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Ethan imagined for a moment what it would be like to lose Titus. He’d lost a dog before, and it burned like wildfire, but at least he knew what had happened. There was grieving and closure. Thinking about Titus running loose, scared, injured...? He shook the thought away and returned to the conference room. He handed Kendra the coffee just as a small woman with her long hair pulled back into a tight bun entered the room. Her hands were fisted before she snapped off a salute.
Ethan returned the salute. “Thank you
for coming. Specialist Lara Dennis, right?”
“Yes, Lieutenant,” she said, shooting a quick glance at Kendra.
“I’m Jillian Masters,” Kendra said. “I’m helping Ethan with the investigation.”
Dennis’s eyes shifted between them. “Isn’t he your ex-husband?”
Kendra nodded. “Yes, but we’re getting remarried soon.”
The word married jolted him. It had taken him countless painful days to accept the label of “ex-husband,” a title that reminded him just how gullible he had been.
After a blink he said, “Please sit down.” He offered a smile that she did not return.
“All due respect, I’d prefer to stand, Lieutenant.”
Was she sending him a defiant message or just nervous? “All right. Just a few quick questions and we’ll get you on the road. Tell me again about your relationship with Boyd Sullivan.”
She didn’t react. She’d been expecting the question, of course. Why else would she be summoned? Still he caught the tightening of her mouth.
“I’ve already told the investigation team everything. I...I was attracted to Sullivan when we were going through basic. We had lunch together, we talked. That’s it.”
“I don’t think so,” Kendra said.
Dennis stared. “Yes, it is.”
Kendra didn’t say anything, only stared. Ethan knew the tactic and he remained silent also. If Kendra sensed there was something deeper, he’d go with her instincts.
Dennis’s gaze fell to her boots. “I... It took me a while to realize what kind of guy he was. He wanted more, another date, I didn’t. I declined any further contact with him and he was horrible about it. End of story.”
“Why didn’t you like him?” Kendra said.
Dennis started, “I... He was the center of his own universe, ma’am. I liked the confidence at first, or I thought I did, but there’s a difference between confidence you earn and confidence you have no business with. You get the difference, ma’am?”
Kendra nodded.
“How was he horrible when you brushed him off, exactly?” Ethan said.
Her lips thinned. “Phoning me all the time, sending flowers, alternately begging and then calling me names and then apologizing. He wasn’t...stable.”
