Would Chief Marks be mad at her now too?
Why would he ever have her back when all she’d done was rain destruction down on his no-doubt peaceful little world?
19
Wednesday, September 26th
6:00pm
The ambulance had arrived and paramedics were assessing Mick. His pallor was worse than when Kellan had first discovered him, and it made Melina nervous. She hovered in the background, quietly watching after the paramedics took over Ollie’s care. They had him on a stretcher and were taking him to the hospital.
Another ambulance was ready and waiting to transport Mick, but his case seemed far more severe. He still hadn’t regained consciousness. It was more than concerning.
They’d put a neck brace on him and were treating him like a delicate flower—slow, minimal movements, extra methodical in their assessment.
Melina wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to wrap her brain around the harrowing events.
It was so unexpected.
So unbelievable.
The Aspen Falls Police Department had been attacked.
How’d they do it so easily?
Melina shook her head and glanced down, flinching at the sight of blood on her scarf.
Ollie’s blood.
She closed her eyes, imagining what his wife must be going through. Someone would have called her by now. Maybe Steph, or was she too busy dealing with the hunt for the missing girl?
Had Leah known they were coming for her?
Someone should call Ollie’s wife. And Mick’s wife. He was married, wasn’t he? She thought he was, but suddenly she couldn’t remember. It wasn’t like they were friends or anything.
“I want you to check in with every officer on shift.” Kellan’s voice cut through her overcrowded brain.
Melina glanced up and saw him talking to Steph. His stance was tense, but his voice was smooth and easy.
“Ollie said the attack came from a cop. It can’t be one of ours, yet Mick must have buzzed the guy in, which means someone might be missing a uniform…and possibly a squad car.” Steph nodded to each of Kellan’s clipped commands.
“Have we checked the security cameras yet? We might be able to identify him that way,” she said.
Kellan shook his head. “We will, but my guess is his face was obscured. Otherwise Mick wouldn’t have buzzed him in.”
“Mick no doubt saw the uniform and just assumed it was one of our guys.” Steph’s delicate eyebrows dipped together while a muscle worked in Kellan’s jaw.
“Which means one of our guys is lying out there stripped and freezing. We need to find him. That’s our top priority for now.” He started to turn then spun back and clicked his fingers. “Alert the sheriff too. They can help us with the search.”
“On it.” Steph rushed away and Kellan turned to talk to the paramedics, barely offering Melina a glance. She wanted to ask him if someone had called Ollie’s wife…Mick’s wife. She wanted to offer her help in some way, but he was in work mode. His staff needed his confidence, his command…his full attention.
She inched a little closer to the wall, feeling weak and superfluous. The top of her body suddenly felt too heavy for her quaking knees.
“Melina?” She jerked at the sound of her name and looked up in time to see her brother rushing toward her. His eyes were round with concern, his forehead creased. “What are you doing here?”
“I-I was here about the girl…” She pointed into the room where Mick was being carefully placed on a stretcher. “She was… Mick’s in a coma. They shot Ollie.” Her voice trembled, and her knees gave out the second Jarrett reached her side. He pulled her into a tight hug, his strong arms encircling her so she could rest her head on his shoulder.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he whispered, shushing her like he did after their father died. He’d held her at that gravesite for what felt like hours, assuring her that everything would be okay.
She hadn’t believed him at the time, but he’d done everything in his power to make sure it would be.
He was more than just her brother; he’d become her friend too, and she was eternally grateful that he’d stayed in Aspen Falls. With his flare for reporting, he could have moved to the city years ago.
But he’d stayed.
To take care of Mom.
To watch out for her.
“Jarrett, how the hell did you get past security? Get out of my station!”
Melina pulled away from her brother as Kellan swiftly approached. His sharp voice matched the irritated look on his face. Melina wasn’t used to seeing the police chief this way, and she instantly realized what a huge effect this whole ordeal was having on him. He’d rely on his anger and the busyness of work to carry him through.
But what happened after it was over? When he crashed?
Who would hold him together then?
Jarrett ignored Kellan’s bark and acted as though he’d just been welcomed in. “Hey, are you okay, man? Is Nate alright?”
Melina was grateful Jarrett’s best friend was already at the hospital when the jailbreak happened. He’d been injured enough for one day.
Kellan let out a stern grunt, obviously noting Jarrett’s complete disregard for his authority. He looked exhausted as he rubbed his forehead and glanced behind him.
The ambulance doors slammed shut and the paramedic raced around to the front to get Mick to the hospital.
As the van pulled away, Kellan turned back and muttered, “Nate was already at the hospital getting his hand stitched when this happened.”
“Hand stitched?” Jarrett frowned. His fingers were no doubt itching to pull out a pen and one of his yellow pads to start jotting notes. He wasn’t one to pass up details on a story, especially one this big.
Kellan sighed and glanced at Melina.
She answered for him. “A young girl was brought in for robbery, and Nate was trying to get some information from her. Instead of talking, she…she attacked him with a pen.”
Jarrett’s eyebrows rose, intense interest sparking in his eyes. “Were you in the interview room too?”
“Yes.” Melina frowned, still feeling guilty for how things had gone down. It was her idea to take in the pen and paper. Her idea to free the girl of her cuffs.
“You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Jarrett scanned her face before he started looking her over.
She waved him off and quickly muttered, “I was fine. It was only Nate who got hurt.”
Kellan brushed his hand down her arm. “It wasn’t your fault. We never could have predicted she’d do that.”
“Just like we couldn’t have predicted this,” Melina softly countered.
She didn’t want Kellan carrying any guilt for the attack. What those jail breakers did was damn ballsy, but she was guessing Kellan would be reassessing the station’s security.
“And what did happen here?” Jarrett glanced between them. “The police radio was sketchy on the details.”
Kellan closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world was pressing down on him all at once. “Don’t try to interview me right now, okay? I’ll tell you everything once I know every officer on my team is safe and accounted for, and that my station is at least on its way to being back in order.”
Jarrett raised his hands in quick surrender.
It was unlike him to be so compliant, but he obviously sensed Kellan’s stress as much as Melina did.
Opening his eyes, Kellan shot Melina a sad, weary smile before turning to Jarrett. “I don’t suppose you could make sure your sister gets home safely?”
“On it.” Jarrett nodded. “But I will be back later with my notepad.”
Kellan rolled his eyes, then turned to face Melina. His expression flashed with apology and regret, but she didn’t have time to respond to it because one of his officers came rushing into the room, needing his immediate attention.
Jarrett wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her out of the station.
/>
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” His voice shook as he picked up the end of her scarf and noted the blood.
“It’s not mine,” she whispered. “I was trying to stop Ollie from bleeding too much.” She closed her eyes and licked the edge of her mouth. “I’m okay. I’m just a little shaken up.”
Jarrett squeezed her tighter to his side, shifting them sideways around a desk. He was obviously set on staying glued to her until she was safely at home.
As tempting as the protective escort would be, Melina put on a brave smile and declined. “I brought my own car, so you don’t need to drive me home.”
“That would be a negative. You’re in no condition to drive.”
“Jarrett…” She tried to argue, but knew it was a losing battle.
Jarrett was only eleven months older than her, but he still managed to win almost every fight that ever started.
She rolled her eyes as he mapped out how things would go down.
“Jess is outside chatting with some bystanders and hopefully taking some pics. I’ll get her to drive your car home. You’re coming with me.”
She didn’t have the energy to go even one round with her brother, so she let him gently lead her outside.
20
Wednesday, September 26th
6:10pm
“Higgs isn’t responding.”
Officer Courtney Myers delivered the message. Her hair was falling free of its ponytail, her shirt was untucked, and her chest was heaving from sprinting through the station, but in spite of her appearance, she seemed determined to hold it together until they were out of this mess.
Kellan’s stomach dropped as he absorbed the news. “What unit did he take out today?”
“113.”
“And it’s not in the lot outside?”
Her eyebrows puckered as she shook her head. “No, but I think it was. I’m about to go through the security footage to confirm my theory, but I think someone hijacked Higgs’s car, stole his uniform and…”
“Left him for dead?” Kellan growled.
Courtney gave him a pained frown.
“Is the GPS tracker on the car still active?”
“No, it was disabled before leaving the station thirty-five minutes ago.”
“Shit.” He ran a hand over his head. “Steph!”
“Yes, sir.” She appeared in the doorway of her office.
“Get me all hands on deck. I want every officer we have working on a search. Courtney, check the car’s GPS until it was deactivated and plot Higgs’s route for the day. Something has to lead us to him.”
“Yes, sir.” Courtney spun away to get to work as Steph said, “The sheriff is heading over this way to coordinate a manhunt with you. He should be here within the hour.”
Kellan grunted and marched to his office, wishing like hell that the room didn’t have so much glass. He wanted a space to hide away in. Usually he liked being able to look out at his team and check that everyone was doing what they were supposed to. That evening, he wanted to curl under his desk for just a moment and lick the aching wounds.
They’d been attacked.
His men had been injured.
Mick. Ollie. Higgs. Shit, even Nate and Blaine were affected.
Leah.
That girl.
She must have been pretty damn important for her breakout crew to shoot two officers and throw smoke bombs into the station.
Kellan entered his office and tucked himself into the darkest corner, slumping against the wall and closing his eyes. He had to rally himself before the sheriff arrived. They’d worked together in the past, and he was pretty sure the sheriff would be happy to follow Kellan’s lead. He wasn’t worried about that.
No, he was worried about all the other shit he had to deal with.
Finding Higgs alive.
Making sure Ollie and Mick came through okay.
And tracking down the assholes who had attacked his turf.
As soon as the Feds got wind of this, they’d be showing up to ask questions and take over. BCA—Minnesota’s statewide criminal investigation bureau— was already sending people.
And then there’d be the news vans.
Shit! An attack on a police station, that’d probably make national news. Just what he needed.
A skittish worry raced through him, his thoughts jolting to the girl with her freckled nose and wayward hair. What kind of care was she getting with people like that?
Closing his eyes with a trembling sigh, he tried to shake off his concern. He had more pressing matters to deal with first.
His men’s safety had to come above all else.
He needed to get to the hospital at some point to check in.
But before he could allow himself that time, he had to throw all his energy into finding Higgs.
Kellan was the leader. His team needed him to be strong, even if his limbs felt like jelly. For an aching second, he remembered how he felt when he realized that Rae was actually missing and she wouldn’t be coming back to the tent. He wouldn’t be tucking her in and taking her home the next day.
That gut-dropping realization that life would never again be the same burned like a blue flame inside of him, scorching his insides until nothing but ash remained.
He eventually rose again, but it took a major breakdown to get there.
He couldn’t go through that again.
People were relying on him to be strong, calm and in control.
Standing tall, he swallowed the lump in his throat and walked back out of his office to check in with Steph.
21
Wednesday, September 26th
6:30pm
Jarrett walked Melina up her front path and into the single-story house she called home. Jess, Jarrett’s girlfriend, parked Melina’s car in the driveway and hustled in after them.
Melina didn’t mind her help. Jess was a sweetheart and the perfect match for her brother.
They made a good team, and since Jess had quit the police force and casually teamed up with Jarrett in the paper business, she and Melina had become good friends.
Guiding her into the small living room, Jarrett urged her onto the couch, then rubbed his hands together.
“I’ll make some tea.” He disappeared through the square archway and into the kitchen while Melina sank back against the soft cushions and stared up at the ceiling.
She felt kind of bad for abandoning Kellan at the station, but he had obviously wanted her gone or he wouldn’t have suggested Jarrett take her home.
She rubbed the side of her head as she worried about him, hoping the aftermath wasn’t so much of a pressure cooker that it would boil him down to stew.
Jess crept into the room, shrugging the bag off her shoulder and placing it against the coffee table before taking a quiet seat beside her. She rubbed Melina’s knee as she leaned back into the cushions. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you had to experience that. I mean, I don’t know all the details yet, but the pasty color of your skin when you first came out of the station told me enough.”
Melina gave her a rueful smile, her eyes filling with tears. “I just hope everyone’s okay. That they can pull through this. That Mick wakes up. That Ollie’s okay. That…” She shook her head, wondering whose uniform had been stolen.
Jess gave her leg a comforting squeeze. “Are you able to tell us what happened? Will talking through it help, or are you not ready?”
Melina appreciated the fact that Jess wasn’t forcing it. As soon as Jarrett returned with tea, she knew he’d pepper her with numerous questions. All of them would be spoken in a soft, undemanding way, of course, but Melina would feel the pressure of them anyway.
She pulled in a ragged breath, snatching a square cushion from the corner of the couch and hugging it against her chest.
“Thanks,” she murmured when Jarrett placed a steaming mug on the coffee table in front of her.
“It’s peppermint.” He handed one to Jess and they shared a quick look before he settled i
nto the armchair opposite her.
His eyes raked over her, like he’d just lost a year or so of his life.
She tipped her head, her eyes narrowing at the corners. “I’m okay, Jarrett.”
He took a sip of his tea, a muscle in his jaw working as he looked away from her. “When I walked into that station and saw you…I had that flash of panic that you were hurt or something. I hate the idea that you were inside when those bombs were going off.”
Her lips turned up at the edges briefly. He really did love her.
“I’m fine,” she repeated. “Really. I mean, I will be. I’m just shaken up is all. Poor Kellan, having to face this.”
“How did it even happen?” Jarrett shrugged out of his jacket and threw it over the arm of the chair.
She paused, waiting for him to pull out his notepad.
When he didn’t reach for his bag, she raised her eyebrows at him. “This is a big story.”
He gave her a sheepish grin before shaking his head. “You’re my little sister. I’m not going to use you just to get a story. I’ll question witnesses later. Right now, you just need to decompress.”
Melina let out a slow sigh and reached for her tea. She took a moment to sip the hot, soothing brew and decided she might as well fill them in. It wasn’t like it would hinder the case. If anything, it might help it.
“I’m happy to tell you everything.” Melina glanced between them. “Kellan’s going to need all the help he can get to solve this one.”
Just as she said it, an alert came through on Jarrett’s phone. He wrestled it out of his jacket pocket, his eyebrows dipping sharply as he read the message.
“What is it?” Jess asked.
“An officer is missing.” He glanced up, catching Melina’s eye before looking to his girlfriend.
Jess let out a strangled gasp. “Who?”
“It doesn’t say.”
Having worked with the police only recently, Jess was still very loyal to the people there. Melina reached for her friend’s hand, trying to bring her some comfort as they absorbed the shocking news.
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