Fighting Redemption: A Small Town Romantic Suspense (Texas SWAT Book 1)

by Sidney Bristol

  11.

  ALEX SCRAPED THE EGGS out of the skillet and onto the plates. Genghis’ claws tapped on the linoleum as he hovered, waiting for Alex to drop something. He’d caught a glimpse of Mittens on the prowl out of the corner of his eye, but like Jenna, they’d both stayed out of view since he’d rolled out of bed. He’d heard her moving around in the bathroom when he started breakfast, but that was it.

  He still couldn’t believe last night was real. During those moments between asleep and waking-up, he’d relished the memories as a dream. And then he’d woken up to an elbow in his ribs and no sheets.

  It was real. All of it.

  He didn’t know how or if they could make something work but at the very least it was worth trying. If they realized in a week they weren’t suited for each other, well, at least they knew. In the back of his mind he was certain it wouldn’t be him to make that call. She was every bit as amazing as he’d imagined, but if she didn’t feel the same way, at least they had last night.

  “You cook, too?” Jenna set her work tote and purse down on the kitchen table. She’d showered, dried her hair and despite how little sleep they’d gotten, still managed to look bright eyed and ready for the day.

  “Only simple stuff.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her front to his back while he moved the bacon out of the second skillet. It was completely irresponsible, but he wanted to call into work and spend the day with Jenna. On the kitchen counter. The table. The sofa. There were a lot of places they could make use of.

  “It still smells amazing. I hate to tell you this, but I hardly cook. Unless it comes with instructions that include an oven or a microwave, I’m afraid I don’t do it.”

  “Here.” He handed her the plates. “Coffee, juice or milk?”

  “I—”

  “Wait.” He held up his hand. “You don’t drink coffee, you drink hot chocolate.”

  “You are correct. Never got a taste for coffee. Besides, my stomach revolts when I do drink it. I’ll take juice.”

  She set the plates and silverware out while he poured a travel mug of coffee and a tall glass of juice.

  “What’s this?” Jenna asked.

  He turned, mugs in hand and paused.

  That.

  “Nothing,” he said and passed her the juice before sitting down.

  “Alex, they invited you to apply for a lieutenant position? In Ft Worth? This is a big deal.” She turned the letter over, eyes moving a mile a minute as she scanned the letter.

  “They probably sent them to a lot of people.” He picked up his fork and stabbed a bite to eat.

  “Are you applying?”

  “Why should I?”

  “It’s a great opportunity. I mean, SWAT lieutenant in a major metropolitan city would be great on your resume.”

  “They probably already know who they’re hiring and sent that out as a formality.” He shrugged and kept eating.

  “I don’t think so. You should totally apply. You did SWAT in Detroit before you came here, right?”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “So, I mean, you’re great at being a cop, but your skills are really under-utilized here in Ransom. Think of what you could do in Ft Worth?” She laid the letter on the counter and pushed it at him.

  “It would never work out.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “It just wouldn’t. They’ll promote from inside their department. There’s no reason for me to waste time applying for something I won’t get. Besides, I get the feeling they don’t think too highly of us country cops.”

  “Shut up.” She slapped her hand down on top of the letter. “I’ve served under a lot of people. I know the difference a good one makes—and you are a good one. You’re calm under fire, you always know where your men are, your tactics keep people from getting killed, you listen to your guys, people respect you. I can’t figure out why you think it’s not worth your time. The pay has got to be better, and it’s an opportunity for a promotion. Face it, most of the cops here were born into cop families and we have a low retirement rate. It’ll be a long time before you get an opportunity like this here. I mean, the department is expanding—it has to—but still, this is a really good opportunity. You should think about it.”

  He chewed the bacon slowly. Jenna made good points, but the reality was that a big department like Ft Worth wouldn’t want to hire anyone with baggage. It wasn’t his skills that were the issue, it was his history.

  “I’ll think about it,” he said.

  “Fine.” She sighed and chewed a bite. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

  “I’ll get your car taken in this morning. Should know if it’s okay by tonight.”

  “Thanks for handling this. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “I wish you’d come to me sooner.”

  She pushed the last bits of food around her plate.

  “What if it’s all in my head?” She lifted her gaze from the plate to look at him. She wasn’t trying to hide her fear or put on a good face for him, not anymore. “What if I moved my car and forgot? What if I’m just imagining it all? There’s no evidence. None. Not a bit.”

  “We’ll figure it out. I don’t know a lot about PTSD, but what I’m seeing is classic stalking behavior and exhaustion. Those blackouts? What if you’re so exhausted you’re literally passing out? Your body could be trying to tell you something with big, neon letters.”

  “Don’t say that to make me feel better, Alex. We both know there’s not enough evidence I’m being stalked. Almost nothing. And there’s plenty of documented proof of soldiers coming home and losing it. I could be going crazy.”

  “I don’t buy it, and I’m not just saying that.” But he had seen her coaster; one of the items she swore was missing. It was the tiniest kernel of doubt, but he couldn’t let her know that at this point in the game. He couldn’t let himself consider that as an option either. She needed him to believe in her, or at least appear so. “I think we’d have picked up on the signs by now. Especially your co-workers.”

  “I can’t rule it out.”

  “And that’s good. You done?”

  “Yeah.”

  He picked up their plates and deposited them in the dishwasher.

  “We got to go. Ready?”

  “Got everything right here. You mind dropping me off?”

  “Not at all. Come on.” He scooped up the last of his gear from the sofa and hustled them out of the house, into his truck.

  It wasn’t a long drive to either the hospital or the station, even from outside the city limits. He turned on the radio and navigated them to the main drag headed into Ransom.

  “So...what are we going to do about—us?” Jenna stared out of the passenger window.

  Us.

  He liked the sound of it.

  “We need to sort out the stalker business first, keeping you safe is the most important thing we have to do. After that, I imagine we’ll figure it out.”

  “But it needs to be a secret for now?”

  “What do you want to do, Jenna? Tell everyone?” Didn’t she realize that putting it out there meant an end to one of their careers in SWAT?

  “No, I just...forget it. Drop me here.”

  “I can take you up to the entrance.” He turned into the long drive leading up to the hospital.

  “No, if we’re going to keep it a secret it has to be a secret from everyone. Especially the hospital staff. They’re gossips. Not as bad as you cops, but still.”

  He didn’t like leaving her to walk to quarter mile up to the hospital, but she had a point. If they were going to hide their relationship, if that’s what they were calling it, then it had to be hidden from everyone. He pulled over to the sidewalk and eased the truck to a stop. Jenna pushed the passenger door open and slid out without a backward glance.

  Alex watched her stride toward the hospital, ponytail swinging. He’d didn’t like any of this, but what was he supposed to do?

&nb
sp; HE STROLLED DOWN A hospital hallway, doing his best to appear casual. Hands in his pockets. Head up.

  Mike was gone.

  He’d suspected it for a few weeks now. It was harder to come by a source at the hospital willing to sell drugs under the counter since the intern had up and disappeared on him. But there was always someone willing to part with the good stuff for the right price—or trade. Besides, a lot of these drugs weren’t being used. He was just tapping that resource before it went bad. And oh, what a high he was going to have tonight.

  He strolled toward the Emergency Department and slid his hands in his pockets. He ran his fingers over the smooth Founder’s Ring. Once he and Jenna were together, he’d belong. The town would look at him differently because he’d be with her.

  It was about that time.

  Jenna should be arriving soon.

  He slowed his stride and stared out the narrow, rectangular windows onto the employee lot. Her little hatchback was missing. Hopefully she didn’t notice he’d needed to borrow it for a minute yesterday.

  A white pickup stopped at the end of the long drive up to the ER.

  A blonde woman in a paramedic uniform climbed out.

  There she was.

  His Jenna.

  And driving the truck was the damn cop.

  That’s where she’d been last night instead of home with him.

  This was unacceptable. Completely unforgiveable.

  JENNA KEPT HER HEAD down and her hands in her pockets. If she was lucky, no one would remark about her odd arrival or how early she was. Typically she scooted in right on time, but today she had at least twenty minutes to spare. She strode through the doors, breathing a tad bit easier. A man exiting the hospital paused between the automatic doors and stared at her.

  She cringed.

  “Ms. Myers, here I thought I wouldn’t see you.” The man extended his arm and smiled.

  “Hey, glad to see you’re up and around.”

  There was something about him, the tilt of his lips, the slight squint of his eyes that creeped her out. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but the young man had struck her as odd when she’d arrived on scene at his Ransom home to respond to a neighbor’s call. She recognized him from somewhere, but for once she couldn’t place him.

  “Haven’t been up on any more ladders, have you?” she asked.

  “No, ma’am, I have learned my lesson.” He held onto her hand and took a step closer.

  The urge to kick him in the shin and run was strong.

  Instead, she took a deep breath, screwed her smile on tighter and stared him in the eye.

  “That’s good to hear,” she said. “Hey, I’ve got to get inside. Good seeing you.”

  She wiggled her hand out from between his and strode in all haste inside to clock in. The sensation of being watched, of fingers crawling along her spine, was impossible to shake. She kept her head up all the way to the locker rooms. Alone, at least until the shift change started in earnest, she put her back to the wall and shuddered.

  Had she just come face to face with her stalker?

  Was that guy it?

  Deep breath.

  She gripped her phone, wanting so badly to call Alex to come to her rescue. But that was the problem. Nothing untoward had happened. A person had said hello and shaken her hand. That wasn’t the act of a violent stalker. As protective as Alex was of her now, she couldn’t point him at the wrong person without proof.

  Before all of this, she’d never have thought ill about a patient. Okay, some were clearly not right in the head and others were decidedly odd, but she’d never lied to get away from someone before. This wasn’t the way she wanted to live, scared of her own shadow and avoiding patients.

  She shoved her things into her locker, grumbling to herself. Something had to give, soon. There was no way she could keep this up.

  Thankfully, her morning proved to be a busy series of minor accident calls. It kept her mind and hands busy, without the dread of tragedy. By the time she grabbed lunch in the cafeteria she was back to her regular self. She checked her phone and her pulse raced when she saw the only text message in her in-box.

  TL Alex.

  Call me.

  She glanced around, foot bouncing with nerves. Surely someone had to have picked up that she was different. She wasn’t that good at acting, was she?

  Jenna clicked the phone icon and pressed her cell to her ear.

  It barely rang once.

  “Hello?”

  Invisible, warm fingers stroked down her arms and legs. Butterflies buzzed in her stomach. Her smile was so big her cheeks hurt.

  “Miss me?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

  Alex signed into the phone.

  “What? Not a good time to think about last night?”

  “We have a briefing this afternoon.” Was it her imagination, or was his voice a little raw?

  Good. It was beyond time he got a healthy dose of the kind of frustration she’d lived with. The man was so freaking in control she wanted to shake him a little.

  “What about after the briefing? What happens then?” she asked.

  Alex didn’t reply. Instead she heard the sound of what she assumed were doors and the ambient sounds faded into the background.

  “Jenna, not the time,” he growled.

  “What? No one can hear me.”

  “No flirting on work time.”

  “You are no fun, and I’m not agreeing to that.” She blew out a breath and rolled her eyes.

  “I’m serious. Do you know how much trouble we could get into?”

  “You sound like you’ve never been in trouble.”

  “Jenna.”

  “Fine. Fine. I’ll see you this afternoon, I guess. Same bat time, same bat place?”

  “Yeah.”

  Her phone beeped with another incoming call.

  “Hey, gotta go.” She clicked over to the new call. “Hello?”

  “Is this—Jenna?” a woman asked.

  “Yes, who is this?” Jenna glanced at the screen, but the number wasn’t one she’d saved.

  “This is Sterling, Sterling Kuhn, I was—”

  “Staff Sergeant Kuhn? Oh my gosh, how are you?” It wasn’t often Jenna got to reconnect with one of her army buddies, let alone someone she’d spent considerable time with.

  “I’m...okay.”

  “What’s up?” There was something in Sterling’s tone that wasn’t okay.

  “I just...needed to talk to someone. I don’t know. If this is a bad time, sorry.”

  “No, no, I’m on lunch. I don’t have long, but I’d love to catch up. Where are you these days?” Jenna gathered her things and dumped her trash in the garbage, her attention fully on Sterling.

  “I’m back home.”

  “You live close to me, don’t you?”

  “Grapevine.”

  “Close enough. Want to get together?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  Jenna ducked into a cleaning closet so she could better hear the other woman. Her time was running out, and she had to get to the bottom of what was wrong before she went back on the clock.

  “Sterling, what’s up? You called me for a reason.”

  “I don’t want to bother you.”

  “Stop it. Tell me.” Now Jenna had to know.

  “I’m struggling.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “I just checked myself out of Sundance.”

  “Sundance—as in the—”

  “The loony bin?” Sterling chuckled, but there was no joy in it. “Yeah. I’m going bonkers or something.”

  Jenna put her back to the wall and closed her eyes.

  Sterling.

  She’d been fine last time they’d spoken, but that was years ago. What had happened?

  “The doc said I should talk to someone, but...it’s hard to talk about it with people who haven’t been there, you know?”

  “Yeah, you might as well be speaking another language. Sterling
...what happened?”

  “You mean, why’d I lock myself up, or what knocked my screws loose?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “Yes, all of it. But how about this, how about we get together? Tonight?” She didn’t have a car, but she’d figure out a way to be there for Sterling.

  “No, no, I’m staying with a friend for now.”

  “Okay, then let’s get something to eat.”

  “I don’t really want to be around people. That’s why I checked myself out. I couldn’t be there with the random nurses coming in whenever they wanted.”

  “Okay, well you tell me when.”

  “Hey, thanks for talking to me. You should get back to work.”

  “Hey—Sterling?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Call me anytime you need to, okay? I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night and you just need someone on the other end of the line while you sleep, you call me, okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll do that. Later.”

  Jenna stared at the phone. Something bad had happened to Sterling. The woman was tough as nails. Jenna’s mom had always said that the best cure for your own trouble was helping someone else with theirs. Maybe it was fate that Sterling called Jenna now, or maybe it was just dumb luck. She’d take it.

  ALEX SHIFTED SLIGHTLY until he could see Jenna on the third row out of the corner of his eye. Any moment now, narcotics would begin briefing them on the details of the bust, then Alex would take over. He needed to focus on how to best utilize his team, and not Jenna. Not what was under that uniform of hers.

  “Hey, Myers.” Trevor plopped down in the seat next to him, obstructing Alex’s view of Jenna.

  “They’re letting you in the field?”

  “Nah, I’m here to observe.” Trevor pitched his voice low, for Alex’s ears alone.

  “Because you haven’t been in a hundred briefings.”

  Trevor glanced over his shoulder, one side of his mouth hitched up in a funny looking smile. The man had a secret.

  “Keep this between you and me?” Trevor whispered.

  There it was.

  Alex nodded.

  “They’ve selected their next detective.” Trevor’s brows rose.