by Karen Rose
“No. I’m not. I’m waiting for Jennie and then I’m catching a ride back to the scene.”
“No, you’re not,” Noah said.
She jerked her chin from his fingers. “I’ll function. I owe Kane at least that much.”
“Olivia, you didn’t cause this.”
“No, but I might have prevented it. And I know damn well who could have prevented it.”
“Who?”
“Kenny Lathem. That’s who this guy was after. That’s why he called in a bomb threat. One of the cops at the scene followed us in. He said when the evac started, the staff had all the kids together. One of the staff told him that a guy dressed like a cop gave Kenny a note that said the detectives wanted to talk to him again. He led him away and forced Kenny into a white van at gunpoint. And no, nobody got a plate,” she said before he could ask.
“And Kane?”
“Kane called ahead, told first responders to make sure Kenny was okay. It was the first thing we thought of when we heard about the evacuation. Kenny was the only dorm kid we talked to and he knew something. When Kane got there, dorm staff told him Kenny had gone with the cops. He chased and got to them just…” Her voice hitched and she sternly controlled it. “Just in time. Kane got the van open, Kenny got away. Kane was shot twice, close range. He was probably dead before he hit the ground.”
Noah swallowed hard. “Shit.”
“Yeah. And there’s more,” she said wearily. “You remember at the end of our five o’clock meeting yesterday, when I got the text from the sign language interpreter?”
“She had another commitment.” His expression twisted. “Oh God, no. That’s how this guy found out about Kenny?”
“I don’t know, but that’s my guess. Her kids say she never came home. Around ten they called a family friend who’s been sitting with them. Val had texted them, too, saying she wouldn’t be home for dinner. Her agency didn’t have any record of any other assignments, so they filed a missing person shortly after midnight. Last I saw her was when we broke for lunch yesterday, right before K—”
She had to stop a minute. Breathe. Wait for the spasm in her chest to ease. “Right before Kane and I went up to David’s to bring back that Lincoln character.”
“Liv, were you with David tonight?”
She nodded, looked away. “Yeah.”
“That wasn’t wrong, you know. That had nothing to do with this.”
“If I’d been at home, I would have been there faster.”
“And maybe I’d be standing over your corpse right now,” Noah said sharply. “You know it doesn’t work like that. You could have been caught in traffic, Kane could have waited for backup. A million different things could have happened.”
“I know.” But that didn’t change facts. If she’d been there, Kane would have had backup and he’d be alive. But she hadn’t and he wasn’t and she couldn’t change that now. She could only do what he would have wanted her to do. Her damn job.
“Did you tell David you were all right?” he asked. “He’s going to hear an officer was killed. He’s going to wonder if it’s you.”
Yes, he would, she realized. And he’d worry. “No, I didn’t think to tell him, but I doubt he’s heard about this yet. David was already gone when I left. There was a big fire….” She stopped and looked up, frowning. “There was a big fire out in Woodview. Didn’t you say something about Woodview at the meeting yesterday?”
“Yeah. That’s where Tomlinson bought a house for his mistress. It’s possible, isn’t it? That they could have set one fire deliberately to divert attention from the evac?”
“It’s possible. It was a bad fire with an explosion. Let’s find out if Tomlinson’s house was the target.” She straightened abruptly when the doors from the outside opened and Abbott entered, a small woman sobbing in his arms. “Jennie,” she murmured.
“Remember you did not cause this,” Noah said quietly. “She doesn’t need your guilt. She needs your strength.”
Olivia nodded unsteadily and took a few steps toward them. “Jennie.”
Kane’s wife stumbled into Olivia’s arms. She held Jennie, rocking her where they stood. “Kane saved a boy’s life tonight,” Olivia said helplessly.
“I know,” Jennie cried. “Bruce told me. I can’t believe this.”
“I know,” Olivia whispered. “I’m sorry.” Jennie nodded against her and for a long, long moment they stood that way, until Olivia sighed. “He’s in there. I can go with you.”
Jennie pulled away, still crying but standing on her own feet. “No. I need to be alone for a while.” She took Olivia’s hand, patted it. “He thought the world of you.”
Olivia could only nod. No words would come. She stood, frozen, while Jennie walked around her, through the door to where Kane lay. Abbott squeezed her shoulder.
“Go home, Olivia. We’ll get through the night. That’s all we have to do right now.”
She searched his face, saw he’d been crying. Abbott and Kane had known each other a lot longer than she had. “I need a ride back to the school to get my car.”
“I’ll take her,” Noah said. “We’ll be in at oh-eight.”
Abbott’s nod was heavy. “And we’ll catch this bastard. I gave Jennie my word.”
“Come on, Liv,” Noah said, taking her arm. “Let’s go.” He led her to his car, put her in and got behind the wheel. “Where to?” he asked.
“Back to the school.”
His brows lifted. “For your car?”
“After. First, I talk to Kenny.”
“What about an interpreter?”
“There will be somebody there who can interpret, but if not, I don’t care.” Her jaw clenched. “If I have to use a stone tablet and a chisel, that boy’s gonna talk to me.”
“Okay.”
Olivia stared out the window as Noah drove, seeing nothing of the road that flashed by. She could only see Kane’s body lying on the ground. “What am I going to do, Noah?” The whispered question was out before she knew it was coming.
“What Bruce said. You’re going to get through tonight. Then tomorrow. And you’re going to find the guy who shot your partner and turn him into fucking hamburger.”
She turned to face her friend and saw his cheeks were wet. She reached out, grabbed his hand and hung on. He squeezed tightly and then she understood he needed her, too. She’d pushed Noah away over the last seven months, along with the rest of her friends. “I need to make some calls, tell folks I’m okay.”
Wednesday, September 22, 2:20 a.m.
David walked away from the wreckage, so tired he could barely move his feet. Rotating their manpower, his and the other firehouses had gotten everyone out. They hoped. David hated to think of anyone still inside. The fire was largely knocked down, but in some areas it continued to flare and would for several more hours.
Beyond the woman’s husband the paramedics had rushed to the hospital, they had four human fatalities—an elderly woman and an asthmatic child who’d died of smoke inhalation in the apartment blaze and two people known to have been in one of the houses when it exploded. He hadn’t heard anything about the other exploded house.
They’d seen dozens of injuries. Jeff had been the worst firefighter injury. David still hadn’t heard anything about his partner’s condition. He was trying hard not to worry.
Trying harder to contain his rage. Sonsofbitches. Why? What could they possibly hope to gain? How many lives had been devastated tonight? And for what?
“You okay, Dave?”
Their shift engineer was shaking a bottle of water, an empty packet of electrolyte mix in his other hand. He held it out and it was all David could do to lift his arm to grab it. He guzzled it down and held the bottle out for more.
“Just tired. Any news on Zell?”
“Not yet. Red Cross is set up over there. Go take a rest.”
He nodded and pushed away from the truck to trudge toward the Red Cross area. Thoughts of Olivia fluttered through his mind and he
let himself steep there, pushing away all the rage, the devastation all around him. He let himself imagine her warm and soft in his bed, hoping he’d be able to get back to her before she left for work. He needed her, needed to hold her after a night like this.
The sex… He drew a breath. Had been unforgettable. You could have been having sex like that for the last two and a half years if you hadn’t been such an idiot. He let out the breath in a sigh. He could have had much more than sex. He could have had her. In his arms. In his house. Someone to come home to. Someone just for me.
His feet stopped moving when he saw Barlow and Captain Casey standing off to the side, deep in conversation. Even from twenty feet away he could sense tension. And pain. Barlow looked like he’d taken a blow.
The two looked up, saw him and exchanged a glance. David got a queasy feeling in his gut. “What’s happened?” David asked. “I need to know. How’s Zell?”
Casey looked old. “I don’t know. I’m waiting to hear. David, there was a shooting tonight. At that residential school.”
The queasiness turned to ice. Oh God. Please. Not her. “Who?”
“Kane,” Barlow said quietly. “He’s dead.”
David felt his knees go weak. “Oh no. How?”
“You know that hearing aid you found in the condo debris? Olivia and Kane were trying to track its owner, looking for an eyewitness at the deaf school. They found a kid who knew something. Somebody tried to snatch the kid tonight.”
“The bomb scare was a fake?”
Barlow nodded. “They did a full sweep and didn’t find anything, but it got the kids evacuated. Kane got there as the kid was being shoved into a van. He saved the kid, but there was a struggle and…” He trailed off. “Poor Liv.”
David fought back panic. “Was she there?”
“No. She got there about ten minutes later. Kane was already gone.”
Sadness settled on his shoulders, even as his body shuddered in relief that she hadn’t been nearby, in danger. Kane had been more than Olivia’s partner. He’d been her friend and, if David’s instincts were right, a father figure as well. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” Barlow said. “I’d heard there was an officer down. I didn’t know it was Kane until a little while ago. She might still be at the hospital with Kane’s family, but knowing Liv, she’s gone back to the scene.”
Doing her job. As will I. He wanted to ask Casey for a few hours to go see Olivia, to see Jeff, but there was still hours of work to be done here. And then I’m on shift for the next twenty-four. “I’ll call her.” But what could he say?
“I heard about your partner, Zell,” Barlow said. “I’m sorry.”
Fear, worry, and guilt rushed his mind, and he quickly turned it back. He couldn’t let himself think about Zell now. He shouldn’t let himself think about Olivia either, but that was impossible. She was there, in his mind. She was hurting, and he hurt, too.
“Thanks.” David surveyed the wreckage. “Which house was the arson target?”
“Second from the left,” Barlow said. “No glass ball that we’ve been able to find.”
“Was the gas tank targeted?”
“Doesn’t appear to have been. Folks are just turning on their heat at night. They probably had a leak and didn’t know it. The fire spread from one house to another and… boom.” The last word was said very wearily. “We know two people were home in one of the houses, but the other house was for sale. Neighbors say it was unoccupied.”
“The condo was supposed to have been, too,” David said.
Barlow shrugged. “I know. I thought of that already. I’ve called for a cadaver dog and they’re supposed to be here soon. Then we’ll start searching for remains.”
It was a grim prospect, but part of the job. “They didn’t leave a glass ball. Are we talking the same arsonists?” David asked and Barlow’s eyes narrowed.
“House belonged to Barney Tomlinson’s mistress. What do you think?”
The words hung in the air for a moment. Then Casey met David’s eyes, his kind. “Why don’t you take off? Go see Zell and Detective Sutherland. You’re back on in a few hours and you won’t be able to then.”
David thought of Olivia, grieving alone. She shouldn’t be alone. “Thanks. I’ll need to catch a ride back to the firehouse.”
“I’ll ask one of the cops to drive you back,” Barlow said.
Wednesday, September 22, 2:30 a.m.
Olivia and Noah found Micki at the crime scene, staring at the flattened grass that was stained with blood. Kane’s hat was still on the ground. It looked… lonely. And small. Nothing like the man who’d worn it.
Carry this picture in your mind, Olivia told herself sternly. This is the monster you’re chasing. This is what he took from you. From Jennie.
Beside her, Noah let out a breath. “Goddammit.”
Micki looked up, startled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you coming.”
“Did you find the bullet?” Olivia asked harshly.
“Yes. Hollow-point. I had it sent to ballistics. They’ll have results by morning meeting, but I’m betting it’ll match Weems and Tomlinson.”
“Did he leave anything behind?” she asked. “Did the cameras catch him?”
Micki’s lips twisted bitterly. “He was dressed like a cop. Kane must have knocked off the bastard’s hat.” She pointed to it, flattened in the dirt on the shoulder. “The shooter ran over it with his tires when he was escaping. Then the ambulance ran over it again, but it’s folded over, so hopefully anything he left behind will be trapped inside.”
A hat, Olivia thought. Kane would see the irony in that.
“And the security cameras?” Noah asked.
“We got basic height and weight of the shooter. Angle was wrong for the license plates on the van. We can get a very basic make on the van, but that’s it.”
Olivia pointed to Kane’s hat. “Can I take it?”
Micki shook her head. “Not yet. I’m sorry, Liv.”
Olivia’s nod was crisp even though her heart cracked. Micki was doing her job and she was damn good at it. It’s just that it’s on the ground. It shouldn’t be on the ground. She cleared her throat and when she spoke, her voice was even and strong.
“It’s okay. I just want to make sure Jennie gets it. I’m going to find Kenny Lathem now. Call me if you get anything.”
Micki just nodded, her lips pursed to keep from breaking down. Olivia turned on her heel and made her feet move, Noah at her side.
Oaks was waiting for them in his office. A woman sat in the chair next to his desk. He signed, then pointed at the woman who looked to be in her early twenties.
“He said he thought you’d come back, so he waited,” she said. “I’m Danni Oaks. Principal Oaks is my dad. He asked me to come and interpret for him tonight.”
“Thank you,” Olivia said. She turned to Oaks. “Were any children hurt tonight?”
“No,” he signed. “Kenny is quite upset, as you might expect. We’ve called his parents to come get him.”
“We need to talk to him first,” Olivia said flatly.
Oaks hesitated. “Detective,” he signed, “I cooperated with you yesterday.”
“And we appreciate it,” Olivia interrupted the soft voice of Danni Oaks, not bothering to hide her impatience in her face or her tone. “But my partner is dead, Mr. Oaks.” She watched him flinch. “And Val, the interpreter from yesterday? She’s missing. Somebody wants Kenny real bad. I want to know who and why. And I want to know now.”
“His parents should be here,” Oaks signed tiredly, Danni voicing.
“Kenny could be in danger, Mr. Oaks,” Olivia said. “He knows something that somebody doesn’t want told. I don’t want to have to explain to his parents why somebody murdered him, too.”
Oaks’s shoulders sagged. “I’ll have him brought in.”
Chapter Twenty
Wednesday, September 22, 2:55 a.m.
Kenny shuffled in next to a man Oaks introd
uced as Roger Court. Roger was the dorm staff who had spoken with Kane’s killer.
When they were all seated, Olivia began. “Kenny, I know you’re scared, but you have to talk to me.”
Kenny closed his eyes. “I want to go back to my room,” he signed, his face stony.
Danni Oaks voiced it with a note of apology, sentiment Olivia knew was Danni’s and not Kenny’s. Olivia tapped the table, but Kenny’s eyes remained stubbornly closed.
Olivia tapped harder, then banged her fist so hard the table jumped and shuddered. Still Kenny’s eyes remained closed. Fury bubbled up, rattling her control and suddenly Olivia saw Kane again, lying on the ground. His blood soaking the ground. Dead. Because this little shit wouldn’t talk. Goddammit, boy, you’ll talk to me.
She grabbed the back of Kenny’s chair, yanking it from the table and around so that he had nothing to lean on. His eyes flew open, went cold, closed again. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll see how stubborn he’ll be in the general population at the jail.”
“You can’t,” Oaks signed. Danni’s voice trembled as she spoke for her father.
“Watch me,” Olivia snapped back. “Just watch me.”
“He’s a kid,” Roger said aloud, signing at the same time. He was hearing impaired, but she could understand him. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I don’t know that. So I’m going to assume the very worst.” Olivia yanked her handcuffs from her belt and snapped one on Kenny’s wrist.
Kenny’s eyes flew open, stubbornness flashing to panic. “No!” he cried aloud.
Olivia cuffed his hands behind him, then pushed him back in the chair. She had his full attention now. She turned to Danni Oaks, her temper close to breaking.
“Tell him he will talk to me or I will arrest him for hindering an investigation. Tell him my partner died to save his sorry ass and if he doesn’t start talking in the next ten seconds every cop downtown will know why he’s there. Tell him I am sick and tired of his games and I want answers and I want them now.”
Danni signed rapidly, then Oaks stepped in front of Kenny and began to sign.