She glanced up at him. “Really? That’s what you want to talk about right now with a pandemic on our hands?”
He folded his hands across the menu and fixed her with an intent gaze. “Yes, it’s what I want to talk about right now because we need a moment that’s not focused on the pandemic. Rest, remember?”
She held his gaze, and he could see her jaw muscles tensing as if she were about to argue with him. Instead, she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. I joined the military because I was tired of getting picked on.”
Cole furrowed his brow. Cara was the epitome of an athletic, muscular woman. He doubted she had much fat on her, and he’d seen her muscles as she moved. When had she been picked on?
“All through school, I was the chunky kid. My family wasn’t overweight, so I was convinced I was adopted or had some medical condition that caused it. I was constantly picked on and had pretty poor self-esteem. When I went to college, it was originally to go into lab research. At least there, I thought I could blend in with the other nerds and finally fit in. Instead, I got sidled with a gung-ho ROTC roommate. She pestered me until I started running with her every morning and working out with her every evening. I started to see the weight come off even though my diet was still poor. Then she began teaching me nutrition and my whole life changed. I wanted to help people like she had helped me, and she told me about ROTC and how I could still do research but do it while serving my country.”
Cara shrugged and opened her menu. “It seemed like the best of both worlds, so I signed up. Once I got in, I actually loved the structure and the rigor. I pushed myself even harder which is why David should never have gotten the jump on me at the house-”
Cole held up his hand to interrupt her. “Nope, no work talk right now. Rest, remember? How about your family? Are you still close with them?”
Cara narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you interrogating me now? I thought you’d decided I was innocent.”
“I have.” Cole bit back a sigh. Cara was definitely a tough case.
“Then what’s with the third degree?”
“I just figured we haven’t gotten to know each other well over the last few days because we’ve been so focused on work.” He often found himself wishing at night before he lost his fight to sleep that he had gotten to know Cara better. She was intriguing but also a little like a cactus - sharp and prickly on the outside, but sweet inside. “Since we are taking a break from work. I thought we could take some time to learn about each other.”
She stared at him but finally sighed. “No, I’m not really close with my family. We don’t have much in common. The rest of my family never struggled with weight. In fact, my sister was homecoming and prom queen. I never really fit in.”
Cole’s heart ached for her, and he wondered if her past was part of the reason for her walls.
“In fact, that’s probably why the people here have become like family which is why it’s so important that none of them die.”
At that moment, a squad car raced by the window, sirens and lights blaring. Cole and Cara both turned to watch it. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was. Before he could ask her though, another raced by the window and then another.
“What in the world?” Cole had only seen multiple cars at events a few times in his life and none of them had been good.
“They’re heading toward the hospital. Come on, we have to go.”
She bolted out of the booth before he could respond, and he sighed as his stomach growled. He had been hoping they would at least get a decent meal in before disaster struck again.
19
Cara
Cara knew it would be useless, but she tried dialing Jordan’s number again. She needed to know what was going on, and her mental rebukes for taking a rest were playing over and over in her head. She should have gone back to the hospital. At least then she would have been there for whatever was happening.
Cole wasn’t even able to reach the hospital parking lot before they were stopped by a cop. As he rolled down his window to speak to the woman, Cara realized all the entrances to the hospital were blocked. That could only mean a few things.
“I’m sorry, sir, this is an active crime scene and I’m going to have to ask you to turn around. If you need immediate medical attention, you’ll need to go to Mercy Hospital on the east side of town.”
Cole shook his head. “No, we have no medical emergency, but we are investigating a virus we know has at least one patient inside. Can you at least tell us if it involves that?”
“You can contact Detective Graves if you need to,” Cara piped up from the passenger seat. “Tell him it’s Cara Hunter and Cole Davenport.”
The female cop offered a small smile. “No need ma’am. I recognize your name, but I can tell you it’s not about the virus that I know of. We received a call for a Code Silver.”
A Code Silver. Cara knew exactly what that meant. Someone with a weapon was inside the hospital, and while there was a possibility it could be for another reason, in her heart, she knew the person was after David. Whatever person or group he was working for would want him silenced before the police could interrogate him. The question was how did they even know he was here? There were only a few possibilities and none of them sat well with her.
“Thank you, Officer. When you see Jordan will you have him call me?” Cara asked.
The woman nodded. “Of course, ma’am.”
Cole rolled up his window and turned away from the hospital, but he didn’t drive very far before pulling over and turning to Cara. “Okay, what’s a Code Silver?”
“It’s the hospital’s code for someone with a weapon.” She said the words pointedly and waited for their meaning to sink in.
“And you think that someone is after David.”
“It makes sense, right? Fire Beach isn’t a small town and we have our fair share of crime, but the last time we had a code silver here was when evil people from out of town were after a woman who ended up here.”
“So who would know David is here?”
Cara ran a hand through her hair and then realized she had done the gesture so often today that her short hair, while usually tidy, was bound to be a messy disaster. “That is the question that scares me. Either there were people here already watching to make sure he did what he was supposed to or they’ve got my phone bugged.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I called my boss after we tested the watering can. Told him about David being admitted, but if they’re bugging my phone, I have no idea what else they’ve heard.” She shook her head as the frustration inside of her mounted.
“Cara, there is another possibility you should consider.” Cole’s voice was low and serious and it sent the hairs on her arm standing straight up.
“What’s that?”
“Your boss could be in on this.”
“What?” The very idea flabbergasted Cara. She’d known Bradley Malone for years. He was the quintessential good guy. Played soccer with his kids, barbecued with his neighbors, never broke the law - not even for speeding. “Not Malone. He is patriotic to the core. He would never want to see innocent people killed by this virus.” But even as she protested, the thought took hold in her mind. Could he have done that? He was the only one who knew where both she and Steve had moved to after the mole was discovered that she knew of. In fact, he’d been the one to tell them about the mole, but he couldn’t be involved. The man bled red, white, and blue.
“Look, I’m not saying that he is, just that we shouldn’t discount the possibility. Good people do bad things all the time for any number of reasons, right?”
She hated to acknowledge it, but he was right. David hadn’t seemed like the type to commit murder either, but he’d apparently done so in order to help save his sister. Was it possible Monroe had too?
Inside her pocket, her phone began buzzing. She pulled it out and hit the call button as soon as she recognized Jordan’s number. “Jordan, what’s going on
in there?”
“I’m sorry, Cara. He’s dead.” Jordan’s deep voice held a heavy sadness.
“David’s dead? Did he say anything first? Did you at least get the guy who killed him?” Her voice took on a hysterical edge, and she realized she was almost yelling at him. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. None of this was his fault.
“I’ll ask Nick, but I don’t think so. He was still sedated.” Jordan paused and his breath was audible on the other end. “I’m afraid the shooter’s dead too, Cara. Once he took out David, he turned the gun on us. It was self-defense.”
“You let them kill him? How am I supposed to get answers now?”
Cole shot her a look, and Cara waved a dismissive hand at him. She knew she was being irrational; she just seemed unable to stop it. Her world had felt like a wobbly deck of card’s house the last few days as it was. Now, one event had knocked it to the ground and sent the cards flapping around like injured birds.
There was a long pause on the other end, and Cara knew Jordan was composing himself. He’d never seen her this wound up - she couldn’t remember the last time she had been this wound up - but he knew she was not herself. “I’m sorry, Cara. We’ll look into the shooter, and we’ll find out who’s behind this one way or another. I promise.”
Cara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice was almost back to normal. “I know, and Jordan? I’m sorry.”
“Me too, Cara.” The phone went dead in her ear, but she knew he had accepted her apology and things would still be okay between them.
She stared at the phone for a moment, unsure of what to do next and even more unsure of what to say about her emotional outburst. Cole was definitely getting to see her at her worst.
“David’s dead.” It was all she could think to say, and it summed everything up in two important words. What in the world was she supposed to do now? She had no idea who had hired David nor could she even question the man sent to silence him. She wasn’t even positive David had been the one who killed Steve and knocked her out. Could there be more people involved in this? It was starting to feel much bigger than she had originally thought.
Cole tapped his fingers against the steering wheel for a moment. She was sure he had nothing to add, but then he spoke up. “Do you think his sister might?”
“What? The sister who has cancer? Why would she?”
“Don’t you think if David was suddenly able to pay for cancer treatments that she might wonder where the money was coming from?”
Cara shrugged. She supposed it depended on how far along the cancer was and how close the siblings had been.
“It’s at least worth a shot, right?”
“Yeah, I guess. Do you know where his sister lives?”
Cole flashed her a disarming smile. “What kind of criminal investigator would I be if I didn’t?”
Once again, Cara felt her heart stutter in her chest. Not only did he not seem concerned about her outburst, but now he was smiling at her as if he was actually interested in her. Could he actually be interested in her? And if he was, what did she even do with that knowledge?
20
Cole
Cole glanced over at Cara as the plane gathered speed on the runway. Her hands clutched the armrest on either side of her seat with a death grip that made her fingers look more like talons than fingers.
“Not a fan of flying?” She’d said nothing when he offered to purchase the tickets for the short flight to Vermont. They could have driven but the four-hour flight seemed preferable to a nearly twelve-hour drive. Nor had she said anything as they passed through the security check or waited in the boarding area. If she feared flying, any of those times would have been a better time to mention it than right before the plane left the runway.
She flashed him a tight smile. “Can’t say it’s my favorite thing to do. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I flew. I didn’t even fly the first time I left Virginia.”
Cole placed a hand on top of hers. “If you close your eyes and take a deep breath, it helps.” He wasn’t afraid of flying, but he’d once had a fear of public speaking, and this was one tactic his teacher had taught him.
Her eyes dropped to his hand before meeting his gaze again. She nodded and shut her eyes. Cole knew the fear of flying was common, but he had certainly not expected it from a woman as strong as Cara. She truly was like an onion. Every time he peeled away one layer, a different one lay beneath.
When the nose of the plane lifted and they were forced back into their seats, Cara’s hand flipped over and gripped his. Her eyes didn’t open but instead squeezed tighter. Cole smiled at the feeling of her skin against his. There certainly wasn’t time for romance now, but he wondered if Cara would be open to it later. After the virus threat was mitigated.
It took until the plane leveled out for Cara to open her eyes. She looked at him before gently removing her hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be afraid of flying.”
Though he missed the warmth, he didn’t try to grab her hand again. “It’s understandable. Everyone has something they fear. My sister is an amateur kickboxer - tough as nails - but she’s afraid of spiders.”
He smiled as memories from his past flooded his mind. “Once, she noticed a spider on the ceiling just before dinner. My father refused to kill it until after we’d eaten. She was so scared that she turned her chair around and ate with her backs to us so she could keep the spider in her sights at all times.” A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he pictured the scene again.
“How big was it?” Cara asked.
“What?”
“The spider? How big was it?”
Cole shook his head. “I don’t even remember. Not too big I don’t think.”
“I can kill the small ones, but if they get bigger than a quarter…” She shook her head, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
“Let me get this straight. You are a super tough military researcher and you’re scared of flying and spiders?” He was teasing and he hoped she could tell by the lilt in his voice.
When she smacked his arm, he felt confident she did. “Okay, tough guy, what are you afraid of?”
“Me? Nothing.” He shook his head but his smile remained.
“Oh, come on, you just said everyone is afraid of something, so what is it for you? Snakes? Scorpions? The dark?” The teasing lilt was now heavy in her voice.
“The dark? Really? Is that the best you got?”
Her eyes sparkled as she stared back at him. “Women?” Her eyes widened as her mouth formed an “O” shape. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re afraid of women.”
Cole chuckled. “If I were afraid of women, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
Cara shrugged. “I could be special. After all, I’m not like most women.”
“No, you certainly aren’t.” The words left his lips before he could stop them, and even though he’d said them softly, he knew she’d heard them. They hung in the air like tantalizing treats just out of reach.
She bit her bottom lip, indecision burning in her eyes.
“Um, anyway,” he continued in an effort to change the awkward subject. “I’m afraid of public speaking. That speech you gave about the virus a few days ago? I would have been sweating bullets.”
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him as if she didn’t believe it. “But they were just friends.”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I can’t even stand those small groups where everyone tells their name and a little about themselves. It’s probably another reason I turned to criminal investigation. I rarely have to speak to more than one person at a time.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Cara said with a soft chuckle. “You were so good with the women at the church. Calm and cool. I wanted to be like you in that moment. People tell me I often come across as abrasive.”
Cole would have used the word intimidating over abrasive, but he could see how people might say that about her. What
he couldn’t understand was his demeanor in front of the women. He should have been a stumbling mess, but Cara was right, he had been cool and collected. Had it been because the women were all grandmotherly? Or could Cara being by his side have had something to do with it?
“Perhaps we just make a good team.”
She held his gaze a moment longer before agreeing. “Perhaps.”
When the plane landed a few hours later, Cole stretched to ease his cramped back then rolled his neck a few times to loosen the stiffness. He waited until many of the patrons had deboarded and then shook Cara’s shoulder. She had fallen asleep about an hour into the flight, and he hadn’t had the heart to wake her. He knew she hadn’t been sleeping well, shouldering the guilt for everything that had happened.
“What?” She sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Have we landed already?”
“We have. You ready?”
She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light, ran a hand through her hair, and then nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”
In the airport, she asked to stop at the restroom, and Cole took the time to check his appearance as well. Though his face was a little more haggard looking than he would have liked, he didn’t have the dark circles Cara sported. He wished he’d brought a toothbrush though. Mints or gum on the way out would be a necessity. As well as some food. He hadn’t had a good meal in hours.
Wetting his fingers slightly, he tousled his own hair, patted his cheeks to give them a little color, and then exited the bathroom to wait for Cara. She had apparently had the same idea as she appeared a little fresher as well. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, she had applied a light gloss to her lips and a slight sparkle to her eyes. He bit back a smile. It appeared she had some girly tendencies after all.
“You mind if we grab some food before we head to the address? I’m famished.”
She sent a smile in his direction. “Not at all. My stomach was protesting the lack of food as well a moment ago.”
Rescue My Heart Page 9