He had not missed the look of apprehension in her eyes. He knew she had a secret and she wanted to keep it buried. Fine, have it your way. He held up both hands in mock surrender. “Then I apologize for overstepping, ma’am.” He offered her a small smile. “I just want a quiet life but I’m here if you need me, no questions asked, okay?”
“Okay.” Alton’s cheeks pinked as she bent to brush the debris from her clothes. “Thanks. I’ll call Rowley at the landfill. He’ll be too late to catch the shooter but he might pick up a trail in the snow.”
“No, don’t. We’ll swing by if you like but from what I observed earlier, the road along that fence line is clear and used frequently. We could try searching for a cartridge casing along the tree line but I can retrieve a bullet from the tree. It’s snowing and by the time we get there I doubt we’ll find any trace of the shooter.” Kane touched her shoulder. “Wait here and I’ll get the car. I’ll park in the woods and wait ten minutes or so then go back and dig out the bullet.” He smiled at her. “Stay alert.”
“Roger that.”
Kane stopped mid-step and turned to look at her. He had deliberately added military speak to their conversations over the last few days to validate his suspicions about her. Her reply convinced him she had at least had basic military training. The way she handled herself under threat impressed him and convinced him she had been under fire many times. He shook his head, trying to force his thoughts back to the problem at hand. Sheriff Alton’s past was irrelevant to the current crime wave and he would likely open up an assortment of problems if he persisted. Right now, she was the least of his problems. They had a killer on the loose.
Using stealth learned over years, he slipped back to his vehicle and backed it along the narrow road through the forest. Once safely parked in the dense undergrowth, he beckoned Alton forward. “Use the tree for cover and watch for the shooter on the hilltop. He is careless. I caught the glint on the rifle, so watch out for anything that sparkles. It won’t take me long to grab the bullet.”
“Stop treating me like a rookie.” She glared at him and her lips thinned. “It’s not my first day on the job.”
“Sorry.” He pulled open the rear door of the SUV and opened the case containing a high-powered sniper rifle. In a few seconds, he assembled and loaded the weapon. He handed the gun to Alton. “Go.”
Kane moved with care toward the fence line, keeping close to the perimeter of the forest, his attention sweeping the top of the hill overlooking the landfill. His boots made no sound and his ears strained to listen for another gunshot. He would have a millisecond to react but he had been in worse situations. Using the trunk of the tree as a shield, he then ran his gloved hand over the damaged bark and felt for the bullet. When his fingers closed around a piece of metal, he could not believe his luck and wiggled the projectile until it fell into his palm. He dragged an evidence bag from his pocket and dropped his prize inside. “Got it.”
He returned to Alton’s position, waving the baggie, and watched her dismantle the rifle with swift efficiency. She had the weapon stowed away and was inside the vehicle before he climbed into the warmth of the car. His belly growled and Alton let out a snort of laughter. Rubbing his stomach, he chuckled, glad to relieve the tension. “I think I’m ready to visit Aunt Betty’s Café.”
“Me too.” Alton rubbed her hands together and smiled at him. “Cold weather and assassination attempts make me ravenous.”
Twenty-Five
Jenna pushed away her plate. “Eating out with you is making me fat. I’ll need to find time to work out or I’ll be mush by spring.”
“Is there a gym in town?”
“No need.” Alton let out a long sigh. “You are welcome to join me unless…”
Kane shot her a concerned glance. “Unless what?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess you don’t work out with your injury. I shouldn’t have asked you, that was very tactless of me.”
“I work out.” He leaned back in his seat. “Apart from the cold weather giving me headaches, I’m not impaired. I’m sure I’m fit enough to keep up with you.”
“Oh, I love a challenge.” She grinned at him. “Any time you’re ready, let me know.”
“I’m a morning man.” A slash of white teeth split his face. “Zero six hundred late enough for you?”
“Six it is.” She cleared her throat. “Ex-military man, are you? I don’t know many cops who use that terminology, or react so fast in an emergency. Special Forces perhaps?”
“Let’s make a deal. If I don’t bug you about your past, then you don’t ask me about mine.”
“Deal.” She turned in her seat. “But lose the military speak, it’s a dead giveaway.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Kane’s companionship over breakfast had settled Jenna’s nerves, and by the time she strode into her office, her knees had stopped shaking. It had been over three years since she had seen any action in the field and although her training had kicked in, hiding the aftershock from Kane had been difficult. She shucked her coat, and after hanging the damp garment on the peg beside the door, she turned to peruse the information on the current cases added to the whiteboard in her office. Nothing of note had happened in the last months; in fact, apart from James Stone pestering her for a date, her life in Black Rock Falls had been an ordered delight. The attack in the shrubbery at the hotel and the morning’s shooting had slammed her back into reality big time. On the landfill back road with Kane by her side, she had allowed herself to become vulnerable, careless. If not for Kane, I’d be dead.
She glanced out the door, and apart from Mrs. Gilly’s high-pitched voice complaining about her neighbor’s dog for the fourth time this month, the outer office was quiet. If she called a meeting during the lull, Maggie could handle the front counter. She gathered her thoughts, wondering if she should mention the incident at the edge of the forest to her other deputies. If Kane had been correct on his take of the incidents involving her, the suspect must have been in the station to obtain information of her whereabouts. The amateurish attempts on her life both worried and eased her mind because a local idiot she could deal with. If Viktor Carlos had discovered her whereabouts and identity, she would have been in her grave years ago. I’ve been a blind fool. Her fear of Carlos sending an assassin had clouded her judgment and made her believe every threat came from him.
Perhaps Kane was correct, she had unknowingly witnessed a crime. Although, in her opinion, the incidents had been little more than an attempt to warn her off, but about what? She racked her brain trying to come up with one reason for someone to go to such lengths to frighten her. Returning to her desk, she powered up the computer and scanned the files again, starting from her first week as Black Rock Falls’ sheriff. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all but she added details to the list on her notepad of any particular involvement, or problems with people. She stared at the short list, recalling each incident with clarity. No bribes offered, nothing sinister had occurred, no death threats received, and apart from James Stone asking her out to dinner again, the only problem she had encountered of late had come from the mayor’s son, Josh Rockford, and his bunch of untouchables.
The stars of the local hockey team thought they owned the town. Josh had the protection of the Rockford name and wealth. She had to admit the mayor’s son was an arrogant pig, but bullies rarely had the guts to attempt murder. Although, he could have paid someone to do his dirty work for him? For this reason, his name went to the top of her list along with the other two men, Billy Watts and Dan Beal. The three men had come very close to threatening her when she arrested them. The only problem was the instinctive urge to include James Stone on the list—although he was a pest, had she given him reason to threaten her?
She recalled with a shudder the strength of the man pressing against her, and the intimate pressing of his thigh. Her attacker could have easily been him. Was he jealous of Kane? If so, she doubted he would try to kill her in a hit-and-run. Hell, at the time of the accident, he would not have even seen Kane let alone discovered he would be living in her cottage. If it was Stone, the two incidents and the shooting had to be separate. I’ll have to bring Rowley into the loop in case anything else happens.
A knock came on the door and she glanced up to see Deputy Rowley smiling at her.