Shaking her head, Jenna examined his face. “Normally I’d say, ‘Don’t worry. We can face any problems together.’ But this is different, isn’t it? What’s this really about, Dave? You’ve been distant since you moved into my ranch house. Is this about us? You’ve been extra quiet since we held Rowley’s twins.”
“Yes and no.” Kane placed his tray on the cart. “My head’s not in the game right now.”
Jenna leaned back and sighed. “You know, Dave, I’m starting to wonder if I’m wasting my time waiting for you to get your head straight.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kane took a long sip of his coffee. “I’ve never lied to you or made any promises.” He shrugged. “That’s not my style. You knew I was damaged goods when you took me in.”
“Maybe, but every time we get close, you find an excuse to pull back.” Jenna pushed the tray aside and flung back the blankets. “We chose this life and understood the risks. I can protect myself against serial killers but I could get sick or die in a car wreck. That’s life and we have no control on when our time is up. I’ve given you three years of intimate friendship and asked for nothing in return, but you know darn well I want a family. From now on, with or without you, I’m going to enjoy every single day. Now get out of my room. I have murders to solve and right now they are my top priority.”
“Jenna—” Kane grabbed her arm.
“Don’t act like I’ve hurt your feelings. You don’t have any feelings, do you, iceman?” Jenna glared at him. “Drop into the zone or whatever you do because I’m over listening to the same sob story. Now, get out of my room.” Fuming, she dragged her arm out of his grasp and headed for the shower.
When she returned a long time later, Kane was missing. She found him in the interview room working on his laptop beside Rio. Both men looked subdued and didn’t lift their eyes from their screens when she arrived. “Find out anything useful?”
“Unusual, worrying, but nothing we can use.” Kane frowned at the screen but didn’t look at her. “I had Mr. Brightway give me access to the CCTV data. Someone disabled the camera on this floor and the one on Kitty Pandora’s using a laser pointer. It wiped out transmission for about two hours.” He shrugged. “So, we have nothing. I also asked him about passkeys and there’s a box of them down at the employees’ entrance. The house rules are when the housekeeping staff finish their shift, they drop the passkeys into the box and collect one when they come back on. He said this is because the staff works on shifts and he only has
about twenty or so keys, apart from his own master, which he keeps on him at all times.” He leaned back in the chair and looked at her. “The interior staff area can only be entered using a passkey. The outside entrance is via the kitchen and anyone entering that way would be noticed. The back door has a keypad and they change the code about every two weeks.”
Jenna sat down beside him. “Anything from Kalo?”
“Yeah, he sent a few files. I’m looking at them next.” Kane was wearing his combat face and she couldn’t read his feelings at all. “Rio is chasing down where all our suspects were last night and who has alibis. Wolfe messaged me. He has the autopsy reports and will be doing a video call in half an hour.”
It never ceased to amaze her how her team sprang into action. She stood. “We’ll do a breakdown of each case after we speak to Wolfe. I’ll go and grab Emily.”
She could have called her but wanted a little girl-to-girl chat. When she reached her floor, she ran into Mr. Brightway. The manager was looking a little annoyed. She paused before knocking on Emily’s door and waited for him. “Is there a problem?”
“No.” Mr. Brightway stood to one side to allow two male members of his staff to walk by. “We managed to squeeze another bed into Deputy Rio’s room as requested. Is there anything else you require?”
Confused Jenna stared at him. “Another bed?”
“Yes, Deputy Kane made the request.” Mr. Brightway gave her a long look. “Please inform him. We’ve moved his things as requested.”
Swallowing hard, Jenna nodded. “Great, thank you.”
So, it was over. Jenna shook her head. Just like that after all they’d been through. She’d stood her ground and he’d walked away without a fight. She banged hard on Emily’s door.
“Heavens above. What’s happened now?” Emily looked pale and tired. “Another murder?”
Jenna shook her head. “Nope. I had a disagreement with Dave is all.”
“Really?” Emily looked amused. “Uncle Dave doesn’t argue—not ever. He’s more an action man. Did you see him last night with Zac? Oh my, he is so like my dad. Overprotective is an understatement.” She stood back to allow Jenna inside. “First fight, huh? Tell me all about it. Julie’s not here. Zac took her down to the conference earlier and she’s with friends. She doesn’t need a babysitter.”
Jenna explained but left out everything about Kane’s past. “He leads me on, like he wants a relationship, and then backs off and makes excuses. I’m over it. I told him to get out of my room.”
“And he followed your orders. No wonder he had a face carved in stone when he came to check on us before. He’s in love with you.” Emily chuckled. “Everyone knows it and you do too. I figure after so long being single he has a commitment issue. He’s probably worried if you get married, he’ll become overprotective and you won’t be able to work together. He won’t find another occupation because he doesn’t trust anyone else watching your back. It’s catch-22. He’s damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t.”
Jenna sighed. “Maybe, but I don’t want to end up growing old all alone. I want marriage and maybe the chance to have a baby, just one before it’s too late. That’s not too much to ask and if it’s not going to be Dave, then I’ll have to start husband-hunting. There are a ton of eligible guys in town.” She shrugged. “Grab your things. Your dad is calling soon and he’ll want you there.”
“Okay, but you’re making way too much out of this argument. Don’t rush into decisions you’ll regret.” Emily collected her things. “They say the making up is the best bit, so look forward to that.”
Jenna pulled open the door. “All I’m interested in right now is solving this case. Dave Kane is the least of my problems.” She headed for the elevator.
Thirty-Two
It was the first time Kane had experienced Jenna’s anger toward him. It hadn’t been a simple disagreement. She was fuming. He’d upset her by telling her the truth and couldn’t understand why she’d got so mad at him. She’d made it plain she wanted him out of her life and nothing he could have said would have helped matters. He’d do the only thing he understood in this situation, and that was to retreat and regroup. As she’d made it very clear the case was her priority, he’d work his butt off until they caught the killer. The other stuff would have to wait until she’d cooled down.
He glanced at his watch and using his satellite phone walked into one of the bedrooms of the suite they were using as interview rooms and dialed Special Agent Jo Wells. As she was a behavioral analyst, he’d like her take on the current homicides. She picked up after a couple of rings. “Hi, Jo. It’s Dave Kane. How are things in Snakeskin Gully?”