On Her Father's Grave (Rogue River Novella Book 1) (11 page)

How had she gone from dancing on top of the world to being on the verge of tears in under a minute?

“This song. Gets me every time. I love it, though.”

The heat from his hand and arm burned through her shirt as he gently pulled her closer. “I bet you could sing it better,” he answered.

She laughed. “I don’t know.”

“Your voice is incredible. I had to pick my jaw up from the floor last night.”

His praise pleased her. “Genetics. It’s all my mother’s doing, but she can sing me under the table. I suppose you know she recorded an album?” At his nod, she continued, “My dad used to play it over and over. She passed up the chance to be a star to stay with him and raise a family in Solitude. She said she’d rather sing with her kids than in front of a bunch of strangers, which is why we all have a bit of talent. It’s thanks to her dedication.”

“Your parents are special people.” His gaze didn’t leave hers.

“I agree.” Her mouth felt dry.

“Few couples will ever find something as good as they have.”

He spoke of them in the present tense, and she felt that tightness in her throat again. The song ended and the band’s tempo picked up as it started the next number. She pulled out of his arms, but he took her hand and led her off the dance floor and away from the pavilion.

He stopped in a secluded spot and turned to take both her hands. He squeezed them and seemed to fumble for words. Stevie couldn’t think. She could read the look on his face and clearly he was struggling with an attraction to her.

As she’d been with him.

Panic shot through her brain.

This shouldn’t be happening. He’s my boss. I just ended a relationship. I haven’t unpacked yet . . .

“Screw it,” he muttered, a fierceness entering his eyes. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

Stevie tensed and then instantly relaxed. Her fingers grabbed at the belt loops on his shorts and held on. His mouth was open and demanding. This wasn’t any little questioning first kiss. This was lust and passion and attraction wrapped up in a hot package and delivered directly into her hands. She kissed him back, sinking into the velvety silk of his mouth. His hands slid around to her hair and his fingertips stroked her scalp in a way that sent electricity to her toes.

Zane Duncan rang her bell. All her bells.

She moved her hands under his shirt to his waist and felt him vibrate at her touch.

“Damn it!” He pulled back. He wasn’t vibrating; it was the phone in his pocket.

He pulled it out and tapped the screen, lifting it to his ear.

Stevie heard Sheila shout, “Zane, we’ve got a shooting!”

Stevie grabbed her bulletproof vest out of the trunk of her patrol car and flung it over her head, pulling it into place. She pulled running pants on under her denim skirt and then yanked off the skirt, not caring what spectators thought. Running shoes replaced her Frye boots.
Always be prepared.
She could live out of the trunk of her patrol car for five days if she needed to. She’d stocked it the minute Roy had handed her the keys. Water, energy bars, change of clothes, TP. She strapped on her belt and checked her gun.

Sheila had called Zane and interrupted
that
moment. Kenny and another cop had responded to a domestic dispute at Ted Warner’s house. Loretta had called in screaming that Ted was drunk and beating her. When Kenny had showed up and tried to talk to Ted, he’d shot Kenny.

Kenny’s sweet but homely face stuck in Stevie’s brain.
How bad is he hurt?
Sheila had called for an ambulance before she’d called Zane. The other cop on the scene had told Sheila that Kenny had been hit in the abdomen and was bleeding heavily.

Please no major arteries.

She and Zane had sprinted for their vehicles. Zane had ordered Sheila to call the other patrol units on duty and send them to the address. “Do we need state or county backup?” Stevie had huffed as they ran.

“I don’t know. I’ll decide when we get there. With another one of our guys or two we should be fine.”

Zane’s unit had left a cloud of dust as he’d peeled out of the lot. Stevie fumbled with her belt, cursing that she’d had to change her clothes, and was now a full minute behind Zane. “Hang on, Kenny,” she muttered. She lunged into the driver’s seat and started the car, firing up her radio at the same time. She threw it in drive, hit her siren and lights, and followed after Zane, mentally reviewing the setup of Ted’s property.

I know exactly how it’s laid out.

Where was Ted’s teenage son? Sheila hadn’t said if Loretta and the boy were safe.

What if there was a hostage situation?

Stevie blew out a breath and pressed harder on the accelerator.

Zane pulled into Ted’s long driveway and turned off his siren. Two patrol cars were parked haphazardly in front of the small home. Kenny was on the ground, the cars between him and the house as another Solitude patrol officer, Carter, applied pressure to his gut. Zane parked beside the cars, swearing as he saw the blood soaking Kenny’s shirt in the waning evening light.

He popped his trunk and jumped out. Keeping his head low, he grabbed the small first aid kit out of the trunk. Bending over, he ran over and knelt beside Kenny. The injured cop was on his back, his hands over his face, his legs sporadically kicking with the pain. Kenny’s gut was covered by Carter’s bloody hands, pressing on what appeared to be his own uniform shirt. Carter had stripped it off, leaving himself in a simple undershirt.

No vest.

All Solitude cops had vests, but weren’t required to wear them.

Guess what new rule starts tomorrow?

Zane opened the kit and ripped apart the paper packages of thick bandages. “Go put on your vest,” he ordered Carter, and took over the pressure on Kenny’s abdomen. The white bandages turned red within seconds.

Shit.

He lifted the bandages and peeked at the hole below Kenny’s ribs. The blood flowed but didn’t spurt.
Good.
He reapplied pressure and prayed for the ambulance to hurry up.

“Kenny! You with me?”

Kenny swore at him from behind his hands over his face.

Zane took that as a positive sign.

Carter reappeared next to Zane, fastening his vest into place. Carter was young, with less than a year with the department.

“Where’s Ted at? What about Loretta and their kid?” Zane asked.

“Ted headed to that barn, last I saw. He ran out of the back of the house while we were talking to Loretta at the door. He yelled at us to get off his property and fired when Kenny walked around the corner of the house.” Carter wiped at his face, smearing Kenny’s blood on his cheek. “He gonna be okay? Where the
fuck
is that ambulance? We didn’t know he was gonna shoot, Chief!”

“No one knows,” Zane said grimly. “Here. You take over the pressure. Keep talking to him. Did you hear if Sheila got ahold of anyone else?”

Carter scooted closer and placed his bloody hands over Zane’s. “I don’t know.”

A faint siren sounded, rapidly moving closer. “That’ll be Stevie. She wasn’t far behind me. When she gets here, tell her I went into the house to check on Loretta and their son. The ambulance can’t be too much longer. Call them again if they’re not here in a few minutes.”

He stood up in a crouch and peered over the vehicles. The barn was a good fifty yards behind the home and to the west. The property was surrounded on three sides by forest.

What if Ted took off into the forest?

He’d have to call county and get their K-9 unit out here.

A curtain moved in the front window and a face peeked out. Not Loretta.

“What’s the kid’s name?” he asked Carter, who looked up from pressing on Kenny’s gut. With the smeared blood on his face, the half-dressed cop looked like he’d stepped out of a zombie movie.

“Russ.”

“Any chance Ted went back in the house?”

Carter’s eyes widened. “Christ. I didn’t think of that. I guess he could have gone in while I was taking care of Kenny.” He panted hard. Zane felt the terror coming off the young cop.

The face in the window was still watching him. Zane waved and the boy waved back. Zane gestured for him to stay put and the boy nodded.

How do you sign “Is your dad in the house?”

Zane pointed at himself and then indicated that he was coming in the house. Russ nodded and vanished.

Did he go to warn his dad?

“Do you think Russ is scared of his dad?” he asked Carter.

Carter looked confused. “I don’t know.”

“He’s terrified of his dad,” Kenny added from between clenched teeth. “I saw the look on his face when I was out here yesterday. He thought his dad was going to brain him with that bat.”

Tires crunched on the driveway behind him, and Stevie’s car pulled in. She parked tight to their position and crept out of her car toward the three of them. “Kenny?” she asked.

“Stevie,” Kenny answered. “Fucking hurts.” His tears ran bloody streaks down his face.

She squeezed his shoulder and looked at Zane. She seemed calm and cool-headed, not panicking like Carter.

“Ambulance will be here soon,” said Zane. “You and I are going to the house. We think Ted is in the barn.”

“Think?” she repeated.

“He was running that way when he shot Kenny. There is the possibility he doubled back into the house. I saw Russ a minute ago and let him know we’re coming in.”

“What’s Ted armed with?” she asked.

“Rifle. I didn’t see anything else,” Carter said.

Stevie had her AR-15 slung over her shoulder in addition to the usual pistol at her waist. Knowing she would be at his back gave Zane confidence.

Stevie scanned the area, taking in the buildings, and nodded. “Let’s go.”

He led, dashing toward the front door, hunched over with his hand above his gun, while Stevie covered him from behind. He jogged up the wood steps as Russ cracked the door and peered at him. The small teen looked alarmed but relief showed on his face. He opened the door and Zane stepped in. The house smelled like cats and cigarette smoke.

“Is your dad in the house?”

Russ shook his head. “I think he’s in the barn. Is that cop dead? The one he shot?”

“No. Where’s your mom?” Zane covered Stevie as she made the short dash to the porch. An ambulance siren announced it wasn’t far off, and Zane sent up a silent prayer that Kenny would be all right.

“In the kitchen.” Anger flushed the boy’s face. “Ted hit her. I think he’s high or drunk again.”

“Any weapons in the house?” Stevie asked as her gaze darted around the room, her firearm ready.

“No. Ted has his rifle with him. That’s all he owns.”

“We’re gonna check the house real quick, Russ. Go wait by your mom.” Stevie shut the front door and followed Zane through a rapid check of two bedrooms and a bathroom. Closets, the spaces under beds, shower. All clear. They joined Loretta and Russ in the kitchen, where Loretta sat with an ice pack on her cheek. A cigarette trembled in one hand.

Stevie peeked out the glass slider to a tiny side porch that gave a view of the Warners’ barn. “Have you seen him leave that barn?” she asked Loretta.

Loretta moved her ice pack to the other cheek, and Zane saw that her left eye was already starting to swell closed. Anger rolled over him.

“No. But I ain’t been watching.” She inhaled the soothing smoke. “You gonna lock him up a little longer this time?” she asked Zane.

“Damn right. He’s shot a cop too. He won’t be bothering you again.”

“You can’t promise that!” Russ whirled on Zane. “We’ve been told that before!”

The teen’s anger made Zane take a step back. “This time will be different.”

“All you cops lie!” Russ shouted.

“Russ, shut up!” Loretta yelled back.

Stevie stepped forward and put a hand on Russ. “Ted has stepped over a big line this time. He can’t undo what he just did to your mom and Kenny. No lawyer is going to convince a judge he should be a free man, and he’s not going to hurt you guys anymore. I’ll give you my word on that.” Her brown eyes looked deep into Russ’s gaze. The teen wanted to believe her.

Zane believed her.

“What’s in the barn? Is there another entrance?” Zane asked Loretta.

She shook her head. “One window at the back. There’s nothing in there but a four-wheeler, a riding lawn mower, and a lot of junk. He’s got a workbench and a bunch of tools. He’ll putter out there for hours, but there’s no guns.”

“Are you certain?” Stevie asked, an odd look on her face. “Have you looked recently? He have any chemicals?”

Confusion wrinkled Loretta’s forehead. “Chemicals? Like for killing weeds? He doesn’t have any of that. There’s fertilizer, I know. I was in there a few weeks ago looking for a shovel.”

“You didn’t see anything odd?” Zane asked. Clearly Stevie was worried there was some sort of drug lab in the shed. No surprise considering what she’d been through in LA.

Loretta shook her head.

Zane studied the space between the house and the barn. Was Ted still in there? “Any trails into the woods?”

“Tons,” offered Russ.