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The voices from the front door stopped, but it wasn’t Kane’s footsteps in the hallway. The distinctive sound of Duke’s claws clicking on the polished floor announced his arrival. The dog walked onto the rug before the fire, turned in three circles, and dropped with a sigh. He eyed Jenna with his huge brown eyes for a few seconds before he fell asleep.
A few minutes later, Jenna turned as Kane came into the room, exhaustion etched in his face. She’d seen the scrapes on his knees from the tumble from the motorcycle. Wolfe had checked him out before they’d left the crime scene and hadn’t seemed worried, but she’d noticed him moving stiffly when he’d headed for the bathroom in the spare room for a shower. He’d not wanted her to see his injuries, not yet anyway. He didn’t appreciate sympathy and somehow just seemed to keep going no matter how he felt. He hadn’t had time to sit for longer than it took to eat the scrambled eggs and toast Jenna had hastily made on their return before Wolfe had arrived in the chopper with a new front door. He’d insisted she go and sit down and then spent a long time fitting it. Without stopping to say goodbye, Wolfe left, and Kane washed up.
Appalled, she stared at his wrists as he pulled down the arms of his sweater and grimaced. “You’re bruised to the bone from those manacles. Do you want me to bandage them?”
“Nah, nothing’s strained. It’s bruised, is all. I’ll be fine.” He dropped onto the sofa and held out his arms for her. “Come here. Right now all I need is you.”
Moving into his arms, she didn’t snuggle against him but touched his chest gently. “Why are you hiding your injuries from me? I could see the grazes on your knees and the tear in your jeans. It wasn’t difficult to see the gravel rash on your hip. They must be so sore. Can’t I do anything to help?”
“I’ve taken care of them.” Kane shrugged as if his injuries meant nothing. “Our first aid kit holds everything we need, from grazes to gunshot wounds. That’s why I went into the spare room. I didn’t want Tauri walking in on me tending my wounds. He’s been through enough.” He cupped her chin, rubbing his thumb tenderly over her cheek. “You have too. I’m sorry I put you through all this stress. It’s unforgiveable. I shouldn’t have believed the FBI intel and should have used my own brain. They intimated that they had eyes on the entire cartel and the lesser members were being arrested at the same time as we made the bust.” He pushed one hand through his hair and his eyes flashed with anger. “Mateo was the main player in the arms deal, not the boss. They already had him under surveillance and once the deal was made moved in to arrest him. Yet somehow Mateo and some of his men escaped arrest. I wasn’t there. Carter handcuffed me and bundled me into an FBI SUV and drove me straight to the airport.” He frowned. “Then they identified me, which would be near impossible unless someone told them. They have a mole in the FBI, someone who works for the cartel.” He sucked in a long breath. “Now Carter is MIA. Where the heck is he?”
Shrugging, Jenna traced the frown lines on Kane’s forehead and sighed. “I wish I knew. What’s happened to you is bad enough, but we have two homicides, identical MOs and the description that the witnesses gave us of the man seen hanging around both victims fits Carter.” Reluctantly, she stood, shedding the blanket. “Unless he’s suddenly turned his coat, I’m at a loss what to believe.” She indicated to the kitchen. “I made a pot of coffee. Wait here, I’ll grab us a cup.”
“I don’t want to be away from you for a second.” Kane pushed to his feet. “We’ll look in on Tauri again too. Wolfe mentioned he might have nightmares and we’ll need to be there for him.”
They checked on Tauri, but the little boy was curled up around the purple spotted dinosaur they’d given him for his birthday sleeping peacefully. Jenna poured the coffee and they took their cups back to the family room. The house was warming up. With the heating turned up and the wood fire, it was starting to appear normal again. Even the broken door and wood had been removed and carried out back of the barn. Seeing it only brought back memories Tauri didn’t need. It had been fortunate the trip back in Styles’ chopper hadn’t caused him any problems either. Tauri loved to fly.
Jenna sat on the sofa and sipped her coffee. “So this sting operation was compromised by persons unknown and I gather you can’t ask for intervention by Wolfe’s usual sources because you’d rather keep the fact someone abducted you a secret?”
“Not a secret.” Kane frowned. “Wolfe won’t mention it unless asked specifically. He doesn’t have anything to do with the FBI. It’s not in his chain of command, so he doesn’t need to report it specifically. As far as Carter is concerned, Wolfe was out of the loop. It was a need-to-know operation. He has no idea that Wolfe is my handler or the need to know that either.” He shrugged. “In my capacity as a deputy, I answered a request by our local FBI field office for assistance. That’s all anyone needs to know. It went sideways after the fact and that’s something Carter and Styles will focus on going forward.” He reached for his cup. “It’s not our problem. The mole didn’t know about me, as in who I am. He didn’t know all the members of the cartel involved would be killed either. They expected me to fold under pressure.” He gave her a long look. “The mole is still out there, Jenna, and I’m still going to testify. I need to do this to ensure those remaining members of the cartel will never be set free.” He shook his head slowly. “This time, when I’m away, I’ll arrange the security for you and Tauri.”
Jenna looked at him. “How so?”
“You’ll both be with me.” Kane smiled at her. “I had plenty of time to think when they chained me to the wall. Wolfe will arrange federal marshals to escort us. We’ll travel on a commercial flight. Federal marshals, Wolfe, and Carter, or Styles if he’s still missing, will be with you when I testify. Once it’s done, we all come home together.”
Jenna turned to look at him. “In the meantime, we have targets on our backs and a murderer who resembles Carter electrocuting women. When I took the job as sheriff, I never realized life in a backwoods town would turn out so complicated.”
THIRTY
Concerned, Kane wanted to remove the worry from Jenna’s shoulders, but in truth the next couple of weeks wouldn’t be easy for any of them. The one thing he could do would be to help her solve the current homicides. He finished the cookie he’d been eating and sipped his second cup of coffee. “How far have you gotten in the cases?”
“Zip.” Jenna blew out a long breath. “I haven’t spoken to Rio or Rowley since I left this morning, but I gave them a ton of grunt work to do. They’re hunting down CCTV footage of this Carter-like guy and sending it to Agent Katz as Kalo is on vacation. They have a couple of people of interest, mainly because they resemble Carter. We’re grabbing at straws.” She shrugged. “I’m sure if they’d had a breakthrough, they’d have called me by now.”
Nodding, Kane leaned back on the sofa, pulled her close, and moaned with delight at just holding her. “I guess, we’ll find out in the morning. There’s just one thing I need to know.”
“Shoot.” Jenna rested her head against his shoulder.
Kane stared into the fire. “No one has mentioned my Harley. Did you find it and just how bad was it damaged?”
“It’s in the garage.” Jenna chuckled. “Wolfe and Atohi collected every fragment and bagged them.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s okay to look at. The mirrors came off when it got wedged between the trees. It has a couple of scratches but it doesn’t look as bad as you do.”
Relieved, Kane smiled. “That’s good to know. The cosmetics I can fix. Parts might be difficult but parts can be repaired. Does it run?”
“Heavens above, Dave.” Jenna sat up and turned to look at him, eyes wide. “You were missing. There was blood on the blacktop. The last thing on my mind was if your motorcycle ran or how bad it was damaged.” She shook her head slowly. “I did look at it when Atohi pushed it out of the trees, since then I’ve been a little busy, with my son being kidnapped and all.” She rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you go and look for yourself… Oh and I drove the Beast. Maybe you need to make sure it’s okay too.”
Surprised, Kane examined her face and the slight tremble in her hands. The shock was setting in just like Wolfe had warned him. He pulled her close and held her against him. “It was just a question. Material things can be replaced. You and Tauri are my first concern and always will be. Okay?”
“Okay.” Jenna nodded against his chest. “I know that. I’m still a little stressed. I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m sorry. It was a perfectly logical question. You worked for months building the Harley. It’s only natural you wanted to know what had happened to it.” She waved a hand. “All this, the cartel, you and then Tauri, a case we can’t solve. It’s like trying to climb the side of an iceberg. I keep slipping down and having to start again.”
Kane stroked her hair. “You’re just tuckered out, is all.” He wrapped his arms around her and stood, lifting her into the air. She weighed nothing and snuggled into his arms. He kissed her forehead and smiled. “I know it’s only eight but we’re going to bed. Everything can wait until the morning.” He carried her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him.
* * *
Rain streaked down the windows when Kane woke at five the following morning. He dragged on his clothes and checked on Tauri. Once asleep, Tauri and Jenna slept like the dead. He slept like a cat with one eye open. Until the trial date came and went and for some time after, he’d be watching his family very closely. He went to the mudroom to push his feet into ice-cold work boots. He filled the coffee pot and then headed out in the dark to tend the horses. It would be a long day and he set up the stables so they could swap the horses into clean stalls when they arrived home. The scent and warmth of the stables were soothing to his aching muscles as he mucked out the stalls and groomed each horse until they shone. Being exhausted after a long day, any shortcuts were welcome. If it hadn’t been raining, he’d have turned out the horses into the corral for the day, but they’d be comfortable enough in their large stalls with the radio on to keep them happy.
His usual workout could wait. He’d had all the exercise his body could take this morning. The deep grazes to his hip and knees restricted his movement, the areas both stiff and sore, with skin so tight the healing flesh tore open with each movement. He’d tend to them once he’d had a shower and in a day or so he’d be fine. The antibiotic shot Wolfe had insisted administering before he left last night would prevent infection. Sitting in a rat-infested barn with open cuts had been one of his concerns. The idea vermin might try and feast on him the moment he fell asleep had kept him awake all night.
He closed the barn door and stared at the garage for long seconds. He’d pushed the accident and the potential loss of his Harley to the back of his mind, but just looking at the garage pulled everything into focus. Wolfe had mentioned finding wire at the crash site and he recalled the blow to his chest before he hit the road. He walked to the garage door, used his handprint to unlock it, and waited for it to slide open. Inside, the Beast was parked where he usually left it and set beside his partially rebuilt Indian motorcycle was his Harley. On the bench against the wall, someone, he assumed Wolfe, had laid out all the parts they’d collected. Alongside them sat his helmet. He turned it around in his hands and stared at the dent. He’d have died in the wreck without it, but that was easy to replace, not so the damaged parts of his motorcycle. He looked over the Harley and winced. He’d restored it to its former glory and now the tank had a long line of scratches on both sides. The mirrors were missing, torn off, and the saddlebags caked with mud all along one side. Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his phone and took images of the damage and then sent them to one of the restorers he’d met during his journey with his motorcycle. He could fix just about anything but trusted the paintwork to a specialist. When he had time, he’d drain the tank and send it to his guy. The broken parts might be more difficult to find. He ran his fingers over them, deciding if any could be saved or repaired. Sadly, they were just mangled pieces of metal. The saddlebags would clean up. Leather was very forgiving and a once-over with saddle soap would have them clean again.
