Page 24 of Target Acquired
He shot her a glance as he connected to HQ. She truly didn’t look bothered.
Commander Hill’s voice came through the speakers. “Hostage situation at an abandoned warehouse.”
“Address?” he asked.
“Holmes Street.”
“We’ll be at HQ in less than five.”
“Dolly will be waiting.”
He hung up and Kenzie grimaced.
“What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Just lots of memories from that part of town from my less-than-stellar high school days. Seems like every call we get is in that vicinity.”
“Crime happens everywhere, but never so much as where people are poor and desperate.”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice low.
“What does your family think about your occupation?”
She raised a brow at him. “I have three brothers, and a father who was the former police chief. What do you think?”
He chuckled. “I know what Logan thinks, what about the rest?”
“The same as Logan. They would prefer it if I had a nice safe job as an accountant or something, but honestly, it doesn’t really matter what they want. It’s my life and I’ve chosen my path. They don’t get a say in it.”
The faint ring of defensiveness didn’t escape him. He’d thrown out the question in an attempt at small talk to get to know her a little better and managed to punch a hornet’s nest. “I’m sorry.” They fell silent a moment while he drove, then he said, “And Paul?” Her oldest brother. “I heard he quit the force about the time your dad was in the accident.”
“And my mom was killed.”
“Yeah. I’m really sorry about that. I only saw her a few times when y’all visited your grandmother, but I liked your mom a lot.”
“I miss her every day. Thank God my grandmother stepped in and took over. I don’t know what I—we—would have done without her. Even though they were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, they were close.”
“Why did Paul quit?” He took a corner with a tight turn and raced toward headquarters. The others were still gathering, and they had time to get there so he could join them in Dolly.
“He was furious at the rumors swirling about Dad,” she said. “I know he faced some harassment, but I was fourteen, I’d just lost my mom, and I thought I might lose my dad. I just wanted it all to go away, but the press was relentless with all of us. Paul was twenty-six years old and had been with the department for five years. When another officer, one Paul considered a good friend, nastily wondered if ‘the apple didn’t fall far from the tree,’ that was the last straw. He felt betrayed by people he thought were his friends, his brothers and sisters in uniform. That day, Paul walked out and never went back.”
He’d heard some of that but had been so busy with his own career over the last few years that he hadn’t kept up. “What’s he doing now?”
“Bouncing from job to job. These days he’s security for a hotel downtown. He’s been there for about a year. Seems to like it okay.”
He pulled into the parking lot of headquarters and parked. “To be continued. I have more questions.”
“I have clothes and gear in my locker. I’ll get changed.”
“You don’t have to come. Magic Man is on this shift.” The team’s other medic was Max Mann, but he’d quickly been dubbed Magic Man.
“But you’re missing Cowboy. I can fill in. You know I can. I’m a fully trained SWAT officer, Cole. Let me do the job.”
He studied her. She was a good officer. Actually, a great one. She’d gotten—and was still getting—a raw deal from the other guys and was handling it like the pro she was. “Fine. Let’s go get some bad guys.”
She almost smiled. “Let’s do that. Give me five minutes.”
True to her word, five minutes later, they were both in Dolly, with the rest of the team shooting questioning glances at Kenzie and him as they rolled out toward Holmes.