Page 35 of Target Acquired
“You’re all invited. I just thought it might be good for Micah’s mother to have a woman present.”
James rolled his eyes at Butler and shook his head. “You’re an idiot, man. Zip it.” The words directed at his team member were soft. The warning look was not.
Butler huffed but fell silent, leaned back, and crossed his arms.
Kenzie ignored them all. “Sure, I’d love to go.”
They settled around the table, and Butler rose to set up the technology to bring Greene and Cowboy in via video. Greene’s face appeared on the screen and he scowled. “I could be there, you know,” he said by way of greeting.
James leaned back in his chair. “Dude, take it from someone who’s been there. Go easy on yourself. You’re going to be hurting for a few days.” James had taken a bullet to the vest in his back just a few months ago while rescuing a young child from the father who’d taken her and her family hostage.
“Yeah, yeah,” Greene said. “You get the joker behind all this?”
“No,” Hill said, “not yet. The manhunt is still ongoing, but it looks like he’s managed to evade everyone. The dogs picked up his scent and trailed it for a while, but he must have had a vehicle stashed somewhere not too far from the scene. We left when there was nothing else for us to do but wait. Any word on Buzz?”
“I’ve got a nurse keeping me informed,” Greene said. “If I didn’t want the every-fifteen-minute play-by-play update, I’d get out of here. At least I’ll be here for Buzz when he gets out of surgery.” He glanced away from the camera for a moment. “Which, according to Nurse Byron, should be soon.”
“His parents there yet?” Cole asked.
“Yep. They’ve already checked in on me.”
“Perfect. Keep us in the loop. We’ll stop by to see you two in the morning.”
Greene snorted. “I won’t be here. Just waiting on my discharge papers.”
“Glad to hear it. You need a ride home?”
“I’ll give him one,” Cowboy said, chiming in for the first time.
Greene rolled his eyes. “Right. No thanks. I don’t like your driving on a good day.” He turned serious. “My sister is on the way. Now, let’s get down to business. First things first, if I may?”
Cole nodded his permission for the man to continue.
“King, that was some kind of move you pulled getting Buzz to safety.” His throat worked and he cleared it. “I don’t even know how he or the team will ever be able to thank you for that.”
Again with the blushing. She sighed. Just when her cheeks had finally cooled off. “I’m glad everyone is going to be okay.”
“All right, then, I’m done now. Just had to thank King. What’s next, Garrison?”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Cole rubbed his chin and shook his head. “So, we’ve got one incident that could have been aimed at Kenzie. Then the one where the guy definitely broke into her house. I don’t think those were random. Now this ambush at the warehouse? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out someone is targeting one or all of us.”
“Well, what are we going to do?” Butler asked. “Go into hiding?”
“No way.” Commander Hill shook his head. “We couldn’t even if we wanted to. We—you—have this job for a reason. And that means you keep doing it, you just do it with your guard up and have each other’s backs. Stay alert and don’t go anywhere alone—or to a location that seems like it could be a setup for an attack.”
Kenzie rubbed her eyes. Great. They needed a plan to get this person as fast as possible. Lives were at stake whenever they had a call to a scene. If they had to look over their shoulders—more so than usual—while trying to deal with everything that went on at a call, then . . . people would die.
And that was unacceptable.
They had to get this guy. ASAP.
“One other thing,” Cole said. “Does anyone recognize this label? It has a small logo on it. The kid, Micah, said the guy who paid him dropped it when he pulled the money out of his pocket.” He passed his phone so everyone could take a look.
When it got to Butler, he raised a brow. “Yeah, that’s the farmers’ market off the parkway. Not the big Lake City one, but a privately owned spread. Coleman’s. Out behind Coleman Stables.”
“No kidding.” Cole squinted at the picture once more. “I guess I need to get out more. I didn’t recognize it.”
Butler shrugged. “I go there a few times a month. They have some really great produce. They also have a small grocery store at the back past some of the local booths where you can get cold stuff. One-stop shopping.”