Page 72 of Target Acquired

“Kenzie, I’m on the way back,” Butte said. “When I got to the address, it was an empty lot in a new subdivision.”

So, he’d been pulled off by the guy who attacked her. She had no proof, of course, but she still knew it. The guy couldn’t have known her bodyguard would be the officer to respond, but being that close, he would have been the most likely to do so.

When she’d done everything with reporting the incident and everyone was finally gone, she locked herself in her house, armed the alarm, placed her Glock on the nightstand, and finally settled in her bed prepared for a sleepless night. She should call Cole and tell him what happened, but the thought of him coming over was too much to deal with. She’d fill him in tomorrow. Fury at the situation boiled with no outlet because she wasn’t about to go downstairs for a workout.

Her attacker had been watching her home and she’d given him the opportunity to strike. She’d figured with the officer watching, the guy wouldn’t be so bold as to strike and she’d be safe.

She wouldn’t make that mistake again.

SATURDAY MORNING Cole walked into Cornerstone Café and spotted Sherry at the far corner table. She’d parked herself against the wall, her eyes on the door. She wore a floppy hat, sunglasses, and a dark red dress. He checked his phone, thankful for no SWAT calls, and slid into the booth opposite her. “Hey.”

She pulled the sunglasses off, but kept her head tilted down. He glanced above her head. The camera wouldn’t pick her up the way she’d jammed herself against the wall with the floppy hat. There would be footage of her walking to the table, but with her hat and shades, no one would be able to tell it was her. She followed his gaze. “That’s the only camera in here that works. Overheard the manager tell that to someone who had her wallet lifted from her purse last time I was in here.”

He nodded. “All right, wanna tell me why all the cloak-and-dagger?”

“Wanna tell me why you’re looking into a twenty-year-old closed case?”

“Because I have three reports and one of them is doctored. I believe the other two are the real deal. The first shows DNA in the stolen vehicle used in an accident that killed Hannah King and paralyzed Ben King. The other shows that the brakes on the former chief of police’s car were cut. The doctored one says no such thing and the cause of the accident wasn’t due to any kind of mechanical failure, but rather was human error.”

She paled. “How did you get them? Why do you have them?”

“They were sent anonymously to the chief. He gave them to me. I have them because he wants me to look into the accident that he’s believed all along was no accident. Now, who could have given him those documents?”

“Well, you obviously thought it was me.”

“Let’s just say you were on the list as one person who could have done it, not necessarily who actually did it.”

She sighed. “Well, I did.”

“Why the secrecy? Why not just tell Ben what you know? You had to realize this would come back to you.”

“I was willing to take the chance.”

“Where’s Cliff now?”

She licked her lips. “He’s dying. Pancreatic cancer. He said he had only one regret and this case was it.”

“So he wants to set the record straight before he dies.”

Sherry nodded.

“I need to talk to him.”

“Cole, he’s probably already gone. His wife texted me three weeks ago and said he didn’t have much longer. Days, maybe. We arranged to meet. She gave me the files, told me what was going on, and made me promise not to try to find Cliff or tell anyone anything. I was to deliver the package to Ben King and go on about my life like that wasn’t a blip on my radar, because if anyone found out I knew what Cliff knew, then I could be in danger.”

“Because the person responsible is still out there.”

“Yes.”

“Did Mrs. Hamilton say who it was?”

“No. And yes, I asked. She said Cliff refused to tell her, that she was safer not knowing.”

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “All right, so this means that someone cut the brake line, Chief King ran the stop sign, and Mrs. King, Kenzie’s mom, was murdered and someone attempted to do the same to the chief.” He took a sip of the coffee she’d ordered him. “Somebody went to a lot of trouble to make this happen, and somebody else went to a lot of trouble to cover it up. I want to know who those somebodies are.”

“Well, I can’t help you there, I’m sorry. I thought Cliff and I were good friends. I never thought he’d do something like this, but he did. Then ran.”

“Which means he was scared. Scared he’d get caught or just plain scared of the people who asked him to hide evidence of a murder.”