“And Kane?”
“Kane called ahead, told first responders to make sure Kenny was okay. It was the first thing we thought of when we heard about the evacuation. Kenny was the only dorm kid we talked to and he knew something. When Kane got there, dorm staff told him Kenny had gone with the cops. He chased and got to them just…” Her voice hitched and she sternly controlled it. “Just in time. Kane got the van open, Kenny got away. Kane was shot twice, close range. He was probably dead before he hit the ground.”
Noah swallowed hard. “Shit.”
“Yeah. And there’s more,” she said wearily. “You remember at the end of our five o’clock meeting yesterday, when I got the text from the sign language interpreter?”
“She had another commitment.” His expression twisted. “Oh God, no. That’s how this guy found out about Kenny?”
“I don’t know, but that’s my guess. Her kids say she never came home. Around ten they called a family friend who’s been sitting with them. Val had texted them, too, saying she wouldn’t be home for dinner. Her agency didn’t have any record of any other assignments, so they filed a missing person shortly after midnight. Last I saw her was when we broke for lunch yesterday, right before K-”
She had to stop a minute. Breathe. Wait for the spasm in her chest to ease. “Right before Kane and I went up to David’s to bring back that Lincoln character.”
“Liv, were you with David tonight?”
She nodded, looked away. “Yeah.”
“That wasn’t wrong, you know. That had nothing to do with this.”
“If I’d been at home, I would have been there faster.”
“And maybe I’d be standing over your corpse right now,” Noah said sharply. “You know it doesn’t work like that. You could have been caught in traffic, Kane could have waited for backup. A million different things could have happened.”
“I know.” But that didn’t change facts. If she’d been there, Kane would have had backup and he’d be alive. But she hadn’t and he wasn’t and she couldn’t change that now. She could only do what he would have wanted her to do. Her damn job.
“Did you tell David you were all right?” he asked. “He’s going to hear an officer was killed. He’s going to wonder if it’s you.”
Yes, he would, she realized. And he’d worry. “No, I didn’t think to tell him, but I doubt he’s heard about this yet. David was already gone when I left. There was a big fire…” She stopped and looked up, frowning. “There was a big fire out in Woodview. Didn’t you say something about Woodview at the meeting yesterday?”
“Yeah. That’s where Tomlinson bought a house for his mistress. It’s possible, isn’t it? That they could have set one fire deliberately to divert attention from the evac?”
“It’s possible. It was a bad fire with an explosion. Let’s find out if Tomlinson’s house was the target.” She straightened abruptly when the doors from the outside opened and Abbott entered, a small woman sobbing in his arms. “Jennie,” she murmured.
“Remember you did not cause this,” Noah said quietly. “She doesn’t need your guilt. She needs your strength.”
Olivia nodded unsteadily and took a few steps toward them. “Jennie.”
Kane’s wife stumbled into Olivia’s arms. She held Jennie, rocking her where they stood. “Kane saved a boy’s life tonight,” Olivia said helplessly.
“I know,” Jennie cried. “Bruce told me. I can’t believe this.”
“I know,” Olivia whispered. “I’m sorry.” Jennie nodded against her and for a long, long moment they stood that way, until Olivia sighed. “He’s in there. I can go with you.”
Jennie pulled away, still crying but standing on her own feet. “No. I need to be alone for a while.” She took Olivia’s hand, patted it. “He thought the world of you.”
Olivia could only nod. No words would come. She stood, frozen, while Jennie walked around her, through the door to where Kane lay. Abbott squeezed her shoulder.
“Go home, Olivia. We’ll get through the night. That’s all we have to do right now.”
She searched his face, saw he’d been crying. Abbott and Kane had known each other a lot longer than she had. “I need a ride back to the school to get my car.”
“I’ll take her,” Noah said. “We’ll be in at oh-eight.”
Abbott’s nod was heavy. “And we’ll catch this bastard. I gave Jennie my word.”
“Come on, Liv,” Noah said, taking her arm. “Let’s go.” He led her to his car, put her in and got behind the wheel. “Where to?” he asked.
“Back to the school.”
His brows lifted. “For your car?”
“After. First, I talk to Kenny.”
“What about an interpreter?”
“There will be somebody there who can interpret, but if not, I don’t care.” Her jaw clenched. “If I have to use a stone tablet and a chisel, that boy’s gonna talk to me.”
“Okay.”
Olivia stared out the window as Noah drove, seeing nothing of the road that flashed by. She could only see Kane’s body lying on the ground. “What am I going to do, Noah?” The whispered question was out before she knew it was coming.
“What Bruce said. You’re going to get through tonight. Then tomorrow. And you’re going to find the guy who shot your partner and turn him into fucking hamburger.”
She turned to face her friend and saw his cheeks were wet. She reached out, grabbed his hand and hung on. He squeezed tightly and then she understood he needed her, too. She’d pushed Noah away over the last seven months, along with the rest of her friends. “I need to make some calls, tell folks I’m okay.”
Wednesday, September 22, 2:20 a.m.
David walked away from the wreckage, so tired he could barely move his feet. Rotating their manpower, his and the other firehouses had gotten everyone out. They hoped. David hated to think of anyone still inside. The fire was largely knocked down, but in some areas it continued to flare and would for several more hours.
Beyond the woman’s husband the paramedics had rushed to the hospital, they had four human fatalities-an elderly woman and an asthmatic child who’d died of smoke inhalation in the apartment blaze and two people known to have been in one of the houses when it exploded. He hadn’t heard anything about the other exploded house.
They’d seen dozens of injuries. Jeff had been the worst firefighter injury. David still hadn’t heard anything about his partner’s condition. He was trying hard not to worry.
Trying harder to contain his rage. Sonsofbitches. Why? What could they possibly hope to gain? How many lives had been devastated tonight? And for what?
“You okay, Dave?”
Their shift engineer was shaking a bottle of water, an empty packet of electrolyte mix in his other hand. He held it out and it was all David could do to lift his arm to grab it. He guzzled it down and held the bottle out for more.
“Just tired. Any news on Zell?”
“Not yet. Red Cross is set up over there. Go take a rest.”
He nodded and pushed away from the truck to trudge toward the Red Cross area. Thoughts of Olivia fluttered through his mind and he let himself steep there, pushing away all the rage, the devastation all around him. He let himself imagine her warm and soft in his bed, hoping he’d be able to get back to her before she left for work. He needed her, needed to hold her after a night like this.
The sex… He drew a breath. Had been unforgettable. You could have been having sex like that for the last two and a half years if you hadn’t been such an idiot. He let out the breath in a sigh. He could have had much more than sex. He could have had her. In his arms. In his house. Someone to come home to. Someone just for me.