Kade (17 page)

He made his way back through the wooded area and came out at the pond. There was a lot of activity already going on. An ambulance and two cruisers, one of which was speeding away—hopefully out to search for the shooter.

But Kade picked through all the chaos to find Bree.

She was there, next to the medics who were lifting Jamie onto a stretcher. Bree spotted him, and she hurried toward Kade, meeting him halfway. She went straight into his arms.

Right where Kade needed her to be.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a whisper.

He nodded. “You?”

“Okay.”

But he checked her just in case. No signs of injury, thank goodness.

Kade automatically brushed a kiss on her forehead, looped his arm around her and went to the medic, Tommy Watters, who was strapping Jamie onto the stretcher.

Jamie’s face was paper-white, and she was shaking from head to toe. “Did you catch him?” she asked Kade.

“No. But Mason is after him. We might get lucky.”

Jamie groaned, and tears spilled down her cheeks. “You can’t rely on luck. You have to catch him because he nearly killed me.”

Kade assured her they would do everything to find the shooter, and he turned to Tommy. “How is she?” Kade asked.

“Not bad. Looks like a flesh wound to me.” The young medic followed Kade’s gaze to those straps that Tommy was adjusting. “All this is just safety procedures. I’ll take her straight to the hospital and have the E.R. doc check her.”

“We need to be there in case the doctor releases her,” Kade whispered to Bree.

She nodded, and they hurried to his truck. Later, there’d be a ton of paperwork to do—there always was when it came to a shooting—but it could wait. Jamie had said a lot of things, made a lot of accusations, and Kade didn’t want her slipping away before she told them the whereabouts of those missing surveillance backups.

They got into his truck and followed right behind the ambulance as the siren wailed.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Kade asked when Bree didn’t say anything. She kept checking the area all around them. “Because I think that gunman is long gone.”

“I agree.” She squeezed her eyes shut a moment. “But I also think something about this wasn’t right. The gunman wasn’t really shooting at us. He kept the shots high despite the fact Jamie was under that table with us.”

Yeah. Kade’s thoughts were going in the same direction. “What are you thinking?”

“I hope I’m wrong, but maybe Jamie set all of this up to make herself look innocent.”

Again, his thoughts were right there with Bree. “If so, it was working. Still is. After all, she got shot. That’s a way to take blame off yourself.”

Bree nodded. “But I watched her when you were running after the shooter, and she was stunned. And angry. I know people have a lot of reactions to being wounded, but something about this felt like a setup.”

Kade made a sound of agreement. “Maybe we can press her for more info while she’s at the hospital.”

If her injuries were as minor as the medic seemed to think. If they weren’t, then Bree and he would have to rethink their theory about this being a setup.

Kade stopped his truck in the hospital parking lot and got out, but he’d hardly made it a step when he saw the man walking toward them.

Anthony.

Kade stepped in front of Bree and slapped his hand on his gun.

Anthony held up his hands in mock surrender, but didn’t stop until he was only a few feet away. He hitched his thumb to the ambulance that had stopped directly in front of the E.R. doors.

“I was at the sheriff’s office when the call came in about the shooting,” Anthony said. “Who’s hurt?”

Kade considered being petty and not answering, but Anthony would learn it sooner or later. “It’s Jamie. She was shot.”

Anthony made a sound of stark surprise and dropped back a step. He looked at the medics as they lifted Jamie out of the ambulance and whisked her into E.R.

“Is she alive?” Anthony asked.

“Yes,” Kade and Bree answered in unison.

It was Bree who continued. “In fact, according to the medic she’ll pull through just fine.” She stared at Anthony. “Bet you’re all torn up about that.”

His stark surprise turned to narrowed eyes. “I don’t wish Jamie any harm, but she was a fool to think she could trust my father. Or Agent Cooper.”

Bree huffed and folded her arms over her chest. “And you think one of them is responsible for this?”

“Who else?”

“You,” Kade quickly provided. And he silently added Jamie’s name to that list of possibilities.

“You’re wasting your time trying to pin any of this on me.” Anthony tapped his chest. “I’ve told you who’s behind all of this, and yet both are still out on the streets. How many more shootings will it take for you to haul my father and his lackey FBI friend in for questioning?”

Right now, speaking to Jamie was his priority.

“Come on.” Kade slipped his arm around Bree and started for the E.R. entrance.

“Jamie accused me of all of this, didn’t she?” Anthony called out. “I’ll bet she said she had some kind of proof of my wrongdoing. But let me guess, she didn’t have that proof with her.”

Kade and Bree stopped, and Kade eased back around to face him. Not because he wanted to see Anthony, but he wanted to make sure the man wasn’t about to pull a gun on them.

“She doesn’t have proof of anything,” Anthony went on, “unless it’s crimes she committed.”

“I thought Jamie and you were friends of sorts,” Kade reminded him.

“No. She’s a viper. My advice? Watch your back around her, and don’t believe a word she says.”

Kade didn’t intend to believe any of them, and this conversation was over. Even though Anthony continued to bark out warnings, Kade and Bree went to the E.R. and entered through the automatic doors.

The first person Kade saw was Tommy Watters, and he made a beeline toward them. “The shooting victim is in the examining room.”

Good. Maybe it wouldn’t take long, and then Kade could get Bree out of there. Even though she’d been stellar under fire, the spent adrenaline was obviously getting to her. It was getting to him, too. Besides, he needed to call Grayson and check on Leah.

Kade didn’t stay in the waiting area since he wanted to keep an eye on Jamie and talk to the doctor about her injury. He led Bree past the reception desk and into the hall where there were examining rooms on each side. The first was empty. The second had a sick-looking kid with some very worried parents by his bedside.

Bree walked ahead of him, checking the rooms on the other side of the hall. She made it to the last one and whirled around.

“Where’s Jamie?” she asked.

That was not a question Kade wanted to hear, and he started his own frantic search of the room. He cursed.

Because Jamie was nowhere in sight.

Chapter Thirteen

Bree had no idea what to think about this latest mess. Had Jamie left on her own, or had she been coerced into leaving the hospital?

Unfortunately, Kade and she didn’t know the answer.

But after a thorough search of the area and the entire hospital, they hadn’t been able to find the woman. Heck, they hadn’t even been able to find anyone who’d even seen her. Jamie had simply vanished.

And without her, they couldn’t get those backups.

Bree had pinned her hopes on the backups. Kade’s latest phone call was to his brother Mason, who still was at the hospital reviewing the surveillance feed of the two newly installed cameras. One in the hospital parking lot. The other, fixed at the E.R. entrance where just weeks earlier someone had left Leah. It was because of Leah’s abandonment that the city had put the cameras in place.

Kade was seated at Mason’s desk at the sheriff’s office, the phone sandwiched between his ear and shoulder, while he fired off messages to the rangers that he’d asked to assist in the search for Jamie. That’s because all the deputies were tied up either providing protection for Leah and the others or investigating the shooting.

Bree had personally verified the protecting Leah part because, despite the need to find Jamie, she had an even greater need to make sure her baby was okay. Grayson, his wife and both sisters-in-law had assured Bree that all was well, but she wouldn’t be convinced of that until she held Leah in her own arms.

Kade hung up the phone and shook his head.

Bree’s hopes went south for a quick end to this.

“Nothing,” Kade verified. “The camera angles are wrong to film someone leaving out the side exits.”

Which Jamie had no doubt done since one of those side exits was very close to the examining room where the EMT had left her to wait for the doctor.

“What about the backups?” Bree asked. “Has SAPD had time to search her house for them?”

“They’re there now, but they haven’t found anything so far.”

She groaned even though the search had been a long shot. Her house was probably the last place Jamie would have left them. But where could they be?

“The rangers and deputies will keep looking for Jamie and the shooter,” Kade continued. “And we’ll look for a money trail. If she’s going into hiding, she’ll need cash.”

Bree rubbed the back of her neck and the pain that was starting to make its way to her head. “She’ll need money if she left voluntarily.”

Kade nodded, stood and went to her. He took over the neck massage. At first, it felt too intimate for his brother’s office—for any place—but after a few strokes of those clever fingers, Bree heard herself sigh.

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

“Why don’t we get out of here so you can get some rest? Maybe we can do another video call to Grayson and check on Leah.”

Until he added that last part, Bree had been about to say no, that they needed to stay and assist with the search and investigation. But she was tired, and more than that, she wanted to see her daughter’s face.

Bree walked into the hall, but the sound of footsteps had her turning in the direction of the dispatcher’s desk.

Coop was there.

And judging from his expression, he was not a happy man.

Great.
Something else to add to her already nightmare of a day.

“The dispatcher’s trying to stop me from seeing you,” Coop called out. He nudged the woman aside, flashing his badge, and he headed right for Bree.

“I heard about the shooting,” Coop said. “Are you both all right?”

“Fine,” Kade said and stayed right by her side. “The deputies have things under control so Bree and I were about to leave.”

“I have to talk to Bree first.” Coop’s tone was definitely all FBI. Oh, yes. This would not be fun.

“About what?” she asked. Bree didn’t even try to take the impatience out of her tone. She really wanted out of there now and didn’t want to go another round of pressure from Coop.

Coop, however, didn’t budge. “You haven’t called, and I thought I made it clear that you had a decision to make.”

Oh, that.

Bree hadn’t forgotten that Coop had ordered her into work, but there hadn’t been time. “Put me on unpaid leave,” she suggested.

But Coop only shook his head. “I’ve been keeping the powers that be off your back, but I can’t do it any longer, Bree. They want you in for some evaluations—both physical and mental. You have to come with me
now.
”

“Now?” Kade and she asked in unison.

Coop lifted his shoulder. “I warned you this could happen.”

“Did you tell those powers that be that Bree is assisting with an investigation?” Kade fired back. “And that she’s in danger?”

“Part of the reason she’s in danger is because she’s here with you.” Coop’s mouth tightened. “If she’d come into headquarters when I asked, she wouldn’t have had shots fired at her.”

When Kade tried to maneuver himself in front of her, maybe to take a verbal swing at Coop, Bree positioned herself so that she was face-to-face with Coop. There was no need for Kade’s career to suffer from this.

“My daughter is in danger,” Bree stated as clearly as she could to Coop. “I don’t have time to go to headquarters for evals.”

“Then you leave me no choice.” Coop held out his hand. “Surrender your badge. Because if you don’t come with me, you’re no longer an FBI agent.”

Bree’s breath stalled in her lungs. Those were words she’d certainly never expected to hear. Not from Coop, not from anyone. The badge and her job had been her life for so long now that they were
her.

“You can’t do this to her,” Kade insisted.

Coop shook his head. “She’s given me no choice. But Bree can fix it all just by coming with me now.”

If she went to headquarters, she’d get caught in the whirlwind of paperwork and evals. There wouldn’t be time to search for Jamie or those backups. There wouldn’t be time for a video call to see Leah.

Bree suddenly felt drained and overwhelmed, but she knew exactly what she had to do. She took her badge from her pocket.

And handed it to Coop.

Coop’s tight jaw went slack, and he just stared at her. Kade didn’t say anything, either, but he gave her a questioning look.

“I’m sure,” she said to Kade. “Let’s go.”

“You can’t just go!” Coop practically shouted. He latched onto her arm, his grip hard and punishing. “You can’t throw your life away like this.”

Kade moved to do something about that grip, but Bree didn’t want a fight to start, so she glared first at the grip and then at Coop.

“You asked for my badge and you got it. You’re no longer my boss, and you’d better get your hand off me.”

Coop let go of her, shook his head and stepped back. He added some raw profanity, too, and turned that profanity on Kade. “You’ve brainwashed her. Or else she’s still too high on drugs to know what she’s saying.”

Bree had to fight not to slap him. “I’m not high. I’m tired—of you and this conversation.” She headed for the back door and hoped Kade would follow rather than slug Coop.

With his voice low and dangerous, Kade said something to Coop, and she finally heard Kade’s footsteps behind her. Thank goodness. She’d had enough violence for today. For the rest of her life.

“I’m sorry,” Kade said, catching up with her. He hooked his arm around her waist. “I’ll call my boss at headquarters and have him intervene. You’ll get your badge back.”