Jenna Night - Killer Country Reunion

“Yes, but first—my mom and Dylan,” she said forcefully, finally loosening her jaw enough to speak clearly. She was still shivering, but not as violently. “You need to make sure my mom and nephew are safe.”

“I thought of them the second I recognized you out there in the lake. There’s an officer on the phone with your mom right now. She’s going to keep talking to her until she gets to the house and sees for herself that your mom and nephew are okay.”

Caroline released a deep sigh and finally allowed herself to feel a hint of relief.

Matt grabbed an office chair, rolled it close to her and then sat down on it. Now she could see Zane again. He was keeping an eye on her while the EMT took his vitals. Zane raised his eyebrows slightly, his expression matching her own curiosity. Why was he here? How long had he been back in town? He must have the same questions about her.

“Tell me everything that happened,” Matt said.

Caroline turned her attention back to him and she described everything she could recall about the attack. “Did you catch either of them?” she asked when she was finished.

He rubbed his hand over his bristly black hair. “Not yet.”

“What’s this?” the paramedic asked. Now that he’d gotten her warmed up and determined her vital signs were okay, he’d started to check for injuries. He’d pulled back the blanket from the area around her shoulder and seen the rip in her jacket and blouse and the surrounding patch of blood on the fabric.

“I think I got nicked by a bullet.”

The paramedic reached into his supply bag for scissors, cut the clothes around her shoulder and got busy cleaning the wound. She could feel him working, but lingering numbness from the cold water blunted the pain.

“Did either of the men say anything that would tell you the motive for the attack?” Matt asked.

She shook her head.

“Well, it didn’t involve robbery. We found your purse by the bench where you sat on the upper level. Your wallet and phone were still in it.”

“The attack might be connected to the murder of her brother,” Zane said.

Matt glanced at Zane, then turned back to Caroline.

“I realize that’s the obvious assumption,” Caroline said quietly. “But I don’t know for sure.” Although her brother had been murdered in Seattle, the Cobalt PD had taken an active interest in the case, partly because Owen was a Cobalt resident. But also many of the officers on the force still remembered his father, Sergeant Henry Marsh. They still treated Caroline like family down at the police department even though her father had been killed seven years ago. And they were anxious to do everything they could to help find Owen’s killer.

“I’m so sorry about Owen,” Zane said, his voice low and husky with emotion.

Caroline didn’t respond. She couldn’t. Not right now. She’d had enough emotional meltdowns for the time being.

Matt glanced at Zane again and then turned back to her with one eyebrow raised and his lips pursed together. “You two know each other?”

“We used to,” Caroline answered, her voice as clipped as she could make it, hoping that Matt would drop this line of questioning.

“Huh.” He nodded slightly, seeming to get the hint. “Can you think of anybody else who would want to come after you for any reason?” Matt asked. “You have any kind of feud going on? Do you owe anybody money? Anything like that?”

“No.”

The paramedic told her the bullet had torn off a layer of skin and underlying tissue, but that the bone beneath it seemed sound. He wanted her to go to the hospital to get X-rays just to be sure. When she told him she’d knocked her head against the boardwalk and felt strangely sleepy for a minute or two, he definitely wanted her to go and get a thorough check.

Zane stood. “I’ll make the trip to the hospital with you. If the ER doctor releases you, I’ll see you home.”

Oh no, he would not.

“Can you walk okay?” Matt asked. “If you feel up to it, I’d like to get you in a patrol car and away from here as soon as possible. Those men who tried to kill you could be long gone. But they could also be repositioning themselves nearby to take another shot as soon as they can. From what you’ve described, they sound like hired professionals. If they don’t kill you they don’t get paid. They’re not going to give up easily.”

While Matt was talking to Caroline, another uniformed officer walked in carrying a couple of blue nylon gym bags. He tossed one of the bags to Zane. “Temperature’s dropping fast. You shouldn’t be out walking around in wet clothes. I brought you a pair of jeans and a shirt from your locker at the station.” Then the officer walked over to Caroline and handed her the second bag. “Some of the women at the station donated clothes for you, too.”

What was going on here?

“Wait a minute,” Caroline said as Zane zipped open the bag and started pulling out clothes. “You have a locker at the police station?”

He nodded. “I do.”

“You can’t be a cop,” she said, confused.

“It’s not my full-time job. I’ve got other commitments. But I am a reserve officer. Mostly called out for search and rescue.”

Caroline held up her hand for him to stop talking. The conversation was moving way too fast and there were too many gaps in the information she was getting. She needed a second to make sense of it all. “Are you saying you’ve been back in town for a while?”

“About a year.”

“A year ?” Caroline and her mom had moved back to town a month ago. And nobody had thought to mention that Zane Coleman was back in Cobalt?

Matt caught her attention and gestured at her to hurry up and open the gym bag.

Trying to collect her thoughts, she slowly pulled out a gray sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. Then she looked back at Zane. “Where have you been all these years?”

He drew in a breath and blew it out. “That’s a long story.”

“We don’t have time to listen to it right now,” Matt interjected. “Come on. You two need to hurry up and get dressed so we can get Caroline out of here.”

* * *

The most important thing at the moment was getting Caroline safely out of the office complex and to the hospital.

Zane kept his thoughts focused on that point as he finished changing into dry clothes in one of the insurance broker’s inner offices.

But concentrating was a challenge when his mind kept tripping over the fact that Caroline had moved back to town. He’d had no idea.

Six weeks ago he’d seen her sitting in a pew at Owen’s funeral while he had stood in the back of the church. His tears had flowed freely at the memory of the flannel-wearing, granola-chomping, nature-loving kid who had followed him around like he was an honorary big brother back when Zane and Caroline started dating.

Zane had wanted to offer his condolences like the other mourners after the graveside service, but showing up unexpectedly at that time and place felt wrong. He couldn’t have done that to Caroline and her mom. Mrs. Marsh, once an energetic and outdoorsy woman, had looked shockingly thin and frail. The amount of time from Owen’s murder to the funeral hadn’t been enough for her to lose that much weight. Something else had to have been going on.

He didn’t spend much time in the actual town of Cobalt these days. Instead he spent the majority of his time helping to rebuild the old horse ranch owned by his aunt and uncle. He probably wouldn’t have heard about her return to Cobalt even if he came to town more often. Zane made it a habit to politely walk away from gossip. He had spent too much time on the receiving end of thoughtless comments as a kid, hearing the biting remarks of adults who didn’t bother to lower their voice. He had no desire to do that to anybody else.