Angi Morgan - Bulletproof Badge

“I have to confess... I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the bathroom window was open. I could hear a few things.”

“Like what?”

Garrison let the captain lead the discussion. He tried to keep a solemn look on his face out of respect for the two women who had died and the seriousness of the current situation. But just sitting there, Kenderly had a way of making him smile. Or the way she tugged at the stretchy skirt jerked him back to the memory of his hand on her thigh.

“I’m not sure I know what you meant by extracting. Who? Were you there to get Isabella away from that horrid man she was married to?”

She’d turned to Garrison, looking for an answer. He popped away from leaning on the wall next to the living room. Taken totally off guard, his mind had been on the soft flesh that had been beneath his fingers. The question had him staring straight back at his commanding officer.

“Oh, my gosh, you were. Is that why you want to open her jewelry box?” She turned back to Oaks. “You see, I honestly don’t know what’s inside. Isabella told me to open it in three days. I thought it might be another letter to mail.”

“Why do you think she said three days? And you’d mailed letters before?” Oaks brought out his pocket notepad, something he was never without.

If Garrison wanted to take notes, he’d have to get a pad from the hall closet. No way. He wasn’t going to miss any part of this interview.

“I don’t know why she said three days. I’ve been doing her hair for several years. Like I told Garrison—” Her hair flew over her shoulder when she turned toward him. “Oh wait, should I call you Lieutenant?”

“I don’t mind being called Garrison.” There it was again...the urge to smile.

“Like I told Garrison, it had gotten to the point that I had to ask her bodyguard to move back while I washed her hair. And they absolutely refused to let her come on her own. But I did pass notes to Trinity and mail an occasional letter.”

“You passed notes for her?”

“Right. Isabella whispered to me that her husband was mad at one of her friend’s husband. And he was being very strict about even allowing her to talk with her friend. So she wondered if I’d mind holding a note for her. It was very secretive. She wanted to pay me to do it, but I said no. I was getting a new customer out of the deal.”

“So both Mrs. Tenoreno and Mrs. Rosco had their hair done at your shop?”

“Yes. Although, they never got to come in at the same time or the same day because of their husbands.”

Garrison moved forward so Kenderly could look at him and Oaks at the same time. “Did you know what their husbands did for a living?”

She shrugged, and he realized that her hair was just above her shoulders. He could have sworn it had been longer.

“Not at the time. I looked them up online after somebody mentioned it one day.” She tugged nervously at her skirt again. “I know they weren’t the best of men, but that didn’t have anything to do with Isabella and Trinity. After their husbands got mad at each other, they couldn’t see each other.”

“Did you ever read any of the notes or keep the address of something you mailed?”

“Of course I didn’t read them. They were private.” Kenderly looked at her lap where her hands had dropped again.

The reaction was one of embarrassment, not indignation.

“You didn’t happen to keep copies of the addresses where Mrs. Tenoreno sent letters?”

She looked up, connecting with him on a level he didn’t understand.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Their husbands were—are—frightening. I sort of wanted to...well, to have some proof in case something went wrong.”

“I could kiss you, Kenderly. This is sure to be a break we’ve been needing,” Garrison said, receiving a cross look from Oaks.

“It might help us determine why they were murdered. What are the addresses?” Oaks’s pen was poised in one hand, and he pulled his cell out of his shirt pocket with the other. “We’ll get units over there ASAP before Tenoreno discovers they exist. If we can get the original letters... Is that the video crew?”

Garrison saw the headlights pull into the driveway and stay lit. He went to get the kitchen door for the TDPS video crew and to signal them to kill the lights.

“No offense to the video crew, but have you ever seen any that are over six feet and two hundred and thirty pounds of muscle?” he threw over his shoulder. Every nerve he had jumped to alert.

Was it the same guy from the murder scene? He sure had the same build. He pulled his weapon and hit the switch closest to him.

Oaks immediately moved Kenderly into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Garrison saw the machine pistol outlined from the streetlight as the guy moved closer to the shrubbery on the far side of the drive. Garrison dove, knocking Oaks to the floor. They turned the ancient wood table to its side just before his aunt’s house began to be cut in half.

Chapter Four

“How many?” Oaks asked, covering his head, protecting it from the breaking glass raining on them.

“Just the one son of a bitch from Tenoreno’s estate.”

“How the hell did he find you here?”

Garrison didn’t have an answer. Kenderly didn’t have a phone on her. He had no landline, so she couldn’t have called anyone. She seemed as though she wanted to cooperate, so her betraying their position didn’t make sense. And he knew that Oaks didn’t do it.

Or did he?

“What if they believe Isabella was communicating with authorities, sir? Is that a possibility? Is another agency involved? They could have waited for a call or followed you.”

“However it happened, you’ve got to get her out of here. We’ll wait for him to reload, then move. Toss me that dish towel,” Oaks commanded. “He winged my leg, or your aunt’s gravy boat cut me.”

Garrison tossed the towel and admired the captain’s attitude. The force of the bullets ripped through the paper-thin walls of the side of the old house. Dishes shattered inside a cabinet, and the doors burst open. Thank God for the solid table his aunt had squeezed into the tiny kitchen. Though she was clearly going to kill him when she saw what was left.

“I’ll get Kenderly.”

Garrison belly-crawled to the bathroom, covering his head more often than not. Just as he passed into the short hall, the gunfire stopped. He didn’t wait for the captain to begin firing. He kicked open the door and pulled Kenderly from the tub.

“Out the front as soon as I give you the go-ahead.”

They moved. She was silent. Oaks fired through the shattered kitchen window. The assassin ceased firing a moment longer.

“Take mine,” Oaks shouted, throwing his keys to Garrison. “Phone’s busted. Call it in. I’ll keep him pinned down.”

Garrison had a split second to follow or disobey orders. The small feminine hand latched on to his biceps reminded him they had a witness to protect. That was his first duty.

Not to mention that no one normally argued with Aiden Oaks, captain or otherwise.

Moving Kenderly’s hand to his belt, he pointed at her shoes. “Take those off and run beside me. We both get on the driver’s side in the street. Take these.” He handed her the keys. “Unlock the door while I cover you. I’ll drive. You’re in the back. Unless something happens to me.”

She nodded.

“Go!” Oaks shouted and fired.

Garrison jerked open the door, searching for any accomplices. No shots this direction. They were still on the side of the house. He touched Kenderly’s hand, then they moved across the porch. He kept as wide a view as possible, turning, scanning. Then he saw the Tenoreno assassin to his left.

“Run. Hit the unlock button.”