She sat on the side of the bed, checking her cell phone, and glanced up in surprise when he stepped out way faster than she expected. “That was fast.”

  He grinned. “I was in there alone,” he explained.

  She flushed. “Well, if I’d realized there was an invitation in there …”

  He chuckled. “Maybe next time.”

  “I can see a hot tub being pretty nice too,” she said.

  He dressed while she watched, and then he packed up his few belongings, putting everything into a carry-on bag.

  “You travel light.”

  He nodded. “I do at that.” He glanced at her, picked up his bag, held out his hand and said, “It’s habit.”

  “Did you travel a lot when you were in the service?”

  “All the time.”

  “That would have been nice,” she murmured. “I’ve barely been anywhere.”

  “Well, you’re going to New Mexico, so that’s somewhere.”

  That startled a laugh out of her. “My car is in town though.”

  “If you decide to move to New Mexico but don’t want to drive alone, I’ll fly out and take the drive with you.”

  She glanced at him. “You’d do that?”

  “Absolutely. And if you don’t want to drive, it’s easy to hitch your car to a big truck and tow it into New Mexico.”

  She thought about it and nodded. “I guess that’s one of the many options to consider down the road,” she said neutrally.

  He didn’t say anything, but, when they got outside, he headed straight for his truck. She got into the passenger side again, deliberately not looking at the bed. As she sat inside, he glanced at her and asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I am,” she said firmly. “I may never look at a truck bed the same again.”

  “Well, there’s therapy for that too.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He slid her a sidelong glance. “We can go for a picnic and use the bed for a whole lot better reasons than the one you were thinking about.”

  “Well, I have to amend that then. If you and blankets and a bottle of wine are included, it probably wouldn’t be too bad at all.”

  “That’s the spirit.” He drove straight to the station.

  She was surprised he knew his way around so well. She hopped out.

  He left his bag in the truck, locked it and joined her. “How long will we be here? Do you know?” he asked.

  “Haven’t a clue. We should get the statements done pretty fast, then get them filed. Thereafter we need to go to my place, so I can pack a bag.”

  “Right. At least a couple hours.”

  He had his phone out checking messages again, she presumed. “We have to make inquiries into flights.”

  “Nope, two are already booked.”

  She stopped at the front step of the police station, raised her eyebrows at him.

  “The guys booked them. They can’t wait to meet you.”

  Instantly she was flustered, feeling insecure at the thought. “But these are your best friends.” She frowned, not sure she was ready for that step yet.

  He tucked his arm in hers. “They’ll love you.”

  “I don’t know about that,” she muttered. “I can’t say I’m feeling surrounded by love at this point.”

  “Well, I’ll tell them about your kick to the commander’s chin, taking him out. They’ll be laughing their fool heads off. And you’ll fit in perfectly.”

  Instantly she felt better. “I hope so. It was a good kick, wasn’t it?”

  He chuckled. “It so was.”

  Inside the police station, she headed straight to Henry. “Are you taking our statements?”

  He nodded, blushing slightly. “How are you feeling?”

  She gave him a bright smile at his concern. “I’m fine. Thankfully he didn’t succeed.”

  Henry nodded, his head bobbing up and down. “The police chief said you were coming in this morning.”

  She nodded. “Maybe we should get the statements done first.”

  She pulled up another chair for Jager, and the two of them sat down beside Henry. She studiously ignored the rest of the office. She knew they were being watched, but she didn’t have issues with any of them, outside of their silence when they should have spoken up. But neither had they bent over backward to make themselves friendly. Henry, on the other hand, she’d miss him.

  She wondered at how quickly she already thought about leaving. She’d stayed because Tony had been here, and it would be hard to say goodbye. But now she had a sense that it wasn’t even so much a goodbye as much as it was a case of moving on. Like Tony had moved on to whatever came after death for him, and, God, she hoped she’d see her husband again one day. Whether she continued to work at the station or not, she didn’t want to spend her life trapped in this town. But she’d been too scared to make a move on her own.

  The statement process didn’t take too long. With double statements typed up, printed off, she signed hers; Jager signed his, and Henry witnessed them both.

  Henry said, “The police chief will probably want to see you now.”

  “Do you want to call him and let him know we’re here?”

  He looked at her in surprise. And then he glanced around at the other officers and lowered his voice. “Should I?”

  She smiled gently. “Yes, you should.”

  He reached for the phone, called through to the chief of police’s office. After Henry was done with the call, he beamed. “You can go on up.”

  The two of them walked through the station, and again she stared straight ahead. She didn’t have an ax to grind with anyone here. Obviously the gossip had already traveled around the station. She didn’t know which way people would land on the issue, and thankfully she was relieved that she wouldn’t be here for the next few days to deal with it.

  Upstairs she walked to the police chief’s office and rapped on the door. He called out, “Come in,” and she opened the door. She stuck her head into the room. “It’s just us.”

  He stood, motioned for them to come in. “How are you feeling?”

  “Sore, beat up a bit,” she admitted, “but, other than that, I’m fine. I’m just grateful you all came when you did.”

  “I think Jager had everything handled just fine before we arrived.” He reached over and shook Jager’s hand.

  “Do you two know each other?” she asked, her gaze traveling from man to man.

  Jager shook his head. “No. We do have friends in common though,” he said.

  The police chief nodded. “Isn’t that a fact? I’ve known Ice for a long time.”

  Allison asked, “Ice?”

  Jager grabbed Allison’s hand. “She’s Levi’s partner. And Levi is another good friend who started a security company in Texas. Everyone in his company has a naval background.”

  “She’s also hell on wheels,” the chief said, “and she’s a hell of a pilot. Her father’s a hell of a doctor. My daughter was in a really bad accident up on the mountain here, and the local doctors managed to get her stabilized, but they couldn’t do anything with the bad breaks she had incurred. Ice’s father stepped up, took a look at her records, and, next thing I know, she’s transferred to California, undergoing reconstructive surgery, and, boom, she’s as good as new.”

  Allison stared at him. “Elsa?”

  He beamed. “She wasn’t very old back then. I think she was eleven when it happened.”

  Allison sat back and shook her head. “Wow, it’s a small world.”

  “It is,” Jager said. “And the older I get, the smaller it seems.”

  The men chatted for a few minutes; then the chief looked at her and said, “Have you had any thoughts about what you want to do?”

  “I’ll take a few days to think about it,” she said cautiously.

  He nodded. “You do that, and you talk to your brother. There’s a job here if you want it. If you’re ready to move on, just let me know so I can make things easy for you.”

  She smiled. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I should have had my eyes open about the situation a long time ago. I’m sorry it took this long to see just what an ass he was.”

  “As long as he’s working mostly with men, I don’t think it would have surfaced. But, once I stepped into the ring, for some reason, apparently I pissed him off.”

  “Oh, I don’t think anger was what he felt when he looked at you,” the chief said with a smile. “But it doesn’t matter. If his advances were rebuffed, you have that right.”

  She stared at him in horror. “He never made any advances. Last night he came out of the blue at me.”

  “Did he? Or did you not notice as you’ve been grieving?” the chief asked. “We all loved your husband. He was a great guy. And I could have given you more time off, but I figured you’d heal faster if you were working.”

  “Absolutely. And I did. But it was also hard coming to work every day to see his ghost at his desk, to see his replacement, to hear all the people talking behind my back.”

  “I understand. It’s never easy to lose a coworker. But when he’s a friend as well, it makes it that much harder. In your case, it was a spouse. That makes it triply hard. It’s the downside of having married partners working together.”

  She smiled. “Still, I enjoyed every day I had with him. But he’s gone now, and I need to move on.”

  “Sounds like you’ve already made a decision then.”

  She chuckled. “No, I’ll enjoy a few days away and figure it out.” She stood. “Our flight leaves in a couple hours.”

  He smiled. “Enjoy your time. I’ll see you when you get back.” He turned to look at Jager. “And I understand we need to reopen your parent’s accident file. Be assured we’ll go over it again with new eyes, especially given the information Allison and you have gathered. I’ll let you know how it turns out.”

  The two men shook hands, then Jager looped his arm with Allison’s and the two walked through the station to the entrance. Outside she turned to look back and smiled. “You know? I’ll miss it—the job itself—but I don’t feel the need to go back there.”

  “Let’s get to your place and pack your bags. We still have to return the rental to the airport before we board.”

  And that’s what they did.

  By the time she stepped onto the airplane, Jager at her side, she felt a burgeoning excitement that she hadn’t had in a long time. “It’s a minivacation but not a vacation,” she said. “I don’t even know what to call it.”

  He looked at her with a quiet smile. “How about just togetherness?”

  “I can work with that.”

  He knew she was excited about the trip, but, the closer they got to Santa Fe, the more worried he got. Yes, it was his home, but he was concerned about what he’d find. He knew his friends were barricaded in, and nobody would get to them without a hell of a fight. But this Freddie guy had been ahead of them every damn step of the way. He had also proven to be very chameleonlike and had gotten away with more than Jager had ever thought was possible. He’d be devastated if somebody else had been killed.

  Enough lives have been lost. Enough innocent lives lost. He knew his friends, the guys in his unit, and they hadn’t done anything to deserve this. They weren’t guilty of anything. This was somebody with a vendetta, and Jager planned to squish him flat as soon as he found him.

  But now, for the first time, Jager realized how the other men felt because he shouldn’t be bringing Allison with him. He was taking her into a dangerous situation. That she’d proven herself capable of handling other situations didn’t mean she wouldn’t end up being a victim.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  He looked at her.

  She shook her head. “Oh no, no second thoughts. We’re already on the plane.”

  “I’m not sure I should bring you to Santa Fe. It’s dangerous.”

  She snorted. “Like being a cop isn’t dangerous.”

  “But don’t forget this Freddie guy is gunning for us.”

  She nodded. “I know that, and so I’ll be extravigilant to make sure he doesn’t get you. He doesn’t know anything about me. Remember that.”

  He stared at her thoughtfully, wondering if they could use that.

  She nodded. “Good. Get that brain going. Figure this out. He doesn’t know about me, so I’m the wild card. I can handle a gun. I can also handle myself. Especially if I’m not about to get raped by some asshole,” she said with disgust.

  He grinned. “You did just fine.”

  “No, I didn’t do just fine. I’m kind of pissed at myself over it.”

  “Turn that anger around,” he said calmly, “and focus it on something ahead of you. It’ll make it much easier to deal with.”

  “That’s no problem. I’ll focus on this asshole who’s made your life miserable.”

  He reached over and wrapped his fingers around hers. She was such a fierce warrior. He couldn’t believe in just two days he’d found somebody so very special. But, more than that, he had not only clicked with her but had clicked and locked. He didn’t know how to describe it, but it was like a missing part of himself had come home. He hadn’t met her before, yet here she was, a major part of his life. He just hoped for a resolution to his nightmare so he could move forward, knowing it was all over. He loved puzzles, but this one had been going on for too long, and the consequences had been far too deadly.

  Landing in Santa Fe, they walked out into the warm sunshine, and she laughed. “It feels different. It looks different. It even smells different here.”

  He linked his fingers through hers. “I left my truck in long-term parking.”

  “So you do have a truck?”

  “Well, yes. It’s not a big one though.”

  After another shuttle ride to the far parking area and locating his truck, he opened the door of the small truck for her to hop in.

  She looked at it and smiled. “More gas efficient.”

  “It is at that.”

  “No back seat in the cab. I like this.”

  He chuckled. “I have two vehicles. This is my beater runabout one. No way I’m leaving my Jeep Wrangler in long-term parking where some asshole can strip it.”

  “Right. Crime is still crime no matter where you live, isn’t it?”

  He laughed. “Parking lots like this are supposed to be secure, but you have to wonder. Maybe they aren’t.”

  They drove for fifteen or twenty minutes. He smiled as he listened to her going on and on about everything within view. Santa Fe was definitely different. New Mexico had a fashion, a taste, a style all its own. It was very unique from the rest of the country. The longer he was here, the more he liked it. He was grateful Badger and Kat had found a home for the rest of them. They were all lost souls, coming together again, the walking wounded, looking for a place to land. Because of those two, they all had one place to gather now. There was a lot to be said for that.

  First, he drove up to his place and hopped out. She stepped out and said, “Your own house?”

  He nodded. “I haven’t owned it long, but, as it’s only a couple blocks away from my friends, I couldn’t resist.”

  “Lucky you.”

  He watched her expression as she stared at the large sprawled-out adobe rancher with the big clay tiles on the roof. He walked her to the front entrance, unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  “Do you live here alone?”

  “Yes. I had it rented out, but, when I realized I was coming back, I terminated the lease.”

  “Nice.” She dropped her bag on the kitchen floor and walked out through the double glass doors to the backyard. “A pool?” she asked in shock.

  He smiled and nodded. “Think about where you are.”

  She stared in amazement. “Wow. This really is a vacation.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know about that. I hope you enjoy the time you’re here.”

  She smiled, threw her arms around him and said, “I’m sure I will. Now, where are your friends?”

  Chapter 12

  He held out his hand. “They’re within walking distance. If you’re ready.”

  She reached for his hand and smiled. “Absolutely.”

  They walked out the front door. He turned and locked it. His was the third house from the corner. He steered her in the direction of the corner, turned to the left and walked toward a big house ahead.

  She looked at him. “How close?”

  “We’re meeting at Badger’s. He’s just at the end of this block. There’s a cul-de-sac. He’s at the center of it.”

  “That is really nice for you guys.”

  “At the time this was the closest I could get to him. It’s definitely close enough. As long as it’s walking distance, I’m fine. But we’ll have a lot of meetings, barbecues, lazy afternoons spent together. So it’s nice not to be true next-door neighbors, but, at the same time, there’s a lot to be said for being this close.”

  She laughed. “I can imagine. That’s pretty awesome for you guys.” She smiled at their joined hands. It was something her husband never wanted to do. He was always self-conscious. He’d hold her hand for a little bit and then shake it off. Jager appeared to be comfortable, even wanting to hold her hand. She didn’t think it was a security thing or an ownership thing but more that he liked the connection. Which was good because that’s exactly what she wanted.

  He looked at her. “You okay?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “A lot has changed in the last couple days,” he admitted. “For me too.”

  “Do they know about me?”