Emergency Response

THREE

Noah paced the communal living area on the first floor of the team’s remodeled firehouse. Upper floors of the historic building held individual condos for the team members, while the kitchen, dining room and game room were available to them on the main level. Kerr Development once owned the historic building and had it slated to be sold until Darcie saved Winnie Kerr’s life on a callout. Winnie was so grateful for Darcie’s care and ensuing friendship that she remodeled the firehouse as a home for the entire FRS. She donated the building to the county, along with an endowment that allowed the team to live there rent-free. A sweet deal for all of them.

Tonight all of the team members and their significant others had gathered for a group dinner, but Darcie’s attack changed everything. They’d put dinner on hold and waited for Darcie to provide details of the assault after she took Isabel upstairs for a nap.

Noah had to give the team credit. They’d restrained their natural instinct to take charge and go barreling out the door to find Darcie’s attacker right away. Any one of them, from team leader Jake Marsh, to sniper Brady Owens, bomb expert Cash Dixon, or negotiators Skyler Hunter and Archer Reed, were capable of mounting a hunt for Darcie’s attacker. Instead, they’d patiently sat in wait. Maybe it had to do with the addition of Skyler’s husband, or Brady’s and Cash’s fiancées to the group. Maybe they served as a calming influence on the high-strung team.

Brady suddenly shot to his feet. He never sat still for long and had been whittling away on a chunk of wood, the shavings piling up near his feet. “How long does it take to get a kid to sleep?”

“Cut her some slack, honey.” His fiancée, Morgan, looked up from where she perched on the arm of the chair he’d occupied. “After Isabel’s scare, Darcie likely wants to be sure she’s sound asleep before leaving her alone.”

“I know, but—” He dropped back into the chair.

Morgan pressed a finger against his lips and surprisingly, he smiled up at her and didn’t argue, but fell silent.

Looked like Noah’s take on the significant others was on target.

Footsteps sounded above, then Noah heard the click of shoes coming down the stairway. He crossed the room to see Darcie slowly descend. She was long and lean, with legs that didn’t seem to quit. She’d changed out of her work uniform of black pants and polo shirt into jeans and a bright blue sweater with a high collar. The color highlighted the generous red tint to her hair, something he’d often thought was related to her fiery personality. And the neckline covered the bruises on her throat—a choice that he figured was probably deliberate.

“You poor thing.” Cash’s fiancée, Krista, rushed over to Darcie and led her toward an open chair as if she was a fragile teacup. “I can’t imagine having a guy try to choke me. And bullets? I’d faint.”

Morgan joined them, her blond hair standing out in contrast to the dark-headed pair. She patted Darcie’s shoulder, then squatted next to her. “It’s terrible. Just terrible. What can we do to help?”

Darcie shrank back from their enthusiastic concern. She started turning a small silver ring around and around on her pinkie finger. The ring had belonged to her daughter, Haley, and Noah knew she played with it when she was nervous. She hated being the center of attention like this and rarely let people focus on her. She usually sidestepped questions about her life and her past, but the attack seemed to have rattled her more than she was letting on, as she simply stared into the distance.

“This is crazy,” Noah said, purposefully pulling the attention from her.

“What is?” Krista pushed her hair from her face to look up at him.

Noah forced a lighthearted tone to his voice. “For the first time ever, someone is mothering Darcie instead of her taking them under her wing.”

“Noah’s right.” Jake Marsh smiled down on Darcie from where he stood by the blazing fireplace, his stance wide and ready for action, as usual. Jake was tough and in charge, but Noah also knew how much he cared and that he would put his own life on the line for his team members.

“Guess it’s a side benefit of having more women around.” Cash smiled up at Krista, and Noah couldn’t help but gape. The former Army Ranger and bomb tech seemed to have mellowed out, too.

“What does that say about me, then?” Skyler got up and stared at Cash. Petite, with curly red hair, she was a lot tougher than her pint-sized stature made her seem. And she was one of the finest negotiators and detectives Noah had ever met.

“Don’t take offense, sweetheart.” Logan claimed his wife’s hand. “You have a heart of gold, but most of the time you’re more in a round up criminals and take names’ kind of mode.”

Noah expected Skyler to get mad, and he waited for her response.

She wrinkled her nose. “I kind of am, aren’t I?”

Logan smiled fondly at Skyler. “As an FBI agent, I appreciate that, as do your teammates. Krista and Morgan, on the other hand...?”

“Hey.” Morgan snapped her head up. “Don’t put words in our mouths. We like Skyler just fine, don’t we, Krista?”

“Well.” Krista’s face suddenly lit with mischief. “Maybe she could shrink an inch so I’m not the shortest person in the group, but yeah, otherwise she’s great.”

Skyler scowled in mock offense and the teammates broke out in laughter. Even Darcie smiled, once again proving to Noah that this team acted more like family than coworkers. Darcie was blessed to be a part of the group. He wished he had the same thing on the job, but most of the guys he hung with were married and focused on their own families, and he was like a fifth wheel.

And his real family? They hadn’t spoken much since they’d learned about Ashley. About his son, Evan. Her parents had raised the baby and they wouldn’t let his parents anywhere near their only grandson. Noah deserved their reproach, but it stung. And to make matters worse, they’d recently learned that Evan wasn’t brought up in the Christian faith. It weighed heavy on Noah’s mind, night and day. And put a boatload of guilt in his heart, too.

“I may not be the soft and squishy type,” Skyler said, transferring her focus to Darcie, “but I can make a mean cup of tea. I’ll get you one.” She went straight to the adjoining kitchen.

Jake dropped into a recliner and pushed it back, his focus locked on Darcie. “Noah gave us the basics of your attack, but I’d like to hear about it in your own words.”

Her face blanched. Noah grabbed onto the fireplace mantel to keep from crossing over to her to offer comfort. Not only wasn’t it a good idea, but she’d also hate the extra attention.

Krista took Darcie’s hand. “Take your time, sweetie. I understand. I’ll never forget the creep who tried to kill me, but it gets easier to deal with as time passes. I promise.”

Noah had heard something about Krista’s abduction six months ago when Cash had saved her life, but Noah didn’t know more than that.

Darcie extracted her hand, leaned back in her chair and started in on the details of her attack. She described the suspect and her breathing intensified as tears started to form. She was a strong woman, but even strong women cried after a harrowing attack, and it was going to take Darcie time to get over the experience.

Her voice faltered and she blinked hard. “I don’t know this creep, but Noah wonders if it’s related to someone from a callout who didn’t like the way I treated him.”

Brady scoffed. “I expect you’d nearly have to kill someone to cause this extreme reaction. Anyone whose care you botched lately?”

“Brady,” Morgan scolded. “I’m sure there’s a more delicate way to ask.”

Brady smiled at her. It wasn’t hard to see he was head over heels in love with the woman. “Never claimed there was anything delicate about me, honey.”

“Subtlety was never Brady’s strong suit.” Archer grinned at Morgan. “And you’re the one who chose to get engaged to the guy. We inherited him.”

“Thanks a lot.” Brady fake slugged Archer’s arm.

Archer laughed. “No problem, man. What are friends for?”

“Focus, people,” Jake interrupted, to keep the team on task. “Darcie, can you think of anyone who might want to retaliate—not because you did anything wrong in their care, but because they just weren’t happy with the results? Someone who was left permanently disabled, maybe?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking about it since Noah mentioned it, and I’m coming up blank.”

“I’ve already got my team pulling the callout records from dispatch,” Noah offered. “But I’m also wondering if this is gang-related.”

“Gang.” Jake sat forward, slamming down his leg rest and fixing his gaze on Noah. “How so?”

“This is just a hunch, mind you. I didn’t get a close look at the shooter, but he wore Nuevo gang colors. And we all know about the gang problems in that neighborhood.”

“Never heard of the Nuevo gang,” Cash said.

“They’re a recently formed offshoot of another faction. Nuevo means new. Hence the name.”

Darcie frowned. “But I’m not involved with or connected to a gang.”

“Regardless,” Noah replied, “I’ll talk to our detective on the metro gang task force to see if he has any thoughts on the attack.”

“I don’t like this uncertainty.” Morgan twisted her hands. “There’s got to be a connection to narrow this down. Or how else will we know whether or not everyone here is in danger?”

“This isn’t related to the team, is it?” Krista shot a questioning look at Noah.

“Maybe,” he said. “But I think it’s less likely than some of the other options.”

Jake narrowed his gaze. “Could be related to the Vargas family.”

“The Vargas family?” Krista asked.

“He’s talking about Isabel, Mayte and Pilar.” Skyler came back into the room carrying a mug of steaming tea. She handed it to Darcie and grinned. “Is this where I should give you a hug or something?”

Darcie returned the smile, and Noah liked seeing the change in her attitude even if it was just for the moment. “I’m good for now.”

“Morgan’s right, you know,” Brady said. “If this is related to the squad we need to know.”

Noah opened his mouth to speak, but the team started tossing out thoughts on possible suspects. No point in fighting to be heard. He leaned back and listened, but he kept his eye on Darcie, who sipped her tea and said very little.

“Back to the Vargas family,” Jake said. “Could this have something to do with Mayte’s drug habit?”

“I wondered the same thing,” Noah admitted. “I’ll start looking in to that, too.”

“You’re heading up this investigation, then?” Archer asked.

Noah nodded and waited for one of them to ask about his credentials and if PPB had a more qualified detective.

“So there’s no clear reason for the attack.” Logan weighed in for the first time. “Did you ever consider it’s just a random attack? Maybe a robbery?”

“I thought of that,” Darcie said. “But if all he wanted was my money, why didn’t he pull his gun and demand my purse instead of trying to choke me to death?”

“Good point. It does sound more like someone wanted you dead.” Logan frowned. “Odd that he’d attempt it out in broad daylight like that with witnesses around.”

“If he is a gangster,” Noah said, “the locals are so afraid of the gangs, they’d never testify against them, so the gangsters don’t bother trying to hide. And, honestly, the attack in broad daylight is right in line with a gangster’s behavior.”

Archer nodded. “They aren’t known for their subtlety.”

Jake was still frowning. “Until we can prove a connection to a gang, we’ll need to explore all other possibilities.”

Brady leveled his gaze at Darcie. “You’ve never really talked about your ex. Could he be behind this?”

Darcie’s mouth fell open for a second, before she snapped it closed and took a deep breath. “Tom doesn’t have any gang ties.”

Brady leaned forward. “He could have hired someone.”

“He’s right, Darcie,” Skyler said. “I know Tom came to see you a few weeks ago. He seemed pretty angry when he left. Could it be related to that?”

Darcie opened her mouth, then closed it again and looked down at her hands. “We own a house together from when we were married. He wants to sell it. Says he needs the money. I’m not ready to let it go.”

“I know you don’t want to think he could harm you, but money or the lack thereof, is a powerful motivator,” Archer said.

“I should probably look in to him.” Noah tried to sound like it would be an unpleasant thing to do, when truth was, he hoped to learn more about Darcie in the process since she shared little about her personal life.

“Do what you have to do,” she said, but didn’t look up.

Archer shifted in his chair. “Has anyone thought about Winnie Kerr’s sons?”

“The woman who donated this place?” Morgan asked.

Archer nodded. “She recently changed her will, cutting out her sons and leaving Darcie a sizable inheritance. Her sons didn’t like it and they’re trying to prove Winnie’s not of sound mind.”

Darcie lifted her head, sorrow lingering in her expression. “I’m scheduled to testify on Winnie’s behalf.”

“Sounds like a good motive for murder.” Archer swung his gaze to Noah. “Since this is a financial lead and I have an MBA, mind if I do a bit of checking on it for you? Would help relieve some of your workload.”

“I’m glad for the help.” Noah handed a business card to Archer. “Keep me updated on your progress.”

“And you’ll do the same thing,” Jake demanded, his focus fixed squarely on Noah’s face.

Noah didn’t like sharing confidential information outside of his department, but there was no point in arguing with Jake. He’d get the information somehow, so Noah might as well provide it. He nodded his agreement.

Darcie set down her teacup and stood. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m tired of talking about this. It’s my night to cook dinner, and it’s time for me to get started.”

“Oh, honey.” Morgan jumped up. “You don’t need to cook. We can do it.”

Darcie gave a firm shake of her head, then winced. Noah suspected it was from the bruises he’d seen before she hid them under her sweater. “Making dinner will keep my mind busy.”

With her shoulders back, she turned and marched to the kitchen, looking like the resolute, amazing woman Noah knew her to be. After losing her daughter and then her marriage, she’d clawed her way back to normalcy in her life, but Noah knew it had been a long, hard struggle. He also knew if such a tragedy didn’t keep her down, nothing would.

The problem was, in an effort to keep up a strong act or to fight through her fears, she could very well ignore the danger she was in and do something foolish. It was just one of many things that would keep Noah on alert until he apprehended her attacker.

FOUR

Alone at last in the kitchen, Darcie planted her hands on the granite countertop, her back to the family room. The cool, smooth surface took the sting out of her hands. She needed time to process this day. Time away from everyone else. She couldn’t rush up to her condo for fear of waking Isabel, so she’d gone with the first thought that had come into her head—the kitchen.

Unfortunately, it was open to the family room, leaving her in full view. Still, cooking for this many people was a big job and no one on the squad would offer to help when it wasn’t their night, so she should have the kitchen all to herself. It was sweet of Morgan to offer to take over, but when Darcie pushed the point, Morgan certainly hadn’t insisted.

Fighting down a panic attack, one like the many she’d experienced after Haley died and Tom bailed on her, Darcie set to work on her family’s simple shrimp-boil recipe. She dug out a large stockpot and started water flowing. She unearthed several pounds of fresh shrimp, plump sausage and ears of corn from the refrigerator, then found a bag of baby red potatoes in the bin. As she retrieved the spice boiling bags from the pantry, Noah stepped into the room.

He smiled, but she could see he was testing her mood. “What are you making?”

“Shrimp boil—shrimp, corn on the cob, sausage and red potatoes all cooked with seafood spices,” she answered, trying to sound calm and collected so he would think she’d recovered from the attack and go home.

“You probably ate a lot of seafood growing up in Florida.”

“Yes,” she said.

“Do you go back there often?”

“Not really.” The fact that her family had disowned her when she married Tom, who was nothing more than an unemployed biker when they met, had nothing to do with the investigation, so she didn’t bring it up.

“Want some help?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

She sighed and met his gaze. “Look, Noah, I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful for your help today, but if this is your way of getting me to talk about the incident and how I’m feeling, I’m done with that and ready to move on.”

“I’m that obvious, am I?” He grinned and his dimple, the one that seemed to beg her to poke a finger into it, appeared.

Instead, she turned off the water and started the gas burner beneath the pot.

“I’d hoped to talk to you about reviewing your callout list,” he continued. “I’m sure it’s in my email by now and we can sit down to review it together.”

She turned to him. “Tonight?”

“Yes, if you’re up to it.”

She had the stamina and the desire to do it tonight, but having Noah in her home made her think about him as a man and not a police detective. She didn’t need that distraction right now when her focus should be on helping him find her attacker. “I’m glad to work on the investigation with you at the precinct. We could do it in the morning right after I finish with the sketch artist.”

He watched her for a moment, a cloud darkening his eyes, then he shrugged and seemed to relax.

“So what you’re saying is I’m not invited to dinner,” he joked, but she could hear the hurt behind his words.

She looked up at him. “Do you think it’s a good idea for you to stay?”

“You mean because you’re cooking?” That grin again and the dimple. She could barely resist the dimple.

She sighed.

“Okay, sorry,” he said sincerely. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to spending time with me as I’m not leaving you alone until your attacker is caught.”

She crossed her arms. “I won’t be alone. I have the team.”

“A team who could be called out at any time of the day or night.”

“I’d go with them on the callout, then.”

“You’d have to stay here to care for Isabel. You really don’t want me to leave the two of you alone, do you?”

No. Yes. “I have a gun.”

He eyed her. “That you’re not willing to use.”

Her shoulders went up defensively. “I might have shot him.”

“Maybe,” he said, keeping his probing gaze fixed on her. “When’s the last time you went to the range to practice your marksmanship?”

A few months, but she wouldn’t tell him that. She shrugged.

He planted his hands on the counter. “Then after we get through the callout list tomorrow, we’ll be heading to the range.”

“You don’t need—”

“I know I don’t need to take you to the range.” He crossed his arms and put on his serious detective expression, which made him look hard and unyielding. Annoyingly, she found it equally as attractive as the cute dimple. “Anyone on the team can take you, or you could go on your own. But since I’m the one who has the problem with not letting you out of my sight until this guy is caught, you’ll humor me and let me see how well you can handle a gun.” He held her gaze, issuing her a challenge.

She thought to argue, but she knew he’d stand right there and keep at her until she agreed with him. She liked his tenacity. His strength and determination. Just not when he directed it at her.

“Now, I’m inviting myself to dinner.” He waved a hand over the counter. “What do you need help with?” He jutted out his chin as if challenging her to tell him he wasn’t wanted.

She was done fighting him for the night. After the attack, she had no energy left to do battle over something like this. “Do you know how to shuck corn on the cob?”

At the instant brightening of his mood, she regretted her decision to let him stay.

“No, but I’m sure you can teach me.”

She slid the bag of corn across the island. “It’s not hard. Cut off both ends and start peeling off the outer husk, then the silk strings. If the silk is stubborn try running it under water.”

She turned her back on him before he asked for additional directions. She went to the sink and started peeling the shrimp. She felt him watching her every move and resisted sighing for about the zillionth time today.

She’d always thought if they argued the spark between them would ignite into something fierce. It had and they were about to spend time together. Maybe a lot of it. Could they do so without the tension mounting every second? If not, she’d be in world of hurt by the time they captured the shooter.

* * *

Noah got up from the dining table and carried his plate to the kitchen. From everyone’s reactions, he was sure that dinner had been amazing, but the tender shrimp had felt like sawdust in his mouth, and he’d had to choke it down. His fault. Totally. He’d gotten his feelings hurt. There, he admitted it. How girlie was that? He was supposed to be this tough cop and he’d let Darcie hurt his feelings when she’d made it clear that she wanted him to leave.

So what had he done about it? Invited himself to dinner. Dumb. Really dumb. He could have just sat outside and kept an eye on the house. He didn’t need the added pain of being in Darcie’s company when he wasn’t wanted.

He shook his head, hoping to erase the memory of the tense meal, where her team members kept casting him and Darcie long looks. They knew there were sparks between the two of them. They were law enforcement officers with finely honed observation skills, so how could they not see it? Even Logan, who was new to the group, got it. Krista and Morgan were the only ones who seemed to be in the dark.

He set his plate on the counter next to the pile of dishes everyone ditched before moving to the family room. Darcie insisted on cleaning up, too, saying it was her responsibility and she wasn’t going to shirk it.