His brows rose. “You consider that an attack? People have lunged at me with knives and scissors and bats. Threatened to shoot me or break my legs because something I said pissed them off. This was nothing.”
The corners of her mouth turned up; she couldn’t help it. He was trying to distract her, and it was working. “That’s horrible.”
He shrugged. “Comes with the job. You can’t be in law enforcement and let things push you over an edge into a reaction.”
“You see horrible situations.” Rowan had worked alongside law enforcement much of her life but had never witnessed a moment when one of their lives had been threatened. It took a special person to pursue the job. “How do you deal with it? I mean . . . when you were a deputy, you never knew what you would face that day. It could have been a traffic stop where you’re fired at or an active shooter in a school.”
Resolve entered his eyes. “You do what you’re trained to do. I didn’t get my deputy pay and excellent benefits to take reports about stolen lawn mowers or ticket speeders. I got it for the day I would have risk my life to save others without a second thought. You mentioned a school shooting. I’m trained to go in even if I am the only responder there. And if a shooter has locked themselves in a room with children, I go through that door. Hopefully with two other officers I trust. I go straight in, and the others follow behind me to the sides.”
Rowan stared at him. She’d known they were trained to go after active shooters, but now she had a vivid image of Evan risking his life in that scenario to save others. And she was rattled to the core. “Thank you,” she managed to say. “Few people would do that.”
“There’s little glamour in the job. We get spit on, called names, flipped off, and see some of the saddest or most disgusting sights you can imagine. Recruits know this, but until they experience it, they don’t know if they have the heart and soul needed for public service. I joined because I want to help people, and that’s what most officers will say is their reason. But there has to be a part of you that will sacrifice everything when called upon. Not everyone can stomach that.” His eyes softened. “Sorry. I didn’t need to go there.”
“It’s okay. It’s the truth.” Rowan blew out a breath. “We were talking about Adam. An actual coward.”
“Ivy is at work today?” he asked.
Rowan checked the time. “Yes. She should be at the salon. I’ll call her and then drive there.”
“Before you go, I wanted to ask you a question about Ken Steward.”
Her brain struggled to shift conversational gears, and she experienced a small wave of guilt because she hadn’t thought about Ken in a while.
It doesn’t mean I don’t care about him.
“What is it?”
“Did he talk about Jerry Chiavo with you?”
Rowan stiffened. The man’s name always did that to her. “Occasionally, I guess. We rarely said his name . . . just called him ‘that guy’ or ‘he.’ We both knew who we were referring to.”
“Did Ken ever tell you he wanted to visit Jerry in prison?”
She blinked. “No. Why would he want to?”
“That’s what I hoped you could tell me.” He grimaced. “Ken visited him about two weeks before he was murdered.”
Rowan was stunned. “I don’t know why he would go.”
“His only connection to Jerry Chiavo would be your case, correct? I talked to Shannon Steward about it, and she didn’t understand why Ken would visit him either. She said Ken had a lot of anger directed at Jerry from what he did to you and Malcolm.”
“Yes, Ken got angry when his name came up. I saw that several times. I don’t find it odd, considering what Jerry did.”
“I don’t think the anger is unusual either . . . but a visit seems odd. Maybe he needed to have it out verbally with Jerry? But Jerry would have agreed to the visit, and he had to know Ken had nothing good to say to him. Jerry had very few visitors, especially since his wife died. Maybe he was bored and curious why Ken would set up a visit.”
Rowan thought for a long moment, remembering how her visit had gone. “I can see him agreeing to see Ken for that reason. Wanting someone to toy with a bit.”
“Shannon said Ken had been distant for a couple weeks before his death. Could his visit to Jerry have something to do with that?”
Rowan shook her head. “I honestly have no idea. Which reminds me, Rees Womack also told me that Ken was acting odd in the weeks before he died. Said he was anxious and acted distracted.” She paused. “Rees thought it had something to do with me.”
Even’s gaze sharpened. “How so?”
“He didn’t know. Ken told him there was something he couldn’t tell me, and that he was worried I’d never forgive him for it. I’ve thought and thought, and I can’t figure out what that could be. The man saved my life. What could I not forgive him for?”
“You might never find out.”
“Rees also said he thinks Ken might have gone camping in that spot to meet someone. He’d wanted Rees to come along, but he backed out. He didn’t care for the location and pointed out that it was an odd one for Ken to choose. Ken likes to be near a lake or creek and always goes far out in the boondocks. That site was rather close in for him. Rees said he refused to change the location.”
“But he didn’t say he was meeting someone?”
“No. It was speculation. But Rees and I couldn’t come up with another reason for him to camp there. I hesitated to tell you because it didn’t seem important.”
“I never know if something is important until it suddenly is.”
Evan was frustrated; Rowan saw it in the set of his jaw and the stiffness in his shoulders. He wanted to find Ken’s killer, and she appreciated his determination. “You’ll figure out who murdered Ken.”
“I’ll keep digging until I do,” he promised, holding her gaze. “Go see your sister. Tell her I’m sorry about Adam getting out.”
She stopped closer, slid a hand up his chest, and kissed him. She didn’t know what they were to each other, and it didn’t matter. She cared about Evan and knew he felt the same way about her. Labels could come later. Pulling back, she met his gaze and saw happiness with an undercurrent of desire.
“We’re having burgers at my parents’ this evening. Can you come?”
His face lit up. “Definitely.”
A warm glow filled her chest at his reaction.
Yes. This is good for us.
36
After Rowan left, Evan opened Ken’s murder binder.
Noelle had interviewed Rees, Ken’s cousin Eric, and the other two ex-wives. Evan took a few minutes to read over her notes for the fifth time and still agreed no leads had been presented to follow up on. All the interviewees had stated that Ken was the best guy ever, with no enemies.
It’s almost too consistent.
If Ken had been so wonderful, why had he been deliberately shot in the head? And according to what Evan had just learned from Rowan, Ken might have camped there to meet someone—and this person might not have agreed that Ken was the best guy ever. Noelle’s report on Rees’s interview did not mention that Ken had asked Rees to go camping with him or that he believed Ken was possibly meeting someone.
Witnesses often later remembered additional details. Evan always ended an interview with a request for the witness to contact him if they thought of more details, and he knew Noelle would have too. He was a little annoyed Rees had told Rowan instead of Noelle. He looked up the man’s number and dialed.
“Hello?”
Evan identified himself. “We met at Ken’s memorial, and I’m working with Detective Noelle Marshall on Ken’s case.”
“Yes. Of course,” said Rees. “What can I do for you, Detective?”
“Rowan mentioned that you were invited to go camping with Ken that day.”
“Oh. Yeah. Sorry I didn’t mention that to the other detective. Honestly, I didn’t remember it until later, and then I couldn’t see how it was relevant to Ken’s investigation. I’ve wondered a million times if it would have happened if I’d been there.”
“You could’ve been shot too.”
“Rowan pointed that out.” His tone was glum. “Did she tell you we wondered if Ken was meeting someone there?”