The line went dead.
Kane stared at the call-ended message on his cellphone in disbelief. He had so many theories to discuss with her. The meeting they had planned for the morning had ruffled her feathers. With luck, what he planned to reveal about her two deputies should smooth them back down.
Sixteen
The moment Jenna’s cruiser, with Deputy Wolfe at the wheel, drove past her house, she opened the front door, set the house alarm and stepped onto the porch. The morning chill refreshed her on the walk to Kane’s cottage. The secrecy of the meeting troubled her. What had Wolfe discovered about her? Damn well nothing. The DHS had sealed her file in concrete. She straightened, needing to appear confident and in charge, although weariness dragged at her. After receiving Kane’s call, she had not slept and spent long hours going over the images of the crime scene. How many times before Kane arrived in town had she failed to notice important details? No wonder he’d been frustrated with her after the incident at the fairgrounds. Three years ago, she had been at the top of her game. Am I losing my edge?
Kane had failed to arrive for their usual workout at six. Perhaps now Shane Wolfe was in town, he had made other plans. She had enjoyed going through a routine of punishing exercise with him, and of late, he had taken her defensive skills to a higher level by showing her different moves. Letting out a long sigh, she stepped onto his stoop and knocked on the door.
“Come in, Dave is pouring the coffee.” Wolfe smiled at her. “The live-in nanny is already settled, I moved her in last night. You were right, she is a gift and my kids love her, she reminds them of their grandmother.”
She returned his smile and strolled past him through the family room and into the kitchen. The rich smell of Kane’s favorite coffee filled the room and she relaxed a little. “That’s wonderful and such a weight off your mind.”
“Take a seat.” Kane handed her a steaming mug.
“I feel as if I’ve entered the Spanish Inquisition.”
“Nothing of the sort.” Wolfe sat beside her and reached for his coffee.
“We decided it would be better if we had everything out in the open.” Kane turned a chair around and straddled the seat, resting his arms on the hooped back. “We have to work together and it would make life easier if we told you how Shane and I know each other.”
Kane lied to me. Jenna adopted her best blank expression then looked from one to the other. “Oh, so why tell me you’d never met?” Both men remained silent just staring at her. Annoyed, she pushed to her feet. “Oh, never mind, we don’t have time for this. In case you’ve forgotten, we have a homicide to solve.” She headed for the door.
“Jenna.” Kane sprang to his feet. “Wait! We know you’re in witness protection.”
Fear gripped her throat. She stopped mid-stride and turned slowly to face them. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about but do go on, this story is better than fiction.”
“Please sit down.” Wolfe pulled out the chair beside him. “We believe you should be aware of who we are and why we know about your situation.”
Dropping into the seat, she glared at Kane. “You knew about me all this time?”
“Nope.” Kane shrugged nonchalantly. “This was a shock for me too. Until Wolfe arrived, I was under the impression I was here to start a new life.” He lifted his troubled gaze to her. “He used to be my contact at HQ. I didn’t know his real name and yesterday was the first time we met.”
Heart pounding like a marching band she eyed them suspiciously. “How much do you know about my situation?”
“Zip.” Kane sipped his coffee and eyed her over the steaming rim. “Other than if you’re compromised it will open up a can of worms.”
“What’s your story?” She massaged her temples. “Is the head injury a lie too?”
“Unfortunately, it’s true and I honestly believed I came to Black Rock Falls to semi-retire.” Kane rubbed his chin and dropped his blue gaze to the table. “But if I disappear one day it’s because I’ve been compromised.” He gave her a long look and a nerve in one cheek ticked. “That’s all I’m prepared to tell you.”
“How bad can it be?” She gaped at him and came close to losing her hard-fought composure. “Look, Dave, it’s obvious you’re special forces. I’m not stupid.”
“It’s not pretty but I’ll give you an abridged version. Just for the record, I’m not in witness protection. I spent five years in DC’s Special Forces Investigation Command as a sharpshooter. Enemy agents placed a bomb under my car. The blast killed my wife and caved in my skull. To take me off the radar, I went off the grid and became Dave Kane, a retired homicide detective injured in the line of duty.”
The jigsaw fell into place. His superior skills, the way he handled trouble. Kane could think and act fast in a crisis. She bit back a moan. No wonder he had avoided her and other women. The poor man was mourning his wife. She reached across the table and squeezed his arm. “I’m so sorry for your loss. Why didn’t you tell me you’d lost your wife?”
“In Dave Kane’s life, she doesn’t exist.” Kane covered her hand. “If we intend to stay alive, we have to live the lie.”
“The problem is the hackers are getting smarter by the second.” He cleared his throat almost apologetically, then shrugged. “It may be years or weeks before or if anything happens but these people rarely give up. We need to watch each other’s backs.”
“Why are you here?” She withdrew her hand from Kane’s arm and turned to Wolfe.
“What you see is what you get.” Wolfe chuckled, and for the first time, his pale gray eyes sparkled. “I’m clean but I’m the ears and eyes the bad guys won’t be expecting. I’ll soon have a fail-safe on every device you use and we’ll know the moment anyone puts your names in a search engine.”
“I think you have quite a team at your disposal.” Kane leaned back in his chair and his blue eyes narrowed at her. “Unless working with me is a problem for you now, ma’am?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. He had gone to hell and back yet been supportive and kind to her from the first day he arrived. He had become her rock and she had to say something, give him something in return. “I worked undercover for the DEA.”
“Okay, say no more.” Kane’s worried gaze moved over her face. “Now I know why you stuck a gun in my face the day we met.”
“She what?” Wolfe’s mouth gaped open.
“Leave it alone, Shane.” Kane drained his mug then flashed a white smile at her. “We are BFF’s now.”
“Right.” Jenna laughed.
“You don’t know, do you?” Wolfe looked from one to the other in amazement. “Viktor Carlos’s right-hand man turned informant and gave up the entire gang. The next day someone murdered Carlos in prison. It happened the day before I left home. I guess it didn’t make the news here. You are safe, Jenna. It’s over. He can’t hurt you.”
She gaped at him in disbelief. “So why am I still here?”
“Because you know too much.” Wolfe sighed. “It’s the way of things, I’m afraid. I guess you could ask to be reassigned?”
Suddenly feeling as if a great weight had lifted from her shoulders, she looked at the men. “I happen to like being the sheriff of Black Rock Falls.”
“So are we good?” Kane scratched his chin.
“Yeah and now we have cleared the air, are you ready to catch a killer?”