“How’s it going, bro?” Cole asked.
“We had a break-in at Jennie’s house.” Ethan explained the situation. “I wanted to let you know to be on your guard.”
“Will do.” A long yawn filtered through the phone.
“Little early for that, isn’t it?”
“You’re having all the fun. Madeline’s detail is downright boring.”
“This guy might be coming your way so keep your eyes open.”
“I will. For the next hour, anyway. I’ve arranged for Derrick to spell me tonight so I can get some sleep and come back first thing in the morning.” As the youngest brother of the family, Derrick embraced all assignments, as did his twin, Dani, so they generally got stuck with the worst shifts—if, in Dani’s case, they were given shifts at all.
“Do you think we don’t let Kat and Dani in on the action enough because they’re women?” Ethan asked.
“Where’s that coming from?”
“Kat commented on it this morning when I made assignments for this case.”
“I don’t know, man. I’ve never thought about it, but I guess it’s possible.”
“So maybe you can ask Dani to take a shift, too?”
“What about Kat?”
“I’m taking Jennie to Kat’s house to spend the night.” He looked at Jennie again and imagined the challenge of convincing her to stay with Kat. “At least, that’s what I hope will happen.”
“You having trouble over there, bro?”
“Nothing to worry about. I can handle it.” Ethan said goodbye and hung up before his perceptive brother probed deeper.
“Okay, miss.” The slender man heading up the forensics team stood. “We’re finished here.”
“So I can clean up now?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He slid a finger through residual black powder from fingerprinting work. “Sorry about the extra mess.” He lifted his case, the weight pulling down his slight shoulders, and headed out the door.
Jennie looked around the room as if not sure what to do.
“You should pack a bag, Jen. You can’t stay here tonight.” Ethan gestured at the mess surrounding them for emphasis.
“I won’t let them run me out of my own house.” She crossed her arms and straightened her shoulders.
“I can’t let you stay here.”
“They got what they came for. There’s no reason for them to come back.”
“But you don’t know that for sure. The guy came for you on the train. Since he didn’t get what he wanted, he’ll probably come back.” He went closer, softened his tone. “You can stay with Kat tonight, and then we’ll figure out a more permanent solution tomorrow.”
“Your sister? She doesn’t need me hanging around her place.”
“She’ll be happy to have the company.”
“I don’t know, Ethan. I mean, I hardly know her.”
“I’d suggest you stay with a friend, but you really don’t want to bring someone else into this mess, do you?”
“Isn’t that what we’d be doing with Kat?”
“She’s part of the team and trained to handle something like this.”
“Still, I don’t want to impose on her.” Jennie looked around, and her shoulders sagged a bit. “I’ll go to a hotel.”
“Hotel logistics make it harder for me to keep you safe. It would easier if you stayed with Kat.”
“I don’t know.”
He had to appeal to something she wanted enough to be willing to inconvenience Kat. “If you stay at Kat’s house, she can run your protection detail for the night.”
Her eyes brightened. “Really? You’d go home?”
He didn’t think she’d jump on this so enthusiastically. It made his gut hurt again. More than a little. “Yes. Kat is quite capable of keeping you safe for the night.”
“Okay.”
“Great. Go pack a few things and we’ll get out of here.”
She turned without a word and left the room.
When she was out of earshot, he hissed out his frustration. Was it always going to be like this? So different from the past, when he’d believed they knew exactly what the other was thinking and feeling without asking. Until the end.
“Women,” he mumbled and texted Kat, another woman who often pushed his buttons. Normally he’d call her and ask if she’d let Jennie stay with her, but as soon as his sister realized their client was his old girlfriend, she’d hound him about how he felt.
When Jennie bailed, Kat had been there for him and helped him heal. They were still close. More alike than any of the other siblings, they often worked through problems together.
He heard wheels rolling down the hallway’s wood floor, and he went to meet Jennie.
“I want to check my email before we leave.” She left her suitcase and headed for her office.
He’d rather they get out of here, but she should have received the email from her warehouse manager by now. It would be smart to get someone started on investigating the tattoo connection as soon as possible.
He joined her, leaning on the doorjamb and waiting. She clicked away on her laptop, her face intent and the horror of the day lingering in her eyes.
The printer whirred to life on the credenza, spitting out paper. She retrieved and handed him multiple pages. “This is all the information my manager has on Javier Caldera. In her email, she said again what a great employee he is. He’s always asking how things are done and trying to learn as much as he can about the charity.” She sounded as if she thought these were good things.
Not Ethan. He saw it as the guy asking too many questions to find a vulnerability in the organization so he could exploit it, but he’d hold his tongue until he had proof to confirm his theory. “I’ll pass this on to my colleague in Texas and have him follow up.”
“I need him to be discreet. I don’t want the agency to get into trouble for sharing this.” She closed her computer and put it into a protective sleeve.
“Don’t worry, Jen. Patrick is a professional investigator.” He folded the email and stuffed it in his back pocket. “C’mon. We should get going.”
She hesitated as if her feet were planted to the floor. He cupped her elbow and directed her out of the room before she came up with another reason to stay. She sighed, and he walked behind her, keeping quiet, though he wanted to talk with her about the lingering fear he caught on her face. Simple, plain talk, without dancing around their past as they’d done all day. To help her come to grips with the threat to her life.
But there was no point. She wouldn’t let him help. Never had. She’d always been too proud to accept any help. When they’d been together, he’d worked hard to get her to open up. She’d shared very little about her past, so he’d never understood her reasoning. And now, even when she needed a friend the most, nothing had changed. Even if a killer had her in his sights, she wasn’t going to let him in.
* * *
Jennie used the final minutes of their drive to Kat’s house to watch the scenery pass by and to breathe. To focus.