“Little Williams,” Nash called as he maneuvered the bullpen, headed toward dispatch city. He held up a hand for a high five.
I shook my head but smacked his palm. “There’s no Big Williams.” But no matter how many times I made that point, he kept calling me that. For so long, it had been like an ice pick to the chest every time he leveled the nickname at me, conjuring memories of all the outings I’d had with Holt and the Hartley clan. But over time, it had lessened to a dull ache.
Lawson came up behind his brother, clapping him on the back. “You know you’ll never get Nash to call you by your actual name.”
Nash patted Lawson’s chest. “Damn straight, boss man.”
The eldest Hartley scowled. “Stop calling me that.”
Nash’s lips twitched. “Chief better? Big man? Head honcho?”
“I’m gonna start making you call me sir.”
I choked on a laugh and gave Lawson a mock salute. “I think it works.”
“Sir. Yes, sir,” Nash snapped out.
Lawson gave his younger brother a shove. “Get back to work before I have to fire your ass.”
Nash started jogging backward, his green eyes twinkling. “Never. Who would catch all the bad guys?”
I couldn’t help the roll of my eyes. “Single-handedly taking down drug cartels and terrorist outfits every single week.”
“And don’t you forget it.” He waggled his eyebrows. “The rest of the ladies certainly don’t.”
“Nash…” Lawson warned.
“Don’t worry, boss. I’m on the case.”
Lawson pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t even want to know what case that is.”
I leaned back in my chair. “Probably the case of some cougar’s missing bra.”
Lawson’s face screwed up. “I really don’t need that mental image in my head.”
I pressed my mouth into a hard line to keep from laughing.
“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up.”
I held up both hands. “I didn’t say a word.”
“Your eyes did,” he griped.
The smile wouldn’t stay off my face, no matter how hard I tried. “Nash is like the station mascot. Keeps things light.”
“I guess that’s worth the chaos he leaves in his wake.”
There was fatigue in Lawson’s voice that was more than the typical exasperation I heard when it came to his brother. I straightened in my chair. “Everything okay?”
He waved me off. “Fine. Just a lot going on. Not getting as much sleep as I should.”
The dark circles around Lawson’s eyes told me that much was true. Between being Chief of Police in a tourist town with not enough officers, raising three boys on his own, and his father’s recent heart attack, it was no wonder he was exhausted.
“Want me to take the boys for a few hours later?”
Lawson shook his head. “No, we’re okay. I just need to turn in a little earlier tonight.”
“Let me know if you change your mind. Or if Kerry needs any help with your dad.”
The corner of Lawson’s mouth pulled up. “You might regret that offer. He’s been a bear lately.”
Empathy washed through me. “He’s not used to being laid up like this.” Nathan had mostly healed from the bypass surgery, but rehab for the leg he’d broken when he fell was taking a little more time. I knew better than most how frustrating it could be to have your body hold you back from what you knew your soul needed.
My fingers twitched at my side, itching to circle the raised scar over my heart and trace the line that bisected my chest. I fisted my hand instead.
Concern filled Lawson’s features. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“You’re fine.” But I felt a flicker of annoyance rise. It didn’t matter how much time had passed; the people around me still had this deep need to tread carefully.
On my good days, I could remind myself that it was because they cared. On the bad ones, I was a pitying smile away from biting someone’s head off.
“You distracting my dispatcher from doing her job?” Abel asked as he strode up. Salt and pepper laced his hair now, and his dark skin crinkled around his eyes.
Lawson shot him a grin. “Never.”
“Abel,” I said in a stage whisper. “You’re not allowed to criticize the boss.”
Lawson chuckled. “Everyone knows it’s really Abel who runs the show.”
“Damn straight, and don’t you ever forget it.”
His voice was the same as it had always been, that even tone with just a bit of grit that had seen me through what I’d thought were my darkest moments. And he’d never given up on me. He’d gotten me help as soon as he could and had given me a sense of purpose that I’d desperately needed when my world had crumbled around me.
Lawson gave Abel a salute. “Keep manning the ship. I’ll go push some paper around.”
Abel harrumphed, which only made Lawson grin wider as he headed to his office.
“Give me the lay of the land.”
“Pretty quiet today.” Day shifts were either silent as a mouse or total bedlam. As more and more tourists descended, it would tend toward the latter. Teenagers being stupid. Boaters having too much to drink and thinking a DWI only applied to cars. Lost hikers.
Abel lowered himself into the chair at the cubicle next to mine. “I’ll cover you when you leave for lunch.”
“Thanks. I’ve still got a bit.”
Two officers passed our desks. Clint Anderson lifted his chin. “You in for poker this weekend, Williams?”
“Only if you’re ready to get cleaned out.”
He shook his head, glancing at his partner. “She’s brutal. Shows no mercy.”
Amber Raymond smiled in my direction, but it was forced—and it always would be. I didn’t blame her. On a night we’d all seen the face of evil, her younger brother had died, and I hadn’t. My wounds should’ve meant me being in the ground, too, but something had kept me holding on.
Not something. Holt.
Invisible claws dug into my chest, ones of grief and rage. But I’d mastered not letting that show. I could be in agony on the inside, and no one would know.
“Hey, Amber.” I smiled, but it was strained. I didn’t want to be a reminder of all she’d lost. But I wouldn’t look away from her grief either.
“Hi, Wren.”
My phone rang, and I instantly swiveled toward my computer monitors as I positioned my headset. “Cedar Ridge police, fire, and medical. What’s your emergency?”
“T-there’s someone here. I think they’re trying to break in.”
My stomach dropped, but I kept my breathing in check as I glanced at the computer readout. “Is this Marion Simpson at five-two-two Huckleberry Court?”
“It’s me, Wren. They’re scratching at the door like they’re trying to pick the lock. Please send someone.”
“Stay on the line. I’m going to get someone out to you right now.” I clicked over to our radio system. “Reported 10-62 at 522 Huckleberry Court. Possible B and E in progress. Requesting officer response.”
A familiar voice cut across the line. “Officers Hartley and Vera responding. Let us know what we’re walking into.”
I switched back over to the call. “Ms. Simpson, are you home alone?”
“Y-yes.”
“Can you see who’s at your door?”
“No. I’m in my bedroom. I didn’t want to go down there.”
A loud banging sounded across the line, and my stomach twisted. “Stay where you are. I have two officers en route. They should be there momentarily.” If Nash was driving, they’d be there in under two minutes. But this was one circumstance where I didn’t mind his daredevil ways.
“Thank you, Wren.”
There was still a slight tremble in her voice, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been earlier.
“Of course. Do you have any weapons in the house?”
“Just my shotgun, but it’s downstairs in the gun safe.”
“Okay. Hold on for me. I’m going to give the officers a little more information.” I moved to the radio. “Marion Simpson is the only person in residence. The only reported weapon is a shotgun in a gun safe downstairs. She’s located upstairs in her bedroom.”
“Thanks, Little Williams. We’re less than a minute out. Stay on the line with her.”
“Will do.” I went back to the phone line. “Ms. Simpson, two officers will be there in less than a minute.”
“I’ve told you, Wren. Call me Marion.”
“Okay, Marion. What do you hear now?”
“I’m not sure… Rustling, I think. Is he getting in?”
God, I hoped not. “The officers are almost to your house.”
“I hear sirens,” Marion said, the line crackling. “They’re here.”
“That’s good. Just stay on the line with me.”
Shouts sounded from far off. I focused on keeping my breathing even, controlled. In for two, out for two.
“Oh, dear,” Marion mumbled.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to go.”
“Marion, don’t—” But the line had already clicked off. I called her back, but she didn’t answer. Then I opted to turn up the radio.
“Little Williams, you might want to call my brother.”
“Law?”
“Roan.”
I was already dialing his cell. “What’s going on?”
“I just tranqued a bear. Apparently, Ms. Simpson’s been feeding them.”
From his chair next to me, Abel cursed. “Is she a moron?”
“Oh, no!” Marion wailed. “Did you kill Yogi?”
“I gotta go,” Nash muttered.
My anxiety left me on the flood of an exhale. Then laughter bubbled up. “Keep feeding them, and they’ll be really annoyed when you stop.”
Abel took the phone from me. “I’ll call Roan and get Fish and Wildlife on it. You take your lunch.”
I glanced down at my watch. Only five minutes late. I pushed out of my chair and pressed a kiss to Abel’s cheek. “Thanks.”
He waved me off with a grumble, and I moved toward the front doors and sunlight. As I stepped outside, I took in a lungful of mountain air and the scent that would always mean home.
“Hey, girl,” Gretchen said with a big smile. My old classmate had a reusable shopping bag slung over her shoulder, currently stuffed full of produce.
I returned her grin. “Coming from the farmers market?”
She nodded. “Told Mom I’d make her favorite pasta primavera.”
“How’s she doing?”
Gretchen’s smile faltered for a moment. “She’s hanging in there, but her heart’s still struggling. We’re just making the most of all the days we have together.”
God, Gretchen had been through enough. Targeted the same night I was, she lived with those nightmares every day. But she never let them skew her outlook on life.
“Why don’t I bring you guys dinner next week? We can have a real catch-up,” I suggested.
Gretchen beamed. “That would be great, and Mom would love to see you.”
“Wren,” Grae called from across the street, holding up a takeout bag from the deli.
“I’d better run,” I told Gretchen. “I’m meeting that one for lunch.” I hitched a thumb in Grae’s direction.
“Have fun.”
I waved and then looked for traffic before darting across the street. I pulled my best friend into a hug. “I thought we were going to Wildfire.”
An expression passed across her face so quickly that if I hadn’t known her all my life, I likely would’ve missed it.
“Grae…”
She started walking. “I thought we could do sandwiches in the park instead.”
I hurried to catch up with her. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Her pace quickened. “Just hungry.”
I grabbed Grae’s elbow, slowing her to a stop. “Grae Hartley, I’ve known you for my entire life, and I know when you’re lying to me.”
She shuffled her feet as I studied her. “We need to talk about Holt.”
I dropped Grae’s arm as if it were a branding iron. “We shall not speak his name. That’s the rule, remember?”
She’d tried at first, wanting so badly to fix what had been irrevocably broken. Then I’d started avoiding my best friend of forever, not answering her calls, making excuses for ducking out of plans. We’d finally been forced to come up with a ceasefire of sorts, and this was what we’d settled on.
Holt didn’t exist for me. I knew his family talked to him. Saw him, even. But they never mentioned his name in my presence. Until today.
Grae worried her bottom lip. “Emergency exemption requested.”
A lead weight settled in my stomach. “Did something happen to him?” The words came out in a rush of barely audible breath. I knew what he’d done when he left Cedar Ridge. He’d gone into the military. Then private security. Throwing himself into one risky situation after another, and all of them as far from home as he could get.
My heart hammered against my ribs as blood roared in my ears. Even though I hadn’t seen Holt in nine years and seven months, I still knew that he was here. On this Earth. Breathing. I’d have known if he weren’t. Some part of my soul would’ve registered it.
Grae blanched. “Oh, God, no. I’m sorry. It’s nothing like that.”
Relief blazed through me like an ice bath after third-degree burns. “What is it?” There was a snap of annoyance to my words. Anger surged at the reminder that no matter how much time had passed, I still cared.
Grae met my gaze, uncertainty filling hers. “He’s back.”
