Killer Country Reunion. Jenna Night
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the time being.
Matt glanced at Zane again and then turned back to her with one eyebrow raised and his lips pursed together. “You two know each other?”
“We used to,” Caroline answered, her voice as clipped as she could make it, hoping that Matt would drop this line of questioning.
“Huh.” He nodded slightly, seeming to get the hint. “Can you think of anybody else who would want to come after you for any reason?” Matt asked. “You have any kind of feud going on? Do you owe anybody money? Anything like that?”
“No.”
The paramedic told her the bullet had torn off a layer of skin and underlying tissue, but that the bone beneath it seemed sound. He wanted her to go to the hospital to get X-rays just to be sure. When she told him she’d knocked her head against the boardwalk and felt strangely sleepy for a minute or two, he definitely wanted her to go and get a thorough check.
Zane stood. “I’ll make the trip to the hospital with you. If the ER doctor releases you, I’ll see you home.”
Oh no, he would not.
“Can you walk okay?” Matt asked. “If you feel up to it, I’d like to get you in a patrol car and away from here as soon as possible. Those men who tried to kill you could be long gone. But they could also be repositioning themselves nearby to take another shot as soon as they can. From what you’ve described, they sound like hired professionals. If they don’t kill you they don’t get paid. They’re not going to give up easily.”
While Matt was talking to Caroline, another uniformed officer walked in carrying a couple of blue nylon gym bags. He tossed one of the bags to Zane. “Temperature’s dropping fast. You shouldn’t be out walking around in wet clothes. I brought you a pair of jeans and a shirt from your locker at the station.” Then the officer walked over to Caroline and handed her the second bag. “Some of the women at the station donated clothes for you, too.”
What was going on here?
“Wait a minute,” Caroline said as Zane zipped open the bag and started pulling out clothes. “You have a locker at the police station?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“You can’t be a cop,” she said, confused.
“It’s not my full-time job. I’ve got other commitments. But I am a reserve officer. Mostly called out for search and rescue.”
Caroline held up her hand for him to stop talking. The conversation was moving way too fast and there were too many gaps in the information she was getting. She needed a second to make sense of it all. “Are you saying you’ve been back in town for a while?”
“About a year.”
“A year?” Caroline and her mom had moved back to town a month ago. And nobody had thought to mention that Zane Coleman was back in Cobalt?
Matt caught her attention and gestured at her to hurry up and open the gym bag.
Trying to collect her thoughts, she slowly pulled out a gray sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. Then she looked back at Zane. “Where have you been all these years?”
He drew in a breath and blew it out. “That’s a long story.”
“We don’t have time to listen to it right now,” Matt interjected. “Come on. You two need to hurry up and get dressed so we can get Caroline out of here.”
* * *
The most important thing at the moment was getting Caroline safely out of the office complex and to the hospital.
Zane kept his thoughts focused on that point as he finished changing into dry clothes in one of the insurance broker’s inner offices.
But concentrating was a challenge when his mind kept tripping over the fact that Caroline had moved back to town. He’d had no idea.
Six weeks ago he’d seen her sitting in a pew at Owen’s funeral while he had stood in the back of the church. His tears had flowed freely at the memory of the flannel-wearing, granola-chomping, nature-loving kid who had followed him around like he was an honorary big brother back when Zane and Caroline started dating.
Zane had wanted to offer his condolences like the other mourners after the graveside service, but showing up unexpectedly at that time and place felt wrong. He couldn’t have done that to Caroline and her mom. Mrs. Marsh, once an energetic and outdoorsy woman, had looked shockingly thin and frail. The amount of time from Owen’s murder to the funeral hadn’t been enough for her to lose that much weight. Something else had to have been going on.
He didn’t spend much time in the actual town of Cobalt these days. Instead he spent the majority of his time helping to rebuild the old horse ranch owned by his aunt and uncle. He probably wouldn’t have heard about her return to Cobalt even if he came to town more often. Zane made it a habit to politely walk away from gossip. He had spent too much time on the receiving end of thoughtless comments as a kid, hearing the biting remarks of adults who didn’t bother to lower their voice. He had no desire to do that to anybody else.
When he was a kid, his dad worked horses by day and he was good at it. But he was angry at the world after the death of Zane’s mother and when he came home at night, he used drugs to feel better. Then he began to sell them. After that, it was a short step to dabbling in other criminal enterprises. Everybody had an opinion about Lee Coleman, and as a kid, Zane got tired of hearing about it. Everyone automatically assumed the worst of him—and for a while he’d been bitter and angry enough to live down to their expectations.
God had clearly been looking out for Zane the day Sergeant Henry Marsh found him selling cans of beer to fellow high school kids at three times their original cost. Zane also happened to have a little bit of weed he’d stolen from his dad stuffed into his shirt pocket. Sergeant Henry had cuffed him and tossed him in the back of his patrol car, and Zane had immediately turned on the charm. He’d learned to flip it on like a light switch as a survival mechanism to get his unstable dad to calm down. It was a useful talent and nearly every adult fell for it. Sergeant Marsh never did.
Neither did his daughter.
Zane stepped back into the office lobby. Caroline had already changed clothes and she had her phone up to her ear. It sounded like she was talking to her mom. Lauren Marsh had always been friendly and kind to Zane. Had even baked a cake and made a big deal about his birthdays.
But that feeling of him being part of their family belonged to the past. And Zane had made himself a promise he would only live life moving forward. Indulging in regret or trying to figure out a way to change things that could never be changed was a waste of time. It didn’t help him or anyone else.
He would do everything he could to keep Caroline safe because he owed it to her. And it was something he could do to honor the memories of Sergeant Henry and Owen. But that was it. There was no going back and undoing the mistakes he’d made.
“Who knew you were coming out to your lawyer’s office today?” Matt asked Caroline as soon as she disconnected her call.
She thought for a moment. “I couldn’t tell you exactly. Probably a lot of people. It wasn’t a secret. I’ve been over here fairly often since...since Owen died.”
“Settling your brother’s estate?”
She nodded. “And getting everything set up for guardianship of my nephew.”
“Any fight over inheritance? Bad feelings? Anything like that?”
Caroline sighed. “Owen’s ex-wife, Michelle, is disappointed that she didn’t get anything from Owen’s estate. I’ve only talked to her twice, but she’s got the impression Owen’s business, Wilderness Photo Adventures, is raking in a lot of cash. I told her she’s mistaken. There really hasn’t been any money flowing in yet. Owen was just getting his company started.” Her chin began to tremble and she hurriedly wiped away the tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
Zane