On Her Father's Grave (Rogue River #1)(26)

“Screw it,” he muttered, a fierceness entering his eyes. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

Stevie tensed and then instantly relaxed. Her fingers grabbed at the belt loops on his shorts and held on. His mouth was open and demanding. This wasn’t any little questioning first kiss. This was lust and passion and attraction wrapped up in a hot package and delivered directly into her hands. She kissed him back, sinking into the velvety silk of his mouth. His hands slid around to her hair and his fingertips stroked her scalp in a way that sent electricity to her toes.

Zane Duncan rang her bell. All her bells.

She moved her hands under his shirt to his waist and felt him vibrate at her touch.

“Damn it!” He pulled back. He wasn’t vibrating; it was the phone in his pocket.

He pulled it out and tapped the screen, lifting it to his ear.

Stevie heard Sheila shout, “Zane, we’ve got a shooting!”





CHAPTER 8


Stevie grabbed her bulletproof vest out of the trunk of her patrol car and flung it over her head, pulling it into place. She pulled running pants on under her denim skirt and then yanked off the skirt, not caring what spectators thought. Running shoes replaced her Frye boots. Always be prepared. She could live out of the trunk of her patrol car for five days if she needed to. She’d stocked it the minute Roy had handed her the keys. Water, energy bars, change of clothes, TP. She strapped on her belt and checked her gun.

Sheila had called Zane and interrupted that moment. Kenny and another cop had responded to a domestic dispute at Ted Warner’s house. Loretta had called in screaming that Ted was drunk and beating her. When Kenny had showed up and tried to talk to Ted, he’d shot Kenny.

Kenny’s sweet but homely face stuck in Stevie’s brain. How bad is he hurt? Sheila had called for an ambulance before she’d called Zane. The other cop on the scene had told Sheila that Kenny had been hit in the abdomen and was bleeding heavily.

Please no major arteries.

She and Zane had sprinted for their vehicles. Zane had ordered Sheila to call the other patrol units on duty and send them to the address. “Do we need state or county backup?” Stevie had huffed as they ran.

“I don’t know. I’ll decide when we get there. With another one of our guys or two we should be fine.”

Zane’s unit had left a cloud of dust as he’d peeled out of the lot. Stevie fumbled with her belt, cursing that she’d had to change her clothes, and was now a full minute behind Zane. “Hang on, Kenny,” she muttered. She lunged into the driver’s seat and started the car, firing up her radio at the same time. She threw it in drive, hit her siren and lights, and followed after Zane, mentally reviewing the setup of Ted’s property.

I know exactly how it’s laid out.

Where was Ted’s teenage son? Sheila hadn’t said if Loretta and the boy were safe.

What if there was a hostage situation?

Stevie blew out a breath and pressed harder on the accelerator.



Zane pulled into Ted’s long driveway and turned off his siren. Two patrol cars were parked haphazardly in front of the small home. Kenny was on the ground, the cars between him and the house as another Solitude patrol officer, Carter, applied pressure to his gut. Zane parked beside the cars, swearing as he saw the blood soaking Kenny’s shirt in the waning evening light.

He popped his trunk and jumped out. Keeping his head low, he grabbed the small first aid kit out of the trunk. Bending over, he ran over and knelt beside Kenny. The injured cop was on his back, his hands over his face, his legs sporadically kicking with the pain. Kenny’s gut was covered by Carter’s bloody hands, pressing on what appeared to be his own uniform shirt. Carter had stripped it off, leaving himself in a simple undershirt.

No vest.

All Solitude cops had vests, but weren’t required to wear them.

Guess what new rule starts tomorrow?

Zane opened the kit and ripped apart the paper packages of thick bandages. “Go put on your vest,” he ordered Carter, and took over the pressure on Kenny’s abdomen. The white bandages turned red within seconds.

Shit.

He lifted the bandages and peeked at the hole below Kenny’s ribs. The blood flowed but didn’t spurt. Good. He reapplied pressure and prayed for the ambulance to hurry up.

“Kenny! You with me?”

Kenny swore at him from behind his hands over his face.

Zane took that as a positive sign.

Carter reappeared next to Zane, fastening his vest into place. Carter was young, with less than a year with the department.

“Where’s Ted at? What about Loretta and their kid?” Zane asked.

“Ted headed to that barn, last I saw. He ran out of the back of the house while we were talking to Loretta at the door. He yelled at us to get off his property and fired when Kenny walked around the corner of the house.” Carter wiped at his face, smearing Kenny’s blood on his cheek. “He gonna be okay? Where the f*ck is that ambulance? We didn’t know he was gonna shoot, Chief!”

“No one knows,” Zane said grimly. “Here. You take over the pressure. Keep talking to him. Did you hear if Sheila got ahold of anyone else?”

Carter scooted closer and placed his bloody hands over Zane’s. “I don’t know.”

A faint siren sounded, rapidly moving closer. “That’ll be Stevie. She wasn’t far behind me. When she gets here, tell her I went into the house to check on Loretta and their son. The ambulance can’t be too much longer. Call them again if they’re not here in a few minutes.”