DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(4)

Daniel was waiting out in the corridor when we turned the corner. He stepped forward immediately and held out his hand to Ash.

“Mr. Grayson,” he said.

“Mr. Thompson.”

And then he turned his eyes on me, and I saw nothing but pleasure in them.

“Donny,” he said with something like a sigh. “It’s so great to see you again.”

He offered me a hug, and I accepted it, closing my eyes briefly as I remembered the last time I saw him. He’d hugged me then, too, but then he was sobbing like a child on my shoulder.

He pushed me back and looked at me, assessing the entire length of me. Then he shook his head with something like disbelief.

“You’re so grown up. The last time I saw you…” And then he choked a little, swallowing tears he didn’t want to shed. “I often wonder what Joshua would look like now.”

“If we could focus on the case,” Ash broke in, much to my relief.

Daniel stepped back, clearing his throat as he did.

“We’re not real clear on what’s going on. All I know is that Kate was at the bank late. She does that a lot on Monday nights, clearing out the loan applications that come in on their website over the weekends. And then we get this call that there had been a shooting, and she was found unconscious at the site.”

He glanced at me, and I could see what he was thinking. It was too much like the phone call he’d gotten ten years ago—on graduation night. The night Joshua was killed. The phone call I made.

“Everyone assumed she’d been shot, but the doctors could only find a lump on the back of her head. They think someone hit her, or she fell. She has a concussion, but it’s fairly minor. Physically, they say she’ll be alright.”

“But…?” Ash asked.

“She has no memory of the last twenty-four hours. The doctors think it could either be a temporary side effect of the bump on her head, or it could be from the trauma of watching the security guard get shot.”

“She doesn’t remember what happened?” I asked.

“Not a thing. Her last memory is of getting out of the car at the bank yesterday morning.”

“What about security cameras?”

Daniel shrugged. “There are a couple at the front of the bank and a few along the side, but whatever happened, it happened down the block, in front of a closed storefront.” He shook his head. “The cops are confused, too. They really would like for her to remember what happened.”

I glanced at Ash, but he already had his cell phone out.

I touched Daniel’s arm. “I’m sure Rose or Ash has already explained to you what we do. We don’t investigate, we simply protect the client.”

Daniel nodded. “I know.”

“But we do have a relationship with a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. And she has close contact with the Santa Monica Police Department, so we can be kept appraised of the investigation and let you know when a suspect has been identified and arrested.” Relief filled Daniel’s eyes. “I’m sure you can imagine how concerned I am. After losing my Louise and then Joshua…if anything happened to Kate…”

“I know.”

“That’s why I asked for you specifically. I remember how close you and Joshua were. And you and Kate.”

I nodded again as Ash joined us. He held up his phone so that I could see the screen.

No surveillance footage. But working on several leads.

It was from Detective Emily Warren.

“If you gentlemen will excuse me,” Ash said, “I’ll go in and explain the process to Kate. And I have some paperwork I’ll need her to sign.”

“Of course,” Daniel said. “Thank you, Mr. Grayson.”

Ash glanced at me even as he was nodding to Daniel. His concern was typical. And appreciated.

I nodded to assure him I was okay.

I pulled Daniel across the corridor to a bench that was conveniently sitting there. Once we were settled, I found myself filled with more questions that I should not have had. It was none of my business to know how Kate was, how she’d been since the death of her brother. Her twin brother. I left because I didn’t want to know. I joined the Army the day they buried my best friend. I had no right to even be here.

But there were things I needed to know.

“You said this happened at her place of business?”

“Kate is a loan officer at First Premiere Bank downtown.”

“In order to protect her, I need to know her normal routine, the people she often spends time with, where she lives…that sort of thing.”

Daniel nodded. “I made a list of her friends,” he said, reaching into his pants pocket for a slip of paper he handed me. “The cops wanted to know as well.”

I glanced at it, recognizing a few of the names on a list that was about fifteen long. And experience told me that the target would par the list down and add a few names Mom and Dad didn’t know about. I even had one who struck every name off the list her father gave me and added a half dozen her father knew nothing about.

“And her daily routine?”

“Monday through Friday, she’s usually at the bank until five or six. Later sometimes, especially Mondays. And her evenings are either spent at home, at the house with me, or out with friends.”