Page 59 of Lion’s Den

Fury burning a hole in his gut, Cam held up his hands to show that he was in control. Barely. “Sedona is beautiful, but she isn’t arm candy, Officer Greenway. She is mine, and I protect what’s mine.”

Greenway’s face paled. “Sorry, man. I didn’t know you were involved with her. Still, you can’t take her inside a crime scene.”

“The sheriff is the one who called me back to duty. He knows Sedona is with me.”

The officer was shaking his head before Cam finished his calm and reasonable explanation, stoking his temper even higher. He’d had about all he could take of Greenway’s attitude.

Cam moved his hand toward his pocket. “I’m getting my phone.”

Greenway’s mouth gaped. “I know you wouldn’t pull a gun on me or anything. We’re coworkers.”

Then he wasn’t as smart as he believed himself to be. Cam pulled out his phone and called his boss.

“Where are you?” David snapped. “I expected you to be here ten minutes ago.”

“I ran into a problem at the inner perimeter.”

“What’s his name?”

“Greenway.”

“Hand him the phone.”

He did as ordered. “The sheriff.”

The next two minutes were painful for Officer Greenway. The longer David’s dressing down went, the paler Greenway became. Finally, he swallowed hard and handed the phone to Cam. “Sorry, sir. You’re free to go on. The sheriff is on the sixth floor.”

Cam gave a slight nod, threaded his fingers through Sedona’s, and walked toward the hospital entrance.

Inside the building, there was pure chaos on the civilian side of things. Law enforcement officers of every stripe moved about with efficient movement in and out of the first-floor lobby. Two officers who kept watch at the elevators nodded at Cam.

“They with you?” the older of the two officers asked.

“Yes, sir. You can confirm with Sheriff Montgomery.”

The officer waved him away. “Go ahead.”

Once inside the elevator, the silver doors closed silently. Cam glanced at Sedona. He raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry. Something was up with her, but what? Was she upset because he’d defended her? He hoped not, because that would be his default as long as she was with him. What did it say about him when he couldn’t see himself with anyone else?

Perhaps that wasn’t the issue at all, though. He’d basically waved a flag out there in the parking lot and announced to Maple Valley that he and Sedona were together now. Greenway was a lot of things, some of them good. Besides his oversized ego, he had one downfall. He loved to gossip. Cam figured the odds were even that the word would spread around town by tomorrow morning. That could be good or bad, depending on how Sedona saw it.

When they reached the sixth floor, the elevator doors slid open to reveal David Montgomery waiting for them with his hands propped on his hips.

“Finally.” Relief glimmered in his eyes. “I’ll take you to Julio’s room so you can examine the last place he was seen. Security is bringing up video footage of every entrance and exit at the hospital. We’ll see if that will give you anything.”

“Have you looked at it, sir?”

David shook his head. “Hospital security just finished copying everything.”

Cam glanced at Rhys. “I hope you brought your computer.”

“Never leave home without it.”

A uniformed security guard exited the second elevator and approached David. “Sheriff Montgomery.” The guard handed him an envelope. “This has everything you need. We copied the footage from every entrance and exit, as you requested.”

“The hours?”

“The past twenty-four hours, sir, as ordered.”