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Then he’d been killed.
The door at the end of the hall opened, and a group of cops with SWAT on their vests strode in, talking and joking with each other. Clare studied the image of Kyle.I’m sorry.
There hadn’t been enough of something to claim there had been much of anything between them. Tell that to Clare’s heart. Loss was loss.
She started to turn and someone clipped her shoulder.
“Sorry, ma’am.”
He had a nice voice, but she’d been fooled by that before.
Clare waved a hand and kept going toward the front doors. Out into the daylight. There was no point dwelling on the past.
Not when there was a case to solve.
Clare pulled out her phone. “It’s me. Find me a bank in town with these three parameters.”
FIVE
Gage pulled out his chair and sat. On his keyboard someone had left a note. His mom’s landlord had called—again—asking when he’d clear her stuff out of the house. Plus a bunch of stuff about condolences for his loss. Gage had paid two months of rent, so technically he still had two weeks to figure out clearing out her stuff. The guy probably just wanted to raise the rent with a new tenant.
He crumpled the paper and tossed it into the tiny wastepaper basket by his desk.
God, it doesn’t have to hurt like this. But it does.
He’d become a believer a few weeks ago. He was still waiting for his life to get easier.
Someone knocked on the door to the office all the guys shared. Five desks shoved into one conference room, and he was the only one here. The only difference between this and four months ago was that he now occupied the lieutenant’s desk instead of the sergeant’s.
They had the basement of the police building to themselves, and that was fine. Like the fact the entire PD pretty much called the SWAT department “the cave.” Didn’t matter. They liked it down here.
Gage got a look at who was at the door and shot to his feet. “Captain.”
McCauley’s features warmed. “Lieutenant Deluca.” He came over and held out his hand and they shook. Dennis McCauley, the Captain over the detectives division, settled on the edge of Blake’s desk—probably because it was the cleanest. “Just wanted to drop by and offer my congratulations on a job well done this morning.”
“I’m just getting ready to write up the report now.”
Captain McCauley nodded. “I heard all about it from your captain. Says you boys did a good job finding that girl and her captor in that flop house. But he wasn’t too clear on how you knew she’d be there.”
Gage wanted to wince but hoped the expression didn’t bleed onto his face. “Just a hunch, really.”
“Well, it paid off. Like all good hunches.”
“Yes, sir.” He wondered if McCauley was going to ask if they had the homeowner’s permission to kick the door in. Fact was, the corporation had emailed back with the go ahead to do what they needed to do. They were between tenants, and whoever occupied the place had been squatting illegally.
“Nice work, Lieutenant Deluca.” McCauley held out his hand. “You boys keep it up.”
“Yes, sir.”
“My door is always open.” McCauley trailed out.
Gage exhaled a long breath.
“Speaking of close ones.” Liam strode in, shoving Dakota in front of him, before Gage even had a second to figure out what that visit from the police chief meant.
“Yes, Sergeant?” Better to start off on official terms, rather than as the friends they also were. The whole team felt like the brothers he’d never had, and the same would be true even if there was a sister on the team. Siblings who worked together. So long as they understood he was the one in charge. He’d take responsibility for anything that happened because itwashis responsibility.
“Dakota wants to talk to you.” Liam tugged Dakota down into a chair and rolled him toward Gage.
