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“The wha—Oh. That.”
Kenzie’s brow rose. “You okay?”
“Not really. Can we talk about this another time? I’m not even sure what to tell you about that right now.”
Kenzie drew back, her frown deepening as her gaze went to Cole, then James. “What’s going on? This have anything to do with what happened to your house?”
“Yes, it does. We haven’t had a chance to talk, sorry. I guess Jesslyn told you about my house?”
“She mentioned it. I’ve been meaning to call you and ask you about that, but it’s been one thing after another. Jess said you were fine, so I put that at the bottom of the list.” She bit her lip. “I’m a bad friend, I’m sorry.”
“You’re not a bad friend. We’ve all got stuff going on right now.”
“Lainie’s having some trouble with a guy trying to make her think Adam’s still alive,” James said. “We’re working on finding him.”
Kenzie’s eyes widened. “Adam? Still alive? Not a chance.”
“That’s what I keep telling everyone,” Lainie said, the words spitting from her with force. She seemed to snap out of whatever daze had held her captive since she’d found the dead mouse, and she dragged in a ragged breath. “That’s why we’re going to dig him up. As soon as we get permission—which is taking forever, of course.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Kenzie looked slightly shell-shocked at the influx of information. “Dang, that’s a lot.”
“You don’t have to say—or do—anything. You have enough going on, and James and Cole are helping me.” She hugged her friend. “I’ll get back to you on the trip. Forget what I just said. We’re still going. I’m not letting this guy do this to me. But for now, we need to go do something—we’ll talk later, all right?”
Kenzie stepped back and nodded. “Keep me updated? Let me know you’re okay?”
“Sure.”
Kenzie’s gaze slid to Cole. “See you tomorrow?”
“No, I traded with Joe. I’m doing my best to help Lainie and James, so I won’t be there.”
She nodded. “Let me know if I can do anything?”
“Will do.”
Kenzie waved at Lainie and James, stepped past them, and headed down the hallway.
James made a mental note to ask Cole about the awkward situation. Weird. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Cole was trying to hide feelings for Kenzie, but since Cole wasn’t about to get serious with anyone, most especially not someone he worked with, James shrugged it off. “You and Kenzie are close,” he said to Lainie. “Why haven’t you told her everything?”
“Kenzie has enough on her plate trying to fit in with the SWAT team.” She eyed Cole. “I find it interesting you haven’t said anything about that in all the time we’ve been together.”
Cole raised a brow. “Work is work. From what I can tell, Kenzie’s doing a great job.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, good. Regardless, I haven’t wanted to bother her. Steph and Jesslyn know some, obviously. Allison knows a little bit. Kristine’s been flying so much this past week that her texts are super sporadic, so I haven’t bothered her with this mess and that’s the way I want to keep it. Now what?” She rubbed her arms.
“I still want to take you to the lake house, but Cole and I want to pay Julie Darwin a little visit. So, let’s get you to Jesslyn’s, then he and I will do that. Think Cole’s working on getting you bodyguard coverage.”
“I’m not even going to ask to go to that one.”
“Appreciate that.”
Lainie stayed beside him on their way out of the hospital, and thankfully, they got in his Jeep without any trouble. He aimed the vehicle toward Jesslyn’s, watching the mirrors. The only person he saw was Cole, right behind them. Watching out for them. He called his partner. “You find anyone?”
“Buzz Crenshaw’s off today. He’s going to play bodyguard for a while.”
With thanks, he hung up.
After a moment of silence, Lainie said, “I don’t want to be a victim anymore, James, I just don’t know how to make that happen.”
