Читать книгу Mirror Image - Laura Scott - Страница 10

TWO

As Griff drove to the hospital, Jenna stared at the bracelet that he’d tucked into a clear plastic bag. Weird that it was identical to hers in every way, except for the engraved initial.

Offhand, she couldn’t think of anyone who lived nearby whose first name started with a C.

There was no reason to believe the bracelet was an indication of something sinister. It didn’t look especially unique or rare. There were likely dozens sold every month. Every year. But she couldn’t seem to shake off the prickle of warning that danced along her nape.

Was the attack connected to it? And if so, how? Why?

There were no answers, so she tucked the bracelet into the front pocket of her jeans and tried to shake off the remnants of the attack. Glancing at Griff, she tried to think of something to say. Idle chitchat wasn’t something that came naturally to her.

And apparently not to Griff, either, as he made no attempt to break the strained silence stretching endlessly between them. Everything seemed way more awkward than normal because he was her boss.

She forced herself to look away from his ruggedly attractive features and tried to think back over her most recent cases. There were literally dozens of them, but most of the criminals they’d apprehended were small-time crooks. For several long seconds, she’d assumed the attacker was her father, since he’d just been released from prison and was out on parole. But the guy who’d grabbed her was much larger than her father. She had the sense he was younger, too, although that was just a fleeting impression.

No, the attack had to be related to her work, either on the SWAT team or through the shelter. In the past month she’d helped Shelia and Janet get away from their exes by driving them personally to Ruth’s shelter. There was one major drug ring that she’d assisted her colleague Nate Freemont with right before Christmas. Was it possible this attack was related to that in some way?

She glanced over at Griff’s chiseled profile, wondering if she dared broach the possibility. Griff hadn’t been very happy with her—or with Nate, for that matter—because they hadn’t come to him at the first sign of trouble. Nate, in particular, had gone off on his own, determined to protect an innocent woman and her daughter. Because she’d agreed to help Nate and Melissa get the evidence they needed to expose a murderer, Griff had reamed Jenna out, too.

And placed a formal reprimand in her file.

She was tempted to keep her theories about the connection to Nate’s case to herself, but since Nate was out of town with his fiancée, Melissa, and still on medical leave, she wasn’t sure who else she could confide in.

She’d never told Griff that Melissa and her daughter had reminded her of the women and children who lived in fear at the shelter. She knew there were rumors among her coworkers about why she cared about the shelter so much, but she didn’t bother to comment on them. Her past wasn’t any of their business.

Griff’s, either. As far as she was concerned, none of the guys she worked with needed to know how she spent her free time.

The hospital wasn’t far, and soon the impressive building loomed before them. Griff parked the car and glanced over at her. “Ready?”

“Sure.” She pushed open the door with her left hand and slid out of the seat.

“Hopefully we’ll be in and out quickly,” Griff said. “We need time to review mug shots.”

She didn’t think reviewing photographs of suspects would help, but arguing with her boss wasn’t exactly an option. “I was thinking that maybe this attack is related to the Brookmont case,” she offered, as Griff held the door open for her. “If you remember, I’m the one who took down the crooked police chief, Randall Joseph, the night Nate was shot. Maybe he’s carrying a grudge.”

Griff’s dark eyes pierced hers. “Good point.” He surprised her by agreeing. “You and Nate broke open the drug-trafficking ring and solved a twelve-year-old murder. Although I’m sure the former police chief is still in prison awaiting trial.”

“I know, but it wouldn’t take much for him to hire someone to come after me,” she pointed out. “And if that’s true, then Nate is in just as much danger.”

Griff’s reply was little more than a grunt as he walked with her up to the triage desk. She could see the nurse’s eyes widen with interest as she took in Griff’s short blond hair, dark brown eyes and broad shoulders. For a moment Jenna had to squelch a flash of jealousy, which was ridiculous. She didn’t want to date her boss, or anyone else she worked with, for that matter. In her opinion, the other deputies on her team didn’t always take her seriously now, and it would be ten times worse if she actually went out with one of them.

Which was part of the reason she’d thought Eric Krause was a good choice. They’d met at a fund-raiser for abused women and children, and she had thought they shared the same ideas and morals.

She’d never anticipated his verbal abuse and pathological need for control, and she had broken things off the night he’d shouted at her about how stupid she was. There had been a brief moment when she’d had a flashback to her father screaming the same words at her mother.

Thankfully, she hadn’t dated Eric very long and none of her coworkers had known about him. Most of her fellow deputies already had women in their lives. Well, except the new guy who’d replaced Aaron Simms. She couldn’t deny she’d been happy to see Simms leave the team. He’d been a challenge to work with.

And she hadn’t told anyone the truth about what had transpired between them. How much he’d hated knowing she could outshoot him. One night, he’d shown up unexpectedly at her house after work. She’d been fortunate to get away when he’d tried to prove how much of a man he was. She’d threatened to file sexual-harassment charges against him, and thankfully, he’d decided to resign instead.

As much as it made sense that Simms might want to attack her, the build of the guy who’d grabbed her had seemed to be much bigger.

Jenna swept a glance over the waiting room, noting with dismay that every available seat was taken. Despite her lieutenant’s plan to be in and out quickly, she suspected there would be a long wait time. No way did she want to sit here all night.

“Maybe we should wake up one of the crime-scene techs to swab my hand,” she said to Griff. “This place is packed and we’ll end up waiting forever.”

Griff didn’t even look at her, his gaze focused on the triage nurse who was practically drooling over him. “Excuse me. Is Dr. Gabriella Hawkins working tonight?” he asked.

The smile on the nurse’s face faded a bit as she clearly wondered if his interest in Gabby was personal. Which was crazy, since Gabby had recently married Deputy Shane Hawkins and the two of them were giddy with happiness. “Yes, actually, Dr. Hawkins is on call tonight.”

“Will you page her for us? We just need five minutes of her time.” Griff’s stern expression softened when he smiled at the nurse. She nodded and quickly accessed the computer to respond to his request.

Jenna sucked in a breath and turned away to stare blindly at the patrons in the waiting room. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Griff smile, and the simple gesture changed his entire face, making him even more attractive.

She gave herself a mental shake. She needed to get over herself already. Maybe it was a good thing Griff had never smiled at her like that. She was sure she’d babble like an imbecile if he did.

“I hope Gabby’s not in the middle of surgery or something else equally important,” Griff said in an undertone. “I’d like to get out of here before sunrise.”

His dry tone made her smile. “Yeah, no kidding. This place is crazy busy.”

For a moment their gazes clashed and clung, the space between them sizzling with awareness. Jenna felt powerless to break the bizarre connection, so she was grateful Gabby chose that moment to arrive and interrupt them.

“Hi, Lieutenant. Jenna. Is something wrong?”

Jenna found the strength to look away from Griff and acknowledge Gabby. “Hey, Doc, how are you?” She strove for a carefree tone, when in reality she felt anything but.

She seriously needed distance from Griff. Now.

“I’m fine, but what on earth happened to you?” Gabby reached out to lightly touch Jenna’s aching jaw. “This must hurt.”

“Nothing major, just a little run-in with one of the bad guys,” Jenna replied, sneaking a glance at Griff’s stone face. What was wrong with him? Had he felt the weird attraction that flashed between them, too? No, most likely it was just her overactive imagination working against her. She smiled at Gabby and lifted her hand, still wrapped in the brown paper lunch bag. “We need some evidence and hoped you would sneak us in to get my wounds swabbed.”

“Absolutely. This way,” Gabby said, gesturing for them to follow her through some double doors leading back into the emergency department. “We can use a room in the minor-care area.”

Jenna nodded and followed Gabby into a small exam room. “I caught the perp in the mouth,” she explained as she carefully removed the paper bag. “We’re hoping to get saliva for DNA evidence.”

“Understood,” Gabby said, pulling supplies out of the cabinet located in the corner of the room. “When I’m finished, I’ll wash the wounds out for you, too.”

Jenna grimaced. “I can wash my own hands,” she said, feeling as if the doc was making way too big a deal out of a few scratches that she barely felt compared to her jaw, which continued to throb painfully.

“Thanks. We’d appreciate that,” Griff interjected as if she hadn’t spoken. “The human mouth is full of germs.”

Jenna tried not to roll her eyes at his comment. Griff had hired her almost two years ago and she wanted to believe that he’d made that decision based on her abilities. But sometimes she couldn’t help wondering if she was nothing more than the token female.

Would she ever be taken seriously as a cop? Granted, the guys on the team knew she could shoot, but as far as other tactical situations were concerned, she often felt as if her teammates were trying to protect her.

She sighed and took a seat on the edge of the examining table, waiting patiently as Gabby pulled out the necessary supplies. Swabbing her wounds didn’t take long, and when Gabby had finished, Jenna quickly jumped down to her feet, crossed over to the sink in the room and thrust her hands beneath the stream of water. The antibacterial soap stung on her open cuts, but she ignored the pain while making sure she thoroughly cleansed the wounds.

Getting an infection would only make things worse.

She could tell Griff wasn’t happy, but he didn’t push the issue, either.

“I have a colleague who works at the state lab in Madison,” Gabby said. “I’ll ask him to put a rush on this for you.”

“Great—thanks for your help,” Griff said, as Gabby finished labeling the swab samples. “I owe you one.”

“No problem.” Gabby’s gaze was curious when she glanced at Jenna. “How’s your head? Maybe we should take an X-ray, make sure nothing is broken.”

“I’m fine,” Jenna insisted in a curt tone. “Trust me, I’ve been hit much harder than this.” She turned toward Griff. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

Griff’s fierce scowl didn’t faze her in the least. She didn’t care if he was all tough and growly. He was being ridiculous, and he must have realized that, too, because he finally nodded. “Yeah. Thanks again, Doc,” he said.

“Anytime, Lieutenant.”

Jenna walked out of the ER and headed straight outside, wishing she’d brought her own set of wheels. Griff easily kept pace with her, reaching out to open the passenger-side door for her before she could do it herself.

The gesture was polite, but she couldn’t help spinning around to glare at him. “What is up with you, Lieutenant?” she demanded querulously.

Griff raised his eyebrows, obviously caught off guard by her uncharacteristic spurt of anger. “What are you talking about?”

“This,” she said, waving an impatient hand toward the passenger-side door. “As if you’d do this for Nate, Deck or Isaac.”

The corner of Griff’s mouth twitched as if he found her amusing. “Hate to point this out, Reed, but you’re not Nate, Deck, Isaac or any of the other male deputies who report to me. Now, will you please stop making a big deal out of nothing and get in? We still need to review those mug shots.”

She bit back another retort, knowing she’d only make things worse if she continued to harp on his chivalrous behavior. She slid into the car and buckled the seat belt as she waited for Griff to get in behind the wheel.

To be honest, she shouldn’t take her bad mood out on Griff. Being attacked and then finding the bracelet, so much like her own, had put her on edge. In addition, Griff’s innocent act of opening her door had reminded her of Eric. Eric had seemed like such a nice guy at first, polite, charming. A facade that hadn’t lasted long.

She didn’t know Griff very well, and that was just fine with her, since she obviously couldn’t rely on her instincts when it came to relationships. She knew better than most that men were not to be trusted. Even cops, like Aaron Simms. Far better to keep her distance from the lieutenant. As soon as they’d looked at mug shots, they’d go their separate ways.

Besides, she needed to focus on getting her life back on track. On helping the women at the shelter. On making sure her father didn’t violate the no-contact order that was still in place.

But the first thing on her list was to investigate the bracelet she’d found near her doorstep.

* * *

Griff could feel the tension radiating off Jenna in waves. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and tried to stay focused, even though the strawberry scent of her shampoo permeated the inside of his SUV.

They were going to look at mug shots. Nothing more. Jenna was a deputy who reported to him. Off-limits in more ways than he could count. Besides, he wasn’t interested in a relationship, not after the way he’d indirectly caused his wife’s death. Granted, he wasn’t the one who’d run a red light, but he had been driving.

He’d supported his wife through law school and had been proud of her when she’d obtained a position at a high-powered law firm doing corporate legal work and family law. Helen had been passionate about her career but innocent in some ways to the seedy side of life. Jenna was tough, edgy, and had a chip on her shoulder the size of Mount Hood. Okay, maybe Jenna had a point about the way he’d instinctively opened doors for her, but she was a woman. His grandmother had ingrained manners into him from the moment he’d gone to live with her at the tender age of eight, after his parents were killed.

When Griff had learned the details of how his parents had operated on the wrong side of the law, he’d made a silent promise to be a cop. To bring people like his parents to justice.

He blew out his breath and concentrated on getting back to the issue at hand. One of his deputies had been brutally assaulted, and he was determined to find out who was holding a grudge against Jenna and why. And how did the bracelet fit in, if at all?

She had a point about the Brookmont scandal. The arrests of the crooked mayor and police chief had rocked the foundation of the entire city. Especially once they’d uncovered the drug running that had been going on for several years right beneath the public’s nose.

“You really think this recent attack on you is related to Brookmont’s former chief of police?” he asked, breaking the silence.

“I think it’s a possibility we can’t afford to ignore,” she said. “It’s a good thing that Nate happens to be down in South Carolina helping to move Melissa’s stuff back here. Maybe he should extend his leave of absence a bit. If they’re coming after me, they’d likely go after him, too.”

“True,” Griff agreed. He slanted a glance at Jenna. “And you’re sure no one is giving you a hard time? What about the new guy, Jake Matthews?”

“He’s fine,” she said with a careless shrug. “Seems to fit in well enough. Better than Simms ever did.”

He lifted a brow at the bitter note. He’d known there was tension between Jenna and Simms, but it was possible that more had transpired between the two of them than he realized. Had Simms made a move on her? Griff clenched his jaw and reminded himself that he preferred to have his deputies handle their interpersonal issues on their own.

Logic that didn’t work well when it came to Jenna.

He turned into the parking lot of the building that housed his office and parked near the entrance. He climbed out from behind the wheel and met Jenna at the door. After unlocking it, he held it open so she could precede him inside.

Jenna led the way to his office and dropped into a chair as he took his familiar seat behind the desk. He booted up his computer and clicked on the file that contained their closed cases.

“Here. Do any of these guys seem like they may have been the one who attacked you?” he asked, turning his computer screen toward her so she could see the faces of their most recent arrests.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, frowning as she peered intently at the mug shots. Each time she shook her head, he flipped to the next page.

After about fifteen photos, she sat back with a sigh. “The last one, Corey Rock, has a similar height and muscular build,” she admitted. “But I don’t see why he’d have a personal grudge against me. If I remember correctly, Isaac was the one who arrested him. I was the spotter up on the building across the street.”

“I’m sure he saw you at trial,” Griff felt compelled to point out. “After all, you were one of the witnesses to his little shooting spree.”

“Yeah, but it still seems out of proportion for him to come after me like that. The guy who grabbed me clearly wanted to physically take me down, as if to punish me. I have to agree with you that it’s odd he didn’t try to use a weapon.”

Griff nodded, then reached over to shut down the computer. “Okay, let’s call it a night. I’ll drop you off at home.”

For a minute it looked as if she wanted to protest, but she gave in with a brief nod. “Fine. Tomorrow morning I’ll see if I can find any link to the Brookmont matter. The more I think about it, the more I believe that the guy who attacked me might have been sent by the former police chief. You’ll warn Nate?”

Griff couldn’t deny that taking down a huge drug ring placed both Nate and Jenna at risk for revenge. “Yeah, I’ll call him. And I expect you to let me know if you find anything. I’ll see if there’s anything I can shake loose from the DA’s office. Maybe they have a list of Randall Joseph’s known associates.”

“Sounds good.” Jenna turned and walked out of the office. He followed close on her heels.

This time, when Jenna approached the SUV, he held back from opening the door for her. She lifted a brow and smiled, as if reading his thoughts.

The ride to Jenna’s house didn’t take long, and when he pulled onto her street he found an empty parking spot near the front of her house. When he stopped the car, he noticed she already had her hand on the door latch, ready to bolt.

He put out a hand to stop her, concerned that the assailant might have returned in their absence. And when he caught a flash of movement near the corner of her house, he knew his instincts were right on.

“Wait—I think there’s someone out there,” he said in a hushed tone.

“Where?” Jenna whispered, pressing her face to the window.

“Near your house.” He stared through the darkness, wondering if he’d let his imagination get the better of him.

“I don’t see anything,” she said after several long minutes. “I’ll be fine. This time, I have my gun.”

Tough to argue that logic. He dropped his hand and watched helplessly as she pushed open the passenger-side door.

“Later, Lieutenant,” she said before closing the door with a solid thud.

Griff didn’t move from his spot on the street, even after Jenna opened her door and disappeared inside.

He reminded himself she was a highly trained deputy on their SWAT team.

He waited five minutes. Then ten. Just as he was about to drive away, he caught another glimpse of movement.

Enough to have him turning off the car and charging out of the vehicle to make sure the assailant hadn’t returned to finish what he’d started.