Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
What was she thinking? Kissing Zeke was asking for trouble. Sienna didn’t need to add another complication to her life.
She liked and trusted Zeke. Cared about him. But the last thing she wanted was to get involved with another man. Even one as handsome, sweet, honorable, and protective as Zeke Hawthorne.
Oh boy. Just the fact that there was much to admire about him spelled trouble. She didn’t have time for this. Her entire future was in limbo. She’d given Zeke two days to make progress on identifying the shooter before she took matters into her own hands.
Granted, she wasn’t sure how to go about getting fake IDs for herself and Bailey. A basic ID may not be hard, but a fake passport to get out of the country would take skill and money. Probably lots of money.
Would she really circumvent the legal system like this? Just to keep her daughter safe?
Yes. In a heartbeat.
“Sienna? What do you think?” Zeke’s voice penetrated her troubling thoughts. Realizing she was still standing in the living room, she moved to the kitchen table. Zeke stood and gestured for her to take his seat. “This is a recent photo of Ken Holt.”
Seeing Josh’s sketchy friend made her shiver. She turned to glance up at Zeke. “Is this a mug shot?”
“Yep. He did time for selling drugs, but he’s out of jail now.” Zeke’s brown eyes narrowed as he pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Rhy to have a BOLO issued for this guy.”
“But we don’t know that he did anything illegal,” she protested.
“We can pick him up as a person of interest,” Flynn said. “Considering he has a rap sheet, we have the right to question him.”
That made sense. This was Zeke’s area of expertise, not hers.
“Rhy? We have a suspect we’d like to interview.” She listened as Zeke gave Rhy the pertinent details on Ken Holt. “We’re requesting a BOLO for Holt and his car, a silver Toyota Camry.” He rattled off a license plate number. “And I’d like someone from the team to head out to his apartment. See if he’s there.”
His apartment? Hope flared in her heart. Maybe Zeke and his teammate would find the shooter, and she wouldn’t be forced to go into hiding.
“Thanks, Rhy. Keep me updated.” Zeke lowered the phone. “Cassidy and Jina are heading to Holt’s last-known address.”
“I’m surprised you were able to access so much information,” she said.
“We’re good,” Flynn teased. Then his expression turned serious as he tapped an index finger on Ken’s mug shot filling the computer screen. “Do you remember seeing him hanging around recently?”
“No. And I was cautious, especially after I received the first threatening note.” She stared at Ken’s face. She’d never liked Josh’s friends back when they were first together. The years had not been kind to Ken; he looked like a hardened criminal. The blank stare reflected in his eyes made her shiver.
“Okay, just thought I’d ask.” Flynn turned the computer so he could keep working.
“How quickly will he get picked up?” she asked. “If he’s not at his apartment, I mean.”
“Depends.” Zeke shrugged. “If your ex has hired him to go after you, I’m sure he’s doing his best to hide from anyone remotely resembling a cop. And we know he’s using a different vehicle, as we haven’t seen the silver Camry.”
It was depressing, but she tried not to show her despair. “Well, I hope the police find him.”
“We will. And we’ll keep digging,” Zeke said. “Being in the safe house is great because it’s one less thing for me to worry about.”
“I understand.” Leaving the guys to it, she stood and moved down the hall to find Taylor and Bailey. Bailey was up from her nap, and the two were sitting on the floor playing with toys Taylor had pulled from the diaper bag.
For a moment, she simply watched her daughter with a heavy heart. It wasn’t right that Josh should make things difficult for a two-year-old. If he cared about Bailey, he wouldn’t create a situation where his daughter was in danger.
Then again, she’d learned the hard way that Josh didn’t care about anyone but himself.
She sat on the floor to join the fun, but her mind kept going back to Ken Holt and the possibility of Josh hiring him to shoot at her. And at Zeke. Did Ken realize Zeke was a cop?
Would it matter? It should, but thinking of Ken’s cold eyes, maybe not.
“Mama.” Bailey climbed into her lap. “Fishes?”
Bailey loved cheesy fish crackers. “Sure thing.”
“Why don’t you let me change her first,” Taylor offered. “Then I’ll bring her into the kitchen for a snack.”
“Thanks, Taylor. I’ll see what we can do about dinner.” She’d only started going through the cupboards and had found a half dozen cans of soup, a box of crackers, a handful of spices, and very little else. Whoever had stayed here previously hadn’t done much cooking. Or maybe they hadn’t had to spend much time here.
A reminder they wouldn’t be here for long either.
She headed back to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There were several bottles of water and diet soda, but nothing else. The freezer contained three frozen pepperoni pizzas and a tray of ice cubes.
Bailey liked pizza, and she figured the guys wouldn’t mind the simple fare either. She turned to ask when they wanted to eat when Zeke’s phone rang.
“Hawthorne,” Zeke answered, clearly not recognizing the number. Then his gaze lifted to hers. “Hey, Cass, thanks for calling. You’re sure Holt doesn’t live in that apartment any longer?” He listened for a minute, then sighed. “Yeah, okay, I understand. See if you can get the manager to call you back with a forwarding address. Thanks.”
“No sign of Ken?” she asked when he pocketed the disposable phone.
“Nope. Allegedly, Holt moved out three weeks ago.” He frowned. “When did you get the first threatening note?”
She had to think about that for a minute. “About ten days ago. Why?”
“Your show has been advertised for several weeks now,” Zeke said. “I’m trying to figure out when Allenton put his master plan in motion.”
“Josh filed for joint custody three weeks ago.” The time frame clicked in her brain. She could easily imagine Josh reaching out to Ken Holt, offering him a bunch of money for the job of stalking her. She tried to focus on the issue at hand. “It takes weeks to get court hearings on the docket, and I remember thinking Josh chose the date to file on purpose to interfere with my upcoming tour.”
“Allenton filed for joint custody at about the same time Holt moved out of his apartment.” Zeke glanced at Flynn. “They know each other, but there isn’t any proof that Holt is the shooter.”
“We need someone to see the BOLO and pick him up,” Flynn agreed. “I’ll keep poking into his social media, maybe I’ll spot a photograph of him in a local hangout. People tend to keep going back to the places they’re familiar with.”
“That’s true.” Zeke’s dark eyes gleamed with anticipation. “Holt isn’t a professional, so it’s likely he’s made some mistakes.”
“But if Ken isn’t a professional, how was he able to track your SUV and the rental as well?” she asked.
“Resources,” Zeke said. “Money can buy resources. I’m sure Josh has paid someone to access the DMV database to get a line on my vehicle. The rental could have been identified while we were outside the Sinatra Music Center.”
She nodded, but the Ken she knew wasn’t that savvy. Then again, Ken had done time in jail and could have learned a few tricks of the trade. “You said Ken was arrested for selling drugs?”
“Crack cocaine,” Zeke said. “According to the police report, they caught him selling the stuff but in small quantities. Hence his short stint behind bars.”
“I see.” She had to take his word for it since she didn’t really understand how the legal system worked. In many cases, it seemed as if many criminals got off rather easy.
If they did time at all.
But that wasn’t her problem. She took heart in the possibility of finding Ken Holt, who would hopefully turn on Josh to save himself.
They needed to prove Josh was the one behind these attacks. Attempted murder and/or murder for hire were serious charges. She had to believe Josh would end up in jail once this was over.
And if not, she and Bailey would disappear. Forever.
Zeke could read Sienna like a book; her expressive face reflected her thoughts. She was hopeful they’d find Ken, yet he knew she was also resigned to carrying out her threat to take Bailey out of the country.
He decided not to point out how difficult that would be. He’d rather spend the next two days finding Ken Holt and/or Brett Voss.
Zeke never understood the lure of gambling, but he’d bet his paycheck that Josh had hired one of his former friends to do his dirty work. Sticking around in LA with a new girlfriend to establish an alibi was his attempt to ensure he wasn’t considered a suspect.
“May I ask one of you to get Bailey’s car seat?” Taylor asked. “Bailey wants a snack, and we don’t have a high chair.”
“Sure. I’ll grab it.” Flynn jumped up from the seat. “Zeke, toss me the keys.”
He did, then turned his attention back to Holt’s social media posts. The guy didn’t post often, and so far Zeke hadn’t stumbled across any pictures of a restaurant, a bar, or a gym.
Holt had to hang out somewhere.
Just then he stumbled across a picture of Holt standing near a wooden railing wearing a T-shirt. Zooming in on the screen, he examined the shirt’s logo.
The Wooden Nickel.
A quick search revealed the Wooden Nickel was a bar down on the north east side of the city. The location wasn’t too far from the neighborhood where his teammate Raelyn and her husband, Isaiah Washington, now lived. The crime rate there wasn’t low, and he had to give Raelyn and Isaiah credit for trying to change the neighborhood.
He sent a quick text to Raelyn asking for intel on the Wooden Nickel as Flynn returned with the car seat. Moving the computer off to the side, they were able to prop the car seat in a chair and push it close to the table in a makeshift high chair.
“Thanks,” Taylor murmured as she dumped several cheesy fish crackers on the table. Bailey grabbed several, shoving them into her mouth. “No, sweetie, one at a time, remember? We only eat one at a time.”
Bailey grinned, cheese smeared on her face. She picked up a fish cracker with each hand, showing them to him as if intending to share. “One, two, free!”
He couldn’t help but smile as she shoved both crackers into her mouth. Bailey was adorable, and watching her only made him that much more determined to find Josh’s accomplices, putting an end to the attacks once and for all.
The Wooden Nickel was a place to start.
He leaned forward to grab Flynn’s attention. “I need to leave for a short while to check this place out. Will you keep an eye on things here?”
“I can stay here, but I don’t think you should go alone,” Flynn said with a frown. “Take Cass or one of the others with you.”
“Go where?” Sienna asked.
“Have you heard of a bar called the Wooden Nickel?” He turned the screen to show her the logo on Ken Holt’s shirt. “It may be nothing, but I’m going to head over to take a look.”
“I’m coming with you,” Sienna said. “If Ken is there, I might be able to convince him to give up Josh.”
“I can do that.” Zeke tried not to show his irritation. “I’m a cop, you’re not. Remember what happened at the music center?”
“Exactly why I’m going with you.” She tilted her chin stubbornly. “I’m serious about this, Zeke.”
So was he, but he squelched a retort. A text came in on his phone, and he was glad to see Raelyn had responded. WN is ok, meet you there?
He texted back. Yes 20 mins.
K. See U then.
He caught Flynn’s gaze. “Raelyn isn’t far from the Wooden Nickel; she’ll meet me there.”
“Who is Raelyn? And why is she meeting us there?” Sienna asked.
“Raelyn is another member of the team, she lives with her husband, Isaiah, and their adopted son, Leon.” He gave Sienna a stern look. “There’s no reason for you to tag along. You’re safer here.”
“Please, Zeke. I really want to help.” It was difficult to resist her pleading gaze. “Maybe I’ll see someone else there that I recognize from the old days. I’m at the center of this mess.” She glanced briefly at her daughter, then added, “Don’t shut me out.”
He tried to come up with an argument that would convince her to stay back but couldn’t. Maybe she had a point about recognizing others who might be involved.
Or maybe he couldn’t find the willpower to deny Sienna the chance to get out of the safe house for a little while. He couldn’t deny feeling a bit caged in himself.
“Okay, but you need to promise to do as I say.” He ignored Flynn’s knowing smirk. “If anything looks off, you’ll have to wait in the car.”
“Whatever you say,” she agreed. “But I seem to remember Ken Holt had other friends he hung around with. It was almost ten years ago, but I’m hoping I’ll recognize them when I see them.”
“Fine.” It was a good point. Besides, they’d already wasted too much time arguing. “Let’s hit the road.”
“Thank you.” Sienna turned to Taylor and Flynn. “There are three pepperoni pizzas in the freezer. If Bailey gets hungry, go ahead and feed her first. We’ll eat when we get back.”
“Sounds good. Be safe, Sienna. You too, Zeke.” Taylor’s gaze held concern. While he hadn’t found anything suspicious in the nanny’s background, he couldn’t decide if she was legit or a really good actress.
For Sienna’s sake, he prayed Taylor wasn’t involved.
He headed to the door, clicking the key fob to unlock the car they’d left in the driveway. He made a mental note to park in the garage when they returned.
“Where is this place?” Sienna asked.
“Not far from the River West neighborhood.” That was a section of the city that developers were working to revive. Unfortunately, its location to the crime-ridden north side of the city made that difficult. He eyed the setting sun, knowing they had less than two hours of daylight left.
It was always better to avoid the north side after dark.
Knowing Raelyn was meeting them there eased some of his concern. The three female cops on the team might all look like runway models, but they were tough and could hold their own even in hand-to-hand combat.
Especially, Jina. She was lethal.
“I really appreciate you letting me come along,” Sienna said.
He arched a brow. “You didn’t exactly give me a choice.”
She frowned. “You don’t understand what it’s like. I can’t just sit back and pretend Josh isn’t trying to ruin my life. Using our daughter to get some sort of sick revenge on me.”
“You’re right, I don’t know what it’s like to be in your shoes,” he admitted. “But you called me for help because I’m a cop. And I know what I’m doing.”
“That’s true. But the truth is, I just couldn’t sit there doing nothing.” She turned to stare out the passenger-side window for a moment. “It’s strange how so much of the city looks unchanged, while other parts look completely different.”
He lived there, so he couldn’t say the same. The changes that had occurred over time were subtle enough that he couldn’t remember what it was like before.
Another stark reminder that Sienna and Bailey didn’t live there. They hadn’t moved from LA to Milwaukee. For all he knew, she still had a place back in Los Angeles. Sienna was only in town long enough to perform three shows.
The thought was a bit depressing. Yet he accepted that he and Sienna were destined to just be good friends. Being on tour, going from one singing gig to the next, was not the least bit appealing.
No, as soon as he found and arrested the gunman, he and Sienna would go their separate ways. His main goal now was to wrap this up within the next two days.
A little less than two days , he silently amended. The hours seemed to be going by too fast with nothing to show for their efforts.
All he could do was keep pushing forward, following every lead while praying God would grant him the strength and guidance he needed to protect Sienna and Bailey.
They drove in silence for a solid ten minutes when his disposable phone rang. He dug it from his pocket. Glancing at the screen, he quickly answered when he recognized Raelyn’s number. “Hey, Rae.”
“Zeke. I’m here at the Wooden Nickel. Are you still in transit?”
“Yeah, maybe five minutes out.” He glanced at Sienna who was listening to his side of the conversation. “We were delayed leaving the safe house.”
“Safe house? You better fill me in on what’s going on,” Raelyn said. “I was off work today, so I’m out of the loop.”
“I’m here with Sienna, my...fiancée.” He hoped Raelyn wouldn’t pick up on his brief pause. “She’s in danger, and we have reason to believe?—”
“What? Engaged? Since when?” Raelyn interrupted. “You’ve been awfully flirty for being engaged.”
He hid a wince when Sienna’s eyes widened. Raelyn was speaking loud enough for the entire world to hear. “Knock it off, Rae. I don’t flirt. And I’ve known Sienna for years; we grew up together. Her older brother, Luke, was my closest friend. We even served in the army together. Just because I choose to keep my personal life private doesn’t mean you should jump to conclusions.”
“Look, I can buy that you were dating her, but engaged? Come on, Zeke.” Her tone reeked of skepticism. “You have to admit that news came right out of left field.”
Clearly, he’d never make it as an actor. He strove for patience. “I think the correct response here is congratulations, I’m so happy for you.”
“Congratulations,” Raelyn repeated. “And I am happy for you if this is for real.”
“Thanks, we’re thrilled. We’re going to settle down in my mother’s house in Greenland.” That earned him another surprised look from Sienna, but he ignored it. He decided to keep playing the role of Sienna’s fiancé for now, no matter how difficult. It wouldn’t be long before Raelyn and the others on the tactical team would know the truth.
They’d be hurt about being lied to, but they’d get over it. Most of his teammates had been in difficult situations over the past year, and he knew they’d each gone out on a limb for the woman, or in Raelyn and Jina’s case, the man they’d loved.
His engagement might be fake, but his feelings were real.
“Go on, what were you saying?” Raelyn’s voice penetrated his thoughts. “Something about your fiancée being in danger?”
“Yes. We believe her ex-husband has hired someone to stalk her, to help sway the judge to grant co-custody despite his being charged with assault and battery.”
Raelyn digested that for a long moment. “Okay, so who do you think will be at the Wooden Nickel?”
“One of her ex-husband’s old friends, Ken Holt. There’s also a former college roommate by the name of Brett Voss. We have issued a BOLO for Holt as he has a prior arrest for selling drugs.”
“Okay, I’ll see if I can pull up his info before you get here.” Without saying anything more, Rae ended the call.
After pocketing the phone, he exited the interstate and headed east. He wasn’t sure what to say about Raelyn’s comments, so he kept silent.
“You have every right to flirt with other women,” Sienna said in a low voice. “I feel bad for putting you in a situation where you have to lie to your friends.”
“It’s fine.” Time to change the subject. “Check it out. That’s the Wooden Nickel up ahead.” The corner bar had a coin-shaped light in the window. He drove past the establishment first, taking note of Raelyn sitting in her SUV about a block down the road. He gave her a nod as he passed her, then went around the block. He pulled over to park on a street perpendicular to where Raelyn was.
He waited for Raelyn to slide out from the SUV before killing the engine. He glanced at Sienna. “Stay close and follow my lead.”
With a nod, she pushed out of the passenger seat. Hoping this wasn’t a giant mistake, like going to the music center, he climbed out of the car and reached for Sienna’s hand. There wasn’t much traffic, so they quickly crossed the street, approaching the bar from the front as Raelyn approached from the side.
Raelyn paused at the main entrance, waiting for them. He and Sienna quickly joined her. He double-checked to make sure his shirt covered his weapon, while Raelyn adjusted her fleece sweater to hide hers.
“Let’s do this,” he murmured, stepping forward to open the door. “Rae, you first. Sienna, stay behind her.”
Raelyn took the lead, entering the dimly lit bar. It appeared to be a typical tavern, tacky beer signs hanging on the walls, and there was a poker machine sitting on the far corner of the bar.
The guy behind the bar eyed them suspiciously. Considering there were only two older men inside, Zeke couldn’t understand why the bartender didn’t look happy to have additional customers.
Then his gaze narrowed as he realized the bartender was Ken Holt. A bushy beard covered much of his lower face, and he wore a ball cap low on his forehead, but Zeke was convinced he was their guy.
Before he could warn Raelyn, Ken Holt ducked through a door behind him and disappeared. Seeing Sienna must have tipped him off.
“Cover the front,” he shouted to Raelyn as he leaped over the bar to follow Holt. He quickly discovered the back door led down a narrow hall. Hugging one side to avoid being hit by a bullet, he pulled his weapon and moved forward.
“Police!” Zeke injected all the authority he could muster into his tone. “Ken Holt, you need to come out with your hands up where I can see them!”
For a long moment, he didn’t hear anything. He moved a little faster now, hoping to catch Holt hiding out.
At the end of the hall was a door hanging ajar. Poking his head out, he scanned the area.
But saw nothing. Holt was gone.