Page 22 of Flynn

“Sorry, it’s silver instead of black,” Cassidy said. “But that may help. The gunman isn’t going to expect you to be in a light-colored vehicle.”

Flynn tried not to think about how easy it would be to hit the silver SUV in the darkness. Then he thrust that depressing thought aside. If they’d covered their tracks well enough by using Gabe’s name, then the color of the SUV wouldn’t be a problem.

He hoped.

“I’m sure I can convince Gabe to rent a house for you too,” Cass was saying as he dropped the laptops on the floor of the back seat. “You can drop me off at the precinct, then head out to whichever property you choose.”

“Sounds good.” He forced himself to sound confident and upbeat for Taylor’s sake. “Let’s hit the road.”

Taylor was unusually quiet as he left the rental car agency. She’d taken the back seat, leaving Cass to sit up front. He glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Are you okay?” he finally asked.

“Yes.” The way she turned her head to gaze out the window belied her words. She didn’t look fine. And how could he blame her?

She was likely losing faith in him. He’d really botched his last attempt to keep her safe. She had been the one to alert him to the black SUV that she had seen driving by twice. Something he’d failed to notice.

Kicking himself wasn’t going to help. All he could do was to move forward with the next phase of their plan.

And using Gabe’s name might be the extra safety net they needed.

“I need you to help me get Zeke’s window repaired,” he said to Cass. “His garage doors too. The gunman fired rounds at the one garage door, and we busted the second one. I don’t want kids getting inside and ransacking the place.”

“Sure. I’ll get Steele and Brock to help with that. They’ll have to coordinate with the Greenland PD anyway to make sure they get all the evidence collected. Maybe we’ll get a match on the ballistics, linking the weapon to the gun used in the double homicide.” She worked her phone with her thumbs, clearly sending text messages. “Any idea when Zeke, Sienna, and Bailey will be back?”

“No clue. I guess they’re in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for her tour.” He had to think for a moment about what day of the week it was. “Today is Thursday, so I’m sure they won’t be back until Monday at the earliest.”

“Got it.” Cass continued to look down at her phone. “Sounds like Steele and Brock are available and willing to help.”

“Good.” Some of the despair he’d been feeling eased from his shoulders. Bad enough that he’d almost gotten Taylor killed. He didn’t want to leave Zeke, Sienna, and Bailey in the lurch.

“I’m glad Sienna and Zeke are out of town,” Taylor said. “I don’t think they should return to the house until the gunman has been caught.” She paused, then added, “If he’s caught.”

“Good point. Once we’re settled in a safe location, I’ll fill Zeke in on what happened.” He caught her gaze in the mirror. “And we will get this guy.”

Again, she didn’t look convinced.

When he reached their seventh district police station, he drove around back to park out of sight. There’s no way the gunman could have tracked them this quickly, but he was done with taking chances.

He led the way to the side door, holding it for Cass and Taylor.

When they were safely inside the building, he brushed past the women and headed straight for Rhy’s office. “We were found at Zeke’s home, and I damaged another rental.”

Rhy arched a brow. “Oh yeah? We got the insurance on it, right?”

“Yes. I believe so.” He waited for Rhy to yell at him, but he should have known better.

“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Rhy said with a shrug. “We were on a good streak there for a while. The good news is that we’ve put a lot of bad men and women behind bars. Michaels gives us extra brownie points for that.”

He was humbled by Rhy’s support. “That’s true. And I would like nothing better than to add this gunman to the list. I’m concerned about what connections he has,” Flynn said. “It’s like he has inside information on me and the other members of the tactical team.”

Rhy nodded slowly. “I can understand your concern. You think there might be a Brookland cop on his payroll?”

“More like on the payroll of the man who’d hired the hit man in the first place,” Flynn said. “I keep going back to how Steve Miller is the president of a bank. And that he’d met with Taylor’s cousin in his office shortly before the murders.”

“No luck on the mug shots yet?” Rhy asked.

“No. Taylor is doing her best, but I’m starting to think this guy isn’t in the system.” He hesitated, then asked, “Have you gotten any new information from the Brookland PD?”

As Rhy shook his head, the phone on his desk rang. Arching a brow, he reached for the handset. “Captain Finnegan.”

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