Page 13 of Rescued Faith

Woods straightened his tie and left the room.

Bryce followed him out to the hall.

Woods held out a hand. “I just wanted to put aside whatever past we had and start fresh. I know we weren’t exactly friends back in the day, but I’m hoping for your cooperation.”

Bryce shook his hand. “I guess we all had a little growing up to do since then.”

“A lot has changed. What do you say? Shall we let bygones be bygones?”

“Sure.” Who was he to hold it against the man when it had been over a decade ago? Besides, he wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on just as much as the state. This was his hometown, and he wanted to keep it safe. It was a big deal to have this visit from the governor. Posters were plastered everywhere around town about the Governor’s Ball and other activities. His own mother, who had once met Governor Nobleand his wife, was on the celebration committee. They’d been planning this for two years.

“Good. Let me know if you need anything.” Woods left, and Bryce walked back into the conference room.

Chief James stood at the end of the table. “So the explosions took place at three locations, all in different parts of town. One was a house out in the boonies. The other an electronics store, and then the warehouse last night. I’m not seeing an obvious connection between all three. Do you guys on the force know anything?”

“That warehouse block has been known to be a hangout for a Puerto Rican gang. It’s possible they used the store too.” Olivia Tazwell, with the police department, swiveled back and forth in her chair.

“But no idea where the house comes into it?” Bryce asked.

She shook her head.

“So far we haven’t had any deaths due to these explosions, but one of my men was injured in the secondary explosion in the warehouse, and a woman almost died. They’re escalating.” The chief leaned over the table. “We need to end this now.”

Allen spoke up. “Can we talk to this woman? Did she see anything? Or is she a suspect?”

Bryce sat up in his chair. “She’s not a suspect.”

Everyone looked at him. Okay, so maybe that came out a little stronger than necessary. Bryce cleared his throat. “She almost died in that fire. She’s a private investigator.”

“Then we need to talk to her and see what she knows. What do you say, Crawford?” Frees asked. “Can you go talk to her?”

Talk to her? A big part of him wanted to. Wanted it badly. But Bryce had seen her last night, and all it had done was bring up a lot of things in him that should’ve stayed buried. Maybe he really wasn’t ready for this. Because now that they were literally handing him the chance to see her, it sounded like a horribleidea. Like sending an alcoholic to a booze convention. He needed more time to shore up his resolve before he could see her.

“Uh, maybe you should talk to her, Jude.” Bryce’s thumb tapped the table.

“Why me?” His brother-in-law looked up from his notepad. “Oh. She must be married. Meaning you can’t flirt, huh?”

“Since when did that stop Fire and Rescue’s playboy?” Olivia grinned from across the table. “More likely she’s too old or something. What’s the matter, Casanova? Not your type?”

Oh, she was very much his type, and that was the problem. One minute with her and he’d probably be falling fast, while she would be counting down the seconds till she could leave. “She’s not married. But Jude knows her best. And I’ll go work with the chief and look at the fire scenes again.”

Hisjobwas fire. He’d already established he sucked at relationships. And yes, he was almost desperate to know Penny was okay, but if Jude went, Bryce could satisfy his curiosity about her well-being and avoid a re-emergence of his old self.

“Who is it?” Jude asked.

“Penny.” Bryce straightened up the papers in front of him and shoved them into the file folder someone had passed out. He stood, ready to leave.

“Penny Mitchell?” Jude stopped him. “What is she doing here?”

Bryce lifted his hands. “Thought you would know. She’s investigating something. Isn’t she working with your office again?”

Jude shook his head. “Haven’t heard from her in over a year except to get her regrets that she couldn’t make the wedding. But I’m slammed at work. You always got along great with Penny. Why can’t you talk to her?”

Why? Maybe because just when he’d started to think he’d found “the one,” she’d left him in the dust without a word.Because she’d gotten to him more than any woman ever had. And—fine—he was still sorting through the aftermath of it all. He didn’t have a chance at staying professional with her. And he didn’t want to mess this up. Being on a task force was a big deal. Something to show this town he was serious. He was more than a good-time guy.

“I…just thought since you and Penny worked together and know each other on a professional level, it would be best if you talked to her.”

“I actually took her statement last night.” Police officer Anthony Thomas perked right up. “I wouldn’t mind talking to her again. Getting more details to see if anything would help us.”

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