Page 64 of Scent of Evil
Justin responded by hauling her close and deepening their kiss. His passion caught her off guard, and she couldn’t help responding in kind. His embrace was everything she’d always wanted, but it was cut short when Griff interrupted.
“Um, sorry, Raine, but I need your statement and Justin’s before you can get out of here.” Despite his apologetic tone, Griff’s eyes twinkled with a knowing smile. “I’m sure you’d like to leave sooner than later.”
She stepped back out of Justin’s embrace, her face growing hot. What was she thinking to kiss Justin like that? Especially in the middle of a crime scene?
It wasn’t as if this—whatever it was between them—could go anywhere.
“Of course.” Her voice was husky, so she cleared her throat. “I’m happy to give a statement. When that’s finished, we’ll take Amanda home.”
“Actually, Trevor is already on that.” Justin tucked his hands into his front pockets. “He doesn’t have much to add to the investigation, so he decided to reunite the girl with her parents right away. We’ll meet him when we’re finished here.”
“Ah, okay.” She didn’t like feeling so discombobulated. Normally, she was the take-charge type of person. But suddenly she was on the defensive. Not that Griff had made her feel like a criminal. He hadn’t. She knew she’d only done what she had to.
Yet when she glanced over at the EMTs, she was shocked to realize they were standing and shaking their heads over Rowe’s body. They weren’t putting IVs in or performing chest compressions.
“He’s gone,” one of the EMTs said. “We’re calling it.”
Her mouth dropped open in surprise. A deputy approached Griff. “Do you want us to leave him here or take him to the morgue?”
“Let’s get photos of the crime scene first, then you can haul them both out of here.” Griff sighed. “No reason to wait for the ME to show up. It’s not like the cause of death is a mystery.”
Raine swallowed hard at the grim realization she’d killed her boss. In self-defense, but still, it was the first time she’d killed a man, and she didn’t much like it.
Closing her eyes, she turned away, fighting back nausea. Rowe hadn’t given her a choice. She’d ordered him to drop his weapon, but he’d fired at her instead.
“Hey, this isn’t your fault.” Justin slipped his arm around her shoulders, understanding without being told how she was feeling. “Rowe chose a life of crime.”
“I know.” She swallowed hard, praying she wouldn’t be sick. “I still can’t believe he was a part of this the whole time.” She looked up at him. “It’s no wonder we didn’t know about Decker’s alias. For all we know, Rowe was the one who’d planted that bomb.”
“Maybe, but remember, Stone alerted on Decker’s scent. He was at the cabin, either with or without Rowe. We may never know the extent of Rowe’s involvement.” Justin urged her toward the shattered patio door. She stepped outside, taking a deep cleansing breath of fresh air.
Too bad she couldn’t clear her mind as easily.
“I plan to get to the bottom of who planted that bomb.” Griff quickly joined them. “Raine, can you start at the beginning? I mean when you arrived here at the cabin.”
With a nod, she reiterated the sequence of events that had led to the shooting. “When Decker saw me, he fired several times, breaking the glass. I returned fire and managed to hit him high in the chest. He was still alive, but before I could go into the cabin to help him, Rowe burst through the front door.” The image of her boss scowling over Decker seconds before he point-blank shot him in the head were clear in her mind. “Things happened fast. The moment he killed Decker without identifying himself as a cop I knew he was involved. I ordered him to drop his weapon, and he turned to fire at me. I anticipated he’d do something drastic.” She grimaced. “I was quicker.”
Griff nodded, his gaze empathetic. “I’m sure that wasn’t easy, but you did the right thing.”
“I know.” Logically, she knew Rowe hadn’t given her a choice. But emotionally, she desperately wished she hadn’t been forced to kill him.
“I was looking into the bedroom window where Amanda was when I heard the gunfire,” Justin said, taking over his part of the story. “I broke the glass, hauled Amanda out of there, and left her in the woods with Stone so that I could back up Raine. Unfortunately, Rowe was already in the cabin.” He frowned. “I heard a vehicle approach but had no idea who was driving. I admit I thought it might be you, Griff, even though I knew you were too smart to drive straight up to the front door.”
“Understandable as you knew I was on my way, but I parked down the road not far from your SUV and came in on foot. I sprinted when I heard the gunfire.” Griff sighed and glanced back at the cabin. “Okay, that should be good enough for now. I’ll need to get Amanda’s statement, too, but that can wait.”
“You’ll need this.” Raine unholstered her weapon and handed it over butt first. “To match the slug in Rowe’s body.”
“Thanks.” Griff took the weapon. “I’ll be in touch, Raine. For now, I suggest you get some rest. It’s been a long day.”
That was the understatement of the year. She managed a wan smile and turned toward Justin. He reached for her hand, and even though she knew she shouldn’t lean on him, she allowed him to clasp her hand, leading her back through the woods. Like a yellow beacon of hope, Stone bounded toward them, his tail wagging in excitement. Justin released her hand long enough to bend and greet the dog. “Hey there, you’re a good boy. Trevor left you here to stay with me, huh?”
Raine knew she owed Justin and Stone a lot for helping her catch up to Decker, despite her boss’s efforts to derail their pursuit. If not for the K9’s tracking ability, they’d never have gotten this far. As she watched Justin with his dog, she silently acknowledged just how much she’d loved them.
And knew there would be a gaping hole in her heart after they’d gone their separate ways.
* * *
Justin sensedRaine was holding on by a thread and wished there was more he could do for her. He could only imagine what she’d been through. He’d never been forced into a position of killing a man in self-defense, but several of his siblings had been there.
