Page 99 of Last Chance Christmas
Cole had begun to enjoy her presence. Being around her pushed him to work hard and to think outside the box. Like when she’d mentioned the animal shelter being a possible lead where Mackey might go before escaping with his partner.
Partner.
Cole hadn’t missed the hurt on Kianna’s face when he’d commented about already having one.
He glanced in the rearview mirror to where Titan lay curled up, sleeping.
For Kianna’s safety and his, he couldn’t let her stick around. He’d pushed the importance of her physical safety. Which was imperative. But it ran deeper. If he let himself get too invested with Kianna, sooner or later, it would all be stripped away. And the sweet moments they’d shared would only be memories of what had once been.
Like the one over dinner, at the hospital. Opening up and sharing about his family with her had reminded him what it was like to have a confidant. A companion in life who witnessed beautiful moments and hard ones.
Another car approached him in the opposite lane. What would he have done if Kianna had died earlier today? He might not blame himself for his father’s health decline, but he would have held himself accountable for Kianna.
Regardless, the glimmer of good moments could be taken away without warning. Like the snow squall snatching the light of the sun and shrouding everything in its path. He couldn’t let himself get emotionally invested when time was fleeting.
Right, Lord? You say that the grass withers and the flowers fade. Only Your Word remains forever. So why put my hope in anything that will disappear?
Not only had it happened in his family, but he also experienced it with his job every day. Life as someone knew it could be gone in a flash.
If he could, Cole would keep everyone he cared about safe and happy. But he couldn’t. So instead, he’d do what he could to preserve goodness and keep evil from winning.
It was time to come up with a plan to catch Mackey before he could collect his money and bail.
Several minutes later, Cole walked into the station and unzipped his jacket.
“Eyyy, Stuart is back.” Officer Anthony Thomas greeted Cole when he walked in, stepping around the front desk, where he’d been talking with Jules, the receptionist, to give Cole a slap on the back.
“It’s good to be where it’s warm.” Cole unhooked Titan’s leash, and the dog trotted over to the food bowl by the seating area.
“This storm is going to break the winter record for Last Chance.” Thomas’s blue eyes widened, and he whistled.
“Let’s hope it throws Mackey off and he slips up.” Cole went over to the water cooler and grabbed a Styrofoam cup, filling it with warm water before opening a packet of hot chocolate.
“Everyone’s in the conference room,” Thomas said.
“Good.” Cole snapped the lid on the cup, then followed Thomas down the hall.
Thomas, Ramble, Tazwell, Wilcox, and Basuto were already seated at the table, laptops out.
Cole greeted everyone, then took a seat.
“Let’s get this meeting started.” Basuto glanced at his watch.
A chorus of agreements followed.
“Did you get to talk with Athers, Cole?” Wilcox asked. “By the time I got there, she was asleep again.”
“I did.” Cole filled them in on the details of his conversation with Rainy. “So we know there’s someone local in cahoots with Mackey. And he wants to take care of his ‘canine currency,’ whatever that means.”
“Who were the visitors or callers Mackey had while in prison?” Basuto tapped his pen on the table.
Ramble clicked away at his computer. “Not many. In the two years he was there, it was mostly people from outside organizations and city officials. And a Benjamin Raider.” The inmate database appeared on the conference TV.
“Who’s that?” Tazwell swiveled in her chair to face the screen.
Cole tapped his pen against the table. “He caught Mackey in the act of selling off a diamond cat collar that one of the foster boys stole before he killed him.” A sour taste filled Cole’s mouth, and he took a sip of the hot chocolate. Even when Cole had been investigating the case on Mackey to put him away the first time, he couldn’t fathom how this guy’s mind worked. Using people for his own advantage and peddling the goods to make a buck. All while discarding a human life. It was sick.
“Benjamin is also the manager of Tiny Paws Animal Shelter.” Ramble glanced up from his computer.
