Page 8 of Their Wicked Games

“I’ll do.” Kane narrowed his gaze. “You?”

Jenna sighed with relief. “I’m just peachy.”

She couldn’t prevent the tears running down her cheeks as she watched Kane check each of the men for life signs. A shiver went through her. He’d killed them all without hesitation. Moments later, Carter came running out of the forest, weapon drawn. He stopped to survey the carnage with a look of incredulity on his face.

“I heard the shots and you identifying yourself. You faced these guys alone? Are you crazy? Are they all dead?” Carter was shaking his head. “What happened here and why did you allow them to get off a shot?”

“Yes, no, yes. You know what happened, Ty. These men kidnapped my wife.” Kane shrugged. “I chased them down and identified myself. I told them to get on their knees, but they all decided to draw down on me. Yeah, they got off a few rounds before I fired. I don’t kill unless my life is in danger.” He indicated to his vest. “They were aiming to kill. I caught one in the jacket, but most went past my ears.” He stared at him. “Thanks for caring. I’ll be bruised is all. They weren’t so lucky.”

“It was self-defense.” Carter walked around the bodies. “They’re all still holding their firearms and I’m a witness. I saw them fire first. You had no choice.” Carter pulled out his phone. “I’ll process the scene. Where’s Jenna?”

“In the cabin.” Kane glanced up at her. “I need to go to her now.” He turned back to Carter. “Call Wolfe and Rio. I can’t be involved in the investigation.”

“It’s a righteous shoot. Wait up. I’ll need a shot of the bullet hole in your vest. I’ll leave Wolfe to pry it out and bag it.” Carter snapped away with his phone. “How many shots did you fire?”

“Five.” Kane gave him a long stare. “I don’t waste ammo.” He handed him his weapon and then walked away and headed for the cabin.

Fighting back tears, Jenna looked up at Kane as he walked through the door rubbing his chest. He’d walked alone into a gunfight to save her. If one head shot had connected, he’d be dead. “Are you hurt?”

“Nah, the vest caught the one bullet that got close. I’ll be bruised, is all. Don’t worry about it.” Kane took out his knife to cut through the zip ties and then the tape around her ankles. He examined her face and gently touched her cheek. “They hit you, didn’t they? Which one?”

Jenna stood and wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t know. He put a hood over my head, but he has my M18. He was skilled, military maybe. He stripped it down and reassembled it in seconds.” She shook her head. “I didn’t hear them until it was too late. All the training you’ve given me, and they still managed to grab me.”

“You were attacked from behind, and you couldn’t see. You fought them but they were too strong. We all have our limits, Jenna. You did everything possible to stay alive and give me clear concise information.” Kane stared into her eyes. “I’m proud of you. You did everything by the book.” He shook his head. “I threw the rulebook out of the window. I should have waited for backup and would have been right on their tail but for a darn cattle truck blocking the road. Those precious minutes it took me to get through the pedestrians on the sidewalk meant I lost sight of them. I figure the driver of the cattle truck was a plant to delay me. Rowley picked him up I hope. He was right behind me.”

Jenna nodded. “Once again the tracker ring saved my butt.”

“Yeah, it’s a lifesaver.” Kane stared out of the window. “Those guys, I figure they’re the group running the meth lab. It looks like we have them all: one lookout, the guy in the truck, and those outside.”

Nodding, Jenna touched her sore face with her fingertips. “That will be one case solved, if either of the two left alive talk for a deal.”

“They’ll deal to save their own skins.” Kane sighed. “I’d take you home now, but we’ll need to stay for a time.” Kane slid off his backpack, opened it, and handed her a bottle of water and an energy bar. “Rio will take our statements and Wolfe is on his way.” He led her back to the chair. “I’m guessing the press will have a field day when they discover I killed five men.” He narrowed his gaze at her. “You should suspend me pending an investigation. Wolfe won’t be happy about all the publicity.”

Shaking her head, Jenna sighed. “Okay, you’re suspended until Carter, Rio, and Wolfe have examined the scene and taken statements, but I need you to assist me with a murder case. We’ll keep the incident under wraps. I really don’t want the fact I was kidnapped all over the media either. I’ll speak to the DA.”

“It won’t go away that easy, Jenna.” Kane’s expression was serious. “These men have families and might cause trouble. It was a righteous shoot and Carter is a witness. He heard me identify myself. You must do this by the book or it will come back and bite me in the butt.”

Of course, Kane was right, and Jenna nodded. “Fine. Rio will follow procedure. He always does. Right now, I’m not worried. We’ve survived another incident and all that matters is that we’re okay.”

EIGHT

It wasn’t the first time Carter had seen Kane in action. Everything about the man impressed him. He’d walked into a seemingly impossible situation with calm deliberation. The security of liquid Kevlar vest notwithstanding, it took a ton of guts to take down a group of armed men intent on killing him. He walked the crime scene with Wolfe and Rio, giving them as much detail as he could remember.

“What distance were you away from Kane when he fired the first shot?” Rio’s pen hovered above the statement book.

Carter scratched his cheek, trying to estimate the distance. “Not far, fifteen yards maybe. I had to take cover behind a tree because bullets were whizzing past my head. When the shooters were down, I ran to the scene to offer assistance, but they were all deceased.” He gave him a long look. “Kane didn’t fire the first shot. I saw him get hit in the chest, then he opened fire. It was so fast I didn’t have time to react.”

“Yeah, the M18 is a semiautomatic, and I’ve never known him to miss.” Rio shrugged. “Your account of what happened matches Kane’s and Jenna’s statements. In my opinion, we don’t need to pursue further investigation.” He held out the statement book for Carter to sign.

Wanting to be sure there would be no blowback for Kane, Carter signed his statement and then took the top copies of all the statements from the book. “I’ll take these to the DA personally and run it past him. He needs to make a determination, but from the facts and what I witnessed personally, Kane is in the clear.”

A gunshot rang out and Carter instinctively drew his weapon. “Is that Wolfe?”

“Yeah, he discovered a ton of sawdust out back, and he’s doing a ballistic test on Kane’s weapon.” Rio smiled. “He just shot into the sawdust. He’ll use the bullet to match the ones Kane shot into the bodies. He needs a bullet so he can return Kane’s weapon, but Jenna suspended him, pending an investigation.”

Carter shrugged. “That’s all we need in the middle of a murder case. I’m sure it’s unnecessary. We’ve finished our investigation on scene, and Wolfe has confirmed that each man has one gunshot wound.” He walked over to Wolfe. “If you don’t need me, I’m going to head back into town to speak to the DA. We need Jenna and Kane back on the homicide case ASAP. We have parents out there who don’t know their kids have been murdered.”

“We just need to bag and tag.” Wolfe looked over at the bodies still sprawled on the grass. “They’re all carrying ID, which I find a little difficult to believe considering they’re supposed to be cooking crystal meth.” He shrugged. “I’ll run their prints when I get back to the office and see if it matches their IDs. I noticed a few tattoos that looked familiar. I figure some of these men served in the military. What the heck were they doing involved in a crystal meth lab?”

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