Flynn (Oath of Honor #8)

Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Cassidy gestured to a chair at one of the cubicle stations. “Have a seat. Would you like water or coffee? Fair warning on the latter, it may taste like scorched earth.”

Taylor managed a weak smile. “Water would be good, thanks.”

Cassidy headed for a doorway off to the side, likely some sort of break room. Back when she’d been teaching at the day care, they’d had a similar space.

She wondered where Flynn was. He had veered away from her and Cassidy the moment they’d gotten inside the building. She knew he felt guilty for the way they’d been found at Zeke’s house, but it wasn’t his fault.

After all, she was the sole reason Flynn was in danger. She’d called him after hearing the shots and catching a glimpse of the gunman. If Flynn hadn’t taken her under his wing, she’d probably be already dead.

“Here you go.” Cassidy returned with a bottle of water. Taylor took a long, grateful sip. Her nerves weren’t cut out for this kind of thing. Her hands were still trembling, despite being safe in the precinct.

Maybe she should ask Flynn if they could simply live in the police station. She couldn’t think of a better place to stay.

“It’s going to be okay,” Cassidy said, echoing the words Flynn had been telling her from the beginning of this nightmare. “Flynn is a good cop and determined to protect you. He’ll do whatever it takes.”

“I know.” She didn’t doubt Flynn’s dedication to his job and to keeping her safe. She eyed the pretty redhead curiously. “How do you like being a cop?”

“I love it.” Cassidy smiled, but then her expression sobered. “It’s not for everyone. I see the worst side of human nature more times than I care to. Sometimes it’s hard to keep the faith. To continuously strive for justice.”

The profile of the gunman with his prominent nose flashed in her mind. Only a truly evil man could shoot people in cold blood while they slept. She hadn’t realized how often the police encountered bad guys with no moral compass.

“I can’t imagine how you and Flynn and everyone else stays strong,” she admitted. “Caring for young kids can be a challenge, but they are mostly sweet, honest, and kind.” She had noticed that kids absorbed their personalities from their parents, though. She’d had one job where the kids treated her terribly because that was how the parents acted toward her.

“Speaking of Flynn, there he is now.” Cassidy nodded toward her fellow cop. “I’ll check in on Gabe, see if he’s found any rental properties close by.”

Taylor nodded, but her gaze was riveted on Flynn’s somber features. Feeling shaky, she rose to her feet. “What is it? You look like you’ve gotten bad news.”

He came closer and reached for her hand. “I’m sorry, Taylor. But your cousin Roman Paulson was found dead in his home by the local police.”

What? Roman was dead? She frowned. “I don’t understand. He’s only a few years older than I am.” Then she understood. “He was murdered? You’re telling me my cousin has been murdered?”

“Yes, shot twice in the chest at close range.” Flynn held her gaze. “There was no forced entry to his home, so the working theory is that Roman knew the man who’d killed him.”

Again, the prominent nose profile flashed in her mind. “Roman was involved in this somehow.”

“Yes, we believe so.” Flynn gently squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you.”

Clinging to Flynn’s hand, she tried to digest the information. She felt bad about Roman. Even if he had been involved in something illegal, he didn’t deserve to be murdered.

First Steve and Robin Miller, now Roman. How many more people would lose their lives over—whatever this was?

Not Flynn, Lord. Please not Flynn!

It was horrible to be the one targeted by a gunman, but she wasn’t sure she could handle other innocent people losing their lives in an effort to protect her.

Especially Flynn.

“Maybe I need to go away. Like out of state.” She didn’t have a lot of money in her bank account, most of her nanny income was centered on paying off her student loans. “Far away where this guy will never find me.”

“I understand why you would think that, Taylor.” Flynn’s voice was soft but held a note of urgency. “But it’s not a practical solution. You’d have to find a job, which would lead the killer right back to you. It’s not easy to stay completely off-grid, but we’ll find a way to do that here where we can protect you.”

She shook her head, more because she didn’t like what he was saying. And suddenly she was mad. “I hate this.” The words burst from her throat. “I hate that this guy is looking for me! That he wants to kill me!”

“I know.” Flynn drew her into his arms. “I don’t blame you. I’m not happy about this either.”

His calm demeanor wasn’t helping. She wanted to punch someone, preferably the big-nosed man, but of course, that was a foolish thought.

Blowing out a heavy sigh, she relaxed against Flynn, absorbing his strength. She knew running away wasn’t the answer, no matter how tempting. “I don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered against him.

“I won’t.” He surprised her by pressing a quick kiss to her temple. “Don’t worry about me. We’ll get through this.”

She desperately wanted to believe that. But thinking back to how things had gone with Sienna, how she’d been kidnapped and Zeke had been shot while trying to save her, wasn’t reassuring.

As terrible as that situation had been for them, it wasn’t close to the one she faced now. The man hunting her had no heart and the soul of the devil. He seemed intent on letting nothing get in the way of killing her.

And as things stood, there was little hope of finding him.

“Flynn?” Cassidy’s voice penetrated her thoughts. She drew in one last breath, filling her senses with Flynn’s scent, then pushed away. Her knees wobbled a bit, but she managed to stay upright under her own power.

“Did you talk to Gabe?” Flynn asked. He kept a hand on the small of her back as if sensing she still needed support. Oddly, his sweet gesture made her eyes sting with tears.

She blinked them away, annoyed with herself. She might not be tough and strong like Jina and Cassidy, but it wasn’t like her to cry over things either.

“Yes, why don’t you come and see what your options are?” Cassidy gestured toward an office not far from the breakroom. “Gabe has identified a few possibilities.”

“What about the safe house?” Flynn asked, gently urging her forward. Together they headed toward Gabe’s small office. “We could really use those bullet-resistant windows as this guy seems to like taking shots at Taylor.”

“Unfortunately, there’s a family staying there.” Cassidy grimaced as she made room for them to crowd around Gabe.

“Cass is right; the safe house is being used at the moment.” Gabe turned in his chair to face them. “Hi, I’m Gabe Melrose. I hear you’re in some trouble.”

“Taylor Templeton,” she said. “Yeah, trouble is one way to put it.”

“Thanks for allowing us to use your name on the rental car and the property,” Flynn added. “I owe you big time.”

“Nah, it’s the least I can do.” Gabe waved that off. “Okay, I found three options. They’re all relatively small homes, which are cheaper obviously than larger ones. I figure you would rather be outside the city limits with a little more space between the houses.”

She had no idea if that was better for their needs or not, so she remained silent, letting Flynn take the lead.

“Right on all counts.” Flynn leaned over to see the screen past Gabe’s shoulder. The office might be small, but there were three computer monitors mounted on a frame on his desk.

“This one is in Timberland Falls.” Gabe tapped one screen. “I only included it because the price was so reasonable. I know you guys tend to avoid Timberland Falls.”

“The cops weren’t too bad when we worked with them last month,” Flynn said with a shrug. “I think we’re growing on them.”

“Okay, so that’s one option. Here’s the second option, a two-bedroom house in Peabody. It’s on the lake, but it’s November, so the price is reasonable.”

“Hmm. That’s a good choice,” Flynn said. “At least we’d be close to Jina’s husband, Cole Roberts.”

“Exactly what I thought,” Gabe said with a grin. Then he tapped the keyboard bringing a third home up on the third screen. “This is the most expensive place. It’s farther from other homes, though, so I figured you might like it. Oh, it’s in White Gull Bay.”

Any of the places looked more than reasonable to her. She’d probably choose the least expensive of the bunch, considering the damage to the rental car.

“I like the one on Peabody Lake,” Flynn said. “It’s not that much more than the place in Timberland Falls, and we have the added plus of friendly cops nearby if anything happens. Not that it will,” he quickly said, darting a glance at her. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you think is best,” she said with a shrug. “You’re the expert.”

“I like that one too,” Cassidy said. “It’s closer to Brookland, which might come in handy if the police need to talk to you again.”

“I’ll book it right now.” Gabe hit a few keys, then glanced at his watch. “It’s going to take a few minutes to hear back. It looks like the place is open now, so hopefully you can get in sooner than later.”

“Understood. Thanks, Gabe.” Flynn clapped him on the back. “You’re the best.”

Gabe blushed, darting a glance at Cassidy before turning back to his array of screens. “In the meantime, I’ve been trying to find intel on Roman Paulson. Rhy said he wanted to help Brookland PD on the case.”

“Unfortunately, we recently learned Roman was murdered,” Flynn said.

“Wow,” Cassidy murmured. “That’s not good.”

“Tell me about it,” Flynn said. “Check with Rhy, but I would still be interested to know what Roman was up to. We have to assume he was silenced for a reason.”

“Maybe they should check in with his brothers, Lyle and Jake.” Taylor wasn’t sure why she didn’t think of that earlier. “They might know what Roman was up to.”

“I believe the detectives were headed there next,” Flynn said. “Hopefully, they’ll cooperate with the investigation.”

A horrible thought struck, and she grabbed Flynn’s arm. “Is my family in danger? My parents? My siblings? My parents are out of the country now, but what if the gunman tries to track them down? Should they be in a safe house too?”

“How long will your parents be on vacation?” Flynn asked.

“Another three and a half weeks. They’re cruising Europe. I’m honestly not even sure where they are today.” She felt like a lousy daughter for not knowing her parents’ itinerary off the top of her head. “I can check my email. I have their schedule written down. My siblings are in college. One is in graduate school in Atlanta, and the other is a senior in Sacramento, on the West Coast.”

“No need to check your email now.” Flynn waved a hand. “If you don’t know where your parents are, it’s not likely the gunman will be able to track them down. And your siblings being in different states helps too. I can’t imagine the killer would bother to track your family across the country or halfway around the globe. He only killed Roman because he was somehow involved in whatever is going on.”

He was probably right. There was no reason to panic.

Still, she sent up a silent prayer for God to keep her parents and her siblings safe.

Flynn drew Taylor back to the cubicle where she’d left her half-finished water bottle. He hoped it wouldn’t take long to make the arrangements with the rental property. Now that he had a destination in mind, he was anxious to get Taylor out there and settled in.

He was glad her parents were out of the country and her siblings were out of state. He hated to admit he should have considered her family’s safety before now. If the gunman knew who Taylor was, he could easily find her parents and siblings.

Use them to flush Taylor out of hiding.

He sat on the edge of the desk, praying he hadn’t forgotten anything else. He turned to face her. “Where do your parents live? Is anyone watching over your parents’ house?”

“Their neighbor. I would have offered, but my schedule is dependent on what the Millers needed from me. Was dependent on that,” she said sadly. “My parents live in Madison. Why?”

He considered that for a moment. Madison was seventy miles away, which meant it was not necessarily convenient to head over there. But it also wasn’t too far to keep the gunman from heading over to check things out. Based on the recent activity here in town, he didn’t think the gunman had made the trip. There hadn’t been time for him to drive all the way out there, investigate if anyone was home, then return to the area.

He stood. “Hang on, I need to check with Rhy. He may know someone within the Madison PD who can do a drive-by past your parents’ home. What’s the address?”

There was a sticky-note pad on the desk. She quickly wrote down her parents’ address on the white square. “Thanks, Flynn. I’ll feel better knowing someone is going to keep an eye on the place while they’re gone.”

With a nod, he took the note to Rhy’s office. If he remembered correctly, Roscoe’s cousin Cameron Stevenson was a cop in Madison. He’d recently married his girlfriend, Jennifer. Flynn had covered Roscoe’s weekend so he and Libby could attend the ceremony.

He tapped his knuckle on the doorframe. “Rhy? Have a minute?”

“Yeah.” Rhy ran his fingers through his short blond hair. “I’m always happy for an excuse to avoid working on the budget.”

He didn’t envy his boss that task and felt guilty all over again regarding the damage to the rental SUV. He stepped in and set the sticky note on his desk. “Taylor is worried about her family. Her parents are in Europe, so it’s not likely the killer will find them, but I was thinking we could contact Cam Stevenson to have him check out her parents’ place. Make sure there’s no one hanging around.”

“I can do that. I’m sure Cam won’t mind.” Rhy picked up the sticky note. “I’m glad her parents are out of the country. That makes things easier for us.”

“Yeah. Her sibs are out of state, too, at different colleges.” He shrugged. “I’ll pick up a disposable phone for Taylor so she can reach out to them, but I’m not sure it helps the killer to head out to Atlanta or Sacramento.”

“Agreed.” Rhy sat back in his chair. “I wish I knew what this was about. At this point, the Brookland PD doesn’t have many leads. We’re assuming something with the Brookland Bank, but that could be anything from money laundering to outstanding loans or even dabbling in cryptocurrency.”

Flynn hadn’t considered cryptocurrency, but he agreed with Rhy that it would be nice to narrow the motive down to something manageable. “Did Klem and Irving get subpoenas for the Millers’ phone records?”

“They did, but the bank is putting up roadblocks, stating privacy concerns.” Rhy shook his head. “Personally, I think they’re trying to figure out what Steve Miller was up to prior to his murder. If Miller was doing something illegal, I’d think they’d cooperate.”

“Will the feds get involved?” Banks were governed by the Federal Trade Commission, and anything hinky going on within a bank gets attention from the federal government.

“If they find something illegal, yes. But they’re not that far into the investigation.” Rhy picked up the sticky note. “I’ll give Cam a call.”

Flynn took that as his cue to leave. He stopped at Gabe’s office on the way back to the cubicle. “Do we have the rental?”

“Yep. Just came in.” Gabe spoke without turning. “I’m sending you the link and key code to access the place now.”

His phone chimed with an incoming message. “Got it. Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Gabe glanced at him. “Taylor seems nice.”

“She is.” Flynn managed a smile, although nice was too tame a word to describe Taylor. Beautiful, smart, nurturing, and humble were just some of the traits he admired about her. “She doesn’t deserve to be targeted by a killer.”

Gabe frowned. “I couldn’t agree more. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“I will. Thanks.” He was about to turn away, then paused. “Actually, I think I should leave the phone here. Taylor’s too. Just in case.”

“Ah, sure.” Gabe opened a desk drawer that was full of snacks. For being lean, Gabe sure liked his snacks. “Power it down and I’ll hold on to it for you.”

He took a moment to memorize the address and access code, then did as Gabe suggested. Then he hurried out to join Taylor.

“Rhy’s going to send someone to my parents’ house?” she asked.

“Yes. And we have the rental on Peabody Lake.” He held out his hand. “But do me a favor, I’d like you to leave your phone here. We’ll pick up new ones along the way.”

She nodded and placed her phone in her hand. “I remember doing this last month too.”

“Yeah.” He tried to smile reassuringly. “I’ll leave this in Gabe’s office with mine. We can pick them up once this is over.”

A moment later, he was back from Gabe’s office. Taylor quickly rose to her feet, her expression determined. “I’m ready.”

He knew she had little reason to trust him as he escorted her toward the side door of the precinct. He made a mental list in his head. They already had the laptops, but they still needed groceries, disposable phones, and something quick and easy for lunch.

“Is fast food okay for lunch?” He vaguely remembered from their time together last month that she liked salads. “I’m sure I can find a place that offers a variety of salads.”

“I’m hungry, so lunch sounds good.” She looked tired and worn, and the hour was only half past noon. Her lack of sleep from the night was clearly catching up with her. “But honestly, I could use a thick juicy cheeseburger.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sold,” he said. “I’m all in.”

The next hour passed quickly. He stopped for the phones first, then they hit the grocery store. When that was finished, he picked a drive-through restaurant that boasted single and double cheeseburgers.

The lake house was smaller than it looked online, but the place was clean. There were two bedrooms and a nice living and kitchen area overlooking the lake.

“It’s nice,” Taylor murmured as they put the groceries away. “Cozy compared to staying at the Millers.”

“Are all your clients wealthy?” he asked.

“Most are, yes.” She unpacked their cheeseburgers and fries. “I can’t lie, they pay me well, and I’ve been using that money to pay off my student loans.”

“You don’t have to justify your career choice to me.” He joined her at the table.

“Funny, but I seem to remember you thinking my job was easy and brainless,” she said.

His jaw dropped. “I never said brainless.”

“No, but you can’t deny you viewed my job as easy and not very challenging.” She arched a brow. “I could read your thoughts clearly on your face.”

“I shouldn’t have said that.” He reached over to take her hand. “Forgive me. The truth was that I didn’t trust you back then. Zeke and I were focused on keeping Sienna and Bailey safe. It was never personal.”

“I know.” She shrugged. “I can understand why you were suspicious of me.”

“Because I didn’t know you the way I do now.” He hesitated, tempted to say more, but then held back. The best way to protect her was to keep their relationship professional. He saw what had happened to Zeke who had fallen for Sienna while he was taking on the role of bodyguard. He couldn’t afford to be distracted. Besides, someone as pretty as Taylor wouldn’t be interested in him. “I think we should say grace. We have much to be thankful for.”

She nodded, then dropped her gaze to her lap. He wasn’t used to saying grace, but it was so common a practice with the tactical team that it felt wrong not to give thanks prior to eating a meal.

He cleared his throat. “Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food we are about to eat. We ask that You please keep Taylor’s family safe in Your care, and we humbly that You provide the strength and wisdom the police need to bring this ruthless killer to justice. Amen.”

“Amen,” she echoed.

Was it his imagination, or did her fingers cling to his for a long moment before she released his hand? He glanced over at her, but she appeared to be focused on her meal.

He made quick work of his cheeseburger and fries. Eating fast was common for most cops. Lunch and dinner had to be consumed quickly in case a call came through.

“I guess I should finish going through the mug shots.” Taylor’s tone lacked enthusiasm. “At least once that’s finished, I can move on to something else.”

“Yes, I would appreciate that. I’m not sure there’s much else we can do other than wait to hear what the Brookland PD uncovers.”

She frowned. “I can’t just sit around doing nothing. There must be something else I can do to help find this guy.”

He thought about Roman Paulson being shot twice in the chest. “We can try going through social media. But I’m not sure that will help now that Roman is dead. I doubt the killer is on any of the platforms.”

“I still can’t believe it,” she murmured, half to herself. “I didn’t know Roman very well, but it’s weird to know a member of your family was shot to death.”

He couldn’t think of anything to say to make her feel better. Maybe Roman had gotten in over his head, gambling debts or something like that, which had led to his involvement in the scheme. Even though he didn’t have a lot of experience in doing detective work or running investigations, he kept coming back to the possibility of money laundering.

Organized crime wasn’t run by the old Mafia bosses like they were back in his grandfather’s day, but the concept still existed. Using computers made the transactions even more impersonal.

When they’d finished eating, he took a moment to power up the disposable phones. Then he called Gabe to give him their new numbers.

“Oh hey, Flynn, Rhy was looking for you. Hang on.” Before he could say anything, Gabe put him on hold.

Rhy picked up the call. “I just heard from Cam. He’s gone past the Templeton house and found nothing suspicious. However, one of the neighbors called earlier this morning to complain they saw someone peeking into the windows at the home. The guy wore a hoodie, and the hour was such that we don’t for sure it was the killer. Cam thinks it was likely kids looking for an easy mark for a robbery.”

“Okay, thanks for the update.” He gave Taylor a reassuring smile so she wouldn’t be alarmed. “Let us know if anything changes. I’m glad Cam is keeping an eye on the place.”

“Yep. Stay in touch.” Rhy ended the call.

“You’ve been great through all of this.” Taylor rose to clear the table. “I feel guilty for putting you in danger, but I wouldn’t be here if not for your expertise.”

“I told you my job as a cop is to protect the public.” Her gratitude grated on him. “Stop worrying about me.”

She tossed their garbage into the container, then swung toward him. She looked exasperated, but he must have read her wrong because she abruptly reached up to pull his head down and kissed him.