Trail of Evidence

“Felix wasn’t here,” he said. “He’s spending the night with a friend.”

“But you weren’t hurt?” She blinked away the past.

“No, I managed to chase him off.”

Relief hit her. “Good for you.” She bit her lip. “All right. I’ll come over and get the phone.”

“Now?”

“I don’t want to take a chance on whoever you scared off coming back. We need to get that phone into the right hands so it doesn’t fall into the wrong ones.”

He paused. “I hadn’t thought about that. Bring your dog. Maybe she can pick up the intruder’s scent.”

Of course he knew about Mercy. Just like he knew she worked for the Capitol K-9 Unit. So. He’d been keeping up with her, too. Interesting. “She’ll be with me.” She glanced at the clock. “It should take me about ten to fifteen minutes to get there.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Brooke hung up, her mind spinning. Jonas Parker had called her. Jonas needed help and he’d called her. Just the thought of seeing him again on more than a passing basis made her palms sweat and her pulse beat a little faster.

Mercy whined and hopped to the floor where she sat, head cocked, ears lifted. Her tail thumped the floor as though to say, “I’m ready when you are.”

Brooke dressed in record time, popped a K-cup in her Keurig and pulled her travel mug down from the cabinet. Time for the strong stuff. While the coffee brewed, she gathered her bag and Mercy’s leash.

Ten minutes later, she was in her truck and headed for Jonas’s house. A fact that continued to make her blood hum and stir the memories of a time she’d tried to forget. She’d been a rookie with the DC police department’s K-9 unit and he’d been interning as a vet at the dog training facility. They’d crossed paths often enough to strike up a friendship. When Jonas had expressed an interest in being more than friends, she’d spooked and run, canceling out on a date at the last minute and then finding excuses not to see him alone again. She hadn’t handled it well, too caught up in her own insecurities and hurt to really consider how her actions would affect him. He’d been embarrassed and hurt and they’d parted ways.

And yet he’d called her about finding evidence in the case she and the Capitol K-9 team were working so hard on.

The pressure was on to find Michael Jeffries’s killer and Congressman Jeffries’s shooter—most likely the same person. Tension was thick, but Brooke had no doubts about her team. They were the best. They’d find the killer. She just hoped it would be before he struck again.

* * *

Jonas paced the den, his heart pounding, his palms slick. What was he thinking?

That he wanted to see Brooke Clark. Vaguely he wondered if he should feel guilty for being secretly glad he’d had a legitimate excuse to call her. Then he pushed the guilt away. His divorce had been final ten years ago. He’d mourned the loss of his marriage, but finally, with the help of a recovery group at his church, realized he’d done everything he could to keep his marriage together. The fact was, it had ended and it was time for him to move on.

Why his heart had settled on Brooke Clark was something that had him stumped. But she’d been the reason he’d sought out the recovery group in the first place. He’d needed someone to tell him it was all right for him to find companionship. Date again.

And then Brooked ditched him. She’d simply canceled their last date and had avoided him until he gave up trying to get in touch with her. And he’d never figured out why. Maybe it was time to get some answers. Even if they were ones he didn’t want to hear.

A car door slammed.

He tensed and went to the window to push aside the curtain so he could see out. As always, his heart did that funny little beat when he saw her. A petite woman in her early thirties with short black hair. She still looked the same. Slightly older, but not much. And definitely still beautiful.

Brooke. She was here. Her golden retriever, Mercy, leaped to the ground and shook herself, her brown eyes on Brooke, waiting for instructions. Jonas had followed her career and watched her climb the ranks in law enforcement. He was proud of her.

He opened the front door. Brooke looked up and caught his gaze and Jonas blinked. He hadn’t forgotten how blue her eyes were. On the contrary, he remembered every detail about her. But those eyes always rendered him speechless when first making contact. For a moment they just stood and stared. Then she smiled and walked toward him. “Hi, Jonas. Good to see you again.”

Jonas took a step and, in a bold move, wrapped her in a hug. Her scent surrounded him, old feelings rushed back. And she didn’t push him away. He took a deep breath. “It’s really good to see you, too, Brooke. Come on in.”

Brooke swept past him and he heard her give the dog a low command. Mercy sat. Jonas stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

She looked around. “So what happened?”

Jonas pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s a bit of a story. Would you like to go into the den and have a seat?”

“I’d rather not. Did the intruder leave anything behind? Touch anything that his scent would be on?”

So. It was going to be all business then. All right. He could take a hint. Jonas tightened his jaw then relaxed it. She was here to help, not socialize. The fact that she hadn’t pulled away from his embrace encouraged him. First things first. “I was in the recliner in the den when I heard a crash. It came from my son’s room. The intruder had pulled out one of the drawers from Felix’s nightstand. It was on the floor when I went in.”

“Then let’s start there.”

“Of course.” Jonas led her into Felix’s bedroom, once again giving thanks that his son hadn’t been home at the time of the break-in.

She focused in on the drawer on the floor. “I guess I don’t have to ask which drawer.”

“No. Guess not. I just left it alone. Once I decided to call you, I didn’t want to cover up any smells.” He paused. “I also hit the guy with Felix’s trophy so his scent may be on there, too.”

She shot him an admiring glace. “Good job. Okay, we’ll see what we can do.”

Jonas stepped back and let them go to work. He watched, marveling at the team, how well they worked together. “You’re very good at what you do, aren’t you?”

She turned. “We’re one of the best.” She said it in all sincerity, without a hint of boasting or pride. Just stated a fact. He liked that about her.

“You didn’t ask for my address.”

She blinked, then cleared her throat. “Excuse me?”

“You didn’t have to ask for my address. You already knew it.”

“I looked it up in the police database.”

“Of course.” Now he felt embarrassed. “For a moment there, it gave me hope.”

“Hope?”

“Hope that you’d thought about me. Hope that...I don’t know, that maybe we could be friends again.”

“We never stopped being friends.”

He shook his head. “Of course we did. Friends do stuff together, hang out, enjoy each other’s company. We went from friends to acquaintances that shared a nod of acknowledgement whenever we ran into each other. That’s not friendship.”

Brooke bit her lip and turned away. “This isn’t what I came over here for. Let me just do my job.”

Disappointment flooded him. He’d pushed too hard, too fast. He was coming across desperate and it wasn’t that; he just had questions. Questions that would have to wait. “No problem.”

Once she finished going through the house, she let Mercy out the door the intruder had exited. Mercy trotted down the street, nose alternating between the ground and the air. She stopped several houses down and sat.

Brooke called to her and Mercy hurried to her side. “She’s lost the scent. Most likely the guy had a car waiting right where Mercy sat down. He climbed in and off they went.”