Officers spilled out of every doorway and filled the bullpen near to bursting as everyone gathered around to hear Captain Reed speak, updating the precinct on the events at Case Closed. After he spoke, Arlo was on deck to present his findings.

  “Everyone really turned out for Jayden,” Kerrigan whispered where she stood beside Gavin. “He’d be so touched.”

  “Somehow I think he’d prefer there wasn’t any reason for us all to be assembled in the first place.”

  Kerrigan’s mouth dropped in shock as she turned to him. “Well, yes, of course.”

  It was all so close, and his emotions were all jumbled up, simmering at the surface and just waiting to erupt. Or find a convenient victim.

  “Kerr—” He broke off, running his hand through his short-cropped hair and tugging. “I’m sorry. I know what you meant. Honest, I do know. I just—Truly.” He hung his head. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  It was a testament to her goodness and the friendship they’d forged over long shifts together that she was quick to forgive. “I get it. I bit Arlo’s head off this morning, and he basically hasn’t slept in thirty-six hours.” She reached for his hand, squeezing tight. “So yeah, I know.”

  “It sucks, Kerr. It sucks so bad.” He could only nod as she laid her head on his shoulder just as Captain Reed got up to speak.

  Everyone quieted, and Gavin couldn’t help but think of his time with Sera the night before. He never spoke of his father’s death. It was something he’d gone to grief counseling for, addressed and then moved on. It never went away, and he wasn’t trying to fool himself that it would, but he deliberately kept that part of his life separate. And instead, chose to honor his father in a way that was both meaningful to him and filled him with purpose.

  Yet he had told Sera.

  Was it because they were having a baby? Or because she’d experienced the horror of Darius’s death, too?

  He’d considered all those reasons, but it was only as he walked into his apartment around three that morning that he’d finally accepted the truth. He had wanted Sera to know. He wanted her to understand that part of himself.

  It was only after he’d told her that the real panic had set in.

  Would she pity him? Or worse, would she think less of his police work, believing it was a vendetta of some sort instead of his calling in life?

  Only she hadn’t reacted that way at all.

  She’d said please. And she’d told him she’d like to know more.

  It was a level of compassion and understanding he’d never felt before. And, perhaps, he admitted to himself, he might have felt it more often if he let people into that area of his life. If he shared who he was with the people who cared about him the most.

  Jayden certainly was going to need that understanding in the coming weeks and months. And Kerrigan, Wyatt and the whole rest of the Harbor team had shown themselves to be his brothers and sisters in arms from the first.

  Would telling them be so bad?

  He considered it as he took in those same faces he trusted implicitly, all solemn as they stood before their captain. And he vowed to think about how he could be different. How he could show up differently for all of them.

  Captain Reed’s assured voice complemented that thought as he began to speak.

  “As you all know, one of our own lost a loved one last night to an as-yet-still unknown shooter.”

  Captain Reed caught everyone up on the investigation to date, and even though most everyone knew the basics of what had happened the night before, the room was eerily silent.

  “The team has already put calls into every business on the block to secure street cameras as soon as everyone opens. The bar has cooperated and already provided footage from their sidewalk cams.”

  “Which proved to be a dead end,” Arlo said dryly from where he stood beside the captain. “The shooter stayed in the shadows, and as far as we can tell from some vague footage at a distance, they were masked to avoid easy detection.”

  When Captain Reed only nodded and turned the room over to Arlo, the detective shared all he’d managed to uncover.

  Gavin looked at his friend—Kerrigan’s comments about thirty-six hours without sleep looked pretty spot-on. Arlo’s face was wan, his normal robust look drawn and pinched with fatigue. If he also knew his friend, the man wasn’t going to rest until he had a suspect in custody. It was then that Gavin hatched a plan.

  He and Sera had made considerable progress on their task force work. There was no reason he couldn’t devote more time to the investigation, supporting Arlo and figuring out what the shooter was after.

  Because he was increasingly certain Sera was right. They were the object of the shooter’s attention.

  He had no idea why. Nor did he have any clue why Darius ended up being the target.

  He hadn’t had a chance to run it past Arlo yet, but Gavin wanted to share his ideas with their smaller group and see what everyone thought. At minimum, he wanted to get these jumbled, roiling emotions out and see if anyone else could make sense of what he felt much too close to.

  Because with the exception of Wyatt, they’d all been together last night.

  So what was the motive for killing Darius?

  * * *

  Around 5:00 a.m., after tossing and turning all night, Sera decided to spend the day in the office. It would give Gavin some much-needed space with his fellow officers, all while burying herself in work. She was still processing what had happened the night before and knew that she’d be climbing the walls by ten if she attempted to work from home.

  Which made Gavin’s text message asking her to come over to the precinct and meet in “their conference room” about fifteen minutes after she got to her desk something of a surprise.

  Had they had a break in the case this soon?

  Anxious to know the answer and desperately hoping that they had, in fact, caught the monster who’d killed Darius, she’d quickly packed up what she’d just unpacked at her desk to head out.

  And came face-to-face with David.

  “Where’s the fire?” Her DA smiled, his impeccable bearing practically regal even this early in the morning.

  “Oh, David! Hello! I’m sorry to rush out, but I have to run to a quick meeting—” She nearly fumbled over her words, stopping herself at the last minute before giving the explanation for where she was going.

  His smile was indulgent, and Sera had no idea why she’d had the weird premonition to say nothing. Yet even now, with a few beats to consider it, she still wasn’t inclined to tell him where she was going.

  “A meeting? Why’d you even bother coming in?”

  “I thought I’d get ahead of a bit of work before going to my meeting. The task force is amazing, but I’m definitely juggling a few things.”

  His eyebrows slashed hard over brown eyes so dark they were nearly black. “It’s not too much, is it?”

  “No, no, of course not.”

  If she hadn’t had such a strange reaction to the whole conversation, she’d have likely been a bit more eloquent, but finally she landed on something that wasn’t a fabrication. “I’ve been a little under the weather these past few weeks, and I’ve fallen a bit behind on some of my case reading I typically catch up on in the evenings. I figured I’d try powering through with fresh eyes.”

  “If you’re sure?”

  “Of course.” She nearly had the urge to push past him before stopping herself. A few extra minutes wasn’t going to make or break her meeting with Gavin, and her boss did deserve her time.

  Even if she was struggling with this antsy feeling she couldn’t define.

  A feeling that had come in steady waves since the night before. Gavin had stayed a bit longer after their discussion about his father and her guilt over Darius. While they had no difficulties talking with each other, they’d both acknowledged there wasn’t a lot to say.

  After he’d gotten a text from Arlo letting him know about the early morning meeting scheduled at the precinct, she’d encouraged him to head home and get whatever sleep he could.

  It was more of those vacillating emotions that had sent her out into the street at the bar in the first place. She and Gavin had been thrust into a level of intimacy that at moments felt right and at other times...left her struggling to find her footing.

  “I do apologize for rushing out on you.”

  “Of course,” David waved her on, his smile benevolent. “Please get to your meeting. And let’s plan some time to catch up before end of week on your caseload.”

  “I’d like that.” She smiled, trying to diffuse her impatience. “I’ll bring the coffee.”

  “You’re on.”

  Her impressions of the brief conversation lingered as she headed out of the office and toward the 86th. It was an odd, unsettling feeling, and she couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason for it.

  Yet David’s attention had seemed...sharper, somehow.

  Did he sense she was pregnant?

  It hadn’t been a secret she’d had a few difficult mornings in the bathroom throwing up. And a suspected pregnancy was the sort of news people loved to gossip about.

  Whether someone had overheard her and deduced the truth or David figured it out on his own, it was the push in the direction she needed. Because what had originally felt like maintaining her privacy and taking the time she needed to ensure her pregnancy was progressing well had passed.

  The time had come to share her news. With her family, as Aunt Robin and Uncle Enzo had every right to know. And once she shared the wonderful news with them, it was time to share with her boss and her office mates.

  Putting the awkwardness behind her and resolving to think on how she’d give David the news as well, Sera walked into the precinct. She quickly moved through the security check-in and went on up to the conference room, where she found Gavin, Kerrigan, Arlo and Wyatt assembled inside.

  “Is there news?” The question came out in a rush before she’d even said her hellos, her anxiety over discovering Darius’s killer more pressing than she even realized.

  “Not yet,” Gavin said as he stood to give her his seat. “But we wanted you here for Arlo’s briefing. He took the department through his findings, but he’s got a few more ideas for how we might crack this.”

  She took the seat Gavin had vacated, briefly touching his hand as he held the seat for her. It was more outwardly affectionate than she was normally comfortable with, but it felt good to offer that small shot of reassurance.

  To feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips.

  To connect.

  Arlo started in quickly, his delivery succinct and pointed. “While we haven’t found any details that give us a name or a gang to follow up with, the video we have gotten so far corroborates your instincts, Sera.”

  “Someone set up across the street from the bar, and they were lingering there,” Gavin said, before adding, “planning something.”

  “That’s what doesn’t make sense, though.” Sera considered the steady stream of thoughts, memories and random theories she’d cycled through on her way to the 86th. “What I can’t wrap my head around.”

  “Around what?” Kerrigan prompted.

  “How would they know we were there? That any of us would be there? It was an impulse decision, made on the boat coming back into Sunset Bay. Targeted implies advance knowledge and planning. We didn’t even know our plans.”

  Arlo took a seat next to her, his attention laser-focused. “Walk me through it.”

  It was the question she’d turned over and over in her mind. The one, when she got past the sharp grief over Darius and that horrific feeling of responsibility, that she couldn’t stop thinking about.

  “The shots felt distinctly personal. The fact that Gavin and I were in the crosshairs from across the street. It was noticeable, for lack of a better word. The guy was there, and despite trying to hide, it was obvious he was watching us.” A small shiver raced down her spine in remembrance of that flash of reflection under the lights across the street. “But then Darius’s murder doesn’t feel like an accident.”

  “The gunshots seemed to reinforce that,” Kerrigan said, her expression pained. “A shooter might have one bullet that went wild. But three?”

  Which was what had Sera pressing on. “Yet Gavin and I were the people being watched.”

  Arlo just nodded throughout her telling, taking in her impressions. “Go on.”

  “What I’m trying to put together is how would someone, obviously watching us and lining up a shot, shift gears and hit Darius? It wasn’t like he was in the middle of my and Gavin’s conversation. He was on the phone near us but having his own call.”

  “You think it was deliberate?” Wyatt said. “Like he was the real target?”

  “No. Yes.” Sera shook her head, trying to find the words to explain what she only felt. “I have nothing to go on with this. Nothing that’s proof or even a solid image. All I do know is I kept being distracted by this reflection across the street. Gavin even remarked on it, that I was distracted from our conversation and kept looking away.”

  She heard Gavin’s small laugh before he spoke. “I was sort of pissed about it, to be honest. We were having a serious conversation, and she kept looking away.”

  “It was distracting. But it was us. We were the object of this guy’s attention.”

  “And you never saw a face?” Wyatt pressed.

  “No. Nothing.” She shook her head, remembering those weird moments of awareness. “Which added to my unease. But then Darius comes out, and he’s the one who’s deliberately shot. Why?”

  “Could he have been the target?” Kerrigan turned toward Arlo, obviously testing it out. “We keep looking at this like it’s a cop shooting, but Darius had an important job. He runs with some big players. Is it possible he was the target all along?”

  “I’ve got Cormac and Sanjay looking into that angle,” Arlo confirmed, naming what she assumed were two officers in the precinct. “They’re heading straight to Darius’s office this morning to talk to the staff as well as his boss. Anything’s possible, and we’re going to turn over all the stones. But based on everything Sera’s describing, it still sounds a bit like wrong place, wrong time.”

  “Yet not,” Gavin said, his voice grim.

  He’d been solemn since she walked in, allowing her the space to share her impressions and thoughts. But now... Now she heard the anger and the grief, mixed together in a powder keg of emotion.

  “Not how?” Arlo pressed.

  “I heard those gunshots. I protected Sera myself, also convinced we were the target. But Darius was the intended victim. Three bullets, precisely delivered, with deadly intention.”

  “Forensics aren’t back yet,” Kerrigan argued. “I know I already went there, but it’s still a leap, Gavin.”

  Despite the sound arguments from his colleagues, Sera saw clearly that Gavin wasn’t buying any of it.

  “Come on, Kerr. We both saw it. Forensics can have the time to do their work, but you know as well as I do. That was a sharpshooter with perfect aim. And Darius paid the price.”

  Chapter 11

  Gavin could see Kerrigan wanted to argue, if for no other reason than they were all fixed on the idea that last night was meant to be a cop shooting.

  And it felt that way.

  He kept circling around that point, over and over in his mind. But Darius was the obvious victim, too. Those gunshots were too precise, not shots that went wild, missing their intended target.

  Forensics report be damned.

  What was going on?

  “Deliberate. That’s what you mean.” Sera’s blue eyes were hazed with that same layer of guilt he’d seen last night, but beneath it he was pleased to see the determination shining through.

  “It’s exactly what he means,” Arlo added, stepping in. “If that’s the case, and I’ll take a cop’s gut instinct as a lead to tug any day, then what it also means is that there’s some larger orchestration behind this.”

  “But no one thought we’d be there.” Sera turned to Kerrigan. “I’m not wrong about that, am I? When it came up on the police boat, it had seemed like a last-minute decision.”

  “It was,” Kerrigan agreed. “But that bar’s known as a cop hangout. And even without preplanning, it wouldn’t be that hard to follow a group of us if someone was determined enough to do so.”

  It fit, Gavin had to admit. The bar wasn’t far from the precinct. Their police boats came in and out of the dock area every day. If someone wanted to do harm, he and his fellow cops weren’t too difficult to find.

  So now the real question was why.

  “Son of a bitch.” Gavin exhaled on a hard sigh. “The guns.”

  Wyatt and Kerrigan caught up just behind him, their expressions grim as everyone started talking at once.

  “Someone’s covering it up,” Kerrigan said.

  “Was Darius a diversion, like the kayakers last fall?” Wyatt asked.

  “What sort of diversion?” Sera interrupted them, and Gavin felt a distinct shot of pride at how easily she fit in and how quickly she was able to go toe-to-toe with the entire room.

  “I went through it on a case last year.” Wyatt quickly filled her in on the investigation involving the father and grandfather of his new wife, Marlowe, and the dead kayakers who were set up by a local crime group to divert the cops’ attention from what they were really doing with the drug trade. “The initial approach was to keep us so busy chasing our tails that we wouldn’t put as much focus on the real crime.”

  “Which didn’t last long.” Arlo grinned at his friend before he shifted the conversation. “But something about this feels different.”

  “Different how?”

  “Yours was a diversion, Wyatt. A very deliberate one that used Anderson’s reputation at the 86th and his history with his son to keep things quiet. But this has the marks of a vendetta.”

 

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