Grayson, p.2
Grayson, page 2
part #1 of Oath of Honor Series
The two men looked at Eve, who quickly answered, “I live close, maybe ten to fifteen minutes away on Maple Creek Parkway.” She rattled off the house number.
“Okay, that sounds good.” He turned to Joe. “Do you want to come along?”
“Yeah, hang on, we need more people to get this done.” Joe lifted his hand to his radio and spoke into it. “I need two officers who are closest to the Maple Creek Parkway to meet me and Grayson at the following address.”
Grayson heard the call on his radio, too, quickly followed by a response. “This is Roscoe. I’m almost at the research institute.”
“Jina here, I’m en route too.”
“Great. Peel off and meet us at the private residence of Dr. Eve Shaw,” Joe directed. “Grayson and I will meet up with you shortly.”
“Ten-four,” Roscoe drawled. Despite being with the team for almost six months, replacing their murdered teammate, Kyle, Roscoe often spoke with his native Texas accent.
“Is this related to the bombing?” Jina asked.
“Affirmative. Details to follow.” Joe cut off further communication. “Let’s hit the road.”
Grayson was glad to be doing something constructive. “Eve, are you okay to drive? Or do you want to ride with me?”
“I can drive.” She still looked pale and shaken, but there was a hint of anger in her stormy gray eyes too.
Oddly, he would have preferred she rode with him. But he forced a nod. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
She didn’t respond but turned and walked back to the bright-blue car. He stayed close, without intruding on her personal space. Obviously, the reality of the situation was still sinking in. Her research, and likely others’, would suffer because of this.
The work of a fanatic as Eve had suggested? Or something more sinister?
“Are you married? Divorced? Seeing anyone?” he asked. Then realizing how that sounded, he quickly added, “Is there a possibility this bomb was planted by someone close to you in a gesture of revenge?”
“You seriously think someone would kill me because I broke off a relationship?” She stopped at her car to look at him skeptically.
“Eve, I’m a cop. I’ve seen all sorts of personal situations go bad.” He thought about the recent attempt to kill Pastor Isaiah Washington, and the sex-trafficking ring they’d helped bust up a few months before that. People did horrible things to each other every day. “I know you mentioned fanatic groups who think you’re doing research with stem cells or animals, but this could be something personal too.”
She stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. “I broke off a relationship with Andrew Thomas two months ago. He’s a physician’s assistant at Trinity Medical Center.” She shrugged. “I’m sure he’s moved on to the next woman by now. Monogamy wasn’t his strong suit.”
“Andrew Thomas,” he repeated. “What does a physician’s assistant do exactly?”
“He works on the diabetes team. That’s how we met.” She flushed. “He was really interested in my research, and we started dating. At first it was fun, but I soon realized all he cared about was my work. He—wasn’t interested in me as a woman.”
Grayson frowned. “That’s strange. You’re beautiful and smart. Why wouldn’t he be interested in you as a woman?”
Her flush deepened, and she turned away to dig in her bag. “You asked. I’m just telling you that I broke things off, and he was disappointed at first, but he got over it.” She opened her car door. “See you soon.”
He ruminated over that as he jogged to his squad. He drove up and over the curb to head into the parking lot. There was a rear exit they’d use to leave, as the firetrucks and other emergency rescue personnel were blocking the main road.
Andrew Thomas would have to be checked into. Maybe he had been interested in Eve as a woman, but she hadn’t realized it. He’d given her plenty of cues he was interested when they were in high school, but she’d rebuffed him, staring at him intensely through those light-gray eyes of hers before moving on to the next chemistry assignment.
Granted, Eve wasn’t really his type. But she was cute in a sexy-librarian type of way. Back then, he’d also dated about half the cheerleaders, so it wasn’t as if he’d suffered for female attention.
But that was in the past. He had changed his approach to women since then, keeping them at a distance. But Eve didn’t know that.
What difference did it make? He was here to investigate an attempted murder. He followed her to her small gray brick house where Joe, Roscoe, and Jina were waiting. Her home was small enough that it shouldn’t take too long to clear the place.
He quickly joined his teammates and Eve who was handing Joe her keys.
“Eve, will you please wait in your car?” Grayson asked. “Just to be on the safe side?”
She looked as if she might argue but then spun on her heel and returned to her car. Once she slid in behind the wheel, he turned back to the others. “Let’s do this.”
The four of them approached the house. Inside, he looked around curiously.
No surprise, Eve’s home was clean and neat. As predicted, it didn’t take long to clear the main living space. There were only two bedrooms and a full basement. One bedroom was an office, the other her master suite. “I’ll take the office,” Grayson offered.
“Jina, take the garage, then join me in the basement. Roscoe, clear the master bedroom and bath,” Joe said.
He entered the office, noting with amusement that this space was not neat and tidy. Eve had papers everywhere and at least a dozen sticky notes pressed on various surfaces. Thinking of her office at the research institute, he approached the desk first. He pulled the chair out and bent to look underneath.
And froze.
A pipe bomb was strapped beneath the desk.
He quickly used his radio to alert the others. “Device found in the office. Evacuate the area ASAP!” Then he took a deep breath and began to slowly back out of the room, anxious to get out of there before it detonated.
Chapter Two
Someone had tried to kill her.
The words reverberated over and over in Eve’s mind. She resisted the urge to cover her ears with her hands as if to drown them out. She had never been involved in something like this, and she could barely comprehend this was truly happening.
Yet the scene was imprinted in her mind. Smoke and flames billowing out of her office window.
Please, Lord Jesus, keep my colleagues safe!
The interior of her vehicle was hot and stuffy, so she opened her window a few inches. She couldn’t imagine a bomb would be planted here in her house. Sure, she often worked from home writing her research papers. But the heart of her work was in the lab.
The lab that would be out of commission for a significant period of time.
She closed her eyes and tried not to cry. Tears were useless and wouldn’t change anything. It was just that she was so close to a breakthrough. She was confident she’d have something amazing to present at the end of the year.
Now she had no idea how long it would take to reconstruct her lost notes. And to get back into the lab to finish her work.
“Eve!” She opened her eyes in shock when she heard Grayson’s shout. “Drive out of here.”
Her stomach clenched with fear at the seriously grim expression in his dark eyes. “Why?”
“We found another bomb in your home office. You need to get far away.”
“And go where?” Another bomb in her home office? This really was a personal attack. “I can’t head to my office.”
“Okay, then stay inside the car for a few minutes. The rest of the team and our robot Dottie are on the way.”
Dottie? They named their robot? It struck her as absurd, but then she was keenly grateful to hear they would use a robot to help disarm the device rather than sending in a live person.
Like Grayson.
“Okay.” She swallowed hard, trying not to look scared to death. “Shouldn’t you and the others also be in your cars?”
“We’re going to evacuate the neighborhood,” Grayson said. “Do you know if anyone here is homebound?”
“No, most of them work. There’s one stay-at-home mom with twin boys. She’s in the white Cape Cod over there.” She gestured toward it.
“Thanks.” Grayson quickly jogged off. She watched as the four team members spread out and walked to each of her neighbor’s homes. Grayson went to the white house to tell Maribeth to leave. Less than two minutes later, the young mother had her twin boys in her minivan and was driving away.
She was glad to know Maribeth and the boys would be okay. And hopefully the other neighbors would be as well.
What sort of person set a bomb in a nice neighborhood like this? Without caring about the innocent lives that were at risk?
Someone evil. But that realization only added to her confusion over the situation. She didn’t know anyone who was this evil.
Did she?
There had been an animal rights group that had gathered outside the research lab a couple of weeks ago, holding up protest signs against using animals in research. In the past, Eve knew some researchers had used rats to explore the impact of new medicines. But even that particular form of study had come to a halt when the researcher who’d used rats had left to take a more lucrative position on the East Coast.
It wasn’t easy to explain to the general public how important research was. As Dave had said, nobody cared until they were hit on a personal level with a devastating disease. Then they would be all in on doing whatever research was necessary to receive improved medications or, even better, a cure.
And what would be better than a cure for diabetes? A disease that impacted more than 50 percent of the entire United States population?
More police cars arrived on her street, interrupting her thoughts. She noticed the cops parked their squads sideways on both ends of her street to block traffic from entering and leaving the area.
It was almost like watching a movie. Only these were real people, not actors. Several officers used their radio to communicate, and soon she saw a large, boxy truck arrive. The squad was moved to allow the truck to enter, coming to a stop just outside her house.
Grayson nodded at the guy who climbed out from behind the wheel. Then he crossed over to open her door. “Come with me, Eve. You can’t stay here in the blast zone.”
She slid out of the car and stood on shaky legs. With a firm hand on her arm, Grayson led her down the street to where the police cruiser was parked across the road.
“I’d like you to stay behind the cars, okay?” He searched her gaze for a moment. “You’ll be safe here.”
She nodded, although she wasn’t sure that was true. All the police officers had helmets and other padded protective gear on now, covering them from head to toe.
“I have spare gear she can use,” a tall blond-haired man with captain bars on his sleeves said. “And if she’s the target, one of us needs to stay with her.”
She caught the brief hesitation, before Grayson said, “I’ll stay, Rhy. No worries.”
The man called Rhy rummaged in the trunk of a squad. Moments later, she had a helmet on her head and a thick padded vest covering her white lab coat. She probably looked ridiculous, but no one was laughing.
Especially not her.
After Rhy left, she glanced at Grayson. “How does the robot work?”
“Gully is the master of Dottie’s controls. I didn’t see a timer on the device, so I believe that was one rigged to go off when you used your computer.”
Her eyes widened in horror. “They can do that?”
“Yes.” Grayson put his arm around her shoulder. “But don’t worry, Gully and Dottie can handle it. The device is pretty basic really. And the fact that there’s no timer attached is an added bonus. This should be a piece of cake.”
Again, she wasn’t convinced, but there was no point in anticipating the worst-case scenario. The neighborhood had been evacuated, and the officers working nearby were well protected.
Still, she silently prayed as a squat robotic device was sent through her front door. She clasped her hands together tightly, holding her breath as the man standing behind a large computer monitor with what appeared to be a giant remote control went to work. She would have liked to see how he manipulated the robot but knew Grayson wouldn’t let her that close.
“How long will this take?” she asked.
Grayson shrugged. “Depends. Gully doesn’t like to rush things. Dottie is a pricey piece of equipment, and we already lost one robot. Gully won’t do anything rash with Dottie.”
“You lost a robot in an explosion?” She stared at him. “That’s terrible.”
“A different case,” Grayson said hastily. “That device was behind a locked mailbox, so we had no way of knowing it was on a timer.”
She shivered despite the warm June sun beating down on them. Obviously, she knew police officers put their lives on the line for others. But this scene playing out before her only emphasized how dangerous Grayson’s job was.
Grayson had women tripping over themselves to date him back in high school, and she was certain that hadn’t changed much over the years. He was still devastatingly attractive, and women generally flocked to a man in uniform. Much like the cheerleaders had fallen all over the quarterback of their high school football team.
He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but many men didn’t. Besides, Grayson’s marital status was none of her business.
“Come on, Gully,” Grayson muttered under his breath. “You can do this.”
She stared at the front door of her house, wondering if the robot, Dottie, would come out holding the device. The minutes ticked by with excruciating slowness. She was about to say something when Gully lifted his hand in a fist.
“He’s neutralized the device!” For all his confidence, Grayson sounded relieved. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait, where are you . . .?” But it was too late. Grayson was already halfway down the street, joining Rhy and Joe near Gully and his computer screen. Then to her horror, Grayson picked up a large black box and headed up the sidewalk to go inside her house.
Alone? They’d let him go inside without backup?
Her heart lodged in her throat as she imagined the bomb detonating because Gully and Dottie had made a mistake.
After another long fifteen minutes, Grayson emerged from the doorway, still carrying the black box. She belatedly realized he’d put the defused bomb inside. He carefully set the box inside the large truck, then backed away, a relieved grin creasing his features.
He’d done it. She leaned against the squad, willing her pulse to slow down. It was over, and even better, no one had gotten hurt.
Except it wasn’t over. Not really. Not until they uncovered who had planted and detonated those horrible devices.
And why.
Grayson stood back, waiting for Gully to maneuver Dottie out of Eve’s house and back into the bomb truck.
Now that Eve’s house had been secured, he wanted to return to the research institute to find out more about what had transpired there. He glanced over to where Eve leaned against the squad, still wearing her protective gear.
The bomber had not only taken out her office at the research institute, but had also placed a second device in her home. This guy knew her schedule and her routine. The bomb hadn’t been set beneath her bed or anywhere else, just in her home office.
This was definitely about her research and her work as a molecular biologist.
“Good job.” Rhy clapped him on the shoulder.
“Thanks. But you’re the one who taught me everything I know,” Grayson pointed out.
“True.” Rhy grinned, then sobered. “The doc is in danger. We need to find a way to keep her safe until we can get to the bottom of this.”
“Yeah, I know.” He couldn’t help glancing toward Eve. “I need to interview her in more detail. She mentioned a couple of coworkers, a former boyfriend, and extremist groups. But I keep thinking there’s more to this than we realize.”
“Follow your gut,” Rhy said. “You seem to have a rapport with her, so take the lead on this.”
“I—well, I wouldn’t say we have a rapport, but we did attend the same high school. She graduated at sixteen, so I’m not surprised she’s achieved a doctorate degree by now.”
“High school?” Rhy grinned again. “I bet you were the most popular kid in your class.”
“Only with the girls,” Grayson shot back. Because it was true, even though he didn’t act on that attraction anymore. It was still too painful to think about. The rest of the team teased him about why he didn’t have a steady girlfriend, and he played along, rather than telling them the truth.
“Well, put that charm of yours to good use on the pretty doc and figure out what we need to know,” Rhy said.
“I’ll take her to the precinct.” Grayson didn’t bother to point out that the pretty doc—as Rhy called her—was immune to his charm.
“Maybe you should let her take some personal items to go to a hotel,” Rhy suggested. “She can’t stay here; this guy has already gotten inside once. He’ll no doubt try again.”
He didn’t like the idea of staying in a hotel with Eve, but Rhy was right about the fact that she couldn’t stay here. “Fine. I’ll take her to the American Lodge.”
“Sounds good.” Rhy turned away, then glanced at him over his shoulder. “Call me when you have something to go on.”
“Will do.” He sighed, then turned to join Eve. He pasted a reassuring smile on his face. “We can get you out of that gear now.”
“Okay.” She took the helmet off first, running her fingers through her chestnut-brown hair. “Thanks. It’s hot. I feel bad that you guys have to wear all this in the heat of summer.”
“I’m used to it.” He took the items from her and stored them in the back of Rhy’s vehicle. “I’m going to take you inside so you can pack a suitcase.”
She scowled. “Why? You took the bomb out. I should be able to stay here.”
“How did this guy get inside?” He kept his tone calm.
