Honor And Defend

“This makes me nervous,” Ellen said. “Someone shot at us today and now someone is snooping around your home tonight. I don’t like it.”

“I can’t say it’s been the highlight of my week, either.”

She sighed. “All right. Let’s go back to the house. I want to make some phone calls.”

He led the way back into his kitchen. She settled into a chair with Carly at her feet and dialed a number.

“Who are you calling?”

“Two other K-9 officers in my unit. Tristan McKeller and Shane Weston. I’m going to ask them to take turns watching your house tonight.” She bit her lip. “I suppose I should call Chief Jones, too.”

While she made the calls, he rubbed his eyes and considered the past few hours. He had to admit he hadn’t realized what he was signing up for when he’d agreed to work with Ellen. He hadn’t realized how much the past would come back to haunt him. How much he would wish for what could never be. He watched her talk, examining her face, her expressions, her intensity. Beautiful, ambitious, smart... He sighed. And what was he?

Before he’d been arrested and imprisoned, he’d had big dreams. He’d been building his dog-training business and even had two college students who’d worked for him on a part-time basis. He’d also been attending graduate classes that would get him started on the path to becoming a veterinarian. And then he’d walked into a convenience store in the middle of a robbery. The clerk had been shot and he’d tried to save her. The robber had fled, and Officer Ken Bucks had arrived on the scene. Just in time to set him up. He’d held a grudge against Lee ever since a woman Ken loved had chosen Lee over him. Ken had never forgotten it—nor cared that Lee hadn’t returned the woman’s affection.

The anger bubbled, threatening to come to the surface once again. He blew out a sigh.

Why was he going down that path again? It was in the past. He couldn’t change what happened. He’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong cop—and while the woman had lived, she hadn’t seen who’d shot her. The jury hadn’t believed Lee’s defense in the face of all of the evidence Bucks had managed to gather. False evidence. Manipulated evidence. Like altering the video footage.

“Lee? You okay?”

He jerked at Ellen’s question, then followed her gaze to see his fingers curled into tight fists. He relaxed them. “Yes, thanks. What did you find out?”

While he could still see the concern in her eyes, she didn’t question him further. “Both officers can help out. Tristan has a fourteen-year-old sister he’s raising, but she’s spending the night with a friend so he’s free for the first six-hour shift. Then Shane will take over.”

“Not having had the best experience when it comes to dealing with cops, I have to say I appreciate their help.”

“You got a raw deal with Ken Bucks. It’s time you realize we’re not all cut from the same cloth.” She smiled.

“I realize it. If you trust them, then I do, too.”

“I trust them. With my life.”

“That’s good enough for me, then.”

When Tristan arrived, Ellen introduced them and Lee sized up the rookie who was not just a member of the unit, but a good friend to Ellen. Lee felt a twinge of jealousy, but mostly he was glad she’d done well with her life and had people she could count on when she needed to. He wasn’t sure he could say the same.

She grabbed her keys. “I’ll be leaving now. Tristan, would you mind asking Shane to drop Lee at the training center in the morning? His truck is out of commission. I was going to come get him, but Shane’ll be heading that way.”

It didn’t escape his attention that she’d just gotten out of picking him up. And that his feelings were hurt by it.

“Happy to ask,” Tristan said, “but you and I both know it won’t be an issue.”

“Thanks.”

Lee pushed aside the hurt. Maybe she had her reasons for not wanting to swing by and get him. He nodded to his Keurig coffeemaker and the K-Cup tree next to it. The tree held about five different flavored coffees. The Keurig and the coffee had been one of the first things he purchased after he was released from prison. A splurge he hadn’t regretted for a moment.

“Help yourself.”

Tristan didn’t hesitate and Ellen smiled. “You just made a friend for life.”

Lee walked to the door but stayed away from the windows. Ellen followed him. “Be careful. You were with me when everything happened. If Freddie thinks we can ID him, he’ll be looking for you, too.”

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