almost see himself as being Jessica’s next partner or something like that. Or maybe Frank hated women and blamed her for breaking up with Jensen’s brother. Or maybe he didn’t need any more motivation than money.
But then came the kicker email.
He read the message that came through from Badger and immediately hit the Talk button. He slipped off the bed, walked over to the window. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely sure,” Badger said. “Her ex-husband, George, passed away not long ago.”
“What from?”
“A brain aneurysm,” he said. “He was at a seminar and collapsed to the ground. He was gone thirty-six hours later.”
“So the paperwork must have already been signed at the time.”
“It’s possible,” Badger said, “but you know what? That’s a really good point. It’s possible the brother forged the documents instead.”
“Somebody better look into that,” he said, “and see if there’s a will. Because George has a son, and he left a wife behind. Depending on when he died, they were separated and may or may not have been divorced.”
“A judge would still have to make the divorce final,” he said.
“But how long has he been dead?”
“Three months.”
“Huh. Maybe it was waiting for the forged paperwork to come in that triggered this whole thing.”
“Taking over the life his brother had? Including the same wife? That’s pretty sick, even for some of the guys we know.”
“But you also know what it’s like when your life goes to shit and when all you can do is focus on one piece of it, and then you become obsessed,” he said. “I knew a case like that when a guy came back. He was so obsessed, thinking that his wife was having an affair, that she wasn’t allowed to go to the grocery store. She wasn’t allowed to do anything, including talking to her girlfriends, because he was pretty sure they were just a front for her to have an affair behind his back. He ended up killing her.”
“Yes, unfortunately,” Badger said, “the news is never short on cases with similar stories,” he said, “but we’re a long way away from determining that’s the problem here.”
“Ditto,” Greyson said. “We need intel.”
“I’m on it,” he said. “You keep her safe.”
“They’re both sleeping. Actually all three of them are sleeping,” he corrected, turning to look at the bed.
“You need sleep too. Remember?” Badger said.
“I won’t while I’m on guard duty,” he said. “The guy was here tonight—twice—and he’ll be back. We know that.”
“You’ll be ready,” Badger said. “This isn’t exactly what we intended when we sent you over to look for Kona.”
“No, but Kona was on a mission herself. And it was to keep these two safe. I can hardly take Kona away from this. She chose her mission and did so based on her military training,” he said. “So, in this case, all I can do is step up to the plate and help her accomplish it.”
“That all sounds good,” Badger said, “but remember. It sounds like you’ve got a personal stake in this now too.”
“I hadn’t expected it,” he said, “but, yeah, you’re right. I think I do.”
Badger chuckled. “Kat said you would. Apparently we’ve had an incredible run of luck on these K9 files. Every unattached guy we’ve sent out has come back with a partner.”
“Well, I didn’t really expect to come back with a partner,” he said. “Matter of fact, it wasn’t what I was looking for at all.”
“Don’t think it matters much,” he said, “because you’re following the same track too.”
“No, no, no. You can’t go there yet,” he said. “I don’t think that’s true. All I’m doing right now is dealing with one very scared woman who’s already had her child kidnapped once.”
“On the other hand,” Badger said, “it’s pretty easy to see that Kona has already picked her out for you.” And, with that, he hung up.
Greyson stared down at the phone and said, “No, no, that’s not cool.”
A murmured voice behind him said, “What’s not cool, honey?”
He stiffened at the endearment, then smiled as he turned to see her blinking owlishly up at him. He walked over and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “Go back to sleep, sweetie.”
She sank back down again, smiled, and said, “Okay.”
He could see that she hadn’t even surfaced enough to really be awake. He leaned over, gave her a gentle kiss on the temple, and wondered if Badger was right. Greyson had already acknowledged that he’d like to see where this would go.
He walked to the end of the bed, where Kona