Page 61 of Fire and Rain
She ignored the urge to call Sean. If he wasn’t in the air, he was probably getting some much-needed sleep. Besides, she wasn’t his problem. He’d made it clear that they were just friends, and she didn’t want to bother him.
A knock at the door made her jump.
“It’s Coast Guard police, Mrs. Koseki.”
She set the shot gun aside and hurried to the door, peeking out to be certain.
Who else would it be? Didn’t they say they were on their way?
She opened the door and found two uniformed Coastie police officers in their ODUs and black body armor—a man and a woman—and a second man in jeans and a parka with some kind of carrying case in his hand. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
The officers introduced themselves.
“I’m Officer Andy Briggs and this is Officer Rachel Vasquez.”
Rachel reached out, shook Eden’s hand. “We’re very sorry for your recent loss.”
“Thank you.”
Then the tall man in street clothes flashed a duty badge. “I’m Special Agent Chase Santee from the Coast Guard Investigative Service. I’m leading the Coast Guard’s investigation into the drug operation that resulted in the death of your husband.”
ChapterThirteen
Exhausted,Sean walked back to his locker to stow his gear bag. He wanted nothing more right now than a hot shower and sleep. And the hot shower was optional.
In the locker room, he found James leaning back against his locker, arms crossed over his chest, gaze downturned, eyes closed, a troubled expression on his face.
James’ eyes opened and his head came up. “Good work out there today, McKenna.”
“You, too.” Sean opened his locker, shoved the bag inside. “Thanks for keeping us in the air. That gust sure got my adrenaline going.”
“Yeah, me, too.” James grabbed his jacket from the bench. “How’s Eden?”
“She and Maverick were fine when I last saw them.”
He’d been part of five SAR flights in the past twenty-four hours. It had been as grueling a shift as any he could remember, apart from the one that had nearly killed him. The upside was, of course, that staying busy had kept his mind off Eden—and that kiss.
“Then I guess you haven’t heard.”
Sean closed his locker. “Haven’t heard what?”
“Walcott told me. Base police and an agent from CGIS went to her place a little while ago. Some asshole sent her threatening text messages related to the drug investigation. They told her to get the cops to back off or they’d hurt her—or something like that.”
“What?” Sean’s fatigue vanished. “How long ago was this?”
“No more than an hour. She and the boy are fine, as far as I know.”
“Thanks, Spurrier.” Sean bolted out the door, calling back to James. “Get some rest!”
He hurried to his barracks, changed into jeans and a T-shirt, and threw a few things together in his duffel bag. Two changes of clothes. Toiletries. His Glock 19M. Two loaded mags. His pocket holster. Then he went out to his vehicle and made the short drive up Aviation Hill to Eden’s place.
There were two vehicles parked in Eden’s driveway. He parked on the curb, shouldered his duffel, and walked across her lawn and up the stairs. He knocked and came face to face with the CGIS agent.
He held out his ID. “Sean McKenna, a friend of the family.”
“Chase Santee, CGIS.”
“Sean?” Eden appeared behind Santee. “He’s a friend.”
