Page 31 of Every Which Way

“It can’t be easy to be reminded of things you’ve already grieved. Reminding you of what you lost.”

“It was more like realizing what I have now,” she said. “And realizing what I was supposed to have had.”

“You lost a lot. It has to hurt, and there might never be a day when it’s gone.”

“I was supposed to have Bradley here. It’s not a loss I want to be okay with, but I have you now, and it’s a circumstance I’m content with. Otherwise, I’d still be alone.” She watched a car drive by slowly, a single occupant in the front. “Is it weird for you? You were married before, and now you’re doing it again.”

“I’d love to say that was a disaster from start to finish, but there were good times in the beginning.”

“There had to have been something, or you wouldn’t have married her.”

“Everyone was so excited—more excited than me. It was weird.”

Kenna said, “So because this time we’re taking a more measured approach?—”

“You might be.” He chuckled.

“Fine, I am. And your mom isn’t totally convinced about me. Your dad certainly isn’t.”

“Green flags,” he said. “And for the record, Mom came around. She’s a hundred percent Team Kenna.”

“Really?”

“You were worried.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“It’s cute.”

“I’m not cute. I catch killers.” She smiled to herself but refused to let the humor bleed into her tone.

He said, “We all change. We grow. New experiences and new people in our lives leave an impression on us.”

“I was fine on my own.”

He didn’t argue because he knew how she felt about it. Solitude wasn’t a character failing, and it hadn’t been about licking her wounds. It had been about having her own space to carve out her own life after she’d lost everything. Slowly, she’d built that back up to where she was now. It didn’t mean that time was half of a life or something she needed to “fix” about herself.

He said, “I’m never going to object to you having backup on hand.”

“How about pitching in and helping?”

“You want to tap me for my FBI access?”

“Absolutely,” she said. “Or I’ll need another confidential informant in the bureau. I’ll have to cozy up to someone else and get them to spill federal secrets to me.”

“I don’t think so.”

Kenna laughed aloud. “Roxanne, the company asset. Not sure whose side she’s on right now. She told me this is one of several cases that are similar.”

“You want to know if the FBI is aware. Or even investigating.”

“There’s not much to go on.”

He said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks.”

“If you find something concrete that they can run with, pass it to me, and I’ll send it over to the Denver office. They’ll want to open a case if it needs investigating.”

---