Page 47 of Kane's Awakening
Chapter Fourteen
Ryker
“Have you heard?”
Glancing up from the document, I saw Eric standing in my doorway. “Heard what?”
He came farther into the room. “There was a huge drug bust and shootout last night over on Highland Avenue. An officer was gunned down, and someone was killed.”
My stomach dropped, and all the blood washed from my face. “What? Who was killed? Which officer?”
Maybe it was all the blood rushing in my ears, but my voice sounded off; higher and frantic. All I could think of was Kane.
Eric cocked his head, concerned. “Damn, boss, you look pale.”
“Goddammit, Eric, who was killed?” I exclaimed, shocking myself. I hardly ever used such language and certainly not when they were directed at someone in anger. But I wanted an answer and needed him to cut right to the chase. “Please, just tell me.”
His brown eyes held confusion, and I could tell he wanted to say something else, but he answered me. “I don’t think the news has released the officer’s name yet who was shot, but the man killed was a Rory something. The other suspects were taken into custody. You’ll probably get some calls to represent one of them with your nearly flawless record.”
“So, an officer wasn’t killed?” I asked, needing the verification.
“Correct.”
I released a shaky breath and scrubbed my face with my hands, fighting off the panic attack that had started to surface. I’d need a Xanax to calm myself down. But first, I needed to talk to Kane. To hear his cocky as hell voice to let me know he was okay.
Eric left, and I grabbed my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I found Kane’s number. I didn’t have the patience for texting and hit call.
It rang. And rang. Then, it went to voicemail.
So, I ended the call and then called again. Same thing. So, I decided to leave a voicemail and hoped he’d return my call.
“Hey, Kane, this is Ryker. Please call me when you get this.”
More of the day passed, and he still hadn’t called me back. I knew we weren’t exactly on talking terms, but he’d sent me a freaking rose on Valentine’s Day when he could’ve done nothing and let us continue as we were. That told me hedidfeel something for me. The least he could do was return my damn call.
When three o’clock rolled around, and I still hadn’t heard from him, I saved the document I’d been typing on, shut off my computer, and went to find Eric. I walked into his office, and he looked up.
“Hey, everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “Do I have any more appointments for the day? I want to head out early.”
“Let me check.” He rolled the chair over to the desk behind him—one he used to sort the important papers—and scanned the calendar. “Nope. You’re all good.”
“Thanks, Eric. I apologize for my behavior earlier. It was wrong of me to talk to you that way.”
He smiled, and it was genuine. The kid had too good of a heart. “It’s okay, boss. Do you have a friend on the force?”
Friend. Perhaps I could call Kane that, but he felt like so much more. I nodded. “Yes, I do. That’s actually where I’m going now. He hasn’t answered my calls.”
“Is he also thefriendwho sent you that rose?” Eric asked as his lips twitched with a smile.
Avoiding his question, I asked one of my own, “If anything comes up, give me a call, okay? Felicia and Janet are still here, so they can help with any emergencies if I can’t get back to deal with it in time.”
Felicia was the other attorney in the office. She wasn’t as experienced as me, having just graduated from law school the year before, so I helped her out quite a bit with the things she hadn’t gotten the grasp of yet. In her short time working with me, though, she’d done an excellent job and had won some big cases. She would get even better with time. Janet was her paralegal.
After getting the okay from Eric, I went outside, shivering as the winter air hit me. Just when I thought we were going to get through winter without snow—because it had been a warm season so far—the weather had taken a turn, and when I breathed in the air, it was crisp and bitter cold. I slid into my car and turned on the heater before rubbing my hands in front of the vent. While I waited for it to heat a little, I tried calling Kane again.
Of course, no answer. So, I started driving that way. I wasn’t sure if he’d even be home or if he’d be at work. I’d try one place, and then go to the other if I didn’t find him. A part of me thought I was being a bit over-dramatic with all of this, but I couldn’t help it. Ineededto know he was okay.
