Page 4 of Through the Fire
Chapter 2
Someone had blown up the police department.
It was bad enough starting a new job in a strange town, but it was even worse to find a charred shell where the building was supposed to be. Kit glanced at the printout of the most recent email from her new chief, but the address listed hadn’t changed from the last time she’d been there: 101 Pickard Street, Monroe, Colorado. It was the same as what was printed on the Monroe Police Department sign—the sign directing her into the empty parking lot butted up against the blackened skeleton that, not too long ago, had been a functioning police station. Just a few months earlier, she’d been interviewed there. It was surreal to see the burned wreck it was now.
Justice whined from the back seat, and Kit reached back to pet his silky, floppy ears. “I know, buddy. As soon as I find out what’s going on, we can finally get out of this car.”
Pulling away from the curb, Kit drove back toward the town’s main street. There had been a half-hearted effort to plow, but several inches of packed snow still covered the roads, making her grateful for her SUV’s all-wheel drive. She slowly headed toward downtown, figuring Monroe was small enough that any random townsperson would know where the police department had moved. She just needed to find that person.
Like everyone else in the country, she’d heard the news about the attack on this tiny mountain town just a few weeks ago, but she was shocked by the extent of the damage. She’d interviewed with the Monroe police chief over three months ago, when the town was still intact and bustling with tourists. Monroe had seemed like a perfect escape then, with quaint shops lining downtown and quiet streets dotted with cedar-sided cabins. Set in a valley and surrounded by snow-peaked mountains with bright-yellow aspen trees scattered over the slopes, the town could’ve been used as a movie set.
Now, as she drove slowly through that same downtown, the difference was shocking.
The general store was gone, as was the diner, both just blackened holes in the line of shops. Most of the other places had CLOSED signs in the windows, and the streets and sidewalks were empty. It still looked like a movie set, just one with a postapocalyptic plotline—probably involving zombies.
Despite the cold, Kit rolled down her window several inches so she could hear what was going on outside her car. It was a habit she’d developed while patrolling, and now, even though she wasn’t technically on duty, she felt uneasy with the windows up. The silence was eerie.
The town was too quiet for seven on a weekday morning. People should’ve been heading to work and getting their kids to school, but there was no one in sight. The only sound was her SUV’s engine and the crunch of snow under her tires.
As she passed a shuttered restaurant, the VFW parking lot came into view, and she sat straighter. A dozen or so vehicles—including two squad cars—were scattered throughout the lot.
“Look, Justice,” she said, glancing in the rearview mirror to see that the bloodhound was sitting up, ears perked as he looked out the window. “Actual people. I was beginning to think that we’d stumbled into a horror movie.”
She pulled into the lot, backing into a space next to one of the squad cars. A Belgian Malinois in the back stood up and started barking, and Justice’s tail thumped against the seat. He’d never met another dog he didn’t like.
Kit smiled as she got out of her SUV. After driving through the creepy, bombed-out town, it was reassuring to see another dog. Being part of the K9 unit was her life—at least, it had been. She didn’t feel so much like the last remaining survivor on earth anymore.
After checking to make sure Justice’s heater was on, she carefully made her way across the snowy, icy lot to the VFW entrance. As she stepped inside, she removed her sunglasses and stayed in the entry for a minute, allowing her eyes to adjust from the bright sunlight reflecting off the snow outside to the dim interior. It smelled like every VFW she’d ever been in—a mixture of musty old building, years of cigarette smoke, and home-style food.
She followed the sounds of chatter and the scent of bacon into a dining area that looked as if it had been converted into some sort of restaurant. Remembering the destroyed diner down the street, she wondered if this was where they’d relocated. Scanning the patrons, she noted that most were older, and all were white. She braced herself for curious stares, since she was not only a newcomer to town, but half Korean as well. Her gaze immediately caught on a table with three uniformed cops, and she headed in their direction.
People quieted as she moved through the dining area, weaving between tables, and the cops spotted her quickly. All three were men, making Kit wonder if there were many women on this small-town force. She hoped so. Although she’d been in the minority at her last department, they’d had a great group of female cops. The thought of being one of only a few women in a sea of guys was daunting.
None of the cops watching her were smiling. Automatically, her shoulders drew back and she raised her chin a little, striding confidently to their table. If she was one of a few or—God forbid—the only woman in her new department, it was especially important to show them right off the bat that she could hold her own.
As she got closer, the guys got bigger, and she swallowed a groan. At a few inches over five feet, she was going to be dwarfed by them. She made a mental note to find whatever gym this town had as soon as possible. She might not be able to grow any taller, but she could always get stronger.
By the time she reached the cops’ table, the diner was quiet except for the occasional clink of a coffee mug hitting a saucer and the sizzle of food cooking on the grill in the kitchen. With a mental grimace, she realized that she was going to become the crowd’s morning entertainment. Welcome to small-town life.
“Hi.” She held out her hand to the closest cop, who happened to be the biggest one. “I’m Kit Jernigan. I accepted a job with the Monroe PD. Today’s my first day.”
He studied her for a moment before accepting her outstretched hand. He looked reserved and wary, but not hostile. Kit took that as a good sign. “Otto Gunnersen.”
Turning to the man sitting next to Otto, she offered her hand again.
This one had a shaved head and introduced himself as Hugh Murdoch as they shook hands. He studied her with a slight upward twist of his mouth, and she kept her expression bland, hoping he wouldn’t turn out to be an asshole. Smirking was rarely a sign of a pleasant personality. Not really wanting to hear whatever smart-ass comment was going to come out of his mouth, she quickly turned to the last cop, the one with dark hair and eyes and a hard cast to his face.
He waited the longest before shaking her hand, but she refused to flinch, just holding his gaze while keeping her hand extended. Finally, he accepted it, giving a firm shake. “Theo Bosco. Have a seat.”
She remained standing, knowing that these three would make her grueling hiring interview seem like friendly chitchat. “It’s my first day, so I should check in with the chief. I just stopped in to get directions to the police station…the new location.”
“Right across the street,” Hugh said, typing something on his phone as he used his foot to slide out the chair across from him. “Sit. I’ve sent a text to the chief to let him know you’re with us. Roll call’s in a half hour, and Theo and I will be starting our shifts then. We’ll show you where to go. Well, the two of us will. Otto’s on nights, so he’s done.”
Resigned to her fate, Kit took the chair they offered, and a pretty server hurried over. The other diners had gradually started talking again, and the noise level returned to its earlier volume.
“Good morning. Coffee?” At Kit’s nod, the waitress poured her a cup and then moved to the other side of the table to top off all the others’ mugs. Kit watched as she worked, wondering why the waitress seemed so nervous. Even when she was in uniform, Kit knew her appearance wasn’t intimidating—not like these three burly cops—but the waitress kept giving her anxious glances.
Once everyone’s coffee mug was full, the waitress stopped next to Theo’s chair. When he rested a hand on her lower back, she seemed to relax slightly, giving him a sweet smile before turning back to Kit. “Would you like a menu?”
