The wait seemed to take forever. The guys were downcast when they returned and stayed quiet during the drive back to the fire station. Liam asked me about the photographer, but I blew his questions off with a wave of my hand and a comment about the fact I must have been careless and left either my Bluetooth or location tracker app on my phone switched on, so he’d been able to find me. I knew I hadn’t made that mistake, but didn’t want Liam to know how much the encounter had rattled me.

When we got back to the station, I took Parks aside to speak to him. “I’m going home.”

He frowned. “You have a whole day ahead. We agreed you could sit through the entire shift.”

I shook my head. “It’s been a bit much. Don’t worry—you’ll still get your money.”

He looked a little uncomfortable, but he nodded. “Thanks, Kennedy. We appreciate it. I hope you get whatever it is you need.”

I couldn’t manage to smile, so I just left, glad that the others were too busy to notice my exit. What I needed was a cleansing conversation with my brother, a call with Jeff from my security team, and maybe a glass or two of wine.

Chapter Twelve

LIAM

You did me a favor by leaving. I used to hold myself back at work because I wanted to come home safe to you at the end of the day. Now, I’m fully committed to the job because there’s no one waiting for me. - Unsent text message from Liam to Kennedy

After someone broke your heart, shouldn’t your capacity to worry about them disappear? Yet here I was, concerned to discover that after going through a traumatic incident, Kennedy seemed to have done a runner.

“Braddock,” Parks barked from the doorway. He motioned toward his office, and I joined him. “What did you say or do to upset Kennedy? She was supposed to stay for the whole day but left as fast as her legs could carry her as soon as we got back.”

I frowned, annoyed by the accusation. “I didn’t do anything.”

He gave me a look.

“I didn’t.” I shrugged helplessly. “I was too busy with the accident for any petty stuff.”

“Hmm.” He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

I leaned against the doorframe. “Perhaps it was a bit much for her. We lost a man, and it’s probably the first time she’s seen anything like that. Or it could be about that guy who was taking pictures. She seemed pretty upset about that.”

He nodded. “Could be.” He dragged a hand down his face. “Fuck. The last thing we need is to upset one of Hollywood’s golden girls. If she had a mind to complain, we could be in deep shit.”