Hidden Shadows (The Shadow Series Book 1)

EIGHTEEN

Tonight was the big night. She'd told no one. Not even Robin. What was being done had to be her decision and come from her heart only.

She'd informed the people she had to, of course. She'd called Officer Cooley, told him where she'd be for the evening and that her children wouldn't be at Robin's, so surveillance could be lifted there.

She was mildly surprised and considerably pleased that Cooley'd made the decision to keep a car posted at Robin's while her kids stayed there. While he and Lieutenant Parks (a new addition to her case since Detective Rogers had gone on "extended vacation" accordingly to Cooley) agreed that whoever was responsible for the incidents was not targeting Jacy and Dawson, they had also agreed it was wise to be cautious.

They relayed what Jenna deduced herself: hurt the child and the parent suffers too, maybe even more.

So Perry's death was not for the kids, but for Jenna. The violence proved who was in charge, showed who had the power. It was done to provoke, to watch Jenna squirm at the grotesque nature of the crime.

And to Jenna's mind, it was a way of reminding her of the threat . . . You don't deserve what you have. And it could all be taken away.

Both Cooley and Lieutenant Parks didn't have any more ideas on suspects or motives than Jenna (the picture hadn't produced any solid leads), except that the person or persons were aiming to break Jenna down by a series of harassments and torments.

She wasn't anticipating giving the psycho that satisfaction. No more breakdowns. The last one had gotten her in an awful situation . . . one she hoped to remedy tonight.

She needed to take just a few more steps to set her plan in motion. She'd already covered the home base days ago and had her inside man—or woman more accurately—there, now she needed a helping hand on the work front.

Glancing over a staff schedule mounted on a corkboard in her office, she moved to her desk phone, roamed down the extension list until she found Leigh Gonzalez.

She punched twenty-two, smiled as Leigh's composed voice answered.

"Leigh. Hey, it's Jenna."

"Hi, Jenna. What's up?"

"I've got a little bargain for you, you up?"

"Don't know. Let me in on it and I'll decide." Leigh's voice swayed with humor and Jenna could all but see her pretty face and calm eyes warm with it.

If there was anyone Jenna felt confident enough to ask to perform and execute her job properly, it was Leigh. A fifty-something nurse who worked in the central area of the clinic, Leigh passed out birth control, taught safe sex classes, and administered STD, HIV, and pregnancy tests. She dealt with a lot of stress and doled out heavy and often times heartbreaking news with compassion, dignity and level-headedness. She was a real trooper. Patients loved her, and so did Jenna.