Chapter Ten
Kat dumped the contents of her plate in the Styrofoam container and grabbed the check. Ten minutes had passed since Anne left, yet the file remained in the center of the table.
Untouched.
Kat picked it up and went to the register to pay. Outside, she rolled down the windows in Ethan’s car, waiting for the air conditioning to kick in and gingerly opened the file. Two pictures spilled onto her lap, Karen Young and Greg Radcliffe. College pictures, she assumed. Or possibly even high school. Karen was pretty. Probably prettier, if she could see beyond the overly teased blond hair, far too big by today’s standards. Her heavy blue eyeshadow obscured the true color of her eyes, rimmed by heavy black liner. Greg had brown eyes and brown hair and although the description sounded plain, with his beautiful smile and deep dimples, he was striking.
Setting aside the pictures, Kat quickly scanned the interview list. At this point, she just wanted names, not the details in the interviews. A fresh start, she thought, without somebody else’s opinions and outlooks clouding her judgement.
For now, at least. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard, wondering if she had time for one more interview before Ethan began wondering where she was. But as she searched through the documents for the woman named Jessica, it was a different name that jumped out.
Thomas O’Rourke.
Greg Radcliffe’s best friend.
Her insides churned again, and she breathed in slow and deep, hoping she wouldn’t throw up. During the entire conversation with Anne, she’d been wondering about the connection with Ethan’s father, but it still explained nothing, leaving her with more damn questions than answers.
Shoving everything out of her mind, she searched the documents until she found Jessica. Her address, hopefully it was current, wasn’t too far away. Kat plugged it into her phone and shoved the file underneath the driver’s seat.
But fifteen minutes later, nobody answered when she knocked on Jessica Adams’ door. “Hello?” Kat pounded on the screen door again, peering through it to the living room beyond, but it was too dark inside to see anything. Glancing at the car in driveway, she was just about to knock again when she heard somebody talking.
Not talking. Moaning.
The hair on the back of her neck rose and Kat stepped back, looking down both sides of the road. No neighbors as far as she could see, nobody to go for help. And unlike at the diner where she’d been surrounded by people, now she was alone.
She took a few more steps back, intending to lock herself in Ethan’s car until help could arrive, but the shattering glass coming from inside halted her steps. Torn, Kat glanced at the car again, but fear for the woman overrode her need for safety. Desperately wishing for her service weapon, Kat slowly opened the screen door, pausing on the threshold, until her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
“Oh, God.” Badly beaten, the woman was lying on the living room floor in a fetal position, holding her stomach. Bruises already marred her arms and legs, the weapon most likely the baseball bat that was thrown near her head. Her dark, blood-soaked hair covered her face, making it impossible for Kat to see the full extent of the damage, her agonized moans painful to witness. Kat rushed forward—
But she never made it.
Grabbed from behind, Kat screamed before a gloved hand clamped over her mouth, cutting her off mid-scream, his other arm wrapping around her waist, crushing her against a hard chest too strong to able to fight off. Dragged backward, Kat flailed her arms, reaching for anything she could grab onto. Panic nearly blinding her, all over her training flew out the window as she scratched at the man’s hands that threatened to cut off her air, before reaching behind her head to pull the man’s hair.
“Been busy already, haven’t you, Katie?”
The low growl in her ear took precious moments to penetrate, her terror so thick. She continued to fight, her only instinct to survive. Eventually his words sank in, taking seconds to decipher as if he’d spoken in code. And maybe he had, because there was only one person who had ever called her Katie.
“Alex?” she asked when he loosened his hand.
“Yeah. You gonna scream?”
Kat shook her head, the relief leaving her limp as she sagged against him. Thankfully, he didn’t let her go because she wasn’t sure her legs would hold. Walking backward, he continued to carry her until they were outside where he swung her into his arms.
And she very nearly screamed again. He didn’t look anything like Stephen now. His hair was longer, and a lot more than stubble covered his face. But it was eyes that took her completely by surprise. Dark, nearly black, soulless eyes had replaced his gorgeous blue ones. She sucked in her breath, shivering despite the boiling heat.
“You’re gonna lay down in the back of your car. Don’t get up until I give you the okay.”
“But—”
“No buts. Cops are on the way. You wanna explain your presence here?”
No way in hell. She shook her head, unable to take her eyes off his. He looked…sinister. Cold. And if it wasn’t for his familiar voice, she never would have believed it was him.
“Good. Then do as I say. We’ve got the woman covered until the ambulance gets here.”
We? Kat thought. She hadn’t seen anybody else. But Alex didn’t give her time to question him before he dumped her in the back seat. “Down.”
“You scared the crap out of me!” she accused as soon as he got in the car, finally getting a little of her breath back. And hoping to avoid questions she didn’t want to answer.
“Hell yes, I scared you. Imagine for just a moment where’d you be if it wasn’t me that found you,” he growled, the warning in his voice unmistakable. “Stephen know you’re out trying to get yourself killed again?”
Kat stiffened. Alex started Ethan’s car, meeting her eyes for a moment as he turned to back out of Jessica Adams’ driveway and she couldn’t help but cringe. He was pissed.
“Why are you here?” she asked, ignoring his question and tamping down the nervousness she felt. She wasn’t so sure she liked this side of Alex. He was scary. So unlike the sarcastic, over the top flirt she’d known.
“You’re not allowed to ask questions. However you came across this woman’s name, you’re gonna forget it. And whatever little investigation you’ve got going on? Drop it. Understand?”
“No,” she spat, rethinking that when Alex slammed on the brakes and whipped around, glaring at her.
“Listen, baby girl—”
He was cut off by the sirens as the police and ambulance passed, a sound she was beginning to dread.
“No, you listen to me, Alex,” she snapped when the sirens grew distant, refusing to let him intimidate her. Or at least let it show. “Where the hell have you been? Stephen’s been going crazy looking for you! How could you do that to him? To the rest of your family? And last night—”
“I know what happened last night. I won’t—”
“You know he was only at that party to protect you? He thought Emma was going to plaster your identity all over the media.”
“Shit,” Alex mumbled, turning back around.
“Yeah, shit,” Kat mocked as Alex began driving again. “All it would have taken was a damn phone call to let him know you were alright.”
But Alex didn’t explain. All he said was, “I won’t let Stephen take the fall for this.”
“What does Jessica Adams have to do with it?”
Alex sighed. “Nothing. Her husband is a drug dealer. A real nasty, abusive son of a bitch. She had a temporary restraining order against him and was supposed to be in court today to make it permanent. She never showed. That was your only question. Now drop it.”
“I can help.”
“You’ll get yourself killed.”
“I survived the last time.”
Alex turned toward her as he stopped at a red light and she couldn’t quite ignore the pain and anger she saw there. Another side of Alex she hadn’t known. To her, he’d always seemed…fun, never taking life too seriously, never letting it get him down.
“Barely,” he finally said.
“That’s not on you,” she reminded him, searching her brain trying to find a drug connection, coming up empty. Wait. Karen Young’s mother had died of a drug overdose. But that was at least forty years ago or more. Maybe there was something in the files shoved underneath the seat. She froze, hoping Alex hadn’t seen them when he moved the seat back to accommodate the length of his legs. “Is it safe for me to sit up now?”
When he nodded, she leaned against the front seat, surreptitiously looking for the file, which she didn’t see. She breathed a sigh of relief that turned into a gasp when Alex turned and grabbed her chin, forcing her gaze to his. It was like looking into the depths of hell.
“There’s more shit going on than you realize and you poking your nose where it doesn’t belong is only going to cause more,” he growled. “So I’m going to say it one last time, Katie. Stay. The. Fuck. Out of it. Got me?”
Yanking her face out his hands, Kat sank back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at the passing trees. She hadn’t really expected Alex to shoot her down so fast. She would have expected it from Stephen and Ethan, but weeks ago when she was investigating her parents’ murders and the murder of her lieutenant, Alex had been the one to stick up for her. Jerk. He could threaten all he wanted, but it wouldn’t—
“Katie,” he warned. “If I find out you’re still working this, I’ll have you arrested.”
“For what?”
“Interfering in a police investigation, withholding evidence, anything I can dream up. Does it really matter?”
She didn’t answer. They drove in silence, not even music to cut the tension. At least he was alive, she thought with relief. Although she was so mad, rectifying that seemed like a great idea.
Ten minutes later, Alex pulled into the county office building and turned the car off, tossing her the keys.
“You’re going to go up to Stephen’s office and you’re going to tell him I’m alive and well. Then you’re going to go home and drop whatever else it is you’ve got planned. Understand me?”
She didn’t doubt he’d do everything he just threatened. She looked up at the building. “He’s working today?”
“Probably cleaning out his desk as we speak.”
“They fired him?” Oh God. He’d hate her even more than he had last night.
“They can’t. Not yet anyway. But they can make his life miserable.”
Without another word, Alex got out of the car and slammed the door, disappearing within minutes.
Kat scanned the parking lot, looking for Stephen’s truck, but didn’t see it. She didn’t see his car either. Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d already be gone for the day, because the last thing she wanted to do after last night was see Stephen again.
Steeling her resolve, Kat walked across the one-way street and up the stairs to the county building’s upper lot. The press was out in full force, television and newspaper journalists hungry for the story that was exploding through the county. Securing her sunglasses on her face, she crossed the lot, telling herself they weren’t looking for her, but Stephen.
The building held everything from the DMV to the county treasurer’s office, and the DA’s offices. Four floors. She could be there for anything. She passed a few sheriff cars, keeping her face averted from the reporters as she made her way toward the entrance, breathing a sigh of relief when she went through undetected.
Two county sheriffs guarded the entrance. One she didn’t recognize. But the other officer was one who’d been on guard duty during her grueling interviews. Kat handed over her bag and walked through the metal detector, not missing the look of recognition from the deputy as she took off her sunglasses, nor the flash of sympathy in his eyes when she glanced at him.
“Still the 4th floor,” the deputy said as he handed her back her bag.
“Thanks,” Kat smiled, which took monumental effort. She made her way down the corridor, pressed the call button for the elevator.
The 4th floor was busy, a flurry of activity as people rushed around. Following the signs for the DA’s office, as if she’d ever forget the way, Kat introduced herself to the receptionist. The woman picked up the phone to call Stephen. Butterflies quivered in her stomach while she waited. She nearly ran.
“Kat?”
Too late. His voice, his deep, smooth voice seemed to vibrate through every cell in her body. She turned, facing Stephen across the hallway. Nothing in his expression gave a hint of their past, just a piercing stare, not cold like last night…just empty, completely devoid of any emotion.
You’re nothing to me anymore.
He looked intimidating in his black suit, but that didn’t stop her from noticing that it fit him to perfection. She felt her fingers begin to tremble and silently cursed herself for blindly following Alex’s orders, wishing she had called, or better yet just texted him, avoiding the need to talk to him, to see him. She’d never anticipated that it would be more difficult seeing him today than yesterday. But this time she was stone cold sober, not even a hint of alcohol in her system, making it harder to deal with the pain, harder to force up the anger she used to mask it.
“Is there something you needed?” he asked. She suddenly realized she’d just been standing there, staring at him. They’d drawn a small crowd, though everybody tried to look busy, look like they had a reason to be in the reception area. Like wolves, circling for their next bit of meat.
“Can we talk?” she asked, finally finding her voice.
“This way.” Kat followed, feeling every pair of eyes burning a hole in her back, still half tempted to run for the elevators when they passed the corridor. But perhaps it was better they were in public, in his office, where they could keep their personal lives out of it.
She hadn’t known what she expected, but Stephen’s office was very…utilitarian, she supposed. The same drab gray carpet that filled the corridors extended into his office, the bookshelves, filing cabinets and desk looked like it came from the same warehouse as her desk when she’d been with the BCI. She glanced at the diplomas on the wall, Harvard undergrad and Harvard Law. She hadn’t known that…
Stephen closed the door, the noise jolting her back to the present. And suddenly the room seemed ten times smaller than when she had walked in. He moved around her, careful not to touch her, she noticed, and sat behind his desk. She glanced at the chairs in front of it, knowing she’d never be able to sit across from him. She opted for the windows instead, which looked over Main Street and the Catskill Police Department on the other side.
An awkward silence filled his office. She knew Stephen was waiting for an explanation of why she was there, but she couldn’t seem to push any words past her lips now that she was near him.
“I assume you came here for a reason.”
Kat refused to flinch at the harshness of his tone. She’d been so sure everything he’d said last night was to keep her from the investigation. Had she been wrong?
“I…ran into Alex. He wanted me to pass along a message, tell you he’s okay. He’s working on a case,” she added.
Stephen sucked in a breath and stood up before falling back down, his relief obvious. It took him a few moments to absorb that information before he started firing questions her way.
“Where did you see him? He’s alright? Does he—”
Kat held up her hand. “I saw him in the parking lot. Just now, when I was on my way in.” Not a complete lie.
“In the parking lot,” Stephen repeated. “And he just magically appeared when you pulled up?”
Shit. “Something like that.”
“Kat,” Stephen warned, his voice a deep growl. Not the same tone he used when it was filled with sexual intent, but it spiked her nerves just the same.
Stephen’s chair squeaked and Kat couldn’t help but flinch. She turned quickly, saw him freeze mid-stand, his eyes burning right through her before she looked away, glancing toward the closed door of his office. She desperately needed to escape, because if he touched her, there was no way in hell she would be able to keep herself from falling apart.
“I…um…also wanted to apologize—” Stephen’s office phone rang, cutting off her words.
His internal line apparently, because a few seconds after he answered, he told whoever was on the line to send him in. Kat looked at the door again, jumping at the opportunity. A quick apology and she’d never have to see him again. And if her heart broke further with that thought? She’d get over it.
Eventually.
“I’ll let you get back to work,” she said in a rush without turning around and facing him, instead taking a step toward the door. “I don’t blame you for what happened.” Though that would be so much easier on her heart if she did. Again, she rushed her next words, getting them out as fast as possible before reaching the door so he couldn’t stop her, wouldn’t have time to question her. “I never did. So I apologize for what I said last night. I didn’t mean those words the way you took them.” Another two steps and her hand was closing over the doorknob. “I’m sorry.”
Kat turned the knob, deciding against pasting a false smile on her face and glancing at him again, knowing she’d be unable to pull it off. He’d see right through her. But when she opened the door, she found herself backing up, retreating further into Stephen’s office.
Lieutenant John Allen filled the doorway.