Veiled Intentions

by Delores Fossen

  Dr. Allen Kent stepped in.

  No widening of his eyes. But he did stop. He glanced at the gun. Joe. Her. And then at Merrick.

  “What’s going on here?” Kent demanded. “Is this some kind of robbery?”

  Joe didn’t exactly relax. Nor did he lower his gun. “No robbery.”

  It was obviously time for damage control. “We’re a little shaken.” Katelyn’s voice quivered slightly, which although unplanned contributed to the proof that the shaken part wasn’t all facade. She caught Joe’s wrist and lowered his hand, and his weapon, to his side. “It’s the shootings.”

  Kent nodded. “I heard. In fact, the cops came by to see me this morning.” He fired a glare at Merrick. “They asked for an alibi. Can you believe that? They wanted me to provide an alibi. I live alone for Christ’s sake. Am I supposed to have friends sleep over just so I won’t be accused of some crime?”

  “I think they’re questioning anyone associated with Perfect Match,” Katelyn provided. “Joe and I had to go in this morning, as well.”

  Kent glanced at her again, but this time it didn’t stay a glance. He combed his gaze over her from head to toe. “Don’t I know you?”

  Oh, mercy.

  That was not what she wanted to hear right now. Beside her, she felt Joe’s arm stiffen. He was no doubt thinking the same thing she was. That maybe Kent had somehow connected her to Gail after all. If so, they were in trouble.

  Forcing herself to remain calm, Katelyn pretended to study his face. “Maybe we’ve met. I’ve been here a couple of times. In fact, my fiancé and I met right here at Perfect Match.” For good measure she thrust out her hand so he could see the engagement ring.

  “Very nice,” he said without even looking at it.

  “We’re here to invite Addison to the wedding,” Joe explained. “And Fiona Shipley.”

  At first, she was surprised that Joe had included the woman’s name, but she soon realized it was a smart thing to do.

  Kent’s mouth eased into a sarcastic smile. “Trust me, you don’t want to invite Fiona. She’s not exactly wedding guest material.”

  “You know her?” Joe asked.

  But the answer didn’t come from Kent, but from Merrick after he had shared a glance with Kent. “We both know her. I’m afraid Fiona sometimes has trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy. She’s no longer a client here. That’s the main reason I had security here the night of the icebreaker. Fiona has a tendency to show up uninvited.”

  “She seemed nice enough when I spoke to her,” Joe insisted. “And I told her I’d invite her to the wedding. I’d really like to get in touch with her.”

  There was a long silence, and Katelyn didn’t even try to fill it in with useless chitchat. Something unspoken passed between Kent and Merrick.

  “I’ll get the number for you,” Merrick announced.

  He turned and went down the hall, presumably to his office. Katelyn didn’t take any chances. She positioned herself so that Joe would be able to return fire if the man came back not with an address but with a gun.

  Kent picked up a pen and a sheet of note paper from the receptionist’s desk. He wrote something down and then handed the paper to Joe. “That’s Fiona’s cell phone number. I doubt Addison has it. And don’t worry. I’m not violating any doctor-patient confidentiality since I’ve never seen Fiona professionally. The truth is, we met here one evening and exchanged numbers. It didn’t work out between us, but she continues to call dozens of times each day.”

  Joe stuffed the piece of paper into his pocket. “Thanks.”

  “I’m not doing you any favors,” Kent insisted. “The truth is I’m hoping that if the two of you offer Fiona friendship, it’ll be a more positive direction for her.”

  “And maybe she’ll stop calling you?” Joe tossed back.

  A little flash of anger danced through Kent’s eyes before he smiled. “That, too.”

  Merrick returned and handed Joe a piece of paper as well, but when Katelyn glanced at the number, she realized it wasn’t the same one Kent had given them. Maybe one of them would pan out.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse us,” Kent said, taking Merrick’s arm. “Addison and I have some things to discuss in private. Good luck with your wedding plans.”

  Joe and Katelyn started for the door, but he stopped as soon as the two men disappeared into the hall.

  “You think Kent drives a black BMW?” Katelyn whispered over the music.

  “We’ll know soon enough.”

  He glanced at the corridor on the other side of the room, and she knew what he was thinking. On the pretense of going to the ladies’ room, she’d used that corridor to circle around the back of the building so she could get to Merrick’s office.

  “I can pretend to go to the bathroom,” Katelyn suggested. “I might be able to hear what they’re discussing.”

  Joe obviously thought about it but then shook his head. “It’s too risky.”

  “Not if you wander over toward that hall so you could keep an eye on Merrick’s office. That way, you can alert me if they come out. And if they’re suspicious, you can just say you’re waiting for me to get out of the ladies’ room. In the meantime, you can call Fiona and check on vehicles registered to Dr. Kent.”

  “It’s still risky.”

  “So is waiting for the sniper to strike again. I’m betting those two know something.”

  “Yeah.” And he repeated it before he angled his eyes in her direction. “Tell me you can take care of yourself.”

  Katelyn smiled. Not from joy, exactly. But from the weirdness of the moment. She’d succeeded in winning him over to her impromptu plan, but it didn’t exactly leave her feeling victorious. “I’ll be careful. You do the same. I’ll keep my communicator on in case you need me.”

  Katelyn gave him one last look, one that she hoped calmed his concerns. But there was nothing calm about what she was feeling.

  She drew her weapon, shielding it against her leg and started down the corridor past offices on both sides, the restrooms and then into the back bend of the U-shaped network of hallways. Thankfully, there weren’t any employees or clients lingering around.

  But had someone turned up the music? The sensual sound of the sax no longer seemed so sensual. It just seemed loud. Overpowering, actually. Or maybe it was because the beat now matched the heartbeat drumming in her ears.

  “Everything okay?” Katelyn whispered into her communicator.

  “They haven’t come out,” Joe let her know.

  She paused at the final section of the hall that was only about ten yards from Merrick’s office and took a quick look around the corner. She caught a glimpse of Joe at the end of the hall before she ducked back.

  “Great,” she mumbled under her breath.

  Even with the music, she should have heard shouting or even a normal conversation between Merrick and Kent. Kent had certainly done some shouting the last time he was there. It was Murphy’s Law that he wouldn’t cooperate in the volume department today. That meant she needed to get closer.

  It wasn’t an actual sound that alerted her, but something did. Something that sent her spinning to the side.

  Everything happened fast.

  Too fast for her to go on the offensive. The man came out from one of the rooms and rammed his body against hers, slamming her against the wall. Her injured arm hit first, and the pain was immediate and searing. Katelyn saw stars.

  Another body slam. He threw the full force of his weight right into her. The impact knocked the breath out of her, and while she was fighting to pull air into her lungs, Katelyn got a good look at her attacker’s face.

  It was Bruce Donovan.

  He clamped his hand around the front of her throat. But not to try to choke her, she soon learned. He ripped the communicator from beneath her collar.

  “I knew there was something wrong about you,” he snarled. “Who the hell are you?”

  Katelyn knew she had to act fast. Joe was no doubt already o
n his way, and she didn’t want him walking in on this, especially since he’d have to go past Merrick and Kent first. This was not the time for a gun battle.

  Ignoring the pain in her arm and lungs, Katelyn brought up her leg, and using as much force as she could marshal, she kneed Donovan in the groin. He howled in pain and immediately released the grip he had on her.

  She didn’t stop there.

  Katelyn grabbed his forearm and slung him forward so that he was the one against the wall. Face-first. A quick pat down, and she discovered he wasn’t armed.

  “Kate?” she heard Joe call out.

  But that wasn’t all she heard. She heard footsteps coming from the other direction, as well. They were all converging toward her.

  She kept her forearm pressed against Donovan’s back and snatched up her gun. That couple of moments must have given him his second wind because he tried to come at her again. He whirled around, his fist ready to bash her right in the face.

  “Kate!” Joe yelled.

  She was vaguely aware of Joe rounding the corner. But just vaguely. Thankfully, he didn’t dive in and pull a knight-in-shining-armor maneuver. He stayed back and let her do her job.

  Katelyn ducked.

  Donovan’s attempted jab breezed past her head, and in the same motion, she delivered a snap kick to his stomach. She didn’t give him a chance to get a second wind. Recoiling, she pivoted and landed another kicking blow to the back of his legs. Donovan went down to the floor, hard, gasping for breath.

  It took everything inside her not to slam him right back against that wall and read him his rights. But that wasn’t a smart thing to do. There was still a chance that Joe and she could keep their cover intact. If not, then they were in trouble because they were in the same building with three of their four murder suspects.

  Doing some light gasping of her own, Katelyn glanced around to get her bearings. Joe was on one side, his weapon drawn. On the other side were Dr. Kent and Merrick. They stood there in stunned silence.

  “Are you okay?” Joe asked. The muscles in his jaw had turned to iron. He looked ready to rip Donovan limb from limb.

  Katelyn nodded. “He tried to assault me. He wasn’t successful.” And after delivering that news to Joe, she made certain she added a stern look that hopefully would convince him to stay in cover. “Guess all that self-defense training finally came in handy.”

  “She’s got a gun,” Donovan managed to say. He struggled to get to his feet. Staggered. And dropped back to his knees.

  Katelyn angled her body so she could deliver another snap kick if necessary. “Good thing too, huh? A woman never knows when she’ll need a gun.”

  Merrick came closer. “What’s going on here?” Maybe the adrenaline was clouding her senses, but Katelyn couldn’t tell if he was concerned for her, or for Donovan.

  “I think she’s the sniper,” Donovan snarled.

  Oh, great.

  It was either fast thinking on his part to save his butt, or else he genuinely believed that. If it was the latter, it would explain why he’d come after her in the first place. But Katelyn wasn’t about to stake her life on anything that Donovan said. Even if he wasn’t the sniper, the man was slime.

  “She’s wearing some kind of wire.” Donovan leaned into the wall so he could stand. Not easily. However, he eventually got to his feet.

  “This?” Katelyn made a point of showing both Merrick and Kent her communicator when she picked it up from the floor. “It’s not a wire. It’s a walkie-talkie, a way for Joe and me to stay in touch when we can’t be together. Call me overly devoted, but I like being able to talk with the man I love 24/7.”

  Joe gave a confirming nod, and turned back his collar so they could see his communicator, as well.

  There were several tense seconds, several uncomfortable glances between Kent and Merrick before Merrick finally moved and took Bruce’s arm. “Let’s discuss this in my office.”

  “Wait,” Donovan said, holding his ground. He fired a nasty glare at her. “If she’s not the sniper, then what the hell was she doing sneaking around back here?”

  “I was looking for the bathroom,” Katelyn quickly provided. No glare for her. She made sure she looked upset, which wasn’t that difficult considering what had just gone down. Her heart was still racing from the fight.

  More tense moments. Joe walked closer to stand right by her side. Maybe for comfort. Or maybe he just wanted to be in a better position to fire if it came down to that.

  “I’m sorry this happened, Kate,” Merrick finally said. “I hope you’ll accept my apology.” And he didn’t just say it, either. He appeared to be sorry. Of course, that sincerity could have been for all the wrong reasons. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk with Bruce in private. I trust the two of you can see yourselves out.”

  Yes, they could do that, but it meant turning their backs on at least one potential killer. Still, leaving was about the only way to maintain their cover. Joe obviously felt the same. He didn’t reholster his gun, nor did he take her arm—a move that would have hampered her ability to return fire. However, he did gesture with his head for them to get moving.

  Katelyn complied. But she glanced over her shoulder. And neither of them stopped glancing until they were out of the building and in the car.

  Joe started the engine and drove away. He made it a full block before he slid his arm around her and pulled her to him. The muscles in his body were still rock-hard, and that jaw told her that he was far from winning the battle with adrenaline.

  “Thanks for not jumping in fists first back there when you saw me with Donovan.”

  It seemed as if several times he changed his mind about what to say. “You didn’t appear to need me to jump in.”

  Oh, that cost him. The words were right. So was the sentiment. However, he’d not said it easily. “I didn’t, but Garrett forgets that sometimes.”

  “I can see why.” That was all he said for the next couple of seconds. “Just don’t expect me to forget it again if Donovan comes near you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katelyn O’Malley slept the same way she did everything else in life—thoroughly.

  At first, she’d balked at his idea of resting while they waited for Fiona to return his call, but once Joe had coaxed her into lying down on the sofa, she’d fallen asleep within minutes. He even managed to take a nap in the adjacent chair. Since they’d gotten virtually no sleep the night before, it was a necessity. He wanted to be as alert as possible for the meeting with Fiona.

  And for anything else they might face today.

  A lot of things had gone wrong at Perfect Match, and that was an understatement. It could have been much worse. When Donovan came after Katelyn, she’d fought him off, subdued him—all without blowing her cover.

  That pissed Joe off.

  Katelyn can take care of herself, Brayden had told him. It was true. She could. That didn’t mean, however, that she couldn’t be hurt. It sure as heck didn’t mean she was invincible.

  Rather than identify herself to Donovan as a police officer, read the scum his rights and/or take him down the hard way, she’d risked everything. Part of him, the cop part, greatly admired her devotion to duty. But the rest of him just wanted to grab her by the shoulders, give her a hard shake and yell at her for taking chances like that with her life.

  Not that yelling would do any good, but at least then she’d know…

  …what?

  Joe stopped and brooded over that for a moment.

  And he decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to finish that thought.

  He stood, brushed a loose strand of hair from her face and forced his attention away from her mouth—which somehow managed to look both innocent and sensual at the same time. He went into the bathroom so he could call headquarters.

  He reached Detective Davidson who in turn transferred his call to Garrett, who’d apparently been doing the trace on the vehicle that’d followed them. Not exactly a duty in Garrett’s jo
b description. Well, not unless the case had strayed over into Special Investigations.

  “Please tell me you volunteered for this extra work, Sergeant O’Malley,” Joe commented.

  “What can I say? I’m a glutton for cyber searches,” he said sarcastically, but the sarcastic tone quickly faded. “Davidson’s working on the wedding details so I figured I’d pitch in and do my part.”

  In this case, his part was over and above. “Thanks.”

  “Let’s just say you owe me and leave it at that.” He didn’t give Joe a chance to ask him to elaborate. “Okay, here goes. There are hundreds of black BMWs registered to owners who live in the area. Guess that’s not a surprise. So I did some cross-referencing with your suspects and got lucky. One of them has a late model black BMW.”

  “Bruce Donovan,” Joe provided.

  “You got it. I guess that’s not a surprise either?”

  “Not really. He came after Katelyn while we were visiting Merrick.”

  There was a short pause. “Define came after Katelyn.”

  Joe hoped this sounded better aloud, but he wasn’t counting on it. “Donovan claimed he thought she was the sniper so he tried to apprehend her.”

  Another pause, a long one, and Joe didn’t need to see the man’s expression to know that Garrett was not happy with this latest development. “She wasn’t hurt?”

  “No.” But the images of her pulverizing Donovan didn’t do much to ease that tight fist around his heart. If she hadn’t ducked, if she’d been just an inch or two out of position to deliver those snap kicks, if the man had been a fraction faster, then…

  There it was again.

  Those running commentaries in his head that he really didn’t want to finish. But these wouldn’t back off. The truth was, even if all those other things had happened, she would have no doubt found a way to kick Donovan’s butt. Katelyn wouldn’t have given up.

  That last part didn’t exactly make him feel better, either.

  “She handled Donovan on her own?” Garrett asked.

  “Yeah.” Joe braced himself for Garrett’s lecture that would no doubt contain a lot of profanity and a thorough dressing down for not protecting his sister.