Her voice was scratchy from all the yelling she’d done, and he didn’t have water nearby to offer her a drink. Yep, he was going to have to tweak the setup in the dungeon to better meet her needs. A sofa and a minirefrigerator went on his mental shopping list.
“Okay. I won’t let go.”
“You have to promise to listen to everything before you get mad at me.”
That really didn’t sound good. “What did you do?”
She tightened her grip on his shirt, her fist pressing against his stomach. “Promise first.”
“I promise.” He hated making a promise when he didn’t know if he could keep it.
“Last Thursday, when I was late getting to the parking garage?”
He nodded, and he wished she would sit back so he could see her face. Right now, he only had a view of the top of her head.
“Your mom came to see me.”
Fury boiled in his core. That bitch had no business going near Kat. “She what?”
“Keith, you promised.”
He took a deep breath and slowed his temper to a simmer. “Go on.”
“She told me that your sister was in jail and the state was going to put her kids up for adoption.”
Though he’d known she was in prison, and he knew the conviction was triple manslaughter, he hadn’t known that Savannah had kids. The fact he stayed silent was more a testament to shock.
“She really didn’t say much more than that, so I did some digging. I looked up the charges. She’s serving three consecutive eight-year sentences for manslaughter. The details don’t matter that much. I went to see her, and she told me that she wanted me to make sure nothing bad happened to her kids.”
Keith felt nothing but pity for those children. No doubt Savannah had been a shitty mother and they were better off with another family.
“So I looked up the social worker who is handling their case. Her name is Mrs. Daley. She wouldn’t talk to me over the phone, so I went to go see her. That’s where I was today. It’s why I couldn’t meet you in the parking garage.”
Kat twisted her fist tighter in his shirt, and he heard the seams pop. More than that, he heard the distress in her voice. He wanted so badly to interrupt, but he’d promised, so he buried his questions and kept stroking his hand up and down her back.
“Mrs. Daley said that Corey stands a good chance of being adopted because he’s eleven months old and has no health issues. But Angelina, who’s three, has some behavioral problems. Mrs. Daley doesn’t know if she’ll be able to find a permanent home for Angelina, and she’s pretty sure she’s going to have to split them up.”
She was crying now, her shoulders shaking with the weight of her sobs. He tightened his arms around her and rocked her, tipping back her head so he could smooth kisses over her face.
“You’re not mad?”
How could he get mad at her for doing something that was the essence of what he loved about her? “No. You have a soft heart. I can’t imagine you not following through on finding them and making sure they’re okay.”
She searched his face the same way she had earlier. Finally she continued. “Mrs. Daley is going to set up a time for you to meet them, if you want.”
He felt his eyes widen and his eyebrows lift, an outward manifestation of his shock. “Why would I want to meet them?”
“They’re your niece and nephew. Your parents don’t want them. This might be your only chance to be a part of their lives.”
He didn’t know whether to be stunned or angry. “Kat, they’re strangers. They don’t know me, and I don’t know them. You said their caseworker was working on finding homes for them. Why would I interfere with that?”
She sat up and pushed away, not bothering to hide her disappointment. “I’m not asking if you want to interfere, you thickheaded man. I’m asking if you want to be part of their lives. You could be a positive influence. I’m sure whoever adopts them won’t bar them from seeing you, not if you asked nicely.”
With a scowl, she got to her feet and grabbed her overnight case. She shoved a nightgown over her head, which mollified him a bit because it meant she wasn’t planning to leave in a huff.
“I can’t believe you’re not even curious. I know you hate your sister, but I don’t see how that translates to innocent little children.”
With that, she marched into the bathroom. He heard water running and decided to leave her alone. He didn’t know what he’d say anyway. Was he curious about the kids? Not really. They were a foreign concept, and he was still stunned, both by the bombshell Kat had dropped and by her expectation of a different reaction from him.
He caught her as she exited the bathroom and headed toward the bed. Her body vibrated with fury. “Kat, I know you’re angry, but you’re being thoughtless about this. By my count, you’ve had five days to think this through. I’ve had five minutes.”
Just like that, the tightness drained away. She threw her arms around him. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just… I think about those poor little kids out there in the big, bad world with no stability whatsoever.”
“If they lived with my sister, then they never had it to begin with.”
She looked at him with a wealth of sadness darkening her deep brown eyes. “At least think about it. I won’t go against whatever decision you make.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Katrina started her period the next day, she understood the reason for her tears. She’d cried way too easily, both in Mrs. Daley’s office and in front of Keith. It wasn’t like she didn’t know when to expect it. Those color-coded pills were pretty exact. She just hadn’t been paying attention.
However, that wasn’t the worst of her problems. Coming into contact with countless strangers each day put her at risk for any number of illnesses. In addition to her monthly visitor, her sinuses left her head feeling cottony. Because she didn’t normally suffer from allergies, she figured on the flu. It had been going around in the Health Care Fraud Unit, and now it looked to be making a home in the WCCU.
Keith frowned at her when she had plain toast and weak tea for breakfast. “Kat, you can’t survive on just that until lunch. At least have a bowl of cereal.”
The idea of eating anything else made Katrina’s stomach churn. “I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t look fine. Was last night too much?”
Starting her period and getting the flu all in the same morning was too much, but she had a lot to do at work today. She couldn’t let those problems get in her way. “No. Last night was wonderful. I started my period. I’m simply a little tired. Maybe we can just hang out tonight.”
The calculating squint to his eyes didn’t give her much hope that he completely bought her story, but he didn’t say anything, so she let the matter drop.
An hour later, she reached her desk to find Aaron angrily packing his things into a cardboard box. Two security officers stood watch. Her jaw fell open. “What happened?”
He looked up briefly, long enough to deliver a glare. “I got suspended, thanks to you.”
It felt like he’d punched her in the stomach, and that area of her body was already pretty battered. “Thanks to me? I don’t understand.”
“I asked you for one simple favor, and you turned me in for it.”
Katrina shook her head. Chief Alder had known where she’d been and what she’d been doing the whole time. She’d been taken to task for it as well. “I still don’t understand. You shouldn’t be fired because I did some digging for you. When the chief called me into her office yesterday, I—”
Aaron held up his palm. “I don’t care, Katrina. You got me suspended so you could take second chair on the Holbrook case. Don’t think I don’t know about that.”
His aggressiveness didn’t make sense on so many levels, but Katrina forced herself to let it go. She couldn’t imagine how angry and hurt he must feel right now. She was going to schedule an appointment to talk to the chief. Then she would call Aaron and try to explain what happened.
There had to be more to the story than either of them knew.
Vaguely, she wondered if the person who was forging names in the evidence logs was targeting Aaron.
As she watched the officers escort him to the elevator, she bit back tears. It wasn’t fair. Aaron had been a good, supportive friend. She felt horrible for him. And to top it off, she had to be in court in half an hour, so she couldn’t do anything to help Aaron right that second. She fired off a text to Jordan as she headed to court, asking him to look into Aaron’s suspension.
She didn’t get a chance to talk to Chief Alder until her boss stopped by after lunch to assign work related to the Holbrook case. Even then, the chief dumped a series of tasks on Katrina’s lap and walked away.
Katrina ran to catch up. “Chief Alder, I know I’m overstepping my bounds, but I wanted to ask about Aaron. It wasn’t my intention to get him in trouble.”
Half of Chief Alder’s nose scrunched up. “I’m not at liberty to discuss the particulars.”
She walked away, and Katrina knew better than to push the issue until she knew more about what had happened. She’d ask Keith if he knew what was going on. While he probably didn’t, he’d have ideas. And contacts. The man had an amazing amount of contacts. This turn of events made no sense to Katrina.
When she spotted Dustin coming toward her with a tight expression on his face an hour before the end of the day, she almost ran for the door. She didn’t want to deal with more stress, and with Dustin involved, the news couldn’t be good.
“Hey, Trina.” He stopped in front of her desk. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”
Good news could be delivered with other people around. It was no secret that she had a stalker or that the FBI was investigating the case and all the ways it might be related to the DOJ. The sick feeling that had been simmering on the back burner all day became bothersome, and that did not mix well with the achiness in her limbs. Damn flu. Damn period. Damn stalker. Damn everything.
She rose from her chair and pointed toward the hall to the conference rooms. “Five is open.”
He followed her across the room, past all the desks of people looking at her. She wondered what they were thinking about as they watched.
When they arrived—those fifteen yards seemed like a mile—Dustin reached around her to open the door, and he closed it behind them.
“You look like I could knock you over with a feather. Have a seat, and breathe. I have some good news.” Ever the gentleman, he pulled out a chair.
“Good news.” She tried for a smile, but it wasn’t forthcoming. She didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. “I could use some of that.”
“Someone broke into your condo today.” He had to know full well that his delivery made her squirm, and his easy smile mitigated the butterflies somewhat. “Because your brother had the place wired with cameras, we have the crime on tape. We’re running the pictures through facial recognition right now.”
She stared at him as she processed what he’d said. Suddenly she felt much better. The effects of her flu seemed so paltry now, like she would wake up in the morning and be completely well. “So you don’t know who it is, and you haven’t made an arrest.”
“We have a picture, Trina, of a woman. That’s a lot. I know I’m jumping the gun on this a little. Nothing is official, and I’m still working on the case, but this is a major breakthrough.” He closed his hands around the fists she’d made. Their warmth indicated exactly how cold her hands had become. “That, and I need to ask you not to go home today. The place was trashed. I have a team there now, gathering evidence. It’s safest if you just go home with Rossetti.”
Trashed. She closed her eyes and buried feelings of violation underneath the relief she felt at the imminent end of this ordeal. “Did you want me to look at the picture? Maybe I know her.”
Dustin’s pocket vibrated, and he checked his cell. “That’s not necessary. We got a positive match.”
From the expression on his face, she could only tell that the information he received hadn’t made him happy. “Who is it?”
He shook his head. “This just got more complicated. I need to check this out before I say anything more, but I can tell you that I’ll make an arrest in the next few hours.” He stood up, pulling her to her feet with him because he didn’t release her hand.
“Dustin, you have a name.” She deserved to know the name of the person who had upended her life for the past two weeks.
Instead of answering, he hugged her close and kissed her cheek. “I’ll let you deliver the news to Malcolm and Keith, and I’ll call you once this is all over.”
He left. Katrina spent the rest of the workday vacillating between bouts of manic productiveness and choking anxiety. She called and left voice mails for Malcolm and Keith. Her parents actually picked up the phone, and they both expressed relief.
Keith met her in the parking garage wearing a happy smile on his face. He opened his arms, and she stepped right into his embrace. “I’m still going to be sleeping over when you stay at home.”
With his arms around her, the stress of the day melted away. She closed her eyes and realized how drained she was. “Dustin wants me to stay away from my house this evening. Let’s go to your house. I want chocolate ice cream and a chick flick. You can paint my toenails.”
He laughed and gave her one final squeeze. “I’ve never painted toenails before. You might come to regret that offer.”
He released her and opened her car door. She slid into the driver’s seat and looked up at him. “No resistance to a chick flick?”
He shrugged. “I can’t remember ever watching one of those either.”
“Wow. Two new experiences in one night. Are you sure you’re up for it?” She was teasing, but her concern was real. Sex was off the table tonight. “Seriously, if you want to do your own thing while I veg on the sofa, I’ll understand.”
“As long as I get to be with you, I can handle the rest.” He closed her door and headed to his SUV parked across the aisle.
KEITH FOUND HIMSELF shaking his head at random intervals for the entire drive home. He’d agreed to a romantic movie and possibly painting Kat’s toenails. This was new territory for him in some ways. He’d watched plenty of movies with Kat, but they’d always been action-adventure or war themed or science fiction.
She’d been kidding about the toenails, but part of him wanted to try it. The act seemed so intimate, something a man would do for a woman he cherished. In the past, he would have nixed the idea purely because it seemed like a submissive thing to do, but the more he thought about it, the more it became a dominating action. It was like aftercare, only it didn’t necessitate a scene beforehand.
He might actually enjoy it. He activated the voice controls for his cell and called Kat. If Dustin was making an arrest, then she’d be fine alone for a few minutes. “Honey, I’m going to stop at the store. You go to my place and figure out what movie you want to see.”
“Okay.” She didn’t sound worried. “Can you pick up some ice cream with double fudge and brownie chunks? I am in serious need of chocolate.”
He was pleased to see how much she’d perked up with this news. This morning, she’d been pale and lethargic, and he’d been gravely worried about her. He took his time at the store. The aisle with the nail polish was surprisingly huge, and just when he thought he’d looked through all the offerings, he noticed another display a few feet down the aisle.
Since he couldn’t decide on one color, he chose several, and then he picked up a pedicure kit that contained toe spreaders. Painting her nails might be fun after all. The side trip turned out to take longer than he’d intended. Now he knew why Papa L always commented on how much time it took to shop for women. There were simply too many choices.
When he arrived home, Kat greeted him in the front hall by jumping into his arms. To catch her, he dropped the bag with her ice cream and nail polish. Her exuberance was definitely sexy.
“I should run to the s
tore more often.”
She giggled. “I got a voice mail from Dustin. They’ve made an arrest. I’m free, Keith. Nobody is hiding in the shadows anymore.” She slathered kisses all over his face, forcing him to close his eyes and enjoy the attention.
But having Kat pressed against his body and wiggling her delectableness all over his front was fated to lead to a single place. Threading his fingers through her hair, he held her steady while he tasted the sweetness of her mouth. She moaned and rubbed against him. He let one of her legs slide to the floor, but he kept the other high on his hip so he could caress upward from her knee.
“Son of a bitch!”
His storm door slammed, jolting them both from the bliss they shared. Keith broke the kiss and slowly set Kat back on her feet. He’d dreaded this moment, but from the look on Kat’s face, she’d dreaded it more. Malcolm stood in his entryway, fists clenched, chest heaving with pissed-off breathing.
Still, she didn’t let that stop her from trying to protect him from her brother’s wrath. “Malcolm, it’s not what you think.”
“Not what I— I’m not fucking blind, Trina.” Malcolm’s jaw tightened, and so did his fists. “Go wait in my car.”
Kat’s brows came down in hard slashes above her eyes. “I will not go wait in your car. I’m not leaving.”
“You’re not staying here where this bastard can prey on you.” Malcolm stepped closer. His eyes contained more malice than Keith had ever seen on Malcolm. “You son of a bitch.”
Keith knew his buddy’s moves almost as well as he knew his own. Mal was going to ignore Kat’s wishes and drag her from the house.
Keith snatched up the shopping bag from the floor and shoved Kat behind him. “Take the bag to the kitchen and put your ice cream in the freezer. Malcolm and I need to talk.”
She eluded his attempts to keep her out of harm’s way, probably because she didn’t consider her brother a threat. “Malcolm and you and I can all have a conversation like civilized people.”
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