She launched into a tirade that could be heard around the table and most probably the restaurant since a few heads turned their way. Kurt set the phone on the table and let her rant.
"Now why didn’t I ever do that?" Ellie gave a light laugh, and laced her fingers through his. "Thank you."
Kurt watched her happy gaze shift over his shoulder, then fade to a frozen look of shock. He twisted around in time to see the Bolotniks walk into the restaurant with Susan tucked between them. The hostess seated them two tables away.
"I can’t believe it," Kurt muttered. "What are the chances?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Bolotnik live nearby in Mission Valley," Ellie whispered.
"Someone you know?" her father asked.
Ellie nodded. "The woman I told you about yesterday. And her parents."
"Poor thing. Just look at her." Dee tsked. "She actually looks like she’s regressed back to childhood. Why would they let her out? Wouldn’t they want to keep her in the hospital and monitor her?"
Kurt turned his back to them. "She has a strong attachment to her mother now. Very clingy. Very needy. They probably thought it best to treat her on an outpatient basis for now."
"They’ve seen us. I should at least say hello." Ellie pushed her chair back.
Kurt jerked his head up. "Are you crazy? After what Susan did to you?"
She grabbed his arm and tugged him to his feet. "And if she hadn’t tried to set me up, you and I wouldn’t be together today. Now, come on." Her dark gray eyes pleaded. "Please, Kurt. It’s Christmas."
Try as he might, Kurt couldn’t deny her logic. They owed Susan that much. The fact she nearly got Ellie killed was another matter. Grudgingly, he let Ellie led him to the Bolotniks. The couple greeted them with ready smiles that widened when Ellie introduced Kurt as her fiancé. Susan just stared at her menu, never once acknowledging their presence. A final "Happy Holidays" and they were able to return to their table.
"She sure hates you, Ellie," Dee’s son said as they sat back down. "You should see the look she gave you the second your back was turned."
Kurt glanced over his shoulder. Susan still stared at the menu. Was the stupor just an act to avoid prosecution? She’d have to be one hell of an actress. If it was a ploy, she couldn’t keep it up forever.
In the silence that seemed to hover over their large table, Mona’s shrill voice still railed over the cell phone. Each word loud enough for them all to hear.
"…And if you think I’m going to be a party to this…this ridiculous farce, you can forget it. I do not sanction this sham marriage nor do I wish to see it take place."
"This is ridiculous," Ellie mumbled under her breath, and grabbed the phone. "I have one word for you, Mother. Grandchildren. Think real hard about that. Do you really want to burn your bridges? At least I don’t have to get married…unlike some people."
Silence descended.
"Good-bye, Mother. I’ll send you an invitation when the arrangements are complete." She punched the off key, slipped the phone back in her purse, and folded her hands on the table.
Nathan shook his head. "Cookie, that was just not right."
"I think I should be allowed to get a shot in every now and then."
"Yeah, but that one took me out, too." A loud burst of good-natured laughter erupted over this sheepish admission.
Kurt listened to the rowdy banter with half-attention. His sole focus was on the woman two tables away. He wanted to get a glimpse of what Dee’s son had seen. Something, anything to let him know Susan was faking. Nothing.
When he got back to work, he’d discuss it with Jess. Maybe NCIS in San Diego could dig a little deeper. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to wash his hands of anything remotely involving Susan Bolotnik.
* * *
It had to be a sin to be this happy. Ellie’s whole body felt like one big smile. They’d spent Christmas Eve with her family, then said their farewells and slipped up to Long Beach to spend Christmas Day with Kurt’s. She enjoyed the exuberant Duncan crowd, who mirrored her own extended family in San Diego. She looked forward to frequent visits. But what she most wanted now was just to get back to Twentynine Palms so she could be alone with the man she loved.
Their wedding was scheduled for mid-March. How could three months seem like an eternity, yet really be so close? There were a million things to do, even for a small wedding. The past few days of visiting family, combined with lack of sleep and privacy picked away at her patience. Everything seemed so overwhelming. Ellie wanted to go home and snuggle in her own bed…with Kurt, of course.
The drive home flew by in record time. She gave him a thumbs up as she turned onto her cul-de-sac. He waved back. They’d driven in tandem on the long drive home, grinning and waving at each other in the rear-view mirrors. Too bad they’d been in their separate vehicles. She pulled into the driveway and watched Kurt park alongside the curb.
Never again. After today, they’d always be together. The thought warmed her inside and out.
Ellie eased into the garage. Her good mood vanished. Bernadette stood before her, hands on hips, eyes wide, lips puckered. Ellie barely had time to brake before the woman barreled down upon her.
"What do you intend to do about that mess?" She jerked her finger toward Ellie’s place. The kitchen door was wide open.
"Hades!" Ellie swung open the car door, barely missing Bernadette. She jerked to a halt at the kitchen door. The condo was a shambles.
"Hades…where are you?"
A pathetic meow trickled out from within the depths of the debris. Ellie picked her way around the contents of her kitchen drawers, now strewn about the floor. The cabinets were emptied, pots, pans, dishes, food lay strewn about everywhere. Then she saw her living room—heaps of books scattered everywhere with spines broken and pages ripped. Her signed copy of D-Day had been stuffed into the fireplace and covered with ashes.
Hades’ meow drew Ellie’s attention to the cat basket on the padded window seat—the only place not ransacked. She ran to his aid. With a wail, he leapt out of the basket and into her arms. The force knocked Ellie backward.
"Good God!" Kurt gasped behind her.
"You’ll pay for any damages," Bernadette snapped from behind them. "I swear I’ll have you evicted as soon as I can file the paperwork!"
Ellie whirled around on her. "You idiot, we didn’t do this! Can’t you see we’ve been gone? Why the hell didn’t you call the police?"
Hades hissed his agreement from the safety of her arms.
Bernadette hiked her nose to a haughty tilt. "I don’t like to interfere." With a sniff and a glare, she flounced away.
"Just look at this mess." Kurt waved his hand over the room. "Someone really searched this place high and low."
"For what?" Ellie wailed. "What do they think I have?"
Kurt stared at the window seat and its cat basket. "You know, I bet Hades dug into his cat basket and hunkered down while whoever did this searched your condo."
"Probably." Ellie had to agree since nothing had been touched there. "That’s where he goes when I’m not home and he needs to feel secure."
"Then I bet that whoever was here didn’t get a chance to look under those cushions."
"There’s nothing there." Ellie shook her head. "I dusted and rearranged them last Thursday while I was cleaning the house." A thought occurred to her. "Kurt! The seat lifts up. It’s a hinged bench with a little storage area below. I use it for Hades’ cat toys and extra collars and things. I don’t think I’ve looked inside in weeks."
Excited, Kurt hurried over to the window seat, removed Hades’ cat basket and pillows, then lifted the bench lid. "Oh…my…God."
Ellie rushed to his side and peered over his shoulder. Balanced on top of old squeaky toys and rubber balls lay freezer bags filled with packets of ketamine.
Chapter 17
* * *
Hades burrowed against the safety of Ellie’s neck. Each meow was more pathetic than the last. She didn’t blame him for b
eing frightened. She was plenty scared herself.
"It’s all right, sweet boy. I’m home now. Everything’s going to be fine." She gave him long, soothing strokes down the back while she surveyed the damage upstairs. Petting his soft fur helped calm her, too. The place was a shambles.
Her bed lay to one side stripped of its sheets. The top of the box spring was ripped open. Everything from her dresser drawers was tossed about the room. Same thing with her closet. And the bathroom? She sighed. At least the intruder dumped the bottles and boxes into the bathtub, not onto the floor. The vanity mirror had been smashed, her glass bottle of bath salts had been thrown directly at the center. Purple crystals were everywhere, on the sink, the carpeting. The scent of lilac wafted through the room.
Damn. It was still going to take forever to clean up. And she couldn’t do a thing until Kurt’s people arrived to collect evidence.
Ellie tiptoed down the staircase. Hades’ warbles had finally slowed, but he still shook against her neck. He’d be clingy for quite some time. She counted her blessings they hadn’t hurt him.
Kurt stuffed his cell phone into the pouch at his waist and glanced her way. "Jess is on the way. So is Tripp with his people."
Ellie sat on the bottom stair step. It seemed like the only inviolate place in the room. "So this place will be swarming with NCIS and DEA agents soon."
"Local police, too. I’m sure your landlady has called them now that she has someone to blame."
"Too bad she couldn’t have done so when this happened." But that would prove her snooping, and that’s something old Bernie would never do.
Kurt sat beside her and gave Hades a scratch behind the ear. The affection earned him a healthy purr. "Just enjoy yourself now, fella, and forget about those nasty bad guys."
Kurt moved to the shoulder, then down to his paws. Ellie felt the cat relax. She knew from experience he was a breath away from flexing his paws. Unusual as it was, Hades loved to have his feet massaged.
"Should’ve given them a good whack with one of these, my furry friend. In fact…it looks like you did."
Ellie twisted around for a better look. Kurt studied what looked like strands of hair dangling from Hades’ claws, then grinned.
"I believe we might have a little DNA evidence here. Just keep him still until Jess gets here with the evidence kits."
That wasn’t a problem. Hades wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. He’d probably wind up sleeping with her for the next two weeks. That was fine with her. Thank goodness she was on leave. She’d be scared to leave him home alone and she sure couldn’t take him to work. Hell, she was afraid to stay in the house alone.
What if the intruder or intruders came back once Kurt left for work in the morning? She couldn’t very well depend on Bernadette for help. Ellie nearly laughed out loud at the irony of the situation. She’d just preached to Kurt how self-reliant she was; that he never need worry about her when he was at work. Now, all she wanted to do was cling to him, cuddle against a warm neck just like Hades was doing.
"Do you suppose they’re watching the house right now?" The thought chilled her.
He shrugged. "It’s hard to tell. If they were, it’d seem they’d be busting in right now demanding to know where Jeremy’s stash of ketamine was. Of course, they’d know I’d call for back-up right away so they might not risk it. What I don’t understand is why they think you’ve got it. Unless everything’s still all twisted up in that disguise of Susan’s."
Ellie frowned. So many different things all linked together. If only… She sucked in a breath. "You know, Jeremy was alone for a long time in this condo the night Susan came over and got me all dressed up in her wig and clothing. A couple of days later he called, frantic to come over. I decided to blow him off because I was waiting for your phone call. The next morning I found him."
"And someone was watching us through the window that night," he said, more to himself than to her.
Someone who knew the ketamine was here. But only one other person had been with them that night—Susan. Unless Jeremy, under duress of the beating, divulged the location.
They heard cars drive up outside. Kurt picked his way over the debris field and opened the front door. In minutes the place was swarming with agents and police officers. Hades made himself as small as possible and shook with fright at the rush of people. Ellie stayed where she was—out of the way, wincing with every shake of fingerprint dust over her possessions. It was going to take longer than forever to clean up the mess.
Jess sat down on the stair behind her. "I understand we have a brave guard-cat here. Now just let me see those claws, big guy, and we’ll be all set."
The soft tone soothed Hades enough he let Jess pick the hairs from his claws with tweezers and put them into an evidence baggie. "Looks like we’ve got a little skin here, too. Whoever this cat smacked is going to have some gouges to show for it."
Hades allowed him to scrape that evidence from his claws and was rewarded with more admiration. Jess tucked the packets away in what looked like a large tackle box and moved to the next task.
The police questioned Ellie, then Bernadette. Naturally, the woman had nothing of substance to add, other than a time the break-in occurred—early that morning.
When a tall man with tan complexion and midnight blue eyes entered wearing a black coat with the DEA logo on the back, Ellie stared hard. He was also present when she was rescued from Parsons. Kurt had called him Tripp.
"You were here last week asking about the condo. You’re the DEA liaison?"
He smiled and shook her hand. "I have the dubious pleasure of being Kurt’s cousin. Jeffrey Allen Duncan III at your service, ma’am. Most people call me Jeff—except for Kurt. Guess I’ll always be Tripp to him. Kurt tagged me with the nickname when we were kids playing cowboys. You’re welcome to call me whichever makes you most comfortable. The name’s a legacy from our grandfather. I won the right to have it only because my mom pushed me out two minutes before Kurt’s mom did him." Humor brightened his dark blue eyes.
"One thing I’ve been happy about my whole life," Kurt added.
Still smiling and giving Ellie one hundred percent of his attention, Tripp shrugged. "Sorry about the slight deception, but at that time, you were one of our suspects. I needed to know what you looked like, up close and personal."
The news deepened Kurt’s scowl.
Ellie could see a slight resemblance between the two cousins. Clean-shaven, they both had strong, clean jaws with high cheekbones. Their lips really pegged the Duncan bloodline, though. The sensual lower lip and the curved, sexy upper. She approved.
Tripp took control of the ketamine, logging and marking each bag. Hours later, the authorities packed up and left. Tripp and Jess stayed behind. Ellie was finally able to peel Hades away from her body. She set the cat on his feet. He cast a suspicious gaze around the room, then darted for his powder-covered cat basket on the window seat.
"You want to come stay with Emma and me until this blows over?"
The surprising offer came from Jess. Ellie didn’t know what to do. Jess was a wonderful, kind man and his home would be a haven for Ellie and Hades.
"You know Emma would love to have you with us," he added.
A tempting offer, but Ellie knew herself well enough to say she’d never feel comfortable. "Thanks, but I’ll be fine. Plus, I’ve got a lot of work to do now, trying to get this disaster under control. Don’t worry, Jess. Kurt will be here with me. It’ll be all right."
He leaned back, stretching his spine with a crack. "I’ve got a lot of work to do now to catch these guys. We have hundreds of hours of video to look through."
Ellie cocked her head to one side. "Anything I can help with?"
Kurt winced.
Tripp glanced away.
Jess studied the carpet. "It’s pretty crude viewing."
She shook her head. "Considering some of the testimony I’ve recorded over the years, I doubt I’d be shocked."
Jess gave a rel
uctant nod. "All right, Ellie. An extra set of eyes at this point might help. I’m sure among the four of us we can scrounge up four TVs and VCRs. I don’t want the tapes to leave the NCIS lockup."
"Fine, Jess, and thank you. I’m ready to start when you are." But that would mean leaving Hades alone. Ellie chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe Vera or Emma could take him for the day; not that the cat would like that any better. He was a definite homebody. No, she’d just take him to the NCIS office with her in his cat carrier. He wouldn’t like that either, but at least he’d be near her and safe.
Tripp dusted his hands together. "Well, the least we can do is help you clean up around here before we leave." He took a step toward the pile of books. "Alphabetical order by author?"
"Just get them back on the shelves. I’ll worry about organizing them later. Besides, I’ve got to start packing up to move, so there’s not too much sense worrying about it." Just the thought made her ill. Ellie hated moving. Ironic, considering the military moved her every three years. And here she was marrying an NCIS agent; they moved just as often.
Don’t think, just do. That seemed to be her mantra lately. It had brought her a mix of good and bad. Living life sure wasn’t easy. But she supposed it beat burying her head under the covers.
"I’m going to start throwing my bedroom and bathroom back together."
"We’ll do our best to clean up down here," Kurt told her. "Just give us our marching orders."
Ellie volunteered a slight smile, then a brief kiss. "What would I do without you?"
"I’m hoping you won’t ever have to find out."
She added a hug and trudged upstairs.
* * *
Kurt held his smile until Ellie disappeared into her bedroom, then surveyed the room’s destruction. He was surprised the culprits hadn’t ripped open the leather furniture cushions—they’d torn through just about everything else. Of course, these criminals weren’t rocket scientists. They’d left their fingerprints everywhere.
"If you’ll get me the vacuum, a dust rag, and some dusting spray, I’ll clean up the powder," Jess said.
JUDGING ELLIE Page 25
