Dead Wrong (9 page)

Dani turned and raised a finely plucked brow. “What’s going on?”

“Am I a control freak?” Kat asked.

Her perfectly girly, perfectly ladylike sister snorted, then laughed, and Kat impaled her with a sharp stare.

“Oh, wait,” Dani said, still smiling. “You’re serious.”

“Of course I am.”

“It’s just, I thought you knew that by now.”

Kat put her hands on hips. “I realize I like things my way, but I’m not one of those people who takes over all the time, am I?”

Dani’s brows rose again. “Why are you questioning this all of a sudden?”

“I was talking to Cole about how Mitch is so bossy and decides everything for me. And Cole said I was just like Mitch.”

Dani laid a hand on Kat’s shoulder. “I’m sorry if you don’t like hearing that, sweetie, but it’s true. At least when it comes to all of us.”

“But that’s not a bad thing, is it?”

“Depends, I guess. If you’re jumping in because you don’t trust God to work things out in His time and His way, then, yeah, it’s not only bad, it’s a sin.”

“But He doesn’t want us to just sit around and do nothing. He gave us the ability to take care of ourselves.”

“Of course, but He also doesn’t want us to step ahead of Him or worry about things that are out of our hands.” Dani paused and put her arm around Kat. “And you, my sweet sister, worry all the time.”

She did. They were right. She tried to control things, and she did worry. Constantly. She didn’t trust God’s plans. Probably never had really trusted Him. And that was wrong. Sinful, like Dani said. She had to change.

“Kat?”

Maybe admitting the problem was the first step. “I really thought I was open to God’s plans for my life, but in all honesty, I try to take charge of things to protect myself from pain.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t see how wrong it is.”

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s difficult to trust that God knows what’s best when sometimes His best involves pain. We just have to take things one at a time.” She squeezed again, then let go. “And right now, our next thing is feeding the hungry horde known as our brothers. So let’s get that pizza ordered.” She logged on to the computer, and Kat perched on the desk and raised her face in prayer.

Father, forgive me for worrying and not trusting You. Help me fully to trust You to do what is best for me. And Lord, if that means letting go and letting a man into my life, let me be open to that, too.

She looked back at Dani. A lighthearted, trusting, accepting person. Someone Kat could use as a role model for learning how to leave her problems with God and let Him take charge. Even important life-altering things like asking God to help her be open to a relationship.

Could she really trust that Mitch was the wonderful man he seemed to be?

“This look okay to you?” Dani asked, pointing at the screen.

Kat reviewed the order. “Looks good.”

Dani clicked Send and turned. “Looks like you’re still thinking about our discussion.”

“I am.” Kat pushed off the desk and Dani slung an arm around her shoulders again.

“You’re not beating yourself up about it, are you?”

“No. Just hoping I can find a way to get over this.”

Dani smiled. “I know you can do it.”

Not as certain she could do this, Kat still smiled up at Dani and hoped that her sister’s confidence was well placed.

NINE

M
itch arrived at the Justice Agency and found the door locked. He rang a buzzer and waited, shoving his hands into his pockets to keep them warm. He could be in for an interesting drive home tonight if the rain kept up and the temperature continued downward.

He counted to thirty and when no one came to the lobby, he pounded on the glass. As soon as Kat had walked out of her town house with her family, he’d known he’d made a mistake in not accompanying her. As the officer in charge of this case, he was tasked with her protection and he never should’ve let his feelings get the best of him or let her leave without him.

Still no answer. He dug out his cell and dialed Kat.

“Mitch,” she answered, her voice as frosty as before.

“I’m at the door. Can someone let me in?” It came out terse, and he didn’t blame her when she hung up on him without a word. He’d meant to apologize to her. To explain why he was behaving like a pigheaded guy. But the chilly tone in her voice set him off again.

After a few more minutes, Cole came down the hallway and unlocked the door. “F.E.D. find anything?” he asked before Mitch could step inside.

“They lifted shoe prints near the patio. Men’s athletic shoe, size ten.”

“A common size. Won’t likely be a lot of help, then.” He turned the lock with a solid click.

“Exactly.” Mitch climbed the stairs. “You have any luck with the client lists?’

“Since Nancy worked strictly with businesses and we wanted to catch Nathan’s clients at home tonight, we started with Nathan’s list. We’ve pared it down to clients who’ve committed violent crimes and we’ve managed to locate a good number of them. We’ll head out and talk to them after we finish our pizza.”

“You’re not planning to let Kat tag along, are you?”

Cole stopped walking and met his gaze. “I was hoping you’d keep her company here.”

Mitch stifled his surprise. “I’m glad to oblige, but are you sure Kat will agree to that?”

Cole laughed. “No, she’ll fight it all the way, but I think it’d be good if the two of you had some private time to work out whatever’s causing stress between you. Stress leads to accidents and accidents lead to death.”

Mitch eyed up Cole. “You saying it was my fault she was hit this morning?”

“Not at all. I just don’t want it to be a problem in the future.” Cole studied Mitch. “Look, Elliot, Kat has some issues with control. As in, she has to be in charge. Whenever she gets pushed, she fights back. Remember that when you talk to her.” Cole continued down the hallway.

Mitch expected Cole to be harder on him, but the guy seemed all right. Some of Mitch’s unease over stepping into the middle of her family again abated.

Cole turned into a room at the end of the hallway, and Mitch followed, his stomach rumbling at the smell of food. He found the family seated at a long conference table, two nearly devoured pizzas in the middle. Conversation stopped and they looked at him as if he were an alien. Kat gave him an irritated look, and he
felt
as if he were an alien.

“Help yourself to pizza,” Dani offered.

He didn’t hesitate but took a paper plate. The only open chair other than the one at Kat’s side was across from her. He didn’t want to see her scowl at him while he ate so he sat next to her.

“You want soda, water or coffee?” Dani asked.

“Water’s great. Thanks.”

She went to a small fridge on the counter lining the far wall and pulled out a bottle. Obviously, she was the hostess of the family.

“Glad you could join us.” She handed it to him and returned to her seat.

Cracking open the bottle, Mitch looked around the table. Other than the twins, the siblings were so different-looking—not surprising since they were all adopted—and yet there was a family unity that made Mitch jealous.

“So Ethan called this morning,” Dani said.

Derrick rolled his eyes. “Seriously? On his honeymoon? That guy has got to get his priorities straight.”

“Jennie will set him straight soon enough.” Cole’s voice held no humor.

“C’mon, Cole,” Dani said, shaking her head. “You make it sound like he’s serving a prison sentence instead of being married to the woman he loves.”

“Sometimes being with the one you love
is
a prison sentence.” Kat sounded even more dour than Cole. Thinking she might mean him, Mitch waited for her to turn and glare at him, but she didn’t move.

“I can’t believe either of you can talk like that with the way Mom and Dad raised us.” Dani was still shaking her head.

“If you get burned by love you’ll change your tune.” Cole slid his plate away and drained his soda before standing. “Time to hit the road. Kat, you’ll stay here with Mitch and the rest of us will knock on some doors.”

Her eyes flashed wide in surprise. “You can’t be serious.”

“That I am.”

“I think we should put this to a vote.”

“Fine.” He looked at his siblings. “All in favor of Kat and Mitch holding down the fort raise your hand?”

All hands went up.

“You set me up.”

Cole smiled, something Mitch didn’t think the guy was capable of. “That I did.”

Dani got up and patted Kat on the back. “It’s for your own good.”

“Et tu, Brute?”

“Me, too, sis. Me, too.” She bent down and whispered something Mitch didn’t catch, but it made Kat’s face color, and she swatted at her sister.

As the family exited the room, Mitch felt Kat’s eyes on him so he swallowed his bite of pizza that suddenly tasted like cardboard. “You’re still mad at me.”

“You think?”

He did look at her then, and at the sight of her disapproving glare, he wished he hadn’t. “I was just trying to do the right thing, Kat. We needed your family’s help.”

“We could’ve done this on our own.”

“The killer nearly took you out today. We needed additional manpower and resources.”

She paused and assessed him for long moments, then sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we did, but you know how I feel about putting my family in danger.” She crossed her arms. “Making sure our family members are safe is the
one
thing I thought you and I agreed on.”

“It is. I’ll do everything I can to safeguard the people I care about.” He took a deep breath and waited until she was looking into his eyes. “But I care about you, too. That’s why I had to call them.” He didn’t know how he expected her to react to his admission, but sitting perfectly still and staring at him, her eyes unreadable wasn’t the response he’d have predicted.

He opened his mouth to ask what she was thinking, but his cell vibrated on the table, and he glanced at it.

“It’s Tommy.” Wishing they could’ve worked this out before duty called again, he punched his speaker button. “Go ahead, Tommy. You’re on speaker.”

“Good news. I located Bodig’s threat file.”

“That is good news,” Kat said.

“So there are three items in the folder,” Tommy continued. “One of them seems really credible.”

Kat jumped up and grabbed a stack of papers from the end of the table. “I have the client list. What name am I looking for?”

“I don’t have a last name, but the father’s first name is Ray. The son is deceased so he may not be on the list, but his name is Paul.”

“Depending on when that threat was written, they could still be here,” Kat said, already running her finger down a page.

“It’s a little more than sixty days old,” Tommy replied.

Kat flipped the page. “This list has Nathan’s clients for the past ninety days so odds are good we’ll find a Paul on it.”

“I’d really like to get a look at that letter, Tommy,” Mitch said, excitement starting to build. “Any chance you’d bring it over to the Justice Agency?”

“I can do that. I’ll be there in less than ten.”

“Text me when you arrive and I’ll let you in.” Mitch clicked off his phone and the excitement flamed up a few notches before he tamped it down. He knew better than to be encouraged by such a small lead and normally he wouldn’t get this worked up, but sitting next to a woman who was coming to mean a lot to him and was flaming angry with him, he’d take every little bit of encouragement he could find.

* * *

Kat turned the page and felt Mitch’s eyes on her, but she kept reading. The sooner she found Paul and Ray, the sooner this could end and she could go back to her old life, free of Mitch Elliot and the effect he continued to have on her emotions.

“Are you trying to burn a hole in me?” she asked without looking up and losing her place on the page.

“I’m sorry, you know,” he said, his voice holding an honest apology. “I should never have called Cole without telling you about it first.”

She marked her spot with a pen, then looked up to search the depth of his eyes for any hint of duplicity. He laid a hand on hers, and she felt her heart thawing despite her desire to stay mad. “I can’t let anything happen to you, Kat.”

She sat there mesmerized by the extent of caring in his eyes and the touch of his hand. Not sure what to say or how to act.

“Here’s the thing.” He abruptly pulled away and sat back. “When I saw you lying on the porch not moving, I flashed back to Lori. And I admit it. I panicked. Without thinking things through, I called Cole.”

So this was about Lori. Suddenly Kat needed to know the whole story. “What happened to Lori? I mean you mentioned her before but didn’t give any details.”

He closed his eyes and looked up.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she said, hoping he’d ignore the out she was giving him.

“No...no... It’s okay.” He took a deep breath. “It was a simple domestic call. I’d surprised Lori the night before with an engagement ring. On the way to the call we were trying to come up with a date for our wedding.”

“So you were involved with her.” Kat didn’t know why the thought of that hurt, but it did.

He held up his hands. “Before you say anything about dating your partner, I know it can cloud judgment in dangerous situations. We were holding off telling our supervisor about our relationship until we knew it would work out. We’d planned to tell him about the engagement at the end of our shift.”

Not where she was going with this, but he was right. The rules against dating your partner existed for a reason. “Go on.”

“We arrived at the house. It was quiet. No sign of a disturbance. Lori was so pumped over our engagement, she almost floated to the door. I trailed a few seconds behind her.” He shook his head and closed his eyes for a second as if it would make the sight of what came next go away. “She made it as far as the steps. The male in the dispute was drunk, and he came barreling out of the house with a shotgun. Without warning he blasted her in the chest.” He took another deep breath. “Before I could even draw my weapon he got off another shot, and I went down.”

“You were hit, too?” Kat felt her heart nearly stop beating. “Where?”

He tipped his head to the side and dragged a finger over a scar running from chin to collarbone right next to his carotid artery. She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with him. Or the way it made her feel sick to her stomach.

Without thinking, she traced her finger over the scar. “You were lucky, Mitch. A little to the right and you would’ve bled out in less than a minute.”

“Not sure how lucky I was to watch Lori take her last breath.”

Kat rested her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry, Mitch.”

“It was hard, you know. I mean, I still keep asking why I lived, and she didn’t.” He looked up and shook his head. “I still second-guess everything about that day. Did our relationship have anything to do with her death? Could I have done anything differently? If I had, would she still be alive?”

“Did I.A. clear you?” Kat asked, knowing Internal Affairs investigated all shootings.

“Yeah.”

“No one has more exacting standards in an investigation than I.A., Mitch. If they cleared you then you didn’t do anything wrong and you can’t think this way.” She thought about the guilt she still carried over her mother’s death. Letting that remorse control you was no way to live. “You have to let it go, before it eats you up inside.”

He appraised her, his gaze a silent question. “Sounds as if you’re speaking from experience.”

“I am,” she said, though she’d rather not bring up her past.

He looked at her as if he were weighing her response. “There weren’t any officers slain while you were on the force.”

“No, not on the job.”

“Oh, right,” he nodded, understanding dawning on his face. “The Justices. Losing your parents that way was a terrible thing, Kat. I hope you know how sorry I am about that.”

“Thank you,” she said and considered letting him think this was what was bothering her. But he’d been so open, so honest with her it was only fair that she explain. “But actually I was thinking about my birth mother.” Kat hadn’t talked about her mom in years, so when tears pricked her eyes, it caught her by surprise. “My father killed her.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, but took her hand in his. “That must have been hard. How old were you?”

She couldn’t keep looking at his tender gaze without crying so she focused on the pipes running across the ceiling. “I was eleven when she died, but he’d abused her for years before that. I tried to get her to leave him. She wouldn’t. She kept thinking he’d change.”

“But he didn’t,” he said with so much empathy that she had the courage to look at him again.

“No, he didn’t,” she repeated. “He really lost it that night. I didn’t even know he had a gun, but he pulled one out of his dresser and aimed at my mom. I jumped him from behind, but he shrugged me off and fired. When she fell, I ran over there, but he just stood there his mouth gaping open.” As the memories assaulted her, she shook her head. “It was so odd. Surreal really. He started to cry, and he looked so lost. I almost wanted to give him a hug. Seriously, how could I want to hug a man who’d just killed my mom?”

“He was your father.” Mitch sandwiched her hand between both of his, the warmth thawing some of the chill surrounding her heart.

“Not much of one.” She looked at their hands and tried to find something positive to say.