Tribal Court (21 page)

The judge rose to leave and everyone in court honored the bailiff's call to "All rise!"

After he'd left, Talon stepped over to Brunelle. "Thank you."

Brunelle shrugged. "No problem. Like you said, more time to prepare. I'm going to kill him on the stand tomorrow."

Talon winked. "Not if he kills you first."

She laughed, but he didn't.

"It was a joke," she assured.

Brunelle looked at Quilcene, who could hear their every word.

He wasn't laughing either.

Chapter 45

Brunelle walked out to the parking lot. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, the autumn sky was gray and dark, threatening one of those three-day Northwest rains that are never hard, but never let up.

He took his phone out and checked for messages. He had four new texts.

From Chen:
knife theft WAS inside job. sort of. call me.

Chen again:
hernandez took turn for worse. still alive. barely. call me.

And Chen again:
youre welcome. call her.

Then Kat:
Larry said to call you. I said no. But I'll answer if you call me.

Two clicks later and his phone was dialing Kat's number.

"Hello?" she answered.

God, he loved her voice.

"Hey," he said. "It's me."

"Yeah." A pause. "I can see that."

Brunelle paused too. "Uh, thanks for answering."

"Thank Larry," Kat replied. "He said you're not as big of a jerk as you seem sometimes."

"Uh, thanks," Brunelle said, "I think."

"So, I didn't expect you to call so early. You on a break or something?"

"We adjourned early for the day," Brunelle explained. "Gang-banger defendant wanted to go see his gang-banger best friend in the hospital before he dies from being shot because he's a gang-banger."

"Wow. Nice description. Very sensitive."

"Yeah, well, I hear I'm not as big of a jerk as I seem sometimes."

Kat laughed.

God, he loved her laugh.

"So," she asked, "you staying down there again tonight?"

"Yeah, might as well. The defendant takes the stand first thing tomorrow morning." He paused. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Well, I was thinking," she said. He thought he heard that purr she had sometimes, hiding just beneath the surface of her words. "I might take Lizzy's to her grandma's in Auburn to spend the night. There's no school tomorrow. It's a teacher planning day. And she hasn't seen my mom for a while."

"Hm. Good idea," Brunelle replied. "You know, Auburn's pretty close to Tacoma."

"Mm-hmm," she said. The purr was there, no doubt.

"And I found this great restaurant down here," Brunelle went on.

Kat laughed. "You liar. I know better. You've been eating take-out pizza from the casino."

Brunelle had to laugh too. "How do you know me so well already?"

"I'll pick you up at six," she said. "I actually do know some great restaurants down there."

Brunelle smiled. His biggest smile since he saw her at Donatello's. "Sounds great. I'll wait in front of the hotel. With bells on."

"Ooh," she purred again. "I would like to see that."

"And nothing else," he joked.

"Slow down, David. You don't want to get yourself arrested. Again."

"Ouch," he said. "See you at six, Kat."

"See you then, David."

~*~

Dinner was pleasant. Just plain nice. No arguing. No suspicions. Just small talk and some of the best Vietnamese food Brunelle had ever eaten. By the time they got back to his hotel room, it was after nine o'clock.

Brunelle pushed the door open for Kat to walk in first. She did and nodded approvingly as she made her way toward the balcony in the back.

"Nice digs, David. I'd compliment you on how tidy everything is, but I know that's the maid."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice," he said as he slipped the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door handle and closed the door. "And I'll have you know, I am quite tidy. The maid helps, but my place up in Seattle is just as clean and orderly."

Kat was admiring the view through the gauzy curtain. "I'll have to take your word for it. I've never been to your place."

Brunelle stepped in behind her. Too close. Just right. "We'll have to do something about that."

Kat turned around, right into Brunelle's arms. She raised her face, closed her eyes, and they kissed.

Brunelle put his hands on her waist and pulled her against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her fingers through his hair. Their lips parted and he tasted her delicious tongue. She moaned lightly into his mouth, which only made him pull her tighter against him. He lowered his hands down her back and onto her pants, her curves filling his palms, her face filling his mind.

"Wait." She pushed him away suddenly, her breath racing. "Whoa. We need to slow down."

Brunelle's heart was racing too. "What? Why? Did I do something wrong?"

He'd barely done anything at all.

"No, no. That's not it," Kat assured. "It's just…"

She put a hand on his chest. "Slow," she said. "I need slow. Okay?"

Brunelle put his hands around her waist again. It took a moment for the blood to return to his brain, but his heart knew the right answer. "Okay. Of course."

He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Kat exhaled deeply and laid her head on his chest. "Thanks. Sorry. It's just— It's been a while since Lizzy's dad and I divorced. Long enough, I know, but still…"

Brunelle stroked her hair. "No need to apologize. I'm not going to worry about where we're going, or how fast we get there. I'm just glad you're here right now."

Kat lifted her head and looked him the eye. "You damn lawyers. I never know if you mean what you say, or you just always try to say the right thing."

Brunelle smiled. "Maybe it's both."

Kat narrowed her eyes, then rested her head on his chest again. "Maybe," she sighed. "But I doubt it."

They stood there for a while, Kat's head on his chest, and Brunelle looking through the gauze at the city lights. He didn't say anything. He knew sometimes the right thing to say is nothing.

Finally Kat asked, without lifting her head, "Can we go for a walk?"

Brunelle thought for a moment about all the other things he'd rather be doing with her. "Of course. That sounds nice."

She looked up at him again. "You're a terrible liar."

He shrugged.

She pushed up on her toes and kissed him. "Thanks."

He stole one more kiss back. "Don't thank me for something I want to do. A friend told me that once." He pulled away and took her hand. "Let's go for a walk."

~*~

It was a nice night. The sky had cleared a bit, revealing a handful of stars and a thin moon glowing dimly behind broken clouds. Brunelle and Kat walked hand-in-hand along the industrial road that led under the freeway toward the casino and the more residential area behind it. It was cold enough that Kat leaned into him for warmth. He thought about letting go of her hand so he could put his arm around her, but there was something about holding her hand. It just felt right.

"So, is Lizzy doing a Nutcracker this year?" he asked.

Kat looked up at him. "Now why would you ask that?"

"Well, I remember she did ballet," he said. "And it's fall. Don't they start having practices soon?"

Kat laughed lightly. "They're not practices," she said. "They're rehearsals. And yes, they've already started."

She swung their hands back and forth.

"I'm just surprised," she went on. "You finally get me alone. I freak out, so we're on a romantic walk, holding hands. And you ask about my daughter."

Brunelle thought for a moment. "Well," he shrugged, "she's a pretty important part of your life."

"She sure is."

"Well then. I care too."

Kat stopped and pulled on his hand. "More trying to say the right thing?"

Brunelle shook his head. "More trying to say the truth."

Kat stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"I'm trying to decide whether to believe you."

"Maybe this will help." He leaned down and kissed her.

"That never helps," she giggled. "What am I going to do with you?"

Brunelle had some ideas, but just then his phone rang.

"Eh…" he hesitated. "It might be Chen. I was supposed to call him."

"Go ahead and answer it," Kat said and she pulled them back into their stroll.

Brunelle looked at the screen. "Yep, it's Chen." He pressed the screen. "Hey, Larry. What's up?"

"Mulholland just called me," Chen said rapidly. "Hernandez is dead. They unplugged him a hour ago."

Brunelle pulled them to a stop.

Kat looked up at him. "What is it?"

"There's more," Chen said. "It gets worse."

Just then a car came squealing around the corner and accelerated toward them. Brunelle could see the figure of someone leaning out of the driver's window, a gun in his hand.

"Gotta go, Larry. Call 911 for us."

"Us?" Brunelle heard Chen ask as he hung up the phone and pulled Kat into a sprint.

Chapter 46

"David!" Kat screamed. "What's going on?"

"Just come on!" Brunelle pulled her hand harder as the car accelerated toward them.

"I'm in heels, you jackass!" She tried to yank her hand away, but Brunelle held on tight.

"Then kick them off," he yelled. "And run as fast as you can."

"Why?"

The first shot rang out. Brunelle instinctively ducked although he knew it would have been too late by the time he heard the shot. It missed them.
Thank God
.

Kat finally understood the urgency of their situation. At least in part.

"Holy shit! Somebody's shooting at us." She kicked off her shoes and sprinted even ahead of Brunelle.

"It's that car," he said, catching up with her.

"Then let's go somewhere a car can't," she said and ran toward the locked gate of the tribal cemetery. "We can squeeze through the bars, but a car won't be able to get through."

They ran as fast as they could and disappeared through the iron bars just as the car careened around the corner and screeched to a halt in front of the cemetery.

They ducked behind a large tree near the entrance, both out of breath.

"I think we're safe now," Kat panted.

Brunelle shook his head in the dark. "Not necessarily."

A light spilled out of the car as the driver opened his door and got out. He closed it again and disappeared into the gloom in front of the graveyard. After a moment, they could hear the gate clank as their pursuer pushed through the bars too.

"Come on," Brunelle whispered and grabbed Kat by the hand. They took off running up the hillside the cemetery occupied.

There were no lights so they had to navigate by the dim glow of the surrounding streetlights and what little moonlight filtered through the clouds.

"Ow!" Kat whispered as she banged into a grave marker. "Where are we going?"

"To the top of the hill."

"I can see that. Why?"

"To hide."

"Where?"

Good question
. "I don't know."

They could hear the shooter's steps behind them, squelching in the wet grass. He swore once as he too presumably ran into a headstone. Brunelle and Kat reached the top the hill and the back gate. They slipped through those iron bars too, but not without clanking, so any hope their pursuer might have stayed behind, searching the dark graveyard in vain, was lost.

"Where now?" Kat asked, scanning the street that ran behind the cemetery.

"There." Brunelle pointed to the house across the street. The one he'd seen for sale on his first day to the reservation. Maybe the back door was left unlocked for showings. They didn't have a lot of options.

He tugged her across the street and behind a row of privacy bushes most likely designed to block the cemetery from the view of the front yard. Finger to his lips to indicate silence, he led them to the back of the house. Sure enough, it was unlocked. As quietly as he could, Brunelle opened the door and they stepped inside. He closed it silently behind them and locked it, the deadbolt letting out a louder clank than he would have liked.

He took Kat's hand and led her deeper into the house. It was a two-story, so they took the stairs leading up from the front door, and quickly climbed to the top floor. They glided across the carpet and crouched in the back of one of the upstairs bedrooms.

"Please tell me you started carrying a gun like you said you would," Kat whispered.

Brunelle frowned. "It's in my hotel room. I can't wear it to court, so I always forget it."

"Hell of a time to forget it."

"We might not need it anyway. I think we may have lost him."

Then they heard the front door open.

Fuck. I didn't think they'd both be unlocked.

 A moment later, footsteps began ascending the stairs.