Turn On A Dime - Kade's Turn (14 page)

Kade didn’t get far before he slammed to a stop, his car fishtailing on the side of the road. What the hell was he doing? He was supposed to protect Kathleen, not go running the opposite direction.

“Fuck!” He slammed his hand against the wheel once, twice. He had no choice. He had to go back.

Stomping on the gas, he swung the Mercedes in a sharp u-turn, the tires leaving rubber on the asphalt as he sped back to where he didn’t want to go.

He couldn’t see her, though, couldn’t handle another conversation with her. The pity in her eyes, the tears shining in the blue depths—it made him hate her and want her at the same time.

Kade parked around the block from the bar, this time making sure no one was around to get the drop on him. Though in the mood he was in, they’d end up regretting it.

What the fuck had he been thinking, letting her get so close? He was supposed to make her hate him, keep that wall of distrust and hostility firmly between them.

The problem was…he didn’t want Kathleen to hate him. What he wanted was so far from that, it was nearly a physical pain to think of some of the things he’d said to her. But he had to keep her at arm’s length. Not only was she off-limits, Kade knew in his bones that somehow, some way, he’d managed to stumble onto the one woman who could destroy him. And the more he knew about her, the more he knew
her
, the more certain of this he became.

Sticking to the deep shadows, he watched the bar until he saw Kathleen step outside. She’d thrown her coat on, but Kade could still see a flash of the red Santa costume underneath. Following her to her car, he watched as she got in, then he went to his and followed her.

Kathleen was oblivious to his presence about four car lengths behind her as she drove home. Kade rolled his eyes. Some investigator she was. She needed training, skills in observation second only to self-defense.

He parked across the street and watched as she went into her apartment. His hands tightly gripped the steering wheel. He wanted to talk to her, apologize for being such a dick, but he couldn’t. She needed to know he was dangerous, to think he didn’t want anything to do with her.

Kathleen’s light came on in her apartment and Kade watched, imagining her stripping off the Santa outfit before showering, then climbing into bed in that little T-shirt she always wore. What color would her panties be tonight?

It was almost an hour before the lights went off and Kade deemed it had been long enough for her to fall asleep before he entered the apartment. He was drawn to her room like the sick fuck he was, standing in the shadows and watching her sleep.

The cat twined around his legs, his purring a low rumble in the quiet bedroom. Kathleen gravitated to one side of the bed, the other side empty and taunting him. Kade’s hands clenched into fists so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch her. He did ease closer—closer than he had before.

Shafts of light from the streetlamp outside fell through the slatted blinds, illuminating her face and body every few inches in an amber glow. She was a restless sleeper and the covers were all tangled again as she lay on her side. Her hair was splashed across the pillow like a river of molten gold. The swell of her hip gave way to the deep valley of her waist and Kade remembered how well she’d fit in his arms and hands.

He didn’t know how long he stood there. It calmed him, just being in her presence, even if she wasn’t aware. He knew this obsession was getting out of hand, but he was helpless to stop it.

Exhaustion finally drove him to the couch. He pulled off his shirt and dragged the same quilt over him, falling asleep with the echo of Kathleen’s touch drifting across his skin.

Kade woke automatically at six in the morning as he’d programmed his body to do. He ached all over from the ass-kicking he’d taken last night and he spent a long time standing under the hot water of Kathleen’s shower.

After shaving and dressing, he made a pot of coffee, expecting and yet dreading Kathleen waking. But she didn’t. He should be glad; she needed the rest and he needed less face-time with her. The disappointment he felt was ridiculous.

Grabbing a pen and pad of paper, he scrawled a note.

Have business to take care of. Stay put. I’ll be back to take you in tonight.

Would she obey? He doubted it. But he had to go. No way in hell could he take another day of constantly being with her. The tracker he’d put on her cell would tell him if she went anywhere.

He grabbed his jacket and was shrugging it on when something caught his eye. Walking to the Christmas tree, he removed the locket ornament. He flipped it open and stared at the photo of Kathleen’s parents. After a moment, he snapped it closed, then stuffed the whole thing in the pocket of his coat.

Kade locked the door behind him on the way out, did a quick recon of the place and her car before getting behind the wheel of the Mercedes. He could have easily just went back to his apartment and showered, but there was something about using Kathleen’s that made him ignore that. Knowing it was
her
shower, that she stood in the same spot every day, made it…intimate somehow.

He was seriously losing it.

His cell rang and he glanced at the display before answering. Blane.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, how’s Kat doing?”

“You mean after you were such a dick to her yesterday? She’s just peachy.”

Blane cursed. “I hate that fucking job,” he said. “Then she got pissed because of Kandi, thinks I’m just using her…” He sighed.

“Can you blame her?” Kade shot back. “I’m not even that in to you and
I
hate Kandi.”

“Give it a rest,” Blane groused. “Are you coming to her Christmas party tonight or not? I have a feeling whoever’s doing this is going to show.”

“I thought you were sure they wouldn’t.”

“That was before I knew she’d invited half the damn town,” Blane said. “Better to be safe than sorry. Make sure you’re packing heat.”

“Have you ever known me to go without?”

Blane snorted a “Bye” and ended the call.

A few minutes later, Kade was pulling into the parking garage of his apartment building. Flipping open his phone, he checked the GPS on Kathleen. Yep, working perfectly and showing still in her apartment.

He lived on the top floor, which didn’t mean he couldn’t leave quickly if he had to. Tossing his keys on the counter, Kade set his weapon down, then bent to retrieve the knife strapped to his leg and the other semi-automatic in his ankle holster.

Shoving a hand through his hair, he went into his office, toggling the space bar on the keyboard and causing the four monitors to come to life.

The trace was still going on Bowers’ phone numbers, as well as a search Kade had running for all his credit card and ATM transactions. If he used either one anywhere in the world, Kade would know about it within seconds.

Sitting back in the chair, Kade reached for a folder on a stack by his desk. It was something he looked at way too often.

Flipping it open, a photo of Kathleen stared back at him. Kade hadn’t taken it. He’d paid someone else to.

She’d been leaving the firm a few weeks ago, the autumn afternoon sunshine making her hair shine like gold. She’d slipped on her mirrored sunglasses, which made her look like the total badass she
wasn’t
, but were still smokin’ hot on her.

Kade had paid the guy to follow her, tell him her routine, and he’d been thorough. Every day nearly the same. Work at the firm from eight a.m. to six p.m. Some nights she went straight from there to The Drop, depending on her schedule. When she did work at The Drop, she closed, not getting home until after one in the morning.

Other than dating Blane, her social life was non-existent, not that she had time for much of one. For a month straight, every minute of her day had been documented, right down to the nights Blane stayed over.

Kade had known by then that Kathleen was everything she appeared to be, that she held no threat to Blane. If anything, the reverse was true. Blane was a love ‘em and leave ‘em type, always going back to Kandi, time and again. Why, Kade didn’t know, though he supposed Blane’s uncle (Kade refused to claim the relation) often pushed them together, pressuring Blane to marry.

Even knowing she wasn’t a threat, however, Kade hadn’t stopped the surveillance or his own obsession with finding out everything he could about her. He’d watched as she’d sent nearly every dime of that twenty grand he’d left her in to the bill collectors, watched as her bank account dipped so low he wondered how she could afford to buy food, and even now there was only a couple hundred bucks in it.

It pissed him off that Blane hadn’t done more for her, just using her to fuck until he grew bored. Then he’d dump her—or have Clarice do the dumping for him—and that would be that. Kade had never before spared a thought for the broken hearts Blane left in his wake. Until now.

Granted she’d lasted longer than most, but Kade would be willing to bet part of that was this case and the threat to her. Nothing quite brought out the protective side of Blane like a damsel in distress. Kathleen had no one. No family, not a lot of friends. That punched about every button Blane had. Add to that her beauty, her innocence, and Kade could see why Blane was totally sucked in. For how long, though, Kade had no clue.

Glancing at his watch, Kade saw it was time to leave. He had a meeting set up with Donovan about a favor. Since Kade had been asking for a lot of favors lately, it was time to pay up.

The bar was nearly empty at this hour, the bartender still taking chairs off tables as Kade walked through the door. Special Agent Donovan was already there and Kade sat opposite him, back to the wall and facing the door. He slid a folder across the table.

“Vodka neat,” Kade said to bartender who’d approached. He waited until he was out of earshot. “There’s the code you wanted broken,” he said.

“That was fast,” Donovan said in surprise, flipping through the pages.

Kade shrugged as the bartender set down a shot glass in front of him, filled to the brim with ice cold liquid. His thoughts weren’t on the code, which had been dead simple to crack, they were on Kathleen. His skin practically itched to call her, go back to her apartment. He’d checked the GPS about a dozen times already, just on the drive over here. Lifting the glass, he downed the vodka in one swallow.

“Little early, isn’t it?” Donovan said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Kade had always liked Donovan. They’d worked well together as partners for over a year. They’d kept the other alive and had each other’s backs. They had earned a respect for one another, which was something hard-won from Kade. Things were always professional, but occasionally Donovan liked to give him shit. Like now.

Kade answered without thinking. “It takes the edge off.”

“What edge is that?”

Glancing up from the empty glass, Kade saw Donovan studying him, his brow drawn in a slight frown. He seemed genuinely interested in what Kade would say.

Kade wasn’t the type to spill his guts, not even to his brother, but he suddenly had the urge to talk. Maybe it was the vodka, maybe it was the beating he’d taken last night. Either way, Donovan felt like someone who’d listen, and maybe he’d have some advice.

“There’s this girl,” he said, glancing away from Donovan and staring at nothing. Kathleen’s face swam in his mind’s eye. He spoke without thinking. “She’s…beautiful. Sweet. Nice. Way too fucking nice. I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s an obsession I can’t seem to kick. I want to
be
with her, not just fuck her, but really talk to her, you know? Listen to her tell me about her shitty day at work or the joke someone told her. Smell her perfume on my clothes at the end of the day and know she’ll be there when I wake up in the morning. And it’s insane, it’s crazy, but I can’t stop imagining it, picturing it inside my head…” Kade’s voice trailed away as he realized he’d probably said way too much. He glanced back at Donovan, who now sported a shit-eating grin.

“What’s so funny?” Kade asked.

Donovan chuckled. “Never thought I’d live to see the day, man. Kade Dennon. Love struck.”

Kade snorted, hiding the note of panic that flared inside him at the word
love
. “Fuck that shit.” He signaled the bartender for another round. “I just need to get laid, that’s all.”

Donovan frowned in mock seriousness. “Yeah, really? So tell me, how long has it been? A few weeks? Months? Must’ve been a while if she’s affecting you this much.”

The bartender set a new glass in front of Kade. “Three days,” he muttered, throwing back the shot as Donovan laughed out loud.

“Nice,” he said, still smiling. “And what was her name again?”

“What’s your fucking point?” Kade retorted. He had no fucking idea what the girl’s name in Buffalo had been.

Donovan raised his hands slightly, palms out. “Nothing. I have no point.” He grinned. “Except that you’re drinking before noon, waxing poetic about a girl, and have a dreamy look in your eyes.”