Out of Turn

CHAPTER TEN

Blane appeared to be livid, his gray eyes flashing fire as he looked at Kade.

“I’ve been worried sick,” he snapped. “Kat got off work hours ago. You said you were going to get her. Where the hell were you?”

Okay, now I felt exactly like a teenager, complete with a pissed-off “father.” A chill racked me and I shivered.

“Can we come in before you start the interrogation?” Kade snapped.

Blane’s jaw clenched and he backed up, allowing Kade and me into the house. As we walked down the hallway, I could feel Blane’s eyes on me, especially when we stepped into the light. And when I stopped and turned, his gaze raked me from head to foot and back. I remembered what Kade had said about Blane throwing a fit and raised my chin. I wasn’t about to be looked down on for having to wear a uniform to work, even if it did make me look trampy.

“Romeo had Fourth of July uniforms for us,” I couldn’t help explaining.

“You’re soaking wet.”

My cheeks burned. “Got caught in the rain,” I said with a shrug.

Blane seemed to let that go, thank God. He turned to Kade. “I’ve been worried about you, both of you. I tried calling a dozen times. I was just heading out to find you when I heard you at the door.”

“I said I’d get her and I did,” Kade retorted. “No need to check up on me, brother. Or was it something other than her safety you were concerned about?” He gave Blane a cold smile, turned, and walked up the stairs. I heard a door open and close, then Blane and I were alone.

Blane pushed a hand through his hair, heaving a sigh. The muscles of his shoulders and neck looked tight and I suddenly felt bad. He had enough on his mind.

“Listen,” I said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were waiting up for us.”

“You didn’t think I’d notice you sneaking out of here?”

Crap. Busted. “I didn’t want to bother you,” I hedged.

“Didn’t want to be alone with me, you mean,” he corrected.

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

The look on his face was so pained, I couldn’t stop myself from going to him. I rested a hand on his arm.

“I’m here now,” I said. “What can I do to help? Did the police agree to come here?”

He nodded. “Tomorrow morning.”

The anxiety that had lifted while I’d stood in the rain came roaring back. “Are you all right?”

Blane didn’t answer. Instead, he glanced down to where my hand rested on his arm. Self-consciousness kicked in and I pulled back, but he caught my fingers in his and held them.

“I don’t want you in the room tomorrow when they come,” he said, his eyes catching mine.

“But I don’t want you to be alone—”

“I won’t be,” he said. “Charlotte will be here.”

My heart seemed to skip a beat. “Oh?” Coming to hold your hand, is she? My cattiness and instinctive desire to claw her eyes out surprised me.

Blane didn’t seem fooled by my oh-so-nonchalant response. “She’s my lawyer, Kat, that’s all,” he said.

“I see.” Uh-huh, sure she was.

Blane’s lips twitched like he was thinking about smiling. “That’s not jealousy I hear in your voice, is it?”

“Of course not—don’t be ridiculous,” I sputtered, trying to tug my hand from his, but he held on, inching closer to me until I had to tip my head back to look him in the eye.

“Because if you were jealous, that would mean I still have a shot.” His voice was a gentle rasp that seemed to run right through me.

“I’m not,” I lied. “I just want this to be over, that’s all.”

“When it’s over, will you still be around?”

His hand slid down my arm to cup my elbow. The backs of the knuckles of his other hand ran in a gentle path up and down my stomach, softly brushing my skin. He stood much too close and I realized my back was against the wall. He loomed over me, his gaze holding mine.

Blane’s touch made it hard for me to breathe. It was too familiar, had too many memories associated with it. I couldn’t think, could only feel his skin against mine, gradually moving up to the edge of my top, then ever so slowly down my ribs, across my stomach, dropping beneath my navel to where the wet denim of my shorts clung to me.

I swallowed. “I’ve already come between you and Kade,” I said. “I think it’s best that, once this is over, we all go our separate ways.”

Blane’s hand paused fractionally, then resumed its seductive path, now tracing the top edge of my shorts. The brush of his fingers made me tremble, and it wasn’t from the cold.

“Tell me you don’t mean that,” he said. “There’s still something between us. I can feel it and I know you can, too.”

“It doesn’t matter what’s between us,” I managed to say, grabbing his hand to stop him touching me. “The bottom line is you broke my trust, Blane, and that’s not something you can just get back.”

I slid out from between him and the wall and hightailed it to my room before I did something I’d regret.

I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. My mind was in turmoil as anxiety for Blane ate at me, and behind all that there was an overwhelming sadness. But I didn’t want to think about the future. Right now I was with both Blane and Kade, and I didn’t want to squander any of my remaining time with either of them.

Blane’s question and behavior made it obvious that he wanted to get back together. I’d been honest with Blane—I didn’t trust him. He’d burned me too many times for me to consider getting back together. But getting my heart and emotions on the same page as my brain and common sense was impossible.

And then there was Kade.

Alone in the dark silence of my bed, I closed my eyes and relived that night in Vegas. All day every day, I had to keep the memories at bay, but at night they crept back in. Being with him tonight, having him kiss me, touch me—it made every one of those memories replay inside my head. It wasn’t something I should indulge in, but I couldn’t help it.

He’d opened up to me tonight, told me something about his past and what he was feeling now. Those moments with him were rare and I couldn’t bring myself to regret them.

My head was spinning and I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon. Blane kept bourbon in the library. Maybe a shot or two would help.

I climbed out of bed, my bare feet padding on the floor as I crept downstairs. I didn’t hear a thing as I passed by Kade’s room, and no light showed from under the door to Blane’s room at the end of the hallway.

Guilt and a little embarrassment washed over me. Was I really going to sneak booze in the middle of the night? Blane’s chastisement last week about my drinking still echoed in my head. But I was a grown woman. I could have a drink if I wanted one. It’s not like I needed permission.

A dim glow splashed into the hallway from the library door, open a scant few inches. The light wasn’t unusual. Blane often forgot to turn off all the lights when he went to bed.

But I didn’t expect the voices. I froze in place outside the door, listening.

“… cops will be here in the morning,” Blane was saying.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Kade replied. “Why are you a suspect?”

The clink of ice in a glass. Blane was drinking. “A neighbor saw me go in that night. And they don’t know it yet, but they have something even more incriminating.”

“What?”

A long pause. “Semen.”

The breath left my lungs in a rush and the room seemed to tilt. Blane had slept with Kandi on the night of her murder.

“They don’t know it’s yours.”

“No. Not yet. They don’t have my DNA and won’t get it without a court order or arresting me, neither of which they’re prepared to do. Yet.”

“Tell me you didn’t bareback with Kandi.”

Blane snorted. “I’m not that stupid. I always use a condom. The only time I haven’t was with—”

He cut himself off and there was silence for a moment. It seemed Kade knew what he’d been going to say, because he didn’t ask Blane to finish his sentence.

“But the condom’s still there. I’m sure they grabbed the trash. I’m guessing it’s already in evidence.”

“Was this just an incredibly badly timed reunion?” Kade asked.

“We weren’t back together again, if that’s what you’re asking,” Blane said. “We fucked a few times. It didn’t mean anything.” More ice clinked.

My eyes squeezed shut. This couldn’t be happening.

Kade snorted. “How long had that been going on?”

“I wasn’t cheating on Kat,” Blane bit out. “This was after we… broke up. Kandi must have found out about Kat and me—who knows?—but she came by one night. I was angry. She was available and willing. End of story.”

“Apparently not, if you kept fucking her,” Kade retorted.

Silence.

“Did you kill her?”

My legs gave out and I sank soundlessly to my knees on the floor. The fact that Kade was even asking the question had me reeling, as apparently it did Blane, too.

“You’d think that of me?” he asked in a pained but angry rasp.

“No, but shit happens. And if you did do it, then I need to know. You’re not going to jail—I don’t care what I have to do. That’s not going to happen.”

“Wouldn’t my being out of the picture solve a big problem for you?” Blane was angry now.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You think I don’t know you’re in love with Kathleen?”

There was a long silence and I covered my mouth with my hands so they wouldn’t hear my ragged breathing. My knees ached from being pressed against the hardwood floor.

“She picked you, brother,” Kade said quietly. “Long before she knew me. That doesn’t just go away because you fucked things up.”

“She’s better off without either of us.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen and you know it.”

A pause. “Did you sleep with her?”

“What do you care, Blane? You tossed her aside and fucked Kandi. Who else have you fucked the past few months? Yet you expect her to be a nun, waiting for you to come to your senses?”

Glass shattered and I started. My hands trembled, still covering my mouth.

“Can we get back to what the fuck you’re going to do about this?” Kade’s irritated voice cut through the sudden silence.

“What do you think I’m going to do? I’ll do everything in my power to fight it, call up every favor anyone has ever owed me.”

“Will that be enough?”

“I don’t know.”

They were quiet then and somehow I managed to get off the floor and creep back to my bedroom. I crawled underneath the covers, wishing I hadn’t heard everything I had. Images in my head of Blane and Kandi making love wouldn’t go away, though it sounded like it hadn’t really been making love, at least not from his perspective. And I didn’t know if that was better, or worse.

Two things became clear as I finally drifted to sleep. One, Kade hadn’t answered Blane’s question about whether or not we’d slept together, and two, Blane hadn’t said whether or not he’d killed Kandi.

I was awake, dressed, and downstairs before 7:00 A.M., but even that early start wasn’t enough for me to beat Charlotte’s arrival.

Both Charlotte and Blane were sitting at the kitchen table when I walked in. They looked up and I halted for a moment. Charlotte looked as surprised to see me as I was to see her. She recovered first.

“Kathleen,” she said in her come-fuck-me accent that put my teeth on edge. “I—it’s good to see you again.” She smiled and the smile I returned was just as fake.

“Same here,” I lied, heading for the fresh pot of coffee Mona had brewed. I poured myself a cup and took my time fixing it the way I liked. When I turned around to face them, Blane and Charlotte still hadn’t resumed their conversation.

“Kathleen is staying with me for a while,” Blane explained. His eyes devoured me from head to foot, and although it was vain of me, I was glad I’d taken pains to look good this morning. I’d figured the younger and more innocent I looked sitting at Blane’s side—because that’s where I was going to be regardless of what he said—the better it would look for him with the police. If I wasn’t afraid of him, then how could he possibly have done something like that to Kandi?

To that end, I’d chosen a navy sundress with a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves. The bodice was fitted and hugged my waist and hips, then flared out into a flirty skirt that stopped a couple of inches above my knees. I’d blown my hair dry, then added some curls so it lay in soft waves down my back. I’d painted my toes I’m Not Really a Waitress red and slipped on a pair of white sandals with three-inch heels.

“When will the police be here?” I asked, taking a sip of coffee.

“Shortly,” Charlotte replied.

Blane’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you have class today?”

I smiled and said, “Not today. I thought I might be able to help.”

“I said I don’t want you here for this,” he said, his words clipped.

I looked at Charlotte. “Would it help if I was there?”

She hesitated, then said, “Well, yes, and maybe more so if you and Blane were back together.” A pained expression had flitted across her face as she said this, then was gone, leaving me to wonder if I’d imagined it. “Are you?”

Blane’s gaze was steady on mine as I processed this information, then he turned to Charlotte.

“I don’t want her involved,” he said.

Damn it. That just pissed me off. Blane had risked his life to save mine too many times for me to turn my back on him now, and if saying we were back together was what it took to give him an edge with the police, then that’s what I’d do.

“Yes, actually,” I said, directing my words at Charlotte. “We’re back together.”

Her face was carefully blank as she glanced at my left hand. “You’ll need a ring.”

I looked at Blane as my stomach did a flip-flop. I hadn’t touched the ring he’d given me since I’d set it on his desk those many months ago. For all I knew, he’d returned it.

Blane’s jaw was set in steel bands as he looked at me, but his voice was calm when he said, “Charlotte? Would you please give us a moment?”

Charlotte excused herself and left the room, though neither of us looked at her—our eyes now locked in a battle of wills. Blane got up from the table and approached me. I stood my ground, tipping my head back to look him in the eye when he stopped.

“I don’t want you doing this,” he said flatly. “I know you’re trying to help and I appreciate that, but you’ve been through enough.”

“There’s no record of my flight to Vegas or my stay there,” I said. “I can be your alibi.” I set down my coffee. “You’ve saved my life too many times for me to turn my back on you now.”

Blane gripped my arms. “Kathleen, be realistic. You’re not going to lie to the police for me! I am not getting you involved in a murder investigation!” he said, giving me a shake. His voice was louder than he’d ever spoken to me. I flinched but my resolve didn’t waver, though I couldn’t say the same for my knees, which were practically knocking together. “Do you have any idea of what that entails?”

I gave a slight shake of my head, my lips pressed tightly closed.

“It means,” he said, “that the police will crawl into every aspect of your life. Your work, your friends, your finances. They’ll question your character, your motives, make you feel like you’re guilty of something you didn’t even do. And through it all will be the press, documenting and overanalyzing everything. It’ll destroy you!” His voice wasn’t as loud but was just as intense, pushing me to capitulate, to give up.

“Then what’s it going to do to you?”

Blane didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. I knew as well as he did that what happened in the next few days could ruin everything he’d worked his entire life for—his career, his reputation, everything that meant anything to him.

“Where’s the ring?” I asked. His hands still had a hold of my upper arms, the grip tight but not painful.

Something flashed in his eyes and his jaw clenched. The tension between us was thick, a war between his stubbornness and my determination to help him.

“Blane.”

Both of us turned to see Mona standing in the doorway. Her eyes flicked to where Blane held me, then back to his face. “Blane, the police are here. I put them in the library with Charlotte.”

“Thank you,” Blane said politely, utterly controlled again.

Mona nodded and disappeared.

Blane released me but took my hand and led me out of the kitchen. To my surprise, we didn’t go to the library but headed upstairs, to Blane’s bedroom.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “Shouldn’t we be downstairs?”

“I thought you wanted the ring?” He let go of my hand and went to his closet.

I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. I didn’t know if I was ready to put that ring on my finger again, even if it was just a charade.

Blane emerged from the closet, holding the same velvet box he’d given me four months ago. Walking over to me, he opened it and took out the ring.

“This was always yours,” he said, taking my hand in his. He turned it palm up and placed the ring in my palm, closing my fingers over it. “I bought it for you and want you to have it, no matter what happens between us.”

I could barely breathe, the cold metal of the ring pressing against my skin. Blane’s eyes searched mine and I wondered what he saw in them. My feelings were so confused and conflicted, I didn’t know what to think or say.

Blane glanced at his watch. “We’d better get downstairs. Do you want to freshen up before we go?”

I nodded wordlessly, welcoming a moment to regain my composure. I brushed by Blane into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

I stared at the ring for a moment before sliding it back onto my finger. I remembered when they’d taken it from me on that island, and how Blane had somehow gotten it back. He’d rescued me. Saved me. I straightened my spine. Now it was my turn to do what I could to rescue him.

Coming out of the bathroom, I realized Blane was no longer in the bedroom. I frowned, wondering if he’d gone downstairs without me. Then I saw the bedroom door was shut. Afraid that I already knew what he’d done, I ran to it and twisted the knob.

Locked.

He’d locked me in his fucking bedroom.

“Goddammit!” I yelled, slamming my palms against the door.

Furious, I yanked on the handle again. Why did he have a door that locked on the outside? Never mind, that wasn’t important. What was important was that the cops were downstairs with Blane while I was stuck up here.

Okay, I had to get a grip. Being mad and yelling wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I thought of calling Kade, but my cell wasn’t on me. Plus, I had no idea if he was still in the house or gone. Considering how he and Blane liked to keep their family ties a secret, I assumed he was making himself scarce this morning.

I bent down and studied the lock on the knob. It had been a while, but maybe…

Ten minutes and a lot of cursing later, the lock clicked and the knob turned. I wanted to squeal with satisfaction. Tossing aside the tiepin I’d used to pick the lock, I got to my feet and smoothed my dress. I’d go downstairs and do what I could to help save Blane, then I’d kill him.

My heels clicked on the hardwood floor as I walked toward the library, and I could hear voices. Taking a deep breath and squaring my shoulders, I walked in.

The look on Blane’s face would have made me laugh if the circumstances had been different. My smile was perfectly real as I greeted the two plainclothes detectives seated across from Blane and Charlotte.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” I said, holding out my hand to each of them in turn and ramping up the Southern belle. “Blane thinks my disposition is such that this might be too unpleasant for me, but I assured him that I’m not going to let him go through this alone.”

I sat next to Blane and took his hand in both of mine, settling it in the folds of my skirt, then dug my nails into his palm. He didn’t flinch, but his hand fisted, capturing my fingers and stilling them.

“Please continue,” I said, crossing my legs.

One of the detectives glanced at my legs, then cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, miss. You are—?”

“Kathleen Turner,” I replied. “Blane’s fiancée.”

Both men wrote that down in the little notebooks they held.

“And were you with Mr. Kirk the night Miss Miller was murdered?”

I frowned. “I’m so sorry about that poor woman. It was awful what happened to her.”

“Yes, it was,” the detective said. “Were you with Mr. Kirk that night?”

I took a deep breath and did something I’d thought I’d never do to a police officer—I lied. “Yes. Yes, I was.” My dad had to be turning over in his grave.

Blane’s grip on my hand tightened to the point of inflicting pain.

The detective consulted his notes again. “Miss Miller was involved with Mr. Kirk for a while. When did you and he start seeing each other?”

“Last fall,” I said. “Kandi never got over the fact that Blane chose me and not her.”

The detective seemed uncomfortable as he asked his next question, but his gaze was steady on mine and I braced myself.

“You are aware that Mr. Kirk has admitted that he and Miss Miller were having an affair for the past few weeks?”

Blane went utterly still next to me and I avoided the impulse to glance at him. His hand still held mine in a viselike grip. I was suddenly glad I’d overheard him and Kade talking last night so I was prepared, otherwise my shock would’ve given away the game.

My expression turned into one of regret and sorrow. “I’m sure you of all people, Detective, would know that every relationship has its problems. Blane and I had a disagreement that kept us at odds for a short time, but we’ve worked through our differences.”

“And why me ‘of all people’?” he asked.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to assume. It’s just that my daddy was a cop and I know from firsthand experience the toll that can take on a relationship.”

The detective gripped the notepad with his right hand, his left hand clenching in a fist. I’d noticed the faint mark of an absent wedding ring on his finger. He was recently separated or divorced and judging from the mark that was still there, I guessed the former.

“Was a cop?”

“He died in the line of duty when I was fifteen,” I explained. This time I didn’t have to fake the sadness in my voice.

“And how would your daddy feel about you marrying a man who regularly gets criminals acquitted?”

Ah. A personal ax to grind? Lovely.

I gave the detective a look my mother used to give me when I sassed her, a mix of disappointment and patience. “I think he would be proud that I’m marrying a man who spent several years serving his country in war. I think he would be grateful to Blane for risking his own life several times to help me and others. I think he would be glad I found someone with the strength of his convictions and a strong sense of justice and loyalty, a good man who loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me.”

It took every ounce of self-control I had to keep my composure after that little speech. It was exactly how I’d felt after Blane had proposed and the memory made my heart ache.

The detective’s smile was devoid of humor. “Well, Mr. Kirk is lucky to have a woman like you standing by him at a time like this.”

I stiffened. I could tell by his tone that he was already convinced of Blane’s guilt and pitied a woman who would stand by a murderer.

The detective focused again on Blane. “So let’s just go through the events of that night one more time,” he said.

I turned to Blane and our eyes caught. His mask was firmly in place and I couldn’t read what he was thinking or feeling. I could only feel the pressure of his hand gripping mine.

Blane cleared his throat before answering. “Kandi had called me, wanted me to come by. Said she wanted to talk to me. I arrived around 9:00 P.M.”

“And you didn’t mind him going to see her?” the detective asked me.

“Kandi is… was… a longtime family friend,” I said impassively. “No, I didn’t mind.”

“What did you and she talk about?” he asked Blane.

“Our relationship, such as it was. She’d been drinking and was… highly emotional.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“Kandi was angry one moment, crying the next.”

“What was she angry about?”

“That’s speculative,” Charlotte interjected.

“This is an informal questioning, Counselor,” the detective snapped. “Not a court of law.”

“It’s okay,” Blane murmured to Charlotte.

“She was angry about us,” Blane answered. “She didn’t feel like we were going anywhere. She said I was just using her.”

“Weren’t you? After all, it wasn’t as if you were planning to marry her, was it?” The detective sneered in contempt.

“That’s neither here nor there, is it, Detective?” Blane avoided the question.

“Did you have sex that night?”

“No.”

It looked like I wasn’t the only one lying to the police today.

“Did anyone see you arrive at her home?”

“A neighbor was walking their dog when I got there.”

“Anyone see you leave?”

“Not that I’m aware.”

The detective wrote that down. “Then what happened?”

Blane sighed. “That’s all. Kandi’s temper tantrums weren’t an unusual occurrence. I told her we’d talk about it when she calmed down and I left.”

“And what time was that?”

“A little after ten.”

“Did you go anywhere after that?”

“No, I came straight home.”

“And you can verify that, Miss Turner?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Kirk, you’re trained in many forms of hand-to-hand combat, are you not?”

“Yes.”

“Ever strangle someone before?”

“No.”

“Ever kill someone with your bare hands?”

It took a moment for Blane to answer, and when he did, his voice was cold. “I spent five years in the Navy deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yes, I’ve killed without a weapon.”

The detective turned to me again. “Have you and Mr. Kirk ever argued?”

“Of course we have,” I said stiffly.

“Has he ever hit you or injured you in any way?”

I had a flash, my memory conjuring the time Blane had smashed his fist into my jaw when he’d been having a nightmare and I’d tried to wake him. “No,” I said. “Absolutely not.” But I could tell he’d noticed my hesitation and I wanted to kick myself.

“If you don’t mind me saying so, Miss Turner,” he said, motioning to my face, “it looks like you’ve had an accident recently.”

The bruises where David had hit me had faded and I’d used makeup to cover the yellowing spots, but apparently the detective could still see them.

I smiled tightly. “I’m afraid I was clumsy.”

“It occurs to me,” the detective said, sitting back in his chair and directing his attention to Blane, “that having a governor who casually cheats on his fiancée wouldn’t be something most people would appreciate. Did Kandi threaten you, Mr. Kirk? Did she say she was going to go public with your affair and that’s why you killed her?”

“Don’t answer that,” Charlotte ordered. “Detective, you’re out of line.”

He smiled as he put his notepad into the pocket of his jacket. “It was just speculation, Ms. Page.” He stood, as did the other detective. “We’d like a DNA sample as soon as possible.”

“You’ll need a court order,” Charlotte said. “Mr. Kirk has already admitted to being present the night of the victim’s death.”

“A warrant is public record, you know,” the detective said. “The news media will likely have a field day with that.”

“My client has an alibi for the time of death,” Charlotte replied. “I’d like to see you try to get a warrant.”

Blane got to his feet but remained quiet, letting Charlotte handle it. He kept hold of my hand and I rose as well.

The detectives turned to go, but before they reached the door, the one who’d led the questioning turned. “By the way, it seems that whoever killed Miss Miller also raped her.” He paused, his eyes flicking to mine. “Postmortem.”

Nausea rose like a wave in my throat. My knees threatened to buckle and I clutched Blane’s arm for support. His arm slid around my waist, holding me up as the detectives left the room. I heard the front door open and close.

Charlotte glanced at Blane and me. “I’ll wait outside,” she said, her face carefully blank.

I barely noticed her leaving, my mind busy trying not to imagine the horrible things that someone had done to Kandi. Someone so sadistic I had trouble wrapping my head around it.

Blane coaxed me to him and I let him wrap his arms around me, resting my head against his chest. My hands fisted the fabric of his shirt. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. My anger at being locked in the bedroom had evaporated into sober grief as the reality of what Blane was facing set in.

He could never, ever do something like that. Sleeping with Kandi was one thing, but Blane would never physically harm her, nor was he capable of violating her dead body in such a way.

“Are you all right?” I asked, leaning back so I could look up at him. I couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling. He’d been there with her, argued with her, just a short while before she’d been murdered. What if he’d stayed? Would she still be alive? Those thoughts had to have gone through Blane’s mind a dozen times at least.

Blane was pale under his tan, the lines around his eyes more pronounced than usual. “You see why I didn’t want you around,” he said. “I didn’t want you to hear, to know, any of that. I didn’t want you to lie to them.”

“I know you could never do something like that,” I said. I thought about asking why he’d lied about having sex with her that night but decided not to. He’d wonder how I knew, then I’d have to admit eavesdropping on him and Kade last night.

He looked at me for a moment, then leaned forward, brushing his lips over my cheek before settling his mouth by my ear.

“I’m so sorry, Kat,” he whispered.

I didn’t have to ask to know what he meant.

“We were broken up,” I managed to say, my voice soft as a wave of sorrow washed over me. “Why would I think you wouldn’t be with her, or anyone else, after that?” The words made sense, were logical, but it took a massive amount of will to say them. My heart felt something else entirely, which seemed hugely hypocritical of me, but I felt what I felt.

I thought perhaps I should step back, put some space between us, but Blane had both arms wrapped tightly around me, pressing us close together so I felt every inch of him from chest to knee.

Blane’s face was etched in regret and grief. “God, I wish I could turn back the clock,” he murmured. “So many things I would change.”

“Things happen for a reason, Blane,” I said. “Maybe you and me were never meant to be together.”

His eyes squeezed shut as though what I’d said pained him, and maybe it did. It had hurt to say it.

“Don’t say that,” he said, his eyes brilliantly green when he opened them. “Please. You’re all I have to hold on to right now.”

I looked him in the eye. “I’m not the only one standing by your side. You have Kade, too.”

“I no more want Kade to be involved than I want you to be,” Blane said. “It’s too dangerous. Whoever did this to Kandi is still out there.”

“Then I guess we’d better get to finding them.”

I started at the sound of Kade’s voice behind me and jerked guiltily out of Blane’s arms. Kade was leaning negligently against the doorjamb, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t look at me.

“There’s no ‘we,’ ” Blane said. “You don’t need to be involved in this.”

Kade rolled his eyes. “Still trying to do everything on your own, I see,” he sneered. “God forbid anyone should help the great Blane Kirk.”

Blane didn’t take the bait but instead turned away, going to his desk and pocketing his wallet and cell phone. He grabbed his keys. “I have to go to the firm with Charlotte. I’ll be back later.”

His fingers lightly brushed mine as he passed, then he was gone. I chewed my lip, worrying about what was going to happen. Kade was right, we needed to figure out who had killed Kandi. That was the only sure way to save Blane.

“You look like sugar wouldn’t melt in your mouth,” Kade said with a smirk, his gaze moving from my face down to my red-tipped toes and back.

I shrugged. “Just trying to help Blane out if I can. I thought it might put him in a slightly better light if I was there this morning.” I needed more coffee to handle Kade, I decided, heading toward the door to pass by him.

“And looking like an untouched virgin will help?”

I definitely didn’t want to discuss anything related to sex with Kade, and I lightly smacked him on the chest.

“Don’t say things like that!” I admonished.

Kade suddenly gripped my left hand, his mischievous smirk fading. He was staring at the engagement ring on my finger.

“What the hell is this?” he demanded. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He appeared livid, his grip on my hand way too tight.

I tried in vain to pull my hand away. “It’s to help Blane,” I said. “Charlotte said it would look better if we were back together, so I said I’d do it.” His hold finally loosened and I snatched my hand back. “What does it matter anyway? You told me to get back with him.”

“I know, it’s just—” He turned away, shoving a hand through his hair.

“Just what?” I prompted, nearly holding my breath, though why, I couldn’t say.

He spun around and gripped my arms, hauling me close to him. “Just that I can’t get you out of my head,” he hissed. “I think about you all the time. Hell, I even dream about you.”

I stared at him, my eyes wide, not knowing what to say.

“And you know the worst part?” he continued, his voice low and intense. “It’s the dreams—God, the dreams.” He gave a huff of bitter laughter. “It’s like you’re trying to make me lose my fucking mind. They’re so real.” His grip loosened, his palms skimming lightly down my arms. “Why are they so real?”

My heart was hammering in my chest, my mouth as dry as dust. I shook my head. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?”

I was saved from answering by Mona stepping into the room. “Kathleen,” she said, “you have a phone call.”

I knew I must have looked like a deer in headlights. First she’d seen Blane with me this morning, and now Kade. I cringed to wonder what she must think of me, but her face showed nothing except a friendly smile.

“Um, okay, thanks,” I said.

She pointed behind me to a telephone sitting on the table. “You can take it there.”

I picked up the receiver automatically. “Hello?”

“Strawbs, what the hell happened to your apartment?”

Chance! I hadn’t talked to my cousin in weeks, not since he’d gone back to Atlanta after finishing his part in the human trafficking case he’d been working.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, a huge smile breaking across my face. “How are you?”

“I’m fine—now what’s going on with you that someone’s firebombing your apartment? And Alisha tells me you’re shacking up with Kirk?”

I winced. Chance’s hostility toward and suspicion of Blane hadn’t waned, even though Blane had rescued me. The ensuing breakup that I’d had no choice but to tell him about had wiped away any goodwill Blane had generated with Chance. I’d had to talk Chance down from a towering rage when I’d told him; he’d wanted to confront Blane to tell him what a “fucking dick” he was.

“William Gage is out of prison,” I said, “and he’s carrying a grudge. The bomb was courtesy of him. Kade spotted it in time to—”

“Kade?” Chance interrupted. “As in Dennon? Christ, Strawbs, when I left town I thought both of them were out of your life. And good riddance.”

I bristled. “Are you through?” I asked coldly. “Or should I just hang up and I’ll talk to you again in six months?”

Chance sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I get to your apartment only to find it burned out, which was nearly enough to give me a heart attack. Then Alisha tells me you’re staying with that sonofabitch. I kind of flipped out.”

My irritation faded. My cousin loved me and I could understand his worry. “I’m okay,” I said. “Really.”

“Well, I’m in town and I want to see you,” he said. “Can you meet me for lunch?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said.

We settled on a time that he would pick me up and I hung up the phone.

If I’d hoped Kade would leave while I was on the phone, I was disappointed.

“Saved by Barney Fife?” he asked. I let his nickname for Chance pass. Blane, Kade, and Chance were never going to get along, much less like each other, and that was that.

“He’s going to come by and take me to lunch,” I said. “I probably should get some studying done before he comes. I have a couple of finals next week.” I glanced nervously at Kade, hoping he’d let what we’d been talking about drop.

Kade walked over to look out the window. He was playing with something in his hand, though it was too small for me to tell what it was. I couldn’t say whether or not he was seeing anything through the glass as he stood there; he seemed lost in thought.

“I, um, I guess I’ll see you later,” I said when he didn’t reply.

That seemed to rouse Kade from his contemplation and he turned around, shoving whatever he held into the pocket of his jeans.

“Yeah,” he said somewhat absently. “I’m going to check into Kandi’s phone records. See who she was calling.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Stay alive,” he said curtly. “Tell Barney to keep a close eye out and his gun on him.”

I frowned. “You think Gage will still try something? Even after yesterday?”

“I’d just rather you be safe than me be sorry.”

Peachy.

Chance was right on time and I didn’t give him an opportunity to come inside—I really didn’t need a run-in between him and either Blane or Kade. I met him halfway up the sidewalk, where he grabbed me in a big bear hug.

“God, it’s good to see you!” he said.

I hugged him just as tightly. There was nothing quite like how family could make you feel.

Chance set me back on my feet and stepped back to take a look at me. “Well, you look better than you did the last time I saw you,” he said.

Yes, the last time he’d seen me, I’d resembled a walking zombie.

“You look good, too,” I said with a smile.

“So is Mexican okay with you?” he asked as we walked to his car.

“Sure.”

I told him about William Gage and his obsessive vendetta against me as he drove. “But Kade paid him a visit yesterday,” I said, “and I’m hoping that’ll be enough to get him to stop.”

“What kind of visit?” Chance asked.

I hesitated. Chance was a cop and I didn’t want to get Kade in trouble. “It’s not important,” I said, brushing off his question. “So tell me what’s been up with you?”

Chance shot me a look, but I just blinked innocently back at him. He sighed.

“Well, actually, I do have some news,” he said, parking the car in the lot of a little restaurant.

“What is it?” I asked after I got out of the car.

He held up his left hand and I gasped.

“You got married!”