by Kayt Miller
“I’m sorry.” The captain leans closer. “Can you be more specific?”
Buchanan sits up suddenly. “Not without my lawyer present.”
“Very well,” Billings says resignedly. Dan stands first, then the captain. “We’ll let you know when he gets here.”
“Great.”
God, Dorian Buchanan is a smug bastard.
The minute the two are through the door of the booth, it slams shut and the captain yells, “My office. Now!”
Yeah. I’m screwed.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Daisy
It’s been hours and I’m still in a jail cell. And it’s all my goddamn father’s fault.
God, I hate him.
Everything is all his fault. Everything.
I was so close to having everything exactly how I wanted it, but then he did what he always does and fucked it up.
“Ahhhhh!” I scream as loud as I can from my cell. “Let me out of here!”
I hear the pounding of footsteps and smile inwardly. It’s working.
“What’s wrong?” asks a young cop I’ve never seen before.
Doing my best to get the waterworks going, I sob, “I c-can’t be in here. I’m s-scared of small spaces.”
“You’re claustrophobic?” asks the other cop who joined him. A much older one.
“I am. I’ve always been a-afraid.” I sniffle and cover my eyes. It’s true, though. Ever since my pathetic excuse for a father had me locked up in the loony bin at age eight, where they housed me in a room that was, at most, five-by-five feet. I had a tiny cot and that was it.
“Can’t I wait out there?” I point in the direction they just came from. “I’ll apologize to my father. I was just upset. I didn’t mean to push him.”
“Miss…,” the older cop starts.
I think of something sad—you know, like me not being free—and the tears really start to fall. “I can’t be in here.”
With the voice of a man who actually cares about other people, the older man says, “Give me a minute, sweetheart. Let me see where we’re at on all of this.”
As the pair walk away, I can hear them. They’re arguing. The young guy thinks I should stay put, but the old one is 100 percent team Daisy.
It’s too bad fucking Gage isn’t. Where the hell is he, anyway? It’s been hours since he asked me if I had my father stop by my place that night.
God. This is all such a joke.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Gage
This probably won’t shock you, but I’m off the case. Not only am I off the case, but I’m on paid administrative leave as well. The captain told me to take a couple of weeks to “think about my priorities.” I’m not sure what he means.
Actually, yes I do.
He wants me to spend time pondering whether or not I want to be a cop.
It’s a good question. I mean, I thought I wanted to be a cop. I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to be an officer of the law. But now?
I’m not so sure.
To make matters worse, I wasn’t allowed to go back in to see Daisy, to explain why I was no longer able to help her with her father’s charge against her. Hell, even with him being questioned for the murder of Kara Becker, he still declined to drop it.
So now I’m home. I’ve changed into sweats, a tee, and a hoodie with the intention of going for a run, but I can’t seem to leave my house.
What if Daisy gets released?
She doesn’t have a key to my place. Not yet, anyway.
“Fuck.”
Pulling my phone out of my hoodie pocket, I shoot off a quick text. Then, before I can talk myself out of it, I grab my keys and wallet and slip them in the front pocket along with my phone, and head out, leaving the front door unlocked in case Daisy returns. A run will clear my head, and there’s nothing I need more than that right now.
My usual route is about five miles, but I’ve got another one, a longer one, that I decide to take today. Turning left in front of my house instead of right, I jog down to Lincolnway, which is one of the main thoroughfares in Ames. From there, I head west past some of the dormitories and Welch Avenue. I’m tempted to stop at Cy’s to… what, talk to Luke? Have a beer? But, I don’t. Instead of turning onto Welch Avenue, I continue west.
By the time I’ve jogged to the large grocery store in west Ames, I know I’ve reached the halfway point. With my hands on my waist, I bend to take in some air. So far, all this run has done was wind me. My head’s still full of… well, full of thoughts I can’t seem to organize.
“Gage?”
Hearing my name makes me jump a little. It’s unexpected. Pulling myself up to stand, I look left.
“Over here.”
To my right, I see someone familiar. “Oh, hey, Kat.”
Stepping over to me, she smiles. “What’re you doing?”
I point to my attire. “Out for a run.” I look at her clothing. She’s got on a sweatshirt and exercise pants along with a cool pair of running shoes. “What about you?”
“Also out for a run.” She laughs. “The Beedle Babes have been taking morning walks for a while now, and it’s been good, but I decided to up my game and added a run to my routine twice a week. I’m working up to doing a 5K next spring.”
“Good for you.” I smile. “I’ve done a couple of those.”
“And would recommend them?”
“Sure. It’s a great goal.” I can’t think of anything else to say.
“Are you heading east or west?” she asks, pointing east.
“East. Heading back to my place.”
“Mind if I jog with you for a bit?” She blushes. “I’m sure you’ll want to pull away after a block, but we could start out together.”
Not really. I’d prefer to run alone, but I’m not going to be rude. “Sure.”
We start off at a slow pace, which is okay with me. I’m tired from, well, everything. My sleep schedule is off too, which isn’t helping.
“So, how’s the investigation going?” Kat asks.
I’m not sure why I say it, maybe because I’m tired, but I blurt, “I’m off the case.”
She stops running suddenly, “What? Why?”
“I started seeing the eyewitness.”
Kat’s blinking at me. Her face morphs from something pretty to something angry. Jamming her hands on her hips, she spits, “You’re sleeping with the person who told you that Tayler murdered Kara?”
“That’s not what she told me.”
“Let me rephrase that.” She glares at me., “So, you’re sleeping with the person who claims Tayler was at the murder scene.”
“Look, we’ve all but cleared Tayler, okay?” I sigh. “I started seeing her after I was sure Tayler was innocent.”
“Oh.” Her arms drop to her side. “Sorry.”
“I get it. You’re looking out for your friend. I’d do the same.” Hell, I was doing the same.
“So, is that why you’re off the case?”
I point to the east and start my jog again. Kat follows suit.
“Yes. My boss, the captain, told me to end things with her, but I—”
“Do you love her?”
My breath catches at her question. “Love?”
“Yeah. Do you love her? You must. You were taken off the case. You weren’t willing to give her up. You must love her.”
I can’t say that. Not yet. “We’ve only just met.”
Kat’s breathing has become labored, but she keeps right on talking. “So you couldn’t wait to date until after the investigation was over?”
I’m quiet for a block or two. Her question is a good one. Why didn’t I wait? “I told her I wanted to wait, but I guess I… I don’t know. I should have waited.” It would have been best for Daisy in the long run. I could be helping her get out of jail right now rather than running away from my problems—literally.
“Maybe it’s not too late. Maybe talk to your boss about it. Tell him you were smitten and yo
u didn’t think it through.”
That’s not going to work.
“Oh, I know.” Kat reaches out and takes hold of my arm. I slow down to a walk. “Just tell him you’ll wait. That your job is your priority right now. I mean, if it’s meant to be with this girl, it will be.”
Stopping again, I look at Kat. “Do you really feel that way?” It sounds like a rather fanciful notion, if you ask me.
“Of course.” She shrugs. “I believe in fate. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Fate?”
“Yeah. Like us running into each other.” She slaps my arm and giggles. “Get it. Run into each other?”
I smile at her. She’s always been so quiet whenever I’ve been around the ladies from Beedle Drive, but I guess I’m usually investigating something when I see them. I’d be quiet too. “I get it.”
“Hey, let’s grab a beer.” I look up and see we’ve stopped on the corner of Welch and Lincolnway.
I glance to my right and wonder if Daisy’s home yet. Even if she is, do I want to see her?
That’s not the right question. No, the question is will she want to see me?
“Sure,” I reply after a moment.
“We could eat too,” Kat says, starting up the hill toward the bar. “Fried pickles, here I come.”
“Do you think that’s the way to go if you’re training for a 5k?”
“Sure. Why not?” She smirks at me. “I’ll burn off about five pickles on the way back.”
“Sounds about right.” I laugh as I catch up and walk next to her. “What about a burger and fries? Think I can burn those off in a few miles?”
“Sure.” Kat grasps the handle to Cy’s and opens the door. “My guess, you’d burn off eight fries and one bite of cheeseburger in three miles.”
Reaching up, I grasp the edge of the door and hold it open for her to enter. “Bet you’re right.”
“Of course I’m always right.” Kat releases a little snort, and it makes me smile again. “As long as you remember that, we’ll be fine.”
I chuckle. “Have you had issues with this in the past? You know, people not knowing you’re right all the time?”
Finding a table in the back, Kat slides into a booth and nods. “It’s why my two-year relationship ended.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
She shrugs. “Well, that and he cheated on me.”
“Shit.”
Waving it away, she smiles. “It’s fine.” She shakes her head. “Not really, but that was a couple of months ago. I’m really fine. Now that I’m on the other side of it, I’m glad it happened. He… well, he wasn’t the man I thought he was, and I learned he wasn’t the kind of man I want to end up with. I want an honest, stand-up guy.”
I’m tempted to ask her what she means by that, but a waitress approaches to ask us what we’d like to order. We both select a beer on tap along with fried pickles, a cheeseburger each, and a basket of fries. Once the waitress leaves, it’s quiet for the first time since we ran into each other.
“So, you’re okay now?” I ask softly.
“Single and ready to mingle,” Kat says with a smile. Then she adds, “Just kidding. No, I feel good. It was difficult, sure, but for the best. I really mean that.”
“That’s good.”
She reaches out and taps the top of my hand with one of her fingers. “I know there’s more, Gage, so spill. Tell me everything that’s going on with you.”
My eyes find hers, and I know for certain she’s sincere. She cares. The question is, can I trust her?
She must be a mind reader, because she holds up three fingers and says, “I won’t tell a soul. Scout’s honor.”
“You were a scout?”
“Sure. I was a Girl Scout, a Brownie, and a Bluebird.”
“Wow. Okay. Consider yourself vetted.”
“Awesome.”
So I talk. I tell her everything—well, not anything related to the case, but everything from the moment I saw Daisy’s eye in the small opening in her door to today and the events that landed her in jail. I think I’ve shocked her with the last part.
“She’s in jail? Right now?” She points down at the table.
“I believe so, yes.”
“And you can’t help her?”
Our food arrives, and we go quiet as we open our utensils and prepare to eat.
“Not right now, no,” I finally reply. “One of the guys I was working with, Lance Finch, said he’d do what he could.” And for some fucking reason, I believe him. “She’s going to be upset.” I don’t think Daisy is going to understand that I was in no position to barter for her release. As angry as the captain was, anything I tried would have probably made things worse for her. I shrug. “Maybe it’s a sign.”
“Oh, so now you’re all about fate?” Kat smirks as she bites into a fried pickle dipped in ranch dressing. “You want to know what I think?”
“Sure.” Why not?
“I think she’d be crazy not to understand the situation you’re in.”
I’m listening. “You think?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because, Gage, you’re what we single women call a unicorn.”
I put my hand on the top of my head.
Nope. No horn.
“A what?” Then I laugh. “What the hell does that mean?”
Taking a drink from her beer, Kat explains. “A unicorn is a guy who’s the whole package. A unicorn is kind, sexy, smart, and loyal. They love their woman with everything they’ve got. They’re protective, but not in a bad way. They’re rare. Like the unicorn.”
“Unicorns don’t exist.” And neither do guys like Kat’s describing.
“They do, but like I said, they’re very rare. And you’re one of them.”
“I’m not.” Really, I’m not. I left Daisy alone in a damn cell, for shit’s sake.
“Just take a compliment, will ya?” She laughs.
“I can take a compliment, but that’s putting a lot of pressure on me.”
“Nah.” She shakes her head. “You can’t help it. It’s who you are.”
I have no idea where she got these ideas about me, but I’m no goddamn unicorn.
I drink the last of my beer and set the glass down just as my phone chimes. Looking down at the screen, I see it’s Finch. He’s finally getting back to me after I sent him a text before my run. Holding up my finger, I tell Kat I’ve got to take the call. Sliding out of the booth, I walk to the back of the bar where it’s a little quieter.
“Golden,” I answer quickly.
“Man, you won’t believe the shit that just went down here.”
“What?” Please don’t tell me Daisy’s hurt.
“We just got the fingerprints back from the pink envelope and the photos.”
Here we go. “And?”
“The outside of the envelope had Daisy’s prints like we expected. It also had Kara’s and Dorian Buchanan’s.”
“We expected that as well. So what’s the issue?”
“It’s the photos on the inside.”
“Yeah?” Jesus. Spit it out, man.
“They only had one set of prints on them.”
I hold my breath, waiting. “Whose prints?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Gage
“Thanks for coming,” the captain says with a scowl. “As soon as we’ve got this wrapped up, you and me, we’re gonna sit down and talk about all of this. Yeah?”
I nod, but I’m not actually listening to him. Instead, I’m looking through the two-way glass into the interrogation room at Dan, who’s sitting across from someone I care about. “So you think Dan should be the one to talk to her?”
“I do. You’re too close to her.”
“Don’t you think she needs a lawyer?”
“Finch Mirandized her. She waived her right to an attorney.”
Damn it, Daisy. I see my scowl in the reflection on the glass.
I should be in there with her.
�
�Dan’s able to ask the tough questions without it being personal.”
Now my reflection reads irritation. I’m able to separate my personal feelings… well, shit, maybe he’s right.
“Let’s see if Dan can find out what happened that night.” He shrugs. “Hell, maybe we’re wrong about everything.”
We both watch as Dan begins. “Daisy, my name is Detective Trumbull. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Where’s Gage?” she asks. “You told me Gage was going to be here.”
“He’s on his way.” Dan pretends to jot something on a piece of paper. “The sooner we get done here, the sooner you can talk to Gage.”
That’s bullshit. I hate that he’s lying to her.
“So let’s get started, okay?”
“Okay.” Daisy smiles sweetly.
“Let’s talk about the pink envelope.”
In milliseconds, her smile falls and a frown appears. “The one in my father’s desk?”
“That one, yes.”
“What about it?”
“How did the pink envelope end up in his desk?” Dan asks.
“I put it there.”
I can’t believe she just admitted to that.
“When?”
“Today. I took it into the house with me and put it there. Duh.”
I guess it was as simple as that.
“There were photos inside,” Dan tells her, though of course she already knows.
She sits quietly.
“Photos of your dad and Kara.”
Still no reaction from her until Dan says, “They were having an affair.”
“I know.” Her voice is firm and unwavering.
“How did you know?”
“I followed them.”
She what?
“Why did you follow them?”
With a shrug, she sits back in her chair and crosses her legs. “I just needed to know what he was up to.”
“Why did you need to know that?”
“Because. He’s always monitoring me. It was my turn to do the same to him. I wanted to show him what that felt like.”
“Did he know? That you were following him?”