Kate (The Dimarco Series Book 5)

by Jennifer Hanks

  “I don’t know how to do that.” She finally admitted what I’d already known.

  “Tell me about your ex-husband.”

  She stiffened and sat up. “It’s a long story, probably not one to start right now.”

  “Will you tell me?”

  She swallowed hard, staring at her hands before meeting my stare. “I’ll tell you.”

  I put out my pinkie finger. “Promise?”

  I was fucking thrilled when I got the reaction I was hoping for and she smiled a small smile. She linked her pinkie with mine. “I promise.”

  “Can you come out and talk to the police with me?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.”

  I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips before leaving the small room and heading back to the kitchen. Looking around, I noticed the officers were gone, as were Jake and Lanie. Mom still sat on the couch, only with Dad now, talking quietly while watching Andy and Bray play with the Legos Lanie had brought over this morning. Cam gestured by tilting his head towards the front door that he wanted me to follow him outside, which I did. I stood on the porch and leaned my hip against the post on the side of the few steps leading to the porch, mirroring Cam’s position across from me.

  “Talk to me.”

  Cam ran the palm of his hand over his face, he looked exhausted. “I sent Ferguson and the others on their way after they delivered the news from the Fire Marshall.”

  “Arson?”

  He scratched the back of his neck. “Yep. Ferguson’s the lead on this case, so I told him about Tonya and Aries. He plans to bring them in for questioning today. We talked about doing it last night but decided to wait for the report to come back.”

  I took a deep breath. “It came back fast.”

  “The Marshall said it wasn’t hard to see an accelerant had been poured around the perimeter of the house. He said it was sloppy. Whoever did it was not trying to hide it.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “I can’t imagine Tonya doing it.”

  “She still texting you?”

  I dropped my arms, nervous energy starting to make me antsy. “She was. Every fucking day.”

  He shook his head. “What the hell does she want?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been clear, man. I was even mean to her, but she wasn’t getting the message, so I blocked her.”

  He straightened. “When?”

  “Couple days ago.” I held up my hand. “I know what you’re going to say. I thought of it too, but come on, would blocking her texts really prompt her to set a fire? That’s a huge leap.”

  He shoved his hands in to his front pockets. “Don’t know man. I’ve seen some crazy shit. What are you thinking about Aries?”

  I looked down at my shoes, raising my eyes to his after a minute. “I think he’s more likely. He seems more unstable to me.”

  “Well, in either case we’ll bring them both in for questioning.” Cam shifted his feet. “Ferguson asked about Kate’s ex. Wondered if there’s anything there we need to be looking in to.”

  I snorted. “She told me she doesn’t hear from him; doesn’t sound like she even knows where he is.”

  “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know where she is.”

  I frowned. “What’s his motive? They’re not in a custody dispute, she’s not fighting their divorce, hell she’s not even asking for child support.”

  Cam ran his hand over his face again. “Alright, I’m going to get some sleep. I’ll catch up with Ferguson in a few hours, see where he’s at with everything.”

  I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Thanks man.”

  He slapped me on the side of the arm when he moved past me, heading for his truck. I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly while I watched him back out, going over our conversation in my mind. We were missing something, I could feel it in my gut.

  Turning, I opened the door and walked inside to see Mom standing with Kate in the kitchen, while Dad hung out with the boys. His eyes came to mine and I saw something rare in them; anger. He was feeling this for Kate. He stood and made his way towards me, following me into the kitchen.

  “What did Cam have to say?” Dad jumped right in.

  I leaned my palms on the island and looked down at my shoes, again searching for the right words, but ultimately realizing there weren’t any. I needed to say it outright. Glancing around the kitchen, I stood tall and let my stare settle on Kate. “Fire Marshall said its arson.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Somebody set my house on fire?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  Her eyes widened. “Who would do that?”

  “We have a few possible leads, people with motive, but is there any one you can think of, outside of Tonya Banks and Pete Aries that may want to hurt you?”

  Her shoulders dropped. “Do you really think one of them could have done this?”

  “I don’t know, but right now everyone you’ve had any altercation with is a suspect.” I walked around the island to stand in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders. “What about your ex-husband.”

  Her eyes drew together in confusion. “What about him?”

  “Would he be capable of something like this?”

  A loud laugh burst from her, causing me to drop my hands, surprised at her reaction. “Why is that funny?”

  She backed up and sat on the stool. “Luke, I haven’t seen my ex-husband in three years. I don’t even know where he is.”

  “I said the same to Cam, but he pointed out that he may know where you are. Would he have any reason to be upset with you?”

  “Why don’t we give you some privacy?” Mom spoke up, gesturing for Dad.

  “No, that’s okay.” Kate said, stopping them. “I don’t mind if you hear about Kurt.”

  “We can talk about this alone, Kate. I know this isn’t easy for you.”

  She took a deep breath and wrapped her hands around her coffee mug, her eyes flicking towards the living room before she spoke. “It’s alright. Maybe it’ll be better if I do talk about it. I never really have.” She shrugged before continuing. “But trust me when I tell you that Kurt is not looking for me or Andy.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “He signed away his rights.” She confessed and I felt anger bubble up inside of me. Who the fuck would sign away the rights to their kid? “He actually told me it’s what he wanted. He wanted to start fresh.” She ran her fingertip around the rim of her cup, glancing again at the living room. “I wanted Andy so that was an easy decision for me. I had a feeling if I told him no, he would make my life and Andy’s a living hell, so I agreed.” She frowned at her cup.

  “That was it?” Dad asked, his voice low. I knew that voice and I knew it meant he was pissed. “He just told you he didn’t want a family anymore?”

  “No, he wouldn’t do that. He wanted me to react, to throw him out, to end it. He wanted to look like the good guy to our friends, but I was pretty determined to make my marriage last, so in the end, he did the one thing he knew I couldn’t live with.”

  Mom closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, she already knew. We all did.

  “I found out he was having an affair so I confronted him, he denied it, but there was too much evidence. He finally gave in and said he wasn’t happy. It only took a few months for him to move out completely and file for divorce. The divorce was final in less than a year, right after Andy’s third birthday.” She raised her eyes to mine. “He didn’t want me. He didn’t want Andy. He left and didn’t look back. I haven’t heard from him in three years. There would be no reason for him to be upset with me.” She snorted. “Hell, he even left me with mounds of debt that I finally paid off, never even asking him for help or taking him to court over it because I didn’t want to spend one more minute around him.”

  “That’s inexcusable.” Mom said, an edge to her voice.

  Kate shrugged. “That’s Kurt.”

  “He’s never given you a rea
son?” Mom asked.

  Kate shook her head, looking back at her cup. “No. I guess he didn’t feel I’d earned an explanation.”

  “What did your family think of that?”

  “Pop.” I sent a glare his way, not wanting Kate to have to talk about things that would make her uncomfortable.

  Kate waved me off. “That’s okay, Luke.” She turned her head to face Dad. “My parents are good parents, but they’re not really involved in my life. They’re both retired and travel a lot. We saw them last year around Christmas and occasionally get a postcard, but that’s all. They told me it was my decision to get a divorce and they loved me, but that was pretty much the whole conversation.” She glanced back at Andy, a small smiling tugging her lips when Cookie grabbed a truck and took off running, causing the boys to chase him.

  “Do you have siblings?”

  She turned her smile towards Dad. “I have a sister, Lydia. She and her husband, Mark who’s a pastor, travel to poor countries doing missionary work. She’s supportive and we’ve been close since we were small, but she’s doing what she loves and its important work, so I’d never ask her to come back and help me. She would if I asked, but I can’t do that.”

  “That is good work.” Dad agreed.

  I ran my hand along the back of my neck. “So, we’re back to Aries and Tonya.”

  “That’s crazy though, right?”

  I leaned my palms on the island and met Kate’s stare. “I’d like to say it is, but somebody did it and they’re the first logical suspects.”

  “What if it wasn’t one of them?” She asks softly.

  I took a deep breath, exhaling before pushing to stand at my full height. “Then we start investigating.”

  “You on this case?”

  I nodded at my Dad. “As much as I can be. Ferguson’s the lead.”

  “That’s good.” Dad agreed. “He’s a good man. His father was a cop before him and he was damn good at it.”

  Mom glanced behind her at the boys before angling her body to face Kate. “Why don’t we take Andy with us for a few hours today. Braydon’s already coming, it’ll give him someone to play with.”

  Kate looked thoughtful before finally replying. “Okay, I’d appreciate that.”

  I looked down at my feet to conceal the grin. Kate was trying to let my family help, which means she heard me earlier and is trying to trust us. Dad must’ve felt the same way because he cleared his throat and called for the boys. They were excited to learn their time together wasn’t up yet and were quick to pack up Bray’s toys and follow Mom and Dad out to the truck.

  I stood on the porch and watched them leave, digging my phone out of my pocket when it made the sound of a text coming in. I saw Cam’s name and shook my head. I guess he never went home to get any sleep.

  Cam: Come to the station.

  Me: You got them?

  Cam: Yep. Thought you’d want to sit in on questioning.

  Me: On my way.

  I shoved my phone in my pocket and walked back in to the kitchen. Kate looked up from her seat on the stool. “Everything okay?”

  I gestured towards the door. “I’m going to the station. They have both Aries and Tonya in custody, waiting for me to get there so they can question them.”

  She nodded so I continued. “I want you to go over to Jake’s while I’m gone.”

  “Luke.” She sighed.

  I walked over to stand in front of her, forcing her to tilt her head back and look at me. “It’s not a question. I’m telling you I need you to go over there so I can go to work and do my job. Otherwise, I won’t be able to focus, knowing you’re here alone.”

  “Fine.” She huffed.

  I stepped back, grinning, when she stood and headed to the sink with her coffee mug. Following her over, I caged her in with my arms, my front to her back and pressed up tight against her, resting my palms on the counter in front of her.

  I ran my nose up the side of her neck, until my lips came to her ear. “Don’t be pissed at me because I want you safe.”

  Her shoulders deflated. “I’m not.”

  I ran my tongue along her earlobe, sucking it into my mouth, and wrapped my arms around her waist. She moaned when I ran my tongue down the side of her throat. I squeezed her tightly and buried my face in her hair. “I think Andy had a good idea.”

  “What?” She said in a breathy voice, telling me our proximity was affecting her as much as it was me. We’d only been together the one time, but it was a night neither my body or mind had forgotten.

  “You should just live here.”

  Her body stiffened which did not surprise me. “Luke—”

  I kissed the side of her neck and pulled back slightly. “We’ll talk about it later. But until I find the bastard who did this, you’re staying with me. That’s not negotiable.”

  She turned in my arms and looked up, eyes flashing. “You’re so bossy.”

  I leaned down and ran my lips across hers, my arms still wrapped around her body. “I remember you liking me bossy.”

  Her face flushed and I took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, loving that her body leaned in to mine while she opened her mouth to let me in. I unwrapped my arms and ran my hands up her sides to tangle in her hair. Pulling back slightly, I leaned my forehead against hers. “You drive me fucking crazy.”

  I saw a grin flirt around her lips and I pulled back slightly. “You like that, don’t you? That you drive me crazy.”

  She shrugged, but her grin grew so I leaned in and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “Thank you.”

  She tilted her head. “For what?”

  “For sharing your story. You didn’t have to do that in front of my parents.”

  She laid her hands against my chest. “I know, but it didn’t bother me and I think they deserved to know why I am the way I am.”

  My eyebrows drew down. “How are you?”

  She ran her fingertip along my shirt, up to my neck, where she rested her hand. “Distant, not very trusting.” Her eyes flicked up to mine. “They’re worried about you and they’re especially worried about your interest in me.”

  “Did they say something to you?”

  She smiled softly. “Your family has been nothing but welcoming and giving to both me and Andy. I just think they deserved some of my story.”

  I frowned again, not liking the way she was avoiding my questions, but I needed to get to the station. Little did she know this conversation was far from over. I pulled her away from the counter, turned her towards the bedroom and smacked her on the ass. “Go grab your stuff. I’ll walk you to Jake’s before I leave.”

  Her head jerked back around to look at me, her eyes flashing, but this time not with anger, with heat. I cocked my head to the side, intrigued. “If you liked me slapping your ass Kate, keep delaying.”

  She turned to look fully at me and threw her hands on her hips, smirking. Oh, we were going to have fun after all this shit was cleared up, but as much as I wanted to I couldn’t indulge right now. I lunged towards her and she jumped, eyes wide before she laughed and took off down the short hallway. The sound of her laughter caused that damn warmth to spread across my chest again and I knew, in that moment I would do just about anything to hear her laugh.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  LUKE

  “She’s telling the truth.”

  I swore, knowing Cam was right. I’m getting frustrated. Cam and I watched on the other side of the glass while Ferguson questioned Tonya. She had an airtight alibi, considering she had a new fuck toy and they’d been together last night. At least that had been her story, so we brought in her new boyfriend who was questioned separately. When Ferguson pulled Tonya in again asking the same questions, her answers were the same, matching his timeline completely.

  “Where’s Aries?” I asked.

  “They’re bringing him in next. He lawyered up right away so they were waiting for his counsel to arrive.”

  “I’d like to say that’s suspicious, but
after all the other shit that’s gone down, I’d actually be surprised if he didn’t call his attorney.”

  “I agree.” Cam said, his eyes on the room in front of us.

  I watched Ferguson walk Tonya out, but I didn’t move, knowing they were bringing Aries in right away.

  “How’s Kate?” Cam leaned against the wall across the room.

  I took a deep breath and exhaled. “Alright, I guess. She seems okay and then she gets really quiet. I’m sure she’s just processing everything.”

  “Can’t be easy, brother.” Cam kicked out his legs and crossed his ankles, his hands on his hips. “Losing everything like that.”

  I sighed and ran my hand along the back of my neck. “I don’t even know how to help her man.”

  “You already are.”

  “It sure as fuck doesn’t feel like it.” I leaned my hip against the table in the center of the room. “I feel like I keep running into walls with her.”

  “That sounds right.” Cam grinned. “You tell her yet?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Tell her what?”

  He smirked. “You love her.”

  I looked down at my shoes, grinning. I didn’t have to tell my brothers I love her, they already knew, knowing me so well. “She’s not ready for that.”

  “No, probably not.” He agreed. “But—”

  I jerked my head up. “But what?”

  He shrugged. “We don’t always get love when we’re ready for it, but we sure as hell get it when we need it.”

  I tilted my head. “When the fuck did you become a poet?”

  He barked out a laugh. “Syd said it last night after I told her how you reacted to Kate’s house burning down.”

  I grinned. “That makes more sense.”

  His smile waned. “In all seriousness brother, Syd’s right. I sure as hell didn’t want love in my life when I met her, but damn if I didn’t need it.”

  Syd pulled Cam back to life when they met. Even though their relationship started out based on a lie, they fought through and found love when they both needed it, and each other. It wasn’t smooth, it wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t all romance. It was ugly sometimes, it was hard, it was painful, but in the end, Cam has always said it was worth it and seeing them together now, I believe him.