by Lisa Ladew
Kate peeked at her father from between her fingers. “You knew the whole time?”
Angus let out a belly laugh at that. “Katydid, my lass, it’s possible I knew before you did.”
Confused, Kate settled her hands into her lap and glanced up at her father. Her cheeks still flamed with embarrassment, but now her curiosity had been piqued. “What do you mean, you knew before me?”
Her father heaved a sigh and tilted his head as he looked at her. “Do you know, all those years your brothers were bringing their broken friends around, needing a place to stay, I was so worried you would fall into the trap of trying to love broken things back to life.
“But you had the least sympathy of all of us, I think. Never gave any of those boys one inch to paint themselves the victims. After a while, I started worryin’ the opposite: that you’d never find someone strong enough to put your faith in.”
Angus pushed himself to his feet and took his coffee mug to the sink. “You remember, I asked if you fancied Dan the day he moved in. I guess what I should have asked was if you realized yet that you did. You’re a good judge of character, Kate. And despite how you found him, Dan’s never once given me cause to worry about his. I’m assuming you can say the same.”
Kate stretched her arms across the table and groaned. “What am I going to do, Da? I don’t even know who he is.”
Her father’s face contorted in disbelief. “Are you listening to me, lass? ’Course you do. You know exactly who he is, you just don’t know his name. And I don’t think you’re far off from knowing that as well, are you?”
The article from the gossip rag flashed through Kate’s mind. Between that possibility and Dan’s upcoming visit to the police, her father was right. One way or another, it was unlikely Dan’s true identity was going to stay secret much longer.
“Anyway, there’s nothing to be done about it now. So, you go have a good day, save some lives, make your ol’ Da proud. I’ll keep an eye on Dan for you.”
Kate’s face screwed up in puzzlement. “Hold up. I don’t understand, Da. A week ago, you wanted me to quit and aim my sights on being a wife and mother. Now you’re proud of me?”
Her father sighed and met her eyes. “Well, Katydid, the other thing you might have noticed from my story is that I can occasionally be a bit of a dumbass. I like to think I come around before too long, though.”
Kate stood and crossed the kitchen to her father, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Da. You’re the best.”
“Aye, it’s true. Now off with you, child. I have work to do.” Kate turned and ran up the stairs, late now for her shift. She flew through a shower, dressed, and only just remembered to leave Detective Estacada’s contact information in the kitchen before hurrying out the door.
All the way to work, she turned over the conversation with her father. He was right, of course. Not only did Dan seem to be a truly good man all the way down to his core, but Kate was absolutely crazy about him. He was everything she wanted, she just hadn’t been able to see a way around her doubts about his past.
But why should that be a deal breaker? Even if Dan had been mixed up in something criminal, what reason did she have to believe that he would automatically revert to that sort of behavior? None. As far as Kate could see, Dan showed every sign of wanting to live a law-abiding life and being perfectly capable of doing so.
So what was the hold-up? If Kate was honest with herself, the possibility of Dan being a reformed criminal didn’t bother her nearly as much as the idea of him being an unreformed billionaire playboy. And why was that, exactly?
When it came down to it, Kate was insecure. She knew she was a better choice for Dan than a life of crime. But she wasn’t sure how she’d stack up against being able to jet-set around the world with a new beautiful woman on his arm every day of the week.
A gnawing guilt turned over in Kate’s gut. She could admit to herself that she was afraid of losing Dan, but to keep herself deliberately in the dark was unacceptable. It was time to face the truth and let things happen as they must.
One thing was for sure, when Kate got home tomorrow, she was going to look up that article and prove to herself once and for all that Dan was not some billionaire playboy who would leave her cold the moment he had a way out.
Chapter 14
Dan called the number Kate left as soon as he stumbled up to the kitchen. Detective Estacada had been expecting to hear from him.
“I’ve got a meeting in a few hours, but I definitely want to see what you found. How fast can you get here?” Dan arranged a ride with Aiden and told the detective he’d be there as soon as he could. He grabbed Booster’s thumb drive, as well as his destroyed phone, as they headed out the door.
“So, you think this detective guy can help you find out who you are?” Aiden kept his eyes on the road as he spoke. Dan fidgeted in his seat, keyed up in anticipation of his meeting with the detective and not sure how hopeful he wanted to sound. There was every possibility it wouldn’t go anywhere.
“I don’t know if he can do that, so much as help me figure out what I was doing when I got shot. Something tells me it’s not a straight line from there to my identity.” The more Dan considered the possibilities, the more it seemed like he’d been investigating the men in that cabin. If that was the case, there might not be anything there that tied directly to him. At this point, though, it was the only lead he had.
“I wish you all the luck, man. For Kate’s sake, if nothing else.” Aiden’s voice was a mumble, his tone slightly disgruntled. Dan looked and saw his shoulders were hunched over the wheel, a scowl lining his face.
“Hey, Aiden, you know I’d never do anything to hurt her. Right? Your sister is an incredible woman.” Dan wanted to say more, but all the questions surrounding him held him back. He just needed a little more time to find out who he was and what he had to offer before he committed himself. Or asked Kate to do the same.
“You think I don’t know that? She’s the fuckin’ nuts, man. Closest thing I ever had to a mom after ours died. Kate and I have our sibling rivalry thing, but I’d kill for her and not think twice.” They came to a stoplight and Aiden met Dan’s eyes, his message clear.
“I mean, I get it, okay? Your life is screwed up and you’re lonely and Kate’s right there. But I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you, Dan. Don’t fuck her over.”
Dan’s gaze never wavered as he replied. “I’m not going to fuck her over, Aiden. Hell, part of the reason I’m searching so hard for answers is so that she can make an informed choice before it gets any harder to walk away.”
He pleaded with his eyes for understanding and Aiden relented. As the light turned green and they eased forward, his focus returned to the road. “Okay. I guess that’s all you can do.”
They were silent for a minute before Dan’s curiosity got the best of him. “What do you mean, she’s never looked at anyone else the way she looks at me?”
Aiden shook his head and chuckled. “Now I know you got it bad. You didn’t even want to ask, but you just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
Dan decided there was no point in dissembling, not if he wanted to have Kate’s brother even remotely on his side. “I’m crazy about her, Aiden. I haven’t told her because I don’t want to pressure her, but it’s getting harder not to. Every time I see her, all these gooey words want to come tumbling out of my mouth. It’s horrible, man. Don’t laugh.”
But Aiden was bursting with mirth. “Stop! I can’t take you seriously when you say shit like that about my brat of a sister.”
Dan felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment. “Come on, man. Throw me a bone.”
Finally, the younger man settled down enough to speak with a straight face. “I mean, it’s not like she talks about you or anything. At least, not to me. But she’s, like, softer when you’re around. Ya know? She smiles all the time now, like she’s happy, not just because someone smiled at her first.”
A fluttering
in his chest surprised Dan, making him catch his breath. Kate smiled because of him, because he was in her life? Could that be true? His heart felt buoyant and full all at once.
“What was she like before? In other relationships?”
“Shallow.” Aiden shot the word out with no hesitation, but he must have seen Dan’s puzzled expression, because he immediately explained. “I don’t mean like materialistic. Jesus, no, not Kate. I don’t think she gives a shit about money as long as she has enough to get by, pay her bills.
“Nah, I just mean… you could tell she didn’t really care about the guys, you know? Shit, that’s not right, either. She cared about them, she was nice and all, it’s just… I got the sense she never missed them after they were gone.”
Kate’s brother looked over at Dan with an earnest expression. “I think she’d miss the hell outta you, man. I don’t know if she’d ever get over it.”
Dan sat with that for a moment before words he hadn’t planned to say crossed his lips. “I don’t know if I would, either.”
Aiden dropped Dan off at the precinct, waving as he pulled back into traffic. At the reception desk, Dan spoke to an officer with a limp and was directed to Detective Estacada’s desk on the second floor.
The detective appeared to be in his late forties, his dark hair liberally shot through with silver. His hazel eyes were friendly, set in a smiling face with high cheekbones and tanned skin. As they shook hands, he looked at Dan quizzically. “Have we met?”
Dan cleared his throat. “Couldn’t tell you. Why? Do I look familiar?”
Detective Estacada lightly slapped his forehead. “Oh, that’s right. You lost your memory. How’d that happen, again?”
So Dan told how Kate had found him in the forest and everything that had followed, including the episode when he’d seen the tattooed guy at the grocery store. He ended with their trip back to where he’d been found, when they’d discovered his phone, and what Booster had been able to discover.
“Booster, huh? Smart kid. If that’s all he got then I’m confident it was all there was worth getting. Only trouble is, we have a lot of these types of groups around here. Might be kind of hard to find them just from one little bit of video.”
“I understand that, sir.” Dan nodded gravely. “I just couldn’t not turn it in, on the off chance that it could help prevent a crime and save some lives.”
Detective Estacada sat forward in his chair and regarded Dan thoughtfully. “Okay, then. Let’s take a look.”
Dan followed the detective through the halls to a closed door. Behind it were a handful of officers seated at desks with large monitors, blue light shining on their focused faces. Detective Estacada walked up to one and greeted him with a smile.
“Hey, Tommy. You mind looking at something for me real quick?” He gestured to Dan to hand over the thumb drive.
Tommy glanced at the detective as he took it. “This clean?”
“Booster sent it over, but go ahead and run it through to be sure.” Dan waited, unfazed, while the tech officer checked the thumb drive for viruses and other malware before accessing the video clip.
They watched it twice in silence, Detective Estacada’s hand folded under his chin as he squinted at the screen. “Well, whaddya know about that?”
Dan looked questioningly at the older man, who leaned in and pointed at one of the men on the screen. “That’s Bucky Newport. He’s been in trouble with everyone over the years: ATF, FBI, and probably every PD from Vancouver to San Diego.
“He’s run with a lot of different groups, too. No telling who he’s with now. Come on with me, let me make a few calls.” Detective Estacada led the way back to his desk, then paused and turned to Dan.
“You want a coffee?” Dan nodded and they continued past the desk to what looked like a break room. He fixed a Styrofoam cup with coffee and accepted a proffered doughnut from the detective.
The two men ended up chatting in between calls, and Dan got a chance to ask something that had been bothering him. “When I first arrived you asked if we had met before. What made you think that?”
The detective waved him off with one hand. “Oh, it was nothing. Now that I’ve been sitting with you a while, I’m sure we’ve never met. But for a second there, you reminded me of someone. Maybe not even someone I know personally, maybe just a picture.”
“Or maybe I just have that kind of face, huh?” Dan smiled with a humor he didn’t feel.
Estacada didn’t lighten up, a contemplative scowl taking over his forehead. “I know what you mean, but it’s not that. There’s a specific bell you’re ringing.”
All at once his expression cleared, and he smiled at Dan. “I’ll probably think of it at three o’clock in the morning. You mind a phone call at that hour?”
“Are you kidding? I’ll be waiting with bated breath until you figure it out.” Even as he joked, Dan knew it was a long shot. He probably reminded Estacada of some actor or something. Still, stranger things had happened. He was living proof of that.
Just then, the detective’s phone rang and he snatched it up. “Yeah? Yeah, Bucky Newport, you seen him around? Looks like he might be moving some nasty shit again.”
Dan tried to like he wasn’t listening while making note of every word the detective said. “Guy came in from Malheur, thought it might be something. You know if anyone’s hiding out in there? The southeast side, huh? Well, where did they go?”
A shiver moved up Dan’s back. Kate had found him on the southeast end of the forest, near the border of the national land. Maybe the spot where he’d woken up wasn’t that far away from where he’d made the video.
Detective Estacado was wrapping up his conversation. “I got video, you want me to send it over? If this is for real, you’re gonna want to get on it. Sure, will do.”
He hung up the phone and turned to Dan. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. If we can figure out where this place is, your video might be enough to get us a warrant.
“Only problem is, nobody’s seen Bucky for at least a week, when a big bunch of riders went out heading south. My guy doesn’t know where, but he’ll find out, warn police in the area. They might just be trafficking, or they could be planning an unpleasant event.”
Estacado flipped one of his business cards on its face and scribbled on the back before handing it to Dan. “So if you remember anything else, anything at all, you’re gonna call me or my colleague. Okay? And I appreciate you taking the time to come in today.”
Dan pocketed the card and stood, eager to get moving.
“Thanks so much for your time, detective. I’ve got to get to work now, anyway. You’ll let me know if you find any clues about who I might be?” Dan felt a twinge of remorse at misleading the detective, but he knew the score.
If his video was enough to justify a warrant, then he had a limited window to find the cabin and get there first. Once the police took possession of the evidence, it could be months before he’d know whether anything they found had anything to do with him.
No, it would be much better if he got there first, took a quick look around for clues, then hustled back out with no one the wiser. All he needed now was a way to make that happen.
Chapter 15
“Is that your phone?” Joseph’s voice cut into Kate’s thoughts, her head snapping up from where she’d been replenishing one of their medical cases. Joseph was her partner, and a damn good one. She scrambled to the front of the ambulance and dug her phone out of the console.
A glance showed it was Dan’s number from the phone she’d gotten him. Her heart thudded as the thought flashed that he could be calling with news about his identity. “Hello?”
“Hey, Kate, you got a minute?” Dan’s voice was brusque. Kate’s shoulders tensed automatically before she got herself under control.
“Yeah. What’s up?” She tried to keep her voice cheerful, unweighted by her worries.
“I need to borrow your car for the afternoon, drive out to Malheur, see if I ca
n find that cabin.”
“Wait, what? By yourself? Dan, I don’t think that’s a good idea. We can go tomorrow as soon as I get home.” Kate was panicked at the thought of what could happen if Dan went out there alone. He could have some kind of mental episode, or even get himself killed.
“It’s got to be today. I can’t say why over the phone. Can you meet me somewhere?” The urgency in his voice weakened Kate’s resolve. She tucked her fingers over the microphone and looked at Joseph.
“You ready for some lunch?” Her partner nodded and started closing up cases, returning them to their proper spots. Kate turned her attention to Dan. “Okay, let’s have lunch. Where are you?”
Kate suggested a Mexican restaurant a few blocks from the police station that she knew Joseph liked. She bit her lower lip as she hung up the phone, feeling a nagging sense of guilt over not having told Dan everything she’d found online.
“So, this is the guy you picked up a couple weeks ago? The one with the gunshot wound?” Kate didn’t mind Joseph’s questions. He was in his mid-forties, married with children, and she suspected he thought of her more as a daughter than a peer. In two years of working together, he’d never failed to give thoughtful, even-keeled advice.
“Not to mention the internal head wound.” Kate rapped the side of her head with her knuckles.
“Still no progress on his memory, huh? That must be frustrating.” Joseph’s bushy eyebrows ran together as he scowled. “He doesn’t match any missing person report?”
“Not a one, and I’ve been checking. I’ve stayed pretty regional, but at this point I think it’s time to go national.” Kate thought of the article she’d read about the missing billionaire and decided to test the waters with her partner.
“The other day I started searching random terms, looking at whatever popped up. I came across this blurb from a gossip rag down in San Francisco about some billionaire playboy bachelor, missing for two weeks. For a minute, I wondered if it could be my guy.”