“Which was precisely why the signal worked.” Helen beamed at Kate.
Sam cleared his throat and pushed the remaining chair underneath the kitchen table. “So you think the two of you will stay here now?”
Kate turned to face him. “At least until you finish your job.”
He watched the flashing blue lights outside the kitchen window. “I believe my job ended with Alek’s arrest. On the up side, though, I am five thousand dollars richer.”
“He owed you that for the shiner you’re going to have in the morning.” Kate wanted to touch his face again but she clenched her hand at her side. “But that wasn’t the job I was talking about.”
Folding his arms across his chest, Sam gave her his full attention. “Did I miss something?”
“I want you to find my father. I need to know where Alek buried him.”
If Sam thought the request was a tall order, he didn’t show it. “Well, I might be able to help you. Course, I don’t work for free.” He smiled to show he was teasing.
“And I wouldn’t expect you to.” Kate returned the smile. “I just hope you don’t mind getting paid in diamonds.”
“Kate!” Helen’s reprimand brought a giggle from Kate.
“It was a joke, Mom. I’m giving the diamonds back to the embassy.”
Sam walked forward. “Actually, I’m giving them back. If you show up there with these diamonds, those embassy folks are likely to have a lot of questions for you. But me, they’re only going to see that they got their diamonds back. It’ll be better this way.”
She nodded. “I’ll get them for you.” As she started to walk past him, Sam caught hold of her hand.
“I wish I could have saved your father, Kate.”
Looking down at his hand, she could barely manage a thank you. The tears were flowing so fast and so free now, speaking was difficult. She dug out the diamonds from the coffee can where she’d hidden them and passed them to Sam.
“I’ll bet tonight will be the first good night’s sleep you and your mother have had in a long time.” Sam jostled the bag of rocks in his hand.
“You’d win that bet.” Finally, Kate was able to meet his gaze without tears in her eyes.
Sam shifted from one foot to the other, the uncertainty in his stance making Kate curious. She didn’t ask him what was going on, and he didn’t say anything else. Just folded his hands around the bag and headed to the back door.
“So I guess I’ll see you later then?” She hoped she hadn’t sounded too eager.
Sam smiled at her over his shoulder. “I’ll start work first thing in the morning.”
“You wouldn’t mind if I…” She broke off, horrified she’d started to voice her thoughts aloud.
He turned back to her. “If you what?”
“Never mind. I was just thinking aloud.”
“That’s how I do some of my best thinking.”
She took the opening her gave her with a grateful smile. “I thought that maybe I could come with you. Not every time. Just once in a while. I think I’d like to see how private investigators work.”
A dimple winked near the corner of Sam’s mouth. “You thinking you might want to be one?”
Actually, she’d much prefer just to be near one, but she wasn’t ready to say that aloud just yet. After all, she had just met Sam, and there was still a lot to learn about him, a lot they had to learn about one another.
“Maybe.” The one word spoke volumes.
Sam leaned forward and gave her a cheek a swipe with his finger. “Anytime, dollface. Anytime.”
She was still smiling when she closed the back door.
* * *
Three months later
Sam walked up the back steps of Kate’s house with dread in his heart. He’d made this journey many times over the past few weeks, each time looking forward to seeing her beautiful face.
Today was different. He’d concluded the case, but it wasn’t what she was hoping for. Alek had taken one more thing away from Kate, and Sam could only hope the joker would be enjoying the hospitality of the crowbar motel for a long time.
With a lump in his throat he knocked, almost hoping she wouldn’t answer. Maybe she and her mother had gone to the market. Since rediscovering her freedom, Helen Masters rarely stayed home.
But the door swung open, and a smile blossomed across Kate’s face. “Hi.” She stepped back to allow him to come in, much more comfortable with him now that a few short months ago.
He walked across the threshold, paused to kiss her cheek the way he’d been greeting her for the couple of weeks or so. Just like one would kiss a friend, only Kate was more than a friend…at least he wanted her to be more than a friend.
“What’s wrong?” Kate closed the door and pressed her palm against the pane.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” He looked everywhere but at her face.
She wore a blue skirt today that swirled around her legs like a cloud and dainty white socks peeked from atop black and white saddle shoes. He loved the way she dressed. If he was honest, he loved just about everything about her.
“Because you always say hiya dollafce when you come in. You didn’t this time.”
“Oh. I must have forgotten.” He doubted she’d buy the weak answer, wasn’t surprised when she didn’t. With a sigh, he tugged a chair out from beneath the kitchen table. “Let’s sit down.”
“Am I going to need a handkerchief?”
Sam smiled at the joke. How many times had he teased her about crying so much since her life had undergone such a drastic change? And she picked now to tease about it? He almost groaned, but he had to be honest.
“Probably.”
She sat down immediately. “Sam, what is it? After everything my mother and I went through, I think I can handle just about anything. So just tell me without trying to build up to it.”
Yeah, he’d want the same thing. Just give it to him straight. But he hadn’t wanted to do that to Kate. She was different. Special.
His hands itched to hold hers, but, instead, he rubbed them down the legs of his pants. “I found a witness.” Before she could perk up, he rushed on. “He didn’t hang around long after Alek shot your father, but…”
Kate slid her hands across the table, palms up, making the invitation clear. Every day she surprised him with her strength.
He took her hands and closed his eyes briefly when her fingers curled trustingly around his. “He said he knew Alek well. Actually, he knew how Alek operated better. He didn’t leave witnesses.” Sam took a deep breath, let it out. “And he didn’t leave a way to find the witnesses.”
Kate’s gaze dropped. “So you’re saying we’ll never find my father’s body.”
His fingers squeezed hers. “Alek always made sure there was nothing to find.”
“I want to hate him.” Her voice broke. “But it wouldn’t do any good, would it?”
“No, it wouldn’t, but it’s okay if you want to hate him just for today.”
She lowered her head to the table for a second pulling in several, long, deep breaths. “I feel like I’ve lost him all over again. Like I’m alone.”
“You’re not alone, Katie. You have your mother and…you have me.”
She nodded but kept her head down. “I’d like to tell my mother alone…if you don’t mind.”
Sam didn’t know what to think. She hadn’t asked him to leave since the first night they’d met. Usually, neither one of them wanted him to go. But she was asking him now.
He withdrew his hands. “Sure. Just call me if you need me.”
“Thank you.” Kate met his gaze then. “I just need some time.”
“Take all the time you need, dollface. You know how to find me.”
Leaving her was the last thing he wanted to do, but if all she wanted was space right now, that was the least he could give her. But once this was all over, and Kate had had plenty of time to grieve, he was going to tell her he never wanted to leave her again.
Sam sat outside Kate’s house in his car. With the windows rolled down, he could hear the neighborhood kids playing stickball in the street, mothers calling their children in for supper, and the clackety-clack of a handmade go-cart as it rolled down the road.
The scent of fried chicken reached him, and his mouth watered. He’d been working all day and hadn’t taken the time to eat. Finishing what he’d started had been too important. He just hoped Kate thought the same. Sometimes being helpful could translate to meddling.
Okay, Sam. It’s time to get out of the car. You’re not doing anyone any good by sitting here.
Following his own command, he opened the car door and swung his legs to the side. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this nervous. Times like these he’d rather face the loaded barrel of a gun.
He stood and ran his hands down the front of his dark blue slacks. Squaring his shoulders, he walked to the back door just like he had the first time he’d come to Kate’s house. It didn’t seem like it had been three months.
Surprising him, Kate was standing at the back door when he reached it. “I was wondering how long you were going to sit out there tonight.”
He gave her a sheepish grin. “I was just doing some thinking.” He came to a stop at the foot of the steps and held up one hand. “Look, before you tell me to go home, that you and your mother are fine, I just wanted to tell you something. I don’t know if I should have done this or not, but, well, it’s already done so I figure if you want to yell at me you can just go ahead and yell.”
When he stopped talking, Kate blinked at him.
“What? What are you looking at me like that for?” Sam smoothed a hand over his hair just to be sure the wind hadn’t tousled it.
“I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say at one time since we met.” Kate’s smile was like a breath of fresh air, and when she opened the door to let him in, the tension ebbed away. “So what did you do?”
Now inside the kitchen, Sam guided her away from the back door. “Promise you won’t yell at me.”
“Fat chance.” She covered his hands at her waist with hers. “But since mother’s asleep, I can promise I’ll keep the yelling to a minimum…or I’ll follow you outside.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Thanks for that, I guess.” He brought his hands forward, turned them to take hold of hers. “When I left here today, I got to thinking how you and your mother hadn’t had a chance to say a proper goodbye to your father. Then I thought how that wasn’t right. Every family deserves a chance to say a farewell to someone they love.”
Kate’s eyes filled with tears, and her lower lip started to wobble. “Oh, Sam.”
“Now, wait just a second before you think I went and did something noble.” He cleared his throat, wondering why it felt like someone was strangling him. “All I did was arrange a memorial service down at the docks. It’ll be Friday morning. It won’t be much, but it’ll be--”
Kate silenced him by flinging her arms around his neck. She held on so tight, like she was afraid he’d disappear if she didn’t.
He wanted to say something else, but then she dropped her head to his chest and began to cry. His heart cracking a little, he cradled her against him and let give into the tears. He didn’t know what else to do. The PI manual didn’t include these types of situations, and, anyway, there wasn’t anywhere else he wanted to be but right here with Kate.
When her sniffles finally slowed, she lifted her head. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her nose a dull red, but all he could see was her smile. It wobbled a bit, but it still lit up her face.
“Thank you, Sam. I can’t tell you how much this means to me, how much I know it will mean to Mom.” She fisted her hands against his chest. “You know, you really are one of the good guys.”
Heat rushed up his face, and the tips of his ears burned, but Sam smiled anyway. “Didn’t I tell you that when we first met?”
“Not in so many words, but I could see it anyway.” She looked up at him, and he knew he was gone. There was no way he could even think about going back to his life the way it was before he met Kate.
“Well, I’m glad you had the good sense to see that.” He touched his finger to the tip of her nose. “I could never fall for a woman who didn’t have common sense.”
Her eyes sparkled, and Sam fell in a little deeper. “I guess I’m not immune to your charms, after all, Mr. Bentley.”
About the Author
Addison Kasey is the pseudonym for a multi-published romance author venturing out into the world of mystery and crime.
Living in the South, Addison whiles away the days bringing characters to life while dreaming of that beautiful home in New Zealand she’s going to own one day.
You can find Addison on Facebook at Addison.Kasey.
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Where Fiction Meets Virtue
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