The Sharpest Edge

by Stephanie Rowe

  “It still isn’t about only us. I’m out here because of my dad. You hate me because I left my mom and dad. Jimmy was stalking me because of my sister. You want me to become best buddies with Helen while I think that she’s trying to kill me and my father.” She shrugged. “Who knows what’s actually going on between us?”

  “So there is something going on between us?”

  She immediately shielded her face. “What do you mean?”

  He shifted forward on the couch. “Last night, when we were in bed together—”

  Heat tinged her cheeks, but she said, “It was something.”

  “What was it?”

  “The past? Familiar turf that felt safe.”

  That’s all she thought it was? He’d been thinking about a lot more.

  They fell silent and he couldn’t think of anything to say. Oh, there was plenty that he wanted to say, but nothing that he would say. Not after she’d just dismissed last night. He sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to open that door.

  “Sean?”

  “Hmm?”

  “If you don’t think the suspect is Helen, why did you put a cop on my dad’s hospital room?”

  “Because I think it’s someone who knows him.”

  “Maybe you should look into Helen.” Kim sat up. “You know, when my dad got the phone call to go to the camp that night, she could have followed him there. She knew all the details of the attack from Cheryl. And she had access to the safe in the office to find out that my dad was meeting with that private investigator.”

  Sean felt as if he’d been kicked in the gut. Kim was right. It could be Helen. Except… “But why? What about motive?”

  Kim filled him in on the confrontation with Helen at the office and he felt sick. He dropped his head to his hands. “It could simply be that she loves your dad and his accident is stressing her out.”

  “Or it could be more.”

  Sean cursed. “It can’t be her.”

  “Why not?”

  He pressed his forehead into his hands. “Because your dad would never survive it. He loves her and her kids. He can’t handle more loss. I wouldn’t be able to save him.”

  The couch shifted and he knew Kim had moved next to him. “Is that why you came back? To save him?”

  He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t.

  “And now you’re trying to save me?”

  “Dammit, Kim. I can’t fail anyone else. Don’t you understand?” He ground his palms into his eyes and tried to will away the images flashing in his mind. Images of his best friend dying. Screaming for help.

  “Who did you fail, Sean?” Her voice was quiet.

  “Leave it alone.”

  The small sound of laughter was deep in her throat. “When did that ever work before? Have I ever backed off when you didn’t want to talk?”

  “I’m sick of referring to what we had in the past.”

  She was quiet then. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”

  Silence.

  “As a twenty-eight-year-old woman who does her best not to let men boss her around, I’m going to ignore your request for me to leave it alone as I would with any other man. Who did you fail, Sean?”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “You’re a pain in the butt.”

  “That’s what everyone tells me at work.” The couch shifted again and he felt her lean against the pillows. Her hip was pressed to his, but neither of them moved apart. “Did I ever tell you what I do for a job now?”

  He lifted his head and looked at her. “No, you didn’t.”

  She raised her arms over her head and stretched. “I’m an editor for a dishy mag. We get all the inside scoop on celebrities and pay lots of money to paparazzi for pictures that invade the privacy of megastars. I go to all sorts of invitation-only functions and I’m expected to spend a fair amount of money on my wardrobe.”

  “Seriously?”

  She grinned at him. “Surprised?”

  “I guess. It doesn’t seem like you.”

  “Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. Who likes their job every day anyway?”

  He shrugged. “Not many people, I guess.”

  “Exactly.” She folded her arms across her stomach and stared at him. “I manage a staff of five. I had to fire an employee two months ago because she was harvesting celebrity e-mails from our files and selling them. She cried and told me how she had three kids and her husband had just left her and she needed the job.” Some of the light went out of her eyes. “I fired her anyway. Found out later she didn’t have any kids, but I felt terrible for that whole week until I learned the truth.”

  He studied her as she continued to ramble on about her job and he realized that she really wasn’t the eighteen-year-old girl he’d almost married. She was mature, confident and successful. A woman of her own mind and sensibilities. Would she have become this woman if she’d stayed in town and married him?

  Maybe not.

  He realized she’d stopped talking and was looking at him expectantly.

  “What?”

  She punched him softly. “You weren’t even listening.”

  “I was thinking about how you’re not the girl I once knew.”

  She smiled. “I’ve changed a lot.”

  “I can tell.”

  “And now it’s your turn.”

  He was not so fond of the look on her face right now. “What do you mean?”

  “I introduced you to the new Kim. Now it’s your turn. All I know about you is what you were like ten years ago. What’s new in your life?” She gave him an innocent smile. “How are we supposed to forget about our past if we don’t build something new to lean on?”

  He leaned back next to her so that their shoulders were touching. “I was in the Army for eight years. Weapons specialist. My main job was to get helicoptered into a zone, then hang out and direct incoming planes on their targets.”

  “You ever make a mistake and almost get a bomb dropped on you?”

  “We were training the Marines one time and one of them had the aircraft approach from behind us. They dropped the bomb and that thing was coming straight down on us. Barely missed us.” He shook his head at the memory. “Dumb fools.”

  “Is that how you hurt your leg?”

  He frowned. “That was another time.”

  “What time?”

  “Kim…”

  She grabbed his arm as he started to get up. “Who did you fail, Sean? Tell me.”

  “My best friend, okay? Frank McCabe, father of two, got hit, and I didn’t get him clear fast enough. He died. Dead. Happy?” He pulled free, walked into the bedroom and slammed the door.

  He sat on the bed and dropped his face into his hands.

  When the door clicked, he didn’t move. “Go away.”

  Instead, the bed dipped and Kim slipped behind him, settling her legs on either side of his. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his back.

  He stiffened, knowing she was going to ask for details or tell him it wasn’t his fault or order him to get over it.

  But she didn’t.

  She simply held him.

  Held him as no one had held him for a long time.

  SEAN AWOKE TO the smell of fresh coffee. He opened his eyes to find Kim sitting at his feet on the couch, her legs tucked under her while she sifted through a stack of computer printouts. Her nose was wrinkled in thought and her hair was shoved into a crooked ponytail. No makeup, still wearing her boxers and T-shirt from bed, she looked adorable. He could see the scar on her leg, but she didn’t seem to be trying to hide it. It felt right, waking up with her close to him.

  Then he grimaced, remembering last night. Kim had sat with him for a while and then they’d gone to bed. Him on the couch, her in the bedroom, neither of them even discussing their sleeping arrangements.

  He still couldn’t believe that he’d told her about Frank. Now she was going to treat him like some pathetic wimp who needed therapy. He scowled, and that’s w
hen Kim looked up and realized he was awake.

  He braced himself for her reaction.

  Instead, she smiled. “I decided that it would be foolish to assume Helen’s guilt and not pursue any other leads, so I went ahead with searching the personnel files from the camp.”

  What? She wasn’t going to bring up Frank? Insist he spill his guts? The old Kim would have demanded that he tell all, claiming true lovers didn’t hold secrets from each other.

  “Eleven people are new this summer. If we go back eighteen months to when the you-know-what hit the fan with Jimmy, there are twenty-three people who are new. I started making calls to check references and see if any of them lived in L.A., but it’s going to take forever.” She frowned. “Somehow, I don’t think we have forever.”

  “August third is coming up.”

  “You still think that’s relevant since Jimmy is dead?”

  “He wasn’t the one who put the knife in your bed on the twenty-fifth.” He couldn’t believe she really wasn’t going to push. Maybe she was different from the girl he used to know.

  Her energy faded and her face darkened. “Well, whoever it is, screw him. We’re going to beat him.”

  God help him if he failed. He couldn’t fail someone else. Especially not Kim.

  She looked at him expectantly. “So what next? Do we split the list and make calls on these people?”

  “Did you check the fax this morning?”

  “No, why?”

  “I asked Billy to fax me anything that came in at work.” He kicked back the blankets and walked over to the machine. “I’m waiting for details on Jimmy.” Sure enough, there were papers there. He picked them up and turned back, in time to catch Kim with a guilty look on her face. “What?”

  “Can’t you put some clothes on?”

  He looked down, realizing he was wearing only his boxers. He liked that she’d noticed. “Sorry.” He grabbed a T-shirt off a nearby chair and slung it on while he tossed the papers at Kim. “Take a look.”

  He was in the middle of zipping the fly on his jeans when Kim sucked in her breath. “Oh, my God.”

  He dropped next to her and leaned over her shoulder. “What did you find?”

  She pointed. “Jimmy Ramsey has a brother.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Kim was so aware of Sean as he leaned over her, reading the printout, conscious of him in a new way. He’d had his best friend die in his arms and he apparently felt that he could have saved him. To live with that knowledge?

  No wonder he seemed colder and harder than the kid she’d known. He had changed. And so had she. What did that mean for the present? They hadn’t loved each other as kids, not true love. How could they have? They’d been eighteen and mixed up in family dynamics.

  But today? They were just beginning to get to know each other as adults. Was it too late?

  “John Ramsey,” Sean read, his breath tickling the side of her neck. “Born August 15, 1981.”

  “That makes him twenty-five.” She didn’t want to move away from him or encourage him to shift away, so she pulled the papers onto her lap and held them so he could see them. “If we cross-reference that information with the twenty-three names I came up with…” She fell silent as they studied the lists and looked up names.

  When they were finished, they had three names: Tom Payton—despite looking as if he was eighteen, he was actually twenty-four—Will Ambrose, and Carl Andrews, the head maintenance guy who had driven her home that first day. They were around the right age and were new on the scene. Names and actual birthdates could be changed and employment records could be forged, and these three had sketchy backgrounds.

  Will was MIA.

  Tom was already acting strange.

  And Carl was a huge, muscle-bound guy who could kick some serious butt.

  She stared at the list. “You think one of these three is John Ramsey?”

  “Makes sense.” Sean shifted on the couch, but he didn’t move away from her. “Did Jimmy or your sister ever mention a brother?”

  “Not that I know of. Maybe they’re estranged or something.” She frowned. “But if they’re estranged, then why would John Ramsey be after me?”

  Sean leaned over Kim and grabbed the phone off the end table. He called the station and asked Billy to request a list of all visitors Jimmy had had while he was in prison. Then he hung up and tossed the phone on the coffee table.

  He hadn’t moved. His shoulder was still against hers, and so was his hip. Was he doing it intentionally, or was he too lazy to move? She didn’t dare ask, didn’t want to give him a reason to shift away from her.

  She was so aware of his presence and his energy, in a whole different way than she ever had been before.

  “I have an idea,” he said.

  “What?” She looked at him, realizing belatedly that his face was only inches from hers. She didn’t turn away, and his gaze flicked to her lips.

  “I think we should have Cheryl take a look at a staff photo and see if she recognizes any of those guys. Maybe John Ramsey showed up at some point while they were married. Maybe she’s seen pictures.”

  Oh, wow, she didn’t like that suggestion at all. “I don’t know. I don’t want to endanger her by contacting her. Especially now, when someone might be watching. If Jimmy’s brother really is after me, then he’d want to get to Cheryl, too.” She’d almost given her life to save Cheryl once. She didn’t want it to be in vain.

  He nodded. “I understand.”

  But there was an element of frustration in his voice and she studied him. “You don’t agree.”

  Sean leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs and shifting restlessly. “I don’t want to endanger Cheryl, but I want this over. It’s only a matter of time until this guy gets to you or her.” He shoved off the couch and stood, pacing the room. Darn it! Why had he gotten up? “We could notify the police in her town and have them look out for her. We could ensure her safety.”

  Kim watched him prowl the room. “I thought we couldn’t trust cops.” Then she had a thought. “What about Officer McKeen? Do we know about him?”

  Sean stopped mid-step and stared at her. “He’s new. All of Billy’s hires are new.”

  “What about the guard on my dad’s room?”

  “New. They’re all new.” He cursed and stalked across the room. “Come on.”

  “Where to?”

  “We’re going to go talk to Billy.”

  WHEN SEAN WALKED into the chief’s office, he knew he was putting his friendship, his career and his future in law enforcement in Maine at stake. The state was too small for him to piss off someone as well respected as Billy.

  Billy was sitting at his desk, arguing on the phone with someone. When he saw Sean and Kim arrive, he waved them in to have a seat. Sean shut the door behind them and they sat down.

  And waited.

  Billy finished his phone call and hung up. “They don’t want to send the records of who visited Jimmy in prison. It’s turning into a pissing contest between us and them and I’m sick of it.” He scowled. “What did you come up with?”

  Sean tossed the short list of names across the desk. “Folks new to the camp that are about the right age to be John Ramsey.”

  Billy studied the list. “Is this it?”

  “Garth McKeen.”

  Chief Vega’s friendly expression faded. “What about him?”

  Sean replayed the events of last night, ending with the fact that the young man was the right age, hit the town at the right time and was a cop.

  When he finished, Bill did not look friendly at all. “You’re accusing me of hiring a guy whose goal is to murder one of the citizens in my town.”

  “Two of them, because of the accident with her dad. Plus the P.I. Any sign of him?”

  Chief Vega leaned back in his chair, but Sean didn’t buy it. “I did a background check on every one of these guys. Per your request, I questioned all of them again. Offended the lot of them, and I don’t blame them
. They’re all clean.” He looked at Kim. “Sounds to me like Officer McKeen’s behavior last night was right on. He was actively patrolling and—”

  “Maybe a little too actively.”

  Chief Vega eyed Sean. “What do you mean?”

  “Trying to overcompensate for the fact that he was going to be setting Kim up. If he looks super-proactive, who would suspect?”

  Bill stood up and banged his hands down on his desk. “Listen, Templeton, unless you can give me concrete evidence to suspect one of my officers, you need to leave. Merely stating that the guy is the right age and that he’s new and that he happens to have a profession that fits your profile isn’t enough. It’s not even circumstantial.” He gestured at the list. “And that’s all you’ve got on these guys, too? Right age, new to town? Come on, Sean, you’re better than this.” He gathered himself and sat. “You know we have to build a case, have evidence, probable cause. What’s this garbage you’re bringing to my desk?”

  Sean frowned. “My gut says I’m on the right track.”

  “Your gut isn’t enough, not with this weak case. You have nothing. Nothing!” Chief Vega ran a hand through his red hair. “You have a boating accident involving someone who shouldn’t crash a boat. A possible spot of his blood on the boat he’s had for twenty years. It means nothing.”

  It meant something to Sean. He shot a glance at Kim. She was chewing her lower lip and watching the chief. Did she agree with Bill? Was she thinking that Sean was incompetent and that she would be better off not teaming up with him? He scowled at the idea. In the old days, she would have believed in him without a second thought, but what did that really mean anyway? They’d pretty much established that they’d been deluded teenagers. Today, she’d reserve judgment until she had a good reason. Better that way, but damn if a part of him didn’t want her to trust him blindly anyway.

  Chief Vega wasn’t finished. “You show me a piece of metal stuck in the steering column and an eighty-year-old man who says he never messed up on his boats. And based on that, you want me to call it attempted murder?”

  Sean frowned. “Don’t you feel it, Billy? There’s something off here.”

  “It’s Chief Vega, and no, I don’t. Kim was being stalked. The man who did it is dead. End of threat.”