by LK Shaw
“You said everything a by-the-books, emotionless cop would say, but why do I get the feeling that even you don’t believe a word you just spoke? And who said anything about a vigilante? I want justice to be served. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure it’s done. Whatever it takes. The question is—are you going to help me or not?”
I sensed his frustration and indecision. I don’t know why I was pushing so hard for his help. For some reason, my instinct told me that the only person who could help me was this man right here. I was essentially asking him to, if need be, break the law for me, and I realized I didn’t even know his first name.
I interrupted his thoughts, because I needed to know his name. “What’s your first name, anyway?”
He seemed startled by my question. “It’s Daniel.”
“I’m asking you again: Will you help me do whatever it takes? Please, Daniel?”
Instantly, I knew what his decision would be. Resignation flashed across his face, and I almost felt sorry I’d pushed so hard.
A sense of relief washed over me when he nodded. “Yes, I’ll help you.”
Chapter 3
Daniel
After escorting Katherine out of the precinct with the promise to be in touch soon, I headed out to the alley to see if there was anything left. The crime scene investigation team on the case would have been thorough in gathering and processing all the evidence, but I needed to see everything for myself. I knew it was late and would be almost impossible to see anything, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t explain it, but I’d always had a sixth sense when it came to solving cases. The fuck-ups happened when I ignored my instincts. It was eerie how I would often show up to a scene after the fact and get a vibe. It wasn’t as though I could touch an object and see something. Nothing so voodoo hoodoo as that. Intuition perhaps? Regardless, I had it.
I found an on-street parking spot a block away from the upscale Italian restaurant. I made my way to the alley that ran behind the restaurant and walked in the direction Katherine had described earlier. The glare from my flashlight reflected off the puddles of what I prayed was water. A rat scurried through the beam of light shining across the alley before vanishing behind the dumpster. A shiver ran down me. I fucking hated rats.
I came to an abrupt halt when I spotted the large area of blood staining the concrete inside the crime scene tape that hung haphazardly from the light poles. Stooping under the tape, I slowly swept my flashlight back and forth, illuminating as much of the area as I could considering it was almost pitch-black out. The adjacent lights barely cast a dull glow. So far, nothing about the crime scene stood out for me. It was like any other. Continuing to look around for a bit and spotting nothing, I had almost given up when my “spidey-senses” started tingling.
I stepped over the bloodstain and began scanning the perimeter where trash and refuse lay. A sparkle shined as my flashlight beam landed on something. I bent down and fished a handkerchief out of my inside jacket pocket. Using the small piece of fabric, I picked up the glinting piece of metal from the ground. I stared at the bright, shiny, and extremely expensive looking cufflink. It was silver, the size of a nickel, except square in shape, and embossed with a black dagger. How apropos that the victim was stabbed to death, although I had no proof that this belonged to the killer. Anyone passing through this alley could have lost it. But something told me otherwise.
I wrapped up the piece of jewelry and stuck it in my pocket. After another fifteen minutes, I knew I was out of luck and wouldn’t find anything else that might lead me to the killer. I needed to figure out how I was going to run prints without going through the proper channels. Instinct told me I needed to stay under my Captain’s radar. With any luck, I’d figure something out. In the meantime, I needed to head home for some sleep. I’d already worked a twelve-hour shift, and I’d spent another hour traipsing around here. I wouldn’t be any good to Katherine if I was too exhausted to even focus.
After catching a few hours of sleep, I spent the next hour debating on making a phone call or heading into the station to pass what I’d found to the detective on the case. I knew good and well I’d be out of a job if I kept this piece of evidence to myself. Yet, I didn’t hesitate to continue going forward with what I was about to do. I pulled out my phone and tapped out a number I had no desire to call.
“Why are you calling me on a Saturday morning? Someone better be dying or I’m going to kick your ass the next time I see you. Which I hope isn’t any time soon.”
I swallowed the bitter pill in my mouth before I could speak. “Actually, someone is already dead. And I need a favor, Black.”
Heavy silence filled the air. Finally, Black broke it. “What kind of favor?”
“I need you to swab a piece of evidence for DNA for me. See if you can find a match.”
“I assume because you’re asking me to do this, you’re doing something that is going to be completely and utterly fucked up.”
Three times now Connor Black had been a part of cases where things had gone south; it wasn’t a surprise he thought I would fuck something else up. The fact that he focused on that and not on all the people I’ve helped and criminals I’ve put away in my fifteen years on the force stung. I was a good cop who joined the academy because I wanted to do right for my community. I’d never taken money to look the other way. I was honest and, if I had to brag, I was smart. I’d made a couple mistakes, and Black would never let me forget them.
“If I didn’t need your expertise, I’d tell you to go fuck yourself. Now, are you going to continue to bust my balls or help me?”
“Fine, I’ll meet you at my office in thirty minutes.”
With the utter silence, I knew Black had disconnected the call.
I jumped into the car, and as I drove to Black’s office, I thought about last night and my intense, and highly inappropriate, reaction to Katherine. What the hell had I been thinking kissing her like that? I was lucky she didn’t file a complaint against me. I also thought about how I was going to handle her need to find the murderer. My conscience, which worked hard to be the kind of cop who followed the law and brought justice to those who needed it, warred with the man who would do anything, including breaking laws I fought to uphold, just to take the terrified look out of Katherine’s eyes.
I pulled into the parking lot and stared at the building before me. It was now or never. I let myself in and took the five flights of stairs up to where I knew Black’s office was located. His door stood open, and I could see him sitting behind his desk, reading glasses perched on his aquiline nose. I noisily cleared my throat just to see if I could get a rise out of him. Petty, sure, but I couldn’t seem to control myself.
He looked up, seemingly not bothered by me in the least, and removed his glasses before setting them down on the desk. With annoying nonchalance, he sat back in his chair, propped his feet up, and placed his hands behind his head. A sense of déjà vu hit, only this time, our positions were reversed. I was now the one who needed help.
“You must be desperate if you’ve come to me. There must be a woman involved.”
I tried to hide my shock. “What makes you think there’s a woman?”
He chuckled and stared at me like I was an idiot. “We’re not exactly bosom beaus. You’re asking for my help at—” he glanced at his watch— “ten o’clock on a Saturday morning. There are few things in this world that reek of that much desperation, and a woman is at the top of the list. So, what can I do for you? And this woman?”
Considering he was right, I didn’t want to waste time arguing. I pulled the baggie out of my pocket and placed it on the desk. “I need you to see if there is any DNA on this and run it if there is. See if you find a match in CODIS.”
He reached out and began studying the object. “You said someone is dead. Is this the victim’s or the killer’s?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. But if I had to take a guess, I’m going with killer. Someone witnessed a murder last night, and I found this
at the crime scene. I need you to tell me who it belongs to.”
“And by ‘someone’, I assume you mean a woman? Why aren’t you going through your own channels to process this? Why come to me?”
I hesitated, not sure how much I was willing to share. Because honestly, I wasn’t even ready to admit it to myself.
“Let’s just say this one is off the books.”
Black sighed in disgust. “Christ, it is a woman.”
“Jesus, you’re not going to let it go, are you? Yes, it’s a woman. She came to the station last night saying she’d witnessed the murder. She’s bound and determined to find the killer, because apparently, she knew the victim. I’m trying to keep her safe and out of trouble.”
Black threw his head back in laughter and didn’t stop, even when tears threatened to fall. What a dick. When he finally gained control of himself, still emitting a chuckle or two and wiping imaginary tears from his eyes, he looked over at me. I bit my tongue to hold back my words.
“Well, isn't this ironic? It looks like you’ve finally met your match, Webber. I can’t wait for the show to start.” He held up his hand when I started to speak. “Let me reach out to one of my contacts. He owes me. I’ll just add it to your tab. Give me a couple days and I’ll see what I can find for you.”
Chapter 4
Katie
Patience had never been one of my virtues. I wanted things to happen, and I wanted them to happen now. Emmett always laughed at how impatient I got. My current situation was no different. It had been close to twenty-four hours since I’d met with Dan—Detective Webber.
I was tired of waiting. I had already read a book, cleaned my apartment, and even run to the grocery. And I still hadn’t heard from him. What was he waiting on? I had the day off and everyone from work had called me at least five times asking if I knew what had happened to Emmett. I didn’t tell anyone what I’d seen. If I weren’t hoping for Daniel to call, I would have turned my ringer off, because I was tired of fighting the tears when someone called. A knock at the door startled me. I ignored it, hoping the person on the other side would give up and go away when no one answered. The knock came again, this time accompanied by a loud voice.
“Katherine, you better be in there. Open the door.”
What was Dan—damn it, Detective Webber—doing here? I thought he would just call me, not show up in person. It should have seemed odd that I recognized his voice, but it wasn’t. I had no trouble recognizing his voice. His smell. His taste.
I picked my emotionally battered body up off the couch and went to open the door. “How did you know where I live?”
He walked past me into the apartment and immediately made himself at home at the dining room table. I followed, taking the seat next to him.
“I’m the police, Katherine. It wasn’t that difficult to track down your name and address. I just went to La Scala and asked around. Your friends at work said you stopped answering the phone three hours ago. They were worried about you.”
“So, what, they just gave some random man my address? Are they trying to get me killed? They don’t know you from Adam. Maybe you were the one who killed Emmett?” I huffed in exasperation.
“For God’s sake, Katherine, you’re being melodramatic. I showed them my badge. It’s not like I just went up to someone and asked for your information.”
Melodramatic? He thought I was being melodramatic? “For your information, Detective, there is a killer out there. Yet you’re not even the slightest bit concerned that my co-workers didn’t hesitate in giving you my personal details? I’m a dead woman.” I jumped up from my chair in disgust, but only made it two steps before he too stood and reached out to snatch my hand. He pulled me toward him, drawing me into his personal space. My breath caught as he reached out to sweep my hair off my face. He slowly closed the distance between us, giving me time to stop what I knew was about to happen. When I didn’t, his lips softly touched mine. It was a brief kiss, but one I felt to my soul.
“No one will harm you, Katherine. I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”
“Katie. My friends call me Katie.” I could only whisper, almost stupidly, after his heartfelt words. Words that touched something deep inside me. No one but Emmett had ever given two shits about me. And now this man, Daniel, whom I had only met last night, was vowing to protect me. I didn’t know what to think. But it felt good. Right. As though I was meant to be his to protect. To cherish. I shook my head at the crazy thoughts.
“Are we friends, Katie?” My name had never sounded so sexy rolling off someone’s tongue. He softened the “t” sound, and his voice dropped an octave when he said it. A shiver raced through me, causing the tiny hairs at the back of my neck to stand and goosebumps to dot my arms.
“We could be,” I practically purred. What the hell? Was I flirting? I needed to rein things in before they got out of hand. I cleared my throat and stepped out of his arms. “I mean, you said you’d help me find Emmett’s killer. I guess that would make us friends.”
He seemed to almost deflate at my words. As though he were disappointed in my retreat. Especially after that kiss. But my focus needed to remain on finding Emmett’s killer. “So, what do we do first?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what do we need to do to find Emmett’s murderer?”
“First, we aren’t doing anything. Second, I’m working on it. I went to the crime scene after you left my office last night and found something that might be a piece of evidence. Someone is taking a look at it for me, but until I hear back from him, there is nothing more to do but wait. I’m not the investigator on this case, so I have limited access to what was found at the scene before I arrived. Not unless you’re willing to come forward as a witness. Otherwise, we’re going to have to do this my way. My ass is the one on the line here.”
I almost screamed in frustration at his words. I needed to help. To do something. It looked like I was going to have do this on my own. This was what happened when you tried to rely on people. My mother had taught me that.
“Fine, do what ever it is you need to do. But know this, Detective, so will I. Now, if you have nothing further, I’d like to go to bed.”
We remained staring at each other, neither of us giving an inch. I couldn’t help but gloat a little inside when he glanced away first and shook his head. Eventually, he’d come to realize how bullheaded I was and that I wasn’t letting this go.
“Since I know I’m not going to change your mind, I’ll be going. Just remember what I said about doing something stupid, Katie.”
I escorted him to the door, a plan already forming in my head. “Thanks for stopping by, Detective. I really do appreciate any help you can offer.”
Just as I was about to close the door behind him, he turned and reached into his pocket, pulling out something. “I want you to call me if you need anything. And I mean anything. I’m here for you.”
He placed the object in my hand, closing my fingers around it before turning to walk down the hallway toward the elevator. I closed the door, opened my hand, and stared at the card with, what I guessed was, his personal cell number hand-written on it. I laid it on the counter before grabbing my purse and heading back out the door. I made my way to the stairs at the opposite end of the hallway where Daniel went and crept out the side door of the building, not noticing the man hidden in the shadows across the street, watching me.
Chapter 5
Daniel
It didn’t come as a shock to me when I saw Katie scurry out the side door of her building. She had pointedly ignored my statement about not doing anything reckless. It hadn’t taken a genius to figure out that she was up to something. I just didn’t know what. I watched as she walk-jogged across the street and hopped into a car. I jumped into mine and started following her when she pulled out.
When I realized she was heading downtown, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like where she was going. She parked two blocks from La Scala, and I quickly f
ound another spot. I thanked god it was so late, otherwise I never would have found a parking place. I discreetly followed her as she darted around the corner. I had no idea what she thought she’d find at the crime scene that we hadn’t already found.
Katie surprised me though. She bypassed the crime scene and headed the next block over. I noticed a homeless man slumped against the wall whom she quietly approached. She bent down and gently shook his shoulder. He jerked awake and lashed out, causing her to jump back quickly. I started to intervene, but I saw that Katie had it under control when the man immediately relaxed when he saw her. His reaction seemed to indicate that he knew her.
She squatted down and started speaking to him, but I was too far away to make out what they said. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment when I saw the man shake his head. Whatever answer he gave her was not what she wanted to hear. I cleared my throat loudly, making my presence known. They both startled and whipped their heads in my direction, Katie emitting a small shriek of surprise. A look of distrust crossed the man’s face, while irritation spread across hers.
“What the hell, Daniel? You can’t go around scaring the crap out of people. And what are you doing here?”
A small smile escaped at the sound of my name on her lips. It was obviously a slip of the tongue that she didn’t even realize she’d made.
“That’s what you get for sneaking off like that. And to answer your question, I followed you. You were too agreeable back at your place. I knew you were planning something. Now, what are you doing here? And who’s your friend?”
She sighed in resignation. “This is Skeeter. He lives around here, and I was hoping maybe he saw something last night.”