The Heart of a Killer

by Jaci Burton

  Her father let Rusty off his leash and into the house so he could get a drink. "The knee feels strong lately."

  "You look pretty good now that you took off some of that beer weight."

  "Hey, I still have my beers. Rusty just works them off me."

  She laughed. "High five for Rusty, then."

  "How's the case coming along?"

  "We have some leads. Nothing major breaking yet."

  She went inside and got them both something to drink, then came back, bringing Rusty with her. The dog curled up at her dad's feet and went to sleep.

  "So why are you really here?"

  Her gaze shot to his. "Can't a daughter visit her father?"

  "Anytime. But why are you really here?"

  She narrowed her gaze at him. "You're very cynical."

  "And still a good cop."

  She laughed. "Yeah, you are."

  "So?"

  She leaned back in the rocker and stared at the street, at the normalcy of the neighborhood she knew all too well, wishing life were as simple as it had been when she was a kid. "I don't know. It's a lot of things."

  "So, it's Dante."

  "He's part of it. The case is part of it. I just feel out of sorts."

  "You're frustrated because this case isn't easy to solve and it involves people you care about. And Dante isn't making your life easier because you can't fit him into one of your neat little organizational slots."

  She turned her head. "What does that mean?"

  "You like order, and he's chaos. He's turned your world upside down and made you feel things, and you don't like to feel things."

  She looked out at the street again. "Hmmph."

  "So I'm right?"

  "I don't know. Maybe. You make me sound like a robot."

  "Not a robot. Just afraid to put yourself out there and risk being hurt. It's not like you've paraded a bunch of boyfriends in front of me over the years, Anna. You've never brought a guy over to meet me."

  He was right. She hadn't. Mainly because she'd never had a serious relationship with anyone. "No one was worthy."

  "You haven't brought Dante by since he came back, either."

  She shrugged. "He won't be staying long."

  "Did he tell you that?"

  "Not exactly. I just know."

  "So you're already ending things between the two of you before you know how he feels about it."

  She shifted in the chair to face him. "I just know, Dad. We're not going to end up together. He has his life and it's somewhere else. I have mine and it--"

  She didn't even know how to finish that thought. She couldn't see that far into the future, but she did know her life wouldn't include Dante. Why get her father's hopes up by dragging Dante into his life?

  "It what?"

  "I don't know. We just won't end up together."

  "Or maybe you're afraid you won't end up together. That he'll leave you like last time."

  She frowned. Her dad was just as bad as Dante at reading her thoughts and emotions. Damn men. "When did you get so good at this relationship stuff?"

  He laughed. "Honey, I'm the last person you should be talking to about love. I wish to God your mother was still alive. She'd have been great to talk to about this. But she isn't, and all you got is me."

  Her lips lifted. "I'm okay with having you. You've done a great job giving me advice, Dad."

  He reached out to grasp her hand. "Thank you, baby girl. But I know you. I know your heart. I know you loved Dante once, and I have a feeling you still do."

  She inhaled, let it out and kicked the rocker back with her foot. The rocking relaxed her.

  "I sent him away, Anna."

  She sat up. "What? Sent who away?"

  "Dante. After that night. It was me who sent him away."

  She pulled her hand away from her father. "I don't understand. Dante said he wanted to get away, that he got George to sign the emancipation papers for him."

  Her father shook his head. "He said that to protect you, because I asked him not to tell you it was me. I went to Dante, told him it would be best if he left town and put some distance between you and him."

  "No. He said it was his idea to go."

  He gave her a small smile. "Again, he told you that to protect me. He never wanted to go."

  Her stomach hurt. "Why would you do that?"

  "Because I was afraid after what happened to you. I was afraid for you. And God, I was so grateful to him for saving your life, but I was afraid for him, too."

  "So you sent him away, in what? In gratitude? To protect him? From what? That doesn't make sense."

  He rubbed his right brow, something he always did when he was troubled. "I'm not explaining this right."

  "No shit, Dad. I don't understand this. Why did you send him away?"

  And why did he go? Did her father threaten Dante in some way? Dante had seemed like a grown man to her. But he hadn't been quite yet eighteen. Close, but not quite. And her father had been a cop. He could have leveled all manner of threats against Dante to get him to leave town.

  "I told him it was in his best interest to lie low for a while, just in case Tony Maclin's murder was somehow tracked back to him. I was trying to protect him, Anna. You gotta believe that."

  She stayed silent, but a part of her was furious at her father for orchestrating all this, for separating her and Dante all those years ago.

  "I wanted you to be safe, and figured if I could get Dante out of here, and get you through this mess with Maclin--keep you and Dante apart, there'd be no way to tie you two to the crime."

  "That doesn't even make sense. What about all the other guys?"

  Her father didn't answer. Of course. She hadn't been dating them, hadn't been as close to them as she'd been to Dante. This had been his way to separate her and Dante. She'd have naturally stayed away from Gabe and Roman and Jeff at the slightest urging, because as fond as she'd been of them, she hadn't loved them like she loved Dante.

  "You did it to break us up."

  He had the decency to look away. "Not entirely."

  "How could you do that to me? To Dante?"

  "I was panicked, not thinking straight. When I saw you that night, covered in blood and in shock, and you told me what happened, all I could think about was you. I didn't care about anyone else but you, Anna. I made the best decision I could for both you and Dante at the time. I separated the two of you to protect you both. You can hate me for that if you want, but don't blame him for leaving. He honored my wishes, believed me when I told him it was to protect you.

  "He'd have done anything to protect you--even if that meant leaving you without saying a word."

  All these years she thought Dante's leaving had been his idea, only to find out it had all been orchestrated by her father.

  Good intentions or not, it hurt.

  She stood and went to the railing, and leaned against it, facing the street. "Things might have been different if he hadn't left."

  "Yeah, they might have. And they might have been worse. I'm sorry I lied to you, Anna. But I still believe I made the right choice."

  She turned around and faced her father. "I can't deny this hurts me, Dad. All these years I assumed it had been Dante's choice to leave."

  To leave me. She couldn't bring herself to admit that, not even to her father.

  Her dad looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry."

  "You saying you're sorry doesn't make up for you tearing us apart."

  He lifted his head. "I won't apologize for doing what I thought was right at the time. You were sixteen and you'd just been through a horrible trauma. You didn't need Dante in your life right then."

  The sting of tears burned her eyes, and suddenly she was sixteen again. And Dante was the one person she had needed, more than anyone.

  "You had no right to make that decision for me."

  "I had every right to make that decision for you. I'm your father."

  "Goddammit." She swiped the tears from her chee
ks. She wrapped her arms around her middle, hoping it would help the ache go away.

  "I hope someday you'll be able to forgive me," he said. "I did what I thought was right."

  She didn't say anything, couldn't, afraid if she tried, she'd fall apart right there on her father's front porch.

  "Please don't hate me, Anna."

  She pushed back the misery and fought back the tears. "You're my dad. I can't hate you. But dammit, I'm mad at you right now."

  "You have a right to be."

  She grabbed her phone to check the time. "I need to go."

  He stood. "Okay."

  He looked so damn miserable she couldn't help herself. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. He squeezed her tight and she wanted to hang on to him like this forever.

  But she wasn't his little girl anymore, and hadn't been for a long time. She let go and took a step back, saw the tears in his eyes and hated that they'd had this fight.

  "I love you, Anna."

  She kissed his cheek. "I love you, too, Dad."

  "Bring Dante over soon, okay? I'd like to see how he turned out."

  She nodded. "I will."

  As she climbed into her car and headed back to the station, she realized this changed everything.

  Dante hadn't left her. He'd been forced to leave.

  How was she going to maintain her distance knowing that?

  This was why she didn't have relationships. She flat out didn't have time to sort through the emotional aspect of it all.

  Especially not now when a killer was on their heels.

  Dante would understand that. His primary motivation was finding the killer, too. They'd concentrate on that and push their relationship to the background.

  It was the best thing to do for everyone involved.

  Coward.

  She ignored that inner voice and headed back to the station. Dante and Roman were back.

  "There are several dealers working morphine in the area," Roman said. "But only a handful have the mix in injectible form."

  "You get names?" she asked.

  He nodded. "Dante and I followed up and went to talk to a couple of them. Obviously no one wanted to talk, so we didn't get much. I'll keep trying."

  Anna nodded. "I got a call from Gabe. He's got some information for us on the drug-dealing angle, so we're going to meet with him."

  "When?"

  "About ten."

  "I'll catch up with you," Roman said. "There are a few of these dealers I can catch at night, so I want to see if I can talk to them. We need a damn break in this case and if we can get one of these dealers to ID whoever bought the morphine we're looking for, we'll have a solid lead."

  "Okay," Anna said.

  "I'm hungry," Dante said after Roman left. "Let's grab a bite to eat before we head to the house."

  "Sure."

  Dante grabbed his keys.

  "Dante?"

  He turned and smiled at her, and everything about him seemed different.

  Was it because of what her father had told her about him?

  "What is it?" he asked.

  "Um, how about pizza?"

  "You read my mind."

  They ate dinner, talked, even had a beer, and all the while Anna couldn't help but see Dante differently.

  She'd been so angry with him for so long, had thought he'd abandoned her and had only his own interests in mind when he'd left all those years ago.

  Now she knew the truth, and it had changed everything.

  Or almost everything. The past, at least.

  But the present was the same, and the future...

  That, she didn't know. And she wasn't about to guess.

  She and Dante were going to meet Gabe at her place.

  When she opened the door, her eyes widened.

  "You have a hot date later?"

  Gabe frowned. "No. Why?"

  "Because you look amazing."

  Gabe wore a tight, black short-sleeved shirt, his dark hair free of his customary do-rag tonight. And with his full, muscular physique packed into his jeans, he was simply gorgeous.

  And blushing under her scrutiny, which was adorable.

  "Stop it," he said and moved inside.

  Dante was in the kitchen drinking a beer. He already had one out for Gabe.

  "Aren't you looking pretty," Dante said. "Got a date?"

  "What the fuck is it with you two? You trying to set me up?" Gabe asked as he pulled out a chair and flopped into it, then popped the top on the can.

  "He's embarrassed because I gushed over how hot he looked."

  Dante arched a brow. "I'm going to keep a close eye on both of you."

  "You want the info I brought with me or not?" Gabe said, clearly irritated, which Anna found oh so amusing.

  "We're all ears," she said. "And eyes, handsome."

  Gabe swore. "Once more, Pallino, and I'm out of here."

  "Sorry. I'll be good." She held up her hand. "Promise."

  "I did a little scouting on our friend Tony Maclin's past and who the dealers were in his area at the time. I found three heavy ones who fit the profile--Don Osher, Crey Robinson and Adam Marcovelli."

  Anna wrote down the names, opened her laptop and started typing.

  "Osher is currently doing twenty-five to life for murder, so he's out." She typed in the other two names. "The other two are clean. Both have local driver's licenses, so they're a possibility."

  "Let me have your laptop," Dante said, then opened up a database that looked like nothing Anna had ever seen.

  "What is that?"

  "Can't tell you. It's classified."

  "Dante."

  He gave her a quick look. "Not kidding."

  Gabe stood and came over, glanced down at the laptop. "Huh."

  "What does that mean?" she asked.

  "Nothing. You're like a superhero of information technology, aren't you?"

  "I can get around a few roadblocks."

  "More than someone in the FBI, I think," Gabe said, grabbing his beer and sliding into his chair. "That's no database I've ever seen."

  "Me neither," Anna said.

  Her gaze burned into Dante's back, but he didn't look up, just continued to jump from screen to screen so fast she got dizzy. Finally, she gave up and took her chair.

  "You sure he's FBI?" Gabe asked.

  Anna just shrugged. "That's what his credentials say." She wouldn't blow Dante's cover. Not even to Gabe. If Dante wanted Gabe to know who he really was, he could tell him himself.

  "Crey Robinson," Dante finally said, pushing back from the chair.

  "He's the one?" Anna asked. She looked at the laptop screen. There was the entire history of one Creighton Robinson and a picture of him in a white coat, looking arrogant like a lot of doctors did.

  "He was doing his undergrad work for medical school while Tony Maclin was in high school. He's finishing up his surgical residency at Washington University now."

  Finally. Finally, they had a lead.

  Dante called the hospital. "He's on duty tonight. Night shift."

  "We need to go talk to Dr. Robinson." She went to Gabe, bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "You are awesome."

  Gabe grinned. "I know."

  "You also need to be doubly careful."

  He wrapped his fingers around her wrists. "So do you. We don't know what his target is other than tracking us down and killing us."

  She nodded. "I know. But we'll get him, Gabe. I won't let anyone else die. I'll catch him."

  He stood and pulled Anna into his arms for a hug. "I know you will."

  After Gabe left, Dante grabbed the car keys. "We can head over to the hospital now."

  Anna laid her hand on his arm. "Wait. I need to tell you something."

  He paused. "Okay."

  "I talked to my dad. He told me he was the one who made you leave twelve years ago."

  Dante laid his keys on the counter, then leaned against it. "He didn't make me leave. Nothing would have made me leave if
I hadn't wanted to."

  He was being noble, giving her dad an out. "You were a kid, underage. He was a cop. I know how it works. You didn't have a choice."

  He brushed his knuckles across her cheek. "I always had a choice. I made the decision to leave. I'm no hero, Anna."

  Yes, he was. "You left to protect me."

  "I left to protect myself."

  She laughed. "Why are you making this so difficult?"

  "Because I don't want you blaming your father for this. We both decided me leaving was the best thing to do. For you. For me. For the situation. He isn't the bad guy here."

  "I didn't say he was."

  "But you're mad at him, aren't you?"

  There he went again, reading her body language or moods or whatever the hell he did that he was so adept at. She shrugged. "A little. He kept that information from me. He kept you from me. He took the choice away from both of us."

  Dante smiled. "That's the teenage Anna digging in her heels. What does the adult Anna think about it?"

  Oh, sure, he had to get all logical about it. Damn him. "The teenage Anna refuses to allow adult Anna out of the closet long enough to render an opinion. Teen Anna is still pouting about it."

  He laughed, pulled her into his arms and kissed her, long and hard until she melted against him. Her head spun and her body came alive. When he pulled away, he said. "That was definitely adult Anna kissing back."

  He kissed her again. "Forgive your dad. It's in the past and that's one thing that should stay there. The army made me stronger and gave me skills and opportunities I might never have had. I have no regrets. Your father's a fine man and I'm grateful to him for what he did for me."

  "He said I needed to bring you over. He's mad you've been back in town and haven't stopped by to say hello."

  "Let's do that before we head over to the hospital. We have some time."

  "Okay."

  Maybe that would help. She still felt bad about her dad, about how they left things, even though they'd hugged and said their I-love-yous. Getting him and Dante together again would be a step in the right direction. She was proud of everything Dante had accomplished in his life. She wanted her father to be proud of him, too.

  The house was dark when they pulled up in front. It was still early, at least for her dad, who never went to bed before midnight.

  Anna frowned.

  "Your dad have plans for tonight?"

  "Not that I'm aware of. He's always home in the evenings. Maybe he's out walking Rusty."

  Dante pulled out his phone. "It's eleven-thirty."

  "He's a night owl. Habit from years of working night shift. He wouldn't go to bed before one or two."

  She went to the door, rang the bell, didn't hear Rusty's bark. She turned to Dante. "That must be it, since I don't hear Rusty barking. They must be out for a walk."