by Karen Rose
Dani chuckled. ‘Well, he is my cousin. His name is Mr Adam. Go eat. Tell Coach I’ll be down in a few minutes.’
She closed the door, relieved. Adam and Meredith were here. Maybe Meredith could talk to Michael about therapy. Diesel had probably invited her over for that reason, asking her to bring chocolate chips to make her visit less formal.
Quickly she got ready, changing out of her sweats into a pair of jeans and a sweater the exact color of her blue eye. She added a dash of makeup that she normally would not have worn. Because Diesel was in her kitchen, she could admit.
And he’d kissed her last night. Several times. Then left her wanting more.
Which was smart on his part, she could also admit. He always left her wanting more. Glancing at her door to make sure it was still closed, she opened her sock drawer and pushed the socks aside, revealing a beautiful hand-knitted lace shawl.
It was black, with a jagged white stripe that stretched across its length. She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Like my hair. She’d found the shawl on her chair at the clinic one morning about a year ago, wrapped in shiny foil paper. There’d been no name attached indicating the sender.
She hadn’t realized that it was from Diesel until later, when Meredith had pointedly told her that Diesel had learned to knit. Dani hadn’t confirmed to Meredith that she knew that Diesel had made the delicate shawl, but she had a feeling that Meredith was aware that she knew.
Dani hadn’t thanked him. But she wore the shawl whenever she went out and she knew that he’d seen it around her shoulders. It allowed her to pretend that it was Diesel’s arm around her, instead of the lace he’d created with those big hands of his. I need to thank him. I need to acknowledge this beautiful gift. She met her own eyes in the mirror. I need to acknowledge the beautiful gift of his affection, too.
Even if she would never accept it. No matter how much she wanted to. Her dream had been the stark reminder she’d needed to shut down her fruitless desire to belong to him. Because, God help her, she still wanted to.
She closed the drawer and opened another, staring at the neatly folded frothy lingerie. She didn’t touch the letter that she’d hidden under her best underwear. She didn’t have to. She knew its contents word for word. Short and bitter, they were Adrian’s last words, and she’d forever hear them in his voice.
I said I was sorry, but you didn’t care. Are you happy now? I hope you’re a better doctor than you were a lover. Have a great life. Would have loved to spend it with you.
‘Dr Dani!’ Joshua’s shout from the bottom of the stairs ripped her from her memories. ‘Breakfast!’
Yes. Breakfast. And then she’d have the discussion with Diesel that he wouldn’t like, but needed to hear. Find someone else. And she’d mean it this time.
She found everyone gathered around her table when she got downstairs. Adam and Meredith, Joshua – who was sneaking bites of bacon to a very grateful Hawkeye – and Michael. And Diesel, of course.
Diesel was dressed in jeans and a tight black Henley that showed off every one of his muscles. Unfortunately, the long sleeves also covered most of his ink.
Which was good, she told herself. The ink was too much of a distraction. Too much of a turn-on.
She deliberately looked away from Diesel to her cousin, whose eyes were . . . worried. That was not a good sign.
‘Good morning,’ she said brightly, hoping the boys hadn’t seen Adam’s concern. ‘I see we have our own chocolate chip delivery service.’
Meredith laughed. ‘Only because Diesel promised to make pancakes,’ she said, while Adam signed her words for Michael. She turned to speak directly to Michael, even though Adam was still interpreting, and Michael clearly noticed. Most people spoke to the interpreter, not the deaf individual. But Meredith had learned proper etiquette through her conversations with Greg. ‘I got hurt a little while back and Coach Diesel came to take care of me. He would always make me chocolate chip pancakes. His are the best.’
‘How did you get hurt?’ Michael signed and Adam voiced.
‘I got stabbed by a very bad man,’ Meredith told him.
Beside her, Adam winced. It had been a terrifying experience for both of them. It had also been when Diesel and Meredith had bonded, each becoming the sibling they’d never had. Dani had been a little envious of the time Diesel had spent at Meredith’s side, which had been foolish and selfish. He and Meredith were platonic friends, nothing more. Besides, she’d told Diesel to find someone else.
It didn’t seem like he’d listened to her. And you’re grateful. Say it.
Fine. I’m grateful. Even though she’d be repeating the directive as soon as they were alone.
‘Well, yeah,’ Joshua said, stuffing his mouth full with a last bite of pancake. ‘If he stabbed you, he was very bad.’
Michael frowned. ‘Close your mouth when you chew, Joshua.’ He looked at Meredith with concern. ‘But you’re better?’
Meredith smiled at him. ‘I am. Michael, there’s a box by the front door. Can you take it to the basement? I brought some fun stuff for Joshua, a model airplane kit for you, and a few books, since I hear you like to read.’
Michael looked first to Diesel, then to Dani for confirmation when Diesel just pointed to her.
I should probably be annoyed by that, but I’m not. Diesel had earned Michael’s trust. ‘It’s fine,’ Dani assured him. ‘You can trust Meredith.’
Once the boys and Meredith were in the basement, Dani turned to Adam. ‘What happened?’
Adam scrubbed his palms down his face. ‘The fisherman is dead.’
It took Dani a moment, but when it hit her, she sank into the chair next to Diesel’s. ‘The guy who found the body parts?’ She noted that Diesel looked grimly unsurprised. ‘They told you already?’ she asked him.
Diesel nodded. ‘When I called to ask them to come over. You were still asleep, but I didn’t think you’d mind if I invited them.’
‘Of course I don’t mind,’ Dani said, then turned to Adam. ‘Who was he?’
‘His name was George Garrett,’ Adam said. ‘He called 911 last night because there was an intruder in his house. Garrett had a gun, but he didn’t use it. His killer had a gun with a silencer. The entire altercation was caught on the 911 tape. Garrett told the guy, “I was afraid you’d come.”’
Dani blinked in surprise. ‘So he saw who dumped the body parts?’
Adam shook his head. ‘No, or at least he told us he hadn’t seen him. But he was worried that the killer would come after him, even though we took pains not to leak his name to the press. I think he was speaking more generically when he said “you”.’
‘Weren’t you protecting him?’ Dani asked.
Adam sighed. ‘We had cruisers doing drive-bys, but it appears the killer was watching and timed his attack just after a cruiser had driven away. Garrett’s house had a security system, so he saw the alarm light go off when the killer broke in through his kitchen door. From the moment Garrett called 911 until the shot was fired was less than thirty seconds. The guy was in and out. A real pro.’
‘So having an alarm system won’t help,’ Dani murmured, suddenly chilled.
Diesel placed his big hand in the center of her back. ‘But having me here will. Garrett didn’t use his weapon. I will.’
She glanced at him wryly. ‘That shouldn’t make me feel better, but it does.’
‘It should,’ Diesel said seriously. ‘Adam, how many people know that Michael witnessed Brewer’s murder?’
New fear skittered down Dani’s spine. ‘Oh God. All those reporters outside the police station yesterday. They have Michael’s photo.’
Adam patted her arm. ‘The press thinks he was brought in on suspicion of Brewer’s murder. Not that many people know that he saw the killer. Only the people who were in the room with you, plus Deacon, our boss Lynda Isenberg, the sketch
artist, and me.’
‘That’s too many,’ Diesel growled. ‘That sketch Michael gave to your artist was online last night and on the TV news this morning. Brewer’s killer knows that someone saw him. Or he will as soon as he opens his computer or turns on the TV. What are you going to do to keep the kids safe? To keep Dani safe?’
Dani’s heart melted a little more. She and her foster sons were not Diesel’s responsibility. At least they shouldn’t have been. But Diesel had made them so.
Adam lifted a shoulder in fake nonchalance. ‘When a reporter assumed that George Garrett had given us the sketch, we might or might not have corrected him. When they asked us if we’d taken Michael into custody for the murder, we might have said “No comment.” Now all the reporters assume it was Garrett who saw the killer. The press still thinks that Michael is a suspect in Brewer’s murder – a fact that was helped by his mother’s fifteen minutes of fame. Unfortunately, because of the mother, the press also knows that the kids went to foster care, so then we had to let them think we’d put him in protective custody in a safe house. Which is why you don’t have reporters camped on your front lawn, so you’re welcome for that.’
Dani looked at Diesel, saw that he was once again unsurprised. ‘What did their mother tell the press?’
Diesel’s jaw was so tight it was a wonder he didn’t break his teeth. ‘She got out on bail this morning. First thing she did was sell an interview to a gossip rag about how her son had killed her husband and abused her, as well. She identified Michael by name, so now the various news outlets are replaying her words. Some claim that they can divulge the name of the minor because he’s already been exposed.’
Rage boiled from Dani’s gut to her throat. ‘Bitch. I hope I don’t meet her.’
Diesel wasn’t finished. ‘She also said that she was going to fight for her son.’
Dani scoffed. ‘By accusing him of lying when he reports abuse, starving him, and throwing bowls at his head?’
Diesel shook his head. ‘She meant she was going to fight for Joshua. To get him back.’
Dani felt a sudden calm. ‘Over my dead body.’
Adam frowned. ‘Don’t say things like that.’
Dani turned on him. ‘She will not take that baby back. I might not be able to keep them long-term, but she will not get either of them back.’
‘Ditto,’ Diesel said grimly.
‘Hey, I’m on your side,’ Adam said. ‘I’m just preparing you. Right or wrong, judges will sometimes give the kids back to the biological parent.’
Dani nodded, still trembling with anger. ‘I know that, but thank you. Forewarned is forearmed.’
‘Are the boys and Dani safe here, Adam?’ Diesel asked.
Adam gave him a kind smile. ‘If you’re here? Absolutely. If you need to go anywhere, call me and we’ll get someone else to stand guard.’ He pushed away from the table. ‘Meredith has her own car, so she can leave when she’s ready. I need to get back to work. Deacon and I have victims’ families to inform.’
Dani shuddered on his behalf. She knew the toll that speaking to victims’ families took on her cousin and brother. ‘How many?’
Adam suddenly looked older. ‘They’ve identified seven people from the parts divers brought up. I don’t know if there will be more. They haven’t identified all the parts yet.’
The thought of the bodies didn’t make her sick, but the thought of that man just walking into Joshua’s room? She had to steel herself so that she didn’t throw up.
‘God,’ she whispered. If the bald man who’d killed Brewer really was the same one who’d bought his house without paying for it . . . That man had killed six others? Why? Thoughts of all they’d learned the night before flooded her brain.
What did this have to do with LJM, the UC med student?
She stole a glance at Diesel and saw he was giving her a ‘say nothing’ look. So he hadn’t told Adam what they’d uncovered. She wondered why.
She’d find out before she blew the whistle and told her cousin herself.
Walking Adam to the door, she reached up to give him a hug. ‘Take care of yourself, okay?’
‘You too,’ he murmured in her ear. ‘And I don’t know what is or is not happening between you and Diesel, and it’s not my business. But he’s a good guy, okay? Let him stay. I’ll feel better if he’s here to keep you safe.’
She felt her cheeks heat as she rocked back on her heels. ‘No, it isn’t your business, but I agree and I will let him stay.’
‘Good enough.’ Adam dropped a kiss on her forehead, then paused, his hand on the doorknob. ‘Oh, I almost forgot. Faith is bringing Greg over later. He thought he could cheer Michael up. He also said he’d gather his schoolwork from his teachers and bring it by tomorrow.’
Dani smiled, pleased. ‘Excellent. It’ll be good for Greg, too. Maybe they can do homework together and I won’t have to nag Greg so hard to do his.’
Adam laughed. ‘Good luck with that. Bye, Diesel!’ he called over his shoulder.
Dani shut and locked the door behind him.
‘Arm the alarm,’ Diesel said.
She jumped a little, because he was right behind her. ‘I didn’t hear you come over,’ she said, doing as he’d instructed. Now that they knew this killer could move faster than an alarm would sound, it was prudent to take extra precautions.
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.’ He reached a tentative hand toward her hair. When she didn’t stop him, he pushed it aside. ‘No processor?’
‘I don’t wear it in the house normally,’ she said. Which was why she hadn’t heard him. Without her processor, she was completely deaf on her right side.
‘Do me a favor. Put it on. I want you aware of every sound possible.’
Right, she thought. Completely deaf on one side, I’m more vulnerable. She took her processor from her pocket and slipped it onto the back of her head, where it fixed to her skull with a small snap, all while Diesel continued to hold her hair.
‘It’s a snap,’ he said, curiosity in his tone. ‘Not held by a magnet?’
She fought a wince. She hated the snap, but it was a feature of the processor. ‘Cochlear implant processors are magnetized, but they’re only for people who are profoundly deaf. This is a Baha processor, because I have hearing on one side.’ She turned it on. ‘I’m not hearing everything you can, but more than I would have.’
‘Good.’
‘Um . . . You can let go of my hair now.’
He grinned down at her. ‘Do I have to?’
She laughed and swatted his hand away. ‘Yes.’ Then she sobered. ‘You didn’t tell Adam about LJM and all the other businesses and that someone bought Brewer’s house a week before he was killed.’
‘No, not yet. First, he didn’t ask me. But mostly because we don’t know anything for sure yet. If I showed him what I had, it would taint his investigation because it’s information I got without a warrant.’ He shrugged. ‘Y’know, illegally.’
She ignored his last statement. ‘Will you tell him?’
‘If he asks me directly, yes. And when we get a name to go with whoever LJM is, or was.’
‘And her Brothers Grim,’ Dani added.
‘Especially them. Especially if one of them turns out to be big and bald.’ He tugged her hand. ‘Come on, you need to eat breakfast.’
She let herself be pulled back to the kitchen. ‘Are you going to make me a chocolate chip pancake, Coach?’
He was headed for the stove, but turned to face her, his expression earnest. His voice dropped an octave, like crushed velvet stroking her skin. ‘I would make you anything you wanted.’
Her mouth opened on a silent ‘oh’. Tell him. Tell him that this will never work. Tell him to find someone else. But her mouth wouldn’t form the words.
He grinned again. ‘But for this morning, pancakes wil
l have to do.’
She couldn’t help it. She laughed again. ‘While you’re cooking, I’m going to call Jeremy O’Bannion. He teaches a class at the med school.’ Marcus O’Bannion’s father had been a skilled surgeon before burns from a car accident scarred his hands. Now he taught others. ‘He might remember an LJM.’
Diesel hesitated. ‘I might have already asked him.’
Her brows shot up. ‘Oh really? Might have?’
He looked sheepish. ‘You slept really late, Dani.’
She hadn’t slept all that late. ‘Did you sleep at all?’
‘As much as I normally do. Jeremy is checking and said he’d call if he found the name we’re looking for.’
As much as I normally do was not a real answer, but she let it go when another thought occurred to her, one that really should have occurred to them both the night before. ‘We should check missing person reports or newspaper articles about the death of a med school student. It wasn’t that long ago.’ She frowned. ‘We should have heard about it in the news, actually.’
She was reaching for her phone to check when Diesel put a cup of tea on the table in front of her. ‘I looked,’ he said. ‘There was nothing in the news. No mention of any missing med students with the initials LJM. No missing med students period.’
Well, shoot. She’d been so sure last night. It had made so much sense.
‘Is . . . is it okay?’ Diesel asked from where he stood at the stove, pointing his spatula at the tea.
She took a sip of the tea. It was the same blend she’d made for him the night before. ‘Oh yes,’ she said sourly. ‘It’s made perfectly, too.’
Of course it was.
He looked confused and she realized that she was glaring at him. ‘I’m sorry. I’m not irritated with you. Exactly.’
‘Sounds like it,’ he muttered, but because he’d insisted she wear her processor, she heard him.
‘It’s not you,’ she repeated. ‘It’s just that you’ve been so damn productive while I’ve been lazy and sleeping.’