Next of Kin

by Jae

  Hmm. I should add a few miles to my training regimen. Aiden was silent for another few steps, waiting for Del to keep up her part of the conversation.

  Del didn't.

  Okay. One more try at friendly conversation, then I've fulfilled my duties to Dawn. "Do you have a regular training partner?" Aiden asked.

  "No. Mostly, I run alone." Just when Aiden thought Del would leave it at that short answer, Del said, "I went on a run with your DDA last week, though."

  Aiden's legs slowed without her conscious decision, and she quickly lengthened her stride to catch up with Del again. "You went on a run with Kade?" she repeated, just to make sure she hadn't misunderstood. I thought Kade had given Del her marching orders?

  Del confirmed with a nod. A slight smile softened the serious expression.

  "I hope you took pity on her," Aiden said. Kade was in great shape, but Aiden couldn't see her keeping up with the intense Del Vasquez.

  "You've clearly never been on a run with her," Del said with an only slightly out of breath laugh. "She was the one who took pity on me."

  Aiden worked hard to keep the frown off her face. Del's answer was surprising on so many levels. Not only had Kade proven to be faster and to have more endurance than Del, but the competitive lieutenant had taken it so well. Del looked as if she had taken it for granted that Kade could beat her. Seems she has a very different image of Kade than the rest of us. I wonder how much time they spent together for her to see the more hidden side of our DDA. "So is she going to be your regular running partner?" she asked in an attempt to find out more about how far the relationship had progressed.

  "I doubt it. Kade prefers to run alone," Del answered. Her voice was carefully neutral, not betraying what she thought about that.

  "She told you that?" Aiden asked. Ouch, Kade, that was a blatant rebuff.

  Del turned off to the left and shook her head. "She didn't need to. I could sense it. Other prosecutors practice their opening and closing statements by reading them out loud in their office or trying them on their assistants. Kade goes over them during her morning runs. With every step she takes, she leaves more and more of Kade behind and becomes DDA Matheson."

  Aiden almost stumbled over a root as she stared at Del. I've worked with Kade every day for the last two years, but I never knew that about her. How come Del knows all the little details? An unexpected wave of something that felt close to jealousy overcame her, followed immediately by anger at herself. What are you doing? Stop it right now! There was never anything between you and Kade – and even if there were, you have Dawn now.

  She looked at Del, who was a step ahead of her by now. Quickly, she picked up her pace until they were running side by side again. The rhythmic breathing helped her to calm down and focus on her emotions. A few more even strides and she realized she wasn't jealous of Del because she might be embarking on a romantic relationship with Kade. She was jealous because Del had been privy to the more private, vulnerable side of Kade while she had mostly encountered the cool, calm, and collected DDA Matheson.

  "You okay?" Del asked.

  "Of course," Aiden said immediately. She didn't want Del to think she was tired already just because she had been distracted by her thoughts. "Pick up the pace?" She flashed Del a challenging grin.

  "You bet! Just because your DDA ran me ragged doesn't mean I'd let a lowly detective beat me!" Del called as she lengthened her stride and raced ahead of Aiden.

  With a curse, Aiden picked up her pace.

  CHAPTER 11

  AIDEN WATCHED Swenson's office door close behind the lieutenant. "Shit." There go my plans for the evening.

  "What?" Ray asked, looking up from the files on his desk with a grin. "You don't look forward to spending eight hours in a small car with a defective heater, not allowed to drink coffee because it might make you have to pee?" He grinned when she glared at him. "Well, it's not exactly how I pictured my ideal Friday evening either. You had plans with your favorite shrink?"

  Aiden nodded morosely. "We have invitations for an art exhibition."

  Ray whistled. "Art exhibition? My, my, you're moving up in the world!"

  Aiden held back a sigh. Art exhibitions were not usually how she spent her time, but Dawn had asked, so she had said yes. Now Dawn would think she was using work to back out of an event she hadn't wanted to go to in the first place. She waited until Ray was on the phone with Susan, then quickly dialed Dawn's office number. "Hi, Mrs. Phillips," she greeted Dawn's office manager. "It's Aiden Carlisle. Is the doc with a patient right now?"

  The office manager still thought they were nothing more than friends, but by now she knew exactly to which doctor Aiden was referring. "No, she's between patients. You have six minutes. I'll put you through."

  "Hi, sweetie," Dawn said brightly. It seemed as if her day was going better than Aiden's.

  "Hey." Aiden took a breath. There was no way to make this sound better than it was, so she decided to come right out and say it. "Dawn, about tonight. I won't be able to make it. We have to help out narcotics with surveillance. I'll probably be gone all night."

  There was a moment of silence. "Oh. All right. Call me when you get home, okay?"

  Aiden knew Dawn well enough by now to hear the slight disappointment and the worry in her voice. "It could be in the middle of the night," she warned her. "I don't want to wake you."

  "Call," Dawn insisted, putting a lot of intensity behind the one word.

  "Okay," Aiden finally relented.

  Dawn cleared her throat. "Will you be able to catch an hour or two in that room you call the 'dungeon' before you head out?"

  Aiden stared down at the files on her desk. "Probably," she said even though it was doubtful. She didn't want Dawn to worry. "Listen, I'm sorry I can't go with you to the art exhibition."

  "That's one of the perils of your job; we both know that," Dawn answered, doing a good job at hiding her disappointment.

  Aiden bit her lip. She had wanted Dawn to have a nice evening out, but now she would sit at home alone, worrying. Aiden brightened when she saw Kade entering the squad room. Kade's family was a well-known supporter of the arts, so it stood to reason that Kade would be interested in going to an art exhibition. "What if I could offer a replacement?" she asked, grinning at her own brilliant idea.

  "No one can replace you," Dawn said.

  Aiden could practically see the impish, affectionate grin on Dawn's lips. She smiled. "Well, all right, she won't be able to replace me, but at least she could accompany you to the art exhibition. She probably knows a lot more about art than I do anyway."

  "Who?" Dawn asked.

  Aiden looked across the room to where Kade stood talking to Okada, the strap of her briefcase slung over her shoulder, indicating that she was probably ready to go home for the day. "Kade."

  "Kade? Kade Matheson? You want me to go to an art exhibition with Kade Matheson?" Dawn asked, her voice ending in a disbelieving squeak. "Does she even know you're offering her company?"

  "She's standing right here," Aiden said, answering the question without lying but also without telling the whole truth.

  But Dawn knew her too well. "You haven't even asked her."

  "But I will. And I bet she'll want to go," Aiden said.

  "She's probably too busy," Dawn said.

  Aiden shrugged. "I'll just ask her. You'd go with her, right?"

  Dawn hesitated. "I don't know."

  Aiden frowned. Dawn was not a shy person. She loved people, and people loved her. But when it came to Kade, Dawn sometimes seemed oddly self-conscious. "You tricked me into going for a run with your friend Del, now it's your turn to spend a little time with one of my friends." She stopped and listened to the echo of her words. Friends... Yes, she admitted, Kade was becoming a friend even though they hardly ever socialized or talked about anything but work.

  There was a knock on Dawn's office door. "I have to go." Another second of hesitation. "Have Kade give me a call if she wants to go to the exhibition
."

  "Great." Aiden grinned.

  "Be careful, please. I love you," Dawn said as she always did when it was time for Aiden to return to her job.

  Aiden smiled. She knew how important that little ritual was for Dawn, and she was beginning to like it too. "I will," she answered. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kade stopping next to her desk. "And..." She gave herself a mental kick. "...I love you too."

  She replaced the receiver and looked up at Kade, who was gazing down at her with an unreadable expression. Now I only have to convince Kade. "On your way out?" she asked, pointing to the briefcase resting over Kade's slender shoulder.

  Kade nodded. "If you don't have anything else that needs my attention."

  "Nah. We're going out for a fun night with the guys from narcotics later," Aiden said, making a face. "Should be a quiet night for you."

  Kade gave her a businesslike nod.

  Aiden couldn't tell if she was looking forward to her night off or not. It was hard to read Kade sometimes. Del probably could. The thought flashed through her mind, annoying her. "Do you have plans?"

  Kade eyed her with something that looked like surprise. The detectives normally didn't ask about her private life. "Not really," she answered vaguely.

  "Are you interested in art?" Aiden asked before her courage could fail her. It felt strangely like trying to ask Kade out.

  "Art?" Kade repeated slowly.

  "Yes, you know, paintings, sculptures... that kind of thing," Aiden said with an awkward grin.

  Kade grazed her with a small, superior smile. "Thank you, Detective, I'm aware of the definition of art, but why are you asking?"

  Aiden picked a pen off her desk and played with it. "Well, I'm stuck at this surveillance tonight, so Dawn has no one to accompany her to the art exhibition she wanted to go to. I thought you might be interested."

  Kade shifted her briefcase to her other shoulder, a simple tactic intended to buy her a little more time to mull over the question. "You want me to go to an art exhibition with your..." Kade looked around the busy squad room. "...with Dawn Kinsley?"

  Aiden found herself getting a little defensive. "She's not a persona non grata in this squad room, you know? Her case is long since closed. There's no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to socialize with her – unless you don't like her, of course." She studied Kade, waiting for her response.

  "I don't know her well enough to form an opinion one way or the other," Kade answered.

  That carefully neutral answer gave Aiden the opening she needed. "Then why not go with her to the exhibition and get to know her a bit better?" she suggested gently. She knew Kade would not react well to too much pressure.

  Kade smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of her skirt. "If she doesn't mind being left behind in a hurry, in case you call me away for a search warrant or any other legal assistance."

  "Don't worry; Dawn is used to that. She's an old hand at being left behind in a hurry," Aiden said. They had been interrupted on romantic evenings out more times than she could count.

  Kade hesitated for another second, then she straightened her shoulders. "It's been a while since I've been to an art exhibition, so why not?"

  "Great." Aiden quickly scribbled Dawn's cell phone number on a piece of paper and shoved it at Kade before she could change her mind. She took her jacket from the back of her chair and shrugged into it as she stood. "Have fun."

  "You're setting Kade up on a date with your girlfriend?" Ray chuckled as they walked to their car.

  Aiden rolled her eyes. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Ray. They're going to look at a few oil paintings while they sip champagne and nibble on cheese and crackers; that's all."

  "And talk about you," Ray said with a wide grin.

  Aiden stopped with her hand on the door of their unmarked car and turned to face her partner. "What?"

  Ray laughed. "Don't look so surprised. What else do they have to talk about? Dawn is a psychologist from a middle-class family, and Kade is a blue-blooded lawyer. They only have one thing in common – you." He laughed again and clapped her on the shoulder. "I guess that's one conversation where you'd like to be a fly on the wall."

  Aiden grimaced. It was a conversation she not only didn't want to overhear – she wanted to stop it before it went too far. She had thought this evening would be about Kade and Dawn getting to know each other better. What she hadn't counted on was that they would bond over exchanging information about her. She didn't want Kade to tell Dawn about the dangerous situations she had gotten into while on the job, and she didn't want Kade to find out about the softer, more private side of Aiden Carlisle. But she had given Kade Dawn's number, and it was out of her hands. "Give me the keys," she ordered. "I'll drive." That was one thing over which she still had control.

  * * *

  Dawn shuffled her feet and breathed into her hands. It was a rather cool night for the end of April, but the gesture was more one of nervousness than because she was cold. Come on! she gave herself a pep talk. Kade hasn't even arrived yet. Why are you so intimidated by her? She's only human, with as many flaws and insecurities as the rest of us. She knew part of her nervousness when it came to Kade Matheson was because she had been just a helpless victim and Kade had been the competent prosecutor when they had met.

  That's no reason to be nervous, she told herself. Aiden has seen you on the worst day of your life, but that didn't make you uncomfortable around her, did it? It was different with Kade somehow. Maybe because she had been able to sense Aiden's compassion and admiration from the start, whereas it was much harder to discern what Kade was feeling and thinking.

  "Dr. Kinsley?"

  Dawn turned around – and found herself staring at Kade Matheson. She wasn't the only one. In her tight, elegant, pine green dress that formed a striking contrast to her hair, Kade attracted the attention of every man and almost every woman who was heading into the gallery. She was moving toward Dawn with a graceful confidence that told Dawn she was used to the admiring glances.

  Dawn sighed. That was another difference between her and Kade. Dawn had been a shy, slightly overweight teenager and had only lost the last of her puppy fat during the last five or six years.

  Next to the classically beautiful Kade Matheson, she still felt like the ugly duckling. Oh, come on! Aiden is getting over her infatuation, and you have to get over it too. Belatedly, she reached out her hand to greet Kade. "Hi. It's Dawn, not Dr. Kinsley. I'm glad you could make it."

  Kade took her hand in a gentle yet firm grip. "Kade," she said with a smile. "Thank you for the invitation. Shall we?" She nodded at the gallery's entrance.

  They stepped inside and wandered from painting to painting for a while, commenting on style and colors. Both of them conversed easily with the other guests and a few of the artists. Kade was clearly very much at home at an event like this.

  "Dawn!" An elegant hand slipped down Dawn's arm and came to rest on her elbow in a familiar gesture.

  Dawn turned away from the painting at which she had been looking. "Hi, Maggie," she said with a smile. She had expected to meet her ex-girlfriend at the exhibition – it was her gallery, after all, and if she wasn't mistaken, a few of the works across the room were hers too.

  "Good to see you haven't abandoned the arts just because you left me," Maggie said with a wink.

  Great. Now Kade knows she's my ex before we've even said more than a few polite words to each other. Her failed relationship with Maggie wasn't the first thing she had wanted Kade to learn about her.

  "And you also haven't given up on women," Maggie added. Her startling blue eyes threw admiring glances at Kade. "What happened to that cop, though?"

  Dawn sighed. As elegant and cultured as Maggie was, she would never be a diplomat. She took being an artistic free spirit much too far sometimes. "Aiden has to work tonight. This is Kade, a... friend," she said after a few seconds of hesitation. She wanted to make it clear that she was still in a relationship with Aiden even though Maggie was obvio
usly convinced that it hadn't lasted and Kade Matheson was a much better match than a cop for her. Dawn looked at Kade, wanting to see her reaction to being called a friend by a woman who had been a former witness.

  Kade didn't even blink. She just looked at Maggie with a pleasant smile as if she had accompanied Dawn to a hundred art exhibitions before.

  Maggie looked from Dawn to Kade. Her smile brightened when she realized Kade wasn't Dawn's new girlfriend. She reached for Kade's hand, but instead of shaking it, she lifted it to her mouth for a hinted-at kiss. "Enchanté."

  Kade looked startled only for a split second, then she accepted the compliment with the same grace that she would a man's attention.