"Looks like a standoff." Focused on Kendall, he willed her to be calm. "How about a trade? You let her go, and I'll turn over your friend."
A navy blue ski mask covered the man's face, but Brian pulled in every available detail about him. The man's hand trembled; his breath was labored with excitement. He lacked the smoothness of a career criminal. That fact alone made him more dangerous. Brian tensed and moved closer.
"We'll swap and you can disappear, but if you hurt her I'll put a bullet through your head."
The assailant looked around, wide-eyed. "Let's do it."
Brian moved him to the front door, careful to leave enough room for them to escape. "On three."
He nodded his head.
"One...two...three." Brian released the punk at the same time the assailant let go of Kendall. He lunged for her as the two masked men bolted out the door.
In one swoop he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away from the doorway. His pulse thundered in his ears and he held her next to him. Outside a car engine fired. Tires squealed on pavement and the men vanished into the night.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes...I mean...I'm a little...stirred up." Kendall paused for thought, a tremor racing down her back. "But I'm alive."
Yes, she was alive, nestled against him. He pulled in a breath and caught the whisper-sweet scent of her hair.
"That was risky."
He held her back and stared into her upturned face, reining in his thoughts. "There's always a risk when a hostage is concerned. I wagered he wanted his accomplice more than he wanted you or a bullet in his head." He shrugged then and stepped away, sighing. "I'll check the bedrooms and call in forensics." He turned on his heel, moved down the hall and swept the rooms before returning to the living room, where Kendall had positioned herself on the remains of an upholstered chair.
"It's all clear."
"Would you look at what they did?" She let out a small moan and scooped up a picture of herself and Kaden, setting it carefully back on the shelf where it belonged. "I'd offer you the couch, if I had one."
"Don't touch anything," Brian eyed what was left--a pile of fabric and stuffing. "You're coming with me. This is no coincidence. The MO looks identical to the job on the Beamer. They could come back. I'll take you somewhere safe."
"This scares me...what if Kaden had been here with a sitter?"
He watched her very own words force the color from her face.
"Don't get riled up, Kendall. They were looking for something. We just have to figure out what."
She paced back and forth in the small room, making him nervous. "I don't have anything. No jewelry." She looked around the room. "My stereo equipment is still here."
"Don't try to guess what motivated them. Did you see anything that could help?"
"They were driving the black car I saw this morning."
Brian stood in the hallway. The first rays of dawn were pushing through the slats of the blinds, reminding him morning was here. The moment stalled in time as he watched Kendall, asleep on his sofa.
Every safe house in New Orleans had been full last night, so he'd brought her home. He smoothed his hands over his hair, second-guessing his choice. He'd offered her his bed, but she'd refused. Why did she have to look so damn beautiful, snuggled against the white pillowcase, her mass of dark hair tousled around her face? Beautiful, yes...but innocent?
He ground his teeth together. He didn't trust Kendall with his mind, but his heart had other plans. How could he separate the two? Had his years with the New Orleans PD made him into the man he was or just kept him alive while he hunted for answers?
Turning around, he went into the bedroom and closed the door. He'd let a McKinley spend the night in his home. A home that had sheltered his wife and daughter before they'd been killed. Four walls that still echoed with the sounds of their lives. For all of Kendall's claims of innocence, her blood ran with the McKinley genes. She couldn't be trusted. Maybe it was a good thing she was here so he could keep an eye on her.
Brian cranked on the sink faucet in the master bathroom and soaked a washcloth in hot water. He couldn't let Kendall get under his skin. It was easier to mistrust her than to give her credence. He pressed the cloth to his face and warred with his choices. Could he pass up the case and risk never knowing who killed his family? Could he let her walk and kiss his only chance at the truth goodbye?
Anger churned his insides. Indecision wasn't his thing. There was only black and white. Grey had never colored his decisions...until now. He couldn't let her go.
Kendall awoke with a start. Where was she? Looking around the room she settled back against the sofa cushions as last nights memories surfaced. She was on Brian's couch. She sat up. A mess waited for her at home. She had to move, had to focus.
Shuffling into the kitchen, she spied the coffeemaker. His home was neat and tidy, not the typical bachelor pad, she decided, as she opened the cupboard above the pot. Sure enough, a plastic container of coffee sat amongst perfectly positioned boxes of Earl Grey, English Breakfast and green tea. Gorgeous and organized.
She pulled the canister down and filled the coffee filter, then the reservoir at the sink. Flipping the switch to brew, she returned to the couch and folded the blankets.
A fireplace dominated the end of the room and she drifted to the mantel, adorned with photographs in various styles of frames. It looked more like a shrine than a casual grouping.
Every picture contained a woman and a little girl. Each one seemed to catalog a stage in the child's life. The woman smiling back looked blissfully happy.
Her gaze settled on a picture in the middle. Brian held the little girl on his knee and the woman stood behind him with her hand on his shoulder. She felt like a snoop, digging into caches where he kept his private things. The woman's wedding ring was obvious. She looked at Brian's left hand in the photo and sure enough, the gold of his wedding band gleamed back.
Maybe they were divorced? It wouldn't be something to come up in conversation. She moved past the pictures until she reached the end of the mantel. The last picture was in a sterling silver frame. A date was enscribed. Never Forgotten 5-10-1999.
Odd, a divorce would provide such a feel of finality. She focused on a small object next to the picture frame. Curious, she reached for it.
"Don't!"
Kendall froze in midtask and let her arm fall to her side. She turned around.
Brian stood behind her, anger etched in the line of his lips, and a hard stare fixed on her with blue eyes that had darkened to the color of sapphire.
A tentacle of fear wrapped her spine, and she swallowed. "I'm sorry, I was just wondering what it--"
"It's mine. That's all."
His short answer stirred her curiosity, but she'd respect his privacy. If he wanted to leave a small chunk of metal on his mantel, who was she to question his reasons?
"I want to go home."
"You can't go home." He moved toward her and stopped abruptly. "Not until we catch the guys who slashed things up."
"That could take weeks, maybe months. I have a life."
"No, you don't. Not until we get them."
She stared at his bare back as he strutted past her into the kitchen, the defensive set of his naked shoulders, the narrow taper of his waist, and awareness flowed through her veins unchecked and opened the pores in her cheeks, leaving her hot and embarrassed.
"Coffee?" he asked over his shoulder.
She followed him and watched him pour her a cup.
"Have you considered that whoever is doing this may try to hurt you when they can't find what they're looking for?"
"I'd be an idiot if I hadn't." She was suddenly irritated that he could even think she wouldn't have that horrible thought nested in the back of her mind.
He set a cup on the counter in front of her. "On the surface this looks like burglary or vandalism, but thugs like that rarely make it personal. They don't scribble threats in blood."
She watched him over the rim of the mug as she took a sip.
His jaw tightened and he wouldn't look at her. "I didn't want to alarm you the other night at Whittley's place, but there was blood at the scene. We found marks on the riverbank that indicate a boat of some kind was pulled ashore. There was a cigar butt in the water. The lab is trying to obtain DNA, but the water may have corrupted the evidence."
"Cigar butt?"
"Yes..."
"I smelled it the night I repoed Otis's car." She down-played the shudder that wiggled up her spine as she mentally connected the information. "They were there, in the bayou...waiting for Otis, watching me? They did the BMW and trashed my house last night?" She willed her frayed nerves to smooth. "What now?"
He looked at her intently. "You hang at a safe house until I apprehend them."
"No way." She set her coffee cup down with a thud. "If you think I'm going to kick back and let these maniacs keep coming around to screw up my life then you're nuts. I plan to be involved all the way."
"Kendall." His tone was soft, like a parent scolding a naughty child. "You know I can't allow you to get involved."
"Get involved? Brian, I'm in this up to my neck. If I'm going down, I at least want to know who's pulled me under. I'm not some helpless woman. I can take care of myself."
A nerve played along his jaw as her sharp words cut a path through his macho mentality. She wouldn't let him leave her out. She had too much to lose.
"If you don't let me help, I'll go out on my own. I have all the information I need."
He stepped up next to her; inches separated them. She could smell the tang of aftershave warmed by his body heat. She watched the rise and fall of his bare chest, half obscured by a large white bandage plastered on his side. The heat returned to her nerve endings. He was too close. She stepped back.
Brian couldn't believe his ears. What if she got her pretty little neck...
"I can arrest you, right now."
"What's the charge?" She looked up at him and smiled. There was something seductive in the line of her lips, something primal. Her feminine charm laced around him and choked off rational thought for an instant. Could he keep her safe, keep his distance, and use her to solve the case all at once? "Obstructing an ongoing investigation. So if I decide you're going to a safe house, it'll happen. You saw the damage they did." He cleared his throat. "It could have been you...or your son." He hated to scare her, but she had to know.
She nodded.
He felt like a rat playing on her motherly instincts to get his point across.
"I'll do anything you say. I promise." Her doe-like brown eyes went soft and watery, her voice lowering.
Brian reeled his heart in. "We'll start on your list of repos for the last six months. I'm not sure what we'll find, but I hope it's a pattern. By the way--" he looked down at her "--one of the guys on your repo list is already dead. Thomas Romaro. We fished him out of the Mississippi two weeks after you repoed the car. He was killed by a suspect with a penchant for knives."
"Oh no..." The color drained from her face.
Brian sighed and took her elbow, guiding her over to a bar stool. "This is serious. I won't lie to you. We don't know how far these guys will go to get what they want. I got a call last night from Callahan. The lab matched the blood in Otis's house to the blood on the windshield of the Beamer."
"Last one." Brian spun the black plastic trash bag and twisted the tie into place. He stared down at her, focused on the small beads of sweat pearled on her forehead. Her hair was piled on top of her head and pinned into place but it looked damp and a bit frazzled with flyaway curls formed by humidity. He looked away, cautious of the need that sizzled and cooled inside of him, dragging his mind over a professional line he'd sworn he'd never cross. She was just another pretty face.
"I'll take it out." He looked around the living room, now bare to the walls. The intruders hadn't left much untouched, but things were shaping up in here much better than in the persuasive department. He'd managed to keep her away from home for a week, but she'd finally talked him into bringing her back to pick up Kaden.
"He'll be here in a little. I'm going to take a shower, get cleaned up."
"No problem." He watched her stand and brush her forehead with the back of her hand. Her mood had been dark all morning. Brian shrugged his shoulders and headed for the back door. He'd never seen Kendall without her spunk. He liked her better talking like a conartist--dodging, twisting and evoking every emotion he'd ever vowed to suppress.
He stepped into the alley and tossed the bag onto the top of the pile. Strangling the thugs who'd done this crossed his mind, but saving Kendall that night had been more important than chasing them down. He glanced up and down the alley and reentered the house. The sound of running water trickled from the bathroom along with a vocal rendition of "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head." Goiong into the kitchen, he ran a glass of water and leaned against the counter to soak in the sound of her voice--low, sweet and, amazingly, in-tune.
Dumping the glass, he straightened and looked around the kitchen. It was the only room the suspects hadn't trashed. His gaze settled on the wooden knife block next to the cutting board. The top slot on the right was empty. Brian set his cup in the sink and opened the dishwasher. Empty. He pulled out one drawer after another. Nothing.
"Have you got a search warrant?" She rounded the corner of the kitchen as he closed the last drawer. "The only thing that'll fit in there are toy cars."
"Where's your knife?" He pointed at the butcher block.
"Gone."
"Gone when?"
She pulled out a chair and sat down. "I don't know, a couple of months ago." She worked her fingers through her wet hair. "I think I might have thrown it out in a pan of potato peelings."
Brian felt his muscles loosen up. "Anything else missing that didn't make the police report?"
Crimson crept up Kendall's neck and smudged her cheeks. "I just noticed some...personal items are gone."
He cocked his head, looking at her dubiously. "What?"
"A couple pairs of underwear." She shrugged, finishing the report of her findings lamely.
A sense of concern rubbed around in his stomach. He'd never considered the assailant's motivations might carry a sexual connotation.
"Show me." He followed her down the hall and into her bedroom, careful to keep his eyes on her rather than the king-size bed that dominated the room.
"I keep my things in the two top drawers." She pulled out a drawer and began to rummage through it, though she quickly stopped and stepped back.
"What?"
She pointed at the drawer. Brian moved in and carefully picked up a delicate pair of lavender panties. The satiny material had been sliced nearly in half. He dropped them and picked up another pair with the same jagged slice pattern. "Sick bastards." He closed the drawer. "Anything else?" Changing the subject seemed to refocus her.
"A bottle of perfume is gone from the bathroom."
Worry needled his insides. It was cop worry. He'd never hunted a sexual predator before he raped or killed; he'd only come in afterward to investigate the carnage. Damn, he didn't miss homicide.
"I'll get this stuff into the report." He turned and left the room.
"Is that it? Is that all you can do?"
He heard the sound of her bare feet against the hardwood floor as she paced along behind him. He stopped and turned around. Her stance was defensive, her arms crossed in front of her chest. He waved off the desire to touch her.
"This whole case is expanding like a mushroom cloud. So far all we have are attempts, but escalation is the norm and our boys are picking up speed. They'll keep coming. I'm going to put you and Kaden in protective custody."
"Let's get something clear. By protective, you mean on the run?"
"Yes."
"How do I tell Kade his life is going to be turned upside down? I won't do that to my son."
Brian saw a challenge glitter in her eyes. "How do I tell him his mother's dead because she wouldn't cooperate?" He met her gaze and watched her defensiveness soften like ice cream in July.
"You've made your point. I'll pack." He hated to see her defeated, but he let her go, watching her move down the hallway to her room. He hung his head. He wanted the McKinleys, but not like this. He'd always considered them suspects, never victims. He couldn't get his head around it. The world he knew was on end and so was he.
Striding to the front door, he let himself out onto the front step. The midmorning air hadn't yet reached a high temperature, but it already felt oppressive, crushing, stagnant.
He undid the top button of his shirt and scanned the street, picking up every detail he saw. Brain work, that's what he needed. Something to congeal his thoughts so he could make sense of them. All he had to do was connect repossession, murder, grand theft auto, stalking, vandalism and a missing person. Piece of cake, but where did Kendall blend in the mix?
Plopping down on the top step, he worked different scenarios in his mind, but nothing made sense. What was he missing?
A white station wagon pulled up in front of Kendall's house and all four doors opened. A group of children spilled out of the late-model car and raced up the sidewalk toward him. Kaden was in the lead, a bulky backpack on his back and a fuzzy red teddy bear under one arm.
"Him's a police...man. My mom said."
Kaden pull up at the bottom of the stairs, while two boys and a little girl crowded around him. "Show them your badge!"
Brian smiled at the woman coming up the walk behind the kids. She looked frazzled.
"Sure." He pulled the shield off his pants pocket and handed it to Kaden. Chaos ensued as each child tried to get a chance to hold the trinket.
"You must be Officer Littrell." The woman held out her hand. "I'm Leslie. Kendall's friend."
Brian stood up and shook her hand. "Pleased to meet you. Kendall said you were taking Kaden on your trip. I've got to admire anyone who can handle children in large numbers."
She smiled. "I need a nap, but everyone had a great time. Where's Kendall?"
"Inside."
"Tell her I'll call her after I get these guys home and settled. Too much in-flight soda."
"Sure thing."
"Okay, load up. If you aren't in the car by the time I count to three, you're toast."
The kids sprinted for the car and he smiled down at Kaden, who still held his badge. Brian put his hand on the boy's shoulder, gently commanding his attention. "Things are different since you left."
Kaden shifted back and forth, looking a bit alarmed.
"Someone messed up your house, but I don't want you to worry because I'm going to find out who did it."
He handed Brian his badge. "Are you going to put your hand cups on them?"
"You bet." He brushed Kaden's dark hair and stood up. Kaden bolted up the steps in front of him and ran into the house. Brian followed him.
He came to a quick stop and looked around the empty living room. "I'm getting my scooter," he whispered to Brian.
Brian shook his head back and forth in warning. "I don't think your mom would appreciate that."
"You're right."
He looked up to see Kendall in the hallway, her arms crossed in in front of her. "I think the rollerblade skates are a much better choice. Besides, how often do you get to skate in the living room?"
"Mommy..."
"Hey, babe." Kendall scooped Kaden up into her arms and held him against her. She'd never missed him like this before. Never thought much about their mortality, but the suspect's invasion of their home and life had already left an impression.
"How was Disney World?"
"Good. Katie got sick on a ride. She throwed up."
"Yuck."
"That's what Leslie said. It got on her shoe."
She hugged him again and finally set him down. "What's this?" She picked up the fuzzy red teddy bear Kaden had dropped at her feet. "Did you win it?"
"No. He gave it to me."
Kendall looked at Brian.
"Not me."
"Not him's, Mommy. The man at the airport."
A chill pierced her and drew fear through her body like thread at the end of a needle. "What man, Kade?"
"I don't know his name. At the airport."
She raced to the phone and dialed Leslie's cell number. Her heart pounded in her ears as Leslie picked up. "Les, where did Kaden get this red bear?"
She paused, listening to Leslie explain. "Really? You're sure?"
She hung up the phone and flashed a look at Brian. "She said he had it when they got on the plane for Florida. She assumed he'd brought it from home in his backpack, but I've never seen it before."
Kendall sat down in a kitchen chair. Brian stepped forward and took the bear from her hands. He winked at her, sat down and pulled Kaden onto his knee. "What did the man say to you, Kaden?"
"He said...Kendall was my mommy. She would like this bear, but I could play with it until I got home."
"Where was Leslie?"
"She was there..."
"Do you think she saw him?"
"I dunno."
"Did you see his face?"
"No...he was behind me."
"Okay." Brian looked over Kaden at her and shook his head.
"All right, kiddo, it's time to get your backpack unloaded and put your clothes in the laundry. Socks right side out, please."
"Okay, Mommy." Kaden bailed off of Brian's lap and raced for his room.
Kendall watched Brian's grip on the teddy bear tighten and her pulse jumped. "Am I making too much of this?"
He looked down at the bear and turned it over several times. Every tumble matched the sensation in the pit of his stomach.
"He knew your name. Knew Kaden was your son. Knew where he would be that day."
Letting out a labored breath, she tried to pull it together. Reality clawed her mind and sent a mix of fear and resolve into her system. She wanted to grab the bear and tear it into pieces.
The sound of shredding fabric made her jump as Brian jerked the bear's head off. There was something violent about the way he'd decapitated the stuffed animal, as if her thought from a moment before had somehow landed in his head.
"Would you look at that..."
She leaned forward and looked into the small void that had been made in the bear's stuffing. A coil of paper was pushed into the bear's neck. "Get me a pair of tweezers."
Kendall hurried to the bathroom and came out with them, handed them to Brian and got a plastic bag out of one of the drawers.
He pulled the paper out and laid it on the table. Holding one corner down with the tip of his index finger, he unrolled it with the tweezers.
ANYTIME KENDALL
She covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her desire to scream. Anytime he could kill her, kill Kaden?
Brian stood up and she leaned against him, glad when he wrapped his arms around her. He was solid, safe, but whoever was doing this knew what buttons to push.
"I'll get this downtown. Maybe they can find some evidence on it.
"It's been to Disney World. Hotels, airplanes, it's hopeless."
"It still goes." He pulled her chin up and she saw determination in his eyes. "We could get lucky."
"I could use some luck right now."
She pulled away and moved toward Kaden's room, a plan forming in her mind. She would approach her family. They were the only ones who could protect him, keep him safe until they caught the suspect, or suspects. But now, after all this time? Maybe she should go straight to her father. Kendall dismissed the idea. There wasn't much he could do from prison.
What about her brothers? They were scattered, but Andrew was still around, maybe he could help. There was Seth Parker. Apprehension flooded through her. Could she talk to Jacob's brother again? He lived and worked in a subculture she'd managed to escape. Going back wasn't going to be easy.
She poked her head into Kaden's room. He was on the floor driving a police car around in a circle. "Hey, you, mind if we talk?"
He shook his head. "Want to drive my fire truck?"
"Sure." Kendall sat down on the floor and crossed her legs.
Kaden handed her the truck and started to push the car in a circle.
"You probably noticed some guys wrecked our house."
"Uh-huh."
"Well, Officer Littrell--Brian--doesn't think it's a safe place for us to be and neither do I."
Kaden stopped playing and looked up at her.
"I've decided that you and I have to be apart for a little bit."
Confusion crossed his baby face and she redirected her message. "How would you like to stay with your grandma?"
A spark of interest lit in his eyes. "My grandma?"
"She's a very nice woman. She would take good care of you." Kendall warmed to the idea, but it was the state-of-the-art security system around Oak Wood that cemented it. "I want you to pack some fresh clothes in your backpack."
What about Brian? Selling the plan to him was going to be like interesting the devil in a shovelful of hot coals. She'd have to work up to it, but it was her decision, not his.
"Okay, Mom." He got up, dropped the car and pulled open his dresser drawer.
Kendall stifled the ache around her heart. She planned to declare war on the creeps making her life miserable. She couldn't let Kaden get caught in the middle, but what about Brian? Would he put his life on the line for them? Save a McKinley? She'd seen the depth of hatred in his eyes. She just couldn't risk her son's life if the answer was no.
What the hell was taking so long? He peered into the rifle scope and set the crosshair on Kendall's front door. He flexed his trigger finger a couple of times inside the leather glove. They had to have found the note by now. Kendall would send the brat packing via teddy bear surprise. He wouldn't do another kid.
Impatience crept through him and worked him into a sweat. The game was just beginning; he'd paired them well. He pulled a hankie out of his front pocket and wiped his forehead. He was so close to success he could almost taste it, heavy and dark in the back of his throat.
Any minute now they would come outside.
He adjusted his shooting stand and looked into the scope again.
Brian filled the lens. He focused on his face and felt his muscles tense as Brian looked straight in his direction. Dead calm slithered through his veins and relaxed his mind. "Bang," he mouthed the word and warmed in anticipation.
Moving the gun a fraction, he spotted Kendall behind Brian. Manipulation was a powerful thing. He could make people do whatever he wanted them to. Now to seal it. He released the safety on the rifle, placed his finger on the trigger and sucked in a breath.
