Dead Wrong (7 page)

He grabbed the phone and by the time he got out, she was on the stairs leading to the porch. That was Kat. Always in a hurry. But she’d have to wait for him to break the seal Tommy had placed on the door.

He punched talk. “What’s up, Tommy?”

Crack.

A bullet whizzed past Mitch and splintered the front door. Kat whirled around, her eyes wide.

“Get down!” he yelled as he drew his weapon, took cover behind the car door and searched for the shooter in one swift move. He swept his gaze right, left, front, back. Saw no one. He turned back to Kat and it was as if everything in front of him changed to slow motion. She pivoted and dived slowly toward the porch, taking him back to another time. Another place. Lori, with a bullet in her chest, blood spurting, dropping to the ground, her eyes open. Staring vacant.

“What’s going on?” Tommy’s voice came from his phone.

“We have a shooter. Send backup.”

Crack.

Another bullet.

Kat, still trying to take cover, jerked, then landed on the porch with a loud thud.

She’d been hit.

Mitch’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to race up the walk and throw himself over her, but he couldn’t help her if he was shot, too.

Another bullet whizzed over her head and into the door.

She lay there unmoving. Not even a flinch. She was hit all right, and despite everything he’d been trained to do, he couldn’t just sit here. He made his way to the front of his car, then to the garage. He waited a few seconds. No more gunfire. He bolted to his feet and charged up the walkway where he spotted blood pooling under her.

“Kat,” he yelled and charged faster. He scooped her up in his arms, then dove behind shrubbery blocking the shooter’s view of the porch. He landed on his shoulder to shield her from the impact then rolled to cover her body.

“Ouch,” she said, and his heart soared. She was alive.

He lay there, waiting to hear another gunshot over the thudding of his heart or maybe the pounding of footsteps as the shooter came to finish them off. He tightened the arm hooked around her waist and lifted his head from where he’d buried it in her hair. “Where are you hit?”

“He just grazed my arm,” she said as if she’d just fallen down and skinned her knee not taken a bullet in the arm.

He rolled off her, and she looked at him, her face inches from his. “You might’ve warned me you were going to go all he-man on me again.” She frowned at him.

Relief flooded through his chest. He wanted to pull her to him and hold her, but settled for smoothing her hair out of her face and looking at her.

“What?” she asked.

“You shouldn’t have just laid there in the line of fire, Kat.”

“I knew I couldn’t take cover faster than he could fire. I hoped he’d think I was down so he’d stop firing. In case you didn’t notice it seemed to work.” She gave a little smile. “What about you? Are you hit?”

“No.”

“God came through again.” She gave a tremulous smile.

He smiled back at her and cupped the side of her face. She was right, of course. God had kept them both alive. But that didn’t take away the feeling in the pit of his stomach. He’d only felt this helpless once. With Lori on the day she died. And he never wanted to feel it again. “Promise me you’ll stay by my side from now on. When I go, you go. When I stop, you stop.”

He saw a brief flicker of fear in her eyes. So she
was
scared, but putting on a good show. This time he didn’t resist but drew her into his arms. She smelled fresh and sweet and he hated that she’d been hit. Hated the rise of all of the doubts brought on by lingering guilt over Lori’s death.

“Promise me, Kat,” he whispered into her hair, his plea so urgent it scared him.

“I’ll stay by your side.”

He heard her words, felt the sincerity in them, but how could he relax when a killer still stalked her?

SEVEN

K
at sat on the back of the ambulance, her arm aching far worse than she’d let on to Mitch. Sweet, caring Mitch. Strong Mitch, holding her against that solid wall of his chest again. Stroking her back and making her feel safe.

What was she going to do about that man? She wanted to dislike him. To not respect him. But the more time she spent with him, the more she saw he was just what Tommy said last night. A good guy. A good guy who just happened to look amazing. Behind the handsome face and toned body that her medic kept checking out, was a man she could fall hopelessly in love with if she weren’t careful.

She sighed and dropped her chin to her chest to loosen cramping muscles in her neck.

What am I going to do here, Lord? You saved us both. Kept us from harm. But it feels like You’re just pushing me into more trouble by keeping Mitch near me. You know I can’t handle a relationship. I need Your help, Father. Don’t let me do something I’ll regret.

“Hey, partner.” Tommy’s voice brought her head up. He squatted in front of her and took her hands. “I hear you’re refusing to go to the hospital.”

“I’ll go, just not in the ambulance.”

“That’s what I figured you’d say so Mitch is going to drive you while I go through Bodig’s files.”

“No! Please. You can take me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why on earth not?” She felt anger taking over.

“Because Mitch is letting this get to him, and he needs to be with you to get over it.”

She watched Tommy like a hawk trying to gage his sincerity. His eyes were clear, honest and transparent, but that didn’t mean anything. “Is this just a ploy to get me in the car with him or are you serious about helping Mitch?”

He scrunched his eyes. “Mitch may not have told you, but he lost a partner in a situation very much like this one.”

“He mentioned it.”

“So you can imagine how this has upset him. He’s over there acting like it doesn’t bother him, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see he’s stressed.”

She looked at Mitch standing near the house talking on the phone with his hand clamped on the back of his neck. His posture was rigid and his jaw tight. She remembered when he’d said he worried about this exact thing happening and not being able to stop it. Of course he was talking about someone he cared about then. Not her. So Tommy was way off base here.

She moved her focus back to Tommy. “I don’t get how taking me to the hospital is going to help with that.”

“On the ride over, you can convince him that this wasn’t his fault, and he’ll get a chance to see that you really are okay.”

Was Tommy really being honest with her, or was he just trying to play matchmaker?

“So this is really about Mitch and not you meddling in our lives?”

“Okay, fine. Maybe I’m meddling a little.” He shifted and leaned closer. “But this is the first time I’ve ever seen you let your guard down around any guy, and I’m not going to stand around and watch you let it pass by without doing something about it.”

She studied him again. Her partner. Former partner. Mr. Macho. Squatting there and giving her advice on her love life. It suddenly hit her as hilarious and she started laughing. She saw Mitch’s eyebrow raise in question, then his eyes cloud with concern. He probably thought she was going into shock and losing it. She was losing it all right, but not from shock.

“What?” Tommy asked, clearly baffled by her behavior.

She shook her head. “You. The man who has never had a relationship longer than a month giving me advice.”

He smiled, an adorable grin that women had a hard time ignoring. “I do all right with the ladies.”

“I know you do, but trust me, that does not qualify you to give relationship advice.” She stood, felt a little lightheaded and wobbled. Tommy shot out an arm to steady her, and Mitch came rushing over.

She took a step back and planted a hand on the side of the ambulance. She appreciated Tommy’s and Mitch’s concern, but she didn’t appreciate their continued coddling in front of the other law enforcement personnel swarming the scene.

Intent on giving him a warning look she peered up at Mitch, but the warm concern was alive and glowing in his eyes and she felt all of her reserve melt away in the heat. She was so in over her head here. She’d just been shot by a killer and right now this look Mitch had trained on her felt far more dangerous than the man threatening her life.

* * *

In the hospital waiting room, Mitch laid his head back against the cushioned chair, closed his eyes and replayed their ride to the E.R. Something had changed between them on the ride over here. Or at least something changed with Kat. She was more cheerful and positive. Making sure he knew she was fine and treating him as if she felt like he needed cheering up. Who knows, maybe Tommy said something in their little discussion to make her change.

Not that it mattered. Mitch had just guaranteed her mood was about to crash. He’d done the unthinkable. The minute the medics arrived and took over Kat’s care, he’d ignored wishes that she’d made completely and totally known to him, and he’d phoned her family. Now he had to figure out how to tell her that Cole—once he got over yelling at Mitch for not involving him sooner—had agreed to meet them at her house and work alongside Mitch to keep her safe.

He could already see her reaction. She’d fist her petite hands, plant them on her hips, maybe jut her jaw out like she did sometimes and let him have it verbally. That he wouldn’t mind so much as she’d get over it. But he also knew there’d be a healthy measure of disappointment and pain of betrayal in her eyes for going behind her back.

The worst part was that he understood her reason for keeping her family out of this. Distance protected people. He lived by that motto and let it control him and keep him from getting too close. Still, despite the need to protect himself, he cared. No matter how much he fought it, he cared. About Angie, Tommy and now Kat. More than he wanted to admit.

Just like his mom always hoped he would. She’d begged him to let go of his worry and live again. Quoting the Bible to him, and reminding him that worrying can’t add a single hour to his life. So give it up, she’d said. He’d tried and succeeded for a while, but then she’d died, bringing all of his worries to fruition, and he’d chalked up that piece of advice as meaningless. But he was starting to think he’d been wrong. At least Kat was making him reconsider his stance.

A hand touched the shoulder he’d slid across the porch on, and a searing pain shot down his arm. He knew it had to be Kat, but he didn’t want her to know how bad his shoulder hurt so he took a few deep breaths to keep the pain at bay before opening his eyes.

“Trying to catch a quick nap?” She smiled down on him and no matter his recent thoughts, no matter his dread at telling her what he’d done, he smiled back, taking a few moments just to enjoy her good mood before he dropped his bomb.

“Everything okay?” he finally asked.

She lifted her arm with a cut-off shirtsleeve and a bandage circling her bicep. “I’m good to go.”

“Then let’s get out of here.” He got up and led the way to the door. She tried to slip into her jacket and fumbled. He grabbed the back and helped her shrug into it. Then, instead of walking away as he should do, he freed her hair and let it settle over her shoulders, the silky strands curling around his fingers.

“Thanks,” she said and looked up at him again, her gaze was as soft as a caress. “I seem to be thanking you a lot lately.”

“No thanks needed.” His eyes clung to hers, not wanting to break away, but he forced himself to pull free. “Wait here. I’ll go get the car.”

He rushed outside and jogged to his car, letting the cold air wash away the emotions she’d brought to the surface. He had to stop this. He couldn’t let a simple thank-you make him go all weak in the knees.

He pulled the car under the hospital awning, and before he could open the door, Kat was climbing in. She slid in slowly and with great care, a pained expression on her face that helped douse any positive feelings he had.

All of this was his fault. He’d let a killer get close to her, and he had to live with the thought that she was hurting because he’d failed her.

“You get any pain meds?” he asked as he put the car in gear and headed for the exit.

“I have a prescription, but pain meds always make me sleepy so I’m not going to take any.”

“We should get it filled for tonight, though, or you may not sleep well.”

“I guess. If we have time.”

They had time. Plenty of time to make sure she got a good night’s sleep. They were at a hospital so there had to be a pharmacy nearby. He merged onto the main road, making sure they weren’t followed and searched the strip malls for a drug store.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“First the pain meds.”

“That can wait.”

“It can, but I won’t let it.” His words came out more forceful than he wanted, but he’d let her get hurt and was going to do the only thing he knew to make it better. At least physically better for her.

She eyed him up for a long moment then seemed resolved to do as he wanted. “Then where?”

“I thought you might like to stop by your place to pick up some clothes for tomorrow.” His tone was free from the guilt and deception eating at his gut, but he couldn’t look at her. If he told her that her family was waiting for them, he knew she’d figure out a way to avoid going to her house. Besides, he wasn’t exactly lying about the reason for going there. He was just omitting the fact that her whole family would be waiting for them.

Right, Elliot. Keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll believe it.

“What I’d like to do,” she said, shifting on the seat and looking out her window, “is to go back to Nancy’s house and search the files.”

“Tommy’s got that covered.” He made sure she knew this wasn’t optional.

Her stomach grumbled. She laughed and glanced at him. “Guess what I really need is something to eat. I can rustle something up at my house.”

He gave her a sincere smile. Sincere, anyway, in that he was glad they’d moved past his half-truths. “Any particular pharmacy you use?”

“I rarely get prescriptions filled so it doesn’t matter.” Her focus was on the window again.

He spotted a chain drugstore down the street. “How about the one on the corner?”

She looked ahead. “Yeah, sure. It’ll work.”

He flipped on his blinkers and maneuvered into the turn lane. She was still looking out her window as he pulled into the parking lot.

“Something interesting out there?”

“Just making sure no one followed us from the hospital.”

“Once a cop, always a cop,” he said, and she nodded.

“You can wait out here if you want.” She opened the door and climbed out.

“Wait,” he said as the door slammed.

She hadn’t learned anything from the shooting and apparently, she didn’t remember the agreement they’d made on Nancy’s porch.

He jumped out and caught up to her. “I guess you’ve already forgotten that promise to stay by my side.”

“Relax. I will when it’s necessary. But I made sure we weren’t followed and it’s a random stop. No one could know we were coming here.” For a long moment, she looked up at him, then turned and entered the store.

He hated to admit it, but she had a point. Still, the shooting had scared him too much to let his guard down at all. He could have lost her before he really got to know her, and at this moment, never really knowing her seemed like the worst thing that could happen in his life.

* * *

Prescription in hand, Kat shifted into a comfortable position in the front seat of Mitch’s car and glanced at him. He hadn’t spoken to her since they’d entered the pharmacy. He’d called Tommy to check the progress in locating Nathan’s threat file. They’d also talked about investigating Nancy’s client list and the source of the propofol. She guessed from hearing Mitch’s side of the conversation that Tommy had nothing new to report. Not that Mitch felt a need to fill her in. After he’d hung up, he’d sat stoically next to her until she claimed the prescription and then he’d quietly held the door for her when they’d left.

As they’d traveled toward her town house, she’d tried to keep the mood light and make sure he knew she’d be fine just as Tommy suggested, but something was eating at Mitch. The uncomfortable silence was starting to bother her and she couldn’t keep quiet.

“Is everything okay?” she asked lightly.

“You mean other than the fact that I let someone shoot you on my watch?” His voice was low and tormented, and he didn’t look at her. “Yeah, it’s peachy.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” She stared at him until he looked at her. His face was tense and drawn, and she felt an overwhelming desire to make him feel better. She touched his arm. He winced and she pulled back. “You’re hurt. You should have had it looked at.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Somehow, I don’t think ‘nothing’ would make you wince.”

“I’m good, Kat.”

“You’d tell me if you weren’t?’

He laughed and the tension in the space seemed to lighten. “Probably not.”

She held her hand over his forearm. “Is it safe to touch you here?”

He nodded, letting his eyes meet hers. She saw the heartrending tenderness in his gaze. She was overcome with gratitude for all he’d done and all that he would do until this case was resolved. “I am forever in your debt for risking your life and for being here for me. I don’t know how I would have gotten through any of this without you.”

The warmth fled from his eyes, and the tensing of his jaw further cemented his changed demeanor.

“What did I say?” she asked.

His face clouded with apprehension. “I hope you know that I wouldn’t do anything I didn’t think was in your best interest.”

He’d said the same thing yesterday then refused to let her go home last night. She felt unease welling up inside. “What have you done?”

He pointed out the front window. She saw cars parked outside her town house. Family cars. Justice Agency vehicles.

“You called them.” She flashed her gaze up to him. “How could you?”

“We can’t do this alone anymore, Kat. The department doesn’t have the resources needed to work this case and protect you, too. We need help.”