MULTIPLE MOTIVES (The Kate Huntington mystery series Book 1) (17 page)

“Same as with rapists,” Rose said.

Kate nodded. “Thank God only a fraction of abused children grow up to be abusers or rapists. But, having said all that, I’m thinking Hunter’s not our guy.”

Her father shook his head. “Please, forgive a befuddled old man, Katie, but I’m not quite sure which way yer drivin’ that cart.”

“Yeah, I’m a tad befuddled myself,” Rob said.

“Sexual abusers are often a lot like drug addicts. They may rant and rave against those responsible for throwing their supposedly innocent hides in jail. But when they get out, they’ve only got one thing on their minds–”

“Getting their next fix,” Rob finished for her. “I think we’ll bump Hunter down to the possibilities pile for now. We can try again to locate him later, if other suspects don’t pan out.”

“Almost sounds like we know what we’re doing, doesn’t it?” Liz said in Rose’s direction.

“Actually you all are making more sense than some detectives I know,” Rose said with a  flash of a grin.

For once, Kate’s stomach wasn’t the first to growl. Rose’s and Liz’s grumbled in two-part harmony.

“Uh, I haven’t had time to grocery shop lately,” Kate said. “And my bodyguard has a substantial appetite. My larder’s rather bare.”

Her father lumbered to his feet. “I’ll go git us some dinner.”

“Thanks, Dan,” Rob said. “There’s a Burger King not far from here. Take Lou with you. He knows where it is.”

“He should be stayin’ here with Katie an’ you. I can juggle me a few bags of burgers.”

Rob stood up. “I’m sending him to guard you. You’re a potential target too.” Dan opened his mouth but Rob raised his hand. “Both your daughter and my wife have extracted a promise that no male ego’s to get in the way of keeping ourselves safe.”

“Why can’t one of them boys go git the food then?”

Kate narrowed her eyes at her father.
Damn! Here we go again.

“Because they’re not errand boys,” Rob answered him, frustration creeping into his voice. “But going along to guard you
is
their job.”

Dan opened his mouth again.

Kate jumped to her feet. “Dad, just take Lou and go get the damn dinner! And if you say, ‘Watch your mouth, lass,’ I will not be responsible for my actions.”

Her father turned to her, his eyes wide. He blinked, then crossed himself.

Despite her fury, Kate almost laughed. No doubt he was praying that his blasphemous daughter not be struck by lightning.

Finally he lumbered over to the front door. The living room was silent until they heard Dan’s heavy footsteps going down the porch steps.

Then Kate turned and glared at Rob. “
You
wanted him here!”

He held his hands up in a guilty-as-charged gesture.

Kate hadn’t even noticed that Rose had stood up, but suddenly her compact body was between them. “Folks, arguing amongst yourselves is counter-productive, and you’re giving me a headache. I get enough of those dealing with my so-called superiors.”

Kate looked down into the young woman’s face for a beat as her anger dissipated. Rose was right.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Rob. “It’s not your fault my father’s a stubborn Irishman.”

“Is there any other kind of Irishman?” Liz quipped.

Kate chuckled as she flopped back down on the sofa next to her.

Rose flashed another quick grin. “Gotta use the john.” She headed for the hall powder room.

“Rose,” Kate called after her.

The young woman turned back around.

“Thank you for reminding us we need cool heads, not hot tempers, and feel free to do so again, as needed.” She shot her an impish grin. “’Cause I do so love it when we shock you into using complete sentences.”

Rose gave her a full-blown smile, then headed down the hall again.

“Kate…”

She turned back toward Rob. He had resumed his seat and was staring at his hands on his knees. Slowly he brought his gaze up to meet hers. “I’m sorry.”

She cocked her head to one side. “About what?”

“Liz pointed out last night that I might have… that maybe I was too much the heavy-handed lawyer, and pushed you too hard, about your father joining us.”

“It doesn’t matter. I could’ve lied to Dad, told him everything was fine, and he would’ve come back here anyway.”

Rob’s brown eyes were still muddy with emotion. “But I should’ve been more… I don’t want you…”

Kate stared at him. She’d never known this man to be at a loss for words.

 “I don’t want all this….” His voice trailed off again.

Understanding dawned. He’d had the same dreadful thought that she’d had this morning. “None of this is going to come between us. We won’t let it.” Then she echoed his words from earlier. “I love you, friend.”

Liz leaned toward her and stage-whispered, “Psstt, you better stop saying that in front of his wife. She might get suspicious.”

Rob threw his head back and roared. Kate snorted, then laughed out loud when she saw Liz’s mischievous grin.

From the doorway, Rose said, “Glad to see you all are back to normal.”

Her father returned with Whoppers for everyone. Liz, a bit of a health nut, grimaced but then shrugged. Rob opened his sandwich and squinted at its contents.

Kate laughed.

“I’ll get the pickles,” Rose offered.

As they ate, they forged ahead with the files, determined to finish them that evening. It was after seven when they were finally done. They now had ten top suspects in what had gotten shortened somewhere along the way from strong possibilities to the likelies pile. The possibilities pile had been honed down to twenty-eight. Still a lot to deal with if they ended up having to investigate them all, but more manageable than the huge stack they’d started with.

Kate began putting her unlikely files in a box to return to her office. Rob was saying, “Let’s call it a night–” when he was interrupted by raised voices from outside.

Her heart racing, Kate jumped up and followed Rob to the front door. He opened it cautiously. She ducked down to see under his arm.

In the gathering dusk of the summer evening, Mac was standing on the sidewalk in front of the porch, looking even more unkempt than usual after several days of living in his vehicle. Officer Trudow was barring his way at the top of the steps. The other officer had exited his car. His gun was out of the holster, held down along the side of his leg as he quickly moved up the sidewalk behind Mac.

Mac’s face was brick red under his tan. He growled something at Trudow.

“Don’t move, mister!” Trudow barked. His hand was on his gun butt. “Put your hands on your head.”

Kate’s stomach knotted. She felt the blood drain out of her face. Mac would be armed, and whatever he was carrying may or may not be registered.

“Stop right there, Officers!” she yelled.

In the same instant, Rob shouted, “He’s a friend of the family.”

The other officer returned his pistol to its holster. But Trudow’s hand still rested on his gun. He sucked in air and puffed out his chest. “I
asked
to see your identification, sir.”

Ah shit!
This young buck was determined to have the last word, and she knew Mac would respond in kind.

She ducked around Rob and stomped out onto the porch. “We have vouched for this man and he is coming into
my house
right now! You’re here to protect me,
not
run my life.”

After a beat, Trudow, stone-faced, stepped aside.

Mac came up the steps, glowered at Trudow, then followed Kate into the house. Rob closed and locked the door.

Kate rushed to the hall bathroom and threw up.

Rose appeared in the open doorway. “You okay?”

Kate rinsed her mouth out at the sink. “I will be, as soon as I kill that little Irishman.”

When she marched back into the living room, Mac innocently asked, “You okay, sweet pea?”

“Don’t you
sweet pea
me, Mac Reilly! Do you realize how close you just came to getting shot?
Machismo
makes for lousy body armor.”

“Cop has an attitude problem. Kept tellin’ me to leave,” Mac grumbled.

“Great so you get into a pissing match with him, when you are no doubt carrying an
unregistered,
concealed
weapon.”

Rose’s eyebrows were doing the tango across her forehead, but she kept quiet.

Mac stuck his chin out defiantly, saying nothing, but his hand moved to his jeans pocket, confirming her suspicion.

After an awkward pause, he tilted his head in Rose’s direction. “Who’s she?”

Still steaming, Kate was trying to decide whether to allow the change of subject when Rob answered, “You probably don’t recognize her out of uniform. She’s one of Kate’s police protection team, but she’s thrown her lot in with us to help with the investigation. Rose Hernandez, meet Mac Reilly.”

“Welcome to the Baker Street Irregulars,” Mac said.

Rose’s eyebrow went up again.

“Sherlock Holmes,” Liz prompted.

“Not much time for recreational reading.” Rose turned back to Mac. “Kate said you were Special Forces, sir.” Her back straightened and her shoulders went back. “I was infantry. Six years.”

With a jolt, Kate realized she was standing at attention. “Sheez, Rose, will you
pe-leeze
cut the
sir
crap. And if you salute him, I swear I’m gonna….” Too late, she caught herself. Still jittery with residual adrenaline, she was pointing her left-over anger in the wrong direction.

Rose did the eyebrow thing. “You’re gonna do what, Kate?” Her tone was innocent, too innocent. And there was a glint in her eyes.

Kate couldn’t read her expression. Her throat tightened a little. Had she pissed the young woman off? In a lame effort to turn her outburst into a joke, she said, “I don’t know, maybe turn you over my knee.”

Mac glanced at Rose’s compact, muscular body, then looked at her. His grin said loud and clear that Kate hadn’t fared well in the comparison of their physiques.

The corner of Rose’s mouth twitched.

“You and what army,” they said at exactly the same moment.

Rose broke out her glorious smile.

Mac’s mouth fell open as his “sweet p…” trailed off.

Kate stared at his gaga expression. Eyes that normally sparkled with mischief or were hard, blue ice had melted into puddles of soft aqua.

She glanced quickly at Rose. A pink tinge crept up the young woman’s cheeks.

Wow, can I call it or what?

A bubble of laughter threatened to escape. “Would you all excuse me for a moment?”

She raced into the kitchen and danced across the room, pumping her fist in the air.

Rose came around the corner. “Kate, it’s not safe in… What the hell?”

“Charlie horse.” Kate hopped on one foot, faking a cramp.

A streetlight snapped on outside, casting a shadow against the semi-sheer curtains.

The shadow moved.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Rose’s hand swooped down, in a much-practiced motion, to retrieve her gun from its ankle holster. She grabbed Kate by one arm and shoved her toward the kitchen doorway. “Get out of here. Now!”

Mac came around the corner and hauled Kate out of the room, just as a porch floorboard squeaked loudly.

Rose aimed at the window. “Police! Don’t move!”

The shadow jerked.

“I
said
don’t move!”

The shadow froze. “It’s me, Officer Trudow,” a male voice yelled.

“Don’t move!”

“No, ma’am! I mean, yes, ma’am.” The voice ended with a squeak.

Keeping her aim on the shadow, Rose reached over and shoved the curtains aside. She unlocked the window, then slid it up. All she could see was a dark blue shirtsleeve to her right. It was most likely Trudow, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

“Arms out to your sides. Turn around slow.”

The blue-shirted figure turned slowly and Trudow’s face, pale except for two red blotches on his cheeks, came into view.

“Rookie,” Rose muttered as she leaned down to return her gun to its holster.

She instantly regretted the comment when Trudow’s flush spread. He lowered his arms. “And just who are you, ma’am?” he demanded.

She’d been about to apologize, but his tone pissed her off. Instead she slammed the window shut and locked it again.

Mac had slipped back around the corner. “Sweet,” he whispered.

Rose stifled a grin and pretended she hadn’t heard him.

They’d no sooner returned to the living room then there was a sharp rap on the front door. “Mrs. Huntington, open the door! I need to speak with that woman.”

Trudow apparently wasn’t going to let things stand as they were. Rose really couldn’t blame him. He’d just been doing his job, standing guard on the porch.

Rob was headed toward the door. She slipped in front of him. There were advantages to being compact. “Have an idea. Let me handle it, sir.”

Trudow banged again. “Open up, ma’am.”

Kate called out, “I’m coming, Officer.” Grabbing Rob’s arm, she whispered, “Let her. It’s her career at stake.”

“So much for being in charge,” Rob muttered.

Rose opened the door and Trudow marched in. “Keep your hands where I can see them, ma’am,” he barked. “Now
who
are you?”

“Friend of the family,” she said in as pleasant a tone as she could muster. She raised an eyebrow at him and cocked her head toward the hallway leading to the master bedroom.

Trudow missed the cue. He glared down at her. “I need to see some identification.”

He’d dropped the
ma’am
, she noted. She turned toward him so that her back was to the rest of the room. “I’ll be happy to show you ID, Officer.” Her voice was sweet, but she gave Trudow a hard look and jabbed her chin several times toward the hall.

Trudow’s eyes shifted toward confusion, then he gave her a slight nod.

Finally, the light’s come on in his attic.

“Uh, Mrs. Huntington,” the officer said, “is there someplace I can, uh, question this woman in private?”

Kate stepped forward and pointed down the hall. “You can use my bedroom, Officer.”