He heard the relief in her voice. For all the reasons that Kate might distrust his ability, she still didn’t want that to prevent him from saving a victim. “I’m waiting for the cab to come back around, wondering what the hell I’m even doing,” he said bitterly. “It’s gorgeous here. Yet all I can see is somebody throwing themselves over. Don’t you understand how this haunts me?”
“I do understand, and I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t know how any of this can happen, how it is happening,” she said, “but I know that, for you, it’s real, and, for that, I would do anything to help ease this for you.”
He believed her; that was the thing. There was absolutely no way not to believe the sincerity in her voice. “Meet me at home,” he said, his voice thick.
“I’m already here,” she said gently. “So, come on home, and we’ll spend some time remembering about the living and less about the dead.”
Chapter 13
Kate’s Monday Morning
Kate woke upthe next morning and looked over to see Simon in bed beside her. She smiled, got up, had a quick shower, dressed, and snuck out of his penthouse apartment. It was the first time she’d ever stayed overnight until time to go to work. As she checked her watch, it was just 7:00 a.m. She made a quick trip home, changed clothes, and then prepped for work. As she left her apartment, she got a text from Simon, with a sad face. She laughed.Needed fresh clothes for work.
As she walked into the bullpen, a buzz of activity was going on. She looked at everybody in surprise. “What happened? Did something break?”
“Well, something broke,” Owen said. “We found the guy who parked the blue-green truck on the other side of the mall. Parked it illegally, so it was picked up and taken to the impound lot.”
“Because someone had stolen it, right?”
The whole team nodded. Owen continued. “And we found the guy who stole it. Only he came into possession of it that same day. He found it off around the corner from the original shooting scene, with the engine running and the keys in it, so he hopped in and took it for a joyride.”
“Oh, crap,” she said. “The joke’s on him, isn’t it? Since it was used in several drive-by shootings.”
“He’s in Interview One.”
She rubbed her hands together. “Now this is good. Who’s going in to interview him?”
“Well, it was your deal, so…” Owen began.
Colby walked in and said, “You and Rodney take it.”
She grinned. “You guys just made my day.” She raced to the coffee pot, and her luck was holding; there was even coffee. She didn’t know what entity was smiling down on her this morning, but, so far, she had managed to get a couple things accomplished without any of the usual headaches.
As she walked in the interview room, with her file and her coffee, Rodney at her side, she looked at the suspect and frowned. He was just a pimply-faced kid, probably hadn’t even had his driver’s license for much more than a few months. He looked up at her nervously. She dropped the file with more force than necessary, and he jumped.
She snorted. “How long have you had a driver’s license?”
He glared at her.
“Cut the bravado,” she said, with a wave of her hand. “I can check for myself easily enough, but I would take it as a sign of cooperation if you just tell me.”
“Three months,” he snapped.
“And so, in the first three months of your professional driving career, you decide to steal a truck?”
He sank lower in his seat. “You don’t know that I did it,” he said.
“Cameras are all over the city,” she said, “so you’d be surprised.” She didn’t tell him that she had photos of him getting into the vehicle.
“I don’t know why,” he moaned. “Man, I was—I was just having a lark,” he said. “It was just sitting there, and the motor was running. I mean, it was just asking somebody to take it. And it was a pretty damn sweet ride.”
“A sweet ride?”
“Those old trucks are gorgeous,” he enthused.
“And here I thought you’d be into muscle cars,” she said, studying him carefully.
“Nah,” he said, with a lip curl, “muscle cars are for the rich white boys.”