Right back where she’d been four years ago. Heartbroken.
“Actually, I was escaping
to
something. I’ve always wanted to try rural living. My boss offered me the
opportunity to transfer to the area, and I took it. Packed up my bags and moved
to Pine Bluff.”
“Did you leave any brothers or sisters or family behind?” she
asked.
“My mother was my only family. After she died, I was in a
series of foster homes until I was eighteen and joined the military.” He offered
an easy smile, but Catherine knew it hadn’t been easy. Being alone never
was.
She wanted to say that, but he opened Eileen’s door and ushered
Catherine into the room.
Eileen wasn’t alone, and that irritated Darius more than he
could say.
Or maybe it was the guy that was with her that irritated
him.
The too-pretty EMT who’d called Catherine Cat and acted like
he’d give his right arm to be near her.
“Where have you been, girl? I can barely abide this boy, but he
said he wasn’t leaving until he spoke to you.” Eileen’s voice sounded weak, and
her pale, lined face looked sunken and faded. Somehow, she still managed to look
capable of decking the EMT, and Darius had a feeling she was about to do it.
“Sorry we took so long, Miz Eileen. I thought Catherine needed
to get something to eat,” he said, his gaze on Peter or Pete or whatever the
heck the EMT’s name was.
“In that case, I can’t be too upset. How about you put those
man muscles of yours to good use and remove this riffraff from my room?” Eileen
closed her eyes, apparently done with the conversation.
“Riffraff?” The guy had the nerve to laugh. Apparently, he
didn’t realize how close he was to being tossed out on his backside.
“Peter, if my grandmother asked you to leave, you could have at
least had the decency to do it. She’s ill, and she needs her rest.” Catherine’s
voice held no hint of anger, frustration or irritation. Cold and cool, her
expression was as icy and aloof as Darius had ever seen it.
“I came to see how Eileen was doing. When I realized you
weren’t around, I didn’t want to leave her unattended.”
“She’s in the hospital. I don’t think that counts as
unattended. Do you need anything, Eileen? Water? Something to eat?” Catherine
sat down next to the bed, her muscles taut. The bruise on her jaw seemed darker,
the smudges on her neck green and red and blue.
“I need Darius to kick Peter to the curb. That’s what I need,
and I’m not going to be happy until it happens.”
“You always were a funny old bird, Eileen.” Peter laughed
again, and Darius decided he’d had enough.
“I think it’s time for you to go, buddy,” he said quietly.
“I just need a minute of Catherine’s time. We can talk out in
the hall. Or, if you want, we can get a cup of coffee.”
“I’ve already had coffee this morning,” she responded without
any inflection in her voice.
Who was this guy?
An ex?
If so, the relationship must not have ended on good terms.
As a matter of fact, from the looks of things, they’d ended on
the worst of terms.
“Then, we can just chat for a couple of minutes. No coffee.
Just two old frie—”
“We aren’t old friends, Peter. We’re not anything to each other
anymore.” There was still no inflection in Catherine’s voice, but she’d stilled,
her body taut and tense and tight.
“Of course we—”
“Like I said, I think it’s time for you to go.” Darius took the
guy’s arm and helped him out the door.
“I don’t like being manhandled,” Peter spit out, and Darius
shrugged.
“Then, start acting like a man. When a woman says she doesn’t
want you around, leave.” He shut the door in Peter’s face, turning to the sound
of quiet applause.
“Good show, Darius,” Eileen said.
Catherine didn’t seem as impressed.
She walked to the window and stared out into the bright
morning, whatever she was feeling well hidden.
“Who is he?” he asked, and Catherine shrugged.
“No one.”
“Her ex-fiancé.”
“You two were engaged?” Darius wasn’t sure why he was
surprised. Maybe because Peter seemed too mundane and ordinary for someone as
complicated as Catherine. Then again, maybe she hadn’t been complicated before
she’d gone to prison.
“Yes.”
“I take it the breakup wasn’t amiable.”
“It wasn’t anything. It just happened,” she responded.
Eileen snorted, and Catherine shot her a hard look.
“It wasn’t anything,” she repeated as if that would make it
true.
“It had to be something. People don’t just break up for no
reason.” He stood beside her, looking out into the parking lot, seeing the same
bright sunshine, the same landscape, the same people walking and talking and
chatting, but he didn’t think Catherine was really looking at those things. He
thought she was looking into the past, seeing what had been.
“It’s a long story, and now isn’t the time to tell it.”
“It’s as good a time as any.”
“I—”
The door opened before she could respond, and a uniformed
police officer walked in.
It was for the best.
Darius hadn’t intended to push for answers Catherine didn’t
want to give. It wasn’t his style. The women he’d been with had pursued him as
vigorously as he’d pursued them, and his relationships had always been based on
mutual attraction and affection. Until Melody, he’d only ever ended things
amicably. No fuss. No muss. Just the simple realization that things weren’t
going to last.
With Melody, things had ended before he’d been ready, but there
hadn’t been any bitterness or heartbreak. Just disappointment and the hollow
empty feeling that he’d failed in the one thing he wanted most.
If he were honest with himself, he still wanted it. Not with
Melody, but with someone.
He just wasn’t sure that he wanted that someone to be as
complicated as Catherine.
Then again, he wasn’t sure that he didn’t.
“Ms. Miller? I’m Officer Kenton, Spokane County sheriff’s
department.” The officer introduced himself, his mud-brown gaze sliding from
Catherine to Eileen and then settling on Darius.
“We’ve met,” she responded, her tone as tight as it had been
with Peter.
Another guy she didn’t want to talk to, but Darius didn’t think
Officer Kenton would be as easy to kick out of the room.
“Right. Deputy Sheriff Randal asked me to come complete the
interview he conducted this morning.”
“I thought we were finished.”
“We just have a few more questions for you.”
“I—”
“It will only take a few minutes.”
“I’ve heard that before,” she muttered, but leaned over Eileen,
tenderly tucking sparse orange hair behind her ear. “Will you be okay while I’m
gone?”
“I’ll stay with her,” Darius offered, knowing it was what she
needed, and Catherine smiled.
“Thank you.”
She hurried out the door with Officer Kenton, throwing one last
smile over her shoulder as she left.
He felt it to his soul, that quick curve of her lips, the sweet
light in her eyes, and he knew that if he had the choice, he’d take Catherine
just the way she was...complications and all.
NINE
S
pending time being interviewed by the
police wasn’t high on Catherine’s list of things she wanted to do. As a matter
of fact, she’d spent the past two months doing everything in her power to avoid
the law.
Unfortunately, she had no choice in the matter, and she
followed the tall, grim-faced officer out of Eileen’s room and down the hospital
corridor.
“Deputy Sheriff Randal made it clear that I wasn’t to conduct
the interview at the station. The hospital has been gracious enough to lend us a
conference room. I hope that meets with your approval,” he said as if he really
cared.
She doubted that he did.
She’d met Officer Kenton five years ago when he’d been
by-the-book and dedicated and absolutely convinced that she’d murdered eleven
elderly patients.
Maybe he’d changed his mind now that someone else had been
convicted of the crime.
If so, Catherine doubted he’d mention it.
“I don’t have a lot of time. I need to be with my
grandmother.”
“This won’t take more than an hour. Besides, your friend said
he’d stick around until you got back.”
“You said it would take a few minutes.”
“I’ll do my best to be quick.”
“Officer Kenton, I really don’t have anything to add to what I
told Logan earlier.”
“You might be surprised at what you remember, Catherine.
Sometimes, the littlest detail can make a world of difference to an
investigation.” He opened a door at the end of the hall and gestured for her to
walk in.
She went reluctantly, every footstep an effort in
self-control.
She’d been here before. Not in the same conference room, but in
a
conference room, sitting with several
officers, answering questions about the patients who’d died. She’d thought she
was helping their investigation. All she’d really been doing was sealing her
fate.
“I really don’t think—”
“Go ahead and have a seat. I’ve got my laptop with me, and I’ll
be taking notes as we talk. Is that okay with you?”
She wanted to say yes, but her throat was too tight and the
words wouldn’t come, so she nodded instead.
“Great. Let’s get started.”
The first hour crawled by, a clock on the wall ticking away the
seconds and minutes. By the second hour, Catherine was sure that Officer Kenton
thought that she’d staged the attack, planted the bomb herself, done something
that deserved jail time.
Sweat beaded her brow, the thick hot air refusing to find its
way to her lungs. She took a deep gulping breath, her heart jumping when Kenton
raised a thick gray brow. “Are you all right, Catherine?”
“You said the interview would only take an hour.”
“We need to be thorough. Whoever planted that bomb meant
business, and the sooner we find him, the better off you and your grandmother
will be.”
He sounded so reasonable, but he’d been reasonable five years
ago, too. Reasonable and kind and undemanding, and Catherine had fallen right
into the trap he’d laid.
“I think I need a lawyer,” she said.
He looked up from his computer and frowned. “Why would you need
a lawyer?”
“Because the last time you interviewed me, I didn’t have one,
and I ended up in jail.”
“Different circumstances.” His voice was tight and he dropped
his gaze to the computer screen again.
No apology, but she hadn’t expected one.
The Spokane County sheriff’s department had issued a formal
apology along with their offer of monetary compensation for the wrongful
conviction. Everything had been handled by their lawyers, and Catherine had been
happy to have it that way.
At the time, she’d thought she’d leave prison and leave town
and never have to face any of the men or women who’d accused her. She’d been
wrong. She’d been wrong about a lot of things in her life, and that had cost her
in time and relationships and peace of mind.
She didn’t want to go down that path again.
This time, she’d have no regrets, no second-guessing the way
she’d acted or responded.
“Officer Kenton, I’ve answered your questions. I have nothing
more to add. Unless you plan to arrest me—”
“Why would I do that?” To his credit, he looked surprised.
Shocked even.
“For the same reason you arrested me before. Because there
aren’t any other reasonable suspects.”
“That isn’t why we...” He stopped. Shook his head. “Look, the
precinct lawyers said we aren’t supposed to admit personal responsibility for
what happened or we’ll open ourselves up for a civil action, but I do feel
responsible, okay? I was wrong. I admit it. Sue me if you want, but let me help
you this time, Catherine. I know I’m asking a lot of questions and taking a lot
of time, but I don’t want to miss anything. You deserve to have some happiness
after what happened to you. You don’t deserve to have some creep making your
life miserable.”
She’d stopped trusting herself and her ability to read people’s
motives years ago, but the sincerity in his eyes was unmistakable.
One person from the past regretted what had happened.
One person believed wholeheartedly in her innocence.
Knowing that was almost harder than believing that the entire
sheriff’s department would have preferred her to still be in jail.
“I’m not planning to sue anyone,” she reassured him, but she
held herself back from offering anything else. As sincere as he seemed, as
reasonable as his words, she held a piece of herself back just in case another
trap was being set. It was the way she’d learned to be, and she wasn’t going to
give that up easily.
“Good to know. Now, how about we get back to the
interview?”
“I really do need to be with my grandmother.” She stood,
finished with the interview and anxious for some space.
“Catherine—”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Officer Kenton called out, and Darius walked in.
Dark stubble shadowed his chin and his eyes seemed to glow in
his deeply tanned face. Officer Kenton was taller, but Darius had a presence
that overshadowed him and everything else in the room.
He met her eyes, smiled, and Catherine’s heart jumped, her
pulse racing with the need to walk across the room and accept the comfort his
presence always seemed to bring.
It was a foolish thought, and she shoved it away as quickly as
it had come.
“Is everything okay in here?” he asked, the warm timbre of his
voice flowing over her.
“Fine, but we’ll be a few more minutes,” Officer Kenton
responded, but Catherine didn’t plan to spend another second in the conference
room.
“Actually, we’re finished.” She needed to check on Eileen, and
then she needed to go home, take a shower, gather her thoughts and pack a few
things for Eileen’s stay.
“Catherine, it would be best if—”
“Deputy Sheriff Randal has my contact information. If he needs
anything else, he can give me a call. Right now, my focus has to be on my
grandmother.” She walked out of the room, bypassing Darius and catching a whiff
of something spicy and masculine and very, very compelling.
She didn’t mean to meet his eyes.
She meant to just keep walking, ignoring the tug on her heart
and her mind. Somehow, though, she found herself looking into his eyes and his
face, cataloguing little things that she shouldn’t be noticing. A faint scar
just above his left eyebrow. Another on his chin. Fine lines radiated from the
corners of his eyes and bracketed his mouth. He’d lived a hard life, and it
showed, but that only made him more appealing.
She hurried into the corridor.
Darius followed, and she could feel his presence like sunshine
on a winter day, warm and soothing and wonderful.
“Based on everything that has happened, it’s not a good idea
for you to walk around in public without an escort,” he said, falling into step
beside her.
“I’m not. You’re here.”
“You should have waited and let me come into the hall
first.”
“I don’t think anyone would be foolish enough to try to kill me
here.”
“People are murdered in crowds all the time. Are you willing to
take unnecessary risks when Eileen needs you so much?”
“I don’t have a death wish if that’s what you’re getting at.”
She stopped in front of Eileen’s door.
“So, maybe next time, you’ll wait for me before you run
off.”
“I wasn’t running.”
“Sure you were. I don’t know what it is about me that makes you
so nervous, but you may as well know that Eileen has asked me to protect you,
and I plan to do it, so you’re just going to have to get used to having me
around.”
“She asked you to
what?
” Shocked,
Catherine looked straight into Darius’s too-handsome face.
He was serious.
Very serious.
“She wanted to hire me, but I told her I don’t charge
neighbors. Besides, I’m on vacation for the next ten days, so whatever help I
offer is on my personal time.”
“She wanted to hire you?”
“You sound surprised.” He leaned against the wall, subtly
shifting his weight. Catherine was tired. He must be, too, but aside from that
subtle shift, he didn’t show it.
“Eileen doesn’t like to ask for help.”
“You two seem to have that in common.”
“Maybe. When she’s feeling better, I’m sure she’ll regret
trying to hire you.”
“She’ll regret it later? Or you regret it now?”
“I don’t need a bodyguard, Darius.”
“These are telling me something different.” He ran a finger
along her throat. The bruises she hadn’t thought about in hours throbbed in
response.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t in danger. I just said I didn’t need a
bodyguard.”
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t plan to be your bodyguard.” He
walked into Eileen’s room without another word, cutting off the argument before
it should have been finished.
There was more to say.
Catherine was sure of that, because she was sure that Darius
had every intention of hanging around and following through. He’d told Eileen
he’d look out for her, and he would. No matter what name he put on it, it would
be the same. Darius would always be around when she needed him.
In theory, that was a good thing.
In reality, it could only lead to heartache.
She walked across the room, looked into Eileen’s face. Deeply
asleep, she didn’t stir as Catherine pulled the covers up to her chin and tucked
them around her frail shoulders. For her, she’d do anything. Even risk her heart
again.
“I need to go back to Eileen’s place to get a few things,” she
said, stopping just short of asking for the escort Darius had said she
needed.
“You going home?” Eileen opened her eyes.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“It’s hard to sleep around here. Are you going home?”
“Yes. Unless you want me to stay.”
“No, you go on home.”
“I’m going to bring your housecoat and nightgown. Is there
anything else you need?”
“There’s something you need. Just in case. Look in the lockbox
under my bed.”
“Eileen, you don’t have a lockbox under your bed.” Concerned,
Catherine touched Eileen’s cheek and looked into her eyes.
“Stop looking at me like I’m senile. I do have a lockbox under
the bed. There’s a loose floorboard there. Just feel around until you find the
one that moves. I keep the box under there. The key is in the teapot on top of
the china cabinet.”
“Do you want me to bring it here?”
“What’s in it is yours. I want you to keep it.”
“You’re not going to die today. You can give it to me when you
get home.”
“Who’s to say how long any of us have, Catherine? Only God
knows, and He’s not told me one way or another whether I’m going to make it
through the night.”
“All right. I’ll get it,” she said, her heart heavy. Her entire
nursing career had been spent caring for the elderly. Often, they seemed to know
when death was closing in. She didn’t want to think that’s what was happening
with Eileen, but she couldn’t deny the possibility.
“I won’t be long. Maybe an hour or two.” She kissed Eileen’s
crepe-papery cheek, the dry soft flesh so different from what she remembered
from childhood that tears burned behind her eyes.
“Don’t look so sad, Kitty-cat. I’ll be around when you come
back.” Eileen patted her hand and closed her eyes, but Catherine couldn’t make
herself walk away. A hundred memories crowded in her mind, and she wanted to
reach back in time, live them all again.
“Ready?” Darius asked quietly, his hand on her shoulder, his
fingers warm and strong. The past faded away, and she was in the moment, looking
into eyes so vivid and filled with compassion that it hurt to look in them.
She nodded, because she couldn’t speak past the lump in her
throat, and because she refused to cry. Not now. Not when Eileen might wake and
see her, and not with Darius so close, his shoulders so broad and capable.
Someone to lean on when she needed it most, and for a moment she wanted that
more than she’d wanted anything in a very long time.
His hand slipped from her shoulder to her elbow, and they
walked out of the room together.
She should be alone on a beach somewhere, making plans for a
fresh start and a bright future. She should not be walking away from Eileen,
wondering how many more hours or days or weeks they would have together. She
certainly shouldn’t be walking away with Darius, but he kept his hand on her arm
as they got on the elevator, and she didn’t pull away. She didn’t even pretend
she wanted to.