After Midnight (17 page)

The play went well even though it was a holiday weekend and the seating area was only half-full. Sam and Kate were almost finished cleaning their section when J.R. walked over to them.

“Could I talk to both of you before you leave?” he asked. He pulled out a chair from the row in front of them and turned it around so he was sitting in front of the shelf.

Kate and Sam exchanged curious looks and sat down opposite J.R.

The older man pulled out an envelope and opened it. “I received this a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t really pay much attention to it until I heard about your car getting stolen and your apartment burning down. I’m no detective, but this might be connected somehow.”

He laid the letter in front of Sam and Kate. Sam read it out loud.

Dear Music Hall Manager:

I wanted to bring to your attention that one of your actresses has been seen turning tricks on Colfax Ave. I realize that actresses might have to supplement their incomes to survive, but I am offended that you have chosen to employ someone of such questionable moral standards.

The Music Hall has always been a family venue, but I am uncomfortable bringing my family to any performance where a prostitute is featured onstage as if nothing is wrong with that. You can be assured that I will spread the word among all my friends and acquaintances if you continue to employ this woman. You have an obligation to your community and your loyal fans to replace this woman in your cast as soon as possible.

Concerned citizen

Kate looked like she had been punched in the stomach. Her face was deathly pale, and the hand that was covering her mouth was shaking.

“It’s not true.” Sam rose to her defense.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

J.R. waved her to silence. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Carrie and Andy had joined them in time to hear most of the letter, and they added their input.

“How do you know they weren’t talking about me?” Carrie teased, pretending to be offended. “Don’t I look like I could make money on Colfax?”

J.R. gave her a sweeping appraisal. “You’d better keep your other night job,” he advised with that wry comic timing he was famous for.

“I was a Chippendales dancer before I joined this cast,” Andy volunteered, and everyone looked at him in shock. “Okay, I was dressed like a chipmunk at Disney World, but he was naked.”

Kate was totally humiliated, and their attempts to make her feel better weren’t helping.

“It was all a
misunderstanding,”
she explained. “I was hired to play a part. I’m not a prostitute.”

“You might want to rethink that. You’d make more money than you do here,” Carrie commented.

“I’ll resign, of course. Just as soon as you find a replacement for me.” Kate felt like her face was on fire with the shame and embarrassment of this moment.

J.R. folded the letter and replaced it in the envelope, then handed it to Sam. “I will not accept your resignation. The show must go on, but here, at the Music Hall, we’re more than just a group of actors. We’re family. And you’re part of it. When one of us needs help, we’re with him or her all the way.”

“I don’t want to hurt the shows.”

“Our show will survive just fine. Besides, I don’t want those people in my audience,” J.R. declared firmly.

Sam had been listening quietly. His gut was churning again. He was so angry at this unknown person that if he could have gotten his hands on him or her, he was afraid he would kill them. He was not at all convinced it was a legitimate audience member. This just confirmed his earlier suspicion that everything that had been happening to Kate had not been an accident or a
misunderstanding.
It was clear that someone was out specifically to get Kate.

The timing of the letter was meant to have had an impact before the apartment fire or the car theft or the earrings, and right around the same time as the near accident. Someone had been trying to force her to leave. Since that hadn’t worked, the threats on her had escalated gradually until last night’s fire.

The plots to force her out of Denver grew in desperation from an attempt to make her lose her job to frightening her to taking away her
transportation—which,
again, would affect her ability to keep a job—to last night’s actual brush with death.

“I’ll do what I can to find out who sent this letter.” Sam slipped a folded program around the envelope so he wouldn’t have to actually touch it. “I’ll be here for every performance, so I’ll keep an eye out.”

“We’d appreciate that.” J.R. shrugged. “My first impression was that it was some sort of crackpot. Unfortunately, performers attract a lot of those. Even the good fans can become stalkers. It sort of goes with the territory. Normally, I would have thrown it in the garbage and forgotten about it. But added to everything else, I thought I should turn it over to you.” He looked at Kate. “And as for you, I expect you here tomorrow and the day after and the day after. You’re doing a great job, and we enjoy having you here.”

“Thank you.” Kate exhaled an audible sigh of relief. “I love it here. I would really hate to leave.”

“Good, then it’s all settled.” J.R. stood and returned his chair to where it belonged. “Let’s get out of here.”

Everyone took time to give Kate a warm hug and shake Sam’s hand before they all walked out to the parking lot and headed their separate ways.

Kate was quiet for much of the drive home. Sam figured she’d already had a shock, so a little more information wouldn’t hurt. He filled her in on the condition of the bookstore and the results of the fingerprint tests on the envelope. He inferred that the fire was arson and not fireworks, but he didn’t come right out and tell her about the pipe bomb.

“As soon as I get the insurance check for my car, I’ll look for a day job,” she promised.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I already feel like a freeloader. I need to contribute something.”

“You can buy the groceries or clean or something.” Sam tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not.”

“I just don’t want to wear out my welcome.”

“You’re not even close.”

They had eaten a late lunch, but they stopped for a light meal on the way home. Kate picked at her salad, still deeply disturbed by the evening’s events. Sam knew it was more because she was upset about how it might affect her coworkers than because she was afraid for herself. She still didn’t realize what kind of danger she was in.

In bed that night, he held her close, nestled against his chest, until he could feel her tension ease and her breathing regulate, assuring him she was asleep. He buried his face in the softness of her hair and filled his nostrils with her sweet scent. He was alarmed by the intensity of his feelings for her.

They had known each other for less than a month. What concerned him was that all of it had been during a time that was not normal; it was high drama. How would their relationship fare when he was back at work? At least with her schedule of night performances, their hours would be sort of similar. But if he really did go into a “cop mode” as she claimed, how would that affect their day-to-day lives?

And what if she tired of small-time acting jobs? What if she got a big part in a movie and was gone for months at a time? He wanted her to be happy and successful, but he wasn’t sure he would be comfortable with her being away for that long.

Sam had never been a particularly jealous guy. Of course, he didn’t tolerate his girlfriends cheating. If they wanted someone else, then Sam would hold the door open so they could leave.

He just wasn’t sure he could do that for Kate. He was shocked to realize just how much he didn’t want her to leave. It was quite a while before he finally fell into a fitful sleep.

Sunday was uneventful, and everyone in the cast went out of their way to make Kate relax. Sam could tell she was working her way through it because she was acting more like herself. She had awakened before him and had breakfast ready when he finally woke up. He noted she had been on the computer, searching Craigslist for jobs even though she didn’t have transportation yet.

Between shows they enjoyed their usual hot dog/corn dog lunch, then walked a little way up the hill at the end of Main Street and found a bench in the middle of the trees where they could sit and people-watch.

“So, are you committed to being a world-famous actress?”

“As opposed to what?”

“I don’t know…maybe a wife and mother,” Sam suggested casually.

“Are they mutually exclusive? Angelina Jolie has six kids, maybe more by now, and she manages to have a great career.”

“I guess I mean, do you act because you like playing different roles, or is it for the fame and fortune?”

“Who wouldn’t want to win an Academy Award?” She stretched her legs out to take advantage of the sun peeking through the leaves. “I grew up around money, so it’s not for that, although it would be nice to have enough to live on.

“It’s more than that,” she continued. “For as far back as I can remember I liked dressing up and pretending to be something else. For one whole summer when I was five, I stuck a scarf in the back of my pants and pretended I was a horse. I suspect a therapist would say I was trying to escape from reality or something heavy like that. But I think it’s more because I can be something I’m not, then go back to being me.”

“Is it so awful being you all the time?”

“Sometimes it is.” She gave a smile. “Lately, it’s been pretty good. Except for that crazy stalker.” Her brow furrowed as her thoughts returned to the elephant in the room. “Funny thing about that is that he knew I was on the street that night when he picked up my earring, and he found out where I lived. But he somehow tracked me down to here. How do you think he did that?”

“I did.”

“Yeah, but you’re a cop.”

“How many people know you work here?”

Kate counted them off on her fingers. “Other than the rest of the cast, there’s you, your brothers, Sara, Ava, Mr. Jacobi, and Brian. But none of them except you and Mr. Jacobi knew two weeks ago when the letter arrived.”

“Maybe Mr. Jacobi mentioned it to someone. If someone asked him a personal question about you, would he have given them information?”

“Probably. He can be pretty chatty.”

“So it could be anyone who went to the bookstore. Or lived in the apartment. But how many of those people would have been out on Colfax on that particular night?”

She gave him a “duh” look. “You’re the one who told me about how the people who lived in that hotel were mostly recovering drug addicts and sexual perverts. Taking that into consideration, probably all of them.”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, you’re probably right. So, we’ve narrowed it down to a few dozen people, not to mention anyone who might have been walking by. I was a little busy, so I don’t really remember how many people were in the area at the time.”

“Do you think it’s all the same person? I mean, the earrings, the car, the letter, the accident, and the fire?”

“I almost hope it is. It’ll be a lot easier finding one crazy than four or five.”

Kate was silent for a moment, thinking back over everything that had happened to her in the last month. A cold shiver streaked down her spine as if the grim reaper had just reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

She voiced her worst fear. “It wasn’t fireworks, was it?”

Sam studied her and decided she needed to know the truth. “No, it wasn’t.”

“What was it? A Molotov cocktail? A hand grenade?”

“A pipe bomb. And all that kept us from being plastered on the gold dome of the capitol building was that it was badly made.”

Again she shivered, but then she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. This was no longer a stalking type of threat. Someone wanted her dead. But as J.R. had said, the show must go on. “I’d better get back.”

They walked back to the Music Hall, hand in hand. Being on medical leave was a cop’s worst nightmare. Not only had he been shot and was going through the pain and inconvenience of recovery, but he was out of action. At this moment, though, Sam was glad to have the time and opportunity to be Kate’s shadow.

She needed the physical protection and would never have agreed to have a bodyguard. But, he had to admit, he just enjoyed being with her. It had quickly passed from being a victim-guardian relationship to one of lovers and then commitment. Sam never lacked for female companionship. But only once before had he even considered making the arrangement more permanent. That one had ended badly.

Sam was afraid this one would, too. Every time any sort of long-term verbiage threatened to come out of his mouth, he would bite it back. Until she was ready and willing to commit, he simply couldn’t put himself out there. And from all she had said about her theatrical ambitions, she wouldn’t be willing to compromise anytime soon. Sam didn’t know if he could or would wait.

At least, for now, he had the freedom to unofficially be her bodyguard and hope the bad guy showed himself soon. Once Sam was back on duty, she would be all alone and vulnerable most of the time. Sam knew he had to buckle down and figure this out sooner rather than later. He suspected all the clues were there. He just had to put them together.

Without her bookstore job, Kate felt a little lost as she wandered around Sam’s condo Monday morning. He had left early for PT and was going to stop by the police station to drop off the letter and check to see if there was any new information. That left her with several hours to fill.

Saturday they had bought groceries, so there was plenty of food in the house. She cleaned out the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen. It didn’t take long to dust all the furniture and vacuum. She changed the sheets on the bed, sorted their clothes, and put a load in the washer. After replacing the garbage bags, she tied them off and placed them by the door. That led to bagging the newspapers for recycling and putting them on top of the almost full recycling container.

With the recycling in one arm and the garbage bags in her other hand, she juggled with the knob of the front door until she got it opened. She was so focused on her load that when she looked up and saw a person standing just outside the door, she stifled a scream and almost dropped everything in her arms.

The tall, slim, elegantly dressed woman quickly stepped back to avoid having anything disgusting touch her. Blond, cool, and beautiful, she swept her gaze over Kate from the top of her messy ponytail to her sweaty T-shirt and shorts to her bare feet, and just as quickly dismissed her.

“Is Sam home?” she asked.

“No, he’s not. Can I help you?” Kate shifted the recycling container to a more comfortable position in her arm.

Again that disdainful look. “I don’t think so.” The woman moved to step around the still-open door. “I’ll just wait inside for him.”

Kate pulled the door shut behind her and straightened. She and the woman were almost the same height, and she looked her directly in the eyes. “I can’t let you do that. But I’ll give him a message for you.”

The woman’s forehead moved but didn’t crease into a frown. Kate’s stepmother had the same frozen features brought on by regular Botox treatments, and for some reason the knowledge made Kate feel better. It was a little catty, maybe, but this woman wasn’t giving her any reason to like her.

“He won’t mind if you let me in,” she insisted. “I’m his girlfriend.”

Kate nearly dropped her load. She certainly hadn’t seen that coming. “Really!” It was more of an exclamation than a question. “Does Sam know that?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “I doubt that he’d like me to discuss his personal life with the cleaning lady.”

“I doubt that he would,” Kate agreed. “But since I’m
not
his cleaning lady, feel free to share anything you’d like with me.”

The woman’s tone was scorching. “He sure didn’t waste any time.”

“How’s that?”

“I haven’t been gone but a few months, and already he’s got another warm body in his bed.”

That one hurt a little, but Kate refused to let it show. “Funny, he’s never mentioned you.”

“Funny, he’s never mentioned you to me, either,” the woman tossed back. “Never mind. I have his cell phone number. I’ll give him a call.”

Kate shrugged as if she couldn’t care less, but inside she felt as if she’d been kicked in the stomach.

“If you see him before I catch him, tell him Danielle’s back in town.” The woman gave her a confident, if a little predatory, smile.

“I’ll try to remember. But right now I’ve got to finish cleaning up so I can be warming his bed when he gets home.” Kate was pleased to see Danielle flinch.

With a toss of her blond head, the woman turned and walked down the stairs with a grace that Kate recognized belonged to a dancer. Kate waited until she heard the front door shut before she continued down the stairs with the garbage, moving much less elegantly than Danielle had.

Back in the apartment, Kate’s bravado whooshed out of her like a loose balloon. Of course Sam had had a girlfriend before her. For all she knew, it could have been continuing long-distance all along. Maybe he had just been filling his time with Kate until Danielle came back.

Well, Danielle was back. Kate had no idea where that left her, but she knew she had to be prepared for the worst. At least she didn’t have to look the part of second best.

She threw together a salad and put it in the refrigerator to chill while she took a shower. After blow-drying her hair, she let it fall in soft loose curls around her shoulders. She selected a sleeveless white summery dress with a short full skirt that swirled around her tanned legs. A critical look in the mirror assured her she looked as good as she could possibly look. Not as good as Danielle, but hopefully that wouldn’t matter to Sam.

Her heart twisted at the thought of Sam and Danielle together. Somehow she hadn’t considered the possibility that she and Sam wouldn’t have all the time in the world to work things out once this whole killer threat was over. It had never occurred to her that someone from his past would show up on their doorstep.

Struck with the possibility that she could lose any chance of a future with Sam, Kate was terrified. What if he was delighted that Danielle had returned? What if he still loved her? What if he felt like he was stuck with Kate because he was an officer and a gentleman?

As awful as that prospect might be, she had to be prepared. She knew if she asked him, point-blank, that he would be honest with her. But could she bear to hear the answer?

She couldn’t imagine not having Sam in her life. Waking up to see his handsome face every morning and going to sleep in his arms at night felt comfortable and oh so right. She loved the way he laughed. She loved how his blue eyes twinkled and she loved that sexy crooked grin. She loved to see him dressed in his uniform or just a white T-shirt and tight blue jeans. She even loved the mercurial change from nice guy to badass cop at a moment’s notice. Bottom line, she loved him.

Bad timing? Maybe. Did Danielle still hold a piece of his heart? Was there anything left for Kate? And even if there was, was she willing to give up her dreams to be an actress to become a wife and mother? So many questions, and no answers.

It was almost one o’clock when the key turned in the lock and Sam finally returned. Kate rose from her seat at the computer, where she had been surfing available apartments and part-time jobs. As she watched him take his gun out of the small holster he wore on his belt, hidden by his shirt, and lay it on the kitchen counter as he always did, she felt a sudden rush of shyness. Not shyness exactly, but self-consciousness. She usually gave him a happy hello kiss and let herself be wrapped in the warmth of his arms.

But with her thoughts filled with doubt and Danielle’s words haunting her, she felt awkward and hesitated. Sam gave her a curious look, then smiled.

“The place looks great. There aren’t many things I hate worse than housework.”

“Lunch is in the refrigerator. I’ll get it.” The kitchen was small and she had to brush past him. He turned just as she was passing and she was compelled to look up at him.

His eyes searched hers and she knew she couldn’t hide her feelings from him. As a cop he was trained to read people, and as a man he knew her too well.

“What’s going on, Kate?” he asked softly, not reaching out for her, but holding her captive with his gaze.

“You had a visitor today.”

“Oh? One of my brothers?”

“Danielle.” She blurted it out and was not comforted at his reaction. Before he could hide it, she saw a flash of pain darken his eyes. But worse was the fact that that was followed by a spark of interest.

“She said to tell you that she’s back in town.”

The shutter was down, and his expression was blank as he turned and reached into the refrigerator for a can of Coke. He pulled the tab, then took a big drink before he turned back toward her.

“What else did she say?”

“Oh, you mean the part about her being your girlfriend?”

He didn’t blink. “Yeah, that.”

Kate stepped past him and took the salad bowl out of the refrigerator, then scooted by and placed it on the table. “She thought I was the cleaning lady.”

She heard his deep chuckle.

“That must have gone over well.”

“She almost got the recycling container dumped on her Louboutins. Come eat.”

He joined her at the table and they sat down. She tossed the salad, a little bit more roughly than required, then
unceremoniously
deposited a clump on his plate. She helped herself and waited for him to finish with the dressing and pass it to her.

But he didn’t pick up his fork as he continued to look at her. “Danielle and I were engaged.”

Kate’s heart jumped into her throat. So it was true.

“She’s a dancer, a very good dancer. Like you, she wanted to have a career, and Denver didn’t offer her the opportunities she wanted. She got an offer to join a dance company in New York City, so, of course, she went. End of story.”

Kate set her fork down next to her plate before her weakened fingers dropped it. She couldn’t have forced herself to swallow even the smallest bite of food. “She moved to New York, not Mars.”

“Might as well have been.”

“If you loved her, that wouldn’t have mattered.”

Sam nodded. “That was exactly the problem. I enjoyed being with her. She was beautiful and talented and she looked damn good on my arm.”

So far he wasn’t saying anything that made her feel any less frightened. She could barely breathe as she waited for him to continue.

“It hurt that she could leave me so easily. I thought I loved her. She was the only woman I ever asked to marry me, but when it came right down to it, I wasn’t as important to her as a job.”

“She said it’s been only a few months.”

“She left last October.”

“Did she live here with you?”

“No, she had her own apartment.” He gave her a knowing smile. “I told you I’d never shared my shower with another woman. Well, I’ve never lived with one, either.”

Kate was unreasonably happy to hear that, but it didn’t completely alleviate her fear that he was still in love with Danielle. Maybe he didn’t really know the answer to that himself. Still, she had to ask.

“Do you still love her?”

Sam gave the question the consideration it deserved. He wanted to be honest and not flippant. “Obviously, I had very strong feelings for her. I wasn’t totally convinced I wanted to marry her, but at the time it seemed like the natural progression of our relationship. I admit that I went through some really dark days after she left.”

“Now she’s back,” Kate managed to whisper.

“I hope she and I can be friends, but I have no interest in picking up where we left off. After I got over the embarrassment of being jilted, I realized I wasn’t crushed. I was actually a little relieved. I wasn’t ready to get married. I think I sensed that it wasn’t that forever-after love like my parents have.”

“How will you know?”

“It sounds corny, but I think it would be someone I couldn’t live without. And vice versa.” He picked up his fork and dug into his salad. Obviously, as far as he was concerned, the matter was settled.

Kate ached to tell him that she knew she was falling in love with him. But fresh off this news about his broken engagement and the return of his lost love, she didn’t feel like the time was right. Plus, he hadn’t so much as hinted that he was in love with her.

She believed he liked her, and they certainly got along well. But Kate was worried that their relationship might be one of convenience. She loved living with him, but she was beginning to believe that there should be a separation between genuine feelings and merely falling into a comfort zone that wouldn’t push them further.

For the first time, Kate admitted to herself that she was very happy with her life with Sam. Everything felt so right. But she wouldn’t be satisfied being his roommate.

And there was the issue of all the misfortune that had struck her lately. If she couldn’t find another part-time job and if she didn’t get a part in the next Music Hall production that would start rehearsing in about a month and if she couldn’t afford another car and if she couldn’t locate an apartment within her limited means, maybe staying in Denver wasn’t the smart choice.

“I think it’s time that I seriously consider my options.”

“Short-term or long-term?”

“Short-term first. I really appreciate all you’ve done for me, but I need to find a job. And to look for a job, I need a car. My insurance check should arrive any day, and I’d appreciate it if you would go with me to look.”

“Sure. I’m not a mechanic, but I know a little about cars.”

“I found a few promising jobs on Craigslist, and I have a couple of interviews set for later in the week. If it’s not too inconvenient for you, I’d appreciate staying here for a while longer…until I can afford a place of my own.”

“There’s no hurry, you know.”

“I know you say that, but you’re a good guy, and I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“Actually, I’m pretty selfish. And I like having you here.”

“And I like staying here.” She pushed her salad around on her plate with her fork. “But I really want to contribute.” She got up and went to the bedroom, retrieved the Princess bear from her bag, and brought it back to the table. She pulled apart the Velcro and took out a wad of cash.

“I have the money I was going to pay Mr. Jacobi for the July rent.” She counted out five hundred-dollar bills. “And I still have the hundred that Jameel gave me, so I have…”

Sam interrupted her by grabbing her hand. “Is that the bill?”

“Yes, it was folded up separately.”

“Don’t touch it again.” He got a sandwich bag out of the kitchen, scooted the bill inside, and sealed it. “Maybe there will be some viable fingerprints on it. Whoever gave it to Jameel might have worn gloves when he put it in the envelope, but maybe he touched it when he got it from the bank. People rarely wear gloves in a bank in June.”

“I have to admit that having this guy out there is sort of freaking me out. I just don’t feel like I can settle here in Denver until I’m sure he’s not going to keep coming after me.”

“I still can’t figure out why someone would want you out of the picture.” He picked up their plates and carried them to the kitchen. “Jim is trying to run checks on the residents of your old apartment building. Of course, most of them scatter like roaches when you switch the light on.”