After Midnight (8 page)

Kate didn’t try to hide her relief. “It’s all been a nightmare. I’ve been dreading this, but you’ve made it as easy as possible.”

Jim gave her a genuine smile. “Just doing my job.”

“Thanks,” Sam said as he and Kate headed toward the door. “See you Sunday night?”

“If I don’t get a better offer.” Jim’s phone rang, and he gave them both a dismissive nod as he lifted the receiver to his ear.

Kate and Sam stood, side by side, waiting for the elevator.

“Not so bad, was it?” he asked.

“Thanks to you.”

They stood, looking forward, not knowing where that left the two of them. If the case was over, was that the end of their relationship?

The doors opened, and they stepped inside, rotating as most people do, to face forward. On the ground floor, they walked together through the lobby and out into the parking lot. Sam passed his own Mustang and continued with her until she stopped next to her Escape.

Almost shyly they looked at each other.

“You have my number,” he reminded her.

“And you have mine.”

She opened her door and sat down.

“So, I guess this is it.” Her comment was almost a question.

“I guess it is.” He gave her a little smile and shut her door, then headed back to his own car.

Kate turned on the ignition, adjusted the air conditioner level, and backed out of the space. As she drove out of the lot and headed toward her apartment, her thoughts whirled with the relief that the worst of it was over and the confusion about where things stood with Sam. She was so distracted that she didn’t notice the dented white Toyota that pulled out behind her.

Kate felt like a fool. Here she was, sitting in her apartment watching reruns of
Two and a Half Men
and waiting for the phone to ring. But he didn’t call. Of course he didn’t call. His goal had been to get her into the station for her statement. That she had thought it might be more was her bad.

How could she miss hearing from him when she’d only really been talking to him for less than a week?
Silly girl
.
He was just doing his job and you thought he was interested in you. He’s a hot cop and probably has his choice of women. Why would he choose you?
But no amount of trying to talk herself out of it got her out of her funk.

Monday and Tuesday nights were dark at the Music Hall. Her next show wasn’t until seven p.m. Wednesday, and the time off had never stretched so long and lonely.

She ate a bowl of soup and tried to get interested in a current best seller she had borrowed from the bookstore. But nothing held her attention long, and she finally gave up and went to bed after
The Tonight Show.
Just in case, she plugged in her cell phone next to the bed.

But still he didn’t call.

When she woke up, she puttered around her apartment, then went downstairs to work a full shift at the bookstore. Mr. Jacobi was sitting behind the checkout desk when she arrived, and he called out an absentminded greeting. As usual, he was focusing on finishing the sudoku in the
Denver Post,
which was the way he started every morning. When he messed it up and the numbers didn’t turn out right, it was a bad day for everyone. But Monday and Tuesday puzzles were usually pretty easy, so Kate had high hopes that today wouldn’t be miserable.

She went to the back room, took out her blue vest with its “Booklover Kate” name tag on it, and put it on before she dug into the boxes of new-release books and DVDs that had arrived. The bookstore carried a limited number of DVDs, either recent releases or classics, and only a few copies of each, so she tackled that shelving unit first. It was a matter of shifting them all down so there was room for the newest ones on the top shelf. The oldest of the current releases were then integrated into the alphabetized section. They didn’t sell a high volume of DVDs, but the new releases would usually sell out in a week or two to the people who lived in the area. It was a long way to a Best Buy or Target.

She had finished with the new section and was kneeling on the floor filing the older titles when a pair of faded blue jeans that ended in a pair of brand-new black Converse high-tops approached. When they stopped in front of her, she looked up.

“Am I in your way?” she asked.

“No, not really,” the young man replied.

When he didn’t walk away, she stood and put the few remaining DVDs in the empty box. She could finish them later. “Can I help you find something?”

“Maybe a book. Do you know of a local author you could recommend?” he asked.

Kate glanced over at the desk and saw Mr. Jacobi still focused on the newspaper. Surely he had finished the sudoku by now. He must be working on the crossword puzzle.

“Sure, follow me. We have a special section for our locals over there.” Kate led the man to a display area near the plate glass windows in front of the store. “Do you have anyone in mind?”

“No. Surprise me.” He followed her as she wove between the racks.

They both stopped at the table she had indicated. She picked up a couple of books and handed them to him.

“That one is by Mario Acevedo. He writes an excellent series about a vampire detective and another one about zombies, if you’re into that sort of thing.” She indicated the one with the darker cover, then pointed to the other one, which had a man in a lawn chair on the cover. “And that one is a mystery, but with a lot of humor, by a guy named Mike Befeler. Both of them live in the area. I think they’ve even signed those books.”

The man studied the books, opening the covers to read the blurbs and checking out the title pages for the autographs she had mentioned. “I’ll take this one.” He selected the vampire detective book and handed her back the other one.

She studied him curiously. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

He seemed surprised. “No, I don’t think so.”

“No, really, I’ve seen your picture somewhere.” Her mind scrambled to place him. Not too tall, only an inch or so more than her five feet nine inches, probably in his early thirties. He looked attractive, but ordinary. With his reddish-blond hair worn in a short, low-maintenance style, and his matching blond brows and lashes that rimmed his pale blue eyes, his looks didn’t ring any bells. Her gaze centered on his faded—and not in a fashionable way—jeans, brown camo T-shirt, and gray hoodie; he was dressed like half the young men in the area. It always puzzled her why guys wore hoodies even in the heat of summer. Were they trying to blend in with everyone else? Her eyes widened as it dawned on her. “Oh my God, you’re that reporter!”

He shrugged, a little embarrassed that she recognized him. “You must have seen one of my articles.”

“Well, that, and you’ve been on the news a half dozen times.”

“The mayor is giving me a key to the city next month at the July Fourth parade.” He tried not to sound like he was bragging—like the whole event would be an ordeal he would have to endure—but the sparkle in his pale eyes told her he was proud of the honor.

He wiped his hand on his jeans and held it out. “Hi, I’m Brian, in case you didn’t catch the name.”

She tentatively took his hand, but inside she was panicking. “Is there something else I can help you with?” She gently pulled her hand out of his and started to back away.

“Do they give you coffee breaks around here?”

“Uh…no. I just started my shift…and I’ve got a lot of work to do.” She waved in the general direction of the cash register. “Feel free to look around. Mr. Jacobi can check you out when you’re ready.” She turned and fled into the storeroom, where she shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it. He didn’t follow her, and she didn’t move for several minutes. Had he come looking for her? Had he recognized her? Was he going to hang around until she came out?

None of the possibilities offered any consolation. She had certainly never expected to see him in the bookstore. Even if he didn’t already know who she was, how long would it take for him to put it all together?

Short-term, she would wait him out and hope that he had some other hot story that would take him away. She looked around the small room that was lined floor to ceiling with heavy industrial shelves. This was where they stored the incoming inventory until she had time to shelve it, as well as the outdated magazines and returnable books that would be boxed, labeled, and picked up by UPS. Before she had started working there, Mr. Jacobi had been a little careless with the room, and forgotten magazines, DVDs, rolls of tape, and empty boxes littered the shelves and the floor. There was no telling what she would find that had fallen between the shelves and the wall. Casting an unenthusiastic glance at the door, Kate decided this would be a perfect time to reorganize the room, which should easily take the rest of the morning.

As planned, it was around noon when Mr. Jacobi stuck his head in the door. “I’m going to lunch. You want to watch the register?”

“Sure. Is anyone out there?”

“Nah, it’s been pretty slow.” He looked around the room and nodded. “Looks good in here.”

“Thanks.” She washed her hands in the sink in the small bathroom at the back of the store, then took her place behind the desk.

A couple of women dropped by on their lunch hour and browsed. They were dressed in office attire, probably working for someone in the capitol, so she didn’t watch them closely as they moved around the store. One of them bought a new-release DVD and the other picked up the latest Sandra Brown novel. When Mr. Jacobi returned, Kate went upstairs and had a tuna sandwich for lunch, then returned to the shop to finish shelving the DVDs and to start on the newly arrived novels. Tomorrow she would have the magazines to shelve and the play at night, so that would keep her busy.

Mr. Jacobi left for the day right after she returned from lunch, so she was alone in the store for the rest of the afternoon. No matter what she did to keep her hands occupied, her mind kept flickering back to Brian, trying to process the same questions. Had he found her or was it just a coincidence that he’d stopped by for a book at this particular bookstore? After all, the
Denver Post
building was only a few blocks away.

He hadn’t given any indication that he recognized her, but he
was
a reporter. They were a sneaky group and they had their sources.

But Kate had an uncomfortable feeling that he knew who she was. The way he had walked right up to her and hung out until she stood up. He certainly wasn’t a regular customer, unless he had always happened to shop when it wasn’t her shift.

She didn’t know why he hadn’t just come out with it if he had known her identity. If he had wanted a story, surely he would have asked. There was no way he could be aware of her background and her need to remain anonymous. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Regardless, she hoped their paths didn’t cross again. He was her worst nightmare.

She already had a grudge against journalists. They had been heartless when her mother was near death, camping outside her family’s house the last few days, then rushing out to meet their deadlines when she passed. Then when her father started dating the woman who would become her stepmother, it had all started again. Kate had learned how to melt into the background and disappear whenever she saw a reporter approaching. She hadn’t used the front door of their house the last ten years she lived there.

That Brian guy might be different. After all, he had been the one to stop the insanity that night when Jameel had lost his mind. If she explained her situation to him, he might even take pity on her and not mention her name.
Not!
she scoffed. If he was like all the other journalists she had met, ink ran through his veins, and her pleas would still be ringing in his ears as her whole life story poured onto the page.

She simply would have to do everything possible to avoid him. Hopefully, he was a slow reader and wouldn’t be back anytime soon to shop for more books. That is, if that had been his real purpose. No matter what his intentions, she would be watchful.

When it was finally time to lock the door at six, she heaved a sigh of relief. With any luck, she’d never see Brian again. But even if she didn’t, he had taken away her safe haven. From now on, she would be looking over her shoulder, fearful every time that little bell on the door jingled. Gratefully, she escaped to her apartment and relaxed behind her locked door.

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Her fingers itched to dial Sam’s number. She wanted to hear his voice and tell him about her encounter with Brian. But, for all she knew, he and Brian had already talked. It could even have been Sam who told Brian where to find her.

But no, she didn’t believe that. Sam might not be interested in keeping in touch with her, but she trusted him. He would keep her secret. He would protect her. It was what cops did.

God, how she wished she had someone to talk to. It was the first time she had felt even a pang of regret for moving so far away from everything and everyone she knew. Feeling more than a little blue, she plopped down on the couch and prepared herself for another boring evening. Thank goodness tomorrow things would be back to normal.

Brian finished the last bite of his Big Mac, wadded his trash into a ball, and tossed it into the backseat of his car. He took a big drink of his soda and smiled as the lights in the bookstore went out. Several seconds later, Kate exited the side door and walked the short distance to the entrance of the apartment building. She disappeared through the large glass doors of the lobby.

He kept his gaze trained on the building and was finally rewarded by the sight of a light turning on in the second-floor corner unit. He smiled when Kate appeared in the large front window and paused for a moment, looking out at Denver at night, then pulled the thin draperies closed. Brian turned on the ignition and pulled the Toyota out of its parking space and turned onto Colfax. He turned the radio up and sang along to an old Elton John song. Maybe he would give Leigh a call and see if she wanted to come over tonight.

He and Leigh had been dating for almost four years. They had a sort of understanding. She knew he was ambitious and his job always came first, and he knew that she believed that sooner or later he would be ready to make a commitment. And, apparently, she didn’t have any better options. Plus the sex was pretty good.

Of course, Leigh didn’t compare to Kate. Now, that was a woman who got his juices moving. He wished she would have gone out for coffee with him. It would be fun to get to know her. Actually, it was important that he spend time with her. She had information that he needed.

She had looked shocked to see him, and none too thrilled. But he would win her over. All he had to do was turn on the Bergan charm. Soon she would be more than willing to spend time with him.

Dressed as a hooker, she had looked really sexy. Maybe he could get her to put on the wig and stilettos again. There was something about a naked woman in heels, and he could never resist long hair. Although even without all the makeup and slutty clothes, she was a knockout. He liked his women tall and thin with curves in all the right places, and she certainly fit that mold. Yes, he would definitely enjoy getting to know her better.

Feeling more than a little turned on at the prospect, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Leigh’s number as he headed home. Tonight, she would have to do.