Chase knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist Kate’s lure. When her beautiful, brown eyes looked into his, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He slowly dipped his head toward hers, giving her a chance to pull back.
When she didn’t, he grazed his lips over hers so softly he barely touched her. When she leaned in to deepen the contact, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her against him, releasing his emotions he’d pent up since he’d first heard her screaming for help. The sound still echoed through his mind when he fell asleep.
He needed to rein in his feelings and focus on protecting her. But the effect of their kiss mocked that declaration. He leaned back, staring into her half-closed eyes, a flush tainting her cheeks. He wanted nothing more than to swoop down and kiss her again—and that was exactly why he shouldn’t. He needed to stay focused on the goal of making sure she was safe.
He dropped his arms to his side and stepped back. “I’d better check the house and see to Mac.”
As he hurried from the kitchen, he tried to tell himself that it was for the best that they had gotten the kiss out of the way so he’d no longer waste time wondering what kissing her would feel like. He now knew and could move on.
Yeah right, Walker, that’s a brilliant suggestion. How are you going to forget that kiss?
* * *
On Monday during her lunch break, Kate assessed the five black ski masks, similar only in color. One was an acrylic knit with wide ribbing while another had ribs that were side by side. There was also a smooth stretchable cotton mask. The logos varied and two didn’t have any. The slits for the eyes and mouth were different shapes.
“I didn’t realize there were so many different black ski masks.” Kate walked the length of the table.
Chase stood on the other side from her. “Neither did I until I went shopping for them. Because of the season, I ended up begging people I knew to let me borrow theirs.”
“Can I touch them?”
“Yes.”
After looking at each one, she went back down the table and stroked her fingers across the material. Then Kate closed her eyes and tried to recall her struggle with her attacker. She didn’t remember any logo, certainly not one of another color. Then she tried to remember the feel of the material when her fingers had touched it. Smooth? Rough?
Her eyes popped open. She knew which one. “That’s the mask he wore.” She pointed to the second from the end.
“Are you sure?” Chase asked in a neutral tone, no indication if she’d picked Zed Hammer’s or not.
“Yes.”
“That’s Hammer’s.”
She didn’t realize she was holding herself so stiffly until she heard his confirmation and her shoulders sagged. “Good. I feel better knowing he’s in jail.”
Chase gathered the ski masks into a box. “This was taped for court. I’ll send a copy to the DA this afternoon.”
Kate nodded. “I’m meeting the DA after work today. She wants to talk to me about the case.”
“Are you going to the arraignment tomorrow afternoon?”
“Yes. I asked for it to be at the end of the day so I could attend without cancelling part of my scheduled trials. I’m pushing for no bail. Until his trial, I want him in jail.”
“Are you sure about going? You don’t have to.”
Other than his photo—and the attack—Kate hadn’t seen Zed Hammer in a month, since he was in her court. She needed to face him before his trial. It would be easier for her then when she had to testify against the man later. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Then I’ll meet you outside the courtroom and sit with you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. But sometimes I do it for some victims, especially when they don’t have family nearby. When a person’s safety has been threatened, it can change how he looks at life. I just like the injured party to know he has someone on his side.”
His offer only confirmed what a caring and honorable man Chase was. That wasn’t part of his job, but he did it anyway. “May I ask a favor of you?” Kate said as they left the interview room.
“Of course.”
“Come to dinner tonight. Jamie is getting used to you being around. I didn’t want you to suddenly no longer be around.”
“That’s easy. Yes, I will, and I’ll make it a point to stop by and see Jamie—and you—after this.”
Her son had few men in his life. She shouldn’t have been surprised how fast he’d bonded with Chase, but she had been. The whole weekend when Jamie was up, he’d follow Chase or Mac around every chance he got. “I’d like that.”
Chase opened the passenger door for Kate then rounded the hood and slipped behind the steering wheel. “Give me a call when you’re through with court today. I’ll swing by and pick you up. Hopefully I’ll have gotten the hair comparison from the ski mask and Hammer’s sample we obtained.”
On the short drive to the courthouse, Kate leaned back and released a long sigh. “I can’t wait until this is over with. I feel like I’m the ball in a juggler’s act being constantly tossed up in the air, not sure if I’m going to be caught or not.”
He chuckled. “That’s an interesting way to put it. I haven’t heard that one.”
When Chase parked, Kate opened her door. “You don’t have to escort me inside. You’ve got the right man in jail.”
He exited the car at the same time she did. “Humor me. I’ll feel better when the report on the hair samples come back from the lab with a proven match for Hammer.”
Kate took the stairs to the second floor where her office and courtroom were. At the door into her office, she turned toward Chase. “I’ll be praying for good results from the lab.”
He grasped her hand and stepped nearer. Her heart sped up a bit at his closeness, but all he did was smile at her and say, “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
As he walked away, she couldn’t believe she’d wanted him to kiss her in the corridor of the courthouse and was disappointed he hadn’t. She kept repeating that he had a dangerous job, and she didn’t ever want to lose someone she loved again the way she had lost James. When Chase wasn’t around so much, she was sure she would begin to think logically concerning him.
* * *
“She’s expecting you.” Kate’s assistant waved Chase into her office when he came by later to pick her up.
While lounging against the front of her desk, Kate had her briefcase and purse in hand. She straightened and said, “What were the lab results on the hair samples?”
He grinned. “The hair in the ski mask was Hammer’s.”
She blew out a long breath. “I knew it, but it’s nice to have it confirmed.”
“That’s exactly how I felt.”
“Now all I have to get through is the arraignment tomorrow. If he stays in jail until his trial, I’ll feel as though I have my life back.”
“But if he doesn’t, we’ll figure something out. I can always stay at your house.”
“I appreciate the offer, but that would mean you’d be on duty twenty-four seven. That’s not good for any length of time.”
When she passed him strolling toward the door, he caught her arm and halted her. She glanced at him, and he said, “I’ll do what is needed and is the best for all involved. I won’t let someone be hurt if I can do anything to stop it. My job is to protect, not walk away because I don’t get a few hours off.”
Her stare drilled into him as though she were trying to figure out the hidden meaning behind his words. “Everyone needs rest, even you.”
“I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.” He left her office, waiting for her in the hallway.
“I’m sure you will, but there’s more to life than work. What do you do for fun?” Kate asked as they descended the stairs to the first floor of the courthouse.
“I jog.”
When they left the building and hurried to his car, she said, “I do too, as you know, but I don’t classify that as pleasure.”
“I enjoy it.”
She laughed. “Okay, what else do you enjoy doing?”
Chase didn’t answer her question until he started his vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot. He tried to think what else he did in his free time. Not much.
“Surely you do something besides jogging.”
“Working,” he finally said at a stoplight. “It’s not so much that I enjoy it, but I do feel fulfilled by it. In the last skirmish I was involved in while in the Marine Corps, I told you I was shot, but I didn’t tell you everything. I would be dead if my partner hadn’t covered me. He took a bullet that should have hit me. And when the enemy moved through afterward to make sure they’d gotten us all, I also think his body over mine kept them from checking to see if I was alive.”
The light turned green, and he pressed the accelerator, wishing he could escape. He didn’t talk about his experience with anyone. Most of the mandatory counseling sessions afterward had consisted of him dancing around the real issue—he’d survived when no one else had in his unit. But he felt the need to share with Kate.
“While you’re seeing to others, you still have to take care of yourself. Otherwise you become burnt out.”
“I don’t want others to feel the helplessness I experienced, trapped there with my friends who I hadn’t been able to save. So my job is my way of paying it forward. It took me over four months to recover from my injuries and another three to regain my strength to the point I could reapply for the police force job I’d had before joining up. The police chief promoted me to detective after three months on the force again. I have a knack for solving cases because I’m determined that the victims get a resolution.”
He drove into her driveway, stopped the car and hurried to open his door.
Kate grasped his arm, halting his escape. “And I’m thankful the Lord sent you to me. What I’ve been going through because of Zed Hammer isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been because you were here every step, helping me where you could. There are no words that can adequately describe how I feel about you going above and beyond your job description.”
Her hand about him loosened. He quickly slipped from the driver’s seat. He suddenly realized he didn’t want her gratitude—he was never comfortable with that—but he did want something more personal from her. Confusion flooded him. He cared for her beyond what he would for a victim in a crime he was investigating, and that scared him more than he wanted to acknowledge.
She went ahead of him and opened the front door then looked back at him.
He should leave. She was safe now, but she’d invited him to dinner and Mac and Jamie were inside. He couldn’t escape that easily, and there was a part of him that didn’t want to. Until he’d met her, he’d been focused on what he felt his mission was, to protect others. Now she was challenging it.
When he stepped into the foyer, Jamie spied him and ran as fast as he could and threw his arms around Chase’s legs. “Case, home.”
Emotions jammed Chase’s throat. He bent over and picked the little boy up. Holding him felt so right. If the only thing Kate felt for him was gratitude, then why had she kissed him? He didn’t have an answer, but he knew it wasn’t enough to base a relationship on.
* * *
Late the next afternoon, Kate sat next to Chase in the courtroom at Zed Hammer’s arraignment, gripping Chase’s hand as the DA asked for no bail, basing the request on the nature of the crime against a child and the possible flight risk.
When Hammer’s lawyer stood and objected, Kate held her breath. Her lungs burned, and she finally had to blow out a soft sigh. The attorney took his seat while his client glanced at her. Hammer’s look, filled with hatred, chilled her to the marrow of her bones. She tensed.
Chase leaned close and whispered into her ear, “Don’t let him get to you.”
When the judge announced his decision about the bail—five hundred thousand dollars, an amount that she was certain Hammer couldn’t afford—relief melted the tension gripping her as tight as she was Chase’s hand.
Zed Hammer exploded, leaping to his feet. “I didn’t do anything wrong. The police are framing me because of her.” He jabbed his finger in the air at her. “I don’t own a ski mask and my car was stolen.”
The judge rapped his gavel repeatedly through Zed Hammer’s last words. The defense lawyer yanked his client down into his chair as the bailiff closed in on the defendant.
Chase rose and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”
In the hallway, Kate was still trying to process the scene in the courtroom. The hatred she’d seen in Zed Hammer’s eyes wrapped around her and squeezed, making it hard to draw in a decent breath. Her heartbeat raced so fast she felt lightheaded.
Chase found a nearby alcove that was private and vacant. He drew her against him and his arms went around her. She concentrated on the feel, a cocoon of safety and support.
“We know the case is a good one and so does the judge, or he wouldn’t have set such a high bail. Hammer is trying to play a head game with you. Don’t let him. He’ll have his say in court, but in the meantime you’ll be able to go through your day without worrying where the man is. I’m not letting anything happen to you or Jamie.”
I can’t go through losing Jamie. He’s innocent.
“Kate?”
Chase’s voice penetrated her momentary panic from the scene in the courtroom. She pulled back. “I’m okay. I’ve been holding myself together for five days and I just lost it for a moment. I was fine last night. It was his look that got to me.”
Chase clasped her upper arms. “That’s what he was going for, but tonight he’s the one who will still be in jail. Let’s go. I’ll walk you to your car then follow you to your house.”
“You don’t have to do that. Really. I’m all right.”
“Okay, but will you promise me to call at any time if you need someone to talk to?”
She nodded and headed for the staircase to the first floor. “Yes. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Though they hadn’t known each other for long, they had developed a camaraderie that went beyond friendship. The conversation they’d had yesterday on the way to her house highlighted that. The only man she’d ever talked like that with was James. Maybe in time, when this case was over, they could have a long discussion about where they might be heading. But right now, she needed to remain focused on the upcoming trial and on protecting herself and her son from someone like Zed Hammer.
At her car, Chase opened the door for her. When she sat behind the steering wheel, he leaned in. “I think Mac is having withdrawal symptoms with Jamie not being around. Can we plan something this weekend? Maybe go to the park.”
“Jamie would love that. So would I.” The prospect lifted her spirits. The past five days had been so intense. However, she didn’t want to not see Chase—or Mac. “I’ll talk to you in a day or so.”
He pushed away from the car and watched as she drove out of the parking lot. She’d missed him and Mac last night more than she should have. This morning when Chase and his dog weren’t at the house, Jamie hadn’t understood why not.
When she walked in the front door, Jamie looked behind her, no doubt for Chase and Mac. “Case? Mac?”
“They’re at their home, but we’ll see them in a few days.”
A pout formed on Jamie’s face. “No. Now.”
She picked up her son and held him close. “Soon, hon.”
The rest of the evening was spent trying to take Jamie’s mind off the missing duo. She definitely needed to see about getting a dog for her son as soon as possible. That might help him adjust to them not being around all the time.
After he was asleep, she went to her room and collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling. How was she going to adjust to Chase not being around? She might have it worse than Jamie.
Exhaustion set in and slowly her eyes grew heavier until sleep whisked her away. She surrendered to the darkness, floating, relaxing…
Something jerked her wide awake. She sat up straight, staring into the blackness.
Suddenly she jumped out of her bed, fumbled with her lamp and switched it on. She scanned the room. Nothing had changed.
She headed out into the hallway. Still nothing. Then her gaze latched onto her son’s bedroom, and she quietly eased the door open, the soft illumination of the nightlight allowing her to see that…
Jamie was gone!