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“I’m sorry.” She breathed against the middle button of his shirt. “I never fall apart like this.”
Books by Julie Miller
Chapter One Nice. Three customers ahead of him, one window over in the lobby of the Cattlemen’s Bank in the heart of downtown Kansas City. Detective Eli Masterson didn’t need the eye for detail he possessed to notice an attractive woman when he saw one. Her mocha-colored suit, a few shades darker than her short blond hair, hugged some prime feminine curves. The light wool skirt stopped just short of hiding the dimple at the back of her right knee. The sensible brown pumps that matched her leather shoulder bag didn’t detract from the long arch of her calves. Even in heels, Ms. Tailored Professional Lady barely topped Eli’s shoulder, putting her at average height. But he’d bet a good part of her was legs. Long, fit, curvy legs, capped by that sweet butt. Very nice. Eli breathed deeply, savoring the quickening rhythm of his pulse. A good, lustful look was about all he had time for these days. So he waited patiently and enjoyed his wayward private thoughts before he had to move to the fron
Chapter One
Chapter Two “Masterson.” Eli topped off the coffee in his plastic cup before acknowledging the unmistakable sound of authority behind him. “Captain Taylor.” “What brings you to my precinct?” Though he doubted running into each other in the break room was a coincidence, Eli took his time before stepping aside for the patriarch of the Fourth Precinct to fill a Kansas City Chiefs mug with the thick, steaming brew. “Routine follow-up on the shooting by your man, Banning.” No sense wasting pleasantries. There was no love lost between Internal Affairs and the Taylors since Eli and his former partner, Joe Niederhaus, had investigated the captain’s cousin, CSI Mac Taylor, four years ago. Especially since his old buddy Joe had done such a bang-up job of framing Mac and nearly getting Mac and his future wife killed. Turned out Joe was the one taking bribes, stealing evidence and blackmailing fellow cops. Eli had been a much younger detective then, naively blinded by loyalty to his veteran partne
Chapter Two
Chapter Three “You’re giving in to anonymous threats?” Shauna peeked over the top of her reading glasses to watch Eli set aside the last of the letters sealed in plastic evidence bags. His long, dexterous fingers tucked the pile into a neat stack before closing the folder. “Yes, I want to find out who’s sending these.” She handed over the printouts of e-mails she’d received as well. Each and every message, from the vague comments expressing concern about the Baby Jane Doe case, to the perfunctory lists of mistakes KCPD had made in the investigation, to the most recent diatribes against the entire department’s incompetence, had been signed with nothing more than a Yours Truly. “The sender might be able to provide a lead. But I’m reopening the case because I need to know that little girl’s name.” Eli scanned a printout, then tossed it onto the table. “Ask Donnell Gibbs.” “He says he doesn’t know.” “He’s lying.” “I don’t think he is.” “Why not?” Eli’s prove-it-to-me gaze pierced the shado
Chapter Three
Chapter Four Shauna dragged her feet across the parking garage at St. Luke’s hospital, carefully assessing that hers were the only footsteps to be heard. A second straight day of meetings, ending with this after-dinner visit with the two injured guards and their families, left her brain cranking out a to-do list that never seemed to end. But the long days had dulled her body to all but the single goal of getting home and getting comfy—whichever she could manage first. If the concrete floor weren’t stained with oil leaks, old gum and the sticky residue of a discarded soft drink, she’d pull off her high heels and walk to her car barefoot. Not that she didn’t appreciate a pretty shoe. But with each year on the force, the days seemed to get longer. Or maybe it was each new layer of responsibility added on with each promotion that made her long for hot baths, foot massages and snuggles with Sadie to ease away the strain of the day. Responsibilities like listening to the father of the young
Chapter Four
Chapter Five Shauna couldn’t believe she was standing at her front door in her nightgown and robe, hanging on to the dog so she wouldn’t bolt out into the night, having this discussion with her ex-husband. “I asked you not to come over.” Sadie lurched in her grip, anxious to sniff their uninvited guest. While Shauna pulled her back and gave the command to sit, Austin somehow managed to work his way closer to the threshold. “You said to call your office tomorrow and you’d check your calendar.” Austin chose now to get the details right? “Look, honey, this deal can’t wait. If I don’t pony up in the next forty-eight hours, the opportunity will be gone.” If she wouldn’t have had to open the door a second time to let Sadie back inside, Shauna would have released the hound to drive Austin back with a tail-wagging welcome while she locked the storm door. If she’d been thinking straight, she wouldn’t have opened the outside door in the first place. But after Seth’s earlier announcement, and wit
Chapter Five
Chapter Six “Call never happened. Kiss never happened.” Shauna huffed the cleansing mantra in rhythm with every stride, letting the tension on Sadie’s leash pull her an extra half mile on their morning run. “Last night went away. Shauna rules today.” She inhaled deeply and buzzed her lips on the exhale. “Shauna rules today.” If she ran long enough, pushed hard enough, said the words often enough, she might start to believe that her world hadn’t been tilted on its axis half a dozen times in the past few days. Maybe she couldn’t control the events, but she could control her reaction to them. Seth was a well-trained cop. He was smart and strong. He’d be just fine on his first deep-cover assignment. She had faith in KCPD. She had faith in her son. Yours Truly might have her life under a microscope, but he couldn’t see inside her head. She wouldn’t let him wear her down, wouldn’t let him outthink her. She’d uncover his identity before she let him uncover her fears. Baby Jane Doe’s murder wa
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven Shauna scanned the vast expanse of Union Station from her seat on the open second floor of the Union Café. Where was Eli? Behind one of the wrought-iron galleries above her? Mingling with the tourists at the information kiosk? Watching her through the windows of the train museum or following the groups of school children beneath the giant clock that marked their way to the science center? She was certain that she’d be able to sense his presence—just as certain as she’d been that he’d keep his promise to watch over her when she was away from KCPD headquarters and their built-in security. But nothing. No shiver of awareness. No tingle of anticipation at the thought of sitting in a public place while that mysterious, unspoken link connected them. Either he was as good at blending in with the tourists and locals as he’d claimed, or she was alone. And though that meant she had no sense of Yours Truly in the building watching her, either, she felt a stab of disappointment. Dang
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight Damn. The story was going to make the paper a lot sooner than Shauna had hoped. At least she’d convinced Rebecca Page not to run any of the personal photographs that would draw readers’ attention to her role in this afternoon’s events. A half-naked commissioner on the ground with one of her detectives could be easily misconstrued by the public and the police force. That she’d actually been the intended victim could stir up enough panic to completely undermine her authority, giving the naysayers and I-told-you-soers plenty of ammunition to put her into some kind of protection program and keep her from doing her job. Plus, the young reporter had promised to stick to the facts she’d actually witnessed. A crazy driver endangering the lives of schoolchildren made headline enough. Shauna didn’t intend to give Yours Truly or the Baby Jane Doe case any publicity that could possibly drive her stalker and any evidence he could share underground. Shauna rubbed her arms up and down t
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine “Mom, the kitchen’s clean already. Have a seat and relax. It’s gorgeous outside tonight. Come see.” Shauna hung up the dish towel and left the kitchen to find her grown daughter propped on the back of the sofa beside the dog. Both rested their respective paws or elbows on the sill of the turret window and stared out into the night. “By ‘gorgeous,’ you’re not referring to that black SUV parked out front again, are you?” She’d already endured a bout of teasing over the “dark-haired hunk” sitting in the shadows away from the street lamp outside, keeping watch over the place. Sarah tucked her hair behind her ears and rolled her eyes one more time. “I don’t understand why you make him sit out in the car all night. You let Sadie in the house.” “Sadie’s family,” Shauna reasoned. “And I invited Detective Masterson in for dinner.” “Yeah, with me sitting in the middle playing referee while you two tried not to flirt with each other.” How did she explain departmental protocol and tem
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten While Shauna met with the director of the Boatman Rehabilitation Clinic, Eli checked his gun and followed a counseling psychologist through the lobby into the heart of the complex. The therapist had recognized Eli from his intake meeting with Jillian and greeted him with a handshake. “She’s making substantial progress,” he’d said. “We’re not out of the woods yet by any means, but I don’t think it would hurt her to have a visitor today. Would you like to see her?” “I didn’t think I could.” Eli wanted to see with his own eyes that he’d done the right thing by sending her here. But he didn’t want to cause any setbacks in her recovery. Shauna was the one who nudged him forward. “Family comes before business, Eli.” Not Detective. “I’ll execute the search warrant for the files. Go see your sister. I think you need to.” “That’s not why we’re here.” “That’s an order.” Eli obeyed. Out front, there were Oriental rugs and leather chairs to complement the silk screens and modern art on
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven Good God, what was she thinking? Shauna pulled back the covers and fluffed the pillows in the guest bedroom, acutely attuned to the splashes, rock-ballad serenades, and occasional curses from the naked man in her bathtub. The problem was, she hadn’t been thinking at all. She’d been feeling. Instead of reminding herself for the umpteenth time that Eli Masterson worked for her, she’d acted on the guilt she felt over everything she’d put him through. Her heart ached for the anguish he felt over his sister’s addiction. She understood that helplessness, that sense that no matter what she did to help, she couldn’t really help. She understood Eli’s pain and sacrifice. So she could offer a friendly massage for a few aching muscles. She could give him shelter and do what she could to ease the physical pain. She could end his isolation—and her own—by holding him, understanding him, loving him. Eli needed somebody to care about him—to push past the sarcasm and cynicism—to ignore th
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve “What are you doing?” Now that was the kind of reaction Eli liked in a woman—one who noticed him as soon as she came into the room. So Betty Mills did have an emotional side beneath that smiling, plastic-faced facade. “Get away from my desk!” She stormed across the reception area. “Those things are personal. Private. Confidential police business!” She scooped up the files that Eli had spread across her desk. She snatched up the loose memos and handwritten notes he’d been reading, too. He leaned back in her chair, his legs crossed at the ankles and propped up on her desk, and watched her fume at him. “I knew I didn’t like you from the first moment I met you. Everything they say about you is true.” “That I’m a damn fine investigator, and I always get my man?” Her pale cheeks blossomed with anger. “That you’re as devious as your partner was, and can’t be trusted. Give me that.” She reached for the appointment book that Eli held in his hand. But he held on when she tugged, k
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen Shauna had come to more than an hour ago, and she supposed that if she hadn’t been trained as a negotiator and public spokesperson, she’d have run out of things to say about fifty-nine minutes ago. And she’d be dead. She didn’t suppose this shabby excuse for an apartment that reeked of chemicals and sweat was her final destination, either. If LaTrese and Powell had their way, they’d have shot her and dumped her out of the ambulance and been done with her. But apparently, Michael had brainwashed them very carefully. Preying on the weakness of their drug addictions, and no doubt using some of the torturous devices around the room—like the metal collar now clamped around her neck—he’d very carefully constructed a crime. And he’d selected her as his victim. His killers—Powell and Pittmon. The method and place of execution were a mystery she was in no particular hurry to solve. But it must involve a phone call or some other sign that these two were waiting for. Why had Rich
Chapter Thirteen
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