Her eyes flashed wide in surprise. “You can’t be serious.”

  “That I am.”

  “I think we should put this to a vote.”

  “Fine.” He looked at his siblings. “All in favor of Kat and Mitch holding down the fort raise your hand?”

  All hands went up.

  “You set me up.”

  Cole smiled, something Mitch didn’t think the guy was capable of. “That I did.”

  Dani got up and patted Kat on the back. “It’s for your own good.”

  “Et tu, Brute?”

  “Me, too, sis. Me, too.” She bent down and whispered something Mitch didn’t catch, but it made Kat’s face color, and she swatted at her sister.

  As the family exited the room, Mitch felt Kat’s eyes on him so he swallowed his bite of pizza that suddenly tasted like cardboard. “You’re still mad at me.”

  “You think?”

  He did look at her then, and at the sight of her disapproving glare, he wished he hadn’t. “I was just trying to do the right thing, Kat. We needed your family’s help.”

  “We could’ve done this on our own.”

  “The killer nearly took you out today. We needed additional manpower and resources.”

  She paused and assessed him for long moments, then sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we did, but you know how I feel about putting my family in danger.” She crossed her arms. “Making sure our family members are safe is the one thing I thought you and I agreed on.”

  “It is. I’ll do everything I can to safeguard the people I care about.” He took a deep breath and waited until she was looking into his eyes. “But I care about you, too. That’s why I had to call them.” He didn’t know how he expected her to react to his admission, but sitting perfectly still and staring at him, her eyes unreadable wasn’t the response he’d have predicted.

  He opened his mouth to ask what she was thinking, but his cell vibrated on the table, and he glanced at it.

  “It’s Tommy.” Wishing they could’ve worked this out before duty called again, he punched his speaker button. “Go ahead, Tommy. You’re on speaker.”

  “Good news. I located Bodig’s threat file.”

  “That is good news,” Kat said.

  “So there are three items in the folder,” Tommy continued. “One of them seems really credible.”

  Kat jumped up and grabbed a stack of papers from the end of the table. “I have the client list. What name am I looking for?”

  “I don’t have a last name, but the father’s first name is Ray. The son is deceased so he may not be on the list, but his name is Paul.”

  “Depending on when that threat was written, they could still be here,” Kat said, already running her finger down a page.

  “It’s a little more than sixty days old,” Tommy replied.

  Kat flipped the page. “This list has Nathan’s clients for the past ninety days so odds are good we’ll find a Paul on it.”

  “I’d really like to get a look at that letter, Tommy,” Mitch said, excitement starting to build. “Any chance you’d bring it over to the Justice Agency?”

  “I can do that. I’ll be there in less than ten.”

  “Text me when you arrive and I’ll let you in.” Mitch clicked off his phone and the excitement flamed up a few notches before he tamped it down. He knew better than to be encouraged by such a small lead and normally he wouldn’t get this worked up, but sitting next to a woman who was coming to mean a lot to him and was flaming angry with him, he’d take every little bit of encouragement he could find.

  * * *

  Kat turned the page and felt Mitch’s eyes on her, but she kept reading. The sooner she found Paul and Ray, the sooner this could end and she could go back to her old life, free of Mitch Elliot and the effect he continued to have on her emotions.

  “Are you trying to burn a hole in me?” she asked without looking up and losing her place on the page.

  “I’m sorry, you know,” he said, his voice holding an honest apology. “I should never have called Cole without telling you about it first.”

  She marked her spot with a pen, then looked up to search the depth of his eyes for any hint of duplicity. He laid a hand on hers, and she felt her heart thawing despite her desire to stay mad. “I can’t let anything happen to you, Kat.”

  She sat there mesmerized by the extent of caring in his eyes and the touch of his hand. Not sure what to say or how to act.

  “Here’s the thing.” He abruptly pulled away and sat back. “When I saw you lying on the porch not moving, I flashed back to Lori. And I admit it. I panicked. Without thinking things through, I called Cole.”

  So this was about Lori. Suddenly Kat needed to know the whole story. “What happened to Lori? I mean you mentioned her before but didn’t give any details.”

  He closed his eyes and looked up.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she said, hoping he’d ignore the out she was giving him.

  “No...no... It’s okay.” He took a deep breath. “It was a simple domestic call. I’d surprised Lori the night before with an engagement ring. On the way to the call we were trying to come up with a date for our wedding.”

  “So you were involved with her.” Kat didn’t know why the thought of that hurt, but it did.

  He held up his hands. “Before you say anything about dating your partner, I know it can cloud judgment in dangerous situations. We were holding off telling our supervisor about our relationship until we knew it would work out. We’d planned to tell him about the engagement at the end of our shift.”

  Not where she was going with this, but he was right. The rules against dating your partner existed for a reason. “Go on.”

  “We arrived at the house. It was quiet. No sign of a disturbance. Lori was so pumped over our engagement, she almost floated to the door. I trailed a few seconds behind her.” He shook his head and closed his eyes for a second as if it would make the sight of what came next go away. “She made it as far as the steps. The male in the dispute was drunk, and he came barreling out of the house with a shotgun. Without warning he blasted her in the chest.” He took another deep breath. “Before I could even draw my weapon he got off another shot, and I went down.”

  “You were hit, too?” Kat felt her heart nearly stop beating. “Where?”

  He tipped his head to the side and dragged a finger over a scar running from chin to collarbone right next to his carotid artery. She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with him. Or the way it made her feel sick to her stomach.

  Without thinking, she traced her finger over the scar. “You were lucky, Mitch. A little to the right and you would’ve bled out in less than a minute.”

  “Not sure how lucky I was to watch Lori take her last breath.”

  Kat rested her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry, Mitch.”

  “It was hard, you know. I mean, I still keep asking why I lived, and she didn’t.” He looked up and shook his head. “I still second-guess everything about that day. Did our relationship have anything to do with her death? Could I have done anything differently? If I had, would she still be alive?”

  “Did I.A. clear you?” Kat asked, knowing Internal Affairs investigated all shootings.

  “Yeah.”

  “No one has more exacting standards in an investigation than I.A., Mitch. If they cleared you then you didn’t do anything wrong and you can’t think this way.” She thought about the guilt she still carried over her mother’s death. Letting that remorse control you was no way to live. “You have to let it go, before it eats you up inside.”

  He appraised her, his gaze a silent question. “Sounds as if you’re speaking from experience.”

  “I am,” she said, though she’d rather not bring up her past.

  He looked at her as if he were weighing her response. “There weren’t any officers slain while you were on the force.”

  “No, not on the job.”

  “Oh, right,” he nodded, understanding dawning on his face. “The Justices. Losing your parents that way was a terrible thing, Kat. I hope you know how sorry I am about that.”

  “Thank you,” she said and considered letting him think this was what was bothering her. But he’d been so open, so honest with her it was only fair that she explain. “But actually I was thinking about my birth mother.” Kat hadn’t talked about her mom in years, so when tears pricked her eyes, it caught her by surprise. “My father killed her.”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment, but took her hand in his. “That must have been hard. How old were you?”

  She couldn’t keep looking at his tender gaze without crying so she focused on the pipes running across the ceiling. “I was eleven when she died, but he’d abused her for years before that. I tried to get her to leave him. She wouldn’t. She kept thinking he’d change.”

  “But he didn’t,” he said with so much empathy that she had the courage to look at him again.

  “No, he didn’t,” she repeated. “He really lost it that night. I didn’t even know he had a gun, but he pulled one out of his dresser and aimed at my mom. I jumped him from behind, but he shrugged me off and fired. When she fell, I ran over there, but he just stood there his mouth gaping open.” As the memories assaulted her, she shook her head. “It was so odd. Surreal really. He started to cry, and he looked so lost. I almost wanted to give him a hug. Seriously, how could I want to hug a man who’d just killed my mom?”

  “He was your father.” Mitch sandwiched her hand between both of his, the warmth thawing some of the chill surrounding her heart.

  “Not much of one.” She looked at their hands and tried to find something positive to say.

  “But still, he was your father.”

  “He was. Until he turned the gun on himself. Then he was just a sad, pitiful man who’d ruined my life.” Tears starting to fall, she looked up at Mitch. Her heart clenched at the tender concern in his eyes. “I lost my whole family in one night.”

  He slid his chair closer and turned her by the shoulders so she was facing him. “This is why you’re always so afraid of your family getting hurt.”

  “Partly,” she said, wanting to stop talking about this but also wanting to get it out and move on with life. “But honestly, I always knew my dad would go too far someday and something bad would happen.” She shook her head again. “That sounds horrible, doesn’t it? I knew he was going to kill her and yet I didn’t find a way to stop it.”

  He scooted even closer, and he wiped away a tear with a gentle finger then settled his hands on her knees. “You were only eleven, Kat. Just a child.”

  “And yet—”

  “And yet you thought you should’ve been able to save her and now you’re afraid you’ll fail the people you love.”

  She nodded. “At least we’re all out of law enforcement now and not risking our lives every day.”

  “Believe me, I get that.” His voice rang with sincerity and she knew they were kindred spirits in this. “You want everyone you care about out of harm’s way.”

  “Now if only I could get Tommy to retire.” And you, too, she thought, wondering what it would be like to be married to a cop and see him head into the line of fire every day. The thought sent a chill down her back. “I don’t understand how anyone could marry someone in law enforcement. That’s the last thing I’d do. I could never sit around and wait for that death notification call.”

  His eyes went dark and sad, and he pushed back, straightening his shoulders and holding his body rigid. Her comment clearly bothered him. Was it because he was starting to care for her, or because he was thinking about his prior engagement to a police officer? Did it matter? Not really. Despite her attraction to him, she couldn’t commit to a man with such a dangerous job. She was starting to accept that some things were out of her control but giving into her feelings for Mitch wasn’t one of them. This was her choice and she chose to keep her heart safe.

  TEN

  “There’s no Paul on the list.” Kat dropped the papers, clearly frustrated. Mitch knew that he should feel the same way but he was still distracted by her bomb about never marrying a police officer. He couldn’t let it go.

  She told him this, just when he was ready to admit for the first time since losing Lori, he wanted more in life than being on his own. Maybe with Kat. But now he knew he had no chance with her. None. Not if he was a detective, and he’d never leave his job. Not as long as there were potential murderers with little regard for life out there like the man who killed Lori.

  His phone chimed, and Kat jumped.

  “That’ll be Tommy.” Mitch smiled as he rose, but it was hard to make his lips turn up. “I’ll let him in.”

  The conversation kept running through his head as he headed down the hallway. Kat may have ended any notion of a relationship between them, but at least he now understood why she hated for anyone to tell her what to do. Why she had control issues, as Cole said. And why she said being married to someone you love could be a prison sentence. She wasn’t talking about the thought of being with him, she was speaking of her father.

  And Mitch had repeatedly behaved just like her father and told her what to do. Maybe he could cut back on giving directions. Maybe ask instead of tell. At least he planned to try.

  He jogged down the stairs to the door. He smiled in earnest when he saw Tommy stomping his feet outside trying to stay warm. His partner hated the cold, and keeping him waiting was bound to irritate him.

  Mitch turned the lock and felt a blast of cold air mixed with drizzle. “Roads still okay?”

  “Yeah, but not for long.” Tommy shivered as he stepped inside while holding several plastic evidence bags.

  “I hope they hold out. I can’t imagine the mess I’ll find from Princess if I get stuck here tonight.”

  “We could head to your place right now.”

  “I need to stay here with Kat.”

  Tommy quirked a brow. “Where’s the family?”

  “They’re out knocking on doors of Bodig’s clients.”

  Tommy stopped and caught Mitch’s gaze. “And Ethan left you in charge of his sister?”

  “He’s on his honeymoon.”

  “Okay, so Cole then.”

  “Yeah, he’s cool.”

  Tommy’s mouth dropped open. “Cole? We’re talking about Cole Justice?”

  Mitch laughed. “Yeah, why?”

  “Since he came back from his second tour, he hasn’t said more than two words to me. Kat says he’s really struggling to acclimate into civilian life again.”

  “He seemed okay to me.” Mitch started walking again and Tommy caught up to him.

  “So was Paul on the client list?” Tommy asked.

  “No Paul or Ray.”

  Tommy caught Mitch’s gaze. “You think Bodig’s boss played us?”

  Mitch shrugged. “He didn’t seem to be hiding anything but he wasn’t overly cooperative, either.”

  They went into the conference room and Tommy gave Kat a jab to her good arm, which Mitch was beginning to notice his partner always did when he greeted her. “You look like you could use some sleep.”

  “Didn’t your mother teach you not to tell a woman she looks tired?” She smiled up at him, a smile Mitch also noticed she reserved for those she truly cared about.

  “You?” He grinned. “You’re not a woman. You’re my ex-partner.”

  “Can I see the threat?” Mitch asked, wishing he’d been on the end of one of those private smiles.

  Tommy flipped through the evidence bags and handed one to Mitch, then straddled a chair next to Kat. “Basically Paul was busted for possession. The dad thought the kid should’ve gotten probation, but Bodig recommended incarceration. He thought the dad was unfit and the kid needed to get out of the home.”

  “So how’d Paul die?” Kat asked.

  “Killed in an altercation in lockup.”

  “So we have a dad who thinks Nathan’s decision could’ve gotten his son killed,” she said, her voice full of enthusiasm.

  “A good motive for murder if ever I saw one,” Mitch said, catching her enthusiasm. “Now all we have to do is figure out Ray’s and Paul’s identities.”

  “We should be able to run Paul down pretty easily,” Tommy said. “Can’t be that many kids killed in lockup.”

  “Would be faster for me to put pressure on Weichert in the morning to see if he left this one off the list on purpose,” Mitch said.

  “You think he’s covering something up?” Kat asked, her eyebrow rising.

  “I think this threat seems credible, and Weichert said there weren’t any credible threats. Makes me think he was trying to hide it.” Mitch flipped through the other letters, scanning them for validity then looking at Tommy. “These aren’t as compelling, but we need to evaluate them, too. Can you get a warrant for his work email account to see if there are others?”

  “With these threats, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Tommy offered. “I found personal emails in his files, too. I’ll request a warrant for both accounts first thing in the morning.”

  “This should also be all we need to finally get that warrant Weichert’s demanding,” Mitch added. “I’d rather not talk to Weichert again without the warrant so can you work on that one first?”

  “You got it.” Tommy gathered the bags together. “Doesn’t seem like there’s anything else we can do tonight. I suggest we head out before the roads get any worse.”

  Mitch flashed him a surprised look. After their discussion a few minutes ago, Tommy knew they couldn’t leave.

  “What?” Tommy stared back. “She’ll be safe at your house.”

  “Looks like the roads are freezing up,” Mitch said to Kat, making sure his tone wasn’t bossy. “Would you mind coming home with me so I can let Princess out before she makes a mess?”

  She eyed him for a few seconds, looking surprised that he was asking instead of telling. Then, even though her expression said she thought better of it, she nodded. “I’ll text Cole on the way, and he can pick me up there.” She stood and lifted her coat from the back of the chair.