“I’m no expert on this,” she went on, “but if Angie really doesn’t want to go to rehab, won’t she just check out once you leave?”

  “She could, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.” That steely shutter she’d seen earlier closed over his eyes and he pulled his hand free, signaling the end of their discussion.

  His reluctance to talk reminded her of when she’d arrived at the Justice house and how she’d shut everyone out for months. She didn’t resent them for trying to get involved in her life, she’d just never been able to trust anyone with what mattered to her. Maybe Mitch was doing the same thing with Angie. He couldn’t trust anyone else to help him and had to go it alone.

  The waitress brought their drinks, and when Kat saw Tommy walk in, she was glad for the company. Plus the sense of urgency on his face said he had a good lead.

  “Please tell me you’ve finally gotten those warrants,” Mitch said sullenly before Tommy could sit.

  Tommy perched on the edge of the seat across from them. “Not yet. The roads have gotten everything jammed up at the courthouse. But we should have them soon.”

  “Maybe we’ll finally get some answers then,” Mitch said, his tone still grim.

  “We already have.” Tommy pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and laid it on the table. “I finished going through Bodig’s personal files and found this email from his home account. It’s generated by a smart phone app. If your phone goes missing and someone plugs it into a USB port on a computer you haven’t designated it will send an email alert.”

  “We use an app like that on our phones at the agency.” Kat looked at the email. “Wait. This is dated the day that guy answered Nathan’s phone. He must have plugged it into a computer.”

  “And what good does that do us?” Mitch asked sounding skeptical.

  “That, my technophobe partner, is the best part. The email provides the GPS coordinates where the phone was located when it was plugged in.”

  “So we know where the phone is.” Kat couldn’t help but be excited about this lead.

  “Or was,” Tommy said. “The coordinates are for an apartment and you know how fast residents turn over in apartments.”

  “But at least it’s a lead,” Kat said, not letting Tommy’s comment dampen her excitement. “We need to get over there.”

  “So much for having lunch for once.” Mitch stood and tossed a tip on the table. “I’ll pay for the drinks and meet you at the car.”

  Tommy tugged Kat to her feet. “C’mon, Justice. It’s time for you to see two of Portland’s finest detectives in action.”

  Kat rolled her eyes, something she realized she did often around her former partner.

  “What’s with him?” Tommy nodded at Mitch as he held the door open for her. “You do something to make him cranky again?”

  Kat filled Tommy in on Angie’s problems on their walk to Mitch’s car.

  “Really.” Tommy eyed her up. “I didn’t even know he had a sister.”

  The thought that Mitch had shared something so personal with her and not with his partner made her heart warm. So did the sight of him as he came out of the restaurant. He had a way of carrying himself with such confidence and it got to her every time.

  He gave her a lingering look before opening her car door, and she had to drag her mind off him to where it should be. On the man who was trying to kill her and could be waiting to ambush them when they arrived at his apartment.

  * * *

  The buildings were as run-down as Mitch expected to find in the seedy part of town. He knocked on the manager’s door and paint chips fluttered to the ground. He made eye contact with Tommy and silently signaled for him to keep an eye on Kat. He couldn’t help but think it was a big mistake bringing her into this neighborhood. Cole would likely have his hide when Derrick told him about it.

  The door opened to reveal a stout man wearing a stained T-shirt and baggy jeans. When he saw them, he crossed his arms as if he was itching for a fight. Mitch automatically slid his hand to his weapon.

  “Yeah?” the guy asked then scowled.

  Mitch showed his badge. “Are you the manager?”

  “Super.” He fixed wary and distrusting eyes on Mitch.

  Mitch’s alarm bells clanged so he centered his body in the doorway, blocking escape in case the guy decided to run. “We’re looking for information about the resident in apartment 122.”

  “Alice Leon?” His eyebrows went up in surprise. “What about her?”

  “How long has she lived there?” Mitch asked.

  He looked up as if thinking. “I dunno. Two, maybe three weeks.”

  The email from the phone app was dated four weeks ago so she couldn’t be the person they were looking for. “And the tenant before her?”

  “Ray Granby.”

  Ray Granby. Mitch glanced at Tommy. His partner’s mouth quirked in response as Mitch expected it would. A Ray Granby was wanted for a hit and run of a prosecutor. Detectives in their office were working the case right now.

  The super flexed his biceps making the tattoo of a scorpion dance. “That who you’re looking for?”

  “Could be,” Mitch answered. “How long did he live here?”

  “Little over two years. Was an okay tenant. Regular payer, anyway. Until his kid died.”

  Kat’s eyes came alive. “He had a son?”

  “A teenager. Big troublemaker. Into drugs.” He paused and ran the back of his hand under his nose. Mitch had to wonder if the runny nose meant he had some problems with cocaine use himself.

  “You know the kid’s name?” Kat jumped in, her voice excited.

  “Paul.” He held up his hand. “And before you ask me what happened to the kid all I know is he got busted and sent up to juvie where someone killed him. Granby really freaked out and went off the deep end. Drinking. Carousing. Finally skipping out owing a month’s rent.”

  “So I take it he didn’t leave a forwarding address,” Mitch said.

  The super laughed. “Even if he didn’t stiff me for the rent, we ain’t exactly the kind of place where people do that.”

  “So that’s a no then.” Tommy sounded as irritated about the guy’s attitude as Mitch was getting.

  “Anything else?” the super asked, his brow creasing. “My show’s on, and I’d like to get back to it.”

  “That’s all.” The door slammed almost before Mitch finished his words. “Nice guy, huh?”

  Kat lifted her eyes to meet his. “Father Ray, son Paul. Looks like we hit the jackpot.”

  “About that,” Tommy said. “Our department is working on a hit-and-run of a prosecutor and a Ray Granby is the prime suspect. Not sure how long they’ve been working the case but it seems like a couple of months.” He looked at Mitch. “That about right?”

  “Give or take a week,” Mitch answered, as he turned back to Kat.

  “About the same time Nathan died.” Kat’s eyes lit up. “A caseworker and prosecutor both killed in car accidents around the same. They could’ve been the ones who got Paul sent to juvie.”

  Mitch’s thought exactly.

  “Once we finish up here, I’ll call in and see if they can confirm we’re dealing with the same guy,” Tommy offered.

  “I want to talk to Granby’s former neighbors before we head out.” Mitch tipped his head toward a crumbling sidewalk meandering to the right. “The apartment is that way.”

  They trekked down the walkway and stopped outside the neighboring apartment. Mitch could hear a baby crying and children screaming on the other side of the door so he pounded loudly.

  “What do you want?” a woman’s voice came through the cheap wood.

  Mitch held up his ID so she could view it through her peephole. “Police. We have a few questions.”

  The door groaned open and a haggard woman jiggling a fussy baby on her hip gaped at them. Another child, a boy who looked about three, came out and clutched his mother’s leg. He wasn’t the cleanest, but lacked other signs of neglect.

  “Hi there.” Kat smiled at the boy, but his little face crumpled in fear and he slipped behind his mother’s leg.

  “I’m Detective Mitch Elliot.” Mitch smiled warmly to ease her concern. “And your name is?”

  “Mary,” she said and paused as if thinking about what to say. “Mary Brown.”

  Her evasive look said this wasn’t her real name, but he’d play along unless she said something that required him to dig deeper. “Did you know Ray Granby, Mary?”

  “You mean the creep who lived next door? Yeah, I knew him.”

  “Do you know where he lives now?”

  “Nah. But good riddance.” She moved the baby to the other hip and the child plopped her thumb in her mouth. “After two years of living next to him, we’re finally getting some sleep.”

  “So he was noisy?”

  “Noisy, hah! He kept us up all hours of the night. If he wasn’t partying he was yelling at his kid and kicking him around.”

  “You mean hitting him?” Kat’s voice rose in disbelief.

  Mary shifted the baby again. “Yeah, I guess. I mean I never saw him do it, but the kid always looked pretty rough.”

  “And you didn’t intervene?” Kat sounded resigned to the fact that there were people who acted this way, but the fire in her eyes said she didn’t like it. Not one bit!

  “You mean get in between them?” Mary rolled her eyes. “No way I’d cross Ray. He would’ve gone after me or my kids next.”

  Kat fisted her hands and glared at Mary. “You are aware that abusing a child is against the law and you’re required to report it.”

  She shrugged as if it wasn’t important. “Like I said. I only heard it. Never saw them go at it so there was nothing to report.”

  “How dare you.” Kat took a step toward Mary then stopped as if she knew she could do nothing about it.

  Mitch stepped in front of her, and after giving Tommy a look that said take over, he led Kat down the walkway to cool off.

  She shook off his hand, but didn’t make a move to go back to the woman. “You can’t let her get away with that.”

  “There’s not much we can do now, Kat.” He waited for her to make eye contact. “Granby’s son is dead.”

  She shoved her hands in her pockets and as she kept glaring at Mary, her breathing grew more agitated. “She should go to jail for ignoring that abuse.”

  “If there was abuse.”

  “You know there was. And for at least two years if what that woman says is true.” Kat shook her head sorrowfully. “This kid might be alive today if someone around here just cared enough to do something.”

  He was appalled by what Mary said and did, but Kat’s reaction ran deeper. She was having a physical response to it, looking like she was going to be sick. He hated to contemplate the source of these emotions but he had to ask. “I can’t help but think there’s more to your anger than what’s going on here.”

  Her eyes flashed up to meet his and seemed to test him. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe or yes, Mitch, there’s more?”

  She studied him more thoroughly, weighing and measuring, then something settled in her eyes and it was as if she knocked down a wall. “She reminds me of my neighbors growing up. They heard my dad yelling and my mom’s cries, but pretended everything was okay. Maybe if they cared just a little bit, my mom would still be alive.”

  “Did your father ever hit you?” He held his breath as he waited for an answer.

  “No.” She toed her foot into the crumbling concrete, and he relaxed a notch. “There were times I egged him on, hoping he’d leave my mom alone and come after me, but he never did.”

  Mitch moved closer and circled his arm around her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes awash in pain and at that moment, he wanted nothing more in life than to take away her anguish. To find a way to make up for all those horrible years. To love her the way she deserved to be loved. He just didn’t know if he could do it. If he could be the one for her. If she would even let him try.

  He heard the apartment door slam and saw Tommy heading their way so he gave her shoulder a quick squeeze and released her.

  “Everything okay, here?” Tommy asked, his eyes going first to Kat, then up to Mitch.

  Kat took a deep breath and nodded. “You learn anything else?”

  “No.”

  “So on to the next one, then?” She didn’t wait for agreement but started off.

  Mitch grabbed her elbow. “Why don’t we head back to the agency and Tommy’ll take care of talking to these people.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “But you said you wanted to do it.”

  “I know, but I’ve changed my mind.” He turned to Tommy to make sure he understood it was in Kat’s best interest to leave this place. “I’ll meet you at the office later.”

  Tommy might be dense sometimes, but he seemed to get what was going on here and he nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Catch you later, Justice,” he said, socking her softly on the arm before walking away.

  Kat looked up at Mitch, tears starting to form in her eyes. “I’m fine. Really. You didn’t have to do this.”

  “And now I’ve upset you.”

  She shook her head.

  “Then why the tears?”

  “You’re just a very nice man, Mitch Elliot. Other than my brothers and Tommy, I don’t often run into nice men.” She pulled her full lower lip between her teeth and looked up at him with a shyness so foreign to her personality, Mitch’s heart took a dip. He couldn’t think of anything else but holding her until all of those horrible memories were a thing of the past.

  He kept his gaze on hers, and her breath quickened, matching the beating of his heart.

  “We should go,” she said breathlessly.

  He nodded and forced his feet into motion toward the car before he took her in his arms and showed her how much she was starting to mean to him.

  THIRTEEN

  In the conference room, Kat stood and stretched, her mind going to Mitch. He’d been gone for five hours now, and she missed him. Plain and simple, she’d gotten used to being with him the past few days. He’d called a few times to check in, but it wasn’t the same as having him by her side. Worse, she didn’t like that he’d put himself on a detail where he could get hurt.

  He and Tommy talked with the other detectives and confirmed that the murdered prosecutor had handled Paul’s case and Ray Granby had also threatened him. They feared the judge who officiated over the trial was in danger, too. So Mitch and Tommy had gone to check on him and discovered he’d also received a threat from Granby. Now they were sticking close to the judge and running a stakeout to lure Granby out of hiding.

  She didn’t like not knowing if Mitch was safe. She didn’t like it at all. She’d been praying for his safety and for help letting go of the worry, but it still remained in the pit of her stomach.

  Enough, Kat. Let it go for now. Keep your mind busy. She went back to Nathan’s files that Tommy had dropped off. They may all like Granby for the murder, but they weren’t dropping other leads yet.

  Cole looked up from his laptop. “You want to see a picture of Granby that Mitch emailed?”

  She couldn’t bring herself to look at his picture so she checked out the details of his prior arrest records first. He fit the physical profile of the man who’d attacked her and his priors spoke to the violent temper Mary mentioned.

  Kat took a deep breath and forced herself to look at him. He had a long face marked by unique scars. If he hadn’t worn a mask she could have easily identified him after the attack. His eyes were narrow and untrustworthy. But as much as just looking at him brought back the horrors of her attack, she hadn’t a clue if this was the man who tried to kill her.

  “Kind of amazing, isn’t it,” she said, looking at Cole, “that we’re looking for the same guy as the other detective team.”

  “What’s amazing to me is that minuscule paint samples are what officially tie the cases together.” He closed his computer and leaned back.

  She had to agree. The other detectives found an abandoned truck registered to Granby and it not only had a paint transfer that matched the deceased prosecutor’s car, but paint from a 2010 Honda. The same year and make of Nathan’s wreck. Not conclusive proof that Granby killed Nathan, but strong evidence to add to their case. And now all they needed to do was find and apprehend him. Then once the DNA from her fingernail scrapings came back they’d match it to his DNA, and he’d be on his way to trial.

  Only one glitch in this theory. His DNA might not be in the system and they’d have to take a sample from him. That’d take another three days to process. Three more days of this turmoil, and she wasn’t sure she could handle that. She sighed.

  “Don’t worry, Kit Kat. We’ll catch this guy.” Cole’s voice held the iron resolve he was known for. “I promise.”

  The lights snapped off, the blinding dark sending a chill over her body.

  “Cole,” she said as that chill intensified.

  “Relax,” he said, but she could tell by his tone that he was on high alert. “The wind’s been blowing all day. Probably just knocked down a line.”

  “Or not.”

  “Sit tight. I’ll get the flashlight from under the sink.”

  She heard his slow footfalls as he made his way in the dark across the room. She listened, waiting for any sound out of the ordinary, but she only heard the wind howling outside. Cole could be right. This building was in an older part of town and power lines often went down in high winds.

  Cole snapped on the flashlight and shone it her way. “Put on your vest, okay? Just in case.”

  “Then you do the same.” She stood and slipped her vest over her head.

  “It’s in my office.” He crossed over to her, the beam of light dancing ahead of his feet.

  “So we’ll go to your office and get it then.”

  “Egress from there is more difficult in case we need to leave the building. It’s better to stay here.”

  “So you don’t think this is just the power lines then.”