“So if you know what happened, how is shereally?” Bradley asked as he dumped the sliced peppers into a large pot on the stove. They sizzled as they hit the hot oil at the bottom and released an immediate wave of delicious scent.
“Hard to say,” Dean answered. “She’s tried to drop off the face of the earth. I’m close with a few of her friends, and according to them, she just hides out here by herself. She hasn’t come to Sanctuary, hasn’t seen any of the people in her life. She just lies if anyone asks her and says she’s busy.”
Bradley nodded, that sounding exactly like the stubborn woman he knew and loved. “Seems pretty much out of Kat’s playbook. I remember years ago, she got the flu bad. She kept telling people she was fine, blowing us all off, and when I got sick of it and showed up at her place?” A slight tremor ran through Bradley at the memory, at how pale and fragile she’d looked when he’d finally all but broken into her place. “I called the ambulance immediately and it took her nearly two weeks before the hospital would release her. Turns out she ended up with double pneumonia. My point? Kat lying to people and pretending to be fine right up until she collapses is exactly what she does.”
Dean didn’t respond right away. Did he dislike that Bradley and Kat had a past? If that was the case, he said nothing, moving on as if the tense moment had never happened. “Yeah, I guess she is a hellcat, isn’t she? Is that why you’re here?”
“Pretty much. She and I, we may have ended, but there are some ties that no number of years can cut. She called, and I knew I had to do something. Figured I’d come, spend a bit here, help her get back on her feet.”
“Does she listen to you?”
“Kat listen to anyone? I’d like to see that. No, she doesn’t do what I say, but I’ve dealt with her long enough to know how to handle her at least. I mean, one day of me here and she left.”
Dean laughed, though that sharpness in his blue eyes never faded. The man wasfarmore dangerous than he let on—that much was clear. “That sounds about right. So you’re planning on staying here until she gets her ass in gear and stops hiding?”
“Pretty much. And you? What’s your plan?”
Dean set his arm on the counter and stared at Bradley without a hint of fear. “I’m not a relationships sort of man, so if you’re worried about that, don’t be. Kat and I, we’re just friends—nothing else. I want the best for her, and I’m willing to do whatever that take. It means if you need a break here, let me know and I don’t mind taking shifts.” Dean rose, as if the conversation had suddenly gotten too awkward. “I’m going to head out. I bet she’ll hide in there for a while anyway. Nice to meet you.”
Bradley said nothing back as the other man left.
Dean’s words ran through Bradley’s head, the declaration that he had no intentions toward Kat, but Bradley could read people with ease. Dean wanted those words to be true, maybe, but he didn’t quite believe them himself.
Which just made this whole thing even messier…
* * * *
Olin took a deep breath as he walked onto the crime scene and pulled his gloves on. There was always this heavy sense when he went to a crime scene in the moments before he knew all the details, when there were only questions and tension.
It was his job, and he loved it every bit as much as he hated it, but that didn’t make it any easier.
This one was probably the same as so many others. They liked to throw anything in the shadier areas of town to the gangs division, as though if it happened between Oak St. and Fifteenth, ithadto involve gangs.
It was just a bad area of town, though, a place where gangs had power because people lived in too much fear to stand up to them. Worse, the citizens were just as scared of him, of the other officers. It made even coming down to this area a risk.
And for today? Beneath a sheet rested the body of a young woman. Olin didn’t know much else about it, would find out when he got to the scene, but he’d been at this so long he wasn’t sure he needed to know much more. The girl was probably a sex worker, had taken a client who thought he had the right to do whatever he wanted to her, and the yellow crime scene tape was the result.
Those were the worst cases for Olin, the reality that he couldn’t save everyone, that there were people who, even if they were in danger, wouldn’t ever come to him for help.
Like Kat…
The unwelcome thought was nonetheless true. No matter what he did to reach out, it never made a bit of difference. Kat had made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing to do with him.
It wasn’t like he was looking to go start up anything serious, but he wanted her to at least know she could lean on him.
Focus. This isn’t the time to be daydreaming about women.
“So what do we have?” Olin asked as he walked up to the officer who stood watch a few feet away from the covered body.
“It’s…bad.”
The tone made Olin face the officer. Ah, that explained it. He was young—maybe on his first such case. It wasn’t something anyone ever got used to, but they learned to deal with it, eventually.
Or at least learned to hide their reaction.
“Anything else?” Olin asked, not wanting to draw attention to the officer’s discomfort.
The officer nodded, as if woken from his stupor. “Sorry, sir. Young woman, no identification, no purse, no clothes. Time of death estimated as sometime late last night. The garbage man discovered the body as he was doing his rounds this morning and called it in.”