An idea hit her and she raced over to her bed and dragged the covers loose; she pulled a corner of the mattress off the box spring so it was angled to the floor. She studied the effect, then hurried to the wall behind the headboard to tilt the two paintings hanging there. She carefully overturned the lamp on the nightstand so that the shade was hanging over the edge. Finished, she raced into the adjoining bathroom, soaked a washcloth in water, and sauntered back into the living room, dabbing at her face. ’m so sorry,” she said. just can’t handle any more violence. I got ill. Anyway, it couldn’t have been Mitchell because he was here with me until a few minutes ago.”
is he now?”
. . . went to get my dog and my two cats. We’re staying here until you capture Billy Wyatt.”
took him into custody this afternoon.”
Kate widened her eyes. . Really?”
,” Gray said drily. you mind if Detective MacNeil had a look inside the rooms down that hallway?”
at all,” Kate replied, dabbing at her face in earnest and trailing nervously behind MacNeil. ’t wake up Danny,” she warned. ’s in the bedroom on the right.”
Intensely serious about his job as Danny’s bodyguard, Calli followed right behind MacNeil, scowling at him from the doorway as the detective quietly explored Danny’s closet and bathroom.
’s this room?” MacNeil said.
bedroom.”
I?” he asked, his hand on the doorknob.
Kate started to say course!” Then she changed her mind and said, really wish you wouldn’t.” She waited until MacNeil gave her an I-can-get-a-search-warrant look before she said in feigned embarrassment, “Oh, go ahead, Detective.”
MacNeil opened the door, flipped on the lights, and froze. Calli crowded next to him to see what he was looking at and gave a bark of laughter, which enabled Kate to blush furiously and in earnest when they rejoined Gray in the living room.
’s wrong?” he asked, looking from Kate to MacNeil to Calli, who wasn’t even trying to control his grin. Twisting the washcloth in her hands, Kate said, and I—we, um—spent this evening in bed.”
doesn’t have to turn into a big deal,” Gray said. Mitchell gets back, have him call us.”
what will you do with him then?” Kate said, her voice tinged with suspicion, fear, and anger—and a little surprised that he’d referred to Mitchell by his first name.
’ll have a look at his knuckles. If they aren’t bruised or swollen, we’ll know he’s not the assailant.”
, good. That’s easy.”
, but it’s also evidence that can’t be hidden or disguised.”
are you involved in such a little matter, Gray?” she demanded.
He squeezed her arm. ’ve started to think of myself as a family friend,” he said, and turned to leave with MacNeil on his heels.
’ll have Mitchell call you the minute he gets back,” Kate promised as they left. may stop on his way here to pick up some dog food.”
On the other side of the apartment door, MacNeil and Elliott descended the stairs. ’s the story with the bedroom?” Gray asked.
Biting back a grin, MacNeil said, the looks of that bedroom, there’s no way Wyatt would have had the strength left to assault Bartlett.”
I thought I could get away with burying this little episode, I’d do it,” Gray said. fact, if I thought I could get away with beating the shit out of Bartlett, I might have tried it myself. Unfortunately, among other things, he’s a lawyer, and even with his jaw wired shut, he’s screaming for Wyatt’s blood.”
do you want to do next?”
have to keep looking for Wyatt and document our efforts,” Gray replied with a sigh. I don’t, Bartlett will turn this into a media event that makes all of us look bad. But we don’t have to be overly diligent. Bartlett isn’t a capital murder case. Wyatt flew here on a commercial airline because his own plane was grounded for maintenance. We’ve notified O’Hare to detain him if he tries to go through security there. That’s due diligence on our part, as far as I’m concerned. I’m not going to put up roadblocks because Bartlett is unhappy and uncomfortable.”
On the sidewalk outside the restaurant, Childress was waiting. Gray paused and looked up at the sky. night,” he said. bad I have to go back to the office.”
is going to turn up,” Childress predicted, ever vigilant.
me if you hear or see anything,” Gray said to both of them, and left with a brief wave.
KATE STRUGGLED WITHher heavy mattress, trying to shove it back into place, but her mind was on Mitchell, and she was worried. She was worried for him, and worried for herself, too, because she’d gotten in too deeply and much too fast. He was like a narcotic, and she couldn’t function when he was around. In real time, she’d spent only five days with him on two occasions in three years, and on both occasions, her life seemed to self-destruct the moment he walked into it. Tonight, she’d surely committed some sort of crime by lying to the police for him.
In the kitchen, Calli listened to the instructions he was being given. When he hung up, he took several large plastic trash bags into Danny’s room and began quietly filling them with clothing and toys. Finished, he stepped into the hallway, made certain that Kate was still in her bedroom, and then carried the trash bags down the stairs and out the back entrance into the alley behind the restaurant. He left them there, walked around the side of the building to the front entrance, and told one of the valet attendants to bring the rental car, which was being delivered momentarily, around to the alley entrance as soon as it arrived and to call him on his cell phone to let him know.
By ten o’clock, Kate was literally wringing her hands over Mitchell’s plight. She couldn’t think of any reason for Mitchell to have disappeared without a phone call unless hewas Evan’s assailant. Or—and this was a possibility—Mitchell made a habit of dropping out of women’s lives when things got too complicated or feelings got involved.
wants to say good-bye to you and Danny. He’s at the airport, and he has to leave on an urgent business trip. I’m supposed to bring you out there.”
Kate whirled around in shock at the sound of Calli speaking English with only a trace of a charming Italian accent, but her mind was focused on the painful realization that Mitchell was leaving. In the long run, she told herself firmly, it would be easier on her emotionally if he went away and stayed away. Trying to have a relationship with him was clearly impossible. At least this time, he was saying an official good-bye for Danny’s sake.