Relentless

“Tell me. What do you do with all that cash?” He wanted to push her. Money made people do strange things and she wouldn’t be an exception.

“I give to the needy.”

“I suppose that’s a worthy thing to do.” He felt anger charge through him. Hell, he deserved it, probing into her business. It looked more and more like she was for real, but he had to check out the list of marks on his notepad before he let her off the hook completely.

“I need to get your prints. We can do it here, or you can come into the station. What’ll it be?” She swallowed and looked straight at him, her expression trepid. The idea of entering the station frightened her? His suspicion bubbled up.

“I’ll come in this afternoon.”

“Great.”

The front door of the house flew open and a little boy burst into the room. Two steps behind him lagged a young woman.

“Mommy.” He threw his arms around Kate’s neck and knocked the towel loose from its coil. Her hair spilled over her face and he listened to her laugh. Soft, sweet, genuine.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you, too. Did you treat Molly good?”

“Yeah.”

An awkward ache moved inside him as he watched the exchange, sucked into memories of years past and lives lost.

She smoothed her hair back. “Cody, this is Officer Jacoby. He’s a policeman.”

“Where’s him’s uniform?” The little boy looked up at him, determined to discover why he didn’t look the part.

“Well, not every policeman wears a uniform. Sometimes they wear plain clothes and look just like you and me. Isn’t that right, Officer?”

He stared down at the handsome little boy, with eyes the shade of his mom’s. Thoughts of his own daughter churned in his mind and scrambled his words before they could make it onto his tongue. He nodded and found his voice. “That’s right. Sometimes we don’t want the bad guys to know we’re around.” He pulled his badge off his shoulder holster and held it out. “Here’s my badge.”

Cody ran his hand over the shield. “Wow.”

The understanding of a child only encompassed a simplicity. He was free to be impressed minus all the muck that went with the job.

“It’s nice.”

“It’s nice when it gets the respect it deserves.” He looked into Kate’s face and saw a hint of doubt, but he didn’t need her respect. He needed the answers she could give him. How close was she to this case? How much did she know about that night five years ago that ripped his world apart? “Here’s my card. Call me if you think of anything else.” She took it from his fingers and slid it into her pocket.

“I’ve gotta go.” Mick put his badge on and tried to cram his emotions into the mental box they’d escaped from. “I’ll expect you at the station.”

Chapter Three

Mick stepped out onto Kate’s front step with her right behind him. He paused, scanned the street and looked for the source of the cautionary impulses that shot in and out of his brain. “I’m going to check out the names on this list.” He turned toward her. “I plan to have the Beamer impounded.”

“You can’t do that.” She touched him. A wave of heat flamed up his arm. “The bonus on that car pays my bills. If you lock it up, I can’t collect.”

“The law is the law. The owner of record is missing. He was under investigation for his involvement in an auto-theft ring.” He looked into her face and waited for a response, some inkling that she understood his decision. But determination had set her jaw.

“How long before I get it back?”

“The lab will dust it for prints and search for physical evidence. We’ll need to determine if Otis committed any crimes with the car.”

“This is because I’m a Robear, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“You think because of what my family did for a living, it automatically makes me a car thief, too? Well you’re wrong, Mick Jacoby. You’re dead wrong and sooner or later you’re going to have to stop hating Robears.”

She pushed the front door open and slammed it shut in his face.

Mick stood perfectly still on the step letting her words soak through his thick hide. The truth stung like a yellow jacket. Had he become so jaded he couldn’t tell the good from the bad anymore? The day was when he’d had more faith in people, but the sun had long since set on that delusion. He shrugged off her observation and took the steps quickly. Once he reached his car, he scanned the street again and tried to shake the unease that gnawed at his mind and set his nerves on edge.

The cars parked in the street were all unoccupied. He watched the wooded area directly across the roadway for movement. Nothing.

If she was being watched, it would have to be by a phantom, because nothing was out of the ordinary. He climbed into his car and fired the engine.

KATE LEANED AGAINST the front door feeling the full effect of Mick Jacoby’s heat. He had it in for her, but how deep would he dig?

“Kate, what’s going on?” Molly asked.

“Nothing, just a cop with an attitude and an appetite for Robears.”

“Well,” Molly whispered, “he can take a bite out of me anytime.”

“You goof.” She had to admit there wasn’t much wrong with the Mick Jacoby package—fair hair, light green eyes—a surfer stranded on dry land, with enough muscle distributed in all the right places to make any woman fake drowning. “Okay. He’s hot, five million degrees, but cops aren’t my style.”

“Emm.” Molly wagged her finger in Kate’s face and moved toward the door. “I’d make an exception for that one.”

“No way.”

“All the same, you need a man in your life. Someone safe.”

“Where have you been, sweetie? Cops are about as safe as a five-year-old with a lighter.”

Molly grasped the knob. “Okay, you’ve got a point, but maybe you won’t ditch the idea completely?”

“Maybe.” She hugged her friend. “Thanks for taking Cody overnight.”

“No problem.” Molly waved and strolled down the sidewalk to her SUV. She climbed in and pulled away from the curb.

Kate was about to go back into the house when she noticed the sleek black car on the opposite side of the street, exposed now that Molly’s Suburban was gone. Normally it wouldn’t have bothered her, but the windows were black. Tinted to the point she couldn’t see inside the vehicle. A customized Honda?

Riding a wave of caution, she hurried inside and closed the door. She was being silly, but she’d never seen the car in the neighborhood. She looked around and spotted Cody on the sofa, TV remote in hand and Rugrats on the screen.

She plopped down next to him and rubbed his head. “So what did you and Molly do yesterday?”

“Nothing, Mom. Just went to the zoo and saw the animals. I got some candy and we came home.”