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  “That’s just sick,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons I prefer a nice straightforward life.”

  “Girl, there is nothing straightforward about your life,” he said. “Not when you’re in the middle of situations involving domestic violence, for one thing. Do you think this could be related to Angus?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “I never even thought of that,” she said, frowning. “I don’t think Angus has the wherewithal to do something like this. I don’t think he could set it up or pay for it.”

  “It does have a professional look to it. The trouble is, this guy here didn’t do a good job, so his buddy got away, but this guy didn’t.”

  “Yeah, well,” she said, beaming at him, “my self-defense techniques took care of that.”

  He looked at her in surprise and said, “You stopped him?”

  Immediately her beaming smile turned to a glare. “You don’t have to sound so surprised,” she said. “You’re not the only one who can do shit.”

  “I’m absolutely not the only one,” he said, “and, if you did take him down, hats off to you. I don’t think he was expecting any resistance.”

  “No, I suspect you are quite right there,” she said. “All the more foolish of him.”

  At that, the guy glared at her.

  She just smiled. “Oh, I know you’re just sitting there, plotting how to get your turn again,” she said. “I’m really not too interested in listening to it though.”

  He just ignored her and stared off in the distance.

  “He’s got to be wondering how he’ll get out of this though,” Kano said.

  “Nope. He’ll make bail and be out on the streets in no time,” she murmured.

  “Maybe, but we’ve been dealing with some pretty ugly scenarios lately, and, in all of them, every damn one, somebody’s come along and cleaned up behind themselves, so nobody’s left alive to talk to.” He gave a feral look to the guy on the ground. Then he moved Catherine away from the perp. “We found one guy, and we’re still trying to get answers from him regarding Bullard.”

  “That’s not too many, depending on how many must have been involved.”

  “No, it isn’t,” he murmured, “and it’s getting even uglier right now.”

  “You always did attract such great people,” she sneered.

  “I thought I was the luckiest man alive there for a while,” he murmured. “Until I realized she was still a little girl.”

  “That little girl woke up. It was a rude awakening, and she didn’t appreciate it,” she said, with her chin up, her head back. “But she did finally get there.”

  “She did, and I’m really happy for her.”

  “You shouldn’t be,” she said, “because it was a bitch of a job.”

  “It always is,” he said. “Believe me. Being the messenger wasn’t any nicer.”

  “Probably not,” she agreed. “And I’m sorry I took so long. But I wasn’t all that old.”

  “No. And, looking back, that was my fault,” he said. “You were way too young to be dating an old cynic, like me. I had no business being with someone that young and innocent, but my hormones weren’t listening.”

  She snorted at that.

  He grinned and said, “It’s the truth.”

  “It’s very true,” she muttered, “and mine were awakened in a way I’d never seen before,” she said, “but I sure wasn’t ready for the rest.”

  “No, and that’s what life’s all about,” he said, “taking advantage of things that are offered and gifted to you at the time, and realizing when it’s time to walk away because just nothing is left.” He wasn’t watching her face, but, after an unnatural silence, he turned to look at her and asked, “What did I say?”

  “Nothing,” she said, with a wave of her hand. She motioned at the hospital behind her. “I have to get back to work.”

  “The day’s over,” he said.

  “And some of my jobs are never quite so clean-cut and over, as easily as you’d like to think they are,” she said. “So the day may be over for you. Yet it’s not over for me.”

  “Right. Well, in that case,” he said, “how about a coffee break in the meantime?”

  She frowned at him. “Why?”

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “So why did you come last night?”

  “Curiosity,” she said instantly.

  “I’m curious too.”

  “Was last night not enough to satisfy that curiosity?”

  “Hell, no,” he said, “not at all.”

  She frowned, looked around, and then checked her watch, her eyebrows shooting right up.

  “See? You’re not going anywhere for work right now,” he said. “I suggest we go get an early dinner.”

  “I don’t know that anything is early about it,” she said. “It’s almost five.”

  “I know,” he said. “That’s why I was surprised you weren’t finished with work.”

  She groaned. “There’s always work,” she muttered, “but you’re right. It’s dinnertime.”

  “So where do you want to go?”

  “Home,” she said instantly.

  “Okay,” he replied agreeably. “Give me an address, and I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  She stared at him. “That’s not quite what I meant.”

  “But it’s what I meant,” he said, his tone inflexible.

  “It’s not a good idea,” she snapped.

  “Since when did we ever listen to good ideas or bad?”

  She shook her head. “No,” she said firmly, “I’m not a child anymore.”

  “No,” he said, “you’re not, but you’re even more attractive to me, and I really like this mysterious new person you are. So what’s your address?”

  This time his tone was even darker and more inflexible. She crossed her arms over her chest and said, “No.”

  He grinned. “At least you learned the word,” he said. Instantly he watched the color wash over her face. “Yes, it was a low blow,” he said, “but it doesn’t change anything.”

  “Yes, it does,” she said stiffly. “I don’t particularly like all the references to the way I was back then,” she said. “I’m different now.”

  “Right,” he said. “In that case, I’ll bring Fallon with me.”

  “Why?” she asked. “Why do you even care?”

  “Because I think this attack on you has something to do with me, and I don’t want to leave you alone, while we figure it out.”

  “I hardly think anybody will give a shit about me going home for dinner,” she said.

  “I think you’re wrong,” he murmured. Just then Fallon, who’d finally managed to find a parking place, walked toward him. “Any decision?”

  At that, he motioned toward the policemen, carting away their prisoner. “I wonder why it took them so long to get here,” Kano said.

  “I don’t care,” she said. “I’m heading home now.”

  Chapter 6

  Catherine turned to glance around, getting her bearings.

  “Are we going with her?” Fallon asked Kano.

  She realized that had been the plan all along and rolled her eyes because, of course, she’d instantly jumped to a different conclusion. “Yes,” she said. “And one of you is going off to get dinner because I didn’t even get lunch.”

  “Ouch,” Kano replied. “Like I said, dinner’s a good idea.”

  “Only if you bring lots. In the meantime, I’m going home and getting a shower.”

  A hurried discussion was had between the two men, and Fallon stepped into line at her side. “I’ll walk you home,” he said.

  She slid him a glance. “Do you really think I’m in danger?”

  “I don’t want to find out too late that we should have been more careful,” he said. “Better to err on the side of being too cautious.”

  She groaned and said, “I’m not very far from work anyway.”

  “
And I suppose a lot of people know where you live, don’t they?”

  “I’ve never been in hiding,” she said. “I don’t live in your world.”

  “You used to,” he corrected. “But it’s not a world that you chose to stay in.”

  She thought about that and nodded. “I guess you could look at it that way.”

  “Did you really not know what your mother did for a living?”

  “Knowing what she did for a living is one thing. Knowing the sideline activities she participated in was a completely different thing,” she said, her voice harsh. “When I did find out and got confirmation of it,” she said, “I made it very clear I wanted no part of it.”

  “That would have been hard on her, right?”

  “I don’t think so. I think she’d been wondering how long she could pull the wool over my eyes. She didn’t care one way or the other. It was just a big game to her.”

  “Interesting woman,” he said.

  “Nope, not at all. She literally has a list of the men she intends to marry,” she murmured.

  “Do the men have any say in the matter?”

  She laughed at that. “Most don’t know what hit them,” she said. “And they rarely do anything, except look ecstatic at having the opportunity.”

  “Well,” he said, “there’s a fool in all men.”

  At that, she laughed long and hard. “Oh my,” she said, “I needed that.”

  He looked happy to have given her some kind of comedic relief. “You’re very serious these days,” he murmured.

  “These days?” She shook her head. “You have no idea,” she said. “My life is just very busy and not always that easy to bear.”

  “Of course not,” he said, “but sometimes we have to make adjustments, and we have to step away because life can’t happen while we’re there.”

  She knew something was deeper in that comment but didn’t quite understand. As they walked toward her apartment, she said, “Are you telling me that Kano had to walk away for me to grow up?”

  He looked at her in surprise and said, “I didn’t say that.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, you did.”

  He shrugged and grinned. “In that case, maybe, if the shoe fits.”

  She sighed. “You guys need to start talking straight and not in all these convoluted little circles.”

  “And here I thought I was being very direct, without breaking a confidence.”

  “I don’t think he’d give a damn. Would he?”

  “Loyalty means everything to him,” Fallon said. “Trust, loyalty, and honor.”

  “I didn’t break any of those things,” she said.

  “No, but how could he be the one to completely ruin the image you held of your mother?”

  “He did enough of that anyway. When he left me, so much was left hanging that I had to get to the bottom of it.”

  “And do you hold that against him?”

  They were almost at her apartment building, and the conversation couldn’t end fast enough for her. But she also didn’t think he would let her walk away and not answer the question. She could have gotten ugly about it, but that wasn’t who she was. “No,” she said. “Not now, but, for the longest time, I did because who wants to know that your mother is actively involved in murder plots?”

  At that, he looked at her, startled.

  “Yeah, I found out about those,” she said. “And I’m pretty damn sure she had a hand in both husbands going by the wayside.”

  He winced. “And yet …”

  “I haven’t turned her in because I have no proof. And, no, I’m not actively collecting proof. But she did go after one guy, and I warned him. I don’t think he’s told her that I did that, but I can’t keep my eyes on all the men in the world who seem to fall for her.”

  “I wonder what it is about her,” he murmured.

  “I don’t know,” she said, suddenly tired. “I actually wondered for the longest time if she was giving these guys some kind of secret love potion because they didn’t look to be that stupid.”

  “And two dead husbands aren’t enough for her to actually worry about, as in not being a problem in terms of rumors.”

  She looked at him in confusion.

  “It was only two dead husbands, right?” he asked her.

  “Pretty sure there was a third, but it happened many years ago.”

  “Right, that was mentioned at dinner, but I didn’t know how it really came out.”

  “No,” she said, with a shrug. “And some things you’ll just not get out of her easily.”

  “Still, if you think she killed those men …”

  “I do think she killed those men, though she denies it. I have no proof, so what would you have me do?”

  “Not a whole lot you can do,” he said, “but keep an eye on the world, I suppose. And, of course, you have to understand why we’re wondering about Bullard.”

  “I don’t think she would do that to Bullard,” she said calmly.

  “But you’re not sure?”

  “No, I’m not. My mother is a force unto herself, and I can’t even begin to understand her. And, like any child with a parent who is less than perfect, the relationship between us is very convoluted.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “That can’t have been easy.”

  “Nothing is easy about her at all,” she said. She pointed at the building’s front doors. “This is where I live,” she said. He nodded and quickly scanned the area. She walked up and pressed the buzzer for the doorman, who quickly let her in. Inside, she led the way to the elevator. “Don’t you need to tell Kano where I live?”

  “He knows,” he said comfortably.

  She sighed. “He already investigated me, didn’t he?”

  “I don’t know if investigate is quite the right word, but, when he realized you were in Paris, he immediately looked up some history.”

  “I’m surprised he even cared enough to do that.”

  “Oh, he cared,” Fallon said, with a smile. “Just because he walked away doesn’t mean it was an easy decision.”

  Startled, she looked back at him. “At the time, I got the impression it was very easy.”

  “That’s because allowing you to grow up to see and then to accept a hard truth in your own timing was something that was easier for you to do if you hated him,” he said quietly. “If you were still pining for him, that growth wouldn’t have occurred.”

  She stared at him for a long moment. “It might have.” But it was a weak excuse, even for herself. And now this all just gave her something else to think about. The idea that he did it for her own good was something she didn’t even want to think about. She knew it would never sit well, but, at the same time, he’d done it in such a way that he’d thrown himself under the bus, and she hadn’t even seen it.

  *

  Kano walked to a very popular East Indian restaurant around the corner, only knowing it was popular because of the damn line. He studied it for a long moment, until one of the guys standing in front of him said, “It’s worth it, man.”

  “If you say so,” he said, “I just don’t have a ton of time.”

  “It’s faster than you think.”

  And, sure enough, within ten minutes, Kano was next in line. He ordered enough for five people, figuring they might need a little extra, plus he was seriously hungry. And, with two large bags in his hands, he headed toward the address of her second home.

  It was an apartment with security, which he highly approved of. But, at the same time, it was kind of weird to even think that she had a place like this. Back then, she didn’t own anything, but, back then, she wasn’t a doctor either. He had to admit he was proud of what she did for a living and of the people she had helped. She had always been all about the underdog and those who needed help. Kano also found it odd that she’d taken such offense to the work he did because he was really in the same field, just on a much more global scale.

  But then her perception of the work he did was probably all
tangled up with that of her mother’s work and, as such, wrapped up in that whole mother-daughter relationship thing, so much so that he didn’t know if Catherine had fully sorted it all out yet. And who could sort it? It was very convoluted and messy. Kano knew he didn’t want to get in the middle of it, but somehow it appeared he already was. When he got to the apartment, he hit the buzzer, and her voice came on the intercom. Instead of the expected “Come on up,” what he heard was, “Did you buy enough?”

  “For you and two others,” he said, “plus two spares.”

  “In that case,” she said, with a laugh, “you can come in.”

  She buzzed and let him through, and he smiled at the doorman and held up dinner. “Just going to see the doc with dinner.”

  The man smiled at him, but no give was in his gaze, which was just fine. Kano wanted to make sure that somebody was looking out for her. He walked to the front gate to speak to the man. “She probably won’t mention it to you,” Kano said, “but she was attacked at the hospital today. Two guys tried to force her into the back of a car.”

  The doorman stood up slowly. “What?”

  Kano nodded. “I’m not even sure anything is on the news. It happened about”—he looked up at the clock on the wall—“about two hours ago,” he said. “My partner and I work for a company that deals with security, and we’re friends of Catherine’s, so we’ll be back and forth, ensuring that she’s safe, until we get to the bottom of who tried to kidnap her.”

  The doorman nodded slowly. “Okay, good to know,” he said. “Do you have ID or a card I could have?”

  Immediately Kano put down his bags of Indian food, pulled out his wallet, and handed him a card. “Here’s my information, and I’m adding a reference contact.” He wrote down Ice’s name and number on the back. “She runs Legendary Security out of the US.”

  The doorman nodded and took the card. “Thanks, and good choice on the food. You’ll love it.”

  “I’m hoping so,” he said. “We’re all damn hungry.”

  “Right. You look after her,” the security guard said, “and I’ll keep my eye out for anybody nosing around.”