“Give me one solid reason why I shouldn’t pull you off this case?” John Athey’s silver streak that ran through his brown hair looked more dominant this morning. He watched Kylie with cold steel blue eyes that didn’t blink. “You’re sleeping with our primary suspect.”
“He’s not a suspect.” She heard herself talk, knew the words coming out of her mouth weren’t enough to convince anyone she was thinking rationally. “I’ve got a meet lined up for tomorrow night. I’ll prove it to you.”
“What you’ll do is march into that station and pull Flynn in for questioning,” John retorted.
“I’m not going to do that.” She stared at her empty cup, willing the caffeine she’d consumed to kick in, and finally pushed away from the desk she’d been leaning on and headed toward the half-full pot of coffee sitting on the warmer in the corner of the meeting room. “If I blow my cover to the cops here in town there’s no way Peter will come out and meet me.”
Kylie had her back to John and the police chief while she blew on her fresh cup and organized her thoughts. “Take his hard drive,” she announced, thinking her plan through as she spoke. “The one at the station and his personal computer at home. You’ll see a man can’t be two places at once.”
“You’re going to confiscate these from him?” the Chief asked.
Kylie turned, seeing immediately the question was more of a challenge. “You know that isn’t possible,” she said coolly, matching Chief Radisson’s hard expression. Neither man knew she’d blown her cover with Perry. And she wouldn’t allow them to bluff any information out of her. “If you need proof that your man is innocent, you’re going to have to confiscate them yourself.”
There wasn’t enough coffee in the pot to wake her up this morning. If she was going to pull this dinner date with a bunch of attentive teenagers off tonight in any way, she needed to head home and get in a good nap. “I’m meeting with several teenagers tonight-”
“Flynn’s nieces,” John interrupted. “Getting cozy with his family.”
“And tomorrow night I have a date with Peter,” she continued, ignoring John’s comment. “I’ll have your arrest for you tomorrow night. Wait and see.” She took her opportunity to head for the door.
“If that is the case, then you really don’t need to keep this date tonight then, do you?” John asked.
“One of the girls I’m having dinner with tonight,” Kylie began, downplaying the fact they kept referring to it as a date. She swallowed, knowing explaining Dani’s secret online boyfriend was once again breaking the confidence she swore to keep. “She’s talking to a Peter. If I can get more information out of her, it will make the arrest more solid.”
Kylie headed out of the conference room and ignored the agents in the outer office as she headed for the door. She’d agreed to meet with John against her better judgment. She was too damn exhausted to play battle of wits right now. More than anything, all she needed was sleep.
The last thing Kylie expected was to sleep for over four hours.
“Crap,” she hissed, hurrying into the bathroom and shoving the shower curtain out of the way. Turning on the water, she straightened and stripped, panic washing over her at how little time she had to get ready.
Perry would be here in an hour to pick her up and take her to his sister’s. If four hours of sleep wasn’t enough, there wasn’t any way of knowing. She made quick work of showering, drying off, and applying makeup. By the time she decided what to wear, it was almost five.
“Maybe he’ll be late,” she decided, fingering the few pairs of earrings she had spread out on top of her dresser. A firm knock on her front door brought her heart to her throat. “Or maybe not.”
Damn it. He was ten minutes early. Still undecided on earrings and barefoot, she marched down her hallway and yanked open her front door. “I’m almost ready,” she announced in a form of greeting, and studied Perry’s tight expression. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t make dinner.”
“Oh.” Disappointment immediately washed over her, and she hated thinking it was because she’d been excited to spend the evening with him in a casual environment. It had crossed her mind she might learn more about him watching him interact with his family, seeing him in a non-work-related setting. “No problem,” she announced, switching gears quickly. “Just give me directions. I’m sure I can find it.”
“I’m taking you over there. I’ll pick you up in an hour and a half.” His gaze traveled down her, and she caught the worry lines at the edges of his eyes. “Get your shoes on,” he told her, sounding firm.
Kylie turned, heading down her hallway again. At least this time the middle bedroom was securely locked. Perry might know she was FBI, but that didn’t mean revealing all her work would be a good idea. The less he knew about the details of her schedule, the better. Fantasizing about him running backup for her was one thing. The truth remained the same. It would never happen.
She grabbed the closest earrings on the top of her dresser and slid the posts into the holes in her earlobes. “Why can’t you have dinner at your sister’s?” she asked, not looking over her shoulder but knowing Perry stood in her doorway. His powerful aura wrapped around her, strong and tight, like a leather glove molding to fit and protecting her from everything around her.
“Rad knows we’re seeing each other.”
Earrings in place, Kylie reached for her brush as his meaning sunk in. She turned, staring into those dark green eyes and damn near drowning in them.
“How would he have talked to you about me?” she asked carefully, her antenna of caution quickly rising.
“If you’re asking if I blew your cover, don’t.” He pressed his fists into his waist, looking pissed. “I didn’t.”
“Then how was I discussed?”
“Rad had me meet him over at the FBI field office today,” he offered, his tone flat. “I met with a John Athey, and after two hours of feeling as though I was being interrogated for a goddamn crime I’m then informed I’m in charge of a meeting at the high school tonight to discuss with parents how to make sure their children aren’t talking to online predators.”
“They interrogated you?” She didn’t have to act surprised. Honestly she believed the Chief and John had pressed her to approach Perry to get her to admit something was going on between them. Kylie moved to her closet and squatted, reaching for white cloth tennis shoes. She was going casual tonight, jeans and a white blouse. Nothing that made any statement of any kind. “What do you mean, interrogated?” she asked, turning and catching him scowling at the floor.
His gaze was haunted, disturbed, when he raised his attention to her. “Peter is a cop, Kylie. Or do you already know that?”
“I don’t know anything for a fact until I make an arrest,” she answered carefully, watching him. He didn’t look pissed, but his emotions were running strong. If he had spent his afternoon being interrogated, he had a damn good reason to be upset, though.
Kylie realized then while she’d slept the afternoon away after being up all night, Perry wasn’t offered that privilege. She returned to her bed and slid her shoes on, then tied them.
“What did they ask you?” she asked, honestly curious.
“You didn’t know they were going to question me?” he asked, still standing in her doorway.
Pausing with her laces wrapped around her fingers, she met his brooding gaze. Ever since meeting him she’d filled his head with lies. He studied her, waiting out her silence, and she didn’t doubt for a minute he was ready for her to feed him more untruths.
“They told me to stay away from you because you could be a suspect,” she said, holding on to his gaze and waiting to see some kind of appreciation that she offered him the truth. When his expression remained hard, not one muscle relaxing in his tense stare, she blew out a breath, exasperated, and returned to tying her shoes. “What did they ask you?”
“Not once have I ever been interrogated as if I was a goddamn criminal,” he growled.
If he wanted comforting, Kylie wasn’t sure that was a good idea. A girlfriend would console, offer reassurance. Not only could Kylie not honor herself with that title, but she also didn’t have it in her to sugarcoat the situation. Perry would learn right now that she wasn’t the kind of woman who would work overtime to assure him that while he was at her side everything would be peaches and cream.
“You said it yourself. All probability points to Peter being a cop, or at least someone who has access to computers inside your police station.”
“The ISPs used to chat with Rita Simoli were on my fucking computer on my desk at the station,” he hissed.
“What?” Kylie whispered, her jaw dropping while she watched a small muscle begin to pulse at the edge of his mouth. “Can anyone use that computer who isn’t a cop?”
He swallowed and then looked away from her, pushing his large body off her doorway and slowly approaching. Kylie saw his exhaustion in his movements. For the first time since meeting her he didn’t approach her like a predator ready to attack. If anything, even with his height and broad, muscular shoulders, armed and still probably incredibly dangerous, Perry looked damn near wiped out.
She stood, ready when he was at arm’s distance. He pulled her to him, but not for a kiss. Instead, wrapping his arms around her, he pressed her against his rock-hard body and cradled her, as if she were the one needing consoling.
“I’ve been ordered to stay away from you,” he told her, his rich baritone vibrating through her as he spoke quietly.
Kylie couldn’t help chuckling. “You follow orders well.”
“I walked out on Rad when he told me that and came straight here.”
“Why does that not surprise me?”
“They told me I put myself into the line of suspicion by being everywhere you were when you were waiting to meet Peter. Apparently when you talk to him on the computer, and then quit, I show up here shortly after. Although they are playing with fucking coincidences, that, and the ISP being on my computer, is putting me in a very sticky position.”
“What are you going to do about it?” She was very comfortable being wrapped into his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head while she relaxed her cheek against the side of his neck.
“Not my problem. I’m not guilty.”
“They didn’t pull you off the case?”
“I didn’t give them the opportunity. I walked out.” He straightened, letting go and walking out of her room, taking his warmth with him.
Kylie hugged herself, hating the ache he left simmering inside her. She grabbed her brush, fighting to put thoughts of fucking him later this evening out of her head, and glanced at her reflection in the mirror over her dresser while doing some last-minute primping.
She stopped in the hallway outside her door when Perry stared at the door to the middle bedroom. He looked as if he contemplated tearing the door down, or just bulldozing through it.
“When I bring you home later,” he began with a lazy drawl, “I want you to show me these chats you’ve had with Peter.” Perry pinned her with an all-business stare, whatever emotions he almost released while holding her briefly in the bedroom now very well in check. “We’re both working the same case. There’s no reason for the two of us not to share information, not as I see it, not now that they’ve told me you’ve got the case.”
His argument was valid. “We’re going to be late.”
He didn’t budge, didn’t take his focus off her. And she hated not being able to tell whether he was pissed or simply exhausted.
“Okay,” she said finally. “We’ll talk shop after I have dinner with your sister and the girls.”
He nodded once, satisfied, but showed no signs of gratitude. Instead, stalking into her living room, he did a quick glance over before opening her front door for her and waiting while she set her alarm, then closed the door and made sure it was locked after she stepped outside.
Megan Vetter didn’t appear surprised when Perry dropped Kylie off, explained quickly he still had to work, gave his sister a peck on the cheek, and disappeared. The confusion and chaos that followed swept Kylie right along with it as the four girls appeared to continually surround her while following their mother’s calm direction of putting supper on the table. And in spite of being sure she didn’t have any appetite, Kylie walked her cleared plate to the kitchen sink along with everyone else after dinner.
“What made you decide on KU if you’re from Dallas?” Megan asked when they made it to the living room after supper.
Not once did she scoot the girls upstairs so the adults could visit. In fact, Megan appeared indifferent that Dani, Diane, and Dorine continued hovering around her but simply extended one arm so Denise could cuddle into her on the couch.
Megan sipped her coffee, watching Kylie over the rim with a patient yet attentive gaze.
Kylie found the overstuffed chair facing the couch to be more comfortable than it appeared. The three teenagers collapsed on the floor around her, all finding positions where they could focus equally on her and their mother. Not one of them reached for the remote.
Dani and Diane also sipped coffee, matching their mother’s expression while waiting tentatively for Kylie’s response. She couldn’t help getting the impression her personal interrogation had begun. Kylie guessed the girls remained glued to her side to make sure she didn’t say anything to their mother that might require damage control on their part.
“KU is a good school,” she offered, wagering Megan didn’t really care why Kylie went there but was just opening the conversation. “I’ve got some incredible professors, but my thesis advisor is the best.”
“The girls tell me your thesis will be about them. Will you be using their names? I’ve heard before sometimes theses get published.”
“You’re right.” Kylie nodded, grinning. Megan needed to see Kylie’s enthusiasm about the project if she was going to allow her daughters to continue associating with her. After seeing how Megan easily adjusted to Perry not being able to make supper and knowing she was a cop widow, Kylie prayed her forgiveness would be quick when she finally learned Kylie was undercover. “I don’t know yet whose names I’ll use, or if I’ll use real names. Obviously if I do, I’ll have consent forms signed. Since your daughters are all minors, I would seek your signature.”
“I’m not a minor,” Diane offered quickly, straightening and pinning Kylie with green eyes so similar to her uncle’s it was uncanny.
“I’d still want to know if she used your name,” Megan informed her, holding her youngest close while placing her coffee cup on the end table next to the couch. “Are you going to discuss this online predator who is all over the news right now in your paper?”
Megan’s question surprised her, but the angle was good. Kylie paid attention to the girls’ reaction and would give Dani credit for remaining indifferent to the question. Either she was a master at not showing her emotions or she seriously didn’t believe her relationship with her online boyfriend fell under the category of “cautious” with all the media screaming caution right now.
“Excellent question.” Kylie focused on Dorine, the fourteen-year-old, who straightened while sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Dani remained stretched out on her stomach, propped on her elbows and focusing on her coffee. She didn’t look up at the shift in conversation.
“Let me ask you this,” Kylie added, returning her attention to Megan, whose thick long brown hair looked as healthy and youthful as her daughters’. “Are you taking any precautions with your daughters with this predator all over the news?”
“My girls get more of an education than most with their uncle so active in their lives. He’s quite the family man.” Megan looked at Dani instead of Kylie when she spoke.
Her daughter focused on her mother, her smile so damn angelic it merited an award. Kylie’s stomach tightened as she ignored the plug for Perry and instead noted how Dani would play her mother to maintain her private online relationship. Maybe Dani really did believe the boy she spoke with online was harmless, which proved to Kylie even more so how much she needed to be protected.
“So you’re telling me you don’t worry about your daughters’ online time?” Kylie asked.
All girls looked at her, their expressions varying from curious to concerned. Kylie focused on Megan. There were similarities between her and Perry, one being the focused look Megan returned to Kylie.
“That almost sounded condescending.”
Kylie shook her head, relaxed in her chair and knowing in spite of what the girls and Megan thought her reasons for being here were, she wasn’t here to make lasting friends but to save lives.
“Not at all,” she offered, keeping her tone soft and watching the wary expressions exchanged among the girls. “Do you know who your girls are chatting with and when?”
“Not always,” Megan admitted, stroking her youngest daughter’s hair.
Denise cuddled closer to her mother. Kylie did see a close relationship between mother and girls.
“I’m not a mother,” Kylie admitted, meeting Megan’s knowing look. “And I admit I haven’t given much thought to becoming one. It’s clear you five are very close. I’m not trying to judge you.”
“Good thing,” Megan said, laughing easily. “I work two jobs and have to rely on my daughters to help a lot around here. I also have to believe I’ve raised them well enough that they know the difference between right and wrong.”
“We do,” Dani said quickly, pushing herself off the floor and bending over her younger sister to give her mother a hug.
“You wouldn’t meet someone off-line you didn’t know, would you, Dani?” Megan asked when Dani straightened.
“Of course not, Mom.”
“You better not,” Dorine grumbled.
Dani spun around and Kylie caught the fierce look she gave her younger sister. Kylie tried grabbing Dani’s attention, but the girl stalked out of the room and there was the sound of her ascending stairs as the room grew quiet.
Kylie glanced at the front window when everyone else did. A moment later the front door opened and Perry immediately grabbed her attention.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, shifting his dark gaze from her to his sister.
“Nothing.” Megan looked tired when she leaned her head back and smiled at her brother. “That is, unless you view teenage emotions as an issue.”
“Dani?” he asked, barely taking a second to note who wasn’t in the room.
“I don’t think she cared for the conversation.” Kylie stood, straightening her blouse.
“More than likely because she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s thinking about meeting someone,” Dorine offered, standing as well, and clasped her hands behind her back as she walked out of the room, whistling.
Megan sighed, pushing herself off the couch and leaving Denise to curl into a ball in the corner, simply watching the adults with a look of vague understanding on her face. Diane, however, groaned and patted her mother’s arm.
“She won’t do it. Don’t worry. Dani isn’t an idiot.”
“She better not,” Megan said, crossing her arms and glaring at her oldest, probably because the one she needed to glare at had stormed out of the room.
“Dani has been chatting with him for like forever,” Dorine announced, prancing back into the room with a victorious grin on her face. “They are totally in love and she is finally going to meet him for real,” she added, clasping her hands over her heart and making a show of swooning.
Maybe only spending half her childhood with a sister and the other half alone made Kylie ill prepared for what happened next. She wasn’t sure, and she didn’t bother taking time to analyze it. Dani flew into the room, appearing out of nowhere, and bulldozed Dorine over the coffee table. Denise howled on the couch, jumping toward her mother, and Diane screamed, falling backward and landing on her rear with a thud.
“Dani!” Perry roared, grabbing her backside and yanking her backward through the air.
“You little bitch,” Dani howled, her arms and legs whaling around her while her long brown hair flew like a cloak blinding her face. “How dare you say such a thing.”
“It’s the truth!” Dorine wailed, her legs up in the air hanging over the coffee table while tears streaked down her face.
“Perry!” Megan yelled, reaching for Dani. “Don’t hurt her.”
“Enough!” Perry yelled again, and silenced the room.
Kylie felt like an onlooker, momentarily forgotten in a family dispute that she had no part of. Except that she had instigated the matter.
She clasped her hands behind her back, standing to the side, while her mind now went into analytical mode. Watching quietly, she observed and noted how each of them reacted to an ugly situation. What was said next, though, would possibly prove invaluable.
Dani struggled out of her uncle’s arms but then hugged herself instead of walking into her mother’s arms. “She’s a big fat liar, Mom,” Dani said, a sneer in her tone as she shot Dorine a warning look.
“And you’re an idiot,” Dorine retorted, holding her own.
Dani stood a couple inches taller than her younger sister, but Dorine weighed more. It was the older sibling intimidation that won out, though. Dorine pressed her mouth closed, obviously conceding not to say more.
“I think it’s time you share the details about this boy with me,” Megan demanded, her focus hard on Dani.
“Not a problem.” Dani didn’t move. Her uncle remained an overwhelming presence, towering over her backside, while her mother scowled, her arms crossed while glaring at Dani. She stood as tall as Megan, and her attention didn’t sway while she explained herself. “Dorine eavesdrops on my conversations and fills in the holes to create her own gossip. It’s not my fault she has no life.”
Dorine made a snorting sound but again snapped her mouth closed when Dani seared her with a hateful glare.
“Do you really think with all the mess going on in town right now about some serial killer that I would go meet some guy off-line I didn’t know?”
“I hope to God not,” Megan said softly. She let out a breath and backed away from her daughter. Then as Megan combed Dani’s thick brown hair away from her face with her fingers, her tormented expression would have broken a softer person’s heart. Her fingers trembled when she reached for her daughter’s face. “You’ve got so much of your father’s fiery independent spirit. I look forward to watching it blossom as you get older.”
Dani deflated at her mother’s words and pulled her in for a hug. Perry glanced her way for the first time but then quickly moved to pull Dorine to her feet. He pretty much pushed her into Diane and with a look had the two of them heading out of the room.
“Denise, head upstairs with your sisters,” he instructed, his calm baritone enough to make the twelve-year-old scurry off the couch and dart out of the room, probably grateful to leave the dramatic scene. Then taking Dani by the shoulders, he turned her around to face him. “Swear to me right now you aren’t planning on meeting some boy you’ve only chatted with online.”
“I can’t believe you’d think such a thing,” Dani whispered.
“Then explain why you just attacked your sister, and it better be the truth this time.”
“Perry, let me handle this,” Megan began.
“I’m not walking away from this, Meg,” Perry informed her, crossing his arms over bulging muscle when he let go of Dani. “Talk to her all you want, but after the day I’ve had, the last thing I’m going to do is walk out of this home before I’m very satisfied that the girls I love aren’t anywhere near the monster I’m stalking.”
“I am not talking to that murderer!” Dani yelled. “Don’t you think I would know if I were?”
Kylie almost said no, she wouldn’t know, at the same time Perry did.
“Do you think the other girls who’ve disappeared were idiots?” Perry challenged her, ignoring his sister when she tried turning Dani toward her. “I’ve seen the chats he’s had with those girls. He’s a master at making girls your age believe he’s a boy your age. He thrives off that, becoming your best friend, confiding in you, talking about his parents and homework and complaining about tests and acne. Any of that sound familiar to you?”
Dani didn’t answer but stared at him with wide, moist eyes. She was an intelligent girl. And God willing, the boy she was talking to online was legitimate and there wasn’t anything to worry about.
“Maybe if you promise your mother and uncle you won’t meet anyone until this guy is arrested,” Kylie suggested, and both Megan and Perry looked at her as if they’d forgotten she was in the room.
“Whatever!” Dani said, waving her hand dismissively in the air. “But there isn’t anyone I’m planning on meeting,” she added, sticking to her story as she edged around them and headed to the doorway and the stairs. “This conversation is over,” she announced, and ran from them, bolting up the stairs loud enough that it sounded as if all of them raced upstairs together, instead of just Dani.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Megan said, once again playing hostess when she tried smiling politely at Kylie. Worry created deep lines in her forehead and around her eyes, though, and she looked exhausted. “It really was good meeting you, though. Perry, bring her back soon.”
“She’ll be back,” he said, speaking before Kylie could think of what to say. Then as if to seal his words, he pulled Kylie to him, wrapping his arm around her.
The intimate contact, which he held on to when he walked the two of them to the door, would make it damn impossible to convince Megan they were only friends. Granted, Megan didn’t know anything about Kylie, but what she believed now brought a smile to her face.
“I’ll feel a lot better when you have this guy arrested,” Megan said, following them outside but remaining in her doorway. “And Kylie, stop by anytime. I know tonight wasn’t proof, but my girls love you.”
“Thank you,” Kylie said, although it was hard to turn when Perry kept a firm grip on her.
“You won’t have long to wait,” Perry said, finally stopping and facing his sister when they were halfway down the sidewalk. “I’ll let you know the moment the asshole is behind bars.”
“Good.” Megan shifted her attention between both of them, her fatigue apparent but her expression definitely showing approval when Perry kept his arm around Kylie. “Good night, you two.”