Page 7 of Night Watch
“I know you don’t want to have anything to do with me, but the guy was carrying, and I’m not leaving you alone in case he comes back. So you’ll just have to deal with me being here.” His words came across as harsh, but come on. She was hurting him all over again.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” She grabbed a thick strand of wet hair and twisted it around her finger, something stress always had her doing. “Not at all. I just didn’t want to waste your time.”
Could he believe that? She seemed earnest enough. “Guess I’m a little amped up on adrenaline.” Add some heart-wrenching memories of rejection to his wild emotions, and he was cranky.
“I’ll be right back.” She climbed the stairs and, though he should look away, he watched the fluidity in her body evident under the soggy pale blue knit pants and top clinging to her curves. She’d always worked out to stay in shape for underwater diving, and her sleek form attested to her keeping up the work in the years since he’d seen her.
She disappeared up the stairs.
He quickly dialed the Portland Police Bureau dispatch. Most people would call 911, but as a former PPB officer, he knew to reserve the 911 board for real emergencies. He’d cleared the house, and Kennedy was unharmed. There was no emergency here. Other than his need to put his feelings for her back into the folder where he’d stowed them years before—and do it before she came back down those stairs. He wasn’t going to go crazy over her again. No way.
Erik resisted firing off a smart comment at Sarge with the Portland Police Bureau and ended the call. It wasn’t sarge’s fault that they didn’t have the necessary resources to investigate every break-in that occurred in the city. So Erik would be on his own, and he phoned his sister, the forensic expert at the Veritas Center, a highly rated and respected local lab.
“Hey, baby brother,” she answered cheerfully.
Erik nearly groaned at her use of the word baby, but she was a new mom and had babies on the brain, so he would cut her some slack. He described the situation.
“Kennedy?” Sierra’s voice rose, and Erik could imagine his sister lurching to her feet at the news. “Seriously? And how are you doing with seeing her again?”
“I’m fine.”
“Uh-huh. Sure. Then why do you sound like a strangled cat?”
“What?” He laughed at the vision.
“There’s a tightness in your voice. Maybe others wouldn’t hear it, but then I’m not others. I’m your only sister and changed your diapers. Fed and burped you. So I know you, little brother. Know you well.”
“Okay, then. Moving on. Can you send someone out here to process the place?”
“I’ll do it.”
“You’re on maternity leave.”
“Reed can handle Asher for the couple of hours it’ll take to process a floating home.”
“You don’t have to do it.”
“Are you kidding?” Sierra’s voice rose. “Miss out on seeing Kennedy again? No way. Give me the address, and I’ll be right over.”
Erik knew better than to argue with his sister. Once her mind was made up, disagreeing with her was like fighting with a bull, and he couldn’t think of a time when he’d come out on top.
He shared the address and ended the call when footsteps above caught his attention, and he turned toward the stairway. Kennedy’s feet, covered in thick slipper socks, appeared, and she descended slowly. She’d put on black sweatpants and an oversized hoodie with the FBI emblem on the chest. The sweet smell of her coconut shampoo drifted across the room.
“What?” she asked. “No police yet?”
“They don’t have the resources to send someone out for a break-in. But Sarge will assign a detective if we can provide physical evidence.” He met her gaze. “I should’ve asked before. Are you thinking the break-in is related to your mom’s death?”
She nodded. “And I thought it might make them rethink their findings on her death. But then I shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of response. Not after my years in law enforcement.” She moved to the entryway table and grabbed her keys from her purse.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
“I want to get going on finding that evidence, and my forensic supplies are in the trunk of my car.”
“I called Sierra. She’ll handle it.”
Kennedy lifted her chin and locked eyes with him. “I’d rather do it myself.”
He hadn’t forgotten her stubborn streak, and he’d often found it cute. Not tonight. Not when the intruder could still be around. And he couldn’t let her put her life in danger. “I get that you’re like this super FBI forensic tech, but you’re too close to this case. If this guy is arrested, we don’t want the defense attorney to claim you tainted the evidence.”
