On a Killer's Trail Read online

  Connor shrugged. “It’s okay.”

  “Well, you know. It’s not Dutch to miss Christmas dinner. Mama won’t accept any excuses tonight.”

  “All right. How did lunch go? I wondered after I left if that was such a good idea.”

  Neil paused beside the door of his pickup. “It was okay. We needed to talk. There were things that needed to be said. We managed to keep it civil.”

  “Good.” Connor stepped away. “Go see your folks. Come over later if you feel like it. We’ll save you some pie.”

  “All right,” Neil said. “You want me to go log the evidence?”

  “Sure. I’m going to stop by the hotel and see Mr. Riley for a minute.”

  Neil left him and drove to the police station, mulling over the day’s events. He was still learning to communicate with God and with his family, where he sometimes felt like a misfit. How could he expect to get along with someone like Kate, who had seen him at his worst?

  He pulled into the police station parking lot and shut the engine off, then leaned back and closed his eyes. Lord, I’m not ready to start a social relationship in the Christian world—or overhaul an old one. Am I? I don’t know how to act around Kate. I want to do what’s right. As he gathered the bags of evidence they’d collected at the Riley house and walked into the station, he still wasn’t sure whether he would accept Connor’s invitation.

  Kate clicked Send on the e-mail message and reached for her cell phone.

  “Darrin? I just sent you my first installment.”

  “Great. It’s coming in now.”

  “But Captain Larson is going to update me again soon. Do you want me to write a separate article, or just send some more copy you can add onto this one?”

  “Uh…better ask the night editor. Jan just came in, and I’ll be leaving soon, so you need to talk to her. Oh, and I swapped with Stephanie, so I have New Year’s Eve off. Thanks! Hold on.”

  Kate sighed and leaned back on the bed. Adrienne and Connor’s guest room was much more comfortable than her room in the apartment she shared with two University of Southern Maine coeds. Maybe she should take her sister up on her offer to move in with them. She’d turned them down initially because she wanted to strike out on her own. But a month of rooming with Salli and Madyson had somewhat jaded her on independence. It was too much like her own college days. Loud music, strange young men visiting, and the girls giggling and partying and coming in late. Kate longed for the stability she saw in her sister’s home. Maybe it was time to ask Adrienne if she could reconsider.

  She could picture just how she would set up the room. Her computer desk on the wall beside the door, her stereo and bookshelf to the left…

  “Jan Etchison.”

  Kate sat up. “Hi, Jan. This is Kate Richards.”

  “Who?”

  “Kate Richards. We haven’t met. I’ve been with the Press Herald about a month.”

  “Oh, are you the intern from the university?”

  “No.” Kate felt her cheeks color, which was ridiculous. The editor couldn’t even see her. “I’m a full-time reporter. I’m on call today, and there’s a big story breaking.”

  “Darrin said you had something about a homicide, that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s sending the story to my computer. Just a sec.”

  Kate exhaled and waited, her stomach doing little walkovers. She wasn’t sure if it was nerves or because she hadn’t eaten anything since the sandwich at the deli with Neil five hours ago. She’d sweated all of Christmas afternoon over her story, telling herself an enormous turkey dinner would be her reward.

  “Okay, I’m looking at it,” Jan said. “Oh, you connected with Connor Larson?”

  “Uh…yeah, I did.”

  “He’s really good with our reporters. He’ll walk you through all the evidence.”

  “Yeah, he and his top detective pretty much did that, and the captain’s promised to give me more tonight. I don’t think anyone else is on this story yet. It’s like…an exclusive.” She flinched, wondering if she should have used the E-word.

  “Looks pretty good,” Jan said. “We’ll put this on the Web right away. Tell you what, if you talk to Larson again by nine, call me. We’ll update the lead. Let me see how much space we’ve got tonight…. Okay, I’d say you could add another ten inches, no more. Page one, and jump to A-eight.”

  Kate exhaled, grinning from ear to ear. “Thanks! I’ll be in touch.” She hung up and sat still for a moment. Suddenly, she pumped her fists in the air. “Yes! Page one. Thank you, Lord.” Then she sobered and bowed her head as she thought of poor Professor Riley and his family spending Christmas in a hotel, mourning the sudden loss of Mrs. Riley.

  “Lord, please comfort Professor Riley and his family today. Please let the killer be caught and brought to justice, and if You can use me to help in that process in any way, I’m all Yours.”

  She jumped up and opened the closet. Time she spiffed up a little and offered to help her sister in the kitchen.

  Ten minutes later, she went down the stairs. Her father and younger brother, Travis, sat in the living room watching a football game. On her father’s lap sat Matthew, Adrienne and Connor’s three-year-old son.

  “About time you put in an appearance,” her father said.

  “Sorry. I’ve been busy.”

  He smiled as she stooped to hug him. “We’re proud of you, honey.”

  “Thanks.” Kate ambled through the sunroom into Adrienne’s kitchen. Her mom and Adrienne, wearing bib aprons, were dashing about preparing food.

  “No, not that dish, Mom. Use the blue one. And the potato masher is in that drawer.”

  “Hey, Adri. What can I do to help?” Kate asked.

  Adrienne’s blue eyes lit at her greeting. “Hi, Kate! Done with your article?”

  “For now. Connor said he’ll give me some more information when he comes home.”

  “Well, that will be any minute now. He called a little while ago, and he’s bringing his buddy.”

  Kate paused and took a deep breath. “I don’t suppose that would be the high-power detective I had lunch with?”

  “Depends. Was he a cute Dutchman, a little taller than Connor, with chocolate-brown eyes and a hundred-watt smile?”

  “Well, I suppose. I was thinking more about the scoop he tossed my way than about his smile.” She threw Adrienne a weak smile and walked to the sink to wash her hands.

  “You had lunch with Neil?” Adrienne handed her an apron. “How did that happen?”

  “Connor got called away, so Neil briefed me for my story on the murder.”

  Adrienne’s jaw dropped. “And it went okay?”

  “Yes, we both lived through it.” Kate took the apron and shook it out.

  Her mother turned from where she was mashing potatoes at the counter. “That’s not like Connor to go off and leave you two alone. Doesn’t he know how you feel about Neil?”

  “I’m sure he does.” Kate shrugged. “Mom, it was a long time ago.”

  “Not that long.”

  “Long enough. Neil and I are both mature enough to work together in spite of the past.”

  Her mother frowned at her. “You make it sound like nothing. You were devastated six months ago.”

  Kate took a moment to settle her thoughts and breathe a silent prayer for a calm spirit. “You’re right, Mom, but you know what Adrienne and Connor have been telling us—Neil is a Christian now. I was a little leery of him, but he was very polite today, and—” she glanced at Adrienne “—and he apologized.”

  Adrienne’s sunny smile broke out, but their mother said, “Humph. We’ll see how he behaves. You’re not going out with him again, are you?”

  “No,” Kate said. “I’m going to get my career started and my byline established before I start thinking about romance.” She stretched to tie the apron strings behind her back.

  “But you ate lunch with him,” her mother said.

  “Mom, it was just a sandw
ich. And he gave me a page-one story.”

  “Know what? I’m glad you two ran into each other and got it over with.” Adrienne rubbed her stomach and arched her back.

  “You’d better get off your feet, Adri.” Her mother swept past her with a dish of sweet pickles in one hand and a butter dish in the other.

  “How’s my little niece or nephew doing?” Kate asked.

  “Active,” Adrienne said, kneading her side. “Very active.”

  Kate saw the flash of headlights come through the window and the reflection on the wall and walked to the door that led to the breezeway. She peeked out through the glass. “Connor’s home.”

  “Great! Let’s get the veggies on,” Adrienne said. “Mom, will you ask Dad to come take the turkey out of the oven?”

  Kate managed to contain her anticipation over more details for her story until Connor had kissed Adrienne, tossed Matthew in the air and greeted his in-laws.

  “Where’s Neil?” Adrienne asked.

  “Oh, he had to go to his parents’ for dinner. Sorry. He’ll try to come over later for dessert.” He smiled down at Adrienne. “Give me a minute and let me lose this necktie, okay?” As he headed toward the master bedroom, he peeled off his blazer and reached to unbuckle his shoulder holster.

  “Uh, Connor? Got a sec?”

  He turned with a wary smile. “Sure, Kate. What do you need to know?”

  “Anything you can tell me. I handed in what I wrote up this afternoon, but if I can add a few more inches, it’d be great.”

  “I may as well tell you, Channels 8 and 13 showed up this afternoon.”

  “Oh.” Kate swallowed her disappointment. The local television news broadcasters would break the story tonight, and her report wouldn’t see print until tomorrow morning. “Well, the paper is putting it on its Web site today, anyway. A lot of people read that.”

  He flashed her a smile. “Good point. Well, here’s some detail you can put in the paper that no one else knows yet. I visited Mr. Riley again, and he was adamant he didn’t see or hear anything unusual this morning. As far as he knows, no one came to the house. He admits he’s hard of hearing, but he said he usually hears the doorbell. He didn’t hear it ring this morning before he found his wife’s body.”

  “That means he didn’t hear any gunshots, either?”

  “No, but if his hearing’s not very good, and it was a single shot from a small-caliber pistol…” Connor shook his head in dismissal. “A silencer could have been used, but I doubt it.”

  “What about that upstairs window?” Kate asked.

  He frowned. “Did Neil tell you about that?”

  She shrugged. “No, he didn’t mention it. But this morning I saw the two of you looking up at it and talking.”

  “Yeah, well…did you put that in your story?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t think you would want me to. But I keep thinking about it.”

  “Thanks. We don’t want the killer to read the paper and know everything we know.”

  “Right.”

  Connor loosened the knot in his necktie. “Well, Mr. Riley said it was probably just an oversight that one window wasn’t locked, and we didn’t find any evidence that anyone had gone in or out the window, or thrown anything out of it. So I don’t think it’s important to the case.”

  “Okay. Do you get a lot of false clues like that?”

  “Sometimes. And we have to follow every lead.”

  “Sure. Anything else?”

  “Well, both Mr. Riley and his son, William, claim they don’t own any guns.”

  “They could be lying.”

  Connor grimaced. “The old man seemed genuine. And the son can prove he was on the road with his family at the time of the murder.”

  “So…he has an alibi. Do you have any other suspects?”

  “Well, that’s a loaded question. If I say no, people will think the police department is incompetent. But if I say yes, the press will hound me to know who I’m looking at.”

  “I won’t hound you, Connor.”

  “No?” He laughed. “Let me go change my shirt, will you, Kate?”

  “Oh, sure. Sorry.”

  He went into the bedroom and closed the door. She realized he had evaded her question.

  Over the dinner table, Neil’s name came up again.

  “Maybe we’ll get to meet him at last,” Kate’s mother said. “But I’m not sure I want to.”

  “I know Neil and Kate had their differences last summer,” Connor said, “but I think they’re past that. Neil is my best detective. He’s smart, which is what’s important when it comes to detective work.”

  Adrienne laughed. “He’s very sweet, too, and he’s cute.”

  “How can a guy like that do undercover work?” Kate asked.

  “What do you mean?” Connor asked.

  “Oh, come on. He’d turn heads anywhere.”

  Adrienne stared at her with wide eyes, but Kate shrugged. Just because she admitted she still found Neil attractive didn’t mean she was about to lose her heart again.

  “That’s a drawback in some situations,” Connor admitted. “But Neil doesn’t do a lot of undercover work. He’s more of an investigator. And he’s a charmer, which is a plus. Women will tell him anything.” He winked at Kate, and she feared her cheeks were turning red.

  Her mother said, “Adrienne told me once that he’s broken more hearts than he can count.”

  “He did break a few, once upon a time, but he’s changed in the last few months. A lot.” Connor passed his father-in-law the dish of squash.

  “What do you mean?” Mrs. Richards asked.

  “Didn’t Adrienne tell you that Neil became a Christian a few months ago?”

  “She mentioned it.”

  “It was in August, I think.” Connor picked up his fork. “He’s still rough around the edges, but he’s growing.” He took a bite of turkey and chewed.

  “And he’s a good cop,” Kate mused.

  “Neil has always had a terrific work ethic. I was responsible for his training when he first came into the Priority Unit three years ago. I never saw anyone take to it so fast. But he was a little wild, I don’t deny that. I see a big difference in his personal life since he was saved, though. He’s a lot steadier, more dependable.”

  “Fewer broken hearts?” Mr. Richards asked with a smile.

  Connor shrugged. “He hasn’t had a steady girl that I know of since Kate sent him packing. He’s my best friend now, and I’m proud to say that.”

  Kate could feel her parents staring at her. She asked Connor, “How does that work, with you being his boss?”

  “The fact that I was promoted doesn’t bother our friendship. I do have to be careful to treat Neil the same as I do all the men in my unit when we’re working, that’s all.”

  Kate hoped the change was as genuine as Connor claimed. And she hoped her parents would treat Neil civilly if he visited. Now that she’d seen him again, she knew she could forgive him for the pain he’d caused her. No sense in her parents holding a grudge.

  An hour later, Neil arrived. Adrienne let him into the kitchen, where she and Kate had just finished loading the dishwasher.

  “Hello, Neil, I’m glad you could come. I understand you and Kate had lunch together today.”

  Neil shot Kate a smile that she could only construe as shy, which startled her. When they’d first met, he’d come on strong. She’d heard he was anything but timid with women, but she’d been so attracted to him, she hadn’t cared at the time.

  “Yes, I enjoyed it,” he said.

  She smiled at him, determined not to let his good looks and charm sway her again. “Nice to see you again, Neil.”

  He turned the wattage up then, and she had to look away. In spite of her resolve, her pulse hammered a quiet tattoo. Right now she didn’t need that type of distraction. Her plan was to hone her craft, outshine the other reporters she worked with, garner a few writing awards and secure her place as a top-notch journal
ist. Maybe then she’d have time to consider having a personal life. But it wouldn’t be with Connor’s reformed bad boy, handsome though he might be. She wanted someone stable when the time came.

  They all settled down in the living room, and Kate and her mother served the pies, insisting that Adrienne sit beside Connor and put her feet up. They brought the last plates in, and Kate handed one to her brother, Travis, keeping one for herself. When she looked around for a seat, the only chair vacant was next to Neil’s.

  She sat down gingerly, throwing him a sideways glance.

  “Do you like it at the paper?” he asked.

  “I love it, but it’s a challenge.”

  He nodded and took a bite of his pecan pie.

  Kate took a few bites and tried to focus on the rest of the family, not just Neil, but she couldn’t stop being aware of him.

  Her father didn’t help matters. He drew everyone’s attention to Neil by saying, “I understand you and Connor are good friends now.”

  Neil swallowed quickly. “That’s right, sir. When I passed the detective’s exam a few years ago, Connor was the senior detective in our unit. He had to train me and watch my back. I guess I gave him a lot of headaches when I first came into the unit.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Connor said, and everyone laughed. “But after a while, I realized Neil wasn’t just a hardheaded kid. He’s a good cop.”

  Neil smiled and looked anywhere but at his captain. “Well, I’ve learned a lot from Connor these past few years.”

  Connor laid his plate and fork on the end table. “Let me brief you on what happened after we left the Riley house, Neil.”

  He rose and Neil followed him toward the study. Kate felt a pang of disappointment. He was going to tell Neil things he wouldn’t tell her, because she was a reporter. He didn’t trust her. He would tell Adrienne everything later, when they were alone, but he wouldn’t tell his sister-in-law, the wet-behind-the-ears reporter who might spill something sensitive. She put the last bite of pie into her mouth.

  At the study door, Connor let Neil precede him out of the room, then turned and looked directly at her. “Hey, Kate, you want in on this?”

  She jumped to her feet, dropping her napkin. “You mean it?”