Targeted. Lori L. Harris

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СКАЧАТЬ to her while his brother asked his questions, but didn’t know how to make the request without appearing needy.

      Who was she trying to kid? She was needy. But she could handle her own neediness.

      The police chief waited until she swung her gaze back to him. Jack Blade was younger than Alec by a few years, and with his blond hair, he looked more like a lifeguard than a lawman. She had heard rumors that he’d worked undercover in a big city before he’d come to Deep Water. But Deep Water’s rumor mill was wrong more often than right. She only had to look at what they said about her to know that.

      “Katie, I need you to start at the beginning and tell me everything you can remember.”

      She nodded, but swallowed roughly. Her neck and throat hurt from the choke hold.

      “Any possibility that you know your attacker? Have you ever seen him before?”

      She shook her head. “No. At least I don’t think so.”

      “When you came home, was he already in the house?”

      “Yes. But I don’t know where. Maybe in my bedroom. Or in the hall closet.” She ducked her head. Not meeting his eyes made it easier to talk about. “He…he came up behind me while I was at the kitchen sink and…. and—” She couldn’t seem to go on. When the police chief reached out to touch her in a comforting gesture, she moved her hand just beyond his reach.

      He acted as if he hadn’t noticed the movement, but she knew he had. “Take your time. There’s no hurry.”

      She nodded her understanding. Instead of easier, she was finding it more difficult to control her emotions. Maybe it was due to the adrenaline. But she didn’t like the way she was right now. She didn’t want to be this person.

      “He wanted…” He wanted to kill her. She still couldn’t believe it, but it had to be true. There was no other explanation. “I got away. Made it to the back door. But he’d taken the key.”

      After taking a small sip of water, just enough to moisten her tongue, she managed to continue. “I used a chair to break the glass. He…he got to me before…I could get out. He dragged me into the hall.”

      She turned to Alec. “That’s when you showed up.”

      “Any chance you might recognize him if you saw him again?” the police chief asked.

      “Maybe.” She heard the doubt in her own voice, and realized that she was shaking her head slowly. “I’m not sure, it…was dark. He didn’t really allow me to see his face.”

      “I understand. Was he tall? Big?”

      “Both,” she said, thinking about the hard mass of his body.

      Alec straightened in the doorway, but kept his arms folded. “He was six-one or two, probably went two-twenty or more.”

      “You got a look at him?” Chief Blade asked his brother.

      “Not a very long one, and, as Katie said, it was dark.”

      Chief Blade turned his attention back to her. “Caucasian?”

      She nodded. “I think so.”

      “But you’re not sure?”

      “No. Maybe if he hadn’t been wearing gloves.”

      “Tell me about the gloves.”

      “They were latex. The kind doctors wear.” She hugged her arms across her middle and tried not to think about how his gloved hand had closed over her throat.

      “How about his voice? Did he say anything?”

      “He called me—” She broke off to take a deep breath. God. She didn’t want to think about what that meant.

      “What did he call you?” Jack prompted.

      “Katydid,” she answered softly. As she waited for his next question, she studied the glass of water she held. She was okay. She was in control. She was a big fat liar.

      “Katydid? Is that a nickname?”

      “Yes.” She nodded. “Karen, my twin sister, gave it to me.”

      “Is she the only one who uses it?”

      “My father did sometimes.”

      “Anyone else?”

      She didn’t want to say his name. Even inside her head, she’d been avoiding it. Because saying the name aloud would make it too real.

      “Katie, did anyone else call you by that name?” Chief Blade asked again, his voice still kind, but slightly louder this time. As if he thought the reason she’d failed to answer him was because she hadn’t heard the question.

      She nodded again. “Carlos Bricker. My ex-boyfriend. He’d use it to upset me.”

      “Why would it upset you?”

      “My sister…she’s dead.”

      He seemed to study her face. For the first time, she wondered what he saw when he looked at her. The side of her face ached from where she’d hit the wall. She was probably pretty bruised. When she talked, there was a searing pain on the left side of her lower lip, which probably meant it was busted.

      What he saw…what anyone looking at her would see was the face of a victim. The demeanor of a victim. And she hated that even more than her physical appearance.

      “Katie?”

      For a second, she couldn’t remember what they’d been talking about, then it came to her. About her sister. About the nickname.

      “No one besides your family and Carlos knew about the nickname?” the police chief repeated.

      She took another sip of water and hoped no one would notice her tears. “No.” Admitting defeat, she wiped them off with her hands.

      “When was the last time you saw Carlos?”

      “A little over two months ago. I had just broken off the relationship and told him I was moving my paintings to another gallery. When I went to get them, he’d locked them up.”

      “What did you do?”

      “I hired an attorney. But Carlos called later that same night. Evidently, my attorney had already contacted him. Carlos said that I’d regret my decision. I assumed he meant professionally.” She took a deep breath. “Three nights later, he was waiting for me when I got home. I didn’t see him until it was too late. I wouldn’t have gotten out of my car if I had. He tried to drag me inside the condo. When a neighbor came out, Carlos took off. The neighbor never got a good look at him, though.” She swallowed. “I filed charges. He produced a witness who said he was with her when the attack happened. The charges were dropped. I moved up here.”

      “So you believe Carlos Bricker hired someone to harm you?”

      “Yes.” СКАЧАТЬ