Page 18 of Shadows of Before

“Katie.” He didn’t even recognize his own voice.

She grabbed her uniform pants and poked her legs in them. Yanked on her shirt. Stuck her feet in her boots. She scooped up her underwear and socks, put them in her pocket. And bolted forthe door. Got it open some. He leapt out of bed and slammed his hand against it, closing her exit.

She leaned her head on the wood. “You broke our deal.”

“It was time.”

“No, I don’t want more from you. From anybody. Now back off.”

Softened by her ragged tone, he stepped away and let her get the door open. But he caught her by the arm. “If I go back tojust sex, can I see you again?”

“You can see me for just sex. But don’t call for a while.”

“Fine. When you’re ready, you call me.”

She hurried off.

He went back to the bed and sat down. That was a close call. What the hell was he doing, making this relationship more than just sex?

* * *

Katie got outside and realized she didn’t have a car. She walked about a half mile to escape from the view from Will’s house when her phone rang. She fished it out of her pocket. “Hello, Chief.”

“Donovan. We called in the forensic team to determine what happened. The results will be here in an hour. Can you get back here.” He hesitated. “I could send a patrol car.”

“No, I’ll take an uber. I’m not far from the precinct.”

“Donovan, are you okay? Don’t you have someone to bring you.”

I did.“No, I’ll be all right.”

She grabbed a hamburger, though she wasn’t hungry. But she was feeling weak. Because she hadn’t eaten. Not because of Will. His actions had terrified her…

He worked his way over and took tiny love bites out of her lips.

“Will, we can’t. Not this way.”

“Oh, yes, sweetheart. We can.”

God, what had he been thinking? Was it time to end theirjust sexagreement? She pushed down the emotion that festered inside her at the thought.

Once she got back to the station, the chief met her at the door. “Come with me.” He led her to his office. It was the size of her whole living space. He said, “Sit.”

He went behind his desk. “A utility knife or a box cutter can easily slash a tire. In this case, I think it’s a box cutter.”

“That’s bad news. Everybody has a box cutter.”

“I guess. But if we had a suspect, we could check him out.”

“How on earth will you find him?”

“We have cameras in the officer’s section.”

“I can’t park there anymore.”

“Who told you that?”

“Nobody. When you demoted me, I assumed all privileges were gone.”

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