Page 47 of Shadows of Before

“No?”

“What made you do it after all this time?”

“Truthfully, after gathering all the data your boyfriend asked for, I saw the pattern. Landry’s prints were all over the desk that fell. Lawrence was in on the dead bird but when Landry wanted to slash your tires, he backed away. Lawrence opened up for a deal.”

“Good news. I appreciate all this.”

“Thank Will. He started the whole thing up.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s all. You’re dismissed.”

She stood.

Then dropped back down.

“Not just yet, chief.” She took in a momentous breath. “I want you to reinstate me as a Lieutenant and Detective.”

His eyes narrowed. “You know why you’re on desk duty.”

“Yeah, but other cops have made mistakes and you didn’t demote them.”

“True.” He steepled his hands. “I expected so much of you, Kate.”

“And I lived up to that expectation except I made one mistake. I want you to know I went down the rabbit hole with this demotion, this shame, and it almost ruined my life. So I’mfighting back now. I want to be reinstated.” The tone of her voice was harsher that she meant it to be.

“Or what, Donovan?” His tone told her she’d gotten his hackles up.

But she raised her chin. “Or I’ll give my two weeks’ notice.”

Chapter 8

Paint dripped onto his cheek. Goddamn it. He should have hired this done. But he needed to keep busy so he’d decided to paint the office himself. Not long ago, he’d pictured Katie helping him get the place ready, choosing furniture, artwork. But that wasn’t going to happen now.

It took him four hours to paint the whole place. As he finished, a truck pulled up out front. Guys got out and began to unload from the back end. He’d ordered standard office furniture that was in stock. A man came to the door and Will opened it. “Delivery for Kirkland. That you?”

“Yes.”

“Can you sign here?”

Briefly he scanned the document. Everything was there. He signed.

When they brought the first box in, Will frowned. “That says desk on it. I paid for everything to be assembled.”

The big burly guy frowned down at the order. “Doesn’t say so here.”

“Damn it.”

“You want it anyway?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

All the desks arrived in boxes. Chairs and filing cabinets didn’t need assembly. But the two sideboards and all the tables were in boxes too. When the movers left, he went to open the first desk and he realized he didn’t have a box cutter.

He raised his eyes to the ceiling. “What did I do to piss you off?” he asked God.

He dropped down on a chair. He’d made a mistake with the furniture. He’d either have to assemble all this or call thestore and pay for someone to come back and do it. He kicked a box. Katie would have made this fun, laughing at his mistake. Helping with the assembly. Making jokes and making plans. He raked his hand over his face then realized they had paint on them. God help him, nothing was right without her.

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