Page 9 of Shadows of Before

Chapter 2

When Katie drove up to Jackson Kane’s house and parked, she spat out, “Shit.” She hadn’t known Will Kirkland would be invited. But his sporty Lexus was parked on the lawn across from the house. She sighed at how Annie had gotten her here…

“Do you have to work on Saturday?”

“No.”

“Are you going to your family’s?”

She still had a bandage on her hand. “No.”

“Then you’re coming to us.”

“Annie…”

“I won’t let you be alone on such a momentous occasion.”

Hmm. Is the total eclipse of the sun momentous? She supposed so. It happened only every 100 years and Westwood was in its path.

Annie and Kate had been friends in high school, but they’d gone in different directions in their lives. However, they’d gotten close again after Annie was kidnapped.

“All right. I’ll be there.”

Before she exited the car, her phone rang. The caller was Mary, Hank’s wife and her best friend. She took a breath and answered it. “Hey, there.”

“Hey yourself. Where’ve you been?”

“Excuse me?”

“I haven’t seen you since I had Henry Jr. You called and canceled that second weekend you said you’d visit.”

Katie took in a breath. “I’m on nights a lot now.”

“Because of what happened with Annie?”

“Yeah.”

“Punishment?”

“Of a sort. Patrol cops don’t get much say in their schedule.”

“I think it’s awful they blamed you.”

“I was wrong and Annie got kidnapped.”

“Which wasn’t one person’s fault.”

She needed to change the subject. “How are you?”

“Sleep deprived. Weepy. Hormones.” She hesitated. “I could really use my best friend’s company.”

Katie had failed again. “I’m so sorry, Mar. Let me check my schedule and I’ll get back to you.”

“Okay. I love you, girl.”

Choked up, she finally got out, “Love you, too.”

Taking a deep breath, she exited the car and straightened the white blouse that she wore with jeans and sandals. She shaded her eyes from the bright, warm sun with her hand.

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