Page 48 of Dead Man's List

“Don’t get hurt,” Rita whispered. “Not on my account.”

“You’re worth protecting, Rita,” Sam said, wishing Drummond an eternity in hell. “But we won’t get hurt.”

Betsy put her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Go on, Sam. We’ll start cleaning up the kitchen while you and Harlan check.”

“And I heard you three took a trip to the animal shelter today,” Eloise added in her chirpiest voice. “Did you find a dog?”

Sam left the girls to explain that, yes, they had found a dog and that they’d be picking him up in a few days, as he was being neutered on Tuesday. The dog had been Kit’s doing, according to Harlan.

Harlan would do just about anything for his girls. Including standing in his driveway with a shotgun cradled in his arms.

Sam lifted his brows at the shotgun. “Prepared much?”

“Drummond’s made a cloaked threat against Rita. Nothing that could get him in any trouble, but enough that I told Joel right away. Sent her a letter saying that he hoped she enjoyed the play she and the other girls were doing at school. Just to let us know he’s watching her. Joel says he can’t trace the letter to Drummond. I want to kill the bastard myself.”

Sam understood that. That Drummond had gotten out on bail had infuriated him nine months ago. He was free as a bird until his trial. “Does Rita know?”

“Yeah. She read the letter first and immediately brought it to me, nearly hysterical with fear. I ordered the cameras that same day. One of my kids owns a security company. He installed an alarm system the next day and set up the cameras this morning.”

Harlan and Betsy had been fostering for so many years that their “kids” had grown up and now worked all over the city. They had a chef, the captain of a fishing boat, a Subaru salesman—which was why all of them, including Kit, drove Subarus—and, of course, a decorated homicide detective. That a security expert was part of their sprawling family came as no surprise.

“You can go inside,” Harlan added. “I’ll wait.”

The car was winding up the long driveway. “I’m not leaving you out here alone, Harlan. Wait a minute…” Sam squinted at the approaching sedan. “I think that’s the SDPD car Connor checked out this morning.”

Harlan tensed. “Why is Connor here this time of night?”

Kit.It had to have something to do with Kit.She’s okay,Sam told his suddenly racing heart.

Facing down a potential threat to Rita hadn’t scared him. But that something had happened to Kit? That terrified him.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Sam murmured, more to convince himself than Harlan.

“She can take care of herself,” Harlan said, but he sounded as unsure as Sam had.

Sure enough, when the car stopped, Connor Robinson got out, a finger pressed to his lips.

“She fell asleep when I was driving back to the precinct,” he whispered. “She was heading back here tonight, so I just brought her.”

“She was in the office early this morning,” Sam said quietly. “I got there at seven and she’d already been there for hours.”

Harlan sighed. “It’s coming up on the anniversary. She always works too many hours in the months leading up to April.”

The anniversary of Wren’s murder. That went without saying for anyone who knew Kit.

“I know,” Connor said, then pointed to the shotgun. “What’s with that?”

“Threats to Rita,” Harlan said.

Sam left the two of them to discuss Rita’s safety, going around to the passenger side of the department sedan. He opened the door and crouched so that he looked up at Kit. She was sound asleep, her face softer than usual. The frown lines were smoothed over and Sam wished he could make it so that those lines would never reappear. But they were as much a part of Kit as her sharp wit and tender heart.

She looked so peaceful that he hated to wake her, but she couldn’t stay out here all night.

“Kit?” He gently jostled her shoulder. “Time to wake up.”

He thought she’d jolt awake, disoriented or irritated. Instead, her eyes slowly opened and she smiled at him.

His heart was in free fall. She’d never smiled at him like that before.

---