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She almost turned green. “Too much tequila last night. Blond, pitcher, for my table.” She sat on a stool. “How are Ashley and Whitney?” She motioned to the far side of the restaurant where the girls were sitting with Bobby Martin. She was pleased, at least, that Pete had forgiven Ashley for her deception—and welcomed her boyfriend into their lives.
“Shock. They love their uncle. They can’t believe... He really confessed to killing five people?”
Kara knew that Matt had talked to Pete Dunlap earlier, that he’d shared with him everything that he could and confirmed his alibi for the time the C-4 went missing. It was probably little consolation that Damon wasn’t involved in the bombings, but at least it was something.
“Yes.”
“I keep thinking...should I have known? Damon was always so angry and hurt about what happened to him in college. It was an accident, but he blamed everyone and everything. Yet...I thought he was doing good. He spent every summer here. He loves his nieces. He loved his sister.” Pete paused in the middle of drawing the pitcher. “How can someone who can be so good to his family kill others out of jealousy? Anger?”
“Few people are all good or all bad.” That sounded lame. Damon was a murderer. There was nothing to sugarcoat that truth.
“I trusted him. I trusted him with my daughters. And he killed a boy—a kid only a year older than Ashley. I never want to see him again.”
“You don’t have to.”
“But do I keep the girls away from him?”
“Maybe you should ask them what they want to do,” she suggested. “Maybe they can separate what he did from how he treated them. I don’t know,” she added quickly. “They’re your daughters. But I’ve found that by a certain age, kids like to be included in these kind of decisions.” She paused. “My father was in prison.”
“Did he kill someone?”
“No. Not that I know of, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had. He was a thief.” Among other things. “But he was still my father, warts and all.”
“Do you still have a relationship with him?”
“No.” That was too quick an answer. “I don’t have arelationship. He contacts me when he’s in trouble or he wants something. I usually ignore him. But that’s my choice.”
“You think I should let the girls make the decision.”
“I think they’re mature enough to at least be part of the decision making.”
He nodded, put the pitcher in front of her. “You’re a good person, Kara Quinn.”
“Just good at my job.” She reached out and took his hand. Squeezed it. “You’re a good father, Pete, a good man, you raised two great kids. They’ll get through this because of you.”
She took the pitcher and glasses back to the table, stopped just shy and looked at the group.
Ryder looked relaxed for a change. He seemed to have found his rhythm on the task force. He’d kept his cool the entire time, methodically going over evidence, following where it led, not being sidelined even when he’d been rendered unconscious by the carbon monoxide leak. Even last night, he’d taken the time to review all of Neil’s evidence, to give Matt what he needed to draw a confession out of Damon Avila.
Jim, who cared so much about the dead and working the evidence that Kara thought he couldwillanswers from a crime scene. He leaned back on his chair, laughing at something Michael had said. Not for the first time, Kara wondered what it would have been like growing up with Jim Esteban as a father. Someone honest, trustworthy, and committed to both his family and justice.
Michael, who’d saved her life twice in the same day. He was everything she wanted in a partner, but Kara feared that Catherine had talked to him. A subtle thing, a shift more in Catherine than in Michael himself. Maybe he didn’t trust her. Except, this morning, over breakfast, she felt that they had a bond. That they had an understanding deeper than they could articulate. She could practically hear her grandmother’s voice.Don’t borrow trouble, Kara.She trusted Michael, and trust was hard for her to come by. She would have to trust that if he had a problem, he would tell her. Right now, there were no problems. Why would she try to create one?
And Matt. The team leader. Though the beginning of the week had been rocky when he couldn’t decide whether to listen to her or to Catherine, he had shifted, taken back the mantle of the boss, and trusted his team to perform. He’d trusted her—not only when she confronted Marcy, but when she insisted on being part of the rescue. That meant everything to her.
But Catherine was right. It was best for them to cut ties. Best for Matt’s career...and Kara’s. She didn’t want to lose her job. Shecouldn’tlose her job, her identity. Cut it all off now, no secrets, no hiding, just end it.
The thought made her sad. She felt hollow inside, as if she had lost her best friend all over again.
Then Matt caught her eye, and she felt a thrill race through her, tantalizing her with promise. How? How could she walk away? Was it just sex she craved, or Matt she craved? How could she tell the difference? How did Madelyn know that Pierce was theone? How, against all odds and differences, had she known?
Kara never thought about relationships. She had never wanted one. They complicated things, and she had enough personal and professional complications in her life that she didn’t need romantic complications.
She put the beer down on the table. “I need to make a call. Give me five minutes.” She stepped outside and pulled out her cell, called her grandmother.
“Hello, Em. I missed our call last Sunday.”
“Working, I’m sure! But I’m so happy to hear your voice.”
