Blindside

“I can give you orders all the time and you’ll have to listen to me.”

Miles sat back, crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head. “You did good, Katie-the proper use of money. Well done.”

“Thank goodness I’ve had no complaints since I’ve been sheriff.” She frowned. “This is farm and dairy country-lots of cows-and tobacco country, you know, and that means lots of cheap cigarettes and lots of teenagers smoking. I’ve cracked down on that something fierce.”

“How are you doing that?”

“I know most of the teenagers. I see one with a cigarette in his mouth and I take him and his cigarettes to jail. I can’t lock him up since it’s not against the law, but I call his parents. You’d be surprised at what a screaming mother can do to a teenage boy, even the mothers who smoke. It warms a sheriff’s heart.”

He laughed at that. “If my mom had ever caught me with a cigarette, I’d have been grounded for a month. Now, as for your mom, she makes good tuna casserola, and she didn’t raise a dummy.”

She was pleased, and he saw it. “Thank you,” she said. “Casserola-what comfort food. I guess that’s why she made it for all of us Monday night.”

Katie rose and stretched. He was watching her, she felt it, and quickly lowered her arms, slouched forward a bit.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that in front of you.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“I mean, I didn’t mean to preen in front of you.”

“Maybe that’s too bad.”

30

T here, that’s it. You’re going to be a dentist, Sam, and I’m going to be an astronaut!”

Katie came down on her haunches beside them. “Okay, career choices are set, let me tell you that it’s nearly nine o’clock. Time for you guys to get to bed.”

It wasn’t as much of a production as either adult expected, no more than five minutes of whining. After Katie settled Keely in, Miles did the same with Sam down the hall, they traded places, without thinking much about it, and that made Katie frown down at her toes. What did Miles think about tucking her daughter in and being pulled into reading the next chapter of Lindy Lymmes, Kindergarten Girl Detective?

She offered to read to Sam from one of Keely’s books, but that made him gag-loudly-so she gave him a big hug and kissed his ear. If she wasn’t careful, she thought, she’d fall in love with this little boy.

When Miles had gone to bed, she went outside to speak to Jamie and Neil, who’d gotten Cerlew’s Buick unlocked. She gave them a thermos of coffee she’d made, checked and locked all the doors and windows, and fell into bed.

The storm hit hard around two in the morning, rattling windows, slapping tree branches against the house. It was time for a shift change in deputies guarding the house. Katie checked on Keely, who was sound asleep, and went back to bed. Katie had always loved storms, and they never bothered Keely, but tonight, Katie was antsy and wide awake. She finally gave it up, went to the kitchen and put on the teakettle. She was standing in front of the sink, looking out over the thick stand of maple and poplar trees not more than ten feet from the house, leached of their beautiful colors in the heavy gray rain.

“You got two tea bags?”

She turned around at Miles’s voice, well aware that she was wearing only her nightshirt and her empty ankle holster. Even her feet were bare.

Miles walked straight to her, and wrapped his arms around her, trapping her own arms to her sides. When she pushed against him, he immediately released her, but then she simply wrapped her arms around his back. She felt his smile against her cheek, felt the strength of him against her. He was wearing only a pair of jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. She said against his neck, “You feel good,” and that was a lie because he felt far more than good. And he made her feel things she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“So do you,” and she could hear tension in his voice, hear that he was lying, too.

He was nuzzling her neck, and said against her jaw, “I like a tall woman. We fit together perfectly.” And he kissed her.

Katie hadn’t kissed a man in approximately two years and three months, and that kiss had been on the wet side with a beer aftertaste. How far back did she have to go for an astounding kiss, a kiss like this one? All the way back to Carlo.

The teakettle whistled, shrill and loud, and they both jumped. He took her arms in his hands, looked at her a moment, and stepped back from her.

“Do you drink your tea straight?”

Katie nodded. She wished the teakettle hadn’t been so loud. He’d given her comfort, and so much more than that, and it had felt right, just right. And she wanted more, and she didn’t want a teakettle sounding off in the middle of it. Life was strange. She hadn’t even known this man before last weekend.

She watched him fetch two mugs down from the cabinet, dangle two Lipton tea bags over the sides of the mugs, and pour the boiling water over them.

He said without turning, “I like the holster around your ankle. It’s sexy.”

She looked down, saw that her red nail polish was chipped on her big toe. She gri

“Not I.” He handed her a mug, picked his up, and clicked it against hers. “To us,” he said.

What did that mean? She sipped her tea. The wind howled, and the rain pelted hard against the windows like pebbles thrown hard by angry children.

“I get to meet with the TBI again tomorrow,” Katie said, and added at his frown, “The final meeting, I hope.”

“Do you need any witnesses?”

She shook her head. “They spoke to Glen Hodges again by phone this afternoon, and of course to Savich and Sherlock before they left. I suppose they might want to speak with you, but no one’s mentioned it yet. And I have my deputies, all eager to defend me, even Wade, if he has a clue what’s good for him. The TBI investigator checking out everything calls this case a corker-his word-and he wants to hang around. I’m hoping he gets a call from his supervisor to finish things up.”

Suddenly Katie heard something, no, it was more than that. She felt something dangerous and close. She ran to the living room window and looked out through the thick rain. No deputy car was out there.

She didn’t hesitate. “Miles, grab Sam, quickly!”

Miles didn’t ask for an explanation, didn’t hesitate. He raced to the guest bedroom to see Sam sitting up in bed, half-asleep. “I heard something, Papa. Out there.”

“Come with me, Sam.” Miles grabbed him up, wrapped him in blankets and ran with him back to the living room. Katie was there with Keely.

“Sam was awake. He heard something. What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know,” Katie said. “I don’t know, but something’s not right. Da

“Katie, you’re not dressed.”

She was losing it. Not good, but her fear was building. “Hold the kids, let me throw on some clothes. I’ll bring you a shirt and your jacket. Oh damn, the kids need clothes, too. Miles, don’t let either of them move. I’ll get everything.”

Two and a half minutes later, both adults were on their knees quickly dressing Sam and Keely.

“We’re outta here,” Katie said. Miles knew she was afraid and trying hard not to let that fear transmit itself to the children. He also knew she’d give her life for any of them.

Katie smashed her hat on her head, grabbed all the coats, and said, “We’re outta here, now!”

Sam whispered as he clutched his father’s neck, “What’s the matter, Papa? What did I hear? Are those bad men after me again?”

“If they are, I’ll knock their heads together, then I’ll let you stomp on them, okay?”

“Okay, Papa,” Sam said, less fear in his voice, thank God.

Keely twisted around in Miles’s other arm to face her mother. “What’s the matter, Mama?”