Next of Kin Read online

  "I told you I'm straight and not interested in dating you, but you continue to... woo me. What do you expect to gain by it?" Kade asked, clearly puzzled.

  "You're not all that uninterested," Del objected with a smile.

  Kade raised two perfectly arched eyebrows and stared at her. "You're assuming that based on what evidence?"

  "If you really didn't want me here, I'd still be sitting outside on the stairs with my soup," Del said, and when Kade opened her mouth to object, she added, "You went out to dinner with me, on Valentine's Day I might add, and you didn't send back the flowers and cards you thought were from me."

  "All circumstantial," Kade said, still hiding behind the familiar legal terms.

  Del smiled. For a moment, she allowed herself to imagine Kade whispering sweet, legalese nothings into her ear after a passionate night of lovemaking. "I don't want to convince a judge or a jury," she answered. "I only want to convince you."

  "And if you fail to convince me?" Kade asked, still searching for Del's motives.

  Del shrugged. She knew that was a distinct possibility. Kade Matheson was just too stubborn for her own good. "Then I hope to at least gain a friend. And judging from the fact that you're suffering alone in your apartment, you could use a friend too."

  The ringing of the phone startled both of them.

  A pale Kade laid down her spoon and turned to reach for the phone.

  Del was faster. "I'll get it. Eat your soup before it gets cold." She reached over Kade with one of her long arms and snatched up the receiver. "Hello," she said, praying it wasn't Kade's mother calling again.

  No one answered.

  "Hello?" Del repeated, a little louder this time.

  Again, there was only silence.

  "Asshole," Del muttered and replaced the receiver. She turned back around to face Kade. "How's the soup?"

  Kade wasn't eating the soup. In fact, she wasn't doing anything but staring at the phone. Except for the reddened tip of her nose and the feverish blotches on her cheeks, her face was even paler than before. There was an expression on her face that Del had never seen on the confident DDA before, so it took her a moment to realize what it was: fear.

  "Kade?" Del worriedly tried to get Kade's attention.

  When Kade looked up, the fear was gone from her face, the arrogant-lawyer mask firmly in place. "Yes?"

  Del took the tray and lifted it from Kade's lap, setting it down on the floor.

  "The soup will get cold." Kade protested.

  "I'll reheat it later," Del promised even though she knew that it wasn't the thought of the soup getting cold that was bothering Kade. "After you've told me what's going on with you."

  Kade tilted her head, rendering a nearly perfect performance of clueless innocence. "Going on?"

  "Something is bothering you. Don't tell me it's nothing," Del said before Kade could open her mouth, "or that you have no idea what I'm even talking about. I know something has got you tied up in knots, and it's not just this annoying cold."

  Kade hesitated.

  "Whatever it is, you can trust me. Please." Del reached out a hand but stopped just short of touching Kade's hand. A woman who didn't want anyone to cook her chicken soup when she was sick probably wasn't too fond of hand-holding during emotional confessions either. Del also didn't want to add to Kade's emotional burden by reminding her of her romantic intentions. Be a friend first and a love interest later. She sat down on the edge of the bed but kept a healthy distance. "Tell me."

  * * *

  Kade stared at her visitor. How did I get myself into this situation? So far, she had avoided telling anyone about feeling she was being followed. She knew she could trust Aiden and her colleagues, but telling the detectives with whom she worked would mean an official investigation sooner or later. Kade didn't want that. She didn't want anyone to think she was using professional connections and her position in the DA's office to get special treatment. She had always kept her professional and her private life strictly separate – and it had been easy, mainly because there hadn't been much of a private life. Nevertheless, she didn't want anyone snooping around her private life, as little of it as there might be.

  Now someone had noticed without her saying anything, and Kade had a decision to make. Should she confide in Del or send her away once and for all? Her instincts told her she could trust Del. She's a decorated lieutenant and Dawn Kinsley's most trusted friend. She has been nothing but direct and honest from the moment you met her, Kade reminded herself. You were the one constantly hiding your thoughts and feelings and acting defensive.

  "Tell me," Del said again.

  Kade took a deep breath. "Do you remember how I thought you sent me a daily bouquet of flowers?"

  "Of course I remember. Those mysterious flower deliveries were what made you run away from me," Del answered, once again very direct and honest.

  One of many, many reasons, Kade silently agreed but ignored the other reasons for the time being. Opening one can of worms at a time is enough. "Around the same time the flower deliveries started, I began to feel like someone was watching me, following me around. Maybe my job has made me a little paranoid, but..."

  "I don't think it can be explained away that easily," Del said. There wasn't even a second of hesitation in believing Kade. A deep worry line formed between dark eyebrows. "You've also been getting hang-up calls."

  It was a statement, not a question, but Kade answered anyway. "Yes. They only started last week. He doesn't say anything, but I can hear him breathe."

  "Do you have missed phone calls or voicemail messages when you come home at night?" Del asked, her cop training taking over.

  Kade shook her head. "He only calls when I'm at home." That was what was so scary about it. It meant the stalker was observing her closely and knew exactly where she was and what she was doing any minute of the day. Kade suppressed a shiver and pulled the covers tighter around herself.

  Del inhaled sharply. Her dark eyes looked at Kade with an expression of hurt and accusation. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

  "A prosecutor can't afford to be intimidated that easily," Kade said as reasonably as possible. "I can't request a protective detail every time a suspect looks at me the wrong way."

  "That's not the same, and you know it." Del looked her right in the eyes, not willing to accept the reassuring lies Kade had told herself. "This is personal. You could be in real danger."

  Kade hadn't wanted to believe it, but she knew Del was right. She nevertheless felt the need to object, "There's no evidence. You know stalking is nearly impossible to prove."

  "How much evidence do you need before you're willing to get help? Did you want to wait until he attacked you before you'd have told anyone? Why didn't you tell me?" A hint of anger crept into Del's normally calm voice.

  Wait a minute! We don't know each other all that well. I don't owe you anything. Kade opened her mouth to tell Del exactly that, but Del was faster.

  "All right," she said with a deep breath, quickly reining in her anger. "I can understand that I wasn't your first choice to talk to, but why didn't you at least tell Carlisle?"

  "I have a feeling she already has enough to deal with at the moment without me adding to it," Kade answered. She knew Aiden would instantly start watching her apartment at night if she told her. Aiden had gone weeks without seeing her own apartment in similar situations before, but back then, she hadn't been in a relationship. Kade didn't want to add another problem to a relationship that already seemed to be going through a few difficulties.

  Del frowned. "What exactly does she have to deal with at the moment?" she asked suspiciously. "This doesn't have anything to do with her relationship with Dawn, does it?"

  Kade knew the expression on Del's face all too well. Aiden wore the same overprotective expression every time she insisted on walking Kade to her car after a late-night search warrant execution or a visit to the detectives' favorite bar. If I tell her Aiden slept at the station one night this week, she's
gonna hunt her down as soon as she leaves here. "They're drowning in unsolved cases," Kade said. She didn't have to lie even though her workload was not the main reason Kade didn't want to add to Aiden's burden. Kade knew that Dawn felt at times threatened by Aiden's former infatuation with her, so she didn't want to give Dawn the impression that Aiden would drop everything and come running the moment Kade asked for a favor.

  "The Sexual Assault Detail is always drowning in unsolved cases," Del said.

  Kade grimaced inwardly. She had forgotten that Del wasn't just an admirer; she was also an experienced cop and knew the detectives weren't any busier than usual.

  "All right," Del said when Kade remained silent. "If you don't want your own detectives to handle this, let me see what I can –"

  "No!" Kade reached out and stopped Del's hand as it reached for her cell phone. She touched Del's warm fingers and quickly retreated. "If at all possible, I want to avoid an official investigation. I don't want a report on the details of my private life."

  Del looked at her for a long time. "Okay. We'll keep it under wraps for as long as possible. But if I get the feeling things are escalating, I'll have no choice but to make this official. I'd rather you lose your privacy than your life."

  Lose my life... Kade swallowed against her sore throat. "Do you really think my life is in danger?"

  "Not while I am around," Del promised, her eyes glowing with steely determination.

  Kade shook her head but stopped when the move made her temples pound. "Stay out of this."

  "You tell me your life might be threatened and expect me to stand back and do nothing?" Del shook her head. "That's not gonna happen."

  "It's not your duty to protect me. You're not Kevin Costner, and I'm not Whitney Houston," Kade reminded her. This is not going to end with you getting shot – or me in your bed!

  Del managed a half smile. "That's where you're wrong."

  "I'm not," Kade said. "You look nothing like Costner, and I can't sing to save my life." She winced when her attempt at lightening the mood reminded her once again that her life might be threatened.

  "You're not wrong about that, but it is my duty to protect you," Del said, briefly flipping open her badge to indicate her duty to serve and protect.

  "You just agreed to keep this unofficial for now, so you can't refer to your professional duties when it comes to this," Kade said logically.

  Del shrugged. "Okay. I wanted to spare you the embarrassment, but if you insist... My determination to keep you safe has nothing to do with my job. I'd want to stand guard in front of your apartment at night even if I were a kindergarten teacher."

  The intensity of her gaze made Kade's already overheated cheeks flush even more.

  "Do you still have the cards that came with the flower deliveries?" Del asked after a few seconds.

  "Just a few," Kade said. "I threw away the later ones." She cringed when she realized she had practically admitted to having kept the cards she had thought were from Del.

  Del just smiled but mercifully didn't comment. "I'll take them with me for fingerprinting. Who knows, the guy might have missed a few CSI episodes and left behind a nice fingerprint to identify him."

  Kade nodded but knew it probably wouldn't be that easy. "What else can we do?"

  "You may want to review a few files once you're back at the office," Del said. "Look for anything unusual from the time shortly before the flower deliveries and the cards started."

  Kade laughed bitterly. If she went through every unusual case they'd had in the last few months, her stalker would have died of old age by the time she had gone through every one of them.

  "We could put a tap on your home and office phone, but I don't think the calls last long enough to trace them," Del said as honest and open as she had always been. She never tried to sugarcoat anything.

  Kade held back a sigh. In other words, there's nothing we can do. She wanted to close her eyes, feeling very tired and frustrated.

  "I'd like to arrange some surveillance. Just for your apartment at night," Del continued. She directed a careful gaze at Kade, clearly knowing there would be some protest.

  Kade shook her head. "How would you justify that to your superiors without making it an official case?"

  "I don't need to justify it – not when I'm the only cop doing the surveillance." Del held Kade's gaze steadily.

  Kade didn't feel ready to make Del a daily part of her life in any way. She firmly shook her head, then grimaced and pressed a hand against her throbbing forehead. "I can't allow you to do that. You work during the day, so you need to sleep at night, not hang around in front of my apartment."

  "Allow me?" Del was not happy with that choice of words. "Kade, I respect your opinion and your wishes, but this isn't something you can allow or forbid."

  "Yes, I can! This is my life we're talking about, so I make the decisions!" Kade could feel her temperature rise even more as anger bubbled up inside of her. She always hated the feeling when someone else was trying to run her life.

  Del took three deep breaths. "All right. It's your decision. Please, just don't make it for the wrong reasons. If you refuse to let me protect you just because you're afraid to let me be part of your life..." Del stopped and shook her head. "I didn't offer to help in order to impress you or to guilt-trip you into going out with me. I just want to know you're safe."

  Kade bit her lip. It's hard to say no to Miss Altruistic. She's very convincing. She should have been a lawyer. "You don't have to do this," she tried one more time. "My building even has a doorman, so I'm not completely unprotected."

  "I got by her without a problem even though you told her you didn't want to see anyone," Del said calmly.

  "One night," Kade conceded. She raised her finger, pointing it at Del to make her rules very clear. "You watch my apartment for one night, and if everything stays quiet, we'll just assume the stalker is not nocturnal, and you'll go home."

  Del hesitated, but then seemed to sense that this was as far as Kade was willing to go for now. She finally nodded. "Defense lawyers must hate to sit down at a table for a plea bargain with you," she said, a grudgingly admiring smile on her lips. She rose from the bed. "I'll go and bribe someone from fingerprints to take a look at the cards, and you should finally eat some soup. Want me to heat it up again?"

  "No." Kade held on to the bowl when Del tried to pick it up. She didn't want Del having to play nursemaid. "It's fine. It's still warm enough."

  "Okay," Del said. "I'll bring you more when I come over to watch the apartment tonight."

  The bedroom door clicked shut behind Del before Kade could answer. With a sigh, Kade got up and went to lock the front door. When she returned to the bedroom, she picked up the bowl of chicken soup and lifted it into her lap. She tried the first spoonful and grimaced. Del had clearly used a little too much salt. I hope she's a better protector than a cook, she thought as she set the bowl on her bedside table and closed her eyes.

  CHAPTER 10

  AIDEN NODDED WITH satisfaction. Dawn's sardine can was still in its parking space. Let's see if she's up for going to a club and letting off a little steam on the dance floor. Ten long hours at work lay behind her, but Aiden was still too keyed up to go home right away. She swung open the door to the joint practice and stepped inside.

  Dawn's office manager was still there, leafing through the appointment book, but the waiting room was empty. Mrs. Phillips looked up when Aiden stopped in front of her desk. "Oh, hello. Are you back to make another appointment? I'm afraid the doctor is on her way out and can't see you tonight. But I could pencil you in on –"

  "What?" Aiden stared at her, but then she remembered: she had booked one of Dawn's hours yesterday, so of course her secretary would assume she was one of Dawn's patients. "Oh, no, no, that's all right. I don't want another appointment with 'the doctor.' Could you just tell her that Aiden is here?"

  "Oh!" Mrs. Phillips shut the appointment book. "You're Aiden? Nice to meet you. Dr. Kinsley told us s
o much about you."

  Aiden blinked. "She did?" She had assumed that Dawn hadn't told her new colleagues and the new office manager about their relationship. Aiden wasn't exactly in the closet at her workplace, but she wasn't advertising her sexual orientation either. She never talked about Dawn or their relationship with anyone but Ray. There were still too many cops who would react with scorn and derision or maybe even outright hostility to a lesbian in their ranks. Obviously, psychologists were a lot more open-minded – or Dawn just didn't care.

  "Oh, yes, of course!" Mrs. Phillips' head bobbed up and down. "She seems quite proud to be friends with a female detective."