“Yeah,” she breathed. Oh yeah.
Then, bringing the beautiful moments to an abrupt end, he stiffened. “Ben.”
“Oh God.” She wiggled, breaking free, and sat up. “You’re sure he might be in danger?”
“I don’t want to risk it.”
“Neither do I. You grab a shower while I call him. We’ll go over there, if you want.”
“I want. But...”
Cat paused as she pulled on her robe over her cooling body. “What?”
“This isn’t romantic.”
She leaned over him, resting her hands on the bed. “If the past hour wasn’t romantic, I don’t know what is. I’m a grown-up, Duke. I don’t need flowers, or lingering in bed, or taking showers together. Another time. Now get your butt in gear.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She thought she heard a tremor of amusement in his voice as she hurried to the phone.
Before she could pick it up, it began ringing. Her heart slammed with the fear. What now? She had a sudden memory of the old sheriff, Nate Tate, remarking once on another case since she’d moved here, “This county’s going to hell in a handbasket.” Apparently, it had been his signature complaint, but never in her time here had it seemed more true.
“Jansen,” she said into the phone.
“Gage,” said the familiar voice. “I got the forensics report.”
She swallowed hard, sensing what was coming. “It’s bad.”
“As bad as our worst fears. You don’t need the details, but Larry was definitely tortured. Maybe for an hour.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “I suspected, but...”
“We all did. Being human, we hoped it wasn’t true. Larry’s remains should be arriving at the funeral home tomorrow afternoon. Unless there’s another plan.”
“Duke wants to talk it over with Ben first. I think we’re going out to see him tonight.”
Gage sighed. “Damn it. I never wanted to see anything like this ever again. We’ve got to find this bastard so I can nail his hide to a wall. And Duke gets to use the nail gun first.”
“I think he’s going to want a hammer.”
CAT WAS SHAKING so hard that she sat at the table before calling Ben. A whole bucket of horror was about to drop into the laps of these two men, Ben and Duke, and she wished she didn’t have to be part of informing them.
She glanced at the phone in her hand. She had to call Ben and try to do it without giving him reason to guess that the case had just leapfrogged past gruesome to horrific. She drew a few steadying breaths, centering herself in professional reactions, then made the call.
“Hey, Ben. Duke and I want to come to see you. Okay by you?”
“Absolutely. I took some time off, and sitting out here by myself is driving me nuts. Too much empty space to fill with sorrow and anger.”
“I hear you. Duke will share that, I think.”
“I’m sure. That’s part of the reason it’ll be good to see him. Plus, way back when, we were acquainted.”
But Duke had been too busy trying to avoid his own grief by chasing a killer to be thinking about Ben. “Thanks,” she said. “Want us to pick up some dinner?”
“If you go by Maude’s, a steak sandwich is always welcome.”
“Done.”
WHILE DUKE WENT to Maude’s to pick up dinner, Cat visited the sheriff’s office. “I’m taking two shotguns and a rifle, and some body armor,” she said to Sarah Ironheart, who was sitting at the duty desk.
Gage must have the hearing of a cat, she thought, as his head poked out his door. “Cat?”
“Coming.”
She hurried back, aware that heads were pivoting to look at her. She was past caring that she’d caused the room to seethe with curiosity. She couldn’t just take the guns without checking them out.
“You expecting trouble?” Gage asked, motioning her to close the door.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Duke is worried that Ben could be a target in this mess, too. If this guy is looking for information of some kind, eventually he’d light on Ben, wouldn’t he?”
Gage rubbed his chin and nodded. “Maybe so. You want some backup?”
“For what? A feeling? No. I want to make sure we’re armed. Just in case. That’s all. The same as going out on patrol or answering a call. Because you never know.”
“All right.” He paused. “About this report...”
“The forensics?” she interrupted. “I don’t want to hear any more today. Maybe tomorrow. Right now I’ve got to be with two grieving men, and the less I know, the better.”
“Can’t argue with that. Take the guns. Goggles, too, if you want. And plenty of ammo. Hell, just take one of the patrol vehicles.”
She thought about that. “Advertising.”
He just shook his head. “Do it your way, Cat. Your case, your decision.”
The guns would fit well enough in the back of Duke’s truck under the tonneau. Two Mossberg riot guns and a long rifle. Boxes of ammo. Clips. Three sets of night-vision goggles. Three sets of chest armor. Ready for war.
Part of her wanted to find this ridiculous, but the rest of her just couldn’t do it. Larry’s murderer was still out there, a man who would torture someone for an hour or more. Two men, she corrected herself. Duke had seen two men running from Matt’s house.
No, she wanted Ben protected even if she had to demand he come stay with her along with Duke. And if Duke decided he needed to stay with Ben, then the two of them were sure as hell going to be adequately armed.
But taking a patrol vehicle? No. Why draw attention? What if someone had Ben’s house under observation? Sure, tell ’em a cop was inside.
And Duke was right. Larry and Ben might have tried to keep their relationship on the q.t., but people still found things out. Still made connections and assumptions. Then there was the fact that Larry had shared it with her. He had just dropped it, asking her to keep it to herself. What if he’d told someone else and they’d shared it further?
God, Duke was right. Too
