Crossing Lines (Cops and Docs #2) (13 page)

She didn’t even flinch at the bloody stump he had left for a head. “He was my doctor while I was in the hospital.”

“Heard you didn’t like him. Why?”

Kelli shrugged. “Something was off about him. I didn’t figure out what it was until he cooked up some scheme with his girlfriend to bring another doctor down.”

“Dr. Nora Whitmore.” It wasn’t a question. “You guys together?”

“No…not…shit. Whatever.”

“Alibi?” Johns asked.

“I went to visit Travis from 8:30 until 9 p.m. I got to my mom’s around 9:30, I think, and stayed there until she went to bed at 11:30. Then, I went back to my place. There are cameras at all the exits. Should show the time I came in and that I never left.”

Johns scribbled on a legal pad. “What happened to your hand? It’s bruised.”

“Coping skill,” Kelli answered.

“Uh-huh.” He stood abruptly. “Okay, we’ll check things out. Be right back.”

“Okay.” When he was gone, she waited a full minute before grabbing the file. Fuller’s prints were all over Rader’s place. That wasn’t unusual since they were fucking, but she had motive. Combined, that was enough for a search warrant for her house. They would find what they needed and then some. Taylor wasn’t Dexter. There was no way her house was as spotless as some parts of it looked.

The door opened but Johns’s back was to her. He was talking on the phone. Kelli flipped the file closed and pushed it back across the table.

He turned. “Okay, I got what we needed from you.”

So did she. Kelli stood. Johns smirked, and she nodded. He wasn’t stupid. He knew what she’d done. Hell, he’d set her up to look at that file. Professional courtesy.

Kelli stopped to pour a new cup of coffee before going back to her desk. She was stiff as hell. Sitting in a car all night could do that. After Nora left this morning, Kelli tailed her to the hospital just to be safe. Then, she went home to shower and catch an hour or so of sleep before going to work herself. She got a certain sense of satisfaction from looking out for Nora. It was something she couldn’t fuck up.

Williams wasn’t at his desk, which meant he was probably the one executing the warrant on Taylor’s house. Good. Kelli sat down and opened the fat-ass file on her desk. It was time to get to work, even if, at the moment, it was on another case.

Her cell phone vibrated. She glanced at it. There was a text from Sean.

Still a fuck up. Haven’t found him. I’ll try not 2 eat and sleep 2day.

Cut out bathroom breaks 2?

That stung like a bitch, but what did she expect? Maybe it was too late to fix all the damage she’d done…to some people at least. No, that was crap. She needed to get up off her lazy ass and do her part to make it right. There were a million things Kelli could text. She decided to keep it short and sweet.

Thank u 4 trying. Appreciate it.

Kelli waited a few seconds for Sean to respond. She got nothing. Sean, Williams, and especially Nora were going to be an uphill battle, and Kelli knew it. The hairs on the back of Kelli’s neck stood up and did a little dance. Someone was watching her. She looked up. Fucking hell. Nora was walking through the squad room, and she wasn’t coming to see her. Nora stopped at Johns’s desk. Kelli stood. Every part of her was tensed and pained. What was Nora doing?

Johns got up out of his seat, smiled, and shook Nora’s hand. Kelli moved forward a few steps. She had to hear.

“Thank you for volunteering to come down here, Ms. Whitmore.”

“It’s not a problem. I thought it best, considering.”

“Yeah, well, I hope you cleared your day. This may take a while. It’s a murder investigation.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Good, come with me please.”

When Nora turned, their gazes met. The intensity in her eyes hit Kelli like a punch in the stomach. Nora was full of anxiety and discomfort. Kelli watched them as they headed toward the interrogation rooms. It wasn’t the most proper thing to do, given her relationship with Nora and being a person of interest herself, but Kelli followed them anyway. She waited in the hallway near the outer door, giving them a minute or two to get situated. Then, she let herself in and watched them through the two way mirror.

“I guess I should have asked a minute ago. Do you need anything before we get started, Ms. Whitmore?”

“No, thank you. Not right now.”

Why was she letting him call her Ms. Whitmore? She hated that. It was clearly testament to Nora’s emotional state. Kelli took a deep breath and acknowledged for the hundredth time that it was an emotional state she’d helped to cause.

Johns opened Rader’s file and lined up his nasty-ass pictures for Nora to see. Kelli cringed. As a doctor, Nora was used to death, but this was different.

Nora gasped and paled. Sometimes Kelli hated being right. She hated that Nora had to go through this.

Johns tracked her every movement. “You’re a doctor. This bothers you?”

“He was a terrible man, but that,” Nora pointed at one of the pictures, “is ghastly.”

Johns nodded. “I agree. This was personal and very violent. Someone had a score to settle.”

“Obviously.”

He leaned forward. “Not you?”

Nora shook her head. “No, not me. I made my peace with him. We had a…discussion a few days before he discharged himself.”

“Discussion? Why do you say it like that?”

“It was mostly one sided. I told him he’d failed to destroy me and that he needed to get on with his life. Talking to him gave me closure and allowed me to let things go.”

Go Nora. Her respect for Nora went up a notch or two. Kelli wished she knew how to do that. Maybe she wouldn’t be the wreck she was.

Johns chuckled. “So you just forgave him?” He sounded skeptical.

“In a way, I suppose, but it would be idiotic of me to forget. I didn’t want another incident. I thought it best for him to know he had no power over me. Taylor Fuller actually came to see him a few minutes later. I could hear them yelling at each other from the hallway. I believe she called Rader spineless and told him he deserved what happened to him.”

Johns scribbled something down. “Is that right? Convenient.”

“If you’re able to check the ICU cameras, you’ll see that it’s true. However, I know from recent experience that there’s no sound with the video.”

“I’ll look into it. So…you did surgery on James Rader.”

She did what? Jesus Christ. Nora was a much bigger person than Kelli could ever be.

Nora nodded. “Yes, I suppose if I wanted him dead. I could have done it then, seamlessly.”

Johns pursed his lips. “True, or maybe you wanted it messy. Send a message to his girlfriend?”

“No, that’s incorrect. She did, however, come to my home. Kel…Detective McCabe handled it.”

His forehead crinkled. “What do you mean? Handled it?”

“I listened at the door and watched the security feed. Kelli encouraged her to grow up and move on. Taylor tried to assault her. Kelli resolved the situation peacefully.”

He obviously didn’t like Kelli for the murder. His questions were light and not very invasive. It irritated the shit out of Kelli that he was getting more in depth with Nora. But, necessary evil blah, blah, blah.

“You sure? McCabe can be a hothead.”

Nora didn’t say a word for several seconds. Son of a bitch was trying to give her an out. He knew Kelli didn’t do it, but anybody who’d throw an innocent person under the bus had to be guilty of something.

“I considered that part of her charm.” Nora’s whole face reddened. “So, yes, I’m sure.”

Kelli smiled. They weren’t even in the same room. They weren’t even together, and somehow she still flustered Nora. Kelli sighed and declared herself queen of all assholes for fucking things up with Nora. After testing the waters the day before, Nora obviously wasn’t ready to forgive yet. Kelli cringed. Maybe if she hadn’t been an ass then too. Moments like these made things between them seem fixable. Kelli was damn near ready to put the anger and the sense of abandonment away. She swallowed, but what would keep Nora from doing the same thing all over again? No, Nora had to be the one to take steps forward. Kelli knew that for sure. She missed her like hell. She wanted her even more. So, Kelli had to stay on the sidelines and do whatever she could to make sure Nora came out of this fucked-up game all right.

Johns asked the same questions over and over in different ways, but Nora had nothing to give him. Nora had a solid alibi. She even offered to let them search her house, give DNA and fingerprints too. He still persisted, and it was pointless. He was going to be pissed, but this needed to end. Kelli knocked on the window. Johns looked up and rose from his chair.

He opened the door and glared when he saw who it was. “Are you serious, McCabe? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You got nothing and you know it.”

“That’s not for you to say!”

“I know you wanna put this to bed and do it right. But, coming down on someone you know is innocent? C’mon, Johns. Take a break and go get a Coke. Once you’re outta there, you’ll see what I mean.”

He pushed a hand through his hair. He was young, so it was still thick and dark. “You’re not saying that just because you two used to—”

“No, I’m saying it because I’m right.”

He looked at her for a few seconds more. “Fine. I guess you are. Let me just end it now. I like to enjoy my Coke.”

“Good. I know you do.” Kelli took a deep breath as he walked back into the interrogation room. She’d been somewhat nice to him. It wasn’t
that
hard, but she’d done it for Nora. Kelli continued to watch Nora through the mirror. Kelli should have left by now. She didn’t want to.

Nora was the first one through the door. Their gazes met. Kelli could see her surprise as Nora’s eyes widened. She could also see when the warmth took over. Kelli had to pry the imaginary hand squeezing her heart away, so she could breathe.

“Hey.”

Johns slipped out without saying a word.

“Kelli? Why—”

“You okay?” Kelli said, as she studied Nora’s face. Her hair, makeup, and all that other shit was perfect, but she was frazzled. There was something in her eyes, and Kelli could always see. Kelli took a step forward. Nora didn’t back away.

“I…yes, I think so. That wasn’t what I expected. You saw?”

Kelli nodded. “I did.”

Nora cleared her throat. “Everything?”

Kelli did her best to keep her smirk at bay. “Everything.”

“Yes, well. Since this didn’t take as long as I thought, I need to get back to the hospital…finish today’s charting.”

“Mmm, I know it isn’t good for you to be behind,” Kelli said. Then, there it was, that flush Kelli loved so much. This time, Kelli smiled. “C’mon, I’ll walk you out.”

When they reached the door, Kelli pressed a hand to Nora’s lower back and ushered her through the doorway. Nora stiffened, but a second later Kelli felt the trembling. She snatched her hand away. “Sorry.” She paused. “It doesn’t feel like you’re okay, and it sure as hell doesn’t look it, either.”

“I am…as much as I can be.”

Kelli nodded. She walked beside Nora quietly. When they got closer to the elevator, Kelli’s heart jumped to her throat and decided to do the talking. She didn’t want to fight. Shit was too damned draining. “I’m sorry…for what I said last night. I know I hurt you. I know I did. It was wrong for me to try to make some kind of fucked-up comparison.”

Nora stopped and turned. Her gaze was sad and hungry at the same time. “I… Thank you, but
we
did this. You said we need some time. I agree.” She exhaled shakily. “Kelli, I miss you, but I need—”

“Yeah, I know what you need. I need it too.” Safety and trust were hard things to come by and obviously harder to get back once they were lost. “I wasn’t trying to… I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Nora pushed her hair behind her ear. Her eyes were glassy and she looked so damned vulnerable. “We’re talking. That’s what we’re doing.”

“Yeah.” Kelli smiled. She wanted to touch her so badly her palms burned.

“Thank you…for looking out for me.”

Kelli didn’t know how to stop. She nodded. Nora turned and walked away.

Kelli watched her go. “I miss you too,” she said, when Nora was too far away to hear.

CHAPTER 9

Kelli stared at Williams. She could practically see those fucking four words, “she’s in the wind,” floating above his head in a thought bubble with exclamation points and some other weird punctuation.

“We took our time. I wanted an air tight case. His blood was all caked in the wood of the bat for shit’s sake. Plus, her clothes and his blood were all over her house in places that couldn’t be explained.”

“I know all of that. I read the fucking file.”

Williams glared. “We had to make sure the blood was a match. Johns and I agreed that it was best to put someone on her place.”

Kelli stood and invaded Williams’s personal space. She was so close she could see his nose hairs. “None of that fucking matters right now and you know it!” Kelli poked him in the chest. “How the fuck did she give her tail the slip? She has the common sense of a toolbox.”

“Her roommate, Shelly. She helped her. Died Fuller’s hair, cut it, and gave Fuller some of her clothes. She even took Shelly’s car. Apparently, they made an even trade. We had our guy planted a couple houses down. Fuller was obviously smart enough to catch that and cook up this whole scheme. We have a BOLO out on the car. It’s a pretty common make and model. Hopefully she hasn’t switched the plates.”

Her stomach started to hurt as if it had been ripped open and was leaking acid all over the rest of her insides. Kelli shook her head. She couldn’t look at him anymore. It wasn’t his fault. She had to scream it to herself, but Kelli couldn’t choke down the feeling of betrayal that was clawing at her throat. Maybe that was more internal. Besides, she’d shitted on him enough lately, and it took all she had not to add to it. This wasn’t about him. This was about Nora. If something happened to her… Kelli clamped down on the surge of violence that damn near took over. She had to concentrate on being proactive. “I can’t do this by myself. She needs a protective detail. I don’t care what you have to do to convince the lieutenant.”