Evidence of Marriage Read Free Page B

Nikki. “Have the lab check for prints ASAP, then I want it back. The portrait, too.”
    Nikki set her coffee cup on the table and stood.
    He glanced up at Diana, meeting her eyes for as long as he dared. “Is that all?”
    â€œAll Kane sent? Yes.”
    â€œThen Nikki will go with you to get the portrait.”
    Diana hesitated, watching him for a moment. “I need to talk to you.”
    â€œNikki can handle it.” He nodded to his partner, praying she’d help him out this time. He was at the end of his tolerance. He couldn’t stand looking at Diana one more second and pretend she didn’t mean anything to him, that he was just doing his job, working on a case like any other. “Go ahead.”
    A knowing smile playing at the corner of her lips, Nikki made for the café door, her long, dark ponytail swinging down the middle of her back. “Save my seat.”
    Diana paused a second longer before following. When she finally disappeared through the glass door, Reed lowered his head into his hands.
    Even as an awkward teen with more pimples than confidence, he’d never found being near a woman this difficult. But then, it wasn’t every day he had to face the woman he’d loved for five years, the woman he’d finally convinced to say “I do,” the woman who’d turned around and kicked his guts out.
    Minutes passed as he delved into his stack of reports. He’d just reached the bottom of the first pile when the bell on the café door jingled, and the ache returned in full force. And as much as he wanted to blame it on the battery-acid coffee, he knew without looking up Diana was once again heading for his table.
    â€œWe need to talk.”
    â€œDidn’t Nikki take care of things for you?”
    â€œI didn’t come here just to hand over the portrait and card.”
    Of course she didn’t. She couldn’t let him off that easily, after all. “Why did you come?”
    â€œI want to help.”
    â€œHelp?”
    She pulled out a chair and slid into it, plunking her elbows on the table. “I want to go to the prison. I want to talk to Dryden Kane.”
    â€œAnd who is that going to help?”
    She tilted her head and looked at him as if he were an idiot. “In the card, he wrote that he wants to see us, talk to us, then he put in a news clipping about the killer.”
    â€œSo you think he wants to talk to you about the Copycat Killer?”
    â€œDon’t you?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen why send the clipping?”
    â€œYou haven’t seen him for months. Maybe he thought you could use a little incentive. Or maybe…” An extra shot of acid added to the swirl of pain in his gut.
    â€œMaybe what?”
    â€œMaybe it’s a threat.”
    He expected a reaction. She didn’t give him one.
    And he knew why. “Of course, you’ve already thought of that, haven’t you? That’s why you didn’t object when I offered police protection.”
    She averted her gaze, studying a crack in the Formica. “He sent the card to Sylvie. He wrote that bit about her wedding. I’m afraid for her.”
    â€œYou should be afraid for yourself, too.”
    â€œI brought him into Sylvie’s life and my own. I have to deal with him.”
    â€œBy running to visit him? How do you think giving him exactly what he wants is dealing with him?”
    â€œIf I can get him to talk to me, to tell me something, anything about the Copycat Killer, maybe you can use it to find him before he kills more women.”
    â€œAnd Kane?”
    â€œIf you can get evidence tying him to the copycat, maybe you could justify sending him back into solitary confinement, no matter what kind of lawsuit he won against the department of corrections.”
    Not a bad idea, except for the part about her talking to Kane. “I’m sorry, Diana. It’s out of the question.”
    She leaned forward, her