White Collared Part Three: Revenge Read Free

eyes. 

Chapter Three
    H AD NICK WITNESSED their kiss?
    In all the chaos, she hadn’t noticed that they’d left the door ajar until Nick appeared in the doorframe. But the suspicion she thought she’d seen in his eyes disappeared as he dropped his briefcase by the door and then strode to her with his arms outstretched.
    He pulled her into an embrace and held her tight, breathing hard. “Are you okay? God, Kate, when Jaxon told me about Hannah . . .” He stepped back. “How is she?”
    “Someone stabbed her in the back.” The irony of those words dawned on her. “When I found her, she was unconscious. The paramedic said her lung collapsed, and they were taking her to Detroit Receiving.”
    Nick squeezed her shoulder. “They’ll take care of her.” He frowned. “We need to call her parents. Do you have their number?”
    Her stomach plummeted. How could she explain what had happened? “No, but they live in Grosse Pointe.”
    Maybe he read the panic in her eyes because he nodded to her and said, “I’ll call them.”
    She heard more footsteps on the stairs.
    “Police,” a man in blue announced at her door.
    “Come in,” she said.
    The young black officer waved two others inside her small apartment, one carrying a camera and the other carrying a silver case. He joined her by the couch and flashed his badge.
    “Kate Martin? I’m Officer Michael Price. I’ve brought Officers George and Hannon to collect evidence while I take the report.”
    They moved closer to the kitchen table, allowing one officer to take photographs of the blood saturating Kate’s carpet. She’d never again look at the carpet without seeing Hannah’s nearly lifeless body lying there.
    Nick handed Officer Price his business card. “Nicholas Trenton, Ms. Martin’s attorney.”
    The cop’s eyebrows arched with suspicion. “Is there a reason she called an attorney?”
    “Ms. Martin interns for me at Joseph and Long, as does the victim,” Nick said. “But she didn’t call me. Mr. Deveroux did.” He motioned with a jab of his chin toward Jaxon.
    The cop’s lips tugged up in a mocking smile. “Bodies just seem to turn up when you’re around, huh?”
    A muscle in Jaxon’s cheek twitched, but otherwise he didn’t react. “The same could be said about you, officer.”
    Officer Price smiled. “Touché. And what is your relationship to Ms. Martin?”
    Jaxon didn’t blink. “She’s part of my legal team.”
    “And that’s why you’re at her apartment on a Sunday night? To work?” the officer asked with a clear implication in his words.
    “Yes,” Jaxon said, not giving the cop anything to work with.
    Officer Price moved closer to her. “Is that true, Ms. Martin?”
    She froze. A prickling sensation crawled down her spine, and a cold sweat broke out on her neck. The scents of sulfur and fresh leaves joined the copper of Hannah’s blood. As if someone turned off the lights, a curtain of black descended over her eyes.
    “Katie, tell us the truth. We won’t get mad. It wasn’t an accident, was it?”
    “Can I wash my hands?”
    The beefy cop frowned. “You already washed your hands after the nice officer took samples. Don’t you remember?”
    She flipped her palms over. They were streaked with brown. “It won’t come off. I can’t get them clean.”
    He nodded but didn’t even look at her hands. “We’ll get you some special soap. Katerina, you’ll have to forgive me for having a hard time believing it was an accident. You’re the town’s best shooter.”
    “It was an accident. I loved my father and he loved me.”
    “Did he touch you inappropriately? Beat you or your mother? You can tell us and we won’t judge you.”
    She clenched her fists. “That’s disgusting. You know—everyone in this town knows—he was the most decent man in the world. He never hurt me. Never even spanked me. I’m done answering your questions. Don’t I have a right to an attorney?”
    He paused and then smiled like they were