The Unexpected Hero Read online

  He was silent for a moment, then, “Did your dad try to talk you out of signing up?”

  “Yes. Once. He only tried once.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That he understood why I wanted to do it, that maybe he’d raised me with too strong a sense of duty. And finally, that there was no way I could begin to understand what I was walking into.”

  “Which of course was true.”

  “He was absolutely right about that.” She stirred a little, sighing. “But he didn’t exactly try to change my mind. It’s hard to explain. I think mostly he wanted me to think it through hard before I took the step, but once my mind was made up, all he said was that he was damn proud of me. It was almost as if he felt I was doing the right thing, but as a parent he was scared for me, if that makes sense.”

  “It makes perfect sense, especially given that we were already at war. That wasn’t an issue for my family when I first enlisted. You could almost hear the marching bands in the background. They threw a party, my dad told me he was proud that I was stepping up to be a man, and serve my country. The tune didn’t change until I re-upped after the Gulf War. Then I heard about how I’d done my bit and I could be a civilian doctor just as well. But by then, I’d seen the very things that made me want to go to medical school and there was no way I was going to quit.”

  She shook her head a little. “In the end we both had to get out.”

  “But it wasn’t quitting,” he said firmly. “Don’t you start feeling guilty again. If they needed either of us, we’d be back there right now.”

  “You’re right.” She hadn’t thought of it that way, and in her heart, a little flame of light appeared. “Yeah, you’re right.” She sat up. “They recall anyone they need, like my brother. The fact that they let us go—”

  “—means we aren’t essential. For whatever reason, they’ve got enough medical people.”

  She looked at him and smiled. “Thank you for that. I really didn’t see it that way.”

  “I know you didn’t. But unlike the boots on the ground, we don’t seem to be irreplaceable. So hallelujah for that, because I’m not sure I wouldn’t have blown a gasket.”

  He leaned toward her. “You know the one thing nobody talks about?”

  “What’s that?”

  “That the troops get to vent their rage and anger when they get into a bad situation. They get to fight back. You and me? We see the results of it all, we get angry, and we can’t afford to let it out. We have to bottle it in every single minute of the day. Hell, they don’t even let us pick up a gun and go shoot tin cans. Playing basketball or taking tae kwon do lessons don’t quite do it.”

  She nodded thoughtfully.

  “Now don’t take that to mean I don’t think the troops have the worst end of the whole deal, because they sure as hell do. We had it easy by comparison. I’m just saying that we medics see all the carnage, and even if we want to go shoot something up, we’ll never get a chance. I guess we’re not supposed to get angry, or if we do, we’re supposed to channel it into saving lives.”

  “We probably do channel most of it that way. But there are still times…” And she could remember more than one.

  “Exactly. But let’s not ruin this fantastic evening by continuing down this particular trail. Can you shake free?”

  She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him. In that instant, she knew she could shake free just by looking at him. He took her to a whole other level.

  “I can,” she said and smiled. “When I look at you.”

  “Same here,” he said, his tone dropping, his voice growing husky. “When I look at you, I see all the promise that was sucked out of my life long ago.”

  He leaned slowly toward her, as if he were going to kiss her.

  At that moment, however, there was a hard hammering on her door.

  “Sheriff,” said a too-familiar voice. “Open up.”

  Krissie jumped up. “Oh, God, I’m not dressed.”

  “You run into your room and find your clothes. I’ll get the door.”

  She grabbed her clothes from the floor and dashed into her bedroom, closing the door just as the hammering started again.

  She hoped to God something terrible hadn’t happened.

  “We’re here to take you in for questioning in the deaths of two hospital patients,” Deputy Sara Ironheart said. Just past her shoulder stood Deputy Jake Lancaster. Krissie knew both of them, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

  For the first time in her life, she discovered what it felt like. Two deputies standing before her to take her to the sheriff’s office, all the doorways along the hall open as her neighbors watched. Knowing her own innocence didn’t ease the sense of shame and humiliation.

  “Can I ride along?” David asked from behind her.

  “No, doctor,” Sara said evenly. “You can follow in your own vehicle if you wish.”

  Then Sara’s gaze trained on Krissie again. “Are you coming?”

  Apparently Gage had put his plan into action with a vengeance, Krissie thought miserably. She couldn’t imagine ever holding her head up again in this town after this. “Do you need to handcuff me?”

  “No, ma’am, this is just for questioning.”

  Turning, Krissie slipped on the shoes she kept by the door, gave a longing and sad look to David, then turned to go with the deputies.

  She felt like she was on a perp walk, as her neighbors watched her go by. The only bright spot was David calling after her, “I’ll be there in five minutes, Krissie!”

  Downstairs, outside, the flashing lights of the squad car had drawn even more of the curious. Probably an additional fillip to Gage’s plan. The more attention he drew, the faster the rumor would get out.

  At that moment, a nice, dark, dank cave would have been a welcome alternative.

  Sara put her in the backseat, behind the cage, then with one whoop of the siren to warn people to stand back, they began to the drive to the sheriff’s office.

  “That was not fun,” Krissie remarked grimly.

  “It never is,” Sara answered. But her voice had gentled from a tone of severe authority. “It’ll be okay.”

  “After that,” Krissie retorted, “it’ll never be okay again.”

  She was absolutely convinced of that. She couldn’t imagine any way this could play out now, even with nailing the real criminal, that wouldn’t leave her tainted in the eyes of the county.

  Where there’s smoke there’s fire. How many times had she heard that in her life? Nothing Gage said now would ever completely erase the impression people would have that Kristin Tate was somehow involved in those murders. Why the hell had she agreed to this?

  But before despair could overtake her, she felt her spine stiffen. She’d faced a lot worse to save lives, a lot worse than a few rumors and sidelong looks. Lives hung in the balance here, and it was important to catch this predator before someone else died.

  She could handle this. She didn’t have to like it, but she could handle it.

  She recited that mantra all the way to the sheriff’s office. She could handle this.

  They put her in an interrogation room near the back of the building. No windows, but totally out of place, there was a cot against one wall that looked as if it had been freshly made. A coffeepot sat on a small table in the corner with a stack of cups, sugar, creamer and artificial sweetener. There was even a tray of sandwiches and another of Danishes under plastic wrap on the long table that had a chair on either side.

  The door opened and Gage stepped in. “I know it’s not the Hilton,” he said, waving his arm to indicate the amenities, “but it’s as comfortable as I can make things here. The cameras and microphones are turned off, so you have privacy. You know where the bathroom is, and you won’t be locked in, okay?”

  She nodded, still standing in the center of the room. “Do you have any idea how awful that was?”

  He nodded. “Can you think of a faster way to get the rumor out
?”

  “My mother is going to have a cow.”

  “Actually,” said the familiar voice of her dad, “she’s not.” He stepped around the corner and joined her and Gage in the small room.

  “Et tu, Brute?” she asked sarcastically.

  He gave her an almost mischievous smile, one she hadn’t seen in many years. “Yeah, me too. You do what’s necessary, and I think this is necessary. So does your mom. Honey, we’ve got to catch this guy before he does anything else. Before you get hurt.”

  “I think I’ve just been mortally wounded. I’ll never be able to hold my head up again.”

  “Sure you will,” her dad said bracingly. “Don’t catastrophize.”

  How many times had he said that to her, especially during her teen years?

  “Being carted off by the cops in front of several dozen neighbors isn’t exactly catastrophizing.”

  Gage spoke. “No handcuffs, remember? You’ll have to trust me on this, Krissie. There won’t be a word spoken against you once we get the guy.”

  “How are you going to achieve that?”

  “For now, that has to be my little secret.”

  “Great.”

  Nate cleared his throat. “There’s a young doctor out front demanding to see you. I get the feeling his interest is no longer purely professional.”

  Krissie glared at him. “So?”

  Nate shrugged. “I think I should leave now so that when your mother asks me for all the details I don’t have to lie about the fact that you’re not in this room alone all night.” He closed the distance between them, hugged her tight and whispered in her ear, “Trust us, sugar. Trust us. It will all come out right.”

  She wouldn’t have believed those words from any other soul on the planet, but from her dad, well, that was different. “I love you, Daddy,” she murmured, as her throat tightened and stupid tears pricked her eyes.

  “I know you do, sugar. So just hang in there.” He gave her another squeeze and walked out. She could hear his steps fade away down the hall.

  That left her and Gage, and he was half smiling. “I’ll let David back here in just a minute. The only restriction you have is not to go in the front office where you could be seen from the street. Sara and I are going to hang out here, like we’re questioning you, but basically we’re going to be napping in the back office. Around eight tomorrow morning, when there are enough people heading for work and thus plenty of people to see you, you’ll be free to go.”

  “I have to stay all night?”

  “Well, we made a big to-do about taking you in. I want just as much notice when we take you home. That should frustrate our killer and push him.”

  “If that’s what’s pushing him.”

  “If it’s not, we’ll know pretty quick.”

  “And then?”

  He shook his head. “One step at a time, Krissie. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business, you can’t plan too far down the road, because you keep finding out new things, and plans go out the window like birds in flight.”

  She nodded then, resigning herself.

  “Oh, and while I didn’t say anything to your dad, there is another cot free. You want David in here with you tonight?”

  She looked at him and saw only the greatest kindness there. A far cry from a man who had once scared her because death seemed to look out of those eyes. “Actually,” she said, “if David wants to be here, then yes. And I don’t care who knows.” The last was a small jab at her dad, and Gage chuckled.

  “Whatever,” he said. “It’s not like Emma and I observed the rules of bundling before we got married. We’ll get that cot in here.”

  A minute later, David joined her. Once again, he looked like the disheveled and overworked doctor she had seen on her first shift: hair tousled, beard unshaven and growing dark, and his eyes almost hollow.

  “God,” he said, stepping into the room and wrapping her instantly in a bear hug. “God! Even knowing it wasn’t for real, it was hell.”

  “I know. I felt so humiliated.”

  “How could you not, with all those people staring as if you were a sideshow. At least they didn’t cuff you.”

  “Small favors,” she murmured. Pressing her face into his shoulder, she inhaled deeply of his scent. He was better than aromatherapy. Relaxation seeped through her.

  From the doorway came the sound of a clearing throat. Krissie at once started to step back, but David held on.

  “Just a folding cot,” Gage said. “Sorry it’s not better, but it’s all we’ve got.”

  “It’ll do,” David said. “I can sleep on the floor if necessary.”

  Krissie turned her head to smile at Gage, resting her cheek against David’s shoulder. “Thanks, Gage.”

  “Not a problem. But after this, I’ll owe you one.”

  “Yeah,” she said, still smiling, “you might at that.”

  Gage quickly unfolded the wooden cot, locked it in place. “I’ll be back in a second with some blankets and pillows from the jail upstairs. Just ignore me.”

  David grinned. “I was planning to do exactly that.”

  But after a quick kiss, he released Krissie and pulled out a chair at the table. “Maybe I should ask if he has some spare handcuffs.” He wiggled his brows. “We could take turns.”

  Krissie finally laughed, letting go of the last of the unhappy feelings from her public humiliation. She pulled out the other chair and sat facing David. “You aren’t a sheriff’s daughter, so you wouldn’t know those are exactly the wrong kind of cuffs.”

  “Are they? What’s wrong with them?”

  “Metal. They can hurt you in short order.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” He lifted one eyebrow. “And how did you learn this?”

  “I played with them when I was a kid. Snuck them off my dad’s belt. Then, because I’d been bad, I didn’t want to go to him for help when I realized they were too tight and the more I struggled the more I abraded my wrists.”

  “Ouch.” He winced. “I can just see it.”

  She lifted one corner of her mouth in a smile. “So, if you want to play with cuffs, I recommend leather, maybe with fur lining.”

  He leaned toward her, his voice going husky. “Oh, lady, we may have to make a trip to the big bad city and do a little naughty shopping.”

  She giggled. “I might be persuaded.”

  “Somehow I think that won’t be too hard.” He reached out and she placed her hand in his. “The worst part of tonight is going to be that we’re both night owls. How much easier if we could just sleep through our incarceration.”

  “Somebody gave me a couple of really good sleeping pills earlier,” she said coyly. “Funny, they wore off when the cops arrived.”

  “Only a couple. I could have sworn the dose was higher.”

  At that she broke into a laugh. From down the hallway she heard footsteps. “Shh,” she said, still laughing.

  Gage appeared with pillows and blankets tucked under his arms. “Now don’t have too much fun,” he said as he dropped his load on the cot. “You’re being interrogated, remember. The third degree. Bright lights. Nasty cops shouting at you.”

  Krissie’s look questioned him. “Have you ever done that?”

  “In my younger, seedier days.” Apparently sensing the invitation, he perched on the edge of the table. “You are full of questions.”

  “Well—” she hesitated “—I’ve always been a little curious since you were an undercover agent with the DEA.”

  He shrugged his shoulder, then winced. Along with his burn scars, he still limped and had a notoriously bad back. “Well, it’s not exactly like the movies.”

  “I didn’t think it would be.”

  “In a way, the worst part wasn’t the undercover work itself. Yeah, it sometimes leaves you feeling really soiled, but that’s inescapable. For me, at the beginning at least, it was that other agents and cops didn’t know who I was. So they were after me, too, and sometimes they didn’t
follow the letter of the law.”

  “How so?”

  He cocked his head. “I got roughed up a few times. Manhandled. Clubbed on a traffic stop.”

  “My God!” Krissie said. “I hope you reported these guys.”

  “I couldn’t. Besides, it helped establish my bona fides with the guys I was after. It got kind of annoying though, when they’d put me under surveillance and threaten to blow my whole gig. That was when I had to call my handler, and he’d had to find some way to call the dogs off without giving my identity away.”

  “That must have been hard.”

  “Harder for him than me. Overall though, that kind of stuff didn’t happen often. I had more trouble with local cops than DEA.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because DEA was after bigger fish. The locals were after anything they could find, from users to street dealers. When I got far enough up in the local organization and started wearing fancy suits, I think everybody was watching me.” He chuckled. “The game got real interesting at times.”

  “How long did you do that?”

  “About five years. Then we had the goods, and I had to blow my cover by testifying in court.” His face darkened then, but he apparently forced himself to move away from that as he rose. “Anyway, you can stay under cover only so long in most cases. There comes a point where you can be pinpointed by what you’ve revealed to the authorities, or when you just have to come out and testify to make the case. Yeah, they try to protect you, even in court, but the secret is pretty much out, so you move on to other work in the agency at a different location, and some new young agent comes along to replace you.”

  He managed a crooked smile as he started toward the door. “It’s not a life I would recommend to anyone, but I sure as hell thought I was hot stuff when I was doing it.”

  Then he was gone, closing the door behind him.

  “Wow,” David said quietly. “I never thought of being victimized by other cops.”

  “Me, either, but I guess it makes sense. How many people can you afford to have knowing who the undercover guys are?”

  “Not many, would be my guess. With each additional person who knows, there’s that much more chance someone will slip.”