Die For Me: A Novel of the Valentine Killer (For Me #1)(28)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Then maybe by being out, she’d be able to find him.

Katherine took her usual seat at the counter. Joe came over at once, his face drawn in lines of worry. “I’m glad you came back.” He leaned toward her, and his gaze searched her face. “You ran out of here so fast the other morning, I thought something was wrong.”

Just one or two things. Murder. Torture. The usual.

“I wasn’t feeling that great.” She offered him a smile. “I’m sorry if I worried you.”

“You worried us both.”

She turned her head, and saw Ben Miller on a nearby stool. Like Joe, Ben had always seemed friendly, but since she hadn’t been in a frame of mind to make friends, she’d closed him out.

She’d closed everyone out. It had become habit for her.

Ben usually arrived at the café at the same time she did. A few years older than she was, Ben wore dark-framed glasses and always looked as if he’d just left the gym. Sweats, freshly washed hair. She suspected he worked out at the gym across the street, then raced over for Joe’s famous breakfast. Joe really did make the best beignets she’d ever tasted, and after moving to New Orleans, she’d made it a point to taste every beignet she could.

Ben hadn’t ever hit on her. He just ate, gazed at the news, then went about his business. He’d even brought his girlfriend with him a few times, a pretty blonde in spandex.

Katherine realized she should say something. Their concern was making her uncomfortable, especially since she was lying to them both. Her fingers tapped on the counter. “It was really nothing.” The cop had to be listening in on this. “I just needed to get back home.”

But it mattered to her that these two men cared about what happened to her. She wasn’t just walking through life like a ghost after all.

Ben’s dark brown eyes drifted over her face. “If someone’s giving you trouble,” he said softly, “you can tell me.”

“Damn right.” Joe slapped his apron on the counter. “You’re a good lady. You come in here like clockwork, never bother anyone. If someone’s bothering you, me and Ben will take care of him for you.”

She blinked away tears. “Thank you.” I matter. “But it’s nothing, really. Just a little sickness.” Her smile was more genuine this time. “Can I just have my usual, please, Joe?”

“Sure thing.” But Joe hesitated, and his face became more serious. “I know about trouble, okay?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. “Seven years sober,” he whispered. His fingers fisted around that coin. His gaze held hers. “When it’s not easy, you have to remember: things always get better.” He gave her a firm nod.

She nodded back and forced a smile. Things could get better, but how many people have to die first?

The bell over the door rang, signaling a new customer. Katherine glanced over and saw a leggy blonde making her way to Ben’s side.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she pressed a quick kiss to Ben’s cheek. “Spin class was a bitch.”

The woman had an easy, casual confidence. Her fingers linked with Ben’s. There was warmth and affection in her gaze. These two, they were normal. Happy.

I want to be like that.

Ben bent and whispered to his girlfriend, and the blonde laughed softly.

“I’ll take that order to go,” Ben told Joe.

Joe started to bundle up some beignets in a plastic container.

Ben and the blonde stood, but Ben cast Katherine one more glance. “Don’t forget, if you have trouble…”

“What’s going on?” the blonde asked, her eyebrows rising.

“Nothing,” Katherine said immediately. The last thing she wanted was to pull these two into her nightmare.

The blonde’s gaze was worried as it lingered on Katherine. Not worried in the jealous way. Just worried.

Joe pushed the to-go order toward Ben, and the couple headed toward the door. Katherine exhaled slowly. Her gaze swept over the diner. Joe had put out a few dozen red tablecloths for Valentine’s Day. The red was dark—and it reminded her far too much of blood. Joe had also put bouquets of white balloons in each corner of the restaurant. His patrons were smiling, relaxing, obviously enjoying the decorations.

But those decorations just made Katherine tense.

Valentine’s Day is so close.

The bell jingled again. She figured it was Ben and his blonde leaving, so she didn’t glance back. But then she heard, “Katherine.”

Dane’s voice.

She turned toward the door.

Ben and the blonde weren’t outside yet. Dane and Mac had come into the café. They looked grim, determined.

Another kill? She stood on trembling legs. Oh no, please…

“Dane?” The blonde said his name in surprise. She glanced between Dane and Katherine. “Is everything okay?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, Maggie,” Dane said as he gave her a quick nod. His gaze scanned over Ben. Then he hurried toward Katherine. His voice dropped, and he said, “You need to come with me.”

“Katherine, is this a friend of yours?” Joe asked as his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Ben had tensed.

Maggie also appeared nervous. “He’s a cop,” Katherine heard the blonde tell Ben. “He works with my dad.”

Katherine slid off the stool. “It’s okay, Joe. This is Detective Dane Black.”

Dane tossed some money down on the counter. “Come on, Katherine.”

She hurried to grab her bag. The plainclothes shadow was also rising to leave.

“But she didn’t eat!” Joe called out.

It didn’t matter. Suddenly she wasn’t hungry.

Then they were outside. The rising heat hit her in the face, and before she could head toward Dane’s parked car, he was pulling her away from the street and into the shadows on the side of the building.

“Do you trust me?” Dane demanded as his hands closed around her shoulders.

She tensed. Katherine didn’t want to give him the harsh answer, but the truth was, she didn’t trust anyone.

“I need you to trust me, Katherine.”

She could only shake her head. “I’m sorry.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “I think the killer has been very close to you, Katherine. Close all along, and you didn’t even realize it.”

Her skin started to feel icy.

“Amy Evans used to be Amy Lancaster.”

The ice started to burn.