Die For Me: A Novel of the Valentine Killer (For Me #1)(47)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Where the bastard could watch.

“—that’s when he’ll be more likely to slip up.” Her breath whispered out. “Just put cops on me.”

The uniforms hadn’t done her a damn bit of good before. This time, he’d tell them to stick shadow close.

“But I’m not going to cower in the shadows.”

He could admire that. He did. He actually admired a hell of a lot about her.

If they hadn’t been surrounded by a roomful of avid cops, he would have kissed her.

Again.

“I need to see Joe and Ben,” she told him.

His brows climbed. “The guys from the diner?”

“After what happened yesterday, I just…I need to talk to them.” She glanced down at her trembling hands. “They’re the closest thing to friends that I have in this town. I feel like I owe them an explanation.”

She didn’t owe anything to anyone.

“So I’m going to the diner, then I’ll go home.” Her lips twisted. “Because I’m guessing my gallery is off-limits.”

“It’s an active crime scene.”

“And the showing won’t be happening. Not that anyone would want to come now, knowing who I am.” Her lips twisted. “Or maybe they would. There’s always the freak show aspect.”

“You’re not a freak.” Just hearing her say that had rage pulsing through him. Katherine had worked hard to build her new life, but that life had been ripped apart by a few minutes of prime-time TV.

“Hendricks! Johnson!” Dane barked for the uniforms.

They rushed toward them.

He glared at the two men. “You’re her shadow today, got it? Where she goes, you go.”

The men quickly nodded.

“If anything happens, anything that makes her nervous or makes you nervous, then you get her to a secure location and you call me. Got it?”

More quick nods.

His gaze turned back to Katherine. “I don’t like this.” Just so they were clear.

“I don’t either, but it’s what I have to do.”

Not be afraid. Take charge of her life.

Fuck. It would be so easy to love a woman like her. With a spirit that couldn’t be broken.

So easy.

Screw the cops watching. He took her lips again. Then growled, “I’ll come to you as soon as I finish my check at Lancaster’s.” And as soon as he started running down those drug orders.

She nodded. Her gaze showed no fear, but he knew Katherine was good at hiding her emotions.

Good at not screaming from nightmares.

Good at not breaking when death came.

What would she be like, he wondered, if she didn’t have to be so careful? So good at staying on guard? He’d like to see her that way. The real Katherine.

One day, he vowed, he would see her like that.

The door jingled as Katherine entered the café. The morning rush was in full effect, and the place was packed with hungry customers.

The cops were behind her. They were staying about five steps away from her for every step that she took.

The café was still a sea of red with the tablecloths that Joe had put out before, but now, Katherine saw that Joe had added vases of roses to the tabletops. The sickeningly sweet scent of the roses hit her the instant she stepped inside.

So many damn roses. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, the roses were everywhere. And she hated them.

Katherine exhaled slowly and squared her shoulders. She’d come there for a reason, dammit, and she wasn’t going to let some flowers stop her. When she approached the counter, Joe’s head lifted. His eyes widened when he saw her.

“Katelynn.”

Right. “So I guess you saw the news.”

She eased into her usual seat at the bar. Ben wasn’t there. Pity. She would have liked to talk to them both.

And tell them to be on guard.

Because that was part of the reason she was there. Not just to apologize for scaring both men yesterday, but also to warn them.

She’d told Dane the truth when she said these men were the closest things to friends that she had. Would that closeness cause them to be targets?

Katherine couldn’t take that chance.

Joe’s gaze swept over her face. He was guarded today, whereas before he’d always greeted her with a warm smile.

The smile was gone now.

“I saw on the news,” Joe said quietly as he leaned toward her, “they found that man in your gallery.”

She nodded.

It seemed as if the other voices had hushed in the diner. Or was that her imagination?

“Then you were walking here, with that gun in your hand…”

Katherine took a deep breath and leaned toward him. “There’s a very dangerous killer hunting in this city.”

“Valentine.” The lines near his eyes seemed deeper.

“Yes. I had the gun yesterday—I had it because I was trying to protect myself.”

“From the killer.”

“He’s a man who doesn’t give up what he wants.” Lucky her, she seemed to be what he wanted. Katherine leaned forward. “I want you to promise me you’ll be on guard, okay? Don’t go alone anywhere, don’t stay at the café late by yourself. Just be careful.”

His brows climbed. “Is that why you came here today? To tell me to be careful?”

“I think he’s been watching me.” I know he’s been watching me. “So that means he might have been watching the people in my life, too. You and Ben…you two have always been good to me, and I would never want anything to happen to either of you. You and Ben…you’re the closest I came to having friends here.”

Joe was silent a moment, then he turned away from her. Katherine’s shoulders wanted to slump, but she held them upright with an effort. She hadn’t exactly expected a warm reception, but she’d wanted to warn Joe.

A hot mug of café au lait was pushed in front of her. Katherine glanced up in surprise.

Joe held her gaze. “We’re not close to friends. We are friends…Katherine.”

Her smile trembled.

But then Joe was called away by another customer before she could say anything else to him. Katherine took a sip of the café au lait. She felt warmer now, and it wasn’t because of the drink.

The bell on the door jingled, and Katherine glanced over, hoping to see Ben. Only Ben wasn’t in the doorway.

Another familiar figure was.

Evelyn?

Tension knifed through Katherine as Evelyn’s gaze seemed to laser in on her.