Chapter Forty-Eight
Braddock skidded to a stop in front of Abbott’s home and jumped out of the car before it stopped rocking at the curb.
Both CJ and Abbott had been treated and released from the ER. CJ still wasn’t answering her cell. She’d called from Abbott’s home number and left him a message saying she was here.
Braddock rushed up the steps and pounded on the massive door.
His gut had been in knots since he’d gotten the call about the fire.
He’d still been stuck in the meeting with the chief and the DA going over evidence they didn’t have.
A strict no-interruptions decree had kept anyone from informing him about the fire until nearly an hour after the fact.
He’d thought CJ was still at the precinct. No one had bothered to let him know she’d left, including her.
His pulse jumping erratically, he pounded again. Where the hell was she?
The door opened and she stood there, staring up at him like a lost child. He grabbed her, held her as tight as his arms would allow. She melted against his chest.
When he’d conquered his emotions enough, he murmured, “You sure you’re okay?” He drew back then to look at her.
She nodded. “I’m fine. A little shaken, but that’s to be expected.”
“How about Abbott?” According to the ER, both were fine.
“He’s sporting a few butterfly bandages, but otherwise he’s fine.” She tugged Braddock inside and closed the door. “He retired to his room as soon as we got here.” She shrugged. “A couple hours ago. I think he was pretty shaken as well. But I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to hear from you.”
“We’re still trying to locate Nash. He’s supposed to call Cost back to set up a meeting.” Braddock shook his head. “But I have a feeling the only thing Nash is going to do is attempt to get the hell out of town.”
Worry cluttered her blue eyes. “I need a drink.”
He wasn’t surprised. He could use one himself, but he didn’t dare.
She led the way into an enormous parlor. Went straight to the bar and poured herself a shot of bourbon. After she’d downed it, she looked him in the eye. “Someone set my house on fire with me in it.” She poured another shot.
The police who’d responded to the call had already given Braddock the facts.
CJ had been taking a shower. Abbott had taken a blow to the side of his head and when he woke up he was in an ambulance.
“Had to be Nash. Jenkins claims the only time he wasn’t looking right at your house was when he got a call from dispatch saying the meeting I was in would be prolonged.
He hung up and the next thing he knew there was smoke seeping from a cracked window. ”
“It was Nash,” CJ agreed. “He wouldn’t have wanted me to find anything in the house. The fact that I told him I’d found a video most likely rattled him. Now that we know he has a video, he was likely pissed at the possibility that I might cut into his deal with Cost.”
Braddock nodded. “I should have had Jenkins inside the house instead of outside.” Jesus Christ. CJ could have been killed.
She wasn’t supposed to have left the precinct, but he knew her well enough not to depend on her following orders.
He should have been thinking ahead. But with Lusk’s murder and with questioning Cost and then the meeting called by the brass, he’d fallen down on the job. There was no excuse.
“I found the other camera.”
He hadn’t heard about that. “Tape?”
She shook her head. “This one was in the fireplace. The last place I would have thought to look.”
“Nash probably set up the cameras for Shelley. Don’t forget, the whole video idea was his plan.
But after you told him you’d found that tape, he got nervous.
” Braddock resisted the impulse to reach out and sweep the hair from her face.
She looked so tired. “With what Cost told us, we have to assume that Nash was the last person to see Shelley alive. He was the one to take the tape from the VCR.”
“That just confirms the theory that he’s most likely the one who killed her.”
“That’s the presumption we’re working under,” he confirmed. “Nash is going down, one way or another.”
She leaned against the bar. “I’ll be very glad to see this finished. I am so tired.”
“Why don’t you go to bed? I’ll be here.” She looked ready to drop. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
She stood there a moment, undecided. “I do need sleep.”
He didn’t respond; he understood that she was attempting to convince herself.
“Yeah. Okay.” She looked up at him, the vulnerability showing in her eyes. “Will you stay with me? In my room? I don’t want to be alone.”
“I’ll be wherever you want me to be.”
“Thank you.”
Their gazes held a few seconds longer as if she wanted to say more, but she didn’t. She gestured for him to follow as she led the way up the grand staircase and along the upstairs corridor to the left.
“Wait.” She turned in the other direction. “I should check on Edward before I call it a night. I’ve been pacing the floor downstairs waiting for you. I haven’t checked on him since he went to bed.”
Braddock waited while CJ walked quietly to the double doors leading to what was obviously the master suite. She pressed her ear to the door and listened.
“He’s up,” she said, moving away from the doors. “In the shower. I could hear the water running.” She hesitated. “You think I should go in there? Make sure he’s okay?”
“Is there reason to be concerned that he might black out?”
She shook her head. “The blow stunned him but no concussion, just a nasty contusion and a laceration. Probably just rattled him and then he was overcome by the smoke.”
“In that case, I’m sure he’s fine. You should get some sleep. I’ll keep my ears open. If I hear him up during the night, I’ll check to see if he needs anything.”
“Okay.” Moving more slowly than before, she wandered along the corridor until she reached the guest room. From the size of the place, there were probably several guest rooms.
He settled into a comfortably upholstered chair while she went into the en suite bath and changed. When she’d climbed into the big four-poster bed, he tried to close his eyes to prevent staring at her.
The task proved impossible. He surrendered and allowed himself to stare. She lay on her side facing him, her blond hair splayed across the pale blue pillow. Beautiful. She really was beautiful.
He dropped his head back on the chair and closed his eyes. Focus on the case. Go over the details.
“Braddock?”
His head came up. “Yeah?”
“I can’t sleep.”
He sat up straighter. “Do you want the television on? That usually puts me to sleep.”
She sat up. “Can we just talk?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
To his surprise, she climbed out of the bed and came over to sit on the footstool in front of him. The nightshirt hit midthigh, but when she sat down, it slid higher. His throat went bone dry.
“If I have to go back to Baltimore before this case is completely wrapped up,” she said softly as she stared straight into his eyes, “will you promise me that you won’t give up until you finish it?”
“You have my word.” The thought of her going back to Baltimore sat like a stone in his gut. He’d known, of course, that she would be going back. It shouldn’t matter. But somehow it did. “When are you going back?”
“I have about two more weeks. Then I won’t have any choice without creating major complications.
” She sighed. “I wanted to make sure Shelley’s killer was brought to justice.
But it seems like the more bodies that pile up, the less evidence we have.
Unless this thing with Nash pans out, we’re basically back at square one. ”
“Like I said before, even the most brilliant killers make mistakes,” he reminded her. “We just have to find the one he’s made. It’s there . . . we just don’t see it yet.”
She met his eyes again. “Will you hold me?”
“Definitely.” He opened his arms as she climbed into his lap, then closed them around her. It felt natural holding her this way. Touched him deeply that she trusted him so completely, that had been a long time coming.
“I just need . . . you to hold me.”
He would gladly do that for as long as she wanted.