Page 24 of After The Storm
As for the cops, he had a hard time squaring what he knew about every cop he’d ever known and her suspicion that the local police had it out for her. While that kind of thing made for good movies and sold newspapers, he’d always found the truth to be far less exciting but no less impressive.
Police, whether local yokel cops or big city officers, tended to err on the side of good and honor in his experience. As much as she wanted to believe there was some conspiracy against her led by the New Orleans Police Department, he just didn’t buy it.
“What proof do you have that the cops are somehow involved in this case?” he asked and then waited for her to tell him something, anything to convince him she was onto the truth with her theory.
Her eyebrows drew in toward her nose like angry slashes. Obviously, she didn’t like his question, but that didn’t change the fact that he needed an answer.
She began talking with her hands again, waving them around wildly as she became more frustrated with every moment he didn’t jump up and agree with her.
“They came after me at that seedy motel. Why? What would make me a suspect?” she asked, punctuating her question by pointing at him.
“You were Jonas Flynn’s only assistant, Kate. You naturally would be a suspect, along with every other person in his life.”
“Ah ha!” she exclaimed, pointing at him again. “Right there I can prove that’s wrong. Jonas had a girlfriend. Why isn’t she the one whose face is being flashed all over the television? If there was going to be a threesome or a love triangle or whatever they’re claiming, wouldn’t she be the logical third person and not me?”
She did have a point. A romantic entanglement theory would lend itself to one of the victim’s girlfriends more than it would Kate, someone who merely worked with Jonas.
“Okay, that makes sense. Do you have any other proof?”
Glaring at him, she twisted her face into a scowl. “Jonas told me not to trust the cops if anything happened to him involving this case. It’s like he was predicting the future.”
“That’s not proof.”
“Well, why would he tell me that then? Maybe he knew something about the cops that we don’t know. Maybe that case had something to do with a cop. Maybe he knew they’d protect their own if what one of them did ever came out,” she said, clearly grasping at straws for anything that sounded even remotely possible.
“Until there’s some proof, I can’t believe that.”
His dismissal of all her theories infuriated her, and she began to pace back and forth through the room. “Why? Because you’re one of them or used to be one of them so you think they’re angels? Let me introduce you to the real world, Roman. It happens every day. Cops are just as liable to be crooked and dirty as anyone else. They aren’t impervious to being bad. That badge doesn’t mean they have some kind of protective shield around them that evil can’t get through. Trust me.”
“I’ve never been a cop. That’s not why I’m having a hard time believing all of this. I just don’t see any proof that the New Orleans Police Department is trying to frame you or do anything else other than solve these two murders.”
He knew saying that would anger her even more, but he had no intention of lying to her. He also knew that he didn’t seem to be doing what he’d been sent there to do. As part of Project Artemis, his job was to protect women in danger, and he believed in that one hundred percent.
He just wasn’t so sure this woman was in danger. However, he didn’t know all the facts yet, particularly regarding what this case her boss was working on with his client. Without that information, he couldn’t determine exactly who may be looking to cause Kate harm.
“Proof? You want proof, huh,” she said, marching into the bathroom and slamming the door.
She definitely had a fire inside her. Roman just wondered if he’d given it too much oxygen this time. He had no idea what kind of proof she’d find in the bathroom, but whatever she found in there, he worried what she’d try to do with it.
The anger in her eyes warned him that she’d probably try to do something dangerous. This woman seemed to have a penchant for flying off the handle, so as he waited for her to come out, he considered how to react to whatever she sprung on him.
The bathroom door flew open, and Kate stormed out fully dressed. Pointing angrily at him, she said, “You want proof? Fine. I’ll get you proof. If you’re here when I get back, then you’ll see. If not, then have a nice life.”
Get back? Where the hell did she intend on going at four in the morning?
As she hurried toward the door to leave, he jumped up and headed across the room to stop her. Grabbing her by the arm, he said, “Where do you think you’re going?”
She looked up at him with eyes full of rage before yanking her arm from his hold. “I just told you. I’m going to get proof that the police are involved in this.”
He stood there stunned at how reckless she was. “No way. You’re staying right here where I can protect you.”
“And not believe me! I deserve the chance to vindicate myself. I can see it written all over your face. You think I’m lying to you.”
She began to move toward the door again, intent on actually leaving and going out where the cops could find her, along with anyone else, like the person who had killed her boss and his client and may well be searching for her at that very moment.
“Kate, it’s too dangerous. I can’t let you go,” he said as he blocked her path with his body.
Her mouth dropped open, and she stared up at him in shock. “Let me? I’m a grown woman. No one lets me do anything. Now move out of my way.”