“Was Kandi Miller aware that you’d reconciled with your fiancée?”
“You say you’re innocent despite the evidence. Who do you think could have done this to her?”
“Miss Turner, how does it feel to be engaged to a man accused of murder?”
There was a car waiting at the bottom of the steps and Blane opened the door for me. I climbed in as quickly as I could and saw him say something to Kade before getting in as well. Kade closed the door behind Blane and me, cutting off the shouting reporters. The driver stepped on the gas and we shot down the street.
The tinted windows gave us privacy and I released a pent-up breath. Then my breath was gone altogether as Blane dragged me onto his lap, tossed his sunglasses aside, and kissed me.
It wasn’t a gentle, tender kiss, but one filled with the ache of being parted as his tongue slid hotly against mine. Blane crushed me to him, his hands touching me everywhere he could reach—as though to reassure himself that I was really there.
I tore my mouth from his. “Blane,” I gasped.
Both of us were breathing hard. His hand cupped the back of my neck as his forehead pressed against mine.
“I’m sorry you were there, that you had to see me… like that,” he said.
“What do you mean? Like what?”
“Handcuffed. In court.”
The shame I’d seen on his face earlier made sense now.
I leaned back, but he wouldn’t look me in the eye. I laid my hand along his smooth cheek. “Look at me,” I said softly.
His gaze reluctantly lifted to mine, and I could read the anguish in their depths. If there were two things Blane prided himself on, they were his honor and his reputation—and both were being called into question with this case.
“I know you,” I said, “and I know you didn’t do this. Nothing is going to change that, and nothing is going to change the fact that you’re a man of courage and integrity.”
I surveyed the bruises on his face, lightly brushing a finger over the cut on his lip. “What happened in there?” I asked. “Kade said he was going to help. We didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“It was what I expected,” Blane said evasively. “Kade’s help was very… timely.”
And I knew he wasn’t going to say anything more about it.
I thought I should probably get off his lap, but I couldn’t make myself let go of him and his hold on me didn’t let up.
“Were you all right while I was gone?” he asked. “Did you stay at my house?”
I ignored the first question and evaded the second. “I promised you I would.”
Blane’s fingers toyed with the scarf at my neck and I stiffened, hoping he wouldn’t try to take it off. No way did I want to tell him what happened. He had enough going on and it didn’t matter anyway.
Kade was waiting at the house when we arrived. Mona greeted us at the door. She didn’t say a word, just hugged Blane. His face softened as he hugged her back, brushing a kiss to her forehead. She let him go and gave my hand a squeeze as we walked by, a look of shared understanding passing between us: Blane belonged here, not in a jail.
Blane led me to the den, where he tossed his jacket on a chair as he walked behind his desk.
“Where are we?” he asked, loosening and then removing his tie.
Kade sat in one of the leather wingback chairs facing Blane, who remained standing. “Jared said he has news. He’s going to be by any minute.”
Blane nodded. “What happened while I was gone? What’s Kathleen hiding from me?”
“What—nothing!” I spluttered. I should have known that Blane, an expert at reading people, would have seen through my vague answers.
“Gage tried again,” Kade said, ignoring me. “We’re lucky she’s alive.”
The we seemed deliberate and the two of them locked eyes for a moment, something passing between them that I didn’t understand.
The doorbell rang and a few moments later, Mona showed Jared into the room.
“We’ve examined the phone records for both James and Kandi,” he said as he took a seat. “The number of calls between them should be enough to prove they had a relationship.”
I frowned. Kade had said the calls Kandi had made were to an unlisted burner phone, untraceable. Now there were documented calls between the two of them? But I kept my mouth shut.
“Any calls the night of the murder?” Blane asked.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Jared said.
“You probably want to have that checked again,” Kade interjected. “I have it on good authority that not only is there a call from James to Kandi, there’s also the fact that the cell tower his phone used is within a half mile of Kandi’s house.”
Blane sent a sharp look Kade’s way but said nothing.
Jared’s expression was grave as he handed Blane a folder.
“The DNA tests are complete,” he said. “Unfortunately, there was nothing to tie James to the scene, but these came back positive.”
“What are they?” Blane asked, thumbing through the folder.
“The semen tested as a positive match for you.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
No one spoke. The look of shock on Blane’s face echoed, I was sure, the one on mine.
“Well, that sucks.”
I looked at Kade, thinking that was the understatement of the century. He seemed unfazed by the information, but the set of his face was grim.
“I managed to destroy the results,” Jared continued. “But when they can’t find them, I’m sure they’ll test again.”
“How did they get my DNA?” Blane asked.
“The Navy,” Kade answered, getting up and going to the sideboard to pour a drink. “I bet they took your DNA when you joined the SEALs, in case they needed to identify your remains at some point.”
Nausea rose in my throat at the thought of there not being enough of Blane’s body left to identify him while he was in combat.
“Fuck.” Blane’s hands were clenched in fists. “They would have needed a court order for that.”
“Maybe not if someone has friends in high places,” Jared speculated. “The point is, the results match you, not James. What are we going to do about it?”
“Why are you putting your job on the line for Blane?” Kade suddenly asked, taking a swallow of the scotch in his hand. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What’s in it for you?”
“Kade—” Blane broke in.
“No, it’s okay,” Jared interrupted. He addressed Kade. “Blane was deployed in Afghanistan at the same time my brother was there.”
“Your brother’s a SEAL?” Kade asked.
“No, he was in the Army. But he was part of a team that got trapped by insurgents. It was too hot—no one could get in to get them.” He tipped his head toward Blane, who’d gone to the window, his hands braced on his hips. “Except Blane here. He and another guy got in to where my brother was holed up and fought their way out. He saved my brother and two of his buddies.”
I glanced over at Blane, but he was looking out the window. He didn’t respond to Jared’s story, not that I thought he would, and the account of what he’d done didn’t surprise me.
“So now if he needs something, I’m here to do it,” Jared finished.
“Not if it costs you your job,” Blane said, turning around to face him.
Jared stood. “You let me worry about that. I’ll check into those phone records, but we need a break in this case—and soon.”
“Thanks, Jared,” Blane said.
Jared walked out, leaving me with Blane and Kade. Still reeling from the results of the DNA tests, I sat down heavily on the sofa.
“Kade, give us a minute, please,” Blane said, his tone filled with quiet resignation. His hands were in his pockets as he stared again out the window.