Kayla swallowed a groan at her sister’s attitude, yet she couldn’t understand the police treatment, either. Sirens began an insistent wail in the distance. At least she’d get an ice-pack rather than a barrage of questions she was too weak and nauseous to answer.
The officer eased back but not off. He lowered himself until he was at Kayla’s eye level. “Look, the guy trashed the back room and did a number on you. Obviously he was looking for cash. Why? A little help from you will make things go easier.”
“For whom?” Catherine jumped in. “She’s not going to do your job for you and I want to know why you’ve been grilling her like she’s a criminal instead of helping the victim.”
“I’d like to know the answer to that, too.”
“Kane.” Kayla would recognize that voice anywhere.
He’d come back. A rush of powerful emotions hit her so fast her battered body and foggy mind couldn’t decipher them now. She pushed herself to a standing position and turned as quickly as the pain in her head would allow.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Catherine asked.
Kayla winced at her sister’s harsh tone. She never should have told Catherine even sketchy information about last night with Kane.
Kayla glanced at him. He stood in the entryway to the back room looking angry and dangerous, displaying the side she’d only glimpsed before. He ignored Catherine but when his gaze lit on hers, his expression softened.
He stepped toward her and held out his arms. She slid into his embrace. A comforting arm settled around her waist while the wall supported her back. “Well, Officer? Since when does the Boston P.D. grill injured victims?” he asked the junior cop.
The young officer flushed red. “I’m sorry, Detective, but…”
“Detective?”
Kayla’s body went rigid and Kane winced. Not the way he’d wanted her to find out. He hadn’t planned on her finding out at all. But nothing had gone as planned since he’d laid eyes on Kayla Luck.
He’d been halfway to the station house door when the 911 call had come in and the captain had waylaid him in the hall. Concern for Kayla had blocked out common sense, so here he was-with a job to do.
He took in her pale skin, glassy eyes and the red bruise on her forehead. He’d botched this “case” but no more. He took her arm despite her token resistance.
“Where are you taking her?”
Kane glanced at the blonde he’d met briefly last night, the one with flashing green eyes who’d just given the junior officer a tongue-lashing. “To the nearest chair. What are you, her sister or her guard dog?”
She opened her mouth but Kayla interrupted first. “Catherine, don’t. He’s right. If I don’t sit I’ll be sick.”
He muttered a curse, then led her into the outer room.
With her leaning against him for support, Kane was reminded of last night. His body reacted with instant and urgent need. Ignoring her wasn’t an option, acknowledging and distancing himself was.
Kayla accepted his help only until she reached the chair, then jerked out of his grasp and collapsed into the high-backed cushioned seat.
He knelt beside her. “Kayla…”
“What is it, Detective?” She spat the word like a curse. Her eyes remained closed, an effective physical barrier. He’d obviously added to the damage he’d already done. Her emotional walls were in place-just like his.
The paramedics came barging through the door, saving him from having to answer. As they examined her, he had time to reflect. He didn’t like what he concluded.
He’d put his emotions before his case. Worse, he put this woman at risk. He glanced at Kayla. Bad enough he’d slept with her, but believing for an instant he could have more than one night had been insanity. Foolishness that could only lead to destruction. He’d broken his cardinal rule: he’d gotten involved.
If he’d maintained a distance, he would have been thinking more clearly. He would never have let her walk out the door this morning. Kayla’s ignorance about illegal activities at Charmed! didn’t mean those activities didn’t exist. The captain was right. Kayla had gotten to him and in the process he’d compromised not only the case but her safety.
“Okay.” The paramedic in the blue jacket stood. “Looks like a concussion and some bruising in the neck area.”
A quick glance told him Kayla was still leaning back with her eyes closed in the large office chair. Red fingerprints marred the white skin on her throat and Kane’s gut clenched in anger so strong it blinded him. No one had the right to touch her. Forcing his mind to clear, he let his gaze travel downward. She hadn’t changed out of last night’s clothes. She hadn’t yet been home.
Behind her, Kane saw Captain Reid enter the storefront. Kane turned to the paramedic first. “Hospitalization?” he asked.
“She refused, which is fine as long as someone’s around to watch over her and bring her in if necessary.”
“Someone is,” the sister chimed in.
For the moment, Kane ignored her. “Restrictions?” he asked the younger man.
“Complete bed rest, wake her every two hours, check coherence, understanding, pupil dilation…you know the drill.”
“Got it.”
“No problem,” the sister said, eyeing Kane with a scowl.
With the paramedic gone and the captain getting briefed by the officer who’d arrived first on the scene, Kane turned his focus on Catherine. “You’re Catherine, right?”
“And you’re the louse who used my sister.”
He didn’t see any point in mentioning the using had been mutual. Kayla had been dressed and ready to walk out on him first. “You don’t know anything about it.”
“I know enough and I doubt that official-looking guy in the suit would appreciate that you slept with a…what was Kayla, anyway? A suspect?”
“What makes you think that?”
“The way junior was grilling her.” She jerked her thumb toward the uniformed officer.
“Leave it alone, Catherine.”
“Because you say so?”
“Because I promise you she won’t get hurt again.” He’d make sure of that.
She narrowed green eyes that reminded him of her sister’s. “Prove yourself and we’ll see.”
He didn’t need the aggravation of an overprotective sister at this stage in the investigation, which was by no means over. And yet he couldn’t help admiring the fierce protectiveness and a pang of regret lanced through him. He’d never had anyone to look out for him. “Go check on Kayla,” he muttered.
“I’ll be watching you, McDermott, if that’s even your real name.” Catherine returned to her sister’s side and Kane made his way over to Reid.
“Looks like things are heating up,” Kane said.
“It looks like a botched robbery,” the captain countered. “She walked in too soon.”
Kane shook his head, his instincts screaming in protest.
“Nothing taken, nothing missing,” the junior officer said. He glanced at his notepad. “But the lady claims the assailant was looking for cash she doesn’t have.”
“The night’s take?” Reid asked.
The officer shrugged. “I hadn’t gotten that far in my questioning.”
Kane pinned him with an accusing glare. “Because you need to work on your technique. Grilling victims like suspects isn’t doing your job.”
Reid glanced back and forth between the two men, settling his gaze on the uniformed cop. “Get back to work. We’ll talk later.” The younger man took the hint and headed for the room that had been ransacked. “Could be coincidence,” Reid said.
Kane shook his head.
“She help you any?” He pointed to Kayla.
“She still doesn’t know what last night was about.” And he wasn’t looking forward to enlightening her.
“You’re certain she wasn’t tipped off about us and canceled activities last night?”