She was a few feet from E.J.’s office when a voice stopped her. Her heart started thumping hard as she turned.
“Katie McBride, imagine finding you here.”
“Kurt,” she acknowledged him. A detective like her, there was bad blood between them.
“How’s the wrist?”
He was her height, gorgeous and emotionless. The latter she hadn’t realized until she’d started dating him, four months after arriving in LA.
“Better, thank you.”
“Lucky you took that dive when you did is my guess, otherwise you’d be dead too.”
“I didn’t take a dive,” Katie said slowly. Around them eyes were turning, ears listening. “Is that what you think? What others are thinking? That I took a dive?”
“No one’s thinking it, Katie,” Brad said, getting to his feet. Unlike Kurt, Katie respected him.
“Now don’t go getting worked up, my words just came out wrong,” Kurt said, waving Brad back to his seat.
But they hadn’t and Katie wondered how many others thought she’d hidden when the bullets had started flying.
“I took out three men before I dived for cover, Kurt, and I don’t much like that you’re saying otherwise. Especially as you called in sick that day.”
“I was sick!”
“Sure you were, and I was taking cover, so I guess it’s a matter of perspective.” Katie tried to find a smile just to piss him off, but only managed to grit her teeth. “Now get out of my face before I ugly you up.”
She heard the hoots of laughter coming from behind him. She had earned respect from the men in this department because she could take anyone on in combat and was damn good at it. She could bring most men down if she got under their guard quick enough.
His smile didn’t reach his eyes; they were simmering with hatred. “Don’t get your panties twisted, McBride,” he said, and she knew that he blamed her in some way for Jessie’s death. They’d been dating a while, and Jessie had told her she thought he was the one, which had surprised the hell out of Katie, because Kurt to her mind was a selfish asshole.
“Katie?”
She hadn’t seen Cubby arrive, but suddenly he was beside her, and she should be pissed to find him here, but strangely she felt calmer knowing he was.
“Who’s this?” Kurt looked Cubby up and down as he walked toward them. The sheriff of Lake Howling had a long, loose-limbed gait that usually made her heart thud, but as that particular organ was encased in ice, or maybe pickled in bourbon, it didn’t happen anymore. “Is this one of your little buddies from home, Katie?”
“James Hawker.” He held out his hand and Kurt reluctantly shook it. “Katie’s little buddy.”
“Detective Kurt Sinclair.”
The fact that Cubby used his birth name told Katie he was seriously pissed. Because since his first day of school, when he’d entered the classroom on his hands and feet making bear noises, and his teacher had called him her little bear cub, Cubby had been his name. Kurt’s statement about the sheriff being her little buddy was ridiculous considering his size and the fact that he could never be a little anything. From the uncomfortable look on his face Kurt knew it.
“You about done, Katie?” Cubby smiled, looking relaxed and comfortable. He’d always been able to do that, look at home wherever he was. “Thought we’d grab a bite to eat.”
“So what’s the deal, James?” Kurt said, trying to regain some of the ground he’d lost with his “little buddy” comment. “You one of these Howlers I heard her talk about?”
“I am.”
“So what do you do, work in the local store?” Kurt looked at the other officers in the room and laughed, but he was the only one. “Knit homemade sweaters, or hunt for skins?”
“I’m the sheriff.” Cubby didn’t elaborate and let the silence settle after his words. He’d always been able to do that too, be silent at just the right time.
“Must be a cushy gig, writing out that parking violation every day?”
Kurt could take asshole to a whole new level if he wanted to. He thought he was funny, but what he was, was an idiot.
“Don’t be a dickhead, Kurt,” Katie said, which made Cubby laugh.
