Katherine stumbled to the sofa and collapsed. Joseph shook his head and walked over. He couldn’t believe how drunk she and his mother had gotten at dinner. Together, they were a riot. After dinner, he’d gathered Katherine and left Joseph to deal with their drunk mother.
“Come on, drunk lady,” he said, reaching down to pick her up.
Katherine shook her head, grabbed him by his shirt, and pulled him on the couch. “Not so fast, sexy man. Come here and kiss me.”
Faster than any drunk person should have been able, she climbed on his lap and kissed him. With clumsy fingers, she tried to unbutton his shirt, but Joseph caught her hands.
“Whoa!”
She lifted her head and frowned. “Come on, Joseph. Stop playing hard to get.”
He laughed and stood, lifting her with him. “Let’s get you to bed.”
“Joseph!” she whined as he carried her to the bedroom.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve gone from virgin to vixen in less than twenty-four hours,” he muttered.
Joseph sat her on the bed. When she fell back on the mattress and groaned, he dropped to one knee and took off her shoes. By the time he stripped her down to her bra and panties, Katherine was fast asleep.
He went into the bathroom and grabbed some aspirin, then to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He went back in the room and put both on the nightstand. “Katherine?”
She opened her eyes, but she wasn’t focusing on anything in particular.
Joseph slipped an arm under her and lifted her off the bed. He pulled the sheet and blanket from under and positioned her on the pillow. Katherine closed her eyes and tried to get comfortable, but Joseph couldn’t let her doze just yet.
He opened the bottle and poured out two aspirin. “Take this,” he urged.
Katherine groaned. “Mm-mm.”
Joseph lifted her head and held the aspirin in front of her mouth. “Take this, sweetheart.”
“Noooo, I forgot how to swallow,” she whined.
“We’ll see about that.” Joseph pushed the aspirin into her mouth then put the glass of water to her lips.
Katherine made a face, but she swallowed both pills.
He placed the glass on the nightstand and allowed her to lie down. “Good girl,” he praised as he covered her with the blanket.
After a kiss to the forehead, Joseph left, turning the light off on the way out. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge, then grabbed the phone from the receiver and dialed his mother’s number.
“How’s mom?” he asked when his brother answered.
“Passed out,” Jonathan responded with a chuckle. “The ladies really tied one on.”
Joseph laughed. “You’re telling me. Katherine’s out like a light.”
Joseph enjoyed his beer while having a short conversation with his brother. When they were done, he tossed the empty bottle in the trash and pushed play on the answering machine. After two miscellaneous messages, there was a message from Rick Bolin. He’d secured search warrants for her parents’ home and Robert Chase’s office.
Joseph had mixed feelings. It was good news for the victims, but for Katherine, it was going to be an atomic bomb to her private life. Between law enforcement and the newspapers, her entire world was about to be turned upside down.
Chapter Seventeen
JOSEPH
“Got a couple more for you,” Janice said as she dropped the small boxes on his desk.
Joseph looked up from the legal briefs he’d been poring over all morning and smiled. “Gee, thanks.”
