Standing up, he yanked his jacket off the chair. The leather fit around his shoulders like a second skin, and he headed out to look for Tony Payne, the man who had info on Keith’s killer. He got just past the door and remembered. Darting back into the office, he snagged a can of cat food.
Outside, he popped the can and put it down beside the storm drain in the middle of the parking lot. The cat obviously thought it was perfect place to raise her kittens. He listened and heard the soft meowing. He stepped back and leaned against his car and watched. The mama cat, a gray short-haired stray that didn’t appear much more than a kitten herself, came out. She looked around cautiously, her gold eyes wide with worry and fear. He knew the moment she’d spotted him. But she didn’t run. They continued to stare at each other. Something was wrong with her ear, part of it was missing. She looked beat up, leery of the world. And he knew exactly how she felt.
A car pulled up on the other side of the parking lot. The feline grabbed the lip of the can and jumped back into the storm drain.
~
Brit got in his car. He had no intention of wasting time on Cali McKay. So why he drove straight to her apartment building was a mystery. Oh, hell, it wasn’t a mystery. He’d told her to stay away but, as Anderson said, when did these women do what they were supposed to do?
He parked his car and sat there for a minute before getting out and taking the stairs.
When he got to the second floor landing and found the door ajar, his pulse quickened. He took in the bullet holes again, and reached for his gun just in case the boyfriend had decided to come back. Backing against the wall, he glanced inside the broken window. From here he could see the living room and kitchen. Both empty.
Quietly, he pushed open the front door. Someone had really trashed the place. Knickknacks lay broken, books scattered. He moved toward the bedroom and made the turn down the hall. The door was half closed, limiting his view.
One step, two, and he heard something clatter from behind the door. He raised his gun and put his finger on the trigger.
Chapter Six
He shifted slightly to get a better view.
His breath caught when he saw her. His grip on his gun loosened. She stood with her arms wrapped around her middle, gaping at the mess strewn about the bedroom. Kneeling, she picked up a pair of pink lacy panties.
He holstered his gun and took a few seconds to study her before he made his presence known. She wore loose-fitting black slacks and a matronly looking blouse. Schoolteacher attire, he supposed, but the outfit did nothing to show off the body he thought lay beneath—the body he’d envisioned last night in his dreams.
He cleared his throat and tried to clear his mind. “I told you stay away from here.”
~
The unexpected voice took her by surprise. Cali swung around, and dropped her panties. “You scared me.”
“You should be scared. I told you to stay away for a damn good reason.” He pushed the door the rest of the way open and came inside.
She stared. The man looked like a young Burt Reynolds. Her mom had been a Reynolds fan. Thanks to her, Cali had seen all his movies.
“Who did this?” She stared at his chest covered with a snug-fitting leather jacket. “Did the police do this?”
”Yeah, we get a kick out of going to women’s apartments and tossing their underwear around.” His gaze moved to the panties on the toe of her shoe. “We didn’t do this. We got a call earlier from one of your neighbors. Looks like your boyfriend decided to come calling again. But the million-dollar question is what are you doing here?”
Why did she feel as if she were being chastised? “I needed to grab a few things.”
“And what if he’d been here waiting?” His eyebrows rose accusingly.
“What am I supposed to do? All my clothes are here.”
His blue-green eyes tightened in a frown. Not that the expression looked out of place. There seemed to be a permanent worry line pinching his brow.
He took another step. “I’m sure someone told you if you needed anything from here to call the police and they’d send someone over.”
“No. I don’t think anyone told me that. But it’s the middle of the day. I should be okay.”
He shuffled his fingers through his dark brown hair. “People die just as easy in daylight as they do in the dark. You’ll need to go to the precinct to fill out a report.”
“Can’t you just report it?”
His frown tightened. “Did your boyfriend tell you he beat up his last two girlfriends? Real sweetheart, that guy. Do you really want to run into him again?”
Cali opened her mouth to speak, but zip came out. Stan had beat up two women? She didn’t want to believe it, but she did.