“Okay.” Hunter wanted to help these women too, maybe as much as Kerry, but right now, he wanted to help relieve Kerry’s anxiety. He’d never met a woman who cared so much for the dead.
He flipped open his small notebook and scanned the pages detailing Norwood’s interview. “According to my notes, Mr. Norwood wasn’t in the know about his daughter’s medical issues.”
“He did say that.” She dropped into the seat next to him. “He said he’d ask his wife.”
Kerry touched his arm and heat shot straight to his groin, but he refused to admit his racing pulse was attributed to the fact Kerry stirred a long dead emotion inside him.
“So he did.”
Hunter admired her tenacity. Kerry leaned closer to him, and her scent shifted his focus to her as a woman instead of her as a professional.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Hardly, a ghost, more like a goddess. “Nothing.” Heat raced up his face. He turned his head, flipped to Norwood’s number, and punched it in his cell. Thank goodness Kerry wasn’t a mind reader.
Ten seconds later, the answering machine clicked on. Dumb move. He should have asked for Norwood’s work number when they interviewed him. He left a message regarding Janet’s surgeon and asked Norwood to call him back.
“Let me guess. He’s at work,” she said, her shoulders sagging.
“That would be my guess, but I don’t have that number.” He leaned back in the chair. “On a slightly different note, I did a little research on our charming Mr. Kopetski.”
Wide eyes stared at him. “What did you find?”
He cleared his throat, trying to keep his mind on the task at hand. “Seems Mr. Kopetski worked for the same financial institution as Janet for about six months. According to one of the coworkers, Kopetski was a hot head. He hated to lose money—his or his clients. He literally was in a fight with one of the brokers and got canned. It was about then he took out his frustrations on his new wife, Janet.”
She flinched and Hunter’s gut clenched. Stupid. He should have delivered the news with more subtlety. Kerry was a woman of great empathy, which was one of the reasons he found her so attractive. But dammit. She dealt with ugliness everyday. He thought she’d be desensitized.
“I trust the police have a record of his domestic violence against her?” she asked.
Hunter was impressed with how fast Kerry picked up the pieces of the puzzle and ran with them. “Yes. As a matter of fact, the cops were called to his house twice during their short marriage.”
Her lips firmed. “It’s hard to believe she would have put up with him after the first incident. What was the date of the last call?”
Hunter flipped through his notebook again. “Shortly before she was arrested for embezzling funds.”
Kerry’s face fell. “Oh.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “That doesn’t mean he didn’t harm her after she was released from prison or that Kopetski didn’t push her down the stairs for that matter. It just means she didn’t report the crime because she was dead.”
“You’re probably right.”
“What I don’t get,” he said, “is the shelter connection.”
“She might have done volunteer work there.”
“It’s possible. I figured Janet would have had the money to pay for a good surgeon, assuming both she and her husband were pulling a decent salary.”
“Maybe she went to Dr. Dalton’s regular office and paid like a normal person.”
“Good thought, but why embezzle the funds if she could afford surgery on her own?”
“Surgery isn’t cheap.”
“True. I’ll draw a time line to make sure our dates and facts line up.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I don’t know why we’re even speculating. We don’t know if they had the same doctor.”
“Knowing you, you’ll find out. When you do, don’t stop at the surgeon. See who the anesthesiologist was and other medical attendants. There could be a commonality there.”
“You’re good.” He loved how their minds reinforced each other’s.
Kerry shifted in her computer chair, and the metal leg squeaked. “Are you going to tell Jamal about identifying his fiancée or do you want me to call?”
“I’ll call both him and Tameka’s mother and tell them we have a match.”
“To be absolutely sure, I want to compare the DNA. It’ll take a few months to get the results back, but they should know I’m ninety-five percent sure it’s Tameka.”
He snapped his fingers. “Tameka’s mom gave me a hair brush. I put it in an evidence bag and locked it in the cruiser’s trunk.”
“Great.”
He raked his hands down his face. “There has to be some way to tie Janet Kopetski to Tameka Dorsey. I wish I knew what I was missing.”
Hunter wanted to wait until after Melissa had finished eating before he called Mr. Norwood again. He wouldn’t have to leave her with Jen if he could conduct business over the phone. Nothing gave him greater pleasure than to spend time with her. Unfortunately, his life was dictated by criminal activity, and Melissa often suffered because of it.
He polished off the rest of his coffee while Melissa and Kerry had some foreign conversation about the newest clothing styles. They giggled, and he just kept quiet.
When they finished dinner, Melissa and Kerry cleared the table and cleaned up. He was amazed. Every time Kerry asked Melissa to help her, his daughter beamed. She never pouted like she often did when he asked her to do chores.
Damn. He should have looked for a mother for his daughter. Between his job and taking care of her, he hadn’t found anyone he wanted in his life or Melissa’s.
From his vantage point at the dining room table, he studied Kerry bent over the sink washing dishes and Melissa carefully drying them. He shook his head, willing the blood to flow to his brain.
Yes, he could have Kerry watch Melissa tonight should the need arrive, but he didn’t like leaving them alone. With a possible serial killer on the loose, there was no telling what might happen, and he refused to put his daughter or Kerry in harm’s way.
Imposing on his sister was his only choice.
He turned his back to them and flipped through the pages of his notebook to contact Mr. Norwood. Before he finished his search, his phone rang. Speak of the devil. He gave himself a psychic point.
“Mr. Norwood. Thanks for calling me back.”
“I have the name of Janet’s surgeon you asked for. My wife said he’d done a wonderful job.”
Hunter waited a beat. “Who was he?”
“Paul Dalton.”
Adrenaline pumped through his system. “When was that?”
“I don’t have the exact date, but it was after Stanton broke her jaw.”
Hot damn. “Thank you, Mr. Norwood, you’ve been a big help.”
He disconnected and turned to Kerry. “Dalton.”
She turned off the water and faced him. “What about Dalton?”
“Sorry. That was Mr. Norwood on the phone. He said Paul Dalton was Janet’s surgeon.”
She smiled and pumped her arm once. “Yes!” Soapsuds flew off her hands. “I was hoping it was him. I thought it might make things easier, but I never expected our luck to hold up.”
“Who’s Dalton?” Melissa asked.
“He was a doctor who operated on one of my clients, that’s all.”
Some day, Hunter would have to speak freely in front of her. When she was older, he wanted her to understand how cruel the world could be, but right now, he wanted to protect her from the underbelly of society.
Hunter crooked his finger, and Melissa trotted over and climbed onto Hunter’s lap. He gave her a big hug and a kiss. “Why don’t you go boot up your computer, sweetie. I’ll send in Kerry in a few minutes and you can show her the new game Aunt Jen bought you.”
“Okay.” Melissa scooted off his lap and skipped out of the kitchen.
Hunter twisted back to Kerry. “Considering Dalton did pro bono work, it makes sense he’d have dealt with women from different walks of life. Janet probably was quite poor after her release from prison. If Kopetski pushed her, maybe she sought out the shelter to get away from him.”