Bound to Her by Deborah Pin (popular books to read .txt) đ
- Author: Deborah Pin
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âWhatever, Dad.â Seth ignored him for the rest of the drive.
Molly was no better that night and after the boys were out the door
headed to the soccer field two blocks away she lit into him. âSo howâs Ms. Page?â
âYou know Iâm not having this conversation with you.â
âIâm not asking about her case. Iâm asking about the two of you.â She
was staring at him, waiting for him to âfess up.
âThere is no two of us and thereâs also nothing to say. Sorry to disappoint.â He quickly stood from the table and started clearing dishes.
âYou only do dishes when you donât want to talk about something!â
She hollered after him and as he returned to the table for more dishes, she propped her feet up on one of the other chairs and rested her hands
on the back of her head casually. âBut seeing as you never help in the kitchen, Iâm inclined to let you keep your silence.â She smirked and he stared down at her before finally sinking into a chair.
âFine. I like her.â
âDuh.â
âA lot. IâŠcare about her. A lot.â
She dropped her feet from the chair and moved her hands to the
table. Now she looked concerned. âThe case wonât always be a factor.
Youâll be through this someday.â
âFirst of all, she has to survive this and Iâm not going to say more than that so donât even ask. Second of all, assuming I can solve this fucking thing and keep her intact, thereâll likely be charges, court, testimony. This thing could go on for a year or more when itâs all said and done. Hell, longer! Iâm not allowed any involvement with her until
this over, buried dead and over.â
âThen buckle in and be patient. You care. Isnât she worth that?â
âWorth what? Listen to what youâre saying. I meanâwhat the hell are
you saying? That I shouldâwhat? Hey, Kat, letâs put this relationship that we donât have on pause for the next couple years, okay? I mean I know weâre not seeing each other and maybe you wonât even survive long enough but can you just maybe not see anyone else for two years in
the event that someday we might be able to go out on a date and decide
if we actually want to see each other? Seriously, Molly?â
She cracked a small smile. âThen take yourself off the case. Make up a
reason if you have to. Dillon, you like her. You care. Itâs been a long time since youâve been like this. I donât believe thatâs a waste of your time for one second and you wouldnât be this wrapped up about it if it was.â
âIâd rather be on this case than trust someone else to her safety. Thatâs
the most important thing.â He held her eyes and she pursed her lips as
her brow wrinkled. âAnd at the same time, how compromised is my perspective because of how I feel about her?â He shook his head in frustration. He cared. He wanted what was best for her and he no longer
had any idea what that actually was.
Dillon stood, grabbed more dishes and walked to the kitchen. When
Molly joined him at the sink as he rinsed dishes, she started taking them
from him to load into the dishwasher. They were silent as they worked
and once theyâd finished she squeezed his shoulder before walking out of
the kitchen and leaving him staring out the kitchen window.
* * * * *
When Stephens called him at eight-thirty the next night, he and Seth
were watching TV. âYour girlâs house was broken into tonight. Just got
the call.â
Dillon sat bolt upright as Sethâs eyes flashed to his. âIs she okay?â His
heart was pounding loudly and he caught his hand on his chest as though he could still the racing speed.
âSheâs fine. Sheâs with the patrol officer right now and theyâre
securing the scene. You coming?â
âIâm on my way. Forensics has been notified?â
âDuh.â And then Stephens hung up on him.
âDo you mind staying at Aunt Mollyâs?â He didnât even need to ask.
They were used to this routine and Seth never minded. He was as
comfortable there as he was here and though that left Dillon with his moments of guiltânot to mention jealousyâheâd feel a whole lot worse
if Seth didnât have such a great second home to go to.
He called Molly quickly before leaving and his worry took his mind
to places he really didnât want to go on the drive to Katrinaâs place. He
saw her leaning up against the squad car as he pulled to the curb. She was talking to Officer Anderson and she nodded subtly at something he
said. She smiled at him appreciatively and his heart raced for a moment.
It was an odd sense of jealousy that hit him. Anderson was young, he
was handsome and the way he watched her wasnât completely innocent.
It also wasnât lascivious. He meant her no harm but he was attracted to
her if nothing else and though he was being professional, Dillon could
see it clearly.
The moment Dillon stepped from his car and she caught sight of him,
she inhaled a deep breath and moved as though she was going to come
to him. But then something stopped her and she dropped her eyes to the
ground and her body stilled. He wanted to rush to her, pull her into his
arms and quiet the slight tremble that was running through her body.
It took considerable willpower to keep his gait calm and slow as he approached them and once he was there he struggled just as much to greet her casually. Her eyes flashed to his as he said hello and the hurt in her expression reached out and slapped him across the face. In all his worry and fear for her safety heâd completely forgotten what an ass heâd
been in the school parking lot the day before. She very obviously hadnât.
âOfficer Anderson, can you give Ms. Page and me a moment?â He
didnât bother looking at the man and kept his eyes trained on hers. Once
the man was out of earshot he opened his mouth. âHow are you?â
Her eyes flashed to his quickly and the hurt was replaced by anger.
âSo youâre acknowledging me today? I wonder, Detective, what it is I did
today to earn your attention.â Bitterness was dripping from her tone. She
was more than angry.
âIâm sorry. I have no excuse for my behavior yesterday.â
âYes you do. Itâs just not an excuse youâre willing to say out loud.â
Fuck, she was pissed and more than that, she was dead-on.
He inhaled slowly and let it out just as slow. He deserved her anger
and though it left him defensive, he was going to give this one to her. But
she needed to stow it fast. He had a job to do and her anger could wait
until later. âLike I said Iâm sorry but this isnât the time. I need to know
what happened.â
âYeah? Well, Stephens already knows what happened so I suggest
you talk to him.â She wasnât stowing it at all.
âIâm talking to you. I want answers and I want to hear them from you.â And then he leaned toward her, speaking through gritted teeth.
âBe angry with me later. Not now.â Her jaw clenched but her emotions
got the better of her. He watched as tears welled on her lower eyelids.
Her tears were perfectly and beautifully restrained and he swallowed painfully over a lump in his throat.
âI let class out early, got home and the side door wasnât latched. It wasnât open but it was pushed slightly in. The floodlight didnât come on
either. I panicked and I ran down to the patrol car.â
âSo you didnât enter?â She shook her head. âAnd did you touch the
door, the door handle, anything?â She shook her head again.
Stephens was walking casually down the driveway to meet them but
Katrinaâs back was to him. âCan I go in and make sure Kitty is okay?â
Stephens shook his head as he heard her words and he watched Dillon closely.
âIâll check on Kitty.â He said it to make her feel better but he wasnât at
all sure what to make of Stephensâ response. Was the cat dead or was he
implying something about the crime scene?
When she finally noticed Stephens as he stepped up beside her, she turned to him. âDid you see my cat?â
âI didnât but weâll check on her.â His voice gave nothing away.
âWell, canât I just go in and check? I wonât touch anything.â
âSorry. Forensics is in there and thereâs evidence we need to
preserve.â
âWhat evidence?â Katrinaâs question was met with silence. Stephens
took a deep breath and looked away. Dillonâs head cocked to the side and his eyes narrowed as he studied Stephensâ expression. There was entirely too much going unsaid at the moment and he didnât like it.
âDo you have somewhere you can stay tonight?â Dillon broke the
silence.
âYeah, Imogen should be here any minute.â Dillon was itching to get
inside her house but he wasnât quite ready to leave her alone yet. They
stood by awkwardly for a few minutes until Imogen finally pulled up.
When she looked up to him, her expression had softened. âPlease check
on Kitty?â
He nodded but said nothing else. He didnât even know if the poor old
bat was still alive and given he couldnât outright ask Stephens who was
still standing by silently, all he could do was agree.
He and Stephens walked toward the house together and it wasnât
until they were getting ready to enter the side door that Stephens stopped him. âThereâs gonna be questions on this one.â
He said nothing else to Dillon before he walked through the door.
Dillon followed and the moment his eyes lit on the kitchen counter he sucked in a quick breath. The crime scene technician who was studying
the countertop peered nervously up to Dillon the moment he saw him.
Dillon swallowed, forcing the lump in his throat down and then he stared until he couldnât get the images out of his mind.
âI want eight-by-ten copies of all of these by tomorrow afternoon.â
The tech looked at him wearily but nodded. Dillon finally made it out of
the kitchen and followed Stephens back to her bedroom. He froze in the
doorway, refusing to go any farther.
Stephens was standing beside her bed looking down but when his
eyes moved back up to Dillonâs, he shook his head. âLike I said, questions. I canât I say I donât have some myself.â
Fuck. How was he going to have this conversation with her?
Chapter Thirteen
âWhat did they find?â
âI donât know, Imogen. Thatâs what Iâm saying. Detective Stephens
said there was evidence to collect but he didnât say anything else. I donât
even know if Kitty is okay.â
She was calming her nerves with a rather large glass of wine as they
sat on Imogenâs back deck. Imogenâs property was on the lake, along with a multitude of others but it was still secluded. It was buried in trees and they surrounded the deck, closing out the rest of the world. There was little backyard and it was a rocky steep incline down to the water below. There was no place Katrina felt safer at the moment.
When her phone started vibrating on the arm of the lounger she was
sitting in, she snatched it up, seeing Dillonâs number. âHello.â She sounded desperate.
âKittyâs fine. She was hiding under the spare room bed. Forensics is
still here and Iâll stay until they leave to make sure everythingâs locked up. Iâll leave some food and water for Kitty. I found a spare motion bulb
the technician left and Iâm replacing it before I leave too. The lightbulb was broken out at some point. Iâm guessing he slipped by during the day
and broke it. We have a patrol car drive by your house twice an hour during the day when youâre not at home but that leaves it uncovered for
much of the time. Canât be sure when he broke in but Iâm guessing it was
when you were in class or earlier in the afternoon.â
âWhat did you find? I mean, evidence. Detective Stephens said there
was evidence.â
âWeâll talk about it tomorrow.â His voice was awkward, strained
perhaps. He was hiding something and there was no guessing what it could be. âIâll leave enough food and water out for Kitty for a couple days. I want
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