whether it would be enough to make someone come after him like this.
“What was the decision?”
“I shut down a program for retired annuitants, retired police officers who were able to stay on the P.D.’s payroll as contract investigators. The entire program got the boot for purely budgetary reasons.”
“Retired police officers would know about our security system just as much as current ones. How about I check into it? You’ve got to get ready to rub elbows with the bigwigs at that fundraiser, don’t you?”
Simon cursed under his breath. “I should blow it off. There’s no reason you should be chasing down leads while I put on a tuxedo and eat a gourmet meal. Especially when those leads might involve a dirty cop.”
“No reason except the mayor and Commander Stevens will be pissed if you don’t show. It’s fine. I’m here anyway and I have the time to check it out.”
Simon hesitated, then sighed. Being on a team was all about covering someone one moment and being covered the next. He knew he’d do the same for any member of the team, and that made it easier to accept Jase’s help now. “Thanks, Jase. I’ll head back as soon as I can after the gala.”
“No rush.” Jase hesitated. “Is Nina attending the gala with you?”
Simon briefly looked away. “No. She’s staying at a friend’s house.”
“So you’re running again?”
Simon frowned. “What?”
“Doesn’t take a genius to know what you’d do once you found out you were linked to the homeless murders. To know that you’d separate yourself from her. I get it, but she has to be hurt. Especially if you two had gotten as close as I think you have.”
At first, Simon resisted Jase’s obvious attempts to get in Simon’s business. But then he thought of DeMarco again. How not getting in DeMarco’s business had left his friend feeling like he had to deal with his problems alone. Simon also remembered what Nina had said: that you couldn’t truly know you were handling something unless you were willing to talk about it with another person. Before he knew he was going to, he confessed, “Yeah, well, we got pretty close. And yes, she’s hurt. But better her feelings are hurt than she ends up dead like...”
“Like Lana?” Jase asked softly.
“Yeah. Like Lana.”
“Lana was killed by a serial killer while on the job, Simon. She walked into that situation of her own accord because she was trying to help him. That’s not going to happen to Nina.”
“And how do you know that, Jase? ’Cause I sure don’t.”
Of course, Jase didn’t have an answer because there wasn’t one. No guarantees that Nina wouldn’t die just as brutally and suddenly as Lana had one day.
Simon got up to leave, then hesitated. “Have you talked to DeMarco?”
“I touched base with him earlier today. He sounded better. Said he went and saw a counselor who is helping him figure some things out. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back, but he’s hoping soon.”
“Good.” His earlier suspicions about DeMarco had vanished as quickly as they’d formed. He knew the man. No way was DeMarco responsible for any of the things that had happened over the past week. Even so, despite his renewed confidence in his friend’s innocence, Simon’s mind was a mess. He kept twirling one possibility after another around his head, but none of them felt right.
On his way home, he had to pass by the cemetery. The one where Lana was buried. And before he knew it, he was pulling in and walking to Lana’s grave.
Simon stared at Lana’s tombstone and remembered the slight breeze he’d felt the last time he’d visited her. The air was still now. Dry and uncomfortable. For a second, he almost couldn’t breathe.
Had it been just three weeks ago that he’d come here to visit Lana? Even less than that since he’d met Nina? That boggled his mind. He’d known Lana for years. He’d loved her. Yet even though he’d known Nina for far less time, it was amazing how much he’d grown to care about her. And, dare he admit it...how much he’d grown to love her?
Yes, Simon thought. He loved her. He, who had never been one to fall in love quickly, had fallen in love with Dr. Nina Whitaker in less than two weeks. For the briefest moment, he felt guilty. How had Nina so thoroughly filled the place in his heart that had once only belonged to Lana?