spread across her face. After rinsing off their plates, he walked over to the table and linked fingers with her again. Silently leading her into the living room, he sat down on the sofa, tugging her gently to his side. “Why don’t we start with the basics? The things we didn’t get to the night we met.”
“The basics?”
“Yeah, like I’m Kyle McBride.”
“McBride. Detective Kyle McBride.” She dropped her chin and shook her head slowly. “I never paid attention to your last name when you showed me your badge. You must be Caitlyn’s brother.”
“You know my sister?”
“We went to college together. Me, Caitlyn, and Bekki King.”
That tidbit gave him pause but only for a few seconds. He remembered she’d been at the Celtic Cock with friends but had no idea that one of those friends was his sister.
“I’m Kimberly Hogan.”
He held her gaze, wanting to know more. “You already know I’m a detective, but you told me you worked in marketing. Who do you work for?”
“Everything I told you is true,” she said. “My marketing job is with Kilton Pharmaceuticals. I spend my days working in an office where I design marketing materials. Everything from brochures and packets that go to doctors, patients, education, blah, blah, blah.”
His head jerked back as he lifted a brow. “Blah?”
“It’s not that my job is boring, because I really like the people in the office. And I have to concentrate on what I’m writing because, when dealing with drugs, errors could have horrible consequences.” Sighing, she shrugged again. “I think I like the brochures for education the best. They’re more interesting.”
Unable to believe that she worked for the company he was investigating, he continued his questions. “Okay, what about your writing?”
She shifted on the sofa and turned slightly to face him, one knee bent and her foot tucked under her other leg. “It’s an e-magazine called Hope City Happenings. They publish twice weekly and are growing in subscriptions. I’ve been freelancing for them for over a year and, so far, the editor’s been really nice and told me he’d like more from me. Everything at Kilton has been crazy lately, but I’m discovering a way to combine what I’m doing for them and what I’m doing for the magazine, as long as there’s no conflict of interest.”
“Okay… ”
“Since you’re a detective, you’ve probably heard that Kilton Pharma got a lot of bad press several months ago when one of the sales reps was caught stealing and part of some kind of drug ring. There was gossip galore at work, but other than what I heard on the news, I don’t know what happened.”
Maintaining his interested-albeit-poker face, Kyle nodded for her to continue while hiding the gut clench that always happened when he thought of Tara being caught in that nightmare.
“Anyway, because of my journalism background, I was asked by the head of marketing to do a series of interviews that could be put in promotional material. You know, the innovative research going on. The life-saving drugs. Helping the community. The people behind the company. All of that. So, what I’ve been doing for the past week is talking to a bunch of people at work.”
Smiling his encouragement, he still hid his inner thoughts. Holy shit, she’s got an inside viewpoint, but there’s no way I can fuckin’ use her. But maybe…
She shifted on the sofa again, this time waving her hands with more excitement. “As I started meeting some of the employees and listening to their interesting stories, I thought about showcasing some in an article series called Faces of Hope City. I pitched the idea to my editor, and he loved it. Of course, for anyone at Kilton, I’d have to get their permission separately from what I’m doing at work.”
So far, everything she’d told him made sense—her job and freelance, her interest in journalism and people. But what the fuck was she doing at the Cardboard Cottages? Her eyes were bright once again and her cheeks rosy. Part of him wanted to keep her just like this. Hell, part of him wanted to take her upstairs and claim her once more, only this time not let her walk away. But as much as he hated to take away her joy, he had no choice. I’ve got to know what the fuck she was doing.
12
“Do you want something to drink? Beer, soda, iced tea?”
“Wouldn’t mind a beer, but I’m still on duty. My partner is probably wondering what the hell is keeping me.”