Love at First Sight

“You think he’s afraid she told me something?” Karen asked.

Who knows what the man was hiding, Jack thought. “Possibly.”

“I would imagine he wants to tie up any loose ends,” Denny said. “You’re a loose end.” He reached over and turned on the tape recorder.

Jack sat listening to Karen retell her story, realizing he wasn’t going anywhere until he knew she was safe.

When she’d finished, she asked, “What now?”

“You go somewhere safe while the department tries to find the guy,” Denny told her.

“For how long?” she asked anxiously.

Denny shook his head.

“What if you don’t find him?” she asked, sitting up a little straighter. “I have work. I have responsibilities.”

Denny reached over and turned off the tape recorder. “There might be another way.”

Jack had a feeling he wasn’t going to like this.

“What?” Karen asked, sounding interested and making Jack all that more leery.

“You say Liz met this guy through a newspaper personals ad,” Denny began. “It’s a long shot, but what if you were to put—”

“An ad in the personals,” she said, jumping on it. “That’s a great idea.”

“It’s a stupid idea,” Jack interrupted but neither of them seemed to be listening.

“It would have to be something that he’d recognize, maybe might even be looking for,” Denny said. “Such as, ‘I saw you at the Hotel Carlton Saturday night. You saw me. I know everything. I think we’d better talk, don’t you?’”

“Right,” Karen agreed. “Bluff.”

“Run an ad for a murderer?” Jack demanded, loud enough he got their attention. Just when he thought the woman might have some sense. “Great idea,” he said getting to his feet. “Right up there with chasing the killer in your Honda.”

“Excuse me, but if you have a better idea, let’s hear it,” she snapped back.

“Give the police a chance to find him?” Jack suggested.

“I’m not stopping the police from finding him,” she said. “I’m just not going to sit around waiting for the killer to find me first. I have to do something.”

“She’s right, Jack.”

“Stay out of this, Denny,” Jack warned. It might be Denny’s case, but he and Jack both knew he had no business suggesting this to Karen. Cops didn’t put their witnesses in danger. Not good cops, anyway. What was Denny thinking?

Jack leaned toward her, his palms on the table. “You can’t even be sure that the killer is the mystery man or even the man you saw with Liz.”

“Then what would it hurt to run the ad?” she said.

Her logic scared him. “But if you’re right and he’s the killer, then you’re talking about threatening a man who has already killed once. Even a woman with your affinity for danger wouldn’t seriously consider something that crazy.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to hide out for a while and give the trained professionals a chance to find him?”

“Crazy?” she demanded. “Crazy is just sitting around waiting for him to come after me. Crazy is waiting on the off chance that the police do find him. No offense, but it isn’t like you two are Canadian Mounties. You don’t always get your man. I’m sorry, but I can’t hide and wait for him to be captured. That’s a luxury I can’t afford. I have work that has to be done, people who are depending on me.”

“If you’re dead,” Jack said with more force than he’d meant to, “they’ll have to find someone else to depend on.”

She groaned. “It’s not that simple. Anyway, I thought you were on vacation?”

“He’s actually on probation,” Denny interjected.

Thanks a lot, buddy. Jack swore under his breath.

“Then this really doesn’t have anything to do with you,” she said to Jack.

He wanted to assure her he was involved, a lot more involved than she knew or he wanted to admit. But she was right. It wasn’t as if he’d be able to help find the killer. Or protect her in any official capacity. Nor did the cops always find the killers and put them behind bars. The worst of it was, there was more than a good chance the killer would come after her. Too good a chance.

“I’m going to put the ad in the paper,” she said, her gaze challenging his. “I don’t see any other choice. Waiting for him to come after me isn’t acceptable.”

Jack shook his head in frustration. “Let’s say the killer is the same man Liz met through a personal ad,” he said reasonably. “He sees the ad, he answers it. Then what?”

“Karen meets with him,” Denny said without hesitation. “At some place where we can see him from a distance. She won’t ever be in danger. There’ll be cops crawling all over the place. It will work, Jack. She’ll be safe.”

Jack didn’t bother to look at Denny. Instead he sought out Karen’s gaze, reminding himself that he had no say as to what this woman did, no matter how dangerous it was.

He wasn’t sure who he was more angry with. Denny. Or himself. Denny was right. This wasn’t his case. Karen Sutton wasn’t his concern. Denny was just trying to find a killer. Jack knew Denny would do everything he could to protect Karen. But would it be enough?

He swore under his breath again as he straightened and stepped back. “The killer isn’t going to show. What kind of fool would answer your ad, let alone agree to meet you somewhere?”

“He’ll show,” Denny said with conviction. “She’s the only person who can place him at the murder scene and he knows it.”

“Dammit, Denny, she might not be able to identify him,” Jack snapped.

“But he doesn’t know that, does he?”

“Denny’s right,” Karen spoke up. “The man will have to call my bluff because he has too much to lose not to.”

KAREN FELT Jack’s gaze shift to her again. She’d been aware of him across the table while she was giving her statement to Detective Kirkpatrick. Jack had been deathly quiet as if he had no interest in what was taking place.

She’d wondered what was keeping him here now that he’d put her and Detective Kirkpatrick together, especially after Denny had mentioned that Jack’s two-week “vacation” was actually probation. Wasn’t he jeopardizing his job by just being here?

“You think the killer has too much to lose?” Jack asked quietly. “What about you? Are you really willing to risk your life? If he shows, it will just be to kill you.”

She looked into his brown eyes, determined not to let him frighten her any more than she already was—which was considerable. But looking into his eyes had a danger all of its own. She felt as if she’d grabbed a frayed toaster cord. The heat of his expression warmed her to the core.

“My life is already at risk, Jack.” She certainly didn’t need him telling her how dangerous it was to put the ad in the paper. But what other recourse did she have?