Karen Rose - Count to Ten

Mia cocked her jaw. "Don't run that piece on my sister."

"Ah." Buttering her toast, Wheaton smiled. "I was wondering when you'd come to me. Well, that piece is set for tonight, opposite 60 Minutes ."

She gritted her teeth. "Airing that tape will put my sister's life in danger"

"That can't be my concern. I'm a journalist."

Mia let her eyes flash. "Okay. Fine. What if you had an alternate story? One that would be bigger. More timely. That nobody else had. Yet."

Wheaton was interested. "Exclusive?"

Mia closed her eyes, made the word drag off her tongue. "Yes."

"What is it?"

"Tell me Kelsey's off the table."

"Can't do that." Wheaton leaned forward, rested her chin on her palm so that her perfect manicure showed perfectly. Her eyes sparkled. "You go first."

Mia drew a breath that was only part pretense. I hate you. I really hate you . "The second victim, Penny Hill, was a mistake. He missed his real target."

Wheaton's eyes narrowed. "Who was the real target?"

Mia set her teeth. Hesitated. "I… I can't do this. You go on the air with this and it paints a big bull's-eye on this person's head. I don't care what…" She got up. "I can't."

Wheaton sat back, eyes cool. "I've got an updated picture of Kelsey. The old one didn't look like her at all. And we girls do like to look our best. Most of us anyway."

Mia leaned forward as if fighting the urge to lunge, her hands curved into claws. But she calmed herself, stuck her hands in her pockets. "You're evil."

Wheaton shrugged. "We can help each other here. Your call, Detective. Either way, I have a really good piece of film. So either way, I win."

Mia closed her eyes. "Milicent Craven," she hissed through her teeth.

"Tell me why Kates is doing this."

Mia opened her eyes, made her face ashamed. "Penny Hill placed him in a foster home years ago. She got hurt, went on disability. His file was passed on to Craven, who dropped the ball, never checked him. Bad things happened to Kates in that home. This is about payback. But he paid back the wrong person."

Wheaton was quiet for so long Mia started to think she wouldn't take the bait at all. Then she nodded. "All right. If this pans out, your sister is off tonight's program."

Mia jerked a nod and turned.

"Oh, Detective Mitchell?" Mia turned back to find Wheaton smiling like the cat who'd swallowed the canary. "I'll see you again next week. Same theme song."

The bitch. "That's extortion," Mia murmured, so low the other diners couldn't hear.

"That's such an ugly word. I prefer 'partnership.' Well?"

"All right." Mia turned on her heel, walked out, then got in her car and after making sure she wasn't followed, pulled next to the police van parked a block away. She climbed inside and sat next to Reed. Jack had on headphones, watching the tape again.

"I almost didn't catch the extortion line," Jack complained.

Mia pulled the wire from under her shirt. "Sorry. I didn't want to scream it."

Reed lifted his brows. "I thought you were going to crawl and grovel."

"She wouldn't have bought it. I hate her too much and it's not my style. So do you think that's enough for Patrick to get an indictment?"

"Hope so," Jack said. "If not, she's just going to up the ante, making reports that threaten cops and their families to get information. We don't know thai she hasn't done it before, with other cops who might not have had the strength to say no."

"Or the support," Mia said quietly. "I'm just glad they moved Kelsey."

Jack started turning off his equipment. "Well, it's Sunday. I'm going to run this tape into the office and go home to my wife and kids. It's been fun, but leave now."

Mia smiled. "Say hi to Julia for me and kiss that baby."

Jack grinned. "I'll kiss Julia, too. Now go. I got things to do."

Mia and Reed climbed out and Mia looked up at the sky. "It's sunny."

"Perfect weather to clean up after a fire," Reed said dryly.

Mia grinned up at him. "I've got some things to do, but I'll come out and help as soon as I can. Then we have to get in position for tonight. This could be it."

Reed watched her drive away, back in her tiny little Alfa. She'd gotten it back from the department garage just that morning, the windows replaced. There was still a bullet ding in the hood. She lived with danger every day and shrugged it off.

If the two of them really had something, if this became something, he'd have to learn to live with that danger. Now he knew how Christine had felt about him going into fires. He sighed. And, speaking of fires, he had one to clean up.

Sunday, December 3, 5:15 p.m.

"What have you done?" Dana came out of the house while Mia fought with the big box some helpful young clerk had tied into the trunk of her Alfa. Twine was every wheie.

"Friday was payday so I went shopping. Got a coat, some books, and this monstrosity." She looked up at Dana. "I'm sorry about last night."

"Me, too. I wanted to tell you about the baby, but you've been kind of fragile lately."

"Yeah. Well. Help me get this out." Cutting at the string with her keys, she freed the box, carried it into the kitchen, and set it on the table. "Open it."

Ethan came to the doorway, barefoot, his shirt hanging open and Mia could only think that Reed was a thousand times better. Especially without the ring. That definitely helped his sex appeal. "Hey, Mia," he said as Dana ripped at the wrapping paper.

"Ethan. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

Ethan grinned. "Nope. Too many kids in the house. But I was trying."

"Oh, Ethan, look." Dana looked up, her eyes moist. "Our first baby gift."

Mia shifted, uncomfortable. "It's a car seat, Dana. No need for the waterworks."

"It's the hormones," Ethan confided in a loud whisper, then kissed Mia's cheek. "Thank you." He smiled down at her and Mia knew he understood.

Dana wiped her eyes. "Somebody's here you might want to see."

Jeremy . "Let me guess. He's watching TV."

Ethan's smile faded. "Documentaries on the History Channel, all afternoon. He hasn't said more than a few words. Understandable, given he's just lost his mom."

"I was hoping he'd be here by now. I have something to give him. But first, keep your eyes open. The guy that killed his mom set fire to Reed's house last night."

Dana and Ethan exchanged a look. "Nobody hurt?" Dana asked.

"No. We're thinking it was either payback or a distraction, like when he shot at me. Either way, this guy probably won't bother with Jeremy, but…"

Ethan nodded, jaw tight. "I'll watch. Don't worry."

"From a former Marine, that's good enough for me," Mia went into the living room and sat next to Jeremy. "Hey, kid."

He turned only his head to study her. "You came back."

Her heart squeezed. "Of course. I practically live here. Dana's my best friend."

"You catch him yet?"

"Nope, and I'm here to see you. I brought you something." She reached into the bag from the bookstore and handed him the large glossy book on jet planes.

His eyes widened and he took the book, but didn't open it. "Thank you." He turned back to the television. "This show is about ancient Greece."

"Yeah, I caught it last night." She settled back against the sofa and put her arm around his shoulders. "But I find I pick up a lot more the second time around."

It was about time. He'd waited for Mitchell the whole damn day. He rolled his eyes. She'd been shopping. Somehow he'd thought more of a woman who filled her pantry with Pop-Tarts. But she was here. He crept through the wooded area that cut Dana's house off from the rest of the houses on the street. He wanted to get a look inside. To check the lay of the land in case she planned on staying there tonight.

He squinted through his binoculars. He could see in the living room window, barely. Well. He lowered the binoculars, blinked hard, then raised them again. It was double or nothing and he'd hit double. Finally. For sitting next to Mitchell, his head on her shoulder, was Jeremy Lukowitch. If he wasn't with Yvonne, she must be dead or really sick, so the pill swap must've worked. If she was dead or really sick, the boy was the one who'd turned him in. I should have killed the brat when I had the chance .