Overkill(66)

“Yes, well…” Kate said, “it’s done.”

The solemn group left the hotel. Zach and Kate walked Bing to his car. “Sure you don’t want me to stick around, run interference for you, knock heads with any paparazzi who don’t understand ‘No comment’?”

He included both of them in the offer. Kate gave him a pallid smile. “Thanks all the same, but I don’t think knocking heads would work to my advantage.”

“Go home, Bing,” Zach said. “You’ve earned some rest. Thanks for getting us out of the airport last night.”

“It feels cowardly to tuck tail, hide out, and rest. Goes against my grain.”

“Mine, too,” Zach said, “but this is the time to punt.”

“What about you, Kate?” Bing asked. “Eban Clarke must be doing cartwheels. He’s off the hook, but you’re not. Are you going into your office today, face the music?”

“Absolutely. As soon as I go home and change. Other cases need my attention. Besides, if the case against Clarke is dead, then the AG can’t point a finger at me for breaching ethics. Or, to quote precisely, ‘fraternizing with a principal.’”

Bing harrumphed and said drolly, “If it had been fraternal, you wouldn’t be in Dutch.”

He told them to call if he was needed again. As they waved him off and started across the parking lot to Kate’s car, Zach said, “He’s as down as I’ve ever seen him.”

“I know how he feels,” Kate said. “It’s going to take me more than a minute to get over this disappointment. You know how important nailing Eban Clarke was to me, and why.”

“In time, Rebecca will likely die of natural causes. You could pursue the case then, and it wouldn’t be quite so controversial.”

“But in the meantime, Clarke could put another woman in the hospital. Short of that, traumatize her and then terrify her into keeping silent, which would cause her to suffer emotionally for the rest of her life. There’s no limit to the damage he could do. And not just to one. To many.”

They stowed their overnight bags in the back of her SUV and headed in the direction of her house, where Zach would retrieve his pickup. He drove. Kate used the drive time to call her assistant, Ava. Kate gave her a list of tasks to do ahead of her return to the office. “Just pile everything on my desk in descending order of importance. I should in by ten o’clock.”

When she clicked off, Zach said, “Everyone would understand if you took a day or two off.”

“I wouldn’t give Eban Clarke the satisfaction of seeing me cowed.”

“Nobody would see you at all if you came home with me.”

She looked across at him. “Zach—”

“No, go. I get it. I’m just doing some wishful thinking here. My jets haven’t quite cooled from last night.”

She gave him a weak smile. “I hated calling a halt, too.”

“In that case, I’ll try again. Think about all that’s going to waste up there at my place. Crisp mountain air. The waterfall. Wine. Whirlpool tub.”

“Tempting, but you know I don’t dare.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone. Your intruder could come back.”

“I’m more afraid of a snoopy reporter. We’d be sniffed out in no time. You know I’m right.”

“Yes. Dammit. But how long does this distance from each other have to last? When do we see each other again?”

“Give me time to smooth things over.”

“How much time?”

“I wasn’t fired, but I’m on thin ice.”

“A week?”

“Two. At least. Then…”

“Then?”

“We’ll see.”

He cursed. “When I was playing ball, I was a fairly good sport. Even if the ref was blind and made a bad call, I let it go and concentrated on the next snap. Not this time. This time I’m a sore loser.”

“You’re not losing. You’re punting.”

“I hate to punt. It’s giving in.”

“But sometimes you have to. You told Bing.”

He frowned. She could tell he didn’t like his own words being thrown at him. “Can I at least buy your breakfast before taking you home?”

Breakfast seemed harmless enough. “I know a hole-in-the-wall,” she said. “It’s on the way, and the ma and pa who own it pamper me. They won’t notify the media.”

By an hour later they had demolished their breakfasts. As the waitress came to remove the platters, Zach asked for a coffee refill.

Kate checked her watch. “I told Ava I’d be in the office by ten. You’re dawdling.”

She’d said it teasingly, but he didn’t smile back. “Yesterday, I dropped a bomb on you then left you with no explanation. You’re owed one.”

Their outlooks this morning had been glum, but his tone and demeanor had turned particularly somber, leading her to intuit what the explanation related to. “Take your time. I’m listening.”

He looked beyond her shoulder as though reading from a cue card. “The pregnancy was the one thing I managed to keep secret and out of the media. When I arrived at the hospital, after my encounter with Doug at the elevator, all the doctors who’d examined Rebecca called me into a conference room to give me the lowdown. None of it was good. In fact, her condition seemed so hopeless that I came this close to overriding Doug’s objections and asking that all life-sustaining measures be suspended right then.”