Free The Negotiator by Dee Henderson Page A

reason she would sit in a restaurant with her back to the wall to keep people in front of her, she would be looking for space around her now.
    Her boss closed his notebook. “The lab will put a rush on this. We should hear from the Indiana PD in a couple hours, find out if your friend has indeed managed to slip out of his supervised release. In the meantime, patrols are shifted for the night.”
    “He won’t be back tonight. His MO looks the same, down to the ribbon used on the gift.”
    “Assuming it’s him,” Jim replied. “We should know something by midnight anyway.” He lightly squeezed her shoulder. “At least this time it wasn’t a gift-wrapped snake.”
    Kate chuckled softly. “Hey, I’ve got first class admirers.”
    It took about fifteen minutes for the cops and technicians to finish work, pack up their cases. Dave stayed out of their way, watching Stephen and Kate. Stephen was good with her, able to distract her. Or rather she let him distract her, Dave amended. The apartment door closed, leaving just the three of them.
    Kate was looking around her apartment, looking unexpectedly lost. Dave crossed the room and placed his hand on her shoulder, felt the tremor. She was still so angry she was quivering.
    “Go get your keys. We’ll take a walk,” he said calmly.
    “It’s going to rain.”
    “The forecast was wrong, and even if it did rain, it would just cool off that temper.” He chuckled at the look she shot him. “Don’t argue, Kate; you’ll regret it in the morning.” He turned her toward the bedroom. “Better yet, find a hat. It’s windy.”
    She must have bitten her tongue not to argue, but she stalked away toward her bedroom.
    “Kate following orders without a debate, that has got to be a first,” Stephen commented after Kate’s door closed. “Thanks. I’ll get this place put back together while you’re gone.”
    “You sure?”
    “Once the fingerprint dust is gone from the front door and all the windows they checked, it won’t look quite so invaded.”
    Dave agreed with him. “Sounds like a plan. Now tell me about this friend that likes to leave black roses.”
    “Bobby Tersh. Five years ago, Kate talked him out of ending his life. He fixated on her when he got out of the hospital a couple weeks later; it escalated through phone calls to the office, gifts, then took a nasty turn when he felt ignored and disintegrated into threats and to black roses being left on her car, and finally at her doorstep. He was eventually committed to a hospital in Indiana by his family. He’s been out of the hospital about a year now on supervised release. This is the first indication there might be trouble again.”
    “Any history of violence in his background?” Dave asked, wishing he had access to the files. Maybe Jim would help him out there.
    “No, just words, not that it necessarily means anything. And we’re guessing that it is him.”
    Dave had already factored that in. “Okay.”
    They heard Kate’s door open. She had changed into a gray sweatshirt with a hood. She looked calmer to the extent it was possible to read her.
    “Stephen, we won’t be gone long. Don’t answer the phone; let the machine get it,” Kate said, checking her pockets, avoiding looking at Dave.
    Stephen crossed over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Get out of here. You don’t want to see how I clean your place.”
    “Thanks.”
    Dave closed the front door behind them and scanned the street before walking down the steps, alert to anything out of place. It looked normal and quiet, but that didn’t mean much. “Which way?”
    “North.”
    He fell into step beside her, not bothered by the silence.
    “I’ve had black roses before,” she finally said.
    “Stephen told me.”
    “If his MO holds, I won’t receive another one for weeks.”
    She was looking for an excuse to make that assumption; stupid of her, but he wasn’t about to argue the point. “Okay.”
    Kate didn’t say anything