License to Thrill

suspect."
    Tenner exhaled, puffing out his cheeks. "I'm just glad this isn't a murder investigation. When I heard that boom, I nearly pissed my pants."
    James lifted his head and smiled, appreciating the man's attempt to lighten the mood for a moment before he turned serious again. "Why would someone want to kill her, Tenner? The charges have been dropped, so the police were already looking elsewhere for a suspect. What could possibly be gained from getting rid of her?"
    The detective sighed and scratched his belly. "That's a good question."
    Watching him squirm, James knew the man was holding back a theory. His heart skipped. "What is it, Tenner? Is she involved in this somehow—have I missed something because I'm...because I'm too close?"
    Frowning, Tenner grimaced. "I don't know, Donovan, but there's only one reason to get rid of her—she knows something she hasn't told."
    James pursed his lips, his mind racing. "Or she knows something she doesn't realize is important."
    "Right," Tenner said, leaning forward. "And it's our job to find out what it is."
    "Mr. Donovan?" a nurse asked as she walked in with a chart.
    He jumped to his feet. "Yes?"
    "Ms. McKray is ready to go. Will you sign her out and be responsible for her?"
    To James, the question touched something deep inside him. The idea of not being responsible for Katherine was unthinkable, and a revelation that would have to wait for closer scrutiny. "I will," he said, reaching for the papers.

    *****

    "I can walk," Kat protested when James swung her into his arms.
    "I know, but it gives me an excuse to put my hands on you," he whispered close to her ear.
    She smiled, secretly glad to be carried into her apartment. Her face and arms felt tight from many tiny cuts, and she was still a little light-headed. Tenner had driven them to her apartment in his newly acquired squad car, and brought up the rear carrying James's suitcase and the figurine boxes.
    "Are you staying?" she asked, her eyebrows lifted.
    His nod brooked no argument. "And Officer Raines was so shaken up, I believe he's going to keep an eye on things outside."
    As he set her down on the couch, Kat looked around and frowned. "It was a mess in here before, but something is different." She caught James's and Tenner's exchanged glances. "What?" She reached up to poke James in the shoulder. "Tell me."
    He lowered himself to sit next to her on the sofa. "The police swept your place before we brought you home."
    She felt the blood drain from her face. "You mean for another bomb?"
    He nodded, his face drawn.
    Fear and frustration clogged her throat. "Why is this happening to me?"
    "That's what we intend to find out," Tenner said, moving a straight-back chair closer to the couch. "Let's say for the time being this wasn't a political statement and assume it had something to do with the gallery break-in. Agent Donovan and I think whoever is after you thinks you know something incriminating."
    She frowned. "But if I did, I would've already reported it."
    "Would you?" James asked with a pointed look.
    "Of course."
    "What about Guy Trent's attempt to extort you? You didn't report that."
    Kat looked quickly at Tenner, and James said, "I filled him in."
    Frowning, she said, "That's different—I didn't have to pay back the money. I had a choice, but I agreed to it anyway. Technically, that's not really extortion, is it?"
    Tenner pressed his lips together then said, "Technically, no. Companies often offer employees a payback schedule to avoid prosecution for theft—the publicity really isn't good for them or the employee, so everyone is happy."
    "Think, Kat," James said, taking her hand. His touch never failed to set her heart aflutter, even when the mood was so serious. "Are you absolutely sure you don't know anything that would be damaging to someone at the gallery? Something no one else would know?"
    Her mind raced backward and forward, trying to seize some minute detail that had escaped her in its simplicity, but she shook her head. "I can’t think of a thing."
    Tenner folded a stick of gum into his mouth. "Maybe walk in a room on the tail end of a conversation, or pick up a phone and overhear something?"
    "No, not that I can remember." She touched a hand to the base of her skull where it had started to pound.
    "Maybe we better wait until tomorrow to finish this," James said, nodding to Tenner, who stood and hitched up his pants.
    "Okay, I'll see you all in the morning. Try to get some rest, Ms.