Silent Fall

loose no matter how hard I try."
    She nodded, her gaze meeting his. "We’re connected."
    He wondered what she’d say if he told her he’d like to be connected in a very physical way, that he wanted to get so close to her that he wouldn’t know where he ended and she began. His pulse began to race at the thought of them naked and in bed together. He should never have let her go to bed alone the night before. He should have taken the damn connection between them all the way home.
    Catherine glanced away, two fiery spots burning in her cheeks. "It’s still not the right time, Dylan."
    He knew that. Hell, it would probably never be the right time. So he needed to stop thinking about her in that way.
    "So, what’s on the schedule for today?" Catherine asked, changing the subject.
    "I called Mark from a pay phone at Starbucks to tell him I think Erica may have been killed last night here in the city. He’ll check with the Tahoe sheriff’s department later this morning and see what’s happening there. He’s not going to tell them about my suspicions, in case they figure out where he got the information. The last thing I want to do is add another accessory to this crime."
    "If it is Erica in the park, then what does Mark think will happen to you?"
    "He doesn’t like the fact that I’m here in the city at the time of her murder. It may get the Tahoe sheriff’s department off my back, but the San Francisco police will surely be interested in me once they learn about the Tahoe incident."
    "So you’re still going to be the main person of interest?"
    "I believe so," he admitted. "And as you suggested, there’s probably something in the park that ties Erica to me, too. By leaving Tahoe and coming here I played right into their plan. However, at the moment no one but Mark knows where I am. That could easily change, since I used my cell phone yesterday in San Francisco. We probably have a day or two before the police start putting all the information together and have enough probable cause to get phone records and search and/or arrest warrants. It’s all going to move faster now that there’s a body."
    "It will be difficult to tie the senator to Erica’s murder, since he’s in jail. How on earth are we going to prove he’s the one who’s doing this?"
    "I wish I knew. What I’d like to do this morning is run down to the station. I taped a lot of my conversations with Erica when I was writing the story. I asked her detailed questions about Ravino’s life, who his friends were, who he had dinner with, who he talked to on the phone, who was in his inner circle. Maybe she told me something about herself or Ravino that I’ve forgotten."
    "Isn’t it risky to go out in public?"
    "Well, since neither Erica nor I has made the news yet, this is my best chance to get the tapes. Once the finger points to me I won’t be able to get around freely."
    "All right," she said with a nod. "I’ll come with you. I’d like to see the inside of a newsroom."
    "It’s not that exciting," he said.
    She grinned as she stood up. "Dylan, with you, every moment is exciting."
    He laughed. "You ain’t seen nothing yet."
    "That’s what I’m afraid of."
    * * *
    KTSF was housed in an unassuming three-story building at the edge of downtown San Francisco. The satellite dish on the roof was the only giveaway that they were entering a television station. A security guard checked Dylan in as they entered the underground garage. For a moment Catherine held her breath, wondering if a swarm of police would suddenly descend upon them, but the guard simply raised the gate and waved them through.
    They received the same reception from the guard stationed in the first-floor lobby. Dylan was greeted by name and asked how his weekend was going. He responded with a breezy, "Fine," and then they were in the elevator.
    "There won’t be many people around today, since it’s the weekend," he told her.
    "I thought the news never stopped."
    "It doesn’t, but the weekend staff just covers the day’s news. During the week we have more people working on long-term investigations, and generally there’s more political and business news."
    "I never realized that TV news people followed stories over a long period of time. I thought it was more about just reporting current events."
    "It can be. I’ve been given a little more latitude to conduct