Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [readnow TXT] 📗

sobbing. Dehan settled her on the sofa and knelt in front of her, examining her forehead. I hunkered down beside her to have a look, too. There was a two-inch gash above her right eye, and her left cheek was beginning to swell, On closer inspection, I could see she had bruising all over her face and on her upper arms.

Dehan held her hand in both of her own and asked her, “Angela, what happened?”

Angela shook her head, wiping her eyes on the back of her free hand. “I don’t know. I was asleep. I took a pill. Then in my dream…” She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She wasn’t breathing. When her voice finally came, it was twisted with fear and grief. “I didn’t know if it was a dream or what was happening. I couldn’t move…! And it hurt so much!”

Dehan got up and sat next to her, with her arm around her shoulders. She glanced at me. “You want to make a cup of tea?”

I nodded and went to the kitchen. While the kettle boiled, I ran over in my mind what I had seen. It wasn’t much. The dark blue BMW. I hadn’t seen the plate. Then the guy. He came down the nine steps fast, maybe in a single bound. He was big, real big. Not just tall, but powerfully built. I figured at least six-three, maybe more. Big shoulders, big arms and legs. Agile. Black jeans, black sweatshirt, black ski mask. I tried to focus more, on his hands, on his eyes, but I couldn’t be sure. Dehan had been ahead of me, and by the time I was close enough to make out details, I was concentrating on her, and getting her out of his line of fire.

The kettle clicked and I poured the boiling water into a mug with a tea bag in it, added two spoons of sugar and a dash of milk. She needed it strong and sweet.

By the time I got back and handed her her tea, she had calmed down a bit. She took it in both hands and I sat in one of the armchairs.

“It’s been a pretty rough couple of days for you, Angela, hasn’t it?”

She nodded and shivered, holding the hot mug close. Dehan rubbed her back a couple of times and said, “I’ll go and get you a blanket.”

She rose and left the room. Angela watched her go. Then she looked back at her mug, avoiding my eyes.

“Do you know who that man was, Angela?”

She shook her head.

“Did you get a look at his face?”

“No, he had the mask on.”

“How about the color of his eyes?”

“Black. His eyes, his hands.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

Somewhere outside, I heard a siren. It seemed very far away, but I knew it would be there soon. She hesitated, like she was going to tell me something he’d said, but closed her moth and stared at me for a moment. Then she shook her head.

“No. He didn’t say anything.”

I sat forward, put my elbows on my knees. “Angela, is this the same man who killed Sebastian?”

Again, the long pause while she looked at me. “I don’t know.”

“You understand that if it is, you are at risk. You are seriously at risk.” I shook my head. “I can’t protect you unless you help me.”

Dehan came in and sat by her side again. She placed a blanket around her shoulder and held her. Outside, the sirens were getting louder. Dehan spoke gently to her.

“What he’s saying is true, Angela.”

A twist of bitterness contorted Angela’s face and she turned to Dehan. “The cops didn’t protect my mom, did they? Or yours!”

Dehan didn’t flinch. She came right back, “That’s why I became a cop.” She shifted her ass so that she was facing her, and took hold of her left hand in both of hers. “Let me tell you something. A year ago, Detective Stone and I met. He had just formed the cold cases unit.” I raised an eyebrow at the slight inaccuracy, but she ignored me and went right on. “The very first case we worked together, we hunted for the cop who killed my mom, the same cop who allowed your mother’s killer to go free.” She flicked her eyes at me and there may have been a smile in there, somewhere. “It didn’t work out how we expected, but I learned something about my partner, and about myself. He’s a good man that I can trust with my life, and I know that we will both do the right thing, whatever the cost. We will protect you, Angela, if you’ll let us. If you trust us, we will not let you down. You have my word.”

She stared at Dehan for a long moment. Then she looked at me. I tried to look like the kind of man Dehan had described. Outside, the sirens swelled and an ambulance drew up, and just behind it the CSI team. Dehan rose and went out to meet them.

I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees again. “Angela, I want to help you. We’d both like to help you. But the bottom line is, you have no choice. If you don’t let us help you, that man is going to keep coming back. We can’t let that happen. So if you refuse to help us, I will charge you with obstructing justice, and that can carry serious prison time.”

She went pale, and I felt bad. But I told myself I’d feel worse if I had to come back to this house and investigate her murder.

She said, “You wouldn’t do that…”

“You heard what my partner said, Angela. I will do whatever it takes to catch the person who did this to you, and to Luis and Sebastian. I don’t want