Part 5 (1/2)

KAREN FELT Jack's gaze s.h.i.+ft to her again. She'd been aware of him across the table while she was giving her statement to Detective Kirkpatrick. Jack had been deathly quiet as if he had no interest in what was taking place. Jack's gaze s.h.i.+ft to her again. She'd been aware of him across the table while she was giving her statement to Detective Kirkpatrick. Jack had been deathly quiet as if he had no interest in what was taking place.

She'd wondered what was keeping him here now that he'd put her and Detective Kirkpatrick together, especially after Denny had mentioned that Jack's two-week ”vacation” was actually probation. Wasn't he jeopardizing his job by just being here?

”You think the killer has too much to lose?” Jack asked quietly. ”What about you? Are you really willing to risk your life? If he shows, it will just be to kill you.”

She looked into his brown eyes, determined not to let him frighten her any more than she already was-which was considerable. But looking into his eyes had a danger all of its own. She felt as if she'd grabbed a frayed toaster cord. The heat of his expression warmed her to the core.

”My life is already at risk, Jack.” She certainly didn't need him telling her how dangerous it was to put the ad in the paper. But what other recourse did she have?

Didn't he see that she was only doing what she had to? She couldn't hide indefinitely and she wasn't one to wait for trouble to come to her. At least this new Karen wasn't.

Why did it matter what he thought, anyway? Just because he hadn't written her a speeding ticket, didn't mean he was on her side. Especially now that she knew he was on probation. He couldn't help her, even if he wanted to.

”Let's just hope you see the killer before he sees you,” Jack said angrily. He turned to Denny. ”It's too dangerous. Too many things can go wrong. I don't like it.”

Denny just stared at Jack for a long moment. ”You don't have to like it, Jack,” he said quietly. ”It's up to her.”

”Captain Baxter would disagree with you, Denny.”

Karen heard the threat, saw it harden Denny's expression. ”Denny's right,” she said. ”Once I put the ad in the paper, the police can't stop me. They will have to protect me.” She looked to Denny for confirmation. He nodded.

Jack swung around to look at her, anger and disappointment in his eyes. Obviously she wasn't the woman he'd thought she was.

But it was her own reaction that bothered her. She felt sick inside with a disappointment of her own. ”I appreciate everything you've done to help me, Jack. But please don't jeopardize your job or let me keep you from your vacation any longer.”

He nodded, his gaze saying more clearly than words that he was was.h.i.+ng his hands of her. ”Don't worry, I'm going home to finish packing right now.”

IN THE LATE-AFTERNOON light behind the bar, Karen watched Jack pull away in his Jeep, feeling bereft and strangely alone. light behind the bar, Karen watched Jack pull away in his Jeep, feeling bereft and strangely alone.

Denny's words drew her attention back to him. ”I'll put you up someplace safe,” he was saying beside her.

She stared at him for a long moment, wondering why he still looked so familiar. ”No, thanks. I'll find my own safe place.”

He looked as if she'd just turned him down for a date. ”Karen-”

”Don't worry,” she said, cutting him off. ”I'll keep in touch. Can I drop you anywhere?”

He held her gaze as if searching for something, then shook his head. ”The editor said he could get your ad in tomorrow morning's paper.”

She nodded, surer than ever that she knew him from somewhere.

As she climbed into her car, she realized she would have to find a place to stay for a few days at least until she saw whether the newspaper ad worked or not. She tried not to think past that. It had had to work. She had to draw the killer out and get this over with. to work. She had to draw the killer out and get this over with.

Probably a motel would be her best bet. Something on the edge of town, out of the way. Or she could go to her mother's. The place was like a fortress. But Karen knew there wasn't any way she could keep her little problem from her mother if she did. Mostly, she didn't want to worry her mother. Nor would her mother approve of the seedy mess her daughter found herself in. Pamela Sutton would never understand how a ”nice” girl could get involved in something like this.

As Karen turned down Front Street, skirting the Clark Fork River, she suddenly had a flash of Denny Kirkpatrick. Except he looked a whole lot different from the man she'd just met.

She turned around and went back to the city library. The afternoon light was fading fast, the air cooling, making her chilly. Or was it what she knew she'd find at the library?

In the school yearbook section, she pulled down her high-school annual. She found a senior picture of Liz not far from her own. She flipped through, looking for a Kirkpatrick. No Kirkpatricks.

She'd been so sure. She felt as if she were losing her mind. How could she have been so positive- His name hadn't been Denny Denny Kirkpatrick-and he hadn't gone to her school. She pulled down year-books from the counties around Missoula until she finally found him. Kirkpatrick-and he hadn't gone to her school. She pulled down year-books from the counties around Missoula until she finally found him.

He hadn't been in her grade, but three years ahead of her and Liz in school. She stared down at his senior picture. His hair had been shoulder-length and slicked back, making him less attractive. He'd also had his senior photo taken in his bike leathers, his collar up.

Jonathan Dennis Kirkpatrick had changed a lot in the past sixteen years, but not so much that Karen didn't recognize him. She'd told Jack she was good with faces. Now maybe he'd believe her.

She dialed his cell-phone number. If only she could recognize the man again from the hotel hallway as easily.

”h.e.l.lo?”

”He didn't go by Denny Kirkpatrick sixteen years ago. His full name is Jonathan Dennis Kirkpatrick but everyone called him Johnny K. He was three years ahead of me in school and went to a different high school.”

”I'm glad you remembered where you'd seen him before.” Jack didn't sound all that impressed.

”I told you I was good with faces.”

Silence.

”I know you're busy packing, but there's one other thing I thought you'd like to know. The reason I remembered Detective Kirkpatrick? He dated Liz Jones in high school.”

CHAPTER SIX

Jack stood listening to the dial tone, then slowly hung up the phone. Why hadn't Denny mentioned that he knew Liz? No, not just casually knew her but dated her for a while in high school. It wasn't as if something like that would slip your mind. Especially Denny Kirkpatrick's. He had a photographic memory when it came to women.

For several heartbeats, Jack stared at the clothes strewn across his bed and the half-full duffel bag he used for a suitcase. Denny and Liz. Swearing, he stuffed everything into the duffel, grabbed his jacket and his gun, and headed for his Jeep.

He found Denny on the roof outside his penthouse apartment, sitting in a lawn chair, his cigarette glowing in the dusk, the faint smell of smoke drifting on the breeze.

”You didn't tell me you knew Liz,” Jack said, wis.h.i.+ng it didn't sound so much like an accusation.

Denny didn't seem startled, not even surprised to see him, as if he'd been waiting. ”That was a lifetime ago. I wasn't even the same person then.”

Jack had to ask. ”The married woman you've been seeing-” He could feel his friend's dark-eyed gaze harden.

”It wasn't Liz.” The words hung on the breeze, both of them knowing he could be lying. He'd lied before. And about a woman. It had almost destroyed their friends.h.i.+p.

At least Denny wasn't the man Karen had seen Liz with at the hotel. At least Karen didn't think so, anyway. Jack supposed that was something. But that man might not have been the killer, either, Jack reminded himself.

The silence between them had taken on a weight and substance. G.o.d, what was Denny not not telling him? Something. telling him? Something.