In the Clinch: A Kira Brightwell Novel

Chapter 7

7

Detective Nick Foster was busy with the usual never-ending mountain of paperwork and reports that seemed to consume far too much of his day. He had no current cases to work on, so he had no option but to at least try to catch up on the overflow.

He leaned back in his padded desk chair and ran a hand through his closely cropped dark hair. The rest of the precinct was a steady hum of activity as uniformed patrol officers came in and out or worked at their own desks. The air was filled with the commingling scent of coffee and doughnuts. He eyed the cup on his desk, which had gone cold long ago, leaving a stale taste in his mouth. Just another day for the La Valentia PD. There had been no big cases since…

Since Kira’s nephew was kidnapped.

His mouth hardened. Kira Brightwell had become a sore subject with him lately. Once, they had been friends, with maybe even the possibility of something more. He had always treaded lightly around Kira, respecting both her skills and her need for secrecy.

It had been clear to him early on that she was obsessed with the Procurer, and likely knew more about him than she was letting on. In a way, he couldn’t blame her after everything she had been through. He had allowed her to use his position on the force to gain both information and connections in the hopes that at some point she would reciprocate with information of her own. Her reasons might be personal, but she wasn’t the only one who wanted to take the Procurer down.

But then there had been the Redcliffe incident.

Nick closed his brown eyes for a moment.

She took it too far.

First, Kira had used Nick to make inroads with the local sheriff in the small, Nevada town. The funny thing was, Nick probably wouldn’t have even minded, if she had bothered to ask him first. But she had used subterfuge to go behind his back, and then forced him to back her up—almost as if she didn’t trust him.

She probably doesn’t trust anyone. Not after the things she’s seen…

He mentally shoved the traitorous thought away. Kira should have known that she could trust him by now. He had stuck his neck out for her on more than one occasion, and regularly looked the other way to allow her investigations free rein.

Because he trusted her.

Or at least, he did, once.

Now… Well. He had seen just how obsessed she was with tracking down the Procurer, how far she was willing to go. She had gotten too close, and the Procurer had retaliated. Nick had tried to keep her safe when she informed the police about Kevin’s kidnapping. After all, Kira was the real target.

Kira had repaid the favor by misleading him and escaping custody.

In some ways, he wasn’t surprised she hadn’t stayed put in the precinct while everyone else was out searching for Kevin—especially when she probably held herself to blame. Kira wasn’t the kind of woman to sit on her hands and do what she was told when all hell was breaking loose. If she was, she and the other seven girls the Procurer had taken four years ago would likely all be dead by now. It was one of the things he admired about her. Still, she had trusted Trevor Wright, and not him.

His gaze was drawn to the chair that sat beside his desk—the very one he had handcuffed her to.

He shook his head. No, her escape from his custody had been the final nail in the coffin. If she had only trusted him, if she had been willing to work together, maybe Kevin wouldn’t have been taken in the first place.

Now, the poor boy was probably going to need counseling. Not only had he been kidnapped by Kendall Stevens—a lowlife lackey who had been hired by the Procurer—but Kevin had been on the scene when Stevens had been shot at long range by a sniper rifle—likely aimed by his employer.

Nick had seen the way Kira’s family had reacted on the scene after they had been reunited with Kevin. He doubted any of them had spoken to Kira since.

And then he had received the photo.

It had been sent to his phone by an unknown caller. It showed him getting into his car outside the precinct in broad daylight. He had no idea when the photo had been taken. He had tried looking into the image data, but it had been stripped. The photo had been accompanied by four words:

‘She has been warned.’

No need to ask who ‘she’ was.

But if Kira had received a copy of the photo, she hadn’t bothered to contact him about it. Then again, she had probably received it after they were no longer on speaking terms. Or maybe it didn’t matter to her that the Procurer was threatening his safety.

The photo had startled Nick, but it was hardly the first threat he had received since joining the force. Still, the Procurer wasn’t just some i***t, local thug. This was a man who had no known identity, and had likely worked for years across the country without being noticed. Despite his determination not to be rattled, Nick found himself looking over his shoulder more often lately to see whether anyone might be watching.

He hadn’t told anyone about the photo. He should have told the chief. But that would also likely mean exposing Kira’s extra-curricular activities in Redcliffe to explain everything. Now that it was clear the Procurer had operated in more than one state, the case belonged to the Feds—assuming they found out. Nick didn’t want the case to slip out of his reach any more than Kira did. And if the chief found out just how much information he had shared with Kira, or how much he had looked the other way…

Nick leaned forward and clenched his hands around the armrests of his chair in frustration. Kira wasn’t the only one who was currently between a rock and a hard place.

He wanted—no, he needed to talk to her. She had gotten herself into a mess and dragged him down with her, not that he had resisted that strongly, if he was being honest with himself. What did she know? What was she planning?

But he couldn’t bring himself to call her, not after the way she had treated him. He had already been more than patient with her, and done her more favors than was really good for him. She should be the one to call him.

That’s what he told himself whenever he found himself scrolling through his phone past her number at least.

He shook his head to himself and tried to refocus on his paperwork. His thoughts had been running in circles ever since that fateful night at the farmhouse.

“Hey, Foster.”

Nick looked up at the sound of Martinez’s voice. His friend was just finishing his shift. He was still in full uniform.

“What’s up?” Nick asked, glad to have a distraction. He straightened. Martinez’s expression was serious.

“Well…” Martinez rubbed at the back of his neck in an awkward gesture. “It’s not our district, but…” His brown eyes were apologetic.

Nick gave him a bewildered look. “What is it?”

Martinez took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “There’s been an accident on the highway, a few hours west of town. A female pedestrian was brought in to the local hospital by a good Samaritan with head trauma and rib injury.”

Nick’s stomach tightened. He had a strange feeling he knew where this was going…

Martinez swallowed before continuing. “The victim is Kira. Kira Brightwell.”

Nick was already out of his seat and moving toward the front doors of the precinct as Martinez’s voice trailed behind him.

“Thought you would want to know…”