Wild Justice (Nadia Stafford 3)

We reached the back door. Koss took out his keys and pretended to unlock it. I could tell he was faking. He'd opened it earlier. Broken in, I presumed. If I was right about what he planned to do here, he would have no actual connection with this building.

He swung the door open and waved me in. I obeyed, but now I was the one talking, asking about his son's college plans, which gave me the excuse to be looking over my shoulder at him. Then I stopped inside and waited, facing him. He held the door open, as he reached for a wall switch. He flicked it. Or he pretended to. Nothing happened.

I managed a laugh, a little tight,

as if I might be getting nervous. "That could be a problem."

"No kidding. They must be working on the electrical. Luckily . . ." He lifted his keychain and flicked on a tiny flashlight.

"Handy."

"It is. Some promotional gewgaw I got at a conference last month. Yet another gadget to make women feel safe in a deserted parking garage at night, when the truth is that the only thing that will make them truly safe is not going in that parking garage, as unpopular as that opinion is."

"Because it shouldn't be that way. We should be able to get to our cars at night, without lights and panic buttons and handguns, but the fact that we should be able to doesn't mean we are. Unfortunately."

"Exactly."

As he ushered me down the hall, that feeling of unease congealed in my gut. First reminding me he was a dad. Now reminding me of his life's work, fighting violence against women.

Was he trying to communicate a message? A plea even? Warning me that something was about to happen and it wasn't his fault, and for me to remember that he was, at heart, a decent guy, a man with a family, a man with a reputation.

Jack, are you there? Damn it, I really hope you're there.

Koss opened the door to the stairwell.

"No elevator, I guess," I said with a short laugh.

"Not yet. But we're only going to the third floor. There's a model suite there we can talk in."

"Got it," Jack said through the earpiece, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

As we reached the second flight, Jack whispered that he was in the other stairwell. Koss took me down the hall and opened a door. When we walked in, I said, "Oh, this is nice," even before I got a look around. Jack grunted a thanks, knowing my comment really meant "we're in the room now and it's clear."

Light seeped in through the windows, making the flashlight unnecessary. I went over to the window and looked out . . . at the wall of the neighboring building.

"Well, I hope they aren't charging you for the view," I said.

I expected a laugh and a comment. But Koss said nothing. I turned to see him standing there, in a shard of light, watching me.

"Everything okay?" I asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Oh, yes. I'm just trying to figure out what Drew saw in you."

"Wh-what?"

"Drew Aldrich. I never understood why he wanted to fuck you so badly."

My brain stopped. I swear it did. I couldn't seem to process what he'd said. I stood there, gaping, certain that I'd heard him wrong. It wasn't just what he said; it was how he said it. Completely calm, conversational even.

"Emotionally stunted," Koss said. "That's what I'm sure a psychiatrist would say. Drew liked little girls because he wanted them to like him back. He couldn't face women his own age. He liked sweet little girls, and he was always hoping if he fucked them just right, they'd fall in love with him. Did you fall in love with him, Nadia?"

"Uh-uh," he said, as soon as I made a move. "If you go for your gun, I'll go for mine and this will not end well."

"Not for you."

A humorless smile. "I doubt that, but I also doubt you're going to shoot me. Not until you have some answers. So we are going to raise our hands together, Nadia. Then we are going to sit down at that table, our hands on it where we can see them, and we'll have a little talk."

CHAPTER 48