wasn’t after me. Maybe I interrupted a break-in. Or some homeless guy snuck in to get out of the cold and he got scared by the blackout, too. He just wanted me out of his way so he could escape. Doug Price is going to give me grief tonight for not picking up the mess I left in the dressing room, but I wasn’t hurt. I was more worried about Tyler.”
He didn’t care about whoever Doug Price was, but if he gave Katie grief about anything, he’d flatten him. “Did you report it?” She hadn’t. “Katie—” His frustration ebbed on a single breath as understanding dawned. “You called me.” Hell. He should have investigated inside the building instead of letting the dog distract him from his purpose. He should have gone straight to Katie’s apartment when he didn’t find her and Tyler at the theater, even if it was the middle of the night and he woke them out of a sound sleep. “I’m sorry. If I’d known what kind of danger you were in—”
“It wouldn’t have done any good. By the time I found Tyler and went back to take a couple of pictures, anything suspicious I’d seen was gone.” Katie quickly extricated her hands from his and nudged him out of her way. “I wasn’t in any real danger. I was being a lousy mom last night. Guilt and reading that file about the missing teen and her baby made me imagine it was something more.” She picked up a stack of briefing folders and distributed them in front of each chair around the table. “Except for that message.”
Oh, he had a bad feeling about this. “What message?”
She tried to shrug off whatever had drained the color from her face. “Some prankster wrote something creepy in the snow behind the theater.”
“And then he swept it away.”
Katie spun to face him. “Yes. But how did you...? Right. You were there. And you don’t quit.”
He propped his hands at his waist. “What did the message say? Something about breaking in to the theater?”
She hugged the last folder to her chest. “I don’t know if it was even intended for me.”
“What did it say?” he repeated, as patiently as he’d talked to Padre.
“‘Stop or someone will get hurt.’”
He dug his fingers into the pockets of his jeans, the only outward sign of the protective anger surging through him. “Stop what? Who’ll get hurt?”
Her shoulders lifted with silent confusion. She didn’t have those answers. “Maybe he thought I was chasing him. I wasn’t. The darkness freaked me out and kept me from thinking straight, and all I wanted to do was find Tyler to make sure he was safe. If I hadn’t panicked, I’d have handled things better, and I wouldn’t have ruined your evening.”
Trent plucked the folder from her grasp and set it on the table. “You lost track of your son. That’s supposed to frighten a parent. Don’t beat yourself up about it. You said he’s okay, right?”
She nodded. “We’re both fine. Thanks for worrying.”
“Thank you for sharing. Now maybe I won’t worry so much.”
She moved back to her computer and manipulated the pictures again. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
They did know each other well. “Honey, you know I’m always going to worry—”
“You shouldn’t call me honey.” Katie glanced toward the window to the main room. “The rest of the team is here. I need to finish setting up.”
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