Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter One
San Antonio, Texas
Detective Katelyn O’Malley stood in the entrance hall and studied each of the wedding guests as they trickled into Sacred Heart church.
If she got lucky, very lucky, maybe no one would be murdered today.
Too bad there was the little annoying buzz in the back of her head that said all hell might break loose before the bride and groom managed to say I do.
While she directed the guests to sign the registry—a duty she’d created for her cover—Katelyn continued her surveillance. She mentally dismissed two giggling teenage girls whose dresses were so skintight that they couldn’t have been carrying concealed weapons, or much of anything else for that matter. Besides, if her profile of the killer was right, she wasn’t looking for a female but a male in his late twenties or early thirties.
A male who’d already killed two people.
“See anything?” she heard her brother, Garrett, ask through her earpiece. He was posted outside the church. Watching their backs. And sides. It’d taken some effort, but she’d managed to get photos of thirty-nine of the forty-one guests. Not bad odds. If someone uninvited showed up, Garrett would know and could relay it to her.
Katelyn kept her voice at a whisper and spoke into the tiny communicator tucked in the neckline of her dress. “So far, so good. How about you?”
“Nothing. Well, nothing other than being hit on by one of the bridesmaids.”
That wasn’t anything new. Lots of women hit on her brother. “Was she armed?” Katelyn was only partly sarcastic.
“No. Unfortunately, I have firsthand knowledge that she wasn’t, since she tripped over her lavender taffeta gown and fell right in my arms.” He paused. “I guess this is a good time to remind you that your lieutenant will have our butts if he finds out about this little unauthorized stakeout you arranged?”
“He won’t find out,” Katelyn said with certainty she didn’t feel. The lieutenant in question was her oldest brother and head of Homicide. And he would find out. No doubt about it. Still, if she could stop someone from being killed today, she’d gladly take the flak over her yet-to-be-an-official-part of this investigation.
“Okay, can I add then that this is probably a waste of a really great Saturday afternoon?” Garrett continued. “You’re assuming the other two murders weren’t just random acts of violence—”
“They weren’t.”
He grumbled something that Katelyn didn’t want to distinguish. “All right, but even if last week’s shooting was the start of some grand serial career, it’s the first frickin’ weekend in June. There are dozens of weddings going on in San Antonio today. Hear that, sis? Dozens. If our gunman’s really a wacko targeting brides and grooms, he could be at any one of them.”
It was true, and they’d already rehashed this subject too many times. Yes, this was a long shot. Yes, this wasn’t exactly standard operating procedure. And yes, they could get reprimanded for this. But after studying all the angles, Katelyn knew in her gut that this particular ceremony was their best bet for saving lives. In her mind, this was one of those times where the means would justify the ends.
An odd sound caught her attention. A scrape of metal. Katelyn whipped her gaze to the other side of the narthex where the lanky, twenty-something photographer was adjusting his equipment. He was definitely on her list of people to be concerned about, and she made a mental note to get a look in his bag. Perhaps she’d try the bridesmaid’s flirting/falling in his arms approach. She was certainly dressed for the part in the short, snug emerald silk outfit that she’d dragged from the back of her closet.
The way back.
Katelyn had added some too-high heels, heavy concealing makeup and a blond wig to go along with it. All in all, it was a very uncomfortable but hopefully convincing disguise that could work for her if needed.
“Hold on. We might have something,” Garrett informed her. “If there’s something to have in all this. A male. Brown hair, part Latino or maybe Italian. He doesn’t match any of the photos. You’ll have visual in under a minute because he’s headed right for the church.”
“Okay. I’ll handle it. You stay put in case this one’s a decoy.”
“Be careful,” he warned.
Oh, she definitely would.
More guests strolled in, bringing with them the June heat and humidity from the nearby San Antonio River. A pregnant woman with a toddler. A middle-aged couple holding hands. All innocent, she was sure of that.
And then Katelyn saw him.
That buzz in her head turned to a full roar.
He stepped into the entry. Well, he didn’t step, exactly. He stalked in, smooth and slow, like a jungle cat sizing up his hunting area.
Now here was the male who fit her profile to a proverbial tee. Mahogany brown hair, not too long, not too short. Olive skin. Six-one. About a hundred and seventy-five pounds. No distinguishing marks and definitely no pretty boy. He had badass written all over him.
He wore a midnight-blue suit. Nondescript. Ditto for the crisp white dress shirt and his precisely knotted silver-gray tie. But that’s where the nondescript and ditto parts ended. Katelyn had been a cop for nearly eight years and had learned to recognize something lethal when she saw it.
This guy was lethal.
His gaze swept around the room, and like his entrance, it was smooth. He made eye contact with her. Just a split second. Then, he looked away to continue his surveillance. And there was no doubt in her mind that this was surveillance for him. He dismissed the teenagers as quickly as Katelyn had, but his attention lingered a bit on the photographer, before it came back to her.
Was he suspicious?
You bet he was.
His instincts weren’t lacking in any area. That meant she had to strike first.
Pulling in a hard breath to steady herself, she eased from behind the narrow table when he walked closer. She wanted a better look, among other things, and she got a dose of those other things right away. She caught the scent of his aftershave. Something manly and musky. It was better suited for a long night of sex than a wedding.
Or maybe that was just her imagination working overtime.
Whoa.
An imagination with seriously bad timing.
She brushed her arm against his, purposely, and the soft contact garnered her another glance. Not a dismissive one either. There was interest in the depths of those icy blue eyes. Too bad she couldn’t quite make out exactly what kind of interest it was, but it was obviously time for that flirting ruse to see if she had to reel in a killer.
Katelyn smiled,
