Killing Me Softly (19 page)

“So what is it, Bryan?” Nick asked. “You said you'd learned something on the case. You have a lead?”

Bryan finally sank onto the love seat beside Dawn, but he didn't touch the pie. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “How well do you know Olivia Dupree?”

“I met her for the first time when I started investigating her roommate's murder. Didn't really see much of her after that, until I retired five years ago and took the job teaching at the university. We've become friends. I like to think I know her pretty well.” He devoured another huge bite of pie, then set the plate down, pausing to chew. Finally he said, “Why?”

Bryan looked at Dawn. She gave him a nod to go on. “She's not who she says she is, Nick.”

Nick's eyebrows went up, but he said nothing.

“We're pretty sure her name isn't Olivia Dupree. It's Sara Quinlan. The real Olivia was the one who was murdered back then. For some reason Sara took her identity. She might even have been the one who claimed the body. She might even—”

Nick held up a hand. “Stop right there.”

“Look, I know you're friends with her. Maybe more than friends, but I have a photo that proves—”

“I'm not telling you to stop because we're friends—and yes, you're right, I'd have liked us to have been more than friends. It never happened, but that's kind of irrelevant here. I'm telling you to stop because you're on the wrong track here. Olivia—Sara—didn't change her identity to cover up a string of murders. She changed it 'cause she had to…to save her own life.”

Bryan blinked, clearly shocked. Dawn set her pie plate down, and the fork clattered off the side and onto the table, smearing it with crumbs and apple goo. She stared at Nick, stunned, as she realized what she was seeing on his face—or, more accurately, what she
wasn't
seeing. Surprise.

She frowned at him. “You already knew,” she said softly. “My God, Nick, you already knew.”

Nick licked his lips and nodded. “I already knew. Finish your pie.”

“W
hat the hell do you mean, you already knew?”

Bryan shot off the love seat as if he'd been fired out of a cannon, completely blown away, Dawn thought, by his mentor's revelation. “You were a cop, for God's sake! If you knew, you'd have had to say so.”

“Come on,” Nick said with a grimace.
“Had to?”
He shook his head. “Come on, Kendall.”

“Nick…”

Dawn got up and put a hand on Bryan's shoulder. He was clearly upset and, she could tell, about to get very angry. She didn't want to see that. He loved Nick—God, the man was like a second father to him.

Bryan snapped his head her way, but his face softened as soon as his eyes met hers.

She held on to that gaze and spoke slowly. “Maybe it would be better to get furious
after
we hear what Nick has to say about this?”

“There's nothing he
can
say.”

“Hey, if you don't want to know—” Nick got to
his feet, as well, lifted both hands in surrender and shrugged. “I'm outta here.”

“Nick, wait.” Dawn let go of Bryan and rushed to Nick, clamping her hands on his shoulders. “Don't go.
I
want to hear what you have to say. I can't even imagine what Olivia—Sara—”

“Call her Olivia. It's important.”

Dawn frowned. “Can you tell us why?”

He looked toward Bryan, who was still standing, his eyes seeming to be involved in some sort of inner search for understanding. Nick rolled his eyes, shaking his head, and focused on Dawn. “For you, hon, I'll stick around and give you the scoop. Just so no one mistakes me, though, I'm not explaining myself or defending my actions. I did what I had to do. Olivia would be dead by now if I hadn't.”

“Olivia
is
dead.” Bryan bit the words out.

Nick turned slowly, his face turning darker. “You want to stop acting like a ten-year-old, Kendall, and sit your ass down and listen? Or should I just cuff you and take you in, wash my hands of this whole damn thing?”

“That's what you want to do, be my guest,” Bryan said, turning his back to Nick, his hands behind him, wrist against wrist.

“Oh, jeez, Bryan, would you knock it off?” Dawn pleaded.

“Fuck this.” Nick stormed for the door. He got to it, yanked it open. “You know, kid, I never once doubted your word when you told me that you didn't kill Bettina
Wright. I never once, even for a minute, considered suspecting you. Calling you a liar. Questioning your decency. Never once. It'd be nice to have that favor returned.”

“You broke the law,” Bryan said. “You're a cop, and you broke the law, Nick.”

“Like you're doing right now, you mean? Or like you were when you took all those files on the Nightcap case without telling anyone?”

“You know about that?” Bryan whispered, stunned.

“Of course I know about that. It was my case. And didn't you think they'd be looking for those files, once all this broke?”

“Do they know I have them?” Bryan asked.

“No. I've got them thinking the whole file was misplaced and digging through the archives looking for it. I was hoping I could get them back for you before they caught on, because they've been gone since before that first killing, and if they find out you took them, that makes you look even more guilty. To everyone but me. I figured you had a damn good reason. I figured you'd tell me when you were ready. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, Kendall. Because I trust you.”

And then Nick turned, strode out of the cabin and slammed the door.

Dawn watched him go, then turned to stare at Bryan. “What the hell is the matter with you? Are you an
idiot?
He's one of the only people on this planet on your side.
Or he was. To tell you the truth, I'm starting to waver myself.”

He sighed, tipped his head ceilingward. “He's not the man I thought he was.”

“Yeah, because you made him into a hero. Some kind of flawless supercop. Now you find out he's a human being just like the rest of us, and you turn on him for that?”

He spun around to face her, blinking and looking as if he felt betrayed. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, Bryan. Always yours. The things is, so is Nick. You can't afford to turn on your friends right now. You don't have any to spare.”

He shook his head slowly, then went to the door. “I'm going for a walk.”

She didn't say anything, just crossed her arms over her chest and watched him go. But she resented it. She really resented him leaving her there alone, just because he was having a temper tantrum.

Ignoring the little voice that reminded her Bryan was wanted for a string of murders he hadn't committed, and that he had plenty of good reasons to be stressed out, she stomped deeper into the cabin for a look around. She found that the back half, the part under the loft, was a wide-open kitchen/dining area. Double glass doors at the back led onto a deck twice the size of the front porch, with lawn furniture and a gas grill. And beyond it, a breathtaking view, even in the gathering darkness, of Shadow Falls, ominous and eerie, cascading down
from a high cliff and splashing furiously into the giant lake that lay at its feet.

“What it really needs is a hot tub,” a voice said from behind her.

She damn near jumped out of her skin, even though it was Nick's voice and she recognized it immediately. She turned, smiling at her own nerves. “God, you scared the hell out of me.”

“Sorry. I shouldn't have left like that. Where is he?”

“Went to walk off his temper.”

“He left you alone?”

“Guess he thinks I'm safe here.”

Nick held her gaze steadily, and she wondered what he was thinking. Was he thinking that Bryan didn't care much about her, if he would leave her unprotected like this? Or was that just her?

The screen door creaked. Odd that she hadn't heard it when Nick had come in, but she'd been deep in thought. “There he is,” she said.

Nick lifted his brows and put a hand on the gun that was holstered under his left arm as he turned.

Dawn tensed behind him. Nick looked back at her. She was rubbing her arms and trying to suppress tears.

“Aw, come here, kid.” Nick took a single step closer and wrapped his big arms around her, hugged her to his chest. She knew he was trying to comfort her, but she didn't feel at ease in his arms. Nerves, she decided. She was tense as a bowstring.

“Please, go see who it is. I'm feeling…odd.”

“Sure, hon. Sure. You're shaking, though.”

“I'll be all right.”

“He likes that, you know. That fear his victims feel when they realize what he's going to do to them. It's what feeds him, like a drug he's addicted to.”

“You should know,” she said, and she pulled a little harder to free herself.

Nick drew back and looked at her with a frown.

“You wrote the book on the guy,” she said. “At least, we think he was the guy.”

“Yeah, even I'm starting to wonder at this point.” He shook his head, but let his arms fall to his sides and turned toward the living room. “We're back here, Kendall.”

She rolled her eyes. “You knew it was him the whole time?” she asked Nick.

“I'm only guessing. Bryan, stop scaring the hell out of your woman and answer me.”

Footsteps came closer. “It's me, Dawn.” And then Bryan stepped into view, and she met his eyes and let him see the fear and moisture in her own.

“I shouldn't have left you alone.”

“Damn right you shouldn't,” Nick said. “It could've been him who walked in on her just now instead of me. What the hell's wrong with you, Kendall?”

“Right now, Nick? You are.” Bryan crossed the room, ran a hand over Dawn's face and said, “I'm sorry. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I will be, if you two will just sit down
and talk.” She hugged him, but only so she could get close enough to whisper, “He's more upset by this than you realize, Bry. He's sweating bullets. He really cares what you think of him.”

Bryan nodded, one hand cupping her head as he did, so it seemed almost intimate. “I'm sorry I left you. I'm sorry—”

“
Listen
to him, Bryan.”

Again he nodded, and she pulled away and decided to push them along. “What do you guys say we start this whole conversation over, okay? Tempers are raw, nerves are shot. You two know you love each other.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Women. It's always
love
with them.”

Bryan slid an arm around Dawn's waist, which surprised her, and he turned her and walked back to the love seat, where they sat down.

Nick didn't. He paced, clearly still stirred up by what had happened. “Sara Quinlan was mixed up with a small-time dealer who was also a big-time asshole.”

“What kind of dealer?” Bryan asked.

“Weed.”

Bryan blinked—already, Dawn thought, doubting the story. Man, one slip and he was ready to doubt everything his former hero said? She guessed it was no wonder he still hadn't forgiven her for falling off her own pedestal.

But Nick was going on, and her attention was caught.

“She lived with the guy, and he beat the hell out of
her on a regular basis. Twice she tried to leave, twice he tracked her down and told her he'd kill her unless she came back. So she did. She was young. Scared. Believed him. I think she was probably right on that score.”

Bryan shrugged. “She go to the cops?”

“He
was
a cop.”

Now, finally, Dawn saw Bryan's eyes spark with interest. He looked Nick in the eye for the first time and paid close attention.

“They didn't take her complaints seriously. He always covered. Never left obvious marks, had a whole story going on, making her out to be mentally unstable, and set it up so early and so well that by the time Sara started filing complaints, everyone at the department already assumed she was nuts. But she knew she had to get out of there, and get out fast. So she started collecting information on his side business. Getting names, dates, listening to phone calls. When she put enough together, she sent it all to the DEA. And because he was a cop, they moved, and they moved
fast
. Once he was safely behind bars, she packed up her shit, emptied the bank accounts and skipped the state, coming here, far enough away from Chicago that she hoped he wouldn't find her for a while. When she got here, she found a girl she'd shared a foster home with. A girl with no family, just like her, and they hooked up again.”

Nick paced to the fireplace, put a hand on the mantel. “When I arrived at the apartment, she was in a state of sheer terror. She was sure her ex had sent someone to murder her, and that they'd taken out the roommate in
her place, by mistake. So she switched identities, told us the dead woman was Sara, claimed that she was Olivia, switched out their IDs and started using her roommate's driver's license and social security number. They didn't look alike, but she lightened her hair for the first few years, then let it go back when the license expired and a new photo had to be taken. And the change was complete.”

“And when did you find out about it?”

Nick drew a deep, nasal breath and lifted his head. “Come on. You don't think she managed all that on her own, do you?”

“You helped her pull it off,” Bryan muttered. “Dammit, Nick!”

“I checked out her story,” Nick said quickly. “The guy was one badass, and he was out for blood, Kendall. Her blood. What would you have done if it were Dawnie, here, in that situation? I helped her. I had to. The asshole thinks she's dead. And no one got hurt by any of it.”

“Except for the real Olivia's baby.”

“The real Olivia had her baby before any of it happened. She put that kid where she wanted it to be.”

“The kid must have a father, though,” Dawn said. “Doesn't he have a right to know?”

“If I'd known about the baby, I would have handled things differently,” Nick said. “But I didn't know. By the time I found out, I'd already dug myself in too deep to get out of it without destroying my career and putting that woman's life in danger. I knew she'd feel as badly
about it as I did, so I never told her.” He turned, spearing Bryan with his eyes. “But I swear to God, Bryan, I
did
try to find that kid. And to figure out who its father could have been, but I hit dead end after dead end. Decided maybe it wasn't meant to be known.”

Bryan lowered his head.

“Just think about if it was Dawnie. What would you do to protect her?”

“It's different,” Bryan said. “You didn't even know Sara. Dawn and I—” He shot her a quick look. “It's different.”

“Not so different.” Nick shrugged. “So that's the deal. That's the truth. You can share it with the world and maybe get a nice woman—an innocent woman—killed, not to mention destroy my career. Or you can keep it to yourself. Your call. Just know it's got nothing to do with the murders. And I felt like a real rookie when I found out it wasn't her ex who was behind her roommate's killing at all. Still, word of her murder made its way to him, just like we intended it to, so he's left her alone and will continue to do so, unless you expose her now.”

He sat there, staring from one of them to the other. Bryan was silent and Dawn was tense, wondering what he would say. And when he didn't say anything at all as the seconds ticked past, she was too uncomfortable with the silence to let it draw out further.

“Maybe you should give us some time to process all this, Nick. It's a lot to—”

“It's not a lot. It's simple. You blow her cover, she
ends up dead. And it won't take long. Her ex isn't in prison anymore. He's a free man—and he's moved up in the criminal world, too.”