Black Kat by Kirsten DeMuzio Page A

breaths.  With all the training she did with Dane, this was the first real chance she had had to put it to the test.  Not counting taking down that dimwitted cousin of Alexander’s in his office.  Despite the terror that still rang in her head, Kat smiled.  She could do this.  She could find the man who took her, and she no longer had any doubt that she would be able to finish the job once she found him.
    With her gun still in her right hand and her eyes on the house she had run from, Kat pulled out her phone and called Colin.
    “Kat,” Colin’s voice answered on the first ring.
    “I need you at 638 Warren Avenue.  And you should bring backup…and an ambulance.”
    There was a beat of silence.  “What’s going on?  Are you okay?”  Colin’s words were rushed and filled with fear.
    “I’m fine, Colin.  I’ll wait for you.”
    With that she hung up.  He would have plenty of questions, but she thought they were better answered face -to-face.
     

Chapter Nine
     
    “Goddamit!” Colin yelled when the line went dead.  Standing up so fast he nearly knocked his chair over, he grabbed his suit jacket from the back of it.  He locked his eyes on his partner’s face and barked, “Get the LVPD over to 638 Warren.  Medical too.”
    While Bass made the call, Colin pulled his extra weapon from his desk drawer and slipped it into the strap around his calf.  The second Bass put his phone down, Colin order ed, “Let’s go.”
    “Are you going to let me know what we’re walking into here, partner?  Cause I’m not too keen on going in blind,” Bass said from the passenger seat a few minutes later.
    Colin’s knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel with enough force to almost rip the thing off the dashboard.  “Kat called from this address,” he bit out.
    Bass shook his head and leaned back in his seat.  “You’re calling in the cavalry because your girlfriend’s off the radar?”
    Colin whipped his head around and growled at Bass.  “She’s not my girlfriend.”  Though God how he wished that weren’t true.  Facing forward again, he ground out through clenched teeth, “Kat doesn’t call.  Ever.  Unless there is something seriously wrong.”  In fact this was only the fourth time she had ever called him, with the first three being when she had received the anonymous notes.  So he knew it was serious.  The only thing keeping his head from exploding was the fact that she had said she was okay.  And she had sounded as if that were true.
    The flashing light on top of his car allowed them to speed through downtown Las Vegas and into the seedier side of the city.  Annoyed that they had reached the scene before the police, Colin caught sight of Kat’s car and pulled up right behind it.
    In two seconds he was at her door, opening it and pulling her out and into his arms.  He was always careful not to touch her, because she had never allowed it.  His feelings for her had grown exponentially over the years, and it was a dagger to his heart each time she shied away from him.  But the stark fear he had felt for the last ten minutes since she called had him embracing her tightly.  Kat immediately stiffened in his arms, but surprisingly didn’t push him away.  After a long moment, she relaxed slightly and awkwardly hugged him back.
    Colin couldn’t help from taking advantage of this rare moment, and he dropped his face to the top of her head, inhaling deeply the scent that was uniquely Kat.  He only ever got the slightest hint of it, but now so close to her the intoxicating scent shot straight through him.
    Bass, the bastard, cleared his throat loudly behind them, and the sounds of sirens approaching grew louder.  Kat dropped her arms and Colin did the same before he overstepped her boundaries.
    She met his eyes for a moment, another thing she rarely did.  Those beautiful blue-green eyes that frequented his dreams held emotions he had never seen in them before.
    “What’s the