Charred (34 page)

Well, crucial was always a debatable point, but in her life,
she
got to make that decision so she asked, “Did you ever
really
consider it?”

Bryce looked up from across the table, his gaze inquiring, cup poised halfway to his mouth as if he’d caught her tone. “Consider what?”

“Having a baby with Suzanne.”

His mouth curved just a little. “That’s what you want to talk about right
now
? You had one hell of a day yesterday and I feel sure the fallout is going to be huge.”

It was. Metzger was besieged by the press, she had reports to write, and The Burner was in custody, but they still had some things to figure out.

“Yes. This is what I want to talk about right now.” She set aside her coffee.

“I thought I already said I wasn’t interested in giving my ex-wife a child.”

He always looked delicious first thing in the morning, with a slight hint of a beard and tousled hair. She was pretty sure he’d worn that shirt the day before, but someone like Bryce could get away with it.

“
Did
you consider it?”

“No. Ellie, we’ve been through this.”

“Not even for a minute?”

Bryce gazed at her calmly—he had the ability to do it like no one else. “I don’t think so. I was startled, I was even a little angry she would ask, but I do not want to have a child that way. I can say very honestly I wasn’t interested. At all.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” It startled her how much she meant that statement. “I really…”

What stupid thing was she about to say? Like you? She did, but that was inadequate. Love you? They weren’t quite there yet, or she wasn’t. It was still about the romance between them, the physical attraction, the differences in their personalities, and she didn’t trust quite yet that she saw the situation with the necessary clarity.

“You really…?” he prompted, looking at her in inquiry.

“I’m a homicide detective.”

“I know. That’s how we met.” His smile just hovered on his lips. “So I’ve noticed that about you. Point taken. You
are
a homicide detective. I believe you just apprehended a serial killer and he is your second. You are definitely a homicide detective.”

“Don’t try and be funny.”

“I wasn’t.”

She believed him, but … “Bad things happen. If they don’t, I’m out of a job.”

“Bad things do seem to happen. Case in point, recent events.” The smile deepened and truly, she wanted to just go over, put her arms around him, and forget the rest of her day.

But he really needed to understand.

Or maybe
she
needed it.

This would never be simple. If he thought so, he should find someone else.

That was what held her back. That he would tire of her job.

“How did this occur in the first place?”

“I think you just lost me again. This?” His dark eyes were direct.

“He had conquered it all, dammit.” She took in a long breath, filling her lungs. “Look, Reubens defied all the odds dictated by his disrupted childhood. A nice family adopted him finally, he went to college, got into medical school, which is not easy. Worked hard and ended up with the job he wanted.” Very true, considering his fascination with the dead, according to Ms. Hamilton’s macabre story about the young boy who visited funeral homes. “Why would he … I don’t know … risk it? That’s it. Why would he
ever
risk it?”

“I understand computers a lot more than I do people, but babies to bad guys? Come on, Ellie, admit this is quite a leap. Mind letting me in on the segue?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice was a soft sigh. “No one understands bad guys. And I don’t know how I feel about babies.”

He laughed. Slight, but there. “There is a huge list of things I don’t understand. My parents, politics usually, women—”

“Definitely not women.” Her smile softened the criticism.

Maybe she
was
entirely too involved.

“I’ll never pressure you.”

He wouldn’t, but it was too late. She knew where he stood. Children, permanence; it was abstract to her, like a life meant for someone else, but maybe she was wrong. She could picture it, with him, and that was definitely a first.

“You already have,” she said frankly. “I know how you feel and—”

Her phone rang, disrupting the conversation. She glanced at the number. “Metzger.”

“You’d better answer.”

She listened to the chief’s brief message, and then hung up without saying much. Bryce waited in his understated way, not asking. She was the one who said, “It’s over. Reubens didn’t make it. The chief was fuzzy on the details but it sounds like he committed suicide. No one knows how he got ahold of a scalpel.”

“I’m afraid I am not going to shed any tears over that. Whatever happened to the Hippocratic oath? Do no harm. He just ignored that part.”

“It seems to me you are exactly right.”

“At least, with what you have, you should be able to identify the victims now.”

She picked up her coffee. “True.”

“That will help the families.”

“True again.”

“And not everything needs to be decided today, Ellie.”

“Metzger told me Santiago will be out for a few months so he assigned Carl Grasso as my partner in the interim.”

Bryce took a moment, then asked simply, “How do you feel about that?”

“He killed two people and it was intentional. I don’t care that they couldn’t really prove it. My impression is that he just got away with it.”

“He sounds great, let’s have him over for dinner.”

“Bryce.”
She gave an exasperated laugh, but at least it was a laugh. “I’m not sure he should even still be on the force, but it isn’t like I have a choice. I guess I’m going to look at it this way, it should be … interesting.”

TOR BOOKS BY KATE WATTERSON

Frozen

Charred

Buried
(forthcoming)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Watterson grew up on a steady diet of mystery/suspense novels. If it involves murder and intrigue, she is bound to be hooked.
Charred
is the second book in the Ellie MacIntosh series. Kate also writes award-winning historical novels as Emma Wildes. She lives in rural Indiana with her husband, three children, and a temperamental cat named Poot. Visit her at
www.katewatterson.com
.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

CHARRED

Copyright © 2013 by Katherine Smith

Cover design by Drive Communications, NY

Cover images © 2012 by Shutterstock

All rights reserved.

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

e-ISBN 9781466805859

First Edition: June 2013