The fourth nerve-shattering installment of the San Diego Case Files from As an infant, Kit McKittrick’s foster sister Akiko was abandoned at a firehouse. Now 32, Akiko has received an unsettling phone call from a woman who says that she knew her birth mother but refuses to divulge any details except in person. Akiko is nervous but also thrilled at the prospect of finally learning about her blood relations. Kit has a bad feeling about this and insists on accompanying Akiko to meet the woman. Sure enough, as they stand on Mary Sherman’s doorstep, shots are fired and Kit is hit...and inside the house is a corpse: Mary Sherman herself. Although she’s on medical leave and forbidden to work the case, Kit cannot rest. With police psychologist Sam Reeves, she undertakes a covert investigation into the mysterious Mary Sherman. Was As more bodies pile up, Kit starts to put together the pieces of the frightening puzzle that is Akiko’s birth family, and she’ll come to wonder whether some secrets should stay buried after all.

Autorentext
Karen Rose is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the bestselling New Orleans, Sacramento, Baltimore, and Cincinnati series. She has been translated into twenty-three languages, and her books have placed on the New York Times, the Sunday Times (UK), and Germany’s der Spiegel bestseller lists.

Leseprobe
Chapter One

La Jolla, San Diego, California

Saturday, January 28, 4:30 p.m.

Present day

Police psychologist Sam Reeves wasn't certain about what they were about to do, but he believed in homicide detective Kit McKittrick and she was certain.

So . . . here they were, knocking at the front door of a woman who'd claimed to know about Akiko McKittrick's mother. It was an intriguing mystery, to be sure.

Sam glanced at Akiko, who was biting her lip. "You okay?"

They were supposed to have met Mary Sherman at a diner about two blocks away, but the woman hadn't shown up. Kit had, however, traced Mrs. Sherman's initial phone call to Akiko and now knew nearly everything about her, including the woman's home address.

Kit insisted she hadn't broken any rules to get the information, that the woman's phone number had been easily traced on the internet. Sam had checked that out for himself and it was true. Whoever Mary Sherman was, either she was not adept at covering her tracks or she had nothing to hide.

She was forty-six years old and of Japanese descent, as was Akiko, so that part worked. Mary had been married to Leo Sherman for twenty-four years and was the mother of twenty-two-year-old fraternal twins-two daughters. Both were seniors at San Diego State-one was majoring in accounting as their mother had, and the other was a pre-med student, following in their father's footsteps. Leo Sherman was a cardiologist, and Mary had her own accounting firm.

Sam had acquired all this information in about fifteen minutes of online searching. They seemed to be an ordinary family.

Akiko probably would have been fine meeting Mary Sherman on her own, but Kit's spider-senses were telling her to accompany her sister. Kit almost always listened to her gut, for which Sam was grateful. Her intuition had saved her life several times.

Sam was along to pay attention to what Mary shared, as Kit wasn't sure if she could do that and support Akiko at the same time.

Sam was just happy to assist. He loved helping Kit, largely because she rarely asked for anyone's help. That she trusted him gave him hope that they did, indeed, have a future together.

He wanted a future with Kit more than he'd ever wanted anything. But he knew her well enough by now to know not to rush her. She'd get there in her own time. He could wait. She was worth it.

"I don't know if I'm okay or not," Akiko murmured as the three of them gathered on the woman's front porch. "If she got cold feet, maybe I need to respect that."

Normally confident, Akiko had been uncertain about meeting this woman ever since Mary Sherman had first made contact. But, above all else, she wanted to learn more about the mother who'd left her at a firehouse thirty-two years before.

Kit arched a blond brow. "We can turn around right now."

Akiko winced. "But you took today off just for this. Just for me."

Kit smiled at her sister and the sight warmed Sam's heart. Kit wasn't overly demonstrative, but she loved her family fiercely. It was one of the many things Sam found so appealing about the homicide detective who'd stolen his heart nearly a year ago.

"I'd take off a million days just for you," Kit said, stroking her hand down Akiko's long black hair. "If you want to set up another meet for a later date, I'll be there for you."

"Thank you, but I've come this far. I might as well see it through while I have you two. I really need to settle this so that I can get back to work." Akiko ran a charter fishing boat business. She took anglers out to do deep-sea fishing off San Diego's coast, but her nerves over Mary Sherman's call-amplified by Kit's gut telling them that something wasn't quite right-had kept her from taking her boat out. She'd canceled a few charters in the weeks since receiving that call. She met Sam's gaze. "I'm okay."

He didn't really believe her, but he nodded anyway. "Then let's knock."

Kit did so and the three of them stood for a moment, waiting. But no one came to the door. Kit leaned in to put her ear to the door.

"Noth-"

Her words were cut off by the crack of gunfire.

Sam stared for a moment at the bullet hole in the door, just inches from where Kit's head had been only moments before. Then his brain kicked in and he yanked both Kit and Akiko down, but there was no cover. There was no porch railing and only a small overhang.

They were sitting ducks.

Another shot was fired and Kit made a muted noise of pain.

"Kit!" Akiko screamed.

"It's not bad," Kit said with a grimace. "Just a graze. We need to get out of here."

Sam moved to cover Kit's body with his own, looking around for a better place to hide. It would take them too long to get to their car.

Inside, he thought. We go inside.

He lurched to his feet, prepared to use his shoulder to bust through the door. Which is gonna hurt. But that didn't matter.

Someone was shooting at Kit.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Akiko cover Kit with her body, her hand fumbling at the left sleeve of Kit's blazer, which was already dark with blood.

No more shots were fired, but that didn't mean they were safe.

Sam put one hand on the doorknob and braced himself for the pain of shoving open the door. But the doorknob turned and he fell into the house.

It was dark. Too dark for this time of day. And too quiet.

And none of that mattered right now.

"Move," he barked, taking care not to touch Kit's left arm as he scooped her up and entered Mary Sherman's home. Akiko followed and closed the door behind them, visibly trembling.

"Kit?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Kit bit out. "Just a graze."

"Liar," Sam said mildly, even though his heart was pounding with fear and adrenaline. "Let me look. Akiko, call 911."

That Kit didn't argue about calling 911 told him that it was far more painful-and potentially far more serious-than she was admitting.

Carefully he removed her blazer, leaning up to hit the light switch so that he could better see. But no lights came on.

The power was off, which explained why it was so dark and quiet. No appliances hummed and the living room drapes shut out the waning afternoon sun.

Akiko put her phone on speaker so that she could shine her cell's flashlight on Kit's arm.

"Thanks," Sam said, listening to the 911 operator assure Akiko that help was on the way as he examined Kit's arm as gently as he was able. "It appears to be…