Page 55 of Go Under

What false witness? What innocent man had suffered so Cox could reserve the guilty one for use as his tool? How had that man led him to Kate?

Had her father born false witness that Cox could have challenged? Had he left William Valentine alive until he was ready to eliminate him and focus on Kate?

Or was Cox saying that he knew who killed her father but refused to say so he could use the real killer to get to Kate?

Kate’s hand trembled as it rose to her throat. Images flashed across her mind of a man’s hands wrapped tightly around her neck, not Cox’s but Robert Denton’s, the first man who had tried to kill her, not long after she joined the Bureau. She could smell his sour breath, hear his voice whisper in her ear, calling her his spotted calf, a sickening reference to her freckles.

She’d long suspected that Robert Denton was an early disciple of Cox’s or perhaps that Cox was a disciple of Robert Denton’s. Now, it seemed the first assumption was correct.

Had Cox seen Robert kill her father but kept Robert out of prison because he wanted to use Robert to get to Kate? Did he know of Robert’s predilections and know that Robert would fixate on Kate?

Kate sniffed and swallowed. She set the letter down and gripped her hair with both hands, pulling until she could feel pain in her roots.

Did Cox have her father killed, or did he just see Robert kill him? And if he did, then why was he there? Was he with her father? Were they friends?

Footsteps sounded on the stairs outside. Kate’s hands flew to the letters, gathering them up and quickly replacing them in Nora’s case file.

The latch turned. Kate ran to the bedroom and shoved the file into the top drawer of her dresser. She heard the door open, heard Marcus call, “Kate? You home?”

“In here, big boy,” she called in a lilting voice. What the hell? Why did she do that?

Marcus chuckled, a little nervously. “Are you decent?”

“Only if you want me to be.”

This time, her inner voice screamed, Stop now.

And thank God, she had the presence of mind to listen. She stepped out of the bedroom to find a very perplexed and slightly hopeful Marcus standing in the living room holding two bags of Chinese food.

The hopefulness broke her heart and triggered a sharp yearning that almost overpowered her will. She even reached up to unbutton her shirt, only at the last second running her hands through her hair instead. “Hey. I just got out of the shower. I tried this hair serum my mom got me, and now my hair feels like silk.”

The hope died in Marcus’s eyes, but the perplexity remained. No surprise there.

He chuckled and set the food on the coffee table and headed to the kitchen. “Well, thankfully this food comes with plastic forks so we can keep the sharp implements away from you.”

“Hey, don’t give me crap just because I like the way my hair feels for the first time in my life.”

She walked to the coffee table and looked inside the bags. “Ooh. Yummy.”

“Yeah, I even got that honey walnut shrimp crap you like,” Marcus called from the kitchen. “You want a beer?”

“Let some sweetness into your life, Marcus. It won’t kill you.” She turned to him with an apologetic smile. “I’m gonna have to raincheck the beer, though. I told my mom I’d have dinner with her tonight.”

“Ah.” Marcus flexed his hand, dexterously replacing one of the two bottles he held in between his fingers. “First you call to me from the bedroom like you’re seducing me, then you tell me I wasted my money on dinner?”

He tried to keep his tone lighthearted, but he couldn’t hide his disappointment. Kate’s heart broke again. He still wanted her.

Yeah, and you want him. And both of you are adults and know better.

“I’ll make it up to you,” she said, stepping close and kissing his freshly shaved cheek.

“Sure, you will,” he said. “Hey, I might have a girl over tonight since you’ll be out.”

Kate stopped, her entire body suddenly stiff.

Marcus grinned at her. “Gotcha.”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a very emphatic finger. “Save me some of the honey walnut shrimp.”