Chapter 1

First Week of December

K ate Morgan had fast become quite accustomed to counterbalancing work with some free time on the Running Mate . They'd been spending more and more time out on Simon's newest purchase, even if just for a couple hours here and there, plus a long weekend or two. It was a perk of the relationship that she was more than happy to enjoy.

As she walked into the bullpen, feeling content, happy, and settled somehow, the others chimed in with a chorus of greetings.

She laughed. "I made it through a whole three days in a row without any witching hour calls this time."

"Yes, but even one day on that boat," Lilliana said, with an eye roll, "talk about lucky."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Kate agreed. "Talk about lucky, and I don't feel guilty about it at all."

"Good," Lilliana replied. "That's the way to do it. Besides, with a dreamboat like Simon, you should be enjoying yourself."

Having never heard her say anything remotely like that about him before, Kate just laughed.

Meanwhile Rodney looked over at her from his desk and asked, "So, are you recovered? "

"Sure, as recovered as we ever have a chance to get, with more murder cases coming in daily. I've still got some belated reports to finalize, but it's all good."

"Great. We just got a call."

"What kind of a call?" she asked, taking off her coat. "Are we going out?"

"We sure are. Some kids were playing around in an abandoned house, and they say they found a body."

"Did any adult confirm?"

"No, they phoned us first," he replied, with a bright smile. "We're getting the public trained in some ways."

She rolled her eyes at that. "Bet the kids went back."

He laughed. "I won't bet on that because, when it comes to kids, you can never tell, except that all too frequently they're up to no good."

"Ha, good thing I don't have any."

"Oh, but you will," he presumed, with a laugh. "This thing with you and Simon? That's likely to get hella-serious real fast."

She stared at him in shock. "Even if it does get hella-serious real fast ," she replied, "that has nothing to do with having kids."

He just nodded and didn't say anything.

As they got into the vehicle, she asked, "Did they say anything about the body?"

"Yeah. It was dead."

She groaned, rolled her eyes at his sick joke, and added, "I gather you're doing fine."

"I am," he said, with a nod. "Life's okay. And now we have a little wiggle room at work. It seems like some of the crime wave has eased back a bit, so… it's okay."

"Except for this one. "

"Yeah, but we get these things every once in a while. It's probably a junkie."

"Maybe," she agreed, "at least then it's likely to be a fairly open-and-shut case."

They walked up to what was once a beautiful house, at least in her day, but now she looked like a grande dame in distress. Kate stopped outside, checked with Rodney on the address.

He confirmed, "Yeah, this is the place." He frowned, as he looked around. "It's a pretty high-end area for a junkie to die in."

"I'm surprised the neighbors haven't complained about this house."

"It's probably caught up in all legal craziness, city rules, or estate issues, whatever," he noted.

Her phone rang just then. She looked down and frowned. "It's Simon."

"Go ahead and take it. I hate to disturb young love. Go on."

She glared at him.

"Take it. Take it. You'll be fussing the whole time if you don't. He probably just wants to tell you how much he misses you," he teased, with an eye roll.

She answered the phone, with a panicked screaming Simon on the other end.

"I don't know where you are or what you're up to, but don't go in that house!"

She froze, looked over at Rodney, who was already walking toward the front door. "Rodney, come back," she yelled. "Wait. Come here."

He turned, frowned, and stepped back toward her. "What's the matter? "

She held up the phone, putting Simon on Speaker. "Simon, say that again."

"Do not go into that house," he roared. "I don't know anything about it, but, all I can tell you is that, if you go into the house, the outcome will not be good."

"When you say not good , what do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"Going inside that house means you'll die."