They dressed in silence and the guilt of not helping his investigation weighed heavily on her heart. What if Blondie killed the commissioner while she was competing tomorrow? How would she live with that? Intellectually, she knew she wasn’t responsible for Thaddeus Morton, but once she’d treated his wound and kept his secret, she’d taken ownership of his problem. Still, she couldn’t deal with Blondie and compete at the same time.
Dressed, she turned to Caden. “I’ll tell you what I can but you have to promise that most of it will never go in your file.”
“I don’t know.” He lifted his shoulders in frustration.
“Then I can’t tell you. I have too much to lose.” She looked at the door, willing him to leave.
“Come sit down and talk to me. We’ll take it one step at a time.” His eyes pleaded with her.
“I need your promise it won’t be part of the official record.”
“I promise.”
She wasn’t sure she believed him-cops lied to suspects-but she’d wanted to get the gunshot incident off her chest since it happened. Lara sat on the couch and he took a seat opposite her, just as they had earlier. She realized if she’d told him everything at that point, they wouldn’t have gone to dinner or ended up in bed. Maybe things had worked out this way for a reason. She scratched the thought and scoffed at herself. Shit happened and there was no rhyme or reason.
“Who is he?” Caden prompted.
Lara knew she shouldn’t think of him as Caden. “I really don’t know. I call the guy Blondie for lack of a name.” She took a deep breath. “I saw him in Eugene the day before I flew out here.”
Caden waited, like a good detective should.
“I responded to an emergency call through the freelance service I contract with. When I arrived at the house, a man came running out. He had a gun and when he saw me he fired. But I hit the ground and he got in his car and drove away.” Caden would want the details of the car, but not yet. Her throat felt dry.
“Do you want some water?” He was out his chair and headed for the sink before she could respond.
When he returned, she continued. “Inside the house, a man had been shot and I treated his shoulder wound. He begged me not to report the incident. He said Blondie was his lover and they’d had a fight. Considering how the victim was dressed at the time, I believed him.”
“Why didn’t you report it?”
Lara swallowed hard. “I was scheduled to compete in the Gauntlet. I didn’t want anything to derail that. I need this win.”
“I don’t understand. You were just doing your job.” Caden looked confused.
“The man with the gunshot wound was Thaddeus Morton, the employment commissioner.”
She watched him control his surprise, then process the information. After a long moment, Caden asked, “Did Morton threaten to sabotage you in the competition if you reported it?”
“More or less.”
Caden shook his head. “If the shooter is the commissioner’s boyfriend, why would he kill Kirsten?”
“He’s not Morton’s boyfriend. The commissioner made that up to minimize the incident, hoping I would forget the whole thing. Then Blondie showed up here and Kirsten ended up dead. I think Blondie meant to silence me and stupidly stunned Kirsten by mistake. I confronted the commissioner about it and he claims to have no idea who the shooter his. I think I believe him.”
“Wow.” Caden shook his head. “It’s certainly not what I expected to hear.”
“The shooting was the last thing I needed going into this competition. Being arrested for murder was the frosting on this whole shit cake of an incident.”
They were both quiet. Then Caden said, “I need to talk to the commissioner.”
“You can’t. If he finds out I told you, he might ruin my chance of winning. He’s worried about losing his position.”
“Then why did you tell me all this?”
“Because I want you to find Blondie before he kills Morton-or me. The commissioner thinks the shooter might be some crazy guy obsessed with the Gauntlet.” Lara shifted in her chair. “If I wasn’t competing throughout the next two days, I’d find him myself.”
Caden’s expression softened and he almost smiled. “I believe you would. I just don’t know how I’m going to tie Kirsten’s death to the shooting of a federal employee without mentioning-”
He stopped cold and she watched him make a mental connection.
“What is it? You know something about Morton.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“That’s not fair. I told you what I know.”
“This is different. It’s another investigation involving federal employees, and now I’m wondering if they’re connected.”
Lara itched to know everything. She loved working complex cases and wanted to help with this one. “I used to be a detective and I’m good at making connections.”
“I have to look at a file first.” Caden leaned forward as if to get up. “Anything else you should tell me?”
“No.” Except the last four hours had been the best she’d spent in many years. “Can you get the charges against me dropped?” Lara held up her ankle, indicating the monitor.
“I’ll try.” He kissed her gently. “I wish we had more time and different circumstances.”
“Story of my life.”
Caden Harper walked out and Lara wondered if she would ever see him again.
Chapter 27
Thurs., May 11, 8:05 a.m.
Lara slept soundly for the first time in ages and rose late, happy she didn’t compete until noon. After a protein shake, she went for a short run, then spent an hour stretching and practicing defense moves. Caden kept intruding into her thoughts, but she suppressed him. She didn’t let herself dwell on the shooter either. The next phase of the competition would be the most challenging. No one made it into the Gauntlet without having superior hand-to-hand combat skills. She would have the disadvantage of being smaller than the other contestants. Would her speed and training overcome that? Doubt flooded her and she had to block it with positive self-talk.
At eleven, Lara caught a shuttle to the Battle arena, ignoring the other contestant in the van. He wasn’t her challenger in the first round, and she didn’t want to be distracted or discouraged. They pulled into the parking area at the north end of the property and she noted it was full of cars, many of them new expensive hybrids. The hand-to-hand combat would have in-house spectators, a thought that filled her with dread. What if they rooted against her? A disapproving crowd could be demoralizing.
A reporter rushed up when she entered the lobby. Lara recognized Jessie Stark from CNC Broadcasting, who’d interviewed her before the orientation. Jessie signaled to her cameraman to roll.
“We’re live with Lara Evans of Oregon, who’s about to enter the Battle arena for a round of combat with Sam Duggar of Texas. Lara, you’re five-five and 126 pounds. Sam is six-two and 205 pounds. Do you believe that was a random assignment?”
“Of course,” Lara lied. “There are only eleven other competitors left, and any of them would be tough to beat.” She felt strongly the tournament matchups were calculated, despite claims they were software generated. Both the director and the commissioner wanted her to go away.
“The internet is buzzing with the rumor that the director set you up to be eliminated, and our recent poll says the viewers are pissed off and rooting for you.”
The news pleased Lara, but voters couldn’t help or hurt her inside the Battle circle. It was pure competition with the loser of each round going home. But viewers could add significantly to her points if she won each round. “I hope to win and earn their support.”
“Do you have a strategy?”
“Stay low and wear him down.” Lara grinned. “What else can I say? I’m fighting for jobs for my state, and a lot of good people are counting on me. I’m not going down without giving Sam Duggar the battle of his life.”