After Midnight Read Online Free

the bookstore below her apartment and scanned the newspaper before she left that morning. There had been a small article on the front page of the
Denver Post,
and, although it was brief, it had pretty much covered the mechanics of what had happened. Apparently, the reporter had been riding with the cop and had seen it all. The article ended with the promise of a more detailed account in tomorrow’s paper. Maybe she would wait and see what it said before she went to the police herself.
    She knew they would want to talk to her. And she knew she would have to come forth eventually. But there were so many reasons why she couldn’t. Right now, those reasons were keeping her hiding in a public restroom until she was sure the lobby was clear.
    Kate looked into the mirror, meeting the wide, frightened eyes staring back at her. “Why are you cowering in here like a criminal? You didn’t do anything wrong. Not really.” The sound of her voice in the empty room was reassuring. The paper had said the “mystery woman” had not been identified. No one but the injured cop upstairs, the guy with the cop who had apparently been a reporter, and Jameel could even place her at the scene. And Jameel was dead.
    Jameel…what on earth had come over him? She had known Jameel for only a few months, but he’d never shown any sign of aggression or anger around her. In fact, he’d always been a real sweetheart, looking after her and making her laugh when she felt discouraged. But then, what did she really know about him? Not even his last name or where he lived. It hadn’t been an important part of their relationship. She had just assumed…
    Speaking of assumptions, she didn’t know what made her angrier, the fact that that asshole upstairs thought she was a prostitute or that he thought she was lying about being an actress. The woman looking back at her forced a smile. He didn’t believe her, but she was a damn good actress. She was going to walk out the door and past those cops casually and confidently. They would never guess that she was the mystery woman. She combed her fingers through her long chestnut-colored hair and wiped a smudge of mascara out from beneath her eyes. With a straight spine and a firm but unhurried stride, she left the restroom and approached the lobby. There were still a couple of cops hanging out at the information desk, but she passed them without hesitation. They glanced her way, and she felt her heart do a little skip. But when one of them gave her a flirty smile, she relaxed. They didn’t have a clue who she was, and for now she was going to keep it that way.
    —
    A gunshot shattered the quiet night, and a spray of crimson liquid splashed over him as if someone had thrown a bucket of red paint. But it wasn’t paint. It was blood. He knew by the texture. By the smell. By the taste. By the way it slowly oozed down his body and dripped to the pavement. Another gunshot and Sam jerked forward, jolting himself out of the night and into the day. Blindingly bright sunlight radiated heat through the window, fighting the whoosh of air-conditioning that blew from the vents. His body was bathed in a layer of sweat that had nothing to do with the sun or the heat. His heart was racing and his breath rasped in his dry throat.
    Slowly he relaxed back against the starchy sheets. As the dream receded, he looked around the stark white room and realized he was thinking more clearly than he had the last time he had awakened. He knew he was in a hospital, recovering from multiple gunshot wounds, and that the nightmare was all too real.
    There was a soft knock at the door, and, before Sam could answer, the door opened. “Hey, sleepyhead. You ready for a visitor?”
    The woman was silhouetted against the light from the hallway for a few seconds, and Sam smiled. So he hadn’t imagined that earlier visit. There was so much he wanted to ask her, so much he needed to know….
    The woman took another step into the room, and the