Page 2 of Dead Man's List

“It would be worth it.”

Kit let go of Rita’s shoulders to cross her arms tightly over her chest. “Damn, girl,” she grumbled.

Rita laughed, a sweet sound that they were all hearing more often these days. “You will go, right?”

Kit shot Rita a sour look. “I don’t know.”

Rita shook her head. “Kit, what are you afraid of?”

Kit exhaled quietly. “I don’t know.”

Rita put her arm around Kit’s shoulders, and Kit’s heart cracked a little. She loved Rita so very much, even though the girl could be a little shit when it came to Kit dating Sam.

“You wanna know what I think?” Rita murmured.

“I don’t know,” Kit said again.

“Too bad. I’m going to tell you anyway. I think you’re scared you’ll like him too much. That you’ll have too good a time and he’ll want a third date. Am I close?”

Yes.“Maybe.”

“I also think you’ve had too much time to build this up in your mind. You were supposed to have this date over a month ago, but things happened and it got drawn out and out and out.”

Defensiveness coiled in Kit’s gut. “Not my fault.”

It really hadn’t been.

“No,” Rita said, speaking carefully now. “You had a case andSam understood that. He had an emergency with one of the teens at the shelter, and you understood that. Then you had another case—which, by the way, I don’t think youhadto work that weekend. I think that was you having cold feet.”

She was right again, Kit thought. It rankled, being called out by a fourteen-year-old. “How would you even know that?”

“I asked Connor when he came last week to bring Christmas presents for Mom and Pop. He said the case was important, but not so much that you couldn’t have investigated the next day. He was peeved that he had to cancel his date with CeCe because you got scared of your date with Sam.”

Kit blew out an irritated breath. Her partner in the homicide department had a big mouth. “Connor Robinson told you that?”

“He did.” Rita chuckled. “Then he begged me not to tell you that he’d said that because he was afraid you’d get even with him.”

“He’d be right,” Kit said darkly. “Besides, Sam canceled most of the dates. Not me.”

“Well, yeah. His father went into the hospital.”

Sam’s father had had a small stroke and, while he’d be okay, Sam had spent most of December in Scottsdale. Kit had meant to drive to Arizona, to be there for Sam, but she’d lost her nerve.

She hated herself for that. But Sam’s father’s stroke had made her paranoid about leaving Harlan and Betsy. They were about the same age as Sam’s dad. That something could happen to them was terrifying.

“You know too damn much, kid,” she said, sounding petulant to her own ears.

Rita tightened her hold on Kit’s shoulders. “Kit. You like Sam. I know you do. What’s the worst that can happen?”

That I’ll fall for him. That I’ll come to need him.

That he’ll come to need me.

Andthatwas too much responsibility. “Since when are you a therapist?” she asked, a little more nastily than she’d intended.

“Since you needed one,” Rita shot back, unfazed. “Look. You can talk to me or not. But don’t cancel your date. Please. I think you need him.”

Kit’s chin came up. “I don’t need anyone.”