Page 95 of Once a Killer

“An illegal weapon,” the male cop said, studying the switchblade. “Nice. That’ll add some time to his sentence.”

McKay swayed on his bound feet, until the man squatted and cut them apart. Then he put metal handcuffs on him and cut the flex cuffs off his wrists before they led him to the squad car.

“We’ll need to have both of you come in to give your statements tonight, while the details are still fresh in your mind,” the female cop said. “Detective Donovan, the senior detective in the district, will be in charge of the case. He’ll be in tomorrow morning and he’ll contact you then. He may have more questions for you, or he may just want to touch base.” She handed both of them cards.

“Thanks,” Jameson said, staring at the card.

“I’ll shoot Donovan an email to make sure he’s there in the morning. You want to speak to Detective Connor Donovan.”

“There’s more than one Detective Donovan?” Jameson asked.

The female cop laughed. “Chicago PD is filthy with Detective Donovans. We have two of them in our district, but Connor is the one you need.”

“Okay, we’ll follow you to the district building, and we’ll talk to Detective Donovan tomorrow.”

As she was speaking to them, her partner loaded the handcuffed McKay into the back of their squad car. The female cop jumped into the front passenger seat and the squad car rolled away.

Jameson stood with his arm around Bree and watched them go. Finally he turned and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “Are you really okay? You had to bounce him around a little.”

“I’m fine. Let’s get this interview over with so we can go home, Jameson.”

“Yeah.” He liked the sound of that.

Chapter 33

Two hours later, after talking to both a detective and the captain at the district office, Jameson unlocked the doors of his apartment. Bree leaned against him, exhausted, as the locks popped open, one after another. Finally, when they were in the kitchen with the door locked behind them, she fell into his arms.

They banded around her tightly, holding her so hard she could barely breathe. But she didn’t complain. Didn’t try to move away. Jameson’s arms around her were proof they had both survived. Proof that she’d taken out McKay, who was in jail and would be there for the foreseeable future.

“God, Bree,” Jameson murmured into her hair. “He could have killed you.”

“He could have tried,” she said, burrowing more tightly into his chest and brushing her lips over his neck. Jameson was alive. Unhurt. Safe. “But I was paying attention. If he tried to shoot, I was close enough to kick the gun out of his hand.” She shook her head. “He was a loser. Thought his daddy’s name and money were going to get him off.”

His arms tightened even more. “How can you be so casual about what happened tonight?” he demanded.

“I can be casual about it because we stopped him. And with the video and audio evidence you’re going to send the cops, he’ll be locked up for a very long time.” She smiled into his neck. “Telling the cops that he only wanted to kill you and me? Icing on the cake.”

“You stopped him,” Jameson said. “I stood there and watched you throw him around.”

“That’s my job. And you did exactly what I needed you to do. You called the cops. Stayed out of the way.” She leaned back and grinned up at him. “McKay’s arrogance kept him from seeing me as a threat. Made taking him down feel really good.”

“Let’s go send that video and audio to Detective Donovan.” He let her go and grabbed her hand. Pulled her with him into the living room, then sat down at his desk and drew her onto his lap. Curling his arms around her, he found the files for the audio and video, attached them to an email, and sent it to the address on Detective Donovan’s card.

“Done,” he said. He turned and brushed his mouth over her cheek. “We shouldn’t have to see or think about Brewster McKay until we have to testify at his trial.”

“I doubt there’ll be a trial,” she said, relaxing into him. “He bragged about what a big deal his parents are. If that’s true, they won’t want the negative publicity. They’ll push him to plead guilty and take a deal.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Jameson said wearily. “How do you feel about that?”

“As long as he spends a long time in prison? I don’t care how he gets there.” She leaned into him and twined her fingers with his. “We’ll both give victim impact statements at his sentencing hearing. I’ll tell them how he planned to rape me. You’ll tell him he tried to shoot you and planned to kill Theo. All so he could get your intellectual property.”

“And I suspect no one’s going to testify on his behalf,” Jameson said, satisfaction in his voice. “I’m pretty sure none of the other engineers in the lab are close to him. They were pleasant enough at work, but no one hung out with him. The other three would go out for drinks occasionally, but McKay never joined them. He either didn’t want to or wasn’t invited.”

“He’s not our problem anymore,” Bree said. “So I don’t want to think about him.”

“What do youwantto think about?” Jameson asked, staring at her mouth.

“I have a few things in mind,” she said.

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