Page 54 of Sergeant's Christmas Siege

He was still pissed at himself for losing his focus entirely when he’d gone to Kate’s cabin to tell her about the break-in at her apartment and had lost himself in her tipsy come-on instead. God, had he lost himself. But he’d vowed he wouldn’t let even Kate’s naked body distract him from work again, and he’d given himself one last chance.

He had no intention of blowing it now.

Templeton focused on the cousin. William Holiday did not strike him as any kind of significant threat. The overly large neck tattoo looked to Templeton like a small man’s attempt to look bigger than he was. And the guy’s general demeanor struck Templeton as sad-sack territory. He would be very surprised if this guy was running around blowing things up or potentially killing transients to leave them lying around like bait.

People were always surprising, it was true. But Templeton rarely read them wrong to that degree.

“It’s great to see you, too, Will,” Kate was saying, in exactly the same tone her cousin had used when he’d called herKatie. And Templeton didn’t have to delve too much deeper into the mysteries of Trooper Kate Holiday to know that she really, really did not enjoy being called by a nickname. “I figure the last time has to be, what? Eleven years ago, at least.”

“You know how long ago it was.” Templeton wasn’t fond of the way the cousin glared at Kate like she was personally responsible for his bad decisions, including that neck tattoo. More interesting, he didn’t look at Templeton at all. The kind of man who was deep into firebombing and murder would likely pay some attention to a huge, clearly tactically proficient individual who was taller than eye level even though he was standing two steps down. “It was ten years ago at Mom’s appeal.”

“How is your mom?” Kate asked. She made a little show of including Templeton in the conversation with the way she inclined her head, but she didn’t actually shift her gaze from William. “I haven’t thought about Aunt Darlene in ages.”

“You know how my mother is.” William made a derisive sort of noise, like he was sucking on his teeth. “She’s an ex-con. The minute she could leave the state, she did, and she’s never been back. She’s never even met her grandchildren. Merry Christmas, Katie.”

William went as if to close the door, but Katie stopped him. She didn’t throw her hand out or use her body weight. She only smiled and shifted her body enough that it made her seem broader somehow. And William stopped what he was doing.

“I’m afraid this isn’t a social call, Will,” Kate said quietly. “As much fun as it is to catch up out here on your doorstep, I’m going to have to ask you to invite us inside.”

William snorted. “What a surprise. Another Holiday throwing weight around. I’m shocked.”

He sounded bitter. But in keeping with Templeton’s judgment of his character, he did nothing but step back and wave his hand in ironic invitation, beckoning the two of them inside.

Kate marched in with great confidence, but Templeton figured that was for show. She knew he was behind her, proceeding more slowly. Checking out the scene as he went, looking for booby traps and other potential problems that could blow up in their face. Maybe literally, if William Holiday was more fire-happy than Templeton’s gut thought he was.

But it was like any crappy house Templeton had ever walked into. The only booby traps here were the residents. The front door opened up into a shabby living room, piled high with the detritus of unfolded laundry, unwashed dishes, piles of dirty snow boots, and cereal boxes upended on the floor, their contents strewn across the dingy rug. Someone had stapled plastic over the windows to try to create some insulation. It was charming, in other words. Templeton felt like he was back in one of the foster homes he’d been desperate to escape when he was still a kid.

One more reason to dislike Cousin William.

Templeton closed the front door behind him, then stood with his back to it, his gaze moving around what he could see of the rest of the house. A kitchen straightahead, open to the living room. A small hallway, with a couple of doors leading off it. A back door at the far end of the hall that would provide easier access to the plugged-in vehicles out back.

“Who else is here?” Kate asked. “I wouldn’t want to miss a chance to say hello to your family.”

“I’ll go introduce myself,” Templeton said.

“If this is official business,” William said, still glaring at Kate, “why aren’t you wearing a uniform?”

Templeton left his post by the front door. He scanned the rest of the house in minutes. There was a dull-eyed, lank-haired woman in the bigger of the two bedrooms, who did nothing but glower at Templeton when he poked his head in. Then blew smoke rings as much toward the ceiling as at him. He saw no sign of the kids that had been mentioned in the files. And he had no way of telling whether that was a good or bad thing.

He walked back out to the living area, where Kate was standing in the center of the room, her hands on her hips and that cop smile on her face. He lifted one finger and saw her barely perceptible nod in reply.

“You keep glaring at me like I did something to you, Will,” she said, sounding friendly and encouraging, if still cool. “You’re going to have to explain that to me.”

“Really? It needs an explanation? Or did you somehow forget that you ripped our family apart?”

Templeton eyed Cousin Will, who was a little more yoked than he liked the average person of interest to be, but nothing he couldn’t handle. And nothing Kate couldn’t handle, for that matter. But he still didn’t get that kind of vibe.

If there weren’t blown-up buildings and boats, and that pesky dead guy, Templeton would have accepted the fact that he was witnessing a messed-up family reunion, thought no more of it, and waited in the car.

Kate, meanwhile, looked about as unbothered as itwas possible to be. “‘Ripped our family apart,’” she repeated. “That’s an interesting way to put it. How can you rip something apart that was already sick and broken to begin with?”

“I already know your opinion, Katie,” her cousin growled. “I don’t think there’s a courtroom you didn’t share your thoughts in when you had the chance. I don’t need to hear it again here.” He stretched his arms out along the back of the couch where he was sitting, in a manner Templeton could only describe as aggressive. Which made him marginally more interesting. But not interesting enough that Templeton felt he needed to move to a more strategic position. “I don’t care.”

“I really want to believe you,” Kate said. “But is it true that you don’t care? Or are you pretending that you don’t care, when actually all you really want is to finish what our parents started?”

Will made a derisive noise. “Finish what they started? Like what? Does it look to you that I’m living off my wits in the bush?”

“I don’t know what you’re doing,” Kate said calmly. “To me it looks a whole lot like wasting your potential.”

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