I closed my eyes in dismay.

“What’s wrong?” Tish asked anxiously. “Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t blame Tish. She’d told the truth, as far as she knew it. “It’s fine,” I said. “I’m sorry they bothered you.”

“Why are the cops asking me about you?” she asked. “What happened?”

I gave her a quick recap of Kandi’s murder and how Blane was a suspect. It had been on the news, but I knew how little attention Tish paid to things like that.

“So they’re asking me because they think maybe you were involved somehow?”

I gave a helpless shrug. “I have no idea. Maybe.” Which was a lovely thought to dwell on the rest of the evening.

Scott and Tish were just as eager to leave as I was once we’d closed. I said good-bye to them, promising to lock up when I left. I had to go back to the storeroom for more liquor to stock. If I’d been the one scheduled to work tomorrow, I wouldn’t have bothered, but I hated to leave the bar in that state for the next person to deal with.

Once I was in the storeroom, I scanned the shelves for what I needed. The air-conditioning couldn’t keep up with the heat out front, so I felt sticky and hot, but it was cooler in there.

I wanted to hurry. If I could get to James’s house, maybe I could help Kade. Not that he likely needed help, especially mine, but that’s what I told myself to justify going over there.

I heard the door open behind me and I spun around in surprise. I should be alone now, no one else was here. When I saw who’d entered the room with me, my heart lodged in my throat.

James. How the hell had he gotten in?

“I’m so glad to have a moment alone with you, Kathleen,” he said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked with more bravado than I felt.

James took a step closer. “I thought I’d stop by your fine new working establishment and check in on you, seeing as how your boyfriend’s going to be arrested for murder.” His fake sympathy was grating. “The cops say you two are back together, though if you ask me, hooking up with a murderer can’t be good for your health.”

“Blane didn’t murder anyone,” I said. James took another step forward and it was all I could do not to back away.

“How sweet, standing by your man,” he sneered. “Or stupid.” He moved closer until he stood right in front of me. “For all you know, you could be next.”

My heart was hammering in my chest and I swallowed hard. Was that a threat? The last time I’d been alone with James, he’d attacked me. I’d gotten away only because of the stun gun I’d borrowed from Alisha. I had no such weapon now.

James reached out to trail a finger from my neck down inside my cleavage. I slapped his hand away and his eyes narrowed in menace.

“You know,” he said softly, “I could maybe be… persuaded… to go easy on your guy. Involuntary manslaughter instead of murder one. Ten years, but he’d be out in five.”

Blane. I could help him. My mind spun. If things progressed far enough for him to be arrested, this would be better than the alternative. On the other hand…

“You forget,” I said, “I still have a rather incriminating recording of you threatening me, remember?”

“You mean this one?” He held up a familiar flash drive. “I was so sorry to hear about your apartment burning, so I went by,” he said. “The restoration people were very cooperative once I told them who I was. They were impressed that the district attorney would take such an interest in one of my… constituents.” He pocketed the drive. “You should find better hiding places, Kathleen. It took me all of ten minutes to find it.”

Okay, well, this was an unfortunate turn of events. I swallowed. How far was I willing to go to help Blane? I loved him and didn’t want to see his life destroyed for a crime he didn’t commit. But the price for what James offered was steep, and I didn’t know if I could pay it.

“How could I… persuade you?” I forced the words out, feeling sick to my stomach.

James’s smile was triumphant. His hand slipped inside my shirt to cup my breast, pinching the nipple hard. I stiffened, wincing, but didn’t move or make a sound of protest.

His other hand circled my throat as he shoved me against the brick wall at my back. His grip tightened and he forced my head to turn. “I thought you’d come around to my way of thinking,” he hissed in my ear. “You’ll do anything for Kirk, won’t you. Stupid cunt.”

I shut my eyes tight, struggling to breathe. His hold was painful but didn’t completely cut off my air.

“Won’t you?” he demanded again, squeezing harder.

I tried to nod, spots starting to appear before my eyes.

His grip loosened and I sucked in a lungful of air.

“That’s a good girl,” James said. “Now you just do as I say, and I won’t hurt you. Much. Understand?”

I nodded again, suddenly all the more glad I hadn’t told Kade or Blane about getting off work early. I didn’t want either of them to see this.

He yanked on my shirt and it bit into my shoulders before the fabric tore. “Take it off,” he said, letting go of me.

My hands shook as I shrugged out of the shirt. James’s gaze dropped to my breasts.

“Kirk may be a killer,” he said with an appreciative sigh, “but he knows how to pick ’em.”

He fished something out of his pocket, and flipped open a pocketknife. My breath caught at the sight of it. I was abruptly reminded of what James had done to Kandi. Was he going to do that to me?

“Hold still now,” James said, his tone too nonchalant for how close the knife was to my skin. “I don’t want this to slip. That would be a real shame.”

James slid the blade under the elastic of my bra, twisting upward, then tugged. The knife cut easily through the fabric. I didn’t breathe as the blade again touched my skin.

“How about a souvenir?” James said. “I don’t want you or Kirk to ever forget this.”

I stood frozen as he sliced a thin cut down between my breasts. “It’s such a treat, to have you finally minding your manners,” he mused.

I could feel the warm trickle of blood trailing down over my stomach. Terror gripped me. I sucked in my breath to scream.

“Don’t even think about it,” James bit out, whipping the knife up to my throat. “I’ll have your throat slit before you can manage a whimper.”

I looked in his eyes—the steady, calm gaze of a sociopath—and knew there was nothing too horrifying for him to do.

“You’re not worth fucking,” he sneered. “But you can suck my dick. Get on your knees, you fucking bitch.”

“If I do this,” I managed to say, “you promise you’ll only charge for manslaughter?”

James’s fist closed around a handful of my hair and yanked me toward him. I gasped in pain.

“If you do this… and maybe a few more things,” he said. The darkness in his voice made a shudder run through me.

“You don’t need to hold the knife on me. I said I’d do it.” My free hand searched blindly behind me, closing around the neck of a bottle.

He jerked my hair again and this time I cried out. “Maybe I just like you better if you’re scared,” he hissed.

I swung the bottle I held, but James reacted faster than I thought, jumping back so it only glanced off his shoulder. I slammed the bottle against the metal shelf and it broke, spewing booze everywhere but leaving me with a jagged weapon.

“Come on, you piece of shit,” I taunted him. “You’re not afraid of a girl, are you?”

“Like you know how to use that,” he scoffed. “When I’m through with you, you’ll wish I’d killed you.”

“I may not know how to use it, but I bet it can cause some real damage. Let’s see, shall we?” I smiled and leapt for him.

James jumped back again and grabbed my arm that held the bottle. His knife flashed toward me and I just managed to latch onto his wrist, deflecting the slash he’d intended for my face. We were in close quarters now and I brought my knee up, but it missed its mark, hitting him on the inside of a thigh instead of his crotch.

I twisted my wrist, breaking his hold on me, and slashed at him, tearing through his shirt to his chest. He let me go with a yell.

The door to the storeroom flew open, jerking my attention away from James, which proved to be bad.

He knocked the bottle out of my hand and punched me in the stomach. I doubled over in gut-wrenching pain, retching.

But then James spun around and I heard the crunch of bone against bone. He dropped to the floor, out cold.

I straightened, ignoring the pained ache in my stomach, and turned to see who’d entered the storeroom.

Blane.

But he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at James—and the expression on his face sent a jolt of terror through me.

Blane crouched next to James and grabbed the knife he’d used on me. He flipped the blade up with a practiced hand. Without a word, he took a fistful of James’s hair and jerked his head back, exposing his throat.

“No!” I cried, tackling Blane.

I had enough momentum and motivation that I knocked him to the side, toppling both of us. I scrambled on top of him, holding on even as he sat back up and tried to push me off his lap.

“Are you out of your mind? You can’t kill him!”

Blane was shaking with rage, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure he was going to listen to me. But then he closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. When he opened his eyes again and focused on me, the Blane I knew was there, not the murderous stranger from before. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me tight against him.

“God, Kat,” he breathed into my hair. “When I came in here and saw him hit you, I just… lost it.”