Chapter 10
Steel stayed awake thinking of the break-in. The robbers trashed the place but didn’t seem to take anything, at least nothing valuable. In his mind, there was only one reason they would do that…they were looking for information. He would need to talk with Kristen to figure out what information they might’ve been looking for, though.
As she slept peacefully, he carefully slipped out of bed and back to his place. He wanted to fix her a nice breakfast and get a shower before she woke up. The shower was a quick one, because he wanted to check back in on Kristen. She was still asleep, but he didn’t like leaving her alone for too long. The chances of the robbers coming back were slim, especially the day after they had just broken in. Still, he wasn’t going to take any chances with the woman he was beginning to have very strong feelings for.
After making some fresh muffins, and cutting up a fresh cantaloupe, Steel poured some coffee and juice and delivered everything to Kristen. The smell of the coffee was enough to get her to stir. For her, it was like having an alarm clock.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said as Kristen lifted her head and struggled to open her eyes.
“What time is it?” she asked. With her eyes closed, she still didn’t know Steel had cooked and brought her breakfast in bed.
“It’s just after nine,” Steel laughed as he watched Kristen trying to scrub the sleep from her eyes. Even with her puffy eyes and hair sticking out in every direction, she still looked beautiful to him.
Kristen suddenly sat up straight with a shocked look on her face. It had just occurred to her that she had spent the night with Steel. Not only that, but now she was lying in bed, looking a mess. Even her breath was horrid.
“I made you breakfast,” Steel announced as he set the tray on the bed. “I’ll let you eat and get freshened up. Come downstairs when you’re done, okay?”
Kristen thanked him and waited for him to exit the room and close the door behind her. “Oh my God!” she whispered to herself as she brought the covers up over her face. She could smell Steel’s cologne on them, which brought back images of his glistening and naked body that she got to know very well the night before.
After taking a few bites from the blueberry muffin Steel brought her, she headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After showering and fixing her hair, she ate a little more breakfast and took a few big gulps of her coffee before attempting to brush her teeth. Since she didn’t have a toothbrush at her father’s house, Kristen was forced to place the toothpaste on her finger and brush her teeth that way.
“Sorry I took so long,” Kristen told Steel as she emerged from the bedroom and headed down the stairs.
Steel smiled. “It was well worth it. You’re beautiful.” It sounded like a cheesy line, but he actually meant it. Kristen was glowing. For the first time since he had met her, she actually seemed happy.
Even though he had seen her naked just hours before, Kristen found herself blushing at his compliment. As a defense mechanism, she changed the subject. “Thank you so much for last night,” she said before realizing that he might think she was actually thanking him for the sex. Her cheeks turned bright red. “For helping me clean up, I mean,” she corrected.
“I knew what you meant,” Steel replied with a large grin. He liked seeing her shy and embarrassed. It looked cute on her, but he imagined it was probably impossible for her not to look cute. “You know, I really liked your father. We had been friends for a few years,” Steel said to break the awkward silence. He meant every word, but he also wanted to steer the conversation towards her father so that he could maybe figure out what he was mixed up with. Kristen wondered why she had never heard her father mention Steel, but he was never that much of a talker.
After talking for a while, Kristen announced that she needed to run some errands. “Please don’t think I’m running away,” she joked. If she didn’t need answers concerning the mysterious key, she would gladly spend the whole day with Steel.
No, it’s fine. I have some things I need to do as well.” It wasn’t a lie. Steel wanted to deal with something that had been bothering him for some time. After Thomas Casey’s death, he had pulled in some favors to see the police report. Though nothing in the report really seemed out of the ordinary, he never could shake the feeling that the accident wasn’t truly an accident.
The driver of the car that hit Kristen and her father was only issued a ticket for following too closely. According to the police report, the car hydroplaned into Kristen’s car, so there were no charges issued. It all seemed like a normal, unfortunate accident. But, considering the robbery the night before, Steel wanted another look at that police report. He wanted the name and address of the person that hit Kristen and her father.
“Hey, Sergeant,” he greeted his old boss as he walked into his old precinct. “Don’t you ever go home?”
“Very funny, Steel. I’ve already been home and am back again,” Sergeant Kawoski answered. “Do you have more information on your neighbor’s break-in?”
Steel explained his suspicions to his old boss and friend. “I just need to see the accident report from August tenth.”
“You know, I can get in trouble for this,” Sergeant Kawoski answered as he stared at Steel. He knew that look. It was a look of determination. He knew if he didn’t show Steel the report, he would just get ahold of it some other way.
With the name and address of the driver in hand, Steel left the police precinct. The address was from a town an hour and a half away. As the GPS signaled Steel had arrived at the address, Steel looked around. There were no apartments or houses anywhere…just a set of railroad tracks. There were a few abandoned warehouses around, but Steel was sure the address on the driver’s license was a fake. And if it was a fake, his name probably was as well. “Now, why would a driver involved in a car accident that resulted in someone’s death be using a fake name and address on his license?” Steel asked himself, but he knew why. It was because it wasn’t an accident at all.