COLLATERAL CASUALTIES (The Kate Huntington mystery series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Richard.”
                “My best guess would be transference.”
                “Meaning what?” He vaguely remembered the term from Psych 101 in college.
                “Richard unconsciously reminds her of her father,” Kate said.
                “She never talks about her father, just her mother and grandmother. I don’t think he was around much.”
                “There you go.”
                Skip decided to offer a little extra reassurance. “She teases a lot, but she doesn’t flirt. It’s not her style.”
                Kate smiled up at him. “I really do like her, sweetheart. We’ve become friends in our own right. And since I have a platonic friendship with a man, I can hardly complain. I just wish I could warm up to Richard more.”
                Skip suppressed the urge to say, Why? The man’s a jerk.
                They sat in silence for another moment, then Kate let out a sigh. He suspected she was thinking about her client again. Well, if he couldn’t help her with that problem, he could at least distract her from it.
                He picked up her hand and gently kissed her palm. She sucked in her breath. Pulling her tight against him, he lowered his lips to hers. She parted them and invited him in.
                He never grew tired of exploring her mouth. A sensation like sweet, warm liquid flowed through him. Quite a few body parts were tingling now. For a second, his throat closed at the flash of memory from the year before, when he’d almost lost her. He pushed the thought aside.
                Eventually, Kate leaned back, gasping for air.
                Skip stood, pulling her to her feet with him. Then he swung her up in his arms.
                She snuggled her head against his chest. “You know, someday we’re gonna get too old for this sweep-me-off-my-feet routine.”
                “Not for awhile yet,” he murmured, as he nuzzled her neck.
    ~~~~~~~
                Her husband’s loving attentions sufficiently distracted and relaxed Kate that she fell into a sound sleep.
                But at four in the morning, she woke up gasping, her cheeks wet with tears. Skip rustled next to her but didn’t wake up. Kate stared at the ceiling, trying to get her breathing under control.
                She couldn’t remember most of the nightmare. But each time she began to drift off again, her mind flashed to the one image she did remember. Miller Dawson falling forward with a knife in his back.
                At five-thirty, she gave up and slipped out of bed. Might as well go to the dojo and get in some extra aikido practice. She knew the owner would be there. He always arrived early.
                In the bathroom, she pulled on the loose pants of her martial arts uniform and tied her green belt around the jacket of the gi . She froze for a moment, realizing part of the significance of the dream. A little over a year ago, she had almost been killed. She’d been a bit phobic regarding knives ever since.
                That event had spurred her to research self-defense training. She’d wanted to know she could protect herself should she ever end up in such a situation again. Aikido had the most appeal because it was purely defensive. You used your opponent’s energy and momentum against them. An assailant comes at you, you step aside at the last moment and they go flying past. They lunge and grab for your arm, you grab theirs and dip your shoulder. Their momentum carries them right over your back.
                Kate drove into the empty parking lot of the Towson dojo . Apparently she had beat Brad there after all. She parked, then cranked her seat back a notch and closed her eyes.
                When she’d first enrolled at the dojo , she’d been informed that the