Safeguarding Kelly(32)
Author: Zoe Dawson

 

“My dad always taught me that sacrifice to structure and tradition is the backbone of family. Without tradition, there can be no structure, no way to measure honor.”

 

“It seems to me you kept your honor and raised Kiko. That has to mean something. She’s part of your family.”

 

“The fact that I kept her and is raising her without a husband changed our relationship…maybe beyond repair. And now this information that I took an oath, then broke it. It’s got to be killing him. He’s ashamed of me.”

 

“Fuck him.”

 

“Jason…”

 

“No. Look what you've done! You broke off our relationship because it was the right thing to do, you transferred out to keep both of us safe, you hid Kiko, which couldn’t have been easy at all, you left active duty, retrained in forensic pathology, and raised our daughter all by yourself. You had no one to turn to or confide in while you were pregnant.” He cupped her face. “I wish things had been different, Kelly. I wish I could have been there for all of it. Fuck honor. You are amazing.”

 

She smiled through her tears. “Tell me how you really feel.”

 

He brushed away her tears with his thumbs. “I love you, Kelly. I never stopped loving you.”

 

“Is that why you never got married, because of me?”

 

“I tried to date. I really tried, but it was forced, and it never went anywhere. I just didn’t feel it. I thought I was being choosy, but in reality, I was comparing everyone with you.”

 

“Oh, Jason. You break my heart.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.

 

“I think you deserve more from him. He should be proud of you for what you’ve accomplished and forgive you for your mistakes. Everyone makes them…even him.”

 

Her soft chuckle bolstered him. “Thank you for saying all that. I really need to let go of this need for his approval. I can only hope it sets me free.”

 

Jason lifted up on his elbow and slid his hand down her arm. She smiled and cupped his face, sliding down and turning toward him. “We all need that, even me. I still want my dad’s approval, but even more, I want his acknowledgment that I’m his and just as important to him in his life.”

 

Her eyes darkened. “Have you asked him about it?”

 

“Yes, many times, and he says that I am, but I can’t seem to get past what he says and how he acts.”

 

She kissed him softly.

 

Jason’s cell phone rang, and he twisted to grab it off the nightstand. When he answered, Davis Nishida said, “We have another body.”

 

“Who?”

 

“According to fingerprints, Dr. Michael Green, a Navy doc.”

 

“Where?”

 

“In front of his house. The car just showed up. His wife had submitted a missing person’s report three days ago. She found him in the trunk. I’m on my way.” He rattled off an address and after he hung up, he told Kelly. As the ME, she needed to go with him. While she showered, he woke Kiko up and took her to Kelly’s neighbor, who was happy to take her early. It was nice that Kelly had such a flexible caregiver.

 

Back at her house, he showered quickly and then they took their separate cars over to the crime scene in a nice suburb of San Diego. Nishida was already there. The local cops had cordoned off the vehicle and the wife was talking to him. The shock was still on her red and swollen face and in her arms was an infant who couldn’t be more than several weeks old. She would have to live with that last terrible vision of the man she’d loved and the father of her child. Determination to nail this killer washed through him with a mixture of anger and resolve.

 

When Nishida saw them, he said something to the widow and headed toward them. Kelly stopped for a second, studying Green’s wife.

 

“What is it?”

 

“I don’t know. She looks…familiar,” she said, then she started for the trunk and peered inside as he brought up the rear. He nodded to his partner, and they came up to Kelly who had donned gloves and was looking at the body.

 

“Doc,” Nishida said, and she nodded at him.

 

She sighed. “It’s the same killer. Same injuries.”

 

“Cause and time of death?”

 

“Opioid overdose.” She turned his head to show them his face and the telltale signs of the froth from his nose and mouth. “I’d say according to liver temp that he’s been dead since about ten last night. But I can’t confirm anything until I get him on the table.”

 

The NCIS coroner’s van pulled up and Kyle jumped out, running to the back to get the gurney.

 

Jason looked up to find Kai and Amber getting out of the car. Their Special Agent in Charge Kai Talbot had served with NCIS for a number of years, more recently with the NCIS Office of Special Operation in San Diego and had been promoted not long ago. She was quite beautiful with reddish brown hair, her eyes hazel but more on the green side than brown. He noticed that Davis perked up the moment she landed on the scene. So, he hadn’t mistaken the kinds of glances his partner had been shooting the NCIS boss.

 

The women approached.

 

“So, we have another victim?”

 

Kelly straightened and faced Kai. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

 

“Okay, Amber and I will interview the wife and canvass the neighborhood and see if we can find anyone who might have seen something. You and Davis meet back at NCIS with Derrick and Austin while Kelly works on the body. Then we’ll convene and share notes.”

 

Jason nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan.” He glanced over at Kelly, but she was working on getting the body out of the trunk and onto the gurney to load him into the van. The wife was on the fringes of the scene, wringing her hands and crying desolately. Kai walked over and started to talk to her in a soothing voice.

 

“Let’s head back to Pendleton,” Davis said, his gaze lingering on Kai. Jason nudged him and he turned. “I’ll see you there.”

 

Davis drove up as Jason was getting out of his car. He parked in the spot next to him. “This is a baffling mess of an investigation.”

 

Jason nodded. His whole life was in turmoil. Everything he’d worked toward was in jeopardy. He’d crossed a line that should never have been crossed, and if he wanted to stay doing what he was doing he’d have to keep the sweet angel a secret.

 

It would protect all of them, even though it went against everything he’d spent his life trying to reconcile. Maybe his dad was right. Secrets kept people safe, but at what cost?