It wasn’t a surprise that Steve Gerlach had a girlfriend. Kate wanted to talk to her, to see if she knew anything important. Although there was a strong chance she wouldn’t know anything that would help them. Kate knew from her brothers and her father how a lot of cops didn’t like to bring the ugly aspects of their jobs home to their families. It was only when Kate had made it clear she was pursuing the same career in law enforcement that her father had started opening up to her. Grief stabbed deep and she momentarily closed her eyes, remembering the way her dad had looked the last time she’d seen him, with his green eyes crinkling at the corners when he smiled. The way he’d hugged her at the end of their dinner together, engulfing her in the comforting scent of his Old Spice aftershave. She swallowed hard and took several deep breaths to get her emotions under control. She had to remind herself again that her dad, a devout Christian, was up in heaven now, finally reunited with her mother.
