A Christmas Kiss by Caroline Burnes Page B

even done a story about the woman with the photographic memory who didn't want to testify. A retired judge who served as legal commentator for the show had pointed out that the justice system was falling apart because citizens like her wouldn't do their civic duty.
    All along, though, Kit had urged her to listen to her heart. To do only what she felt comfortable doing. With him by her side, she'd found the courage to testify—and lost everything.
    "So you think Kit is dead." Her voice was hollow, defeated.
    "I didn't say that. We turned the city over looking for him. We never found a clue. Usually, a hit on a policeman can't be kept quiet. Not for two years."
    "You're a very helpful man." Joey was mad enough to strangle Officer Lewis with his bare hands.
    "It isn't like she hasn't heard this before." Lewis grew defensive at Joey's tone. "She knows."
    "Yes, I do know." Cori turned away.
    "Later," Joey said as he took her elbow and led her to his car. The word was a promise to Lewis.
    "Where are you staying?" Joey asked her as he steered her. She was as lifeless as a rag doll.
    "I don't know." She tried to think about places she had once wanted to stay. Not a single one came to mind. "I thought I'd get a place when I got here."
    "This is the holiday season. Hotels are going to be booked." Joey felt himself sliding deeper and deeper into the mud hole that Cori St. John was digging for herself.
    "I'll find some place." She shrugged. What did it matter? She wouldn't sleep, anyway. "Maybe over toward Slidell."
    "I know a place uptown." Joey couldn't stop himself. She was so defeated. "It's a safe place."
    "Won't your relatives get tired of you dragging me into their homes?" She gave him a brief smile.
    "It's not a relative." Joey found himself smiling in return. She had a sense of humor. And she was quick-witted. He liked that. "It's a bed and breakfast. An old high school friend of mine runs it. She doesn't advertise at Christmas because it's her home." Joey's acquaintance with Jolene had begun long past high school, but he didn't think Cori needed to know the details.
    "Then maybe she won't appreciate a guest."
    Joey opened the door and handed her in. "She'll do it for me. And then I'll be able to sleep because I'll know you're safe."
    Cori put her hand out and blocked the door before he could close it. "I'm out of WP, Joey. Really out. I'm not testifying, and I'm not hiding anymore. You have no need to protect me any longer."
    He hadn't intended to get into the issue now, but she'd opened the door. "Cori, what happened with the candy?"
    She shook her head. "I fell asleep. I woke up and this child was staring at me. She asked if she could have some candy, and when I looked down, there were three chocolate kisses right beside my leg."
    "Did they fall out of your purse?"
    She shook her head. "Kayla, the little girl, said a man had put them there while I was asleep. She said he was tall with sandy blond hair."
    "Acute powers of observation for a girl who couldn't be more than eight." Joey saw her look down at her feet. "What is it?"
    "When the mother asked her, she said the candy fell out of my purse."
    Joey closed the car door and went to his side. As he slid behind the wheel he felt a terrible sense of foreboding. Cori St. John was likely on the edge of a total breakdown. And she had no one in the world to help her. "You'll like Chez Jolene." He started the car and realized that dusk had begun to fall.
    Along the levee the sky was an electric pink that faded to mauve near the dark horizon. They pulled into traffic and rode through the neon streets of the Quarter before they reached the business district and, finally, the quiet of the huge old oaks and houses of uptown. The graceful limbs of the trees canopied the street and cut the vivid sky into an intricate quilt of shifting shades of pink and purple.
    "Winter was always my favorite time in New Orleans." Cori spoke to break the silence. She was too aware of Joey beside her. Too