“What?”
The words caught in her throat. “I don’t remember. But somehow I got away. I thought it was all behind me, but now I don’t think it is.” She glanced toward the stairs, thinking about the battered kid on the second floor.
“So you are starting to remember?”
“Bits and pieces.”
He laid his hand on her shoulder. “It breaks my heart to remember you when you first stumbled off that bus.”
Before she could respond, the house phone rang.
Swearing, Duke tossed the dish towel over his shoulder and answered it. “Duke Spence.”
Instantly his expression darkened.
“Jo-Jo?” he asked meeting Riley’s gaze. He motioned her forward and tipped the receiver so she could hear the caller’s voice. “Who’s asking for her?”
“A friend.”
She recognized the voice instantly. She mouthed the name Jax to Duke.
He gripped the phone tighter. “Jax, what rock did you crawl out from?”
“You think you are smart, don’t you, old man?”
“Smarter than your sorry ass.”
“Tell Jo-Jo that her old friend’s returning her call, and he hasn’t forgotten her.”
“You’re returning her call.”
Jax laughed. “That’s right, she called me. She loves me and she misses me.”
Duke mouthed an oath as he glanced toward the stairs. Then, in a lower voice so that Jo-Jo couldn’t hear him, he said, “You’re a piece of shit. And any piece of shit that comes near my house gets shot, no questions asked.”
“Woo-hoo! You scare me, old man.”
Riley had only seen Duke get mad once or twice in the last twelve years, but when he lost his temper, he transformed, and she saw hints of the man he’d been when he was gambling.
Jax laughed and hung up the phone, leaving Duke with the next move.
“I can’t believe she called him. She asked for the phone to call her friend Sandy.”
Riley muttered a curse. “Because at one time Jax was nice to her. He’s the devil she knows. Give her time.”
“If that bastard comes near my house, I’ll put him down in the front yard. Jo-Jo might have pulled off the dumb-ass move of the century, but I’m gonna keep her safe until she gets a little smarter.”
“That’s what you did for me,” Riley said. “Remember when my stepfather found me here? He offered to put me through college if I’d come home.” She could still picture William walking up to Duke’s restaurant as she’d been standing at the hostess desk rolling napkins around forks, spoons, and knives. “And I was scared enough at that point to go.” Terror and then relief clashed in a confused explosion.
“Jo-Jo might recover enough that she won’t want Jax’s help, but I’ll make damn sure she stays safe while she’s under my protection.”
When Riley’s front doorbell rang at nine, she reached for her gun. She rose from the sofa. After leaving Duke’s, she’d taken Cooper for a run in the neighborhood, showered, and changed into a pair of old cotton shorts and a T-shirt. “Who is it?”
“It’s Bowman.”
“Speak of the devil,” she muttered. She put the gun back in the side-table drawer by the couch and unlocked the door. He stood on her porch, wearing the suit pants he’d had on earlier. He’d taken off the jacket, rolled up the sleeves, and loosened the tie.
“Come on in,” she said. As he entered, she said, “Did you find out anything?”
“No smoking gun. Lots of forensic data collected.”
She ran her hand over the tense muscles on the back of her neck. “This is insane. It makes no sense.”
“No.”
“Can I offer you a drink?”
“No. I came by to check on you.”
“There was a card on the door from the security company. They will arrive first thing in the morning to install a system.”
“They shifted around a lot of clients to work you into their schedule.”
“Ah, the power of Shield.”
A faint smile tipped the edge of his lips. “It’s effective.”
“You look beat.”
“Nothing out of the ordinary.”
She remembered the first time they’d stood alone. She’d gone to his room near Quantico. Since the first day of her training, she was drawn to him. He kept to himself. Seemed to put more distance between the two of them than he did with any of the other recruits. She was convinced the feeling was mutual.
When he opened the door of that room in Quantico, she smiled, and before she lost her nerve, she closed the distance between them with a kiss. He stood stiff, not kissing her back.
She moistened her lips. “Did I overshoot the runway?” she asked.
“Timing’s not good.”
“You have someone else?”
A muscle in his jaw tightened. “No.”
“Good.” Before her nerve abandoned her, she kissed him a second time. He didn’t hesitate and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into the room.
They’d spent the night making love, and she’d never felt so close to a man. And in the morning, he had ended it all.
Now they stood alone again. And despite his rejection five years ago, she still wanted to kiss him. She’d made mistakes in her life, but she always made a point to learn from them. Bowman was a mistake she would not repeat.
“Thanks for stopping by,” she said. “I have an early call.”
He hesitated as if he had more to say, but finally said, “Right. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thank you.” When she closed the door behind him, she realized her legs were trembling.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 a.m.
Riley drove straight to the coffee shop, hurried inside, and ordered Martin’s favorite blend. When she pulled into the station before the morning shift, her hope was to catch him before the day got rolling to see what he’d pulled from the clothes of Gilbert, Lewis, and now, Cassie.
She found Martin shrugging off his coat. He glanced up at her with a halfhearted glare.
She grinned. “I brought coffee.”
“Double venti?” He eyed her, testing.
“With a shot of vanilla.”
Martin’s frown softened. “I assume this isn’t out of the goodness of your heart.”
“The Gilbert case. The Lewis case. Wondered if the lab had any matches.”
Martin sighed. “Pulled hair samples from Gilbert’s body and sent it off for testing. We’re cross-checking DNAs, but you know how that goes. State lab is backed up. Also found similar carpet fibers on both bodies. Suggests they were killed in the same place.”
“I don’t suppose those fibers came with an address attached.”
“Sadly, no.” He sipped his coffee. “Lewis’s rental car tire tracks match those found near Vicky Gilbert’s body.”
“Not a surprise.”
“The car also had a significant dent on the driver’s front fender. Bits of concrete and wilted flowers wedged in the damag
e. Looks like he clipped something.”
“What, like a planter?”
“Maybe? That’s Sharp’s job to figure out.”
“Right.” Martin’s comment was a reminder to her she was due to start her patrol soon.
Martin sipped his coffee, savoring the flavor. “I was also able to scrape skin from under Cassie’s fingernails. She scratched the hell out of someone. There’s DNA, but testing and matching will take time. I also pulled fibers from her clothes. Basically, I’ve a lot of forensic data, but until I have something to match it against, it’s not going to be much help.”
Impatience nipped at Riley. She had a scattering of puzzle pieces but had no larger picture that would help her connect them. In time the lab would give them more answers, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that this killer would be long gone before any lab results came back.
“Thanks, Martin. You’ll keep me posted?”
“Always.”
As she pushed through the doors, Sharp rounded the corner. He shook his head. “I’m not surprised to find you here.”
“Just dropping off coffee for Martin.”
He frowned. “I will call you if I have news. I want this guy just as much as you do.”
“I know.”
“Riley, let me worry about this. You need your head in the game when you are on patrol. You’re out there alone on the road, and I don’t want you getting shot because you were distracted.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Be careful.”
Traffic on the interstate was moderate, and Riley spent most of the day cruising a sixty-mile stretch. Traffic stops, an assist with interstate construction, disabled vehicles—it was all routine. She took a break in the late afternoon for lunch at a truck stop restaurant where she knew many of the girls like Vicky and Cassie worked. If anyone asked, she was just getting a bite to eat.
After taking Cooper for a walk, she entered the restaurant and ordered a burger and fries. There weren’t many girls or much traffic around the place, but experience had taught her that could change quickly. A group of truckers arrived and suddenly the girls showed.
She leaned against her vehicle and unwrapped the burger. She had taken a couple of bites when her cell dinged with a text message. It was from Hanna. All was well. Good. At least one thing in her life was right now. She texted her back, reminding her to be careful. A grimacing emoji shot back.