Dead Ringer (14 page)

Sunday, January 13, 9:00
A.M.

"Thank
you for meeting me so early," Dana Miller said.

Nicole
smiled and extended her hand to the woman dressed in mink and a sleek Armani
suit. Dark hair was brushed back in a smooth chignon and one-caret diamond
studs winked from her earlobes. Dana had made a fortune in real estate in the
last decade.

Nicole
smiled. "No problem. I often meet with clients early in the morning.

"But
Sunday is above and beyond the call. My schedule is insane right now." Dana
shrugged off the mink. A diamond broach clung to her lapel. "And then my
marketing director called me yesterday and said she absolutely had to have the
new publicity shots by Monday afternoon. We're revamping the Web site and my
marketing director needs new head shots of me."

"You
live a hectic life." Nicole accepted her coat and hung it on a rack by the
door. The shades were open and morning light poured into her studio. Outside
the winter sky was a crystal blue.

"Usually
it's manageable. But I'm selling the units for the River Bend site, and with
all the recent headlines I've had my hands full with damage control."

"Didn't
they find a dead woman on that property?"

Dana
grimaced. "Yes.
Horrible.
Poor
woman."

"The
murder must be hurting business."

"Actually,
traffic by the sales office has skyrocketed. The problem is the cops won't release
the scene and Adam Alderson is falling behind schedule with the surveying,
which of course delays the site work. It's a mess." Dana's gaze flickered to
Nicole's belly. "I guess you know firsthand about unexpected surprises."

The
reference to the baby caught Nicole off guard. Dana's boldness put her on the
defensive and that made her angry. As color rose in her cheeks, she reminded
herself again that she had done nothing wrong.

"My
comment has made you angry."

"Frankly, yes."

Dana
wasn't put off. "This baby must be turning your world upside down."

Nicole
lifted her chin. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Good
for you. I like women with a spine." Dana grinned. "You are a doll for working
me in today."

Nicole
needed the interruption of work. She'd spent most of last evening looking at
adoption family profiles. Again, she was left conflicted, worried, and confused
over the decision. "I'm just glad you called and we could find a time to meet.
Can I offer you coffee or tea?"

Dana
smiled. "Tea would be lovely."

Nicole
moved past the camera set up in front of the backdrop and settee. She had a
small kitchen with an electric teapot and a white porcelain jar filled with a
collection of teas.

"You
will join me, won't you?"

Nicole
shook her head. "My taste for tea has diminished somewhat since my pregnancy."

Dana
chose a flavor from the jar and Nicole poured the steeping water into one of
the antique porcelain cups she'd found at a flea market. The mismatched style
of the cups suited her.

Dana
sipped her tea. "I've heard a woman's taste buds change when she's pregnant.
I've also heard her sense of smell becomes stronger."

"Very true."
She could barely stand the smell of her
dark-room chemicals, which she told herself was a valid reason for not working
on anything for an art show. All the work she'd done of late was digital. After
the baby was born, her life would get back to normal.

After.

"While
you enjoy your tea, I'll set up the camera."

"I'm
in no rush," Dana said. She sipped her tea and moved around the room, studying
Nicole's prints on the walls. Outwardly calm, Dana exuded an energy that barely
seemed contained. "So when is the baby due?"

Nicole
pressed a hand to her belly. "About three weeks."

Dana
grinned. "Wow. You must be very excited."

Scared
was a better answer. But she wasn't about to share that with Dana. "Lots of
changes are happening very fast."

"It
must feel wonderful to feel the baby moving inside you."

More
like an alien invasion. Nicole extended her arm toward the waiting settee. "If
you need those pictures quickly, we'd better get started. Touch-ups will take
me a few extra hours."

"Of course."
She set her cup down by the hot pot and moved
into the photo area.

Nicole
stood behind the camera. She felt a measure of control return. "Would you like
to touch up your makeup?"

"No."

That
didn't surprise Nicole. The woman's makeup was perfect. "Then have a seat."

Dana
sat down as Nicole started to turn on the spotlights around her. "So have you
chosen a name for the baby?"

Bands
of tension squeezed her chest. She adjusted the lights.

In
the last few months, talk often turned to babies around her. Women of all ages
reminisced about pregnancies and children. Some even touched her stomach as if it
were public property. All of it made Nicole unhappy. Not knowing if she could
love her child, she felt like a fraud when people asked her questions. "Not
yet."

Nicole
held a light meter next to Dana's face and took a reading.

Dana
stared up at her. "I'm in sales, Nicole. I'm an expert at reading people."

"Really?"

"You're
worried about something."

She
swallowed but managed a smile. "The only thing I'm worried about is taking a
great picture of you."

"Oh,
I don't think that's true."

Nicole
ignored the comment. "Here, turn your legs to the side and face the camera."

Dana
complied. "So do you have family in the area?"

"No.
My folks passed several years ago."

"Brothers and sisters?"

"Only child."

"So
it's just you and the baby now."

Nicole
retreated behind the camera and peered through the viewfinder. "Let's get
started on your pictures."

Dana's
eyes narrowed a fraction. "You dodge questions about the baby."

"I'm
here to take pictures of you, not bore you with talk of the baby."

"I
love to talk babies." Dana settled on her perch and smiled toward the lens. Her
eyes brightened. "Not having a baby is my one regret. I was always so busy
making money. I didn't want to stop to raise a child."

Nicole
didn't respond. Dana's gaze grew pointed. "Are you going to keep the baby?"

"That's
personal." Nicole could feel her cheeks flush.

"I
know. I'm sorry." She didn't seem the least bit sorry.

Nicole
had been excited about this job this morning, but now she just wanted to be
done with it. She snapped several dozen pictures. Dana's practiced smile came
easily. "You're very photogenic."

"I
know." No conceit in her voice, just confidence in an asset.

Nicole
moistened her lips. The baby kicked hard. "Would you like to see what I've shot
so far? I have at least forty pictures now."

"Yes."

Nicole
pulled the memory card from her camera and they walked to her desk. She popped
the card in the computer and within seconds images of Dana appeared on the
screen. Dana was photogenic but Nicole knew she'd also done an excellent job of
capturing her. "What do you think?"

Dana
leaned over Nicole's shoulder and studied the pictures. "Start flipping through
them and I'll tell you what I like."

Nicole
hit the
NEXT
button and another image appeared.

"No."

Nicole
hit the button again.

Dana
lifted a brow.
"Maybe."

This
went on for five minutes. By the end, Dana had chosen three pictures.
"Excellent."

"I
can take more pictures. I have other backdrops.
Different
lighting."

"No.
What you've shot is excellent and it does the trick. Just send the disk to
Brenda and she'll cut you a check."

Nicole
glanced at her watch. "We've only been at
this
thirty
minutes. Most sittings take several hours."

Dana
moved across the room and retrieved her fur coat from the rack. She smiled.
"Not necessary. I got exactly what I came for."

After
the woman breezed out of the room, Nicole didn't feel the relief she'd been
expecting. Instead, she felt as if she'd just played a round of cat and mouse.
She'd dodged the cat today but wondered when it would return.

Jacob
had not gotten into bed until after four
A.M
. He had watched and rewatched the parking lot
surveillance tape hoping to see something more. There had been nothing, and
finally, his eyes were so tired he had had to stop.

He
had turned off his alarm clock, determined to sleep in. However, his eyes had
popped open at nine-thirty. His mind was alert, jazzed even, but his body was
exhausted. He had tossed and turned and going back to sleep had proven
impossible.

Groaning
his frustration, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He hung his head
in his hands and then pushed his fingers through his short hair. He rose and
walked naked into the bathroom, took a leak, and then turned on the shower.
When steam filled the bathroom, he climbed into the stall and ducked his head
under the hot water stream. He leaned his head against the tile wall and let
the heat flow down his back.

Jacob
soaped off and rinsed. He shut off the water and stepped out of the stall.
After grabbing a towel, he dried off, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, and
slipped his feet into worn leather shoes.

His
apartment was simple to the point of Spartan. La-Z-Boy couch, wide-screen TV,
coffee table, and a few lamps. The beige walls had a few framed posters on them
from boxing bouts he'd fought in when he was a teenager. Several bookshelves
lined the walls. They were crammed full of biographies, history books, and the
random bit of fiction. No plants. No knickknacks. He kept his life simple,
uncomplicated.

The
coffee tin was empty and what was left in the coffeepot
was
a couple of days old. Jacob never had time to go to the grocery store. When he
did, it was always a surgical strike: eggs, cottage cheese, cooked lean
chicken, and of course coffee. Only he'd not even made a fleeting pass at a
store in a couple of weeks.

When
he'd dated Sharon last year, the fridge had been stocked. She loved buying,
cooking, and eating. And she had a killer body. She'd brought life to the
apartment and he'd known he could fall for her. That had scared the hell out of
him. Love equaled vulnerability. He had broken it off.

Sharon
had been devastated. She'd cried. Staring at the mascara bleeding around her
eyes, he'd felt like hell. He'd let her call him a coward and a bastard. And
yet he didn't try to make it work.

Dr.
Christopher would have a field day with that tidbit. No doubt she'd link the
incident back to his mother.

He
opened the refrigerator and discovered he had three boiled eggs and a juice
carton. He peeled the eggs, ate them right over the sink, and then drank the
remains of the juice from the carton.

Kendall
Shaw's face flashed in his mind. He couldn't picture her drinking her morning
juice from a carton. If she were standing here right now, she'd no doubt bust
his chops for being such a slob. The image made him grin. When she was mad her
eyes sparked, and he got hard.

The
juice tasted all that much sweeter just knowing he could get under her skin.

The
carton spent, he tossed it into the trash can under the sink and shrugged on
his leather jacket. He retrieved his nine millimeter from the locked box in the
hall closet and clipped it to his belt. He'd just snagged his cell from the
charger by the back door when it rang. "Warwick."

"This
is Zack." He sounded awake and alert. "I just got a call from dispatch. A convenience
store owner found a murdered woman. Her body was dumped behind his store. She
was strangled."

Jacob
tensed. "Anybody see anything?"

"You
know as much as I do at this point." Zack gave him the address.

"You
call Ayden?"

"Not
yet."

"Let
him know what's going on. I'm on my way to the crime scene."

A
second murdered woman meant the stakes had jumped exponentially. Jacob snapped
his phone closed and headed down the stairs of his apartment complex. The cold
burned his lungs as he crossed the parking lot to his car, a police issue Crown
Vic.

The
windshield was covered in ice. He slid behind the wheel, turned the heater on
full blast, and then got out and scraped the windshield.