Killer Among Us (9 page)

Out on the sidewalk Sassy rushed to a tiny
section of the curb and took care of her needs. Sophie walked her
for a few minutes, knowing the little canine enjoyed the early
morning smells and sniffing the other dogs that were being trotted
along the cold gray sidewalks.

She wasn’t paying attention to where she was
walking, she was thinking about the night before, the feeling of
Kane’s hard member stretching her open, the sensation of total
surrender that had come over her when he had commanded her to roll
over, and she had.

Sophie had never felt connected to anyone
other than Susan, had never been able to trust anyone other than
the person who had shared so much of the same history. She was
bewildered by her trust in Kane, but she was also grateful for it.
On the other side of that she had never known the intensity of
passion either and the longing for more of what he had given her
was bewildering, and exciting too, she admitted as she
strolled.

Maybe he turned me into some kind of sex
junkie, she thought and a laugh escaped her, she was pretty sure
that one time did not make her a junkie. “But you would certainly
like more,” she told herself, “And you could very well become
addicted. That was amazing.”

They strolled into Union Square, Sassy
heading eagerly for the stand that gave out samples of fresh goat
cheese. It had become one of her favorite treats and the woman who
ran the stall was always happy to see the two of them. Once the
pleasantries were dispensed with and Sassy had happily gulped down
the small chunks of cheese she was offered Sophie bought a half
pound of the cheese she preferred from that vendor and they moved
on to the other stalls.

Union Square’s market was open air and the
smell of fresh herbs and flowers mingled with the bright sunshine
to create a festive atmosphere. Farmers stood behind colorful and
heaped up mounds of fruits and produce, jars of honey gave off an
amber glow, a street entertainer danced and juggled while a young
man sat at an easel, doing quick sketches for the people who paused
to buy his wares.

Freshly baked breads enticed those passing
by and Sophie bought a small plate of macaroons. Sitting on a
narrow green bench she tilted her face up to the sun while she ate
the sweet treats. Sassy barked excitedly at the booth of the man
who sold organic eggs and was given a pat on her head and a sliver
of egg as a reward from him.

Sophie bought crisp radicchio, tender butter
lettuce, a pint of fresh berries and a jar of honey with the comb,
a quarter pound of salted creamy butter and rustic bread whose
outer crust was thick and crisp but whose inside promised to be
tender and chewy. Sassy whined to be carried halfway home and
Sophie had to tuck her under the crook of her arm and carry the
heavy bag in the other hand.

She was tired when they got home but a
glance at the clock showed it was time for her to head out to work.
She gave Sassy a kiss on her head and a pat before heading back out
the door, several large slices of bread and the jar of honey tucked
into her lunch box.

Walking in the shop she found Geoff standing
on a ladder, his head titled up at a very strange angle. “You’re
going to break your neck up there.”

“
I should be so lucky.”
Geoff returned. “I am in the unfortunate position of having so many
of these bodice ripping historical romances I find myself having to
create a whole section for them. Look at these lurid covers, would
you? They scream fuck me, you brute! Oh look, this one is about
pirates.”

“
What’s wrong with pirates?
They can be very sexy.”

Geoff cocked an eyebrow as he looked down at
her, “You look like a happy girl, should I ask if you got
shanghaied by a pirate or maintain boss employee standards
here?”

“
I brought fresh honey and
bread, if you would like some.”

“
Nice evasive maneuver. I
love honey, did you toast the bread?”

“
Of course not, you have a
toaster here. I did bring butter and some fresh berries
too.”

“
Aren’t we becoming quite
the food snob? Good, I taught you well, I still can’t believe you
liked frozen dinners when you came here.” Geoff said as he came
down the ladder. “I happen to have a thermos filled with spilt pea
soup on the counter and a carton of homemade cottage cheese replete
with pearl onions and freshly cracked pepper in the fridge, we will
eat like kings. Put a sign on the door telling the tourists to go
fuck themselves and the regulars to do the same today.”

“
By that you mean hang the
back in twenty sign?” Sophie asked with a twinkle in her
eye.

“
You know damn well that is
what I mean. If we said exactly what we meant we would not have any
customers and then where would be?”

“
Broke.”

“
Homeless.”

“
Hungry.”

“
Reduced to working at a
job that requires us to be soulless automatons to the machinery of
commercialism.”

“
You win.” Sophie said. “I
don’t even want to try to keep up with a guy who lived on a commune
and has a degree in political science.”

“
No, you don’t. You should
think about taking some classes though. Don’t think I don’t see you
reading everything in sight. You need to think about furthering
your education.”

“
I can’t afford that.”
Sophie kept her voice neutral but she knew Geoff knew she wanted to
go to college desperately. “Maybe you should talk to my boss about
giving me more hours.”

“
Your boss is lucky to
afford the rent,” Geoff said and headed for the back to get the
soup and cottage cheese.

***

The day dragged for Kane. Janelle spoke to
him briefly and while he found he still liked her and respected her
and had no hard feelings he was not at all fond of working with
her. She was meticulous; she went over every detail over and over
again. It was part of what had made their relationship so
difficult, he went by instinct and she relied on large doses of
constant scrutiny and belaboring points until they were dead. He
often thought that they had analyzed their relationship to
death.

The profile was finally complete and he
stared down at it. It had most of the typical details: white male,
probably in his late forties, professional, likely not white collar
however. He was not adverse to media attention but he had yet to
contact the police, Janelle was positive that he was cognizant of
and perhaps even manipulating parts of the investigation and said
so over lunch.

“
You know as well as I do
that these types of killers often involve themselves with cases so
that they can throw police off their tracks or so that they can
manipulate the media into fearing them, it is a way to gain power
for them.” She said as they chewed large sandwiches over his
desk.

“
With the media being
everywhere these days it is a lot easier for one killer to get lost
in the mix,” Kane put in, “So quite often they are resorting to
bigger scenarios, even worse mutilations and so forth in order to
gain attention. I’m not sure that’s playing a part in his
accelerating kill rates but it could be.”

“
Look at the way these
women were killed,” Janelle said, “It’s like he started off
hesitant and unsure but very enraged.”

“
Then there were two that
were almost perfunctory, until he got to the one who thought she
was a goddess.”

“
Then the rage kicked back
in.”

“
I don’t see a pattern,”
Kane admitted as he leaned back in his chair. “It’s almost like he
chose some of the victims and not the others. I think he may have
killed some of the women, the ones who were tortured and killed the
hardest, because he knew them and the others because he simply
likes being the Creeper and didn’t want to fade from the news. It’s
the only thing that makes sense.”

“
Did any of them know each
other?” John Hamm finally put in. He sat in a chair close to the
desk but not right at it. Kane was very well aware that John had
chosen that position to use body language and perception to make it
clear that he was there to help, not to encroach on Kane’s
territory.

“
If they did we haven’t
found the link.”

Janelle pulled the files back toward her.
Her white blouse pulled taut across her firm high breasts as she
did so and Kane saw Forrester’s eyes go to them. He cleared his
throat and saw John’s face harden slightly. He knew that the two
were not sleeping together, the older man simply found Forrester to
be rude and for that Kane couldn’t blame him; the older cop had
spent all day ogling Janelle, getting in the way and disrupting
their brain storming with a lot of tiresome questions and pointless
debating.

“
Maybe we aren’t looking at
this from the proper angle.” John said mildly. “Let’s stop looking
at who these women were and start looking at who they
weren’t.”

Forrester looked at him, a frown creasing
his forehead. “I’m not following you chief,” he said in an openly
hostile tone.

“
All of the women did have
one thing in common. They were almost famous. None of them were
exactly unknown, even the ones who seemed to have been killed as an
afterthought. They were all connected by one thing, they were all
artists or models or musicians. The …what was her name? The medium?
Jenny Fox…she claimed to be an artist too.”

“
Maybe they all had an
agent in common.” Kane suggested. “It would be a long shot but we
could give it a try. We could put a couple of guys on
it.”

“
I don’t see where that
makes any sense,” Forrester said through a mouthful of pastrami and
rye, “You’re going to be wasting manpower on a bullshit wild goose
hunt when they could be out on the streets looking for this
guy.”

‘
We are doing it.” Kane
said; his eyes steely as he stared at the other man. He really
hoped he would not have to break out the ‘I’m in charge’ card. For
a second he almost pitied him, he was fifteen years Kane’s senior
but he had been told to play second chair, it had to
sting.

Forrester glared at him, his jaw working at
the hunk of bread and meat then he dropped his eyes. Janelle spoke
up, her voice deliberately neutral.

“
I think we need to go back
and reexamine as many of the actual crime scenes as possible. Get a
feel for this firsthand.”

Kane stood, wiping his hands on a napkin and
she stood as well. For one moment he had a sudden and disturbingly
vivid memory of the two of them in bed: Janelle tied to the posts,
her legs opened wide, her labia slick with fluids and him between
her legs with one hand on his stiff cock and the other in her hair,
pulling her face close to his for a kiss.

He turned away, the memory abruptly fading
as another took its place: Sophie looking up at him, her eyes at
half-mast and her face flushed with the crimson tide that foretold
her orgasm.

Hard on the heels of that thought was a
surge of anger. She had lied to him, she had given him a false name
and he wasn’t sure why. Even if it had anything to do with her
spotting the Creeper it was odd, she had to have trusted him, and
she knew damn well he was not the killer.

Janelle and John stood quietly while he gave
orders. Forrester had vanished; his ability to do so was almost
uncanny. Kane was relieved because he didn’t want to have to give
the man some makeshift type of work to keep him out of their
hair.

***

The sun lent a burnished glow to the
rooftops and the people walking home after a day at work all seemed
exhausted. The tourists had thinned out, Sophie knew the theatres
would be packed later but some of the streets seemed to be almost
eerily quiet as she made her way home.

She paused at a crosswalk and her gaze
flickered to the building opposite her and her heart dropped into
her belly. Kane stood there, his head angled down to hear the words
the beautiful blonde woman he was standing next to was saying. They
were standing very close together, neither of them paying very much
attention to the rest of the world around them.

Tears erupted from her eyes, startling her
into movement. She whirled around and dashed back down the narrow
street; intent on getting away she was oblivious to the stares of
other pedestrians.

Kane looked up just as she disappeared down
a corner so he never saw her there. Janelle asked, “Do you want to
grab some dinner before we get back to work John?”

John, standing slightly behind the two said,
“I saw a diner a few blocks down. I could use some coffee and a
meal.”

“
Great,” Kane said. “Me
too, that diner makes really great omelets and home fries, if you
like them.”

“
I do,” John said, a grin
creasing his face as the three of them made their way back down the
street,” My doctor hates them though. He swears they will be the
death of me.”

“
He must not know what line
of work you’re in,” Kane joked, making them all laugh.

Sophie was not laughing. She raced into her
apartment and slammed the door. Sassy came to her and she picked
the warm bundle of fur up and held her close, her tears soaking
into Sassy’s coat. “I don’t even know why I’m crying,” she sobbed
out, “He was just some guy I met!”

But that wasn’t true and she knew it. There
was an aching hollow feeling inside her rib cage and she could not
stop weeping for a long time.

***

It was after nine and Kane wondered if
Sophie had to work early the next morning or if she were out. He
stood outside her door and raised his hand to knock, paused,
lowered it and then raised it again a bit sheepishly. He wanted to
see her, he wanted to talk to her and he wasn’t sure why he felt so
driven to do so.