Killer Love (19 page)

Bryce stood and swallowed his drink in one gulp. “Nice meeting you, Sarah.”

Her eyes clouded over and she dropped her gaze. “Nice meeting you, too.” He barely heard her over the pounding of the music.

She was hurt, disappointed. She would never know this was the luckiest night of her life.

He went back to the bar. The odorous hooker was gone. He ordered another drink and looked back at Sarah’s table. She was gone, too.

The club would close in less than an hour. Didn’t leave him much time. The crowd was starting to pair off, not many possibilities left.

He pulled the silver dollar from his pocket and began working it between his knuckles. Leaning his back against the bar, he sipped his drink and looked around. That was when he saw her.

Jade
.

His heart crawled into his throat, obstructing his ability to breathe.

Then he got a better look at her. Not Jade, but she looked enough like her to make his knees weak.

Damn. He still loved her.

All the more reason why she had to pay.

The woman must have felt him staring because she met his gaze. He lifted his drink in a silent toast. She smiled and started toward him.

The closer she got, the less she looked like Jade. Where his wife’s eyes were hazel and could go from green to blue depending on her mood, this woman’s eyes were brown. And her hair was bleached, unlike Jade’s natural honey blonde. She was also slightly thinner than Jade. A little younger perhaps, but more worldly looking.

She reached his side and her harshly painted red lips parted in a smile. “You look lonely. Want some company?”

“Sure. Can I buy you a drink?”

“Seven and Seven.”

The bartender placed the drink in front of her and the woman slid onto the barstool. She leaned forward, allowing Bryce a good look at her ample cleavage and a whiff of her overpowering perfume. “How come I’ve never seen you in here before?”

He turned to face her, resting one elbow on the bar. “I don’t get this way often. I’m here on business.”

“Ooooh, a business man. I like that. What kind of business?”

“Tonight, you’re my business, sweetheart.” He looked into her eyes and ran a thumb down her cheek.

“You’re a smooth talker, aren’t you?” she giggled. Her eyes dropped to the coin he flipped between his fingers and she smiled. “I like shiny things. Can you show me a trick?”

“Most definitely, darlin’. You’d be amazed.”

“I bet I would.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I bet you got something long and hard for me, too, don’t ya, sugar?”

He thought of the knife tucked inside his boot, felt the weight of its presence. “Oh, baby,” he whispered back. “You have no idea.”

Her eyes widened and she gave a breathless laugh. “Let’s get out of here.”

She didn’t act like Jade at all, but she looked just enough like her. It would be satisfying to punish her for Jade’s misdeeds. A way to see fear and contrition in Jade’s eyes. A way to kill his wife without really killing her.

He smiled at the woman.

She smiled back.

Perfect.

Chapter Twelve

“You’re still off. Try again.” Cal turned from the martial arts dummy and came back to Jade’s side.

Fingers covered in blue chalk, sweat dripping from her face, Jade nodded. They’d been at it for over an hour this morning. This was the third lesson she’d had this week.

The day after Dennis attacked her, she’d called Cal and asked him to show her Dim Mak. In spite of her previous doubts, she decided it damn sure couldn’t hurt to know the technique, just in case.

Cal had marked the vital points on the dummy’s body. The chalk was so they would know how close she came to the pressure points with each blow.

“There’s more to it than hitting the right spot. You have to go in deep and fast, no hesitation. Got it?”

She brushed the hair back from her face. “Got it.”

“If you don’t hit the vital organs with the right depth, it does no good. Your opponent can overtake you. You must be quick and accurate.”

She nodded. He’d told her the same thing each morning. He’d also shown her exercises to strengthen her fingers and hands.

When he’d first seen the bruises, his face had deepened to scarlet, a vein in the center of his forehead bulged and his voice had lowered to a menacing growl. He’d demanded to know if her boyfriend had found her. She told him she’d been mugged. He’d looked at her in disbelief but hadn’t commented.

Jade took a deep breath and flexed her fingers. She held her hands out. “More chalk.” Cal quickly colored them blue.

“Concentrate...focus.” His eyes bored into hers. “Accurate and deep. The neck is the most vulnerable of the points but the chest, wrist and elbow areas are sometime easier to access.”

She stared at the dummy...at its neck, elbow, wrists, chest. She centered her mind; cleared it until the figure in front of her was the only think she saw, the only thing she felt.

She lunged toward the target. Her hands moved in a blur. She was aware of her flesh meeting the soft body of the dummy but her actions were controlled by something other than her conscious mind.

She stepped back and Cal moved around her to look at the chalk marks. He turned and smiled with the pride of a father who’d finally gotten through to a child.

“Perfect. You nailed it.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, nodded, and held out her hands.

****

Jade walked out of the gym, zipping her jacket against the freezing air. She quickly headed to her car, stopping when she noticed a group of teenagers standing in the corner of the parking lot next to a tree. She recognized Ashley and walked over.

The girl wore a Breaking Benjamin t-shirt and blue jeans. The last few times Jade had seen her, the goth look was gone. Even though it might just be a harmless form of self-expression, the attire made her nervous. She hoped Ashley had given it up permanently.

The kids were smoking and one of the boys was drinking out of something inside a paper sack.

“Hi,” Ashley said. She looked surprised, like she’d been caught at something.

“Hey. What’s up?”

She shrugged. “Just hanging out.”

Jade looked at the boys. They were the same ones Ashley had been with the first night Jade met her. They were a few years older than Ashley, but still not old enough to drink. They looked like trouble.

“Look,” she told Ashley. “I’ve got some errands to run. Thought I’d go by the coffee shop. Want to come?”

The girl glanced at her friends then back at Jade and shrugged again. “Sure.”

At the coffee shop, they ordered cappuccinos and cinnamon rolls.

“How’s everything going?” Jade asked as Ashley licked whipped cream from her cup.

“Okay. Dennis took off, so things have been better at home.”

“Really? He’s gone?”

“Yeah. He just left. Didn’t even come by to get his stuff. He called Mom and asked her to take his things to work with her and he picked them up there. Way strange but awesome too.”

“Hopefully, he’ll stay gone.”

“Yeah. He was a real prick.”

“Watch your language.”

“Sorry.” She chewed a mouthful of cinnamon roll, eyes thoughtful. “You know, Mom wasn’t always like this.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “While Dad was alive, she was a great Mom. She took Jon to baseball practice; we went to all of his games. She cooked for us. It was cool.”

“She took your Dad’s death pretty hard?”

Ashley nodded and tears filled her eyes. “We all did. Jon hasn’t played baseball since cause Mom won’t bother with it. That’s why he wears that damn uniform all the time. He misses it. Misses Dad.”

“I’m sorry.”

“After Dad died she started drinking. Then she went out with one jerk after another. Dennis hung around the longest. And he was the worst.”

Jade knew exactly how bad Dennis was. Hopefully the bastard was gone for good. Hopefully there wouldn’t be another to take his place. What a screwed up way to live. Ashley needed to get away from her mother as soon as possible.

“You know, you don’t have to be like that, just because you live in that atmosphere.” Jade was thinking about Ashley’s friends. She wanted to tell her to stay away from them but knew that’d be as welcome as cops at a frat party. “What are your plans for the future? What are you going to do when you’re out of school?”

Ashley shrugged. “Get a job, I guess. I mean, a different one from the freakin Tastee Burger. Working there sucks big time.”

“What about school? College, or a trade school?”

“Yeah, right. How the freak would I get money for college?”

“There are grants, student loans, scholarships. There’s always a way.”

“I don’t think so. I’ll just get a job.”

“Ashley, I came from a really bad home life too. Probably worse than yours.” She knew it had been worse than Ashley’s but she didn’t want to give the girl details of her past. “I worked my way through school and acquired a degree in accounting. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. You can do something more with your life than just any old job. What do you really like? What would you like to do if you had all the money in the world?”

Ashley grinned. “If I had all the money in the world, I would do freakin
nothing
.”

“You know what I mean.” Jade smiled. “If you had the money for an education.”

“I don’t know. I never really thought about it.”

“Well, you need to start thinking. You’ll graduate next year and it’s a big scary world out there. You can’t depend on other people to take care of you. You’ve got to be able to take care of yourself.”

“Ok. I’ll think about it.” She looked over Jade’s shoulder and grimaced. “Shit.”

“Watch your language. What’s wrong?”

She nodded toward a television in the corner of the coffee shop. The weatherman was predicting snow and ice for the next few days.

“I freaking
hate
snow. Being cooped up in the house sucks.”

After the weather, the anchorman came on with a report about a murder victim. Jade listened with half her attention until a line in his newscast made her turn back to the television.

The body of the young woman was found beside the swimming pool at the home of a senator from St. Louis, Missouri. Cause of death hasn’t been determined yet but there was obvious trauma to the body and police are treating it as a homicide. Senator Bomar is not a suspect in the case at this time, although police are questioning the senator, his family and staff.

The victim was completely nude except for a necklace. The police have released a photo of the necklace, hoping that someone will recognize it and can help identify the victim. So far, the police have no leads and are asking the public’s help in solving this crime.

Jade’s already shaking hands began to tremble more violently when a photo of the necklace appeared on the screen.

A jade necklace with the letter ‘J’ surrounded by diamonds.

Her
necklace.

Jade’s stomach heaved. For a moment, she thought the cinnamon roll and coffee were going to come back up.

“Jenna!” Ashley’s voice penetrated her terror-numbed mind. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? You look freaked.”

“I’m not feeling well.” She managed to croak. “I’ll take you home.”

“That’s okay. I’m supposed to hook up with my friends again. Can you drive? Do you need a doctor?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Jade threw money on the table and left the café, tears blurring her vision on the drive home.

The necklace. Melanie’s home. Bryce had killed that girl.
Dear God, he’d killed her because of me.

Jade wasn’t sure how she made it home. She stripped off her sweaty workout clothes and stepped into the shower, her mind screaming the words over and over again.

Bryce killed her because of me. Bryce can hurt the ones I love at any moment.

Melanie’s family. Dear God, what if he does something to Melanie?

Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. She had to get out, had to get away. Only half aware of what she was doing, she dressed and grabbing her keys, escaped from the four walls that seemed closer than ever.

****

Fat snowflakes pounded the windshield, gathering in thick sheets as quickly as the wipers could clear them off. Definitely a night to be off the roads. Luke went through the McDonald’s drive-thru and ate a Big Mac on his way back to the hotel.

He was at loose ends, bored out of his mind and unable to get Jade out of his head. Guilty or innocent? Victim or culprit? He wasn’t sure and it was driving him crazy.
She
was driving him crazy.

Suddenly, he missed Samantha, needed to hear his daughter’s voice. He thought about calling her but a phone call just wasn’t enough. He needed to see her.

The snow reminded him of last winter when she’d stayed with him the week after Christmas. They’d made snow angels--his looked massive next to the imprint of her small body--then they’d had a snowball fight. She’d beaned him pretty good a couple of times. Not a bad arm for a four-year-old girl. Afterward, he’d made instant hot cocoa and had to hear all about how her mom made it with
real
milk. He grinned. She was kind of like her mother in that way, would settle for nothing less than the finest. His grin faded as loneliness seeped through his bones.

As thick as the snow was falling, as deep in concentration as he was, he almost passed the bar without noticing Jade’s Grand Prix in the parking lot. What the hell was she doing in a bar? She’d said she didn’t drink.

Drive on by, none of your concern.

But it was his concern. She was the reason he was here, after all. He needed to know what she was up to, especially if it was something out of the ordinary. Or at least that’s what he told himself as he circled around and pulled into the parking lot.

He walked inside through a thick haze of smoke and the sounds of Dwight Yoakum blaring from the jukebox. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dimly lit bar. The only lighting came from neon beer signs hanging on the walls and suspended from the ceiling. The place was crowded with couples and a few lone patrons. A sea of cowboy hats floated like driftwood on fog-covered water.