Killer Love (21 page)

“You’re welcome,” he replied hoarsely.

“One more favor.”

“Sure.” Damn, was she never going to go to sleep?

Her voice was faint, but he heard the words clearly. “Would you please leave the light on when you go?”

Chapter Thirteen

Luke drove cautiously over the slick roads where snow had accumulated just in the short time he’d been inside Jade’s apartment. Fortunately, there were few drivers out at two o’clock in the morning. He was almost relieved at the hazardous conditions. Gave him something to concentrate on other than Jade.

His cell phone rang and not taking his eyes off the road to check the number, he answered.

“I see I made the news.” The familiar voice grated over the line.

He’d expected it to be Jade. Or Wayne calling with an update on the case. The last person he expected was DiMarco.

Spots danced in his vision and his body tensed like a boxer before a championship bout. In spite of the fury racing through his system, he managed to keep his voice steady. “What did you think would happen, asshole? Jade would suddenly go running into your arms because you’re a twisted, murdering psycho?”

“I just wanted her attention. Wanted her to know I’m thinking of her.”

“I’m thinking of you, too. Every minute of every day and I will find you.”

“Not before I find another young girl.” He laughed. “I wanted you to know it was me, Butler. Each girl I kill is one more you didn’t save.”

Luke pulled into a parking lot. He didn’t trust himself to drive with the hot rush of blood pounding through his veins and his heart beating so loudly in his ears it overpowered everything else. He needed to concentrate, needed to beat DiMarco at his own sick game.

“What the fuck do you want, DiMarco?”

“You can stop this. You can stop the killings.” DiMarco’s silky voice grated on his already raw nerves. He silently waited for him to continue.

“All you have to do is tell me where Jade is. All I want is her. Just think, you’d be saving the lives of who knows how many young women. Sort of make up for the ones you didn’t save.” There was a pause, then another ripple of laughter. “That’s right. I know about your past. About your sister and how it’s your fault she died. Then there’s Delia. Aren’t you tired of people dying because of your fuck-ups?”

Anger flared, bright and hot inside Luke’s chest. “You really think I’d sacrifice Jade to you? You sick motherfucker.”

“I think you’ll do whatever it takes to stop me. See, unlike the other girls, I won’t hurt Jade. I want her with me, that’s all. And, yes, there may be some type of punishment involved but you have my word I won’t kill her.” He sighed. “I know, I know. I did cut her throat, I’ll admit that. But that was in a moment of panic, a fit of rage at her betrayal. I’ve calmed down since then. I’m not angry with her anymore. Everyone makes mistakes. In time, she’ll come to realize just how serious her mistake was.”

“Even a fucked up psycho like you can’t possibly think I’ll tell you where Jade is. I’ll stop you all right, but it won’t be by telling you where to find Jade.”

“You’ve done a remarkably impressive job so far, Agent Butler. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time, right? You know, if I were you, I’d worry that before you found me, I might find your little girl.”

For a moment, Luke’s rage was so immense, he couldn’t find the words to express it. His breathing came in shallow gasps, fogging the windows. In spite of the icy wind buffeting the car, a cold sweat broke out on his flesh.

“You have no idea what I’ll do to you if you even speak her name. You’re a walking dead man, DiMarco.”

“Save it, Butler. I’ve got power and connections you can’t even imagine. Your threats are as insignificant as a speck of fly shit.”

Now it was Luke’s turn to laugh. “I know all about your powerful connections. You’re nothing more than a glorified street thug who moved up the ranks by sucking Sal’s dick. Takes a big man to do that, right DiMarco?”

“Fuck you! Fuck you!” His voice was a scream of fury. All traces of composed mockery had fled. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! I’ll kill you, you sonofabitch. Worthless stinking pig, how dare you talk to me like that!”

The tirade stopped abruptly as the call ended. Luke wasn’t sure if DiMarco had hung up or if they’d simply lost the connection. Not that it mattered. DiMarco wasn’t going to tell him anything helpful and Luke had some phone calls to make.

First, he called Wayne, waiting until his friend was fully awake before explaining what had happened and asking him to get Jessica and Samantha into protective custody.

Then he prepared for a fit similar to the one DiMarco had thrown as he dialed his ex-wife’s number.

****

Jade slowly opened her eyes then wished she hadn’t. Her head felt like it was being worked over with an ice pick. She was sick to her stomach. The inside of her mouth was coated with a dry, foul taste.

Bits and pieces of last night filtered in once she’d taken stock of how rotten she felt. Luke. She’d made a fool of herself. He’d had to take care of her, keep her from driving and killing herself or someone else. She owed him an apology.

She wished she’d taken his advice about eating. Her stomach felt queasy yet at the same time empty. She needed food but she couldn’t think of anything she thought she could keep down. Dry toast. Maybe that would help.

She stumbled out of bed and her head really began to pound. She felt like total shit. So this is what it was like to have a hangover. No wonder her mom had been such a bitch all the time.

She started a pot of coffee and stuck a few slices of bread in the toaster. She swallowed some aspirin and sat at the table to wait for the coffee. She wanted to call Melanie. Her friend must be freaking out about what had happened. But what would she say?

Hey, I think Bryce murdered an innocent woman and presented her to you as a gift just to fuck with me. Be prepared, because I’m pretty certain he’s not finished with me yet.

Melanie not knowing Bryce had anything to do with it was best right now. She didn’t need to be any more freaked than she probably was. And Jade didn’t want to endanger her any more than she already had.

What she would really like to do is crawl back into bed and sleep until she felt human again, but she had work to do. The payroll for one of her clients was due today and she hadn’t even started on it. She took her coffee to the computer and willed her mind to concentrate on the screen.

Three hours later, she’d completed the file. Unfortunately, this client was computer illiterate. Rather than send his files as an attachment, she always delivered them by hand.

A shower made her feel marginally better. She dressed and slipped on her coat, then called a cab to take her to the bar where she’d left her car. As she waited outside, a gust of icy air on her flesh revived her even more than the shower had done. Maybe she’d live after all. She knew one thing for damned sure. She’d never touch another drop of alcohol.

When the taxi dropped her off at her car, she trudged through the snow and climbed inside, sitting for a while to let the car warm up.

She drove slowly through the blizzard, peering nervously out her windshield as the snow pelted her car. The snowplows had been out to clear the roads, but patches of ice were still on the streets.

After she delivered the file, she ducked her head against the wind and ran back to her car. Once inside, she blasted the heat, shivering until the warmth finally penetrated the chill.

Anxious to get home, she accelerated too quickly when she turned out of the parking lot. She must have hit an icy patch because her wheels failed to grab and the car went into a slide. After a few harrowing seconds, she managed to straighten her wheels and come to a stop. Knees and teeth clattering, she rested her head on the wheel, muttering a prayer of thanks that she was still in one piece.

Snow fell in thick sheets. She could barely see two feet in front of her. To hell with this. She was near the café, so she slowly maneuvered her car into the parking lot. She’d hang out inside for a few hours. Maybe after the evening traffic had traveled the roads, conditions would be a little safer.

She ducked her head into her coat and ran to the door of the coffee shop. Locked. Dammit, they’d closed early. Probably because of the weather.

Luke’s hotel was across the street.
You could see if he’s there. It would give you a chance to apologize and get out of the storm.
She could also find out if he’d learned anything about the case.

She ran across the street and into the hotel. It was the same one she’d stayed at the first few days she’d arrived in Solitaire. Not exactly a five-star operation, but not bad either. The lobby held an overstuffed mauve couch and two hunter green wing chairs. Between them was a glossy oak coffee table. Seascape paintings hung on the putty colored walls.

She pulled the card Luke had given her out of her purse and walked into the elevator, punching the button for the fifth floor.

At the door of his room, she lifted her hand to knock but hesitated. Suddenly she was nervous. Being alone with Luke in a hotel room was almost as dangerous as driving home in this weather.

Memories of last night had slipped in periodically throughout the day. She remembered his touch as he’d removed her blouse. She shivered. It hadn’t had that affect on her last night because she’d been too wasted to realize it. But thinking about it now...

She shook her head and knocked on the door. Best not to think about Luke that way. Or any man for that matter.

The door opened and Luke stared at her, his eyes momentarily widening with surprise. He wore faded jeans and a khaki button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. His hair was rumpled as if he’d been running his hands through it. Her heart thudded unexpectedly at the sight of him. Coming here had probably been a bad idea.

“Hey. What’s up?” he asked.

“I was nearby and my car went into a slide. I was kind of shaken up so I thought I’d stop by. I also wanted to apologize to you, about last night. And tell you thanks.”

“Sure. No problem.” He stepped back. “Sorry. Come in.”

She walked past him into a semi-tidy mess. Housekeeping apparently hadn’t come by yet because the bed was unmade and a damp towel lay across the back of a chair. A hint of some spicy masculine cologne hung in the air.

“Have a seat.” Luke looked around and went over to clear a pile of clothes off the only chair in the room. “Would you like something to drink? There’s a mini bar or I could make a pot of coffee.”

“No, thank you.” She sat on the edge of the chair, glancing up at him, then away. “Listen, I’m not sure exactly what went on last night but I remember bits and pieces.” Her face flamed as she recalled him helping her into bed. “I wanted to thank you for not...well, you know. I was pretty bombed. You could have...” Her voice trailed off.

“How do you know I didn’t?” He grinned. “Ah, I know. You didn’t wake up with a smile on your face.”

She laughed. “Yeah, that’s it.”

He settled on the foot of the bed, facing her. “How are you doing?”

“You mean as far as hung over or freaked over what Bryce did?”

“Both.”

“The hangover finally went away. You were right, I should have eaten. As far as Bryce...” She looked down at her hands and shook her head. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do next. I’m afraid of what I’ll cause him to do.”

“Hey. You didn’t cause him to do anything. You’re doing exactly what you should do. All of this is his fault, not yours. Understand?”

She looked up at him and nodded. “Does that mean you believe I’m innocent?”

There was only a slight pause before he said, “Yeah. I believe you.”

No apology, she noticed. But her relief that he believed her was so great, she didn’t mind. She also didn’t ask what had made him change his mind. Best to let it go. “So what now? What do we do about Bryce?”

“I talked to my partner, told him you believe Bryce killed that girl. He’s following up, checking on leads. If there’s any evidence at all, he’ll find it.”

“He’s got to be stopped. I know he doesn’t know where I am right now, but he knows where the people I love are. And he obviously doesn’t care how many innocent people have to die before he finds me. I also worry about the kids at the shelter. I volunteered at a halfway house for runaways before all of this happened. Bryce knows how much those kids mean to me. How vulnerable they are.”

“I can see about putting some extra security at the shelter. Manpower is kind of limited but there may be something we can do.”

“Yeah?” She smiled. “Thank you. But the way those kids come and go, it would be difficult to protect them. Anything you can do would be better than nothing, though.” She shook her head. “When I was a kid, I had a pretty rough home life. I ran away a few times, lived on the streets. I think that’s one reason I was so horrified when I found out what Bryce had done to those girls. I mean, any reasonably sane person would be horrified but for me, it was personal.”

“I can understand that.”

“You can’t imagine how glad I was to hear I wasn’t legally married to him.” She shuddered. “But the truth is, I did marry him. What kind of person does that make me that I could ever love someone like him?”

“He fooled you. You’re not the first person that’s happened to and you won’t be the last. You fell in love with the man you thought he was. And trust me, I’ve made my share of mistakes. I’ve seen and done a lot of things I wish I hadn’t. Life’s just that way. We learn from our mistakes and go on.”

“Yeah. But I don’t know where to go on to. I don’t even know who I am anymore, what my future holds. When you’re living a lie, you lose yourself. It wasn’t as if I really knew who I was before. I mean, as Bryce’s wife I was living the biggest lie of all, but this seems so surreal, so
temporary
. I read about a woman in the witness protection program whose little boy was killed in an accident while they were in the program.” She looked at Luke and shook her head slowly. “They had to bury him with a different name on the tombstone. Can you imagine how that mother must have felt?”