Murder Stalks (30 page)

“
Take me home, not to that
crappy motel, but our home and make love to me.”

“
It’s not ready for us
yet. There are still signs.”

“
I want to go home. I want
this over with.”

“
I know, I
know.”

****

He could strike now. Dealing the fatal blow
would be simple. They were easy targets. Standing out in the open
on the lighted street corner was stupid. The man watched as they
hugged. How he wished he wouldn’t have been interrupted at
Marissa’s place.

Anger clouded his vision for a moment before
he employed the techniques he had learned at his anger management
class. In through the nose and out though the mouth. He focused on
the car’s insignia on his dashboard as he breathed in the calming
breaths.

His revenge would come soon. His next victim
would make them sorry. She was young, only eighteen. He’d move on,
not to his next target but the one after, he’d wanted to save the
next in his plan for a special treat.

A laugh erupted from deep in his belly.
Drying tears of joy and revenge from his eyes, he turned and stared
at the passenger sleeping in his back seat. It had been easy, like
taking candy from a baby, only he’d given the candy to her, a
lollipop laced with heroin.

He started his engine and drove away. Tony
and Marissa never even looked up from their embrace.

He checked the back seat again. His latest
quarry slept quietly. Her soft cheek rested on her hand. He shook
his head. What a shame. Her peace would end very soon.

Chapter 30

Marissa pushed the door closed behind her.
The motel room was small and ugly, but if this was where they were
staying, she’d make the most of it. Tony came out of the bathroom
and threw his shirt onto the bed. She wanted to run her fingers
through the smattering of hair on his chest and feel his arms
wrapped around her.

They’d been through too much, but tonight
she didn’t want to think about that. Before she could move away
from the door, Tony turned to look at her. She could see the moment
he realized what she wanted. His pupils dilated and his breathing
changed.

It had been too long since the last time
they had made love. She needed him now. Her body ached to feel his
hands on her breasts.

Tony took two big steps and was beside her.
His lips were only inches from hers, but he didn’t touch her. The
sound of cars racing down the highway filtered through the thin
walls. This wasn’t how Marissa envisioned them coming together
again, but champagne, flowers and mood music wouldn’t fit this
place, and that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted hot, slick sex
that would leave her exhausted. Tony’s hands braced the door behind
her. His head dipped and his lips trailed down her neck to her
shoulder. She had missed this.

Distancing herself from him after Ashley
passed away had been wrong. Her emotions were conflicted at the
time. Unsure of how to deal with the rollercoaster of their life
together, she’d pulled away. Now she could fix that, correct her
mistakes.

Tony pulled her shirt over her head and
released the clasp at the front of her bra. His lips trailed down
between her breasts. A growl rumbled from low in his chest, sending
vibrations of pleasure rippling through her.

His teeth caught her nipple, teasing her
with a gentle pull. She arched her back, brushing her body against
his. The soft hair across his chest grazed her belly and she
gasped. She slammed her hips against his, letting him know she was
ready.

Strong hands caught her, stilling her body.
His eyes held hers. He shook his head. “I won’t do this up against
the door. We are going to take it slow. Very slow.”

Tony ran his finger down the side of her
body, hooking his finger in her pants. She shivered, reaching down
to undo the button on her jeans.

Tony grabbed her hands and pinned them above
her head. “I said slow.”

She was ready to complain when she
recognized the spark of mischief in his eyes. Tony was in control.
He wouldn’t take her early. As evident as his desire was, he would
hold back, stretching out the enjoyment for both of them.

The fire from his lips on her belly rolled
up her body, and escaped as a moan. His tongue played a torturous
game across her stomach. She moaned in desperation as he kissed her
legs, her pants keeping her from feeling the touch of his lips.
“Please, Tony.”

“
Not yet.” He kissed her
shoulders, ignoring all the places she wanted him to
touch.

“
You’re driving me
crazy.”

“
Good.” Tony picked her up
and carried her to the bed. He tossed her up a few inches and she
screamed. “Not scared, are you? I’m not going to drop
you.”

She squealed and laughed as he tossed her up
again. “Just throw me on the bed and have your way with me.”

“
If you
insist.”

They tumbled together onto the sagging
mattress. The laughter died away. Marissa closed her eyes as Tony
delivered a long and lazy kiss on her lips. She trailed her fingers
over his back and down to the waistband of his pants. They needed
to get naked now. With one finger tucked into his pants, Marissa
pushed him away. “You need to lose these.”

“
And you need to lose
something too. Let me.”

Tony stripped them both, pausing to kiss her
legs as he revealed her skin. A deep moan came from Tony as he
pulled her panties off. Her legs welcomed him, wrapping around his
torso and drawing him nearer.

Waves of pleasure rocked Marissa. “Tony, I
--” His lips came down hard on hers, quieting her admissions of
love. A twinge of disappointment hit her before her body peaked,
wiping every trace of emotion from her mind except perfect
pleasure.

Tony lay gasping on top of her. As their
breathing returned to normal, Marissa knew what she had to do. The
simplest of words in the English language wanted to be voiced.

“
Tony, I’m sorry I’ve been
such a twit.”

“
No, I’m the one who needs
to apologize.”

“
I never should have shut
you out. I pushed you away after Ashley died.”

“
Marissa,
don’t.”

“
I’m not taking the blame
for your mistake, but I do need to make right what I did wrong. I
didn’t tell you about the baby because I wanted to hurt
you.”

Pain darkened his eyes. She reached up and
smoothed the wrinkles from his brow. “It’s okay to be mad at me. I
miss Ashley too, and maybe we can fix this. I want to try again. I
want to come home. I love you.”

“
I love you too. As soon
as this is over, we’ll move home.”

****

The sharp peal of the phone woke Tony from a
deep sleep. His hand shot out and grabbed the receiver and dropped
it to the floor. Tugging the cord, he found the handset and drew it
to his ear. “Tony here.”

“
It’s Rex. Just thought
you’d like to know we found another body.”

“
What?” Tony asked, wiping
the sleep from his eyes.

“
An eighteen year old was
found strangled in a field.”

“
Damn it. I’ll be there as
soon as I can.”

“
No, don’t come. You won’t
be allowed in. I thought you’d want to know she has the letter ‘E’
carved on her upper back.”

“
Damn. Call me once you
know more.”

Tony rolled onto his back and winced. The
‘L’ carved onto his shoulder still ached. Another dead girl. She
was young too. Not a child, but that wouldn’t matter to her
parents.

“
Tony?” Marissa whispered
beside him.

He rolled over and pulled her into a tight
embrace. She shouldn’t have to deal with this crap. He was the
target, not her.

“
Who was that?” Her voice
slurred with sleep.

“
Rex.”

“
What time is it?” She
rubbed at her eyes, then huffed and snuggled closer to
him.

“
About five.”

“
Why was he calling so
early?” Marissa wrapped her legs around his, pulling him closer to
her warm body.

“
They found another
victim. Eighteen years old.”

“
Oh God, she’s so young.
How can we stop this guy?” He felt her tears on his arm.

“
I don’t know. Maybe I
need to accept the chief’s terms. I would be at the station and
maybe I could turn up something from the evidence
collected.”

“
Tony, do you honestly
think the chief would let you near the evidence?” Marissa
sniffed.

“
No, but I could sneak
around.”

“
It’s up to you, but I
think we could do more working together outside of the
department.”

Tony straddled Marissa’s hips and placed a
hand on each side of her head, his arms framing her face. Dim light
filtering through the curtains, letting Tony search her eyes. He
wondered if they could do this together. Did she realize how
serious this was? They didn’t have access to the evidence the
Juniper Police collected. If these murders were connected to his
past, like he believed they were, maybe they could narrow the
suspects down with Spade’s help.

“
Are you sure you’re up to
it? What we’ve done so far pales in comparison to what we’ll have
to do if we really want to catch this guy. And if we’re caught, the
chief might see our snooping as trying to interfere with a case. We
could be charged and spend some time in jail.”

“
We won’t be
caught.”

“
What makes you so sure?”
Tony looked his wife in the face. She was beautiful during the day,
but in the morning, just after waking up, she was amazingly
gorgeous.

“
You are the best cop I
know. There isn’t anything you can’t accomplish once you put your
mind to it. We can figure this out. We’re already one step ahead of
the police.”

“
How do you figure?” Tony
paused, wondering if she was thinking the same way he
was.

“
Are they searching your
background?”

“
Good point. Speaking of
my background, I’m supposed to call Spade this morning.”

She kissed him on the nose. “I’m meeting up
with Ally at the club.”

“
Do you have
to?”

“
Yes, is that a problem?”
Marissa shot him a look before snuggling his chest
again.

“
No, no problem at all. I
like what working out has done to your body.”

“
Good, now hold me until
the sun comes up.”

Tony wrapped his wife in his arms. Spade
should be able to give him some answers. Solving this case from the
outside wouldn’t be easy, but with Marissa at his side he could do
anything. He snuggled closer to her, drinking in her sweet
scent.

By the time they woke again, the sun was up,
framing the curtain with a bright yellow glow. Tony stared into
Marissa’s eyes. He felt no need to talk. They both knew last night
had been life changing.

Tony’s call with Spade was in two hours. He
needed to know if someone from his past lived nearby. Who would
want revenge so bad they would take their anger out on innocent
victims?

“
How long do you think
your call with Jackson Spade will take?” Marissa asked as she
toweled off her body after their shower.

“
I’m not sure. Probably an
hour. Why?” Tony grabbed for her, pulling her still damp body
against his.

“
Pick me up at the club
afterwards and we’ll go over the information.”

“
Will do. Marissa, I love
you.” Tony dipped his head and possessed her lips. She squirmed in
his arms, raising his body temperature once again. He pulled away
to check the time. Could he make love to her before they had to
leave?

“
Whoa there, cowboy. No
more riding right now. I need food and I need lots of
it.”

Tony laughed and pulled her into another
tight embrace and kissed her. Her lips responded, but he knew she
was right about needing food. Making love to her the right way
would take longer than they had. She pulled out of his arms and put
out a staying hand.

“
Stop, don’t come any
closer. I need food but I can’t resist you again.”

“
Marissa, don’t tell me
things like that. If you can’t resist me and I can’t resist you,
how are we ever going to make it out of this room
today?”

“
Just stay there while I
get dressed.”

“
Fine, but after this is
over with, I’m not letting you leave my side for at least a
month.”

“
I know.” Marissa smiled
as she closed the door to the bathroom.

Tony loved her, but more importantly, she
had said that she loved him too.

Chapter 31

Rex ducked under the crime scene tape and
let out a slow breath. He had spent an hour looking over their
latest victim. Her body was broken and bloodied. Only a monster
would do that sort of thing. His empty stomach flopped as he moved
closer to the yellow tarp covering her. Someone brought out donuts
and coffee, but they largely went untouched.

When he’d received the call, Janice had been
with him. She reached for the phone, almost grabbing it before he
woke. They had to do something about their relationship. He
couldn’t go on hiding his love for her.

Every day that he pretended he was just a
colleague and not her lover ripped his heart to shreds. He wanted
to shout it from the top of buildings. They needed to find a way to
resolve their impasse.