The Vampire and the Virgin (16 page)

He stepped outside and ripped the envelope open.

Dear Robby, I’m sorry I had to leave so suddenly. You can contact me at the FBI office in Kansas City. I’ll

miss you and remember you always. I hope to see you again. Love, Olivia.

She still loved him. His heart swelled with relief.
I love you, too, sweetheart. You will see me again.

She still loved him. His heart swelled with relief.
I love you, too, sweetheart. You will see me again.

One week later…

O
livia stepped off the elevator onto the second floor of the FBI Field Office in Kansas

City and strode toward her work area. She passed empty desks. Most of the special agents were out, working

on assignments. A few remained, catching up on paperwork. They glanced up and smiled.

She waved and kept going before anyone could stop her. Most of them hated paperwork and would have

welcomed an interruption, but she wasn’t in the mood for chitchat.

How was your vacation?
they’d ask.
Ruined by a serial killer.
She could only hope her relationship with

Robby wasn’t ruined, too. It hurt more than she’d expected to be separated from him. There was a constant

ache in her heart, as if she’d lost her best friend, along with a nagging fear that she’d never see him again.

The family reunion in Houston had not gone well, so she’d left early. Her parents were upset with her,

claiming she’d brought a psychotic killer into their lives. She’d assured them that Otis Crump was securely

behind bars, but she could hardly refute the fact that he was successfully stalking her.

Her parents wanted her to resign, but how could she? She loved this job. And she’d worked hard to be

accepted as a contributing employee. At first she’d suffered a bit of an inferiority complex, surrounded by all the

special agents. She hadn’t met the qualifications to be “special,” since she’d joined straight out of college and

didn’t have the required years of work experience. Officially, she was labeled as a criminal psychologist on the

professional staff. The FBI wasn’t about to admit they’d hired her for her secret paranormal abilities.

She reached her work station, stashed her handbag in the bottom drawer, and glanced over the cubicle wall

to see if J.L. was at his desk. Nope, gone. She wouldn’t have minded talking to him. He was her best friend at

work. Unlike most of the special agents here who had worked previously as lawyers or accountants, J.L. Wang

had been hired for his linguistic abilities. They’d both felt like the odd ducks, so they quickly bonded.

She smiled at the plaque hanging next to her monitor. J.L. had proudly presented it to her on her twenty-fourth

birthday. With his love for initials, he’d come up with the plaque’s message: OLIVIA SOTIRIS, APA, FBI, HLD,

WACC. He’d translated the last two acronyms for everyone. Human Lie Detector, Weird-Assed Crap Consultant.

After that, everyone in the building had decided it was perfectly acceptable to ask her about any weird-assed

crap that popped up on their assignments. Finally, she belonged.

Dammit, she didn’t want to quit.

“Olivia!” Yasmine Hernandez rushed toward her. “What are you doing here?”

“Gee, that makes me feel welcomed.” Olivia smiled wryly.

Yasmine waved a dismissive hand. “I just meant you’re not supposed to be back till after Christmas.”

Olivia shrugged and gave a purposely vague response. “Stuff happens.” Yasmine was a wonderfully

competent office manager, but unfortunately she was equally talented at snooping into everyone’s personal life.

“Didn’t you go to Greece?” Yasmine asked.

“Yes.” When Yasmine opened her mouth to dig for more information, Olivia quickly added, “I need to talk to

Barker. Is he in?” She glanced at the glassed-in corner office of her supervisor, Patrick O’Shea Barker. The door

and the window blinds were closed, but the light was on inside.

“He’s in a meeting right now.” Yasmine’s mouth thinned. “With Special Agent Harrison.”

Olivia nodded. She felt a brief spurt of anger from Yasmine, no doubt caused by Harrison, who could be

overbearing and rude. Yasmine’s emotions were usually steady and cheerful, and Olivia had always sensed

that her nosiness was not caused by malice but rather by curiosity and a sincere desire to help. Harrison, on

the other hand, took pleasure in being a jerk.

“Why do you need to see Barker?” Yasmine asked. “Is something wrong?”

“Just something I need to discuss.” Like how on earth did Otis Crump find her on Patmos? This stalking had

to stop. It had been bad enough when it was focused just on her, but Olivia was worried that he’d broadened his

scope to include her family, especially her grandmother, who lived alone most of the year. Otis was locked away,

but what if he had an accomplice who was free to harm her loved ones?

A spurt of alarm emanated from Yasmine. “You’re not thinking of transferring, are you? We don’t have enough

women in this office as it is. You can’t leave.”

women in this office as it is. You can’t leave.”

“I don’t want to leave.” Olivia kept an eye on Barker’s door, wondering how long his meeting would last.

Yasmine gasped with a sudden thought. “I know what will cheer you up! A package came for you this morning.

”

Olivia stiffened. “Not apples.”

“No, no, of course not.” Yasmine waved her hands, then lowered her voice dramatically. “We don’t accept any

mail from you know who.”

“Is he still sending mail here?” Olivia asked.

Yasmine shook her head. “Not for several months. He gave up when it was all returned.”

“Do you remember what return address he used?” Olivia always checked that. The last few times she’d

received apples, the return address had been a post office box that had turned out to be bogus.

Yasmine frowned. “I think it was his address at Leavenworth. But that was months ago.” A wave of curious

excitement rolled off her. “Are you still getting stuff from him?”

Olivia didn’t want to discuss it further. “You said there was a package for me?”

“Oh, right. I’ll get it.” Yasmine hurried off, her low-heeled pumps clicking on the wooden floor.

Olivia booted up her computer to check her e-mail. For the hundredth time she chastised herself for not

leaving her e-mail address in the note to Robby. Or her cell phone number. The island seemed so far away

now. The memory of her time with Robby seemed magical. Not quite real.

She suspected there was a part of her that hadn’t wanted to make it easy for him. She’d had her doubts that

two people could fall in love in less than a week, so maybe now she wanted proof. She wanted to know if he’d

make the effort to find her and contact her.

She glanced up when Barker’s door opened and her supervisor exited with Harrison. At six-foot-six, Barker

was easy to spot. He murmured something, then slapped the special agent on the shoulder. Harrison laughed

before heading toward his work area.

Olivia jumped to her feet and approached her supervisor. “Excuse me, Barker. Do you have a minute?”

“Sotiris, I didn’t know you were back.” Barker’s brown eyes narrowed. “Are you supposed to be back?”

“Not till after Christmas, but there was something important I wanted to discuss with you in person.”

“All right.” He motioned for her to enter his office. “Take a seat.”

She perched on the edge of the black leather and chrome chair and gripped the armrests.

Barker approached his desk slowly, studying her. “I sent you away to relax, but you still look tense.”

“I—” She lifted her chin. “I want to take another look at the Otis Crump files.”

Barker closed his eyes briefly with a weary look. “Olivia, we went over this before. He was tried and convicted

for three murders, and he’s serving three life terms. Thanks to you, he confessed to ten more murders, but at

this point it’s a waste of taxpayer money to prosecute him. He’s not going anywhere. Ever.”

“I believe he may have had an accomplice.”

“Not for the murders. Our forensic team went through all the evidence with a fine-tooth comb. He worked

alone.”

“He hinted to me several times—”

“He was playing you.” Barker planted his hands on his desk and leaned forward. “The man is desperate to

keep you on a leash. He’d tell you little green men helped him if it got you to heel. The case is closed, and

frankly, I’m getting worried about your obsession with him.”

“I’d get over it if the bastard stopped stalking me!” Olivia took a quick breath to calm herself.

Barker straightened. “You’re still getting apples?”

“Yes.” She jumped to her feet and paced to the window. “He sent them to my grandmother’s house on

Patmos. My grandmother! I had to rush her over to my dad’s house in Houston to make sure she’d be safe.”

Barker winced. “I can see why you’re upset.”

Olivia paced back to the chair. “There has to be someone helping him. Someone’s mailing the apples for

him.”

Barker crossed his long, lanky arms over his gray pinstriped suit jacket. His frown made his long, lean face

appear even longer. “I agree he has an accomplice now.”

“It could be someone close to him,” Olivia suggested. “If we reopen the investigation, we can interview all his

friends and family.”

“Or it could be a groupie. The serial killers always acquire a few of those.” Barker rubbed his chin. “Does your

family understand the importance of keeping this quiet? We don’t want the media turning this into the latest

fashion. Next thing you know, every prisoner in the country would be stalking their favorite officer of the law.”

“And Otis would love the publicity,” Olivia grumbled. “Don’t worry. My family thinks this is awful enough already.

They’re not going to make it worse.”

Barker frowned at his desk, deep in thought, while she paced about the office.

“I want to go back home a few days for Christmas,” she murmured. “I’d like to be able to tell my family that we

found the accomplice, and that it’s all over.”

Barker nodded. “This person was able to track you to a remote Greek island. There could be a different

explanation for this.”

“Like what?”

“Not an accomplice, but an employee. Crump may have managed to hire a P.I.” Barker leaned over his desk

once again. “Think, Olivia. Did you see anyone on that island who could have been a private investigator?”

She halted with a jerk.
MacKay Security & Investigation.
The room swirled around her, and she grabbed onto

She halted with a jerk.
MacKay Security & Investigation.
The room swirled around her, and she grabbed onto

the back of a chair.
No. It couldn’t be.
But there hadn’t been any other P.I.’s on the island.

“It would most likely be a man who was visiting the island and keeping a low profile,” Barker continued.

A shudder racked her body.
No, not Robby. Anyone but Robby. Carlos? But they worked for the same

company. They were probably on the same assignment.
She pressed a fist to her mouth. What if the

assignment had been her?

“Hey, are you all right?” Barker skirted his desk.

“I—I need to go.”

“But we’re not—”

“I have to go!” She wrenched open the door and lurched outside. Heads turned her way. No, she couldn’t think

about it. It was too awful. She couldn’t fall apart here.

She dashed into the hallway to the women’s restroom.
No, not Robby. He couldn’t have done that to me.
She

shoved the stall doors open. Empty. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. That pale, panic-stricken face

was hers. Could she have been duped? Had she fallen in love with the enemy?

With a sob, she ran back and locked the restroom door. A long keening cry escaped, ripped from her soul,

and she slapped a hand over her mouth. She couldn’t let anyone hear.

Her knees gave out and she slid down the door to plop onto the linoleum floor. Oh God, she should have

known. Maybe a part of her had always known. He couldn’t have fallen in love with her so fast.

Tears streamed down her face. What a complete fool she’d been! The first time in her life that she couldn’t

detect lies, and she’d fallen for such terrible deceit.

No!
She shook her head. She still wanted to believe. She wanted love to be true.

“Robby,” she cried. She didn’t want to lose him, didn’t want to lose the dream, the magic, the glory of his love.

She leaned her head onto her knees and wept.

Oh God, the last time she’d cried like this, she ’d been in Robby’s arms. He’d held her and comforted her.

Then he’d made love to her.

A twinge of nausea twisted in her gut, and she breathed deeply to get control. She was at work, dammit. She

needed to get a grip. She could fall apart later when she was alone in her apartment.

She stumbled to a sink and splashed cold water on her face. She leaned over the sink, reluctant to even look

at herself. She didn’t want to see living proof of how badly her heart was breaking.

The door shook as someone tried to open it. Then she heard a knock.

“Olivia?” Yasmine asked quietly. “Are you all right?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m fine.” She glanced at the mirror and winced. Her eyes were red and puffy, her

nose pink and runny.

“Do you want to talk?” Yasmine asked.

No
. Olivia trudged toward the door and unlocked it. Yasmine slipped inside with a large brown package