I Can See You

by Karen Rose

  Faye, their admin, stuck her head in the door. “Call from Ramsey in the DA’s office, Captain. You got your search warrant for that apartment next to the Brisbane woman.”

  “Thanks,” Abbott said. “I’ll have Sutherland and Kane do the search. What about Taylor Kobrecki? Do we know any more about him?”

  “I met his best pals,” Jack said. “He might be hiding with one of them.”

  “I’ll have them checked. We will hold a press conference this morning. We have flyers made up with the victims’ photos to give to the press. If somebody saw them the night they died, we can start retracing their steps.”

  “What about warning potential victims?” Micki asked.

  “Do we even know who to warn?” Carleton asked.

  “We know who the study’s heavy users are,” Jack said. “They’re the likely targets.”

  “Wait.” Carleton held up his hand. “How do we know who the heavy users are?”

  “Our CI gave us a list of study participants, organized by usage patterns. Jack and I will dig up contact info on the heavy users, but which he’ll target next is anybody’s guess.”

  Abbott hesitated. “How many people are on the list?”

  “Five hundred,” Noah said, “but only sixty that are both women and heavy users. Five ultra-users, like Martha.”

  “Give me the list,” Abbott said. “Let me think about it.”

  “We’re off to interview the study supervising professor. He and his assistant have direct access to the list. Then we’ll check waffle houses.” Noah had pushed away from the table when his cell phone rang. Eve. “What’s happened?” he asked in a quiet voice.

  “Do you know a reporter named Buckland?” she asked, her voice strained.

  His heart sank. “Yes. I assume you do, too. How did he find you?”

  “He saw my car at Christy’s. He paid me a visit today. He may be a problem.”

  “Buckland’s already a problem. What did he say?”

  “Oh, lots of things, but mostly he wanted to know about the murders. I didn’t tell him anything. Listen, I need my car. Is it possible someone could drive me up to get it?”

  Noah frowned at the breathlessness in her voice. “Are you running?”

  “Kind of. Dr. Donner’s assistant is out looking for me.”

  “Define ‘out looking for me.’ ”

  “When Buckland left, so did I. Donner’s assistant followed me outside. He’s checking buildings and cars, definitely looking for me.” There was fear in her voice. “I’m sticking to the alleys. Noah, this is like something out of a bad Jason movie. This is insane.”

  It certainly was. “Can you get to the Deli?” It was a combination coffee house and sandwich shop near the campus. Next to Sal’s, it was a favorite cop haunt.

  “Yeah. I’ll meet you there.”

  “We’ll have a couple of officers there. You don’t have to sit with them, but they’ll be watching. Wait for me.” He turned back to the team. “Our CI’s run into some trouble.”

  Jack was buttoning his coat. “I like the Deli. They have fantastic pastrami.”

  “Wait.” Carleton stood. “I know you’re trying to keep your CI safe, and presumably employed. But I’m not the ethics police. I won’t turn him in. I may even be able to help.”

  Noah was listening. “How?”

  “If I don’t know who’s running your CI’s study, I’ll know somebody who does. If your CI is running into trouble, I may be able to smooth the way with his boss.”

  Noah nodded. “Right now the issue seems to be with the boss’s assistant, but I’ll tell the CI you’ve offered to help. Thanks, Carleton. Really.”

  “We’ll give you all the info soon,” Abbott added. “It’s not that we don’t trust you.”

  Noah knew this had to be particularly awkward for Abbott. He and Carleton Pierce went way back. They all did. They’d used Carleton’s profiles to solve dozens of homicide cases over the years. But they’d promised Eve.

  “I know that, Bruce. I don’t like it, but you obviously believe I’ll have a conflict of interest with this and I have to respect that. I’d offer to find another psychologist to do the profile, but you’d have the same issue with whoever had my role. Besides, this is a fascinating personality. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to study him.”

  “I’d prefer it if you were studying him from closer range,” Abbott said dryly. “Like with him behind bars. Go,” he said, waving Noah and Jack toward the door. “I’ll have a squad car sent to the Deli. Call me when the situation’s clear.”

  Tuesday, February 23, 9:30 a.m.

  Eve bought a coffee and blindly grabbed a magazine from the rack, trying to blend in with the other coffee-breakers. The Deli may have been just a sandwich joint in the past, but now it was an upscale bistro where students and professors—and cops—came to meet, greet, see, and be seen. Kind of like Ninth Circle, without the bad band.

  “Now, he’s something,” the guy behind the counter said. Eve looked down, grimly unsurprised to see the face of Jack Phelps staring up at her. She’d “blindly” grabbed MSP. A Freudian slip. Yeah, right. The barista winked. “He can book me any day.”

  “Yeah. He’s something.” Now Jack’s partner… was something else. Eve wished she knew what. She had told him she didn’t want him, told herself she couldn’t have him, but when she got scared, Noah’s had been the first number she’d dialed.

  With a quiet sigh, she sat behind two officers who casually sipped their coffee. They might be the cops Noah sent or they might really be on break. Either way, she felt safer close by.

  She flipped pages until she found herself looking at the picture of Noah Webster as she had before, so many times. Jack’s face was something. Noah, though… His face was rugged, hard. Thuggish was the word that always came to mind.

  Dangerous. But his green eyes could be warm. And he makes me feel safe.

  The bell on the Deli’s door jingled and she lifted her eyes to see Jeremy entering, searching the room. He came straight toward her table, giving her only a moment to debate asking the cops behind her for help should she need it.

  If you do, you’ll be admitting working with them. She wanted to delay that as long as she could, for the sake of Noah’s investigation. The longer the Shadowland connection went undisclosed, the longer Noah would have to hunt a three-time killer.

  “Can I join you?” Jeremy asked, breathing hard. “Thank you.” He sat, without giving her time to say no, then took off his glasses, wiping away the condensation that had formed by coming into the warmth from the cold. “You’re a hard woman to catch, Eve.”

  She dug deep, found a tone that felt right. One that was wounded, but still bristling from her altercation with Kurt Buckland. “I didn’t realize you were looking for me.”

  “Donner told me to watch, that you might go to the press. You little conniving bitch.”

  To the press. Not to the cops. Donner had immediately assumed she’d grab notoriety versus doing the right thing. Why am I not surprised? “I didn’t go to the press. That guy came to me. And in case you missed it, I didn’t cooperate with him.”

  “A very convincing act, but as you came here to meet him it’s not going to fly.”

  Eve shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

  He pointed behind her. “Your reporter.” Eve was stunned to see Buckland watching with a smug smile. How long had he been there? “You’ll be thrown out of the program for this,” Jeremy said with satisfaction. “You never should have been here anyway.”

  She turned back to Jeremy, shaken, but hoping it didn’t show. “Why not?”

  “Most of your undergrad work was online. Your degree’s from a state school.”

  She tried to focus on the weasel in front of her versus the snake behind her. “So?”

  “So you got in because you’re a little victim, not because you were qualified.”

  There was venom in the man’s voice, jealousy in his eyes. “And you are quali
fied?”

  His jaw cocked. “Hell of a lot more than you.”

  And then she understood. “You didn’t make the cut. That’s why you’re Donner’s office assistant and not his graduate assistant.”

  A muscle in his cheek twitched. “I made the cut. But they let you in instead just because some guy slashed you. They thought you’d bring an ‘interesting point of view.’ ”

  That she’d been admitted on something other than her own merit stung. Buckland’s observing them made it worse. But Jeremy was no longer talking about the cops. Where are you, Noah? “How would you possibly know that, Jeremy?” she asked.

  “I know everything,” he spat contemptuously. “I see everything. I know every medical fact, your grades, your favorite color, and that you hate beets and heights. I can see it all.”

  I can see it all… Her grades, likes, dislikes… Sonofabitch. He hacked into my file. Eve didn’t know whether to laugh at the irony or be angry. In the end she did neither, opting for a weariness that was not an act. “I did not call that reporter today, so you can go back and tell Dr. Donner that whatever he was worried I’d say, I didn’t.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “I’m not leaving until Donner gets here. If you didn’t tell the press, then you told the cops. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been with them last night.”

  That was the first logical leap he’d made. “Donner’s coming here? Why?”

  “To escort you back to his office, where he’ll formally kick you out of the program.”

  Alarms went off in her head. Donner was coming. For me. “Which would open up a spot for you?” she asked, forcing a smile.

  He nodded, graciously. “Yes.”

  She kept her tone friendly. “So you think I went to the cops about… what?”

  “Don’t know,” Jeremy admitted. His eyes dropped to the magazine. “That’s Webster, isn’t it? The cop that reporter saw you with.”

  Indeed it was. And that was Webster, getting out of his car on the curb. He’d be coming through the Deli door in about ten seconds and would validate everything Jeremy and Buckland suspected. The seconds ticked and she made a decision.

  There was a way to explain away her presence at both Christy’s and Martha’s homes yesterday, hopefully shutting down both Buck-land and Jeremy. She just prayed Webster would understand and play along.

  She smiled proudly, running her thumb over the small photo. “Yes, that’s my Noah. I think he should have been on the cover, but I am a little biased.” She stood, waving broadly as the doorbell dinged and Noah came in. “Noah, honey, I’m over here.”

  Webster’s eyes flicked down to the stunned face of Jeremy Lyons, then without missing a beat, he approached, his smile warm. Her heart thumped hard in her ears, harder in her chest. She knew what she needed to do. Channeling Greer and every imaginary character she’d ever created, she reached both arms up around his neck and pulled his faced down for a hard kiss on the lips, making it linger a few seconds longer than might have been appropriate.

  His arms came around her naturally, as if they’d done this a thousand times. He was rock solid, just as she’d known he’d be. But his lips were far softer than she’d expected. And sweeter. And hotter. What have I done?

  She eased back, rocked to the soles of her feet. There had been a split second of shock in his green eyes, quickly obliterated by a flare of desire. It was still there, tempered by his control.

  Remembering what she had to do, she slipped her arm around his waist and turned back to Jeremy, whose mouth had fallen open. “Noah, I want you to meet Jeremy Lyons. He works for my graduate advisor, Dr. Donner.”

  Noah shook Jeremy’s hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said, then put his arm around her shoulders, lightly squeezing.

  “Likewise,” Jeremy murmured.

  “So, Jeremy, now you know. We hoped to keep it to ourselves a little longer. You know how people talk. But…” Eve shrugged. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag, Web.”

  “We knew we couldn’t keep it a secret forever,” Webster said, his voice a soft caress that sent shivers racing across her skin and she had to remind herself that none of this was real. It was as imaginary as any relationship in Shadowland.

  You can’t have him, so don’t dream. But she would dream, because now she knew what it was like to hold him, to feel his body against hers. What have I done?

  Noah cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay, babe. I’ve got to get back to work.”

  “Oh,” she said feigning disappointment. “I understand.” But when her smile faltered, it was sincere. “Then, can you take me home? I had kind of a difficult morning.”

  Webster rested his cheek against the top of her head and for just a moment more Eve held on to the dream, leaning into him. “Sure,” he said quietly. “Let’s go.”

  She gathered her things and walked away, Webster’s arm still tight around her shoulders. The cold air on her hot face felt good and she let out a long sigh of relief. Phelps was sitting in the front passenger seat, eyes wide, obviously having seen it all.

  Webster opened the back door, and only then did he relinquish his hold. “You’d better make me that key after all,” he murmured, surprising a snort of laughter from her.

  “Babe?” she asked, and he smiled wryly.

  “I panicked. Now, buckle up,” he said and closed the door.

  Jack waited until they’d cleared the first intersection before twisting around to stare at her, then at Webster. “And that was… ?”

  Really nice, Eve thought, resisting the urge to lick her lips to see if she could still taste him. A dream. “Damage control,” she murmured. “It’s been an eventful morning.”

  Tuesday, February 23, 9:55 a.m.

  Noah’s heart had not stopped pounding. First he’d feared for her safety, then she’d rocked him with a kiss she’d called “damage control.”

  Now it pounded with helpless rage as his hands twisted the wheel, wishing it was the reporter’s neck as she relayed the details of Buck-land’s visit. “He threatened you?” he asked ominously, and in his rearview he could see her grow wary.

  “I dealt with it,” she said. “Whatever hold he thought he had over me, he doesn’t.”

  And for that, he was fiercely proud of her. “It doesn’t matter. He had no right.” No right to extort her with her own assault. It was as if she’d been victimized a second time.

  “You’re not helping,” she said softly and she was right.

  “I’m sorry.” But he wasn’t sorry, not really.

  “At any rate,” she said, “Buckland’s been following you to your crime scenes. He followed me to the coffee shop.”

  “He was there?” Jack asked. “Just now?”

  “Yeah. I guess he thought I’d meet you, to warn you about the pictures. I didn’t want him to think he was right. So I… did what I thought I needed to do.”

  Damage control, Noah thought bitterly. “I understand.”

  “Hopefully Buckland and Jeremy don’t think I’m part of your case anymore. But you need to watch out. Buckland wants his story and he’ll keep following you till he gets it.”

  “He’s following us now,” Jack said. “Has been since we left the Deli.”

  Noah checked his rearview again, focusing on the traffic behind him instead of the woman in the backseat. A dark Subaru was maintaining a safe distance. “Sonofabitch.”

  “You gotta hand it to the man for persistence,” she said, wry amusement in her voice. “Are we going to lose him in a mad dash? Is that why you told me to buckle up?”

  Noah chuckled in spite of the anger churning in his gut. “Sorry. It’s against regs.”

  “Well, damn,” she said. “I haven’t had a good mad dash in years.”

  Jack twisted in his seat so he could look back at her. “If I promised you a mad dash, would you kiss me like that?” There was something harsh and almost demeaning in Jack’s tone and Noah shot him a furious glare.

  In the rearview, Eve’s smile disapp
eared and she looked away, embarrassed. “No.”

  “Jack,” Noah gritted.

  Jack settled in his seat with a sarcastic sigh. “Can’t blame a man for trying, Web.”

  Noah bit his tongue. Focus on the case, not flattening Jack’s pretty face.

  Eve must have thought the same. “Now what? I tried to confuse things by insinuating that I was there to meet Noah, but I don’t know if I convinced him.”

  “You sure as hell convinced me,” Jack said blandly.

  “Jack,” Noah muttered between his teeth. But she sure as hell convinced me, too, he thought. And he was already wishing for another demonstration.

  “You convinced every guy in the place,” Jack added as if Noah hadn’t spoken.

  “Do you mind?” Eve shook her head angrily. “This is serious, Detective.”

  “It’s his way,” Noah said flatly. “How easy will it be to connect you to Shadowland?”

  “Pretty easy,” she said. “All the grad students know it’s part of my thesis, although after this morning I don’t think they’ll talk to Buckland.”

  “That’s good,” Noah said. He nearly asked her if she’d gotten into the Shadowland network, but he knew she’d have told him if she had. “Now, what do we do with you?”

  “I have a good idea,” Jack muttered, and Noah clenched his teeth so hard they hurt.

  I am so going to turn you in. He should have done it years ago. Why he hadn’t was a mystery to many, he knew. He was aware of the talk, the betting pool, but like a fool, he’d hoped Jack would get his life back together. I did, after all.

  “What do you mean?” Eve asked warily. Apparently she hadn’t heard Jack’s mutter.

  “That if Buckland knows you’re involved, it’s just a matter of time before he prints it.”

  “He’s printed just about everything else,” Jack said sourly.

  “Like what?” she demanded. “What did he print?”

  Noah hesitated. “That they wore red dresses and the killer used a snake on Christy.”