A Killer Among Us

by Lynette Eason

  “What?”

  Corey studied her, and she wanted to squirm, but she also wanted to hear his explanation.

  He rubbed a hand across his face, then said, “She wanted to make her boyfriend jealous, so I helped her do it. I also gave her a little kiss on the lips in front of him. Okay?” He spread his hands. “That’s all it was. I promise.”

  Alena bit her lip, then drew in a deep breath. Forcing a smile, she nodded. “All right, if you say so.”

  “I say so.”

  Noah led the way to Flannigan’s Fine Food. He and Kit were both starved. After the task force meeting, they’d met up with Connor and Dakota, inviting Olivia, Page, and Drake to come along.

  When the group settled into the corner booth and put in a drink and appetizer order, Kit looked across the restaurant and saw her neighbor, Alena, sitting with a good-looking man.

  Catching her eye, she waved. Alena waved back, but Kit thought she looked a little strained. Making a mental note to ask her about it, she turned back to the group and brought up the case. “Okay, how are we going to go about catching this guy? It’s not like we can put a cop on every law student on and off campus.”

  Noah narrowed his eyes. “No, but what if the students did their part and made sure they went out only in pairs or groups?”

  “They’re going to have to.”

  “They’re also going to have to be careful about who they trust.”

  Kit sighed and took a sip of her soda. When the waitress came back, she took their order. Kit asked for hers to go, then turned to Dakota. “I hear you had some excitement in this restaurant not too long ago.”

  He gave a grunt. “Yeah, I’ll say.”

  “What are you talking about?” Page asked.

  Kit took a sip of water then said, “My sister”—how she loved the way the word rolled from her tongue so easy now—“had a stalker. He sent her a gift to this very restaurant. Everyone thought it was a bomb.”

  “It wasn’t,” Dakota clipped.

  Kit bit her lip and raised a brow. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk about a taboo subject.”

  Dakota sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. It’s not taboo, just not a pleasant memory for any of us who were here.”

  “Right. Sorry. Jamie was just telling me about it the other day on the phone when I mentioned eating here.”

  Her brother-in-law looked startled. “She told you about it?”

  “Yes,” she stared at him, “why? She tells me lots of things.”

  With a rueful smile, he said, “It’s my turn to apologize. Jamie just doesn’t normally talk about it that much. At least not in a general discussion. She talks about it so much with some of the people that she helps counsel that . . .” He trailed off. “Anyway, sorry. Didn’t mean to snap.”

  Kit shrugged. “It’s okay. And just for the record, I didn’t ask her about her past. She brought it up.”

  “No, that’s cool.” He looked at his captive audience. “And before you ask, yes, we caught the guy.”

  “Thanks to Kit,” Connor said. “She distracted him, talked him into staying calm while we got into place to bring him down.”

  She flushed. “I wasn’t looking for kudos. Just making conversation.”

  Noah shot her an admiring glance. “That had to be tough.”

  A shrug. “At the time, yeah. But it’s what I do and I wanted to do it. I’d just found my sisters and I wasn’t about to lose one of them.” She changed the subject. “So, how do we go about getting this guy who’s killing our law students? Olivia,” she addressed the profiler, “what are your thoughts on our killer?”

  “I studied the notes he’s left. He’s talking directly to the victims. For example, the first note, ‘Life’s a laugh. How does the death penalty feel? An eye for eye . . .’ ” She shook her head and her short black curls bounded around her head. “The first sentence: ‘Life’s a laugh.’ I think he may believe Walter had it too easy. The killer is jealous of Walter’s ease. Did he have money?”

  Noah nodded. “His parents were well off. But he also seemed to cruise through school and classes with no problems. I talked to one of his professors on the phone the other day, and he said Walter was brilliant and that the legal profession had lost out big-time with his death.”

  Page eyed the group and offered, “So, maybe this guy was jealous of Walter’s money and the fact that school came easy to him.”

  “Or maybe there was some professional jealousy? The killer didn’t like being second or third best?” Dakota interjected.

  Olivia nodded. “Any of that would fit. But the ‘eye for an eye’ comment intrigues me the most. An eye for an eye indicates that Walter did something to our killer that deserved retaliation or revenge.”

  Drake took a long drink of his tea. “But what?”

  “If we figure that out, we’ll be able to find our killer.”

  “Hey guys.”

  Kit looked up to see Brian Sands and Johnny Nance standing beside her. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

  Brian eyed her. “Just saw you sitting here and thought we’d stop by to say hey.”

  Kit introduced them to everyone. After a round of handshakes, Brian and Johnny moved on and planted themselves in a booth opposite from where Kit sat. She shifted as she felt Brian’s eyes bore into her, but did her best to ignore him. Now that she knew he was interested in seeing her outside of work, she felt uncomfortable and a little angry at him for putting her in this situation.

  When their order came, she told herself not to worry about Brian and focused on the conversation. She was just about to ask what Olivia felt would be her next step in the investigation when her phone rang.

  Captain Caruthers.

  Turning her head away from Brian’s stare, she slapped the phone to her ear. “Kit Kenyon.”

  “We found something.”

  She sat up and shot a look at Noah. “What is it?”

  “It doesn’t have anything to do with the murders. This is about whoever was up on top of that house across from yours taking shots at you.”

  “Really? And what did they find?”

  “The CSU team missed it.”

  Noah leaned over and placed his cheek next to hers so he could listen. She’d put it on speakerphone if they weren’t in the restaurant. As much as she tried not to, she couldn’t help the deep breath that allowed her to breathe in his scent any more than she could stop that funny swooping thing her stomach did whenever he got too close. Captain Caruthers was saying, “Your shooter stuffed some rappelling gear down the chimney.”

  “So who found it?”

  “The owner.”

  “It’s May. What’s he doing cleaning out his chimney?”

  “Apparently his kids were throwing a Frisbee and it landed up on the roof. He went up to get it and noticed something not right about the chimney cover. When he went to investigate, he pulled up a rappelling rig.”

  “Then how did our guy get off the roof if he left that stuff up there?”

  “Jumped is my guess. Probably found himself a nice bush to land in. I’m not saying it wouldn’t hurt, but it sure wouldn’t kill him.”

  Kit let out a sigh. “All right, thanks. Let us know if you figure out who it belongs to.”

  “Absolutely.”

  She hung up and looked at the group. “Well, that was interesting.” She relayed the conversation, then took a sip of soda.

  Dakota grunted. “The lab will run prints.”

  “Yep.” She rested her chin on her palm. “And the computer will spit out a bunch of matches.”

  Noah nodded and sighed. “And then the human eye will have to analyze.”

  “Right. It’ll take some time.” She looked at him. Noticed the little lines around his eyes and the scar on his chin. She wondered what he’d do if she leaned over and kissed it.

  Whoa. You’re not exactly alone here, remember? Grabbing her takeout, she said, “I’ve got to get to that training exercise.” The others moved so she could sli
de from the booth. Without looking Noah in the eye, she flung a smile in his direction. “Catch up with you later.”

  “You bet.”

  “See you later, Kit.” Dakota lifted a hand in a wave. “Don’t forget Sunday lunch with Ma.”

  “Right.” She waved and practically ran for the door.

  She really had to get her emotions under control, because she had a feeling Noah had read her thoughts like an open book.

  A glance in Brian’s direction showed a frown on his face and disappointment in his eyes.

  Great.

  20

  Noah knew Kit would be busy with a training exercise with the SERT members that afternoon and well into the evening. He’d be on his own. Which was fine with him. Space between him and Kit was exactly what he needed, since it seemed he was determined to keep finding reasons to get close to her, to touch her.

  To wonder what it would be like to kiss her.

  Any excuse to be in her presence.

  And it wasn’t hard to do, seeing as how they spent nearly all of their waking hours together.

  And as much as he found himself wanting to spend some sleeping hours with her, he figured he had some thinking—and some praying—to do. He had desires like any normal red-blooded male, but when he’d committed his life to Christ, he’d vowed to keep himself for his wife.

  For a woman like Kit.

  A woman he’d actually envisioned wearing a white gown.

  And after only a little more than three weeks.

  It scared him to death.

  And while his attraction grew with each passing moment in her company, he couldn’t do a thing about it now—while she and God weren’t on speaking terms.

  It hurt to think that she might not ever come back to the God he loved, but . . . no, she would. She had to.

  Because his heart was already so involved he didn’t know what he would do if he had to keep their relationship on a friendship/partner level for much longer.

  God, I don’t know what you have in mind for the future, but I’m praying it involves Kit. You’ve blessed me so much, and you know I’m ready to settle down and have a family. Draw Kit close to you. Bring her back to you. Let her see that while my arms are open to her, so are yours—and those are the ones she really needs.

  Finished with the prayer, he felt better. But at the same time he had to get his mind on something else or go crazy.

  Which is why he found himself at the lab, pushing to hear about the fingerprints on the rappelling gear.

  Shorty Macguire, the young lab tech, who stood six feet three inches tall, had fiery red hair, a Scottish brogue, and a desire to help. “I’ve got the results right here.”

  “Great. Who do we need to find?”

  “There are prints from a girl named Heather Younts.”

  Noah felt the air punch out of his lungs. “Heather?”

  Shorty cocked his head. “Yeah, why? Does tha’ name ring a bell?”

  “It sure does. Her boyfriend, Walter Davis, was the first victim of our serial killer.”

  “Um . . . wow, then tha’ means you have a connection between the guy tha’ tried to kill you and . . . wow.”

  “Yeah, wow,” Noah muttered absently, his mind spinning with all kinds of possibilities. He snapped back to who the prints belonged to. “Why was she in the system? Anything other than being a law student?”

  “Uh . . . apparently, she was arrested for shoplifting when she was seventeen. A onetime thing tha’ got her a slap on the wrist and some community service.”

  “Okay, I think I need to have another talk with Heather.”

  “There were a couple of other prints on there tha’ didn’t show up. They weren’t in the system. But,” he shrugged, “if you come up with some other suspects, send ’em my way and I’ll be glad to see if I can match ’em up.”

  Noah clapped the man on the shoulder. “Thanks, Shorty. I’ll be in touch.”

  His phone rang just as he pulled it out to give Kit a call. A glance at the caller ID made him smile. He answered on the third ring. “Hello, old man, what can I do for you?”

  “You could learn proper phone etiquette. Seems all my teaching was in vain. The boy don’t even answer the phone right.”

  Noah couldn’t help the fond chuckle that escaped him as he pictured the grizzled man who looked like he belonged to the Mafia. Six feet four inches, the man could intimidate the most fearless street hardened youth. He’d sure put the fear of God into Noah when he’d been an angry, jail-bound sixteen-year-old. “Myles Cleary, you’re a bright spot in a dark day. Good to hear from you.”

  “You’ve been noticeably absent around here at the boys’ home. I’m just calling to check in on you and see if you need anything.”

  “Naw, just working hard. I’m trying to solve a couple of murders.”

  Myles turned serious. “I’ve heard about all that. I’m sure sorry.” He paused, then said, “But if you’re the one working the case, it won’t be long till you get him.”

  Noah’s heart filled with pleasure at the pride in the man’s voice. He’d been a father to Noah when he’d needed one the most. “Thanks, Myles.”

  “So tell me about this new partner of yours.”

  He held his breath a moment, then let out a laugh. “You’ve been talking to the captain again, haven’t you?” Not only was the captain a member of the same church, he was also one of Myles’s closest friends.

  “Yeah. Said he partnered you up with one of the best.”

  Noah pictured Kit’s smiling face. “Oh yeah, she’s definitely one of the best.”

  “What’s that I hear in your voice, son?” Noah could tell Myles was only partially teasing and there was no way he was getting into a discussion on his feelings for Kit right now.

  “Ah. Nothing, Myles, nothing. Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll catch up to you later, all right?”

  Myles let out a belly laugh that made Noah wince. He hadn’t fooled the old man at all. Disgusted with himself for wearing his feelings on his sleeve, so to speak, he groaned. “Leave it alone, Myles, I’ll introduce you to her soon.”

  “I expect you will, son, I expect you will.”

  Shaking his head, Noah hung up and dialed Kit’s number to ask her if she’d like to make a visit to Heather Younts to see if the girl had more to add to her story.

  He told himself the sudden thud in his chest area had nothing to do with seeing Kit again and everything to do with the cheeseburger he’d wolfed down earlier.

  Unfortunately, he’d never been a very good liar, especially when it came to lying to himself.

  21

  Kit shook her head and crossed the parking lot. Half the unit was down with a virus, so training would take place next week. A phone call to let her know would have been nice, but she didn’t sweat it. In a way she was relieved. That meant she had more time to spend on the murders—and catching their killer. And she wanted to find Justin Marlowe to press him about the pocketknife. Why that piece of evidence nagged at her, she wasn’t sure.

  But it was her conviction that Justin could provide an answer.

  Her phone rang as she was climbing into her car. Noah.

  Did her heart actually skip a beat? Could she really do something that cliché?

  One thing she’d thought about, as she’d waited for the team that never showed, was the fact that she and Noah seemed to be getting closer with each passing day—and she knew absolutely nothing about his family.

  Making a mental note to ask him, she answered on the fourth and final ring. “Hello?”

  “Hey, what time do you finish your training?”

  “Five minutes ago. It’s been postponed. What’s up?”

  “The prints on the rappelling gear came back belonging to Heather Younts.” Satisfaction echoed in his voice.

  “Wow. Wasn’t expecting that one.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that word a lot today. So, you up for making a visit to Heather?”

  “Sure. Have you tracked
her down yet?”

  “Just getting around to that,” he said. “It’s Friday afternoon. I wonder if she’s hanging around campus or heading to her parents’ house. Or a friend’s.” He paused and she heard rustling come over the line. “I’ve got her number written down somewhere.” Another pause. “Okay, here it is. I’m going to give her a call. Why don’t you meet me back at the campus? If she doesn’t answer, we’ll start asking questions.”

  “I’m on my way. I’ll meet you in front of her dorm unless I hear back from you. Oh,” she added, “I’m going to see if I can track down Justin Marlowe. I want to ask him a few more questions about that pocketknife. If he didn’t use it on Bonnie, someone did.”

  “What if it fell out of his pocket like he claimed?”

  “I’d have less trouble believing that if it wasn’t covered in her blood.”

  “Right. See you in a few.”

  Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the campus and wound her way through the streets to park in front of Heather’s dorm building.

  Noah hadn’t called, so he must have gotten in touch with her.

  Climbing out of her car, she saw Noah heading her way. He’d already parked in the almost deserted parking lot. The weekend for the law students had started, and no one wanted to hang around school when there were stresses to party off.

  She almost smiled. It reminded her of her one week of wildness.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked as he caught up with her.

  “My junior year of college.”

  “What’s so funny about it?”

  “It was the year I decided to quit being a nerd.”

  He snorted a laugh. “You’re the last person I’d call a nerd.”

  She cut him a glance, then said, “You’d be surprised. I may not look like one, but I was so focused on getting straight As and getting my degree, I didn’t have much time for fun.”

  “But that changed your junior year?” They entered the building and noticed no one at the desk. “I’ll call up and tell her we’re here. We can talk in the lobby.”