by Jana Leigh
Lex walked over to her table and bent down to look at her. “If what they say about you is true then you know the most obvious answer isn’t always the correct one. You have to look further and dig for the information.”
Jewel put her pen down and looked up at Lex. She narrowed her eyes at him. “What are you trying to say?” She picked up her pen and started writing again. Vander and Benny continued to watch the banter back and forth between Jewel and Lex.
“Ret is not the killer,” Lex said as if trying to still convince her.
“I know,” Jewel said slowly. “That is too obvious, and this guy is smart.” She pulled out her bag, took out the baggie, and flipped it on the table. “We need to get this to the lab.”
Lex swore and jumped up. “Where did you get this?”
“It was in my luggage when I opened it last night,” Jewel said.
“Why the fuck didn’t you call?” Lex stormed, then grabbed the bag and picked up the phone and barked at someone.
“I am telling you now,” Jewel replied stiffly. She was not going to get into a fight; she could have held the evidence and turned it in when she got back to Atlanta. Dickhead.
Vander looked at Benny then asked the million-dollar question. “Benny, what do you think about all this?”
Jewel and Lex turned and looked at Benny, waiting for his answer. “I don’t know. All roads point to Wexford. He knows all the victims; he had sex with all of them. They were dumped at his construction sites. If he isn’t the killer then somebody is sending him a message. I would kinda like to know why he looks so much like Josh, too,” Benny continued to look at Lex.
“How do you know he had sex with all of the victims?” Lex asked Benny slowly.
“Well, it doesn’t take a genius to know that, Captain. I was also a detective once. I also did some checking myself. I spoke to the victims’ friends in Atlanta and I asked if the victims bragged about sleeping with Wexford and they all said yes,” Benny said smoothly, narrowing his eyes at the young Detective.
Jewel cleared her throat. They are my mates, her wolf growled. Jealousy! Where the hell was that coming from? Fuck, all her feelings were flowing over into this case, something she wanted to avoid.
Lex watched Jewel as she tried to conceal her feelings. He knew it bothered her. “Well, you are right because I asked that question, too, but it doesn’t make him a killer.” Lex walked over to the table that Jewel was sitting at. “Look, I’ve known Ret my whole life. He is my Alpha and my best friend. I would know if Ret got off on killing women. He likes kinky sex, but what man doesn’t. He wouldn’t hurt a lady. I know that Ret is not the killer.”
Jewel was staring at Lex. “I would hope that I wouldn’t have to read about any more sexual exploits though.” She could have bitten her tongue; she didn’t want to be that chick: jealous and possessive.
“Darlin’, you have nothing to worry about, once we saw you it was over for both of us,” Lex whispered in her ear as he passed.
They all talked about the implications of Jewel finding the piece in her luggage. Lex wasn’t happy and wanted her to have a guard. She laughed at him and told him to fuck off. She studied him as he paced in front of the board.
Jewel was thinking about how good-looking Lex was as he talked to her. She liked the brooding looks he gave her. Lex realized that Jewel was looking at him. He gave Jewel that cocky smile because she was staring at him. Jewel realized that he had caught her drooling. She blinked several times then went back to writing down any theories they had.
He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She was beautiful, but she was also a strong wolf. She would need to be strong to be with Retten and him. They were two Alpha wolves and their mate would need to be an Alpha female. Jewel was all that and more. Their pheromones were in overdrive.
Hours had passed while they stayed locked up in the room, adding more and more information. Jewel’s stomach growled which got everyone’s attention. Jewel blushed when everyone laughed. Hopefully, the initial tests on the necklace would come back giving them some more information.
“Let’s go eat. We’ll go to a deli around the corner where all the cops go. Bonus, it is a great place to eat. I’m afraid if we don’t feed Jewel soon she may start to eat us,” Lex said.
Everyone laughed, stood, and stretched. They walked out of the police station and down the block to a place called Dinky’s Deli. Jewel laughed aloud at the name.
“What’s so funny?” Lex asked Jewel.
“It’s the name of the deli. Where did the name come from?” asked Jewel.
Lex smiled at Jewel as he held the door open for her. “You will soon find out.”
A small little lady, well, she could qualify as a midget, walked from behind the counter when she saw Lex enter the deli.
“Jewel, I would like you to meet Dinky.”
Jewel reached and shook Dinky’s hand. Dinky smiled as she shook the rest of their hands.
“Jewel was wondering where the name came from.” Jewel looked up at Lex and narrowed her eyes for embarrassing her.
The smaller woman laughed and pointed at him before ignoring the question and saying, “It’s nice to meet you Jewel, Benny, and Vander. Any friend of Lex is a friend of mine. I have a table set for you. Just place your orders and it will be brought to your table.” Dinky walked over to one of the women behind the counter. She pointed at the table in the back.
Cops, firemen, and ambulance personnel walked in and out of the deli. Jewel placed her order then got herself something to drink before returning to the back table. It was a huge table, more chairs than what they needed, then Jewel found out exactly why Dinky had picked such a big table.
Ret and another man walked into the Deli. Dinky went over and hugged Ret, pointing to the table Jewel was sitting at. He made eye contact with Jewel. She could see the hunger in his eyes. Jewel turned her head looking out the window. Benny, Vander, and Dinky came to the table and sat down. Lex talked to Ret and the other man before they came to the table. Lex introduced the other man as security for Retten.
Kane was his name. He was very good looking but never seemed to smile. Jewel could tell right away that he was a wolf, too. The man stared at her intently and she stared back at him refusing to back down from his obvious dare. Oh hell no, she was Alpha female of this pack, she thought and then paused, fuck, her wolf was accepting the members of the pack as hers. The man smiled and then bowed his head toward her. She smiled and looked back and nodded. Silent communication, so much easier than talking, she thought.
“Jewel, that is a pretty name. Where did your parents come up with the name?” Dinky asked.
Jewel looked up and smiled at Dinky. “My parents’ best friend gave me the name when I was born. They didn’t know if I would be a boy or girl so they decided to wait until I was born to name me. The way the story was told—is when their best friend looked at me the sun was hitting me just right and they said I sparkled like a diamond. They didn’t like the name Diamond so Benny said I was a Jewel in the rough. The name stuck and hence the name.”
Vander looked at Benny. “I didn’t know you were best friends with Jewel’s parents.”
“Yep, they were great people and they raised this precious Jewel,” Benny said smoothly while her partner frowned and looked at her.
Dinky told stories about the people who came in her store throughout the years she had been open. The atmosphere was relaxed and Jewel felt comfortable. Wow, who would have thought, Jewel was actually speaking to people without being a bitch.
Ret and Lex stared at Jewel, which made her nervous. She knew they were going to ask to claim her. When wolves found their mates, they usually didn’t have much of a courtship. It was just the nature of the wolf, especially when they were so strong, their wolves wanted to make their connection, so they were pushing hard. After everything she learned about them over the last few days, she knew that she would accept them. She wanted some time alone with them first; she only knew what was on paper.
Ret didn’t like that Vander was closer to Jewel than everyone was, but he let it pass knowing that Jewel would explode if he said anything. They all got up to leave, thanking Dinky right before they left. Jewel was last in her party to leave when Dinky suddenly pulled her to the side.
“Jewel, I know you may think this is odd, but I feel danger coming to your front door. I don’t see anything else except it’s coming to your front door. I don’t even know what that means, but please be careful. If you need anything, please call me. Maybe we could have a girl’s spa day here in New York before you leave.” Dinky pulled out a business card and handed it to Jewel.
She hugged her neck. “Thanks, Dinky, maybe we can before I leave. The meal was great and it was a pleasure to meet you.” Jewel hugged Dinky one last time and then walked out the door.
Benny and Vander walked beside Jewel back to the police station. Ret and the other man had already left by the time Jewel had come out of the restaurant. She looked around for him then she made eye contact with Lex.
“Retten said he would see us for dinner at the hotel later,” Lex said in answer to the question he could see in her eyes.
Jewel showed no emotions knowing that everyone watched her. She was so tense; she couldn’t wait to swim in the pool at the hotel. They walked back to police station and continued their work.
“Now we need a motive,” Jewel said as she walked up to the board with all the victims’ pictures. “So, Captain, what do you think the motive is?” Jewel never turned around to look at Lex.
“Well, I think it’s revenge against Retten. I don’t know, but whoever it is knows a lot about Retten and his business and personal affairs. Nobody but a select few know about all the different business ventures he has. The number of construction sites. They would have to know about the women he would see from time to time.”
Jewel turned around when he mentioned the different women. She didn’t want to show her jealous side, but everyone saw the look on her face.
“Captain, can we go and look at the murder sites. I would like to see them before we leave.” Lex inwardly growled, he didn’t like when Jewel talked about leaving New York.
“Yeah, sure, let’s go.”
Chapter Twelve
They pulled up in Lex’s car to where the first murder victim was found. They had already cleaned the area by now, but Jewel and Vander wanted to see it anyway. Maybe she would get some type of vision from it. Something that would help her understand who this killer was or what his motives were.
It was an apartment complex called Wexford Estates. Shit, she hadn’t realized the building was named after Ret, whoever wanted to pin this on him, was being blatant. She wanted to ask more personal questions, there had to be something connecting all of this. Atlanta, New York, she didn’t get it. What did one have to do with the other?
“You know, we need to start looking for the connection the killer has to Retten Wexford. Why are the women being killed in his buildings? This just doesn’t make sense unless he knows the killer.” Jewel looked at Lex.
The Captain nodded and showed them into the building, to where the woman was found.
However, the moment Jewel walked into the apartment where Jennie Belters body was found she became light headed. She swayed a little and Vander came up beside her knowing what was starting to happen. Vander needed to get Jewel to the exact spot the woman was murdered.
“Where exactly was her body found?” asked Vander.
Lex was looking at Jewel with concern in his eyes. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he knew something wasn’t right with Jewel.
“Dammit, Captain! Where was her body found? Show me now,” Vander yelled and Lex snapped out of his thoughts.
Lex pointed into the living room. “Is she okay, do I need to call an ambulance?” Lex said as he came up beside Jewel, trying to touch her.
“Don’t touch her, Lex. She is having a vision,” Benny said.
Lex didn’t know that his mate had visions, only a few wolves he knew were blessed with that gift. Jewel was brought to the middle of the living room, her eyes rolling back in her head, her breathing labored. She was being transported back to that terrible night.
The victim was lying on top of the steel table tied down. She was nude and frightened, how had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was talking to some guy at a bar, he had been nice and all, but she had a fiancé, she just came out with her friends who insisted she was going to be married soon and needed to sow her wild oats.
Tape had been put on her mouth, preventing her from screaming. Dammit, what did he want? Shit, he was talking; expecting her to talk back, her head was fuzzy. When Jennie didn’t answer, she felt him hit her. It seemed like it went on for hours, then he had pulled out the knife—she thought it would be over soon.
She looked around trying to figure out where she was. It didn’t look familiar, but she had to remember everything to tell the police, they were going to want to know what he looked like. She wanted her fiancé, he would make everything better. In her head, she screamed his name when the man touched her. NO! the woman thought, she couldn’t die like this.
Her fiancé would be worried; Jennie closed her eyes and thought about the love of her life. He was wonderful, no matter what she would always love him. He knew it; she wished she could see him one last time. Jennie felt the hand tighten on her breast and she yelled into the tape.
Damn it, not like this, Jennie thought, and then knew no more.
He followed the same M.O. as before, he slapped the women around causing as much pain as possible before raping the victims then killing them with his claws by slashing their stomachs open. It was hard to watch, but she couldn’t control the visions or what she saw in them.
Jewel opened her eyes and looked around. She looked at Vander and shook her head. Vander knew that Jewel didn’t see anything that would help them find the killer. Or did she? She went and sat down on a stool that was sitting beside the door. She leaned over thinking about what she had seen. Something had to have been different. Her visions were messages to her. She had to believe that. What was different with this one?
“Anything, Jewel?” Vander asked.
“What do you see?” Lex asked.
Jewel looked up at Lex, not knowing if she should tell him what she really saw. He probably thought she was a freak now. “I see the murder when it happens. I can never see the killer, only his hand and claws. His scent, it smelled like Ret, but not,” Jewel said. “Really. Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” asked Lex. “How can it be like Ret and yet not?”
“Dammit, I don’t know, quit doing that mate thing in my head, we are not mates until I say so,” Jewel growled. It pissed her off knowing that her so-called gift wasn’t helping her solve this. She turned back to Vander. “Let’s finish and get out of here. I gotta have room to think.”
Lex didn’t reply and no one else spoke while Jewel and Vander made their notes then they went back to the police department to finish up for the day.
“Your stuff should be secure here. I’m the only one with a key so if you want to leave it here,” Lex said to the group but looked at Jewel.
Jewel looked at Vander who shrugged his shoulders that he didn’t care either way. The original files were back in the Atlanta office and these were only copies. Jewel and Vander left their stuff in the room and Lex locked the door behind them. Besides, she had a board in her room, too. She wanted to make sure she transferred data tonight before she forgot, she needed to make sure the information was at her fingertips. When she figured out what was bugging her, she wanted to see where it fit.
They left the police station and headed back to the hotel. Once they arrived back to the hotel Jewel went straight to her hotel room without a word to anyone. She was tired and wanted a few minutes alone.
Jewel enter her hotel room and walked strai
ght to her bedroom, intending on making notes and then going for a swim before dinner, it would loosen her up.
“Dammit!” Jewel said aloud. She walked slowly to where her board was and looked at the new baggie that was hanging from a pushpin stuck into her board. She stepped back and grabbed the phone. She was not fucking around this time. There was clearly blood on the ring that was in the bag, and she knew this piece of jewelry, her parents left it for her when they died. The ring was in her jewelry box at home when she left, she knew it.
***
Retten walked over to the bar and asked Lex if he wanted a drink before they went down for dinner.
“No thanks. Well, maybe I should. My nerves are wound so tight with being in the same room with Jewel and not being able to touch her. My cock gets hard as a rock every time I look at her, and all I want to do is push her against the nearest wall and fuck her until she passes out.”
Retten smiled as he handed him his drink. “We have to take it slow. I don’t want her running from us. I want her, too. Just calm down and we will have her soon.” Retten smiled because he had thought about Jewel earlier and imagined how he would make love to her for the first time. He, too, had become hard, but he had the chance to relieve himself in the shower as he thought of her. “Let’s go down and see our beautiful mate,” Retten said as he drank the last of his whisky.
***
Retten and Lex stood when Benny and Vander walked into the room. They looked behind them for Jewel. “Mr. Wexford, Jewel said that she wanted to eat in her room tonight.” Benny smiled as he sat down beside Vander, who was also smiling.
Retten and Lex looked at each other. They were pissed that Jewel went swimming instead. The manager walked in and whispered in Retten’s ear.
