by Burton, Mary
“Bite me.” She’d learned long ago not to show any softness in this business.
Laughter rumbled through the cops until Gage got out of his car, and suddenly the men got quiet.
Gage moved toward her, his cowboy boots eating up the distance. Even in a suit, he always looked out of place here, like he belonged on the open range. “You’re in a sweet mood this morning.”
“Tell me what I don’t know,” she said.
Gage cocked an eyebrow, clearly put off by her tone. Tess understood that she was a hard person to like. Abrasive was her stock in trade. But she’d decided long ago she’d rather be respected than liked. Nice people just got run over.
“Jesus, it’s going to be a circus today,” she said.
“Hopefully, it’ll die down soon. Everybody here has a job to do.”
“Just keep them out of my crime scene.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What about the press?”
“No sign yet. But that’s a matter of time. Too many people know about this.”
“Right.”
“Dr. Butler is here.”
“I figured I’d beat him.”
“Not today.”
She nodded and turned toward the crime scene. The doctor was already at the second mound, oblivious to everyone else. He’d assembled his digging tools and laid them out neatly beside the site. He reminded her of a surgeon. Head bent, long fingers tucked into the pockets of his khakis as he studied the earth.
She pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and ducked under the tape. “Dr. Butler.”
“Tess Kier.” He glanced up at her, his gaze accessing and critical. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
Defenses rose. “You saying I look bad?”
“Yes.”
His honesty caught her off guard. “Boy, you know how to make a girl feel good.”
“I’m stating the obvious. You look exhausted.”
“Don’t you ever sleep?”
“I don’t need much sleep. Three hours seems to be my limit. You, I suspect, need six to eight.”
Nine was better, but it had been a while since she’d enjoyed a full night. She rubbed itchy eyes under her glasses. Too bad she wasn’t a robot like the good doctor. She needed her Z’s. That should have made her mad but instead she laughed. “You always tell the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t say I always want to hear it, especially when it comes to my appearance, but if I had to choose between brutally honest and a guy who told me only what I wanted to hear, I’ll take brutally honest.” Her ex had been a smooth number. Made her feel like a million bucks. And in the end had mangled the hell out of her heart when he’d started sleeping with one of his graduate students.
“Good. I think.” He shifted his attention back to the uneven ground and the spotty vegetation. “Today is going to be long, the process as slow as yesterday.”
“I suspected as much. Did you identify the first skeleton?”
“Yes.” He knelt and checked his tools. “Hudson was right.”
Knowing that one of the victims had been identified lifted her mood a fraction. “That’s something, at least. One step closer to catching her killer.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Where do we start?”
“I start scraping the dirt. You sift. Just like yesterday.”
“Hold tight while I take a few more pictures.”
“You photographed yesterday.”
She raised the camera to her face and started clicking. “You’d be surprised how the time of day can change perspective.” And honestly, she felt a little less intimidated by Dr. Butler hiding behind the lens of a camera.
Dr. Butler glanced at a tree that grew very close to the site. “We may be in luck with this tree.”
“How so?”
“The roots. If the roots have grown up through a skeleton it may help us figure out how long the body was in the ground.”
She gave the guy points for that one. “Clever, Doc.”
“You called me Alex the other day. Why the shift back?”
For most she kept it casual and had no problem with first names. “I don’t know. With you I think it should be more formal.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because Alex makes you seem more human. And honestly, you’re so smart it’s, well, not all that human.”
He studied her, his gaze unreadable. “I get that a lot.”
“What? The not human stuff?”
“Since I was a kid.”
Tess imagined him as a kid, fending off other children who had more mouth than sense. Kids like she’d been. She suddenly felt like a schmuck. “You didn’t like school?”
He picked up a trowel. “I never really experienced normal school all that long. I was so far ahead of the normal curriculum that I transferred up several grades in the first year. When I found classes I loved, I was a good ten or twelve years younger than the other students.”
“How’d the older kids treat you?”
“Some nice. Some not so nice.”
Again just the facts, but they packed more emotion than any lament. “Looks like you turned out all right.”
“I think so.”
She laughed. “Modesty is another trait I’ll have to add to your merits.” Shaking her head, she started to snap pictures. “A few more shots and we can get to work.”
Alex offered a slight nod. Within fifteen minutes, Alex lay on his side beside the grave scraping soil from the surface. As he collected soil, he dumped it into her sieve. This process went on for over an hour. Each time he dumped fresh dirt into her sieve, he glanced at her as if he expected her to give up. As much as her muscles ached and as tired as she was, she wouldn’t quit. Her instructor at the academy had said what she lacked in physical strength she’d always made up for with mental toughness.
When the silence became too much she heard herself asking, “You strike me as a guy who is more suited for the library rather than field work.”
“I prefer being outside.”
“Play any sports?”
“Run. Swim to stay in shape. You?”
“Same.”
Again, they lapsed into silence. Both continued to work without complaint and within a couple of hours, they’d sifted through nearly ten inches of dirt. The other cops had lost interest. Most had realized the excitement wasn’t going to happen immediately.
“So are you as smart as everyone says?” Tess never had trouble asking a question, even if common sense dictated that she keep her mouth shut.
“I don’t know. How smart do they say I am?”
“Like Doogie Howser smart.”
“Who is Doogie Howser?”
“Didn’t you watch television in the nineties?”
“I don’t watch television.”
“Of course. Doogie Howser was a boy genius. Became a surgical resident when he was fourteen.”
“I was fourteen when I entered my residency.”
There was no hint of humor in his voice. “You are Doogie Howser smart.”
He shrugged. “Okay.”
“Doesn’t it drive you a little nuts hanging around regular folk?” This question had chewed on her since the first day she’d met him.
Alex shook his head, never taking his eyes off the dirt. “I don’t follow.”
“When I hang out with my eight-month-old nephew Jack, I love it. He’s sweet and good-natured. But after a few hours I start to want more adult conversation.”
“Reasonable.”
“Do you ever feel like that with the rest of us?”
“The rest of us?”
“The rest of the world that doesn’t have a two hundred plus IQ?”
“Do you only talk to forensic people? Is that all you like to discuss?”
“No.”
“I’m not just interested in quantum physics and autopsies.”
She shrugged. “I just think you’d get bored with someone
who wasn’t as smart as you.”
He looked up. “What brought this up?”
She scraped a layer of dirt off the earth. “I dated a guy back in California. He was kind of a mentor. So, so smart. I thought we’d be together forever.” She was amazed how the emotion still burned her throat. “In the end he left me for a girl genius. Said I bored him.” Good Lord, why had she just admitted that? Even her family didn’t know about Philip.
Alex shrugged. “Maybe the guy wasn’t as smart as you give him credit for. Frankly, I can’t imagine you ever being boring.”
For some reason that made her blush. “Abrasive, loud, and sometimes funny, but you’re right, I am never ever boring. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.” He didn’t comment, frowned as if he were thinking. What the devil was going on in that computer brain?
Gently, she sifted more dirt.
Then his trowel hit something hard. She glanced down and her heart jumped into high gear. This moment made the backbreaking work seem unimportant. He set down his trowel and picked up a paintbrush. He started to dust the dirt away.
“You’ve found something,” Tess said. There was no missing the excitement in her voice.
“I think so.” He started to brush dirt very gently. Slowly the earth melted away and the shape of a skull emerged. “A cranium.”
He nodded. “Front section.”
He continued to brush away the dirt and within another twenty minutes the entire face of the skeleton was revealed. Open eye socket stared up at them. A slack jaw with rows of even white teeth appeared to be laughing. A root twisted up through the mouth opening.
“Female,” Alex said. “And I see a gunshot hole in the left temple.”
“Any theories on how long she’s been here?”
“I’m going to have to dig out more. But based on the soil staining on the bone, at least as long as the first victim.”
“Gage!” she shouted. “Get your butt over here.”
Chapter Ten
Wednesday, September 27, 1 p.m.
Adrianna delayed going to the gravesite until the paintings were loaded onto the truck. She had no control over the police, and if Craig’s illness had taught her anything, it was to focus on what she could control.
When Dwayne and Ben drove off with the paintings in their truck she drove the half mile to the gravesite. The place that had once unnerved her because it was so quiet. Now it buzzed with activity.
She parked and glanced toward the yellow crime scene tape and the people gathered around. Gage stood in the middle, his hands on his hips as if he were the captain of a ship.
Out here he appeared so stiff and cold, his emotions buried as deep as the bones in the ground. Adrianna sighed, unwillingly remembering the guy who liked to fish and tell jokes.
Four years ago he’d been anything but stone. It had been the summer. She’d just broken up with Craig. It had been a clean break and a fresh start. For the first time in years she’d felt happy.
The Saturday that came to mind had been a hot evening in June. She could feel the sweat stealing down her back and between her breasts. She and Gage had been on the edge of a pier that jutted into the James River. He’d been trying to teach her the finer points of fishing. She’d been bored beyond tears.
A large white floppy hat shaded her eyes and hid most of her face from the sun. She’d been staring at a rock in the water when he’d said, “I can see I’ve got you wrapped around my finger.”
A smile lifted the edge of her lips as she kicked the edge of the cool water with red manicured toes. “I wish I could say yes.”
His eyes danced with amusement. “How long have you been faking it?”
She chuckled. “Thirty minutes after we sat down.”
“Two hours.” He started to reel in his line. “Sorry. I thought you’d like this.”
“I did at first. It’s lovely here. And I want to care about catching fish. But I just can’t find it in me. Especially when I know there is a lovely seafood shop on Patterson. Their stuff is so fresh you can smell the sea.”
He cocked his head toward her. “Doesn’t get much fresher than this.”
“I agree. Just seems like a lot of work.”
Gage grabbed his hook from the water and fastened it to his rod. “The fun part is the hunt.”
“I’ve heard fishing is a Zen kinda thing.”
His gaze dipped to her white T-shirt, now damp and translucent with perspiration. He set the rod down and leaned toward her, his face so close she could feel his breath on her face. “I don’t know about Zen. I just know fishing.”
She moistened her lips, her gaze dropping to the V of his shirt. Dark chest hair curled on tanned, glistening skin. Her heart beat faster. They’d been dating all of two weeks and her vow not to jump into another relationship suddenly didn’t seem so important.
“Ms. Barrington, if I didn’t know better I’d think your thoughts are a bit tawdry.”
Up until now they’d shared polite kisses. Hand holding. He’d treated her like fine china. She’d appreciated that at first but now didn’t want him to handle her with kid gloves. She moistened her lips. “I’m afraid they are.”
“I’m shocked.” His deep accent dripped from each word. He leaned closer. “Mind if I kiss you, Ms. Barrington?”
Words stuck in her throat. She nodded.
Gage pulled her hat off her head and watched as her hair tumbled around her shoulders. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. He tasted salty and though his lips were soft, the stubble on his chin rubbed the smooth skin of her face.
A sensation of emotions and desires made her body throb. Her hand rose to his chest. His heartbeat hammered under her fingertips.
A groan rumbled in his chest and he leaned forward, pressing her back against the hard pier. His erection pushed against her thigh and all rational thoughts scampered away like a band of traitors. She threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed him back, surprising him with her intensity.
This wasn’t what she’d expected, but still she heard herself saying, “Make love to me.”
The fading light caught the intensity of his gaze. “You sure?”
Now or never. Jump or dive. “Yes.”
“I’m happy to oblige.”
He kissed her on the lips but soon his kisses roamed lower to the hollow of her neck and then to the hardened peak of her breasts, which pressed against the thin white cotton of her shirt. He sucked her nipple through the fabric, dampening the cloth more and sending thousands of jolts through her body. Her body softened, moistened, and soon his rough hand slid up her thigh under the short Madras skirt. He’d touched her panties, teased her before he pulled them down past her ankles. Whatever control he’d nurtured had vanished and the raw desire burning in him blazed.
He mounted her and with unsteady, fevered hands she undid the snap on his shorts. She was hardly a virgin. She knew what was what, but still had never felt such a longing for a man.
She slid her hand over his erection and he groaned.
“You are too much for me.”
“In a good way?”
“In a very good way.” From his back pocket he pulled out a condom and ripped the foil package.
“Am I that obvious?”
“No, ma’am. Not at all. This was just wishful thinking.”
He slid on the condom. In the next moment he was poised to enter. He hesitated as if to give her one final chance to change her mind and then he pushed inside her, filling her and overwhelming her with a delicious intensity. She wrapped her legs around his waist.
In the fading light, they’d matched each other stroke for stroke, finding their release in a blinding jolt.
Now, as if Gage sensed she was thinking about him, he turned. The lines on his face deepened with his frown. He moved toward her in even, unhurried strides.
She held her ground. “Did you find anything else?”
He stopped less than a foot from her and the breeze c
aught his masculine scent. “I can’t really say at this point.”
“Which means you have found something.” She held up her hand to silence any rebuttal she knew would follow. “I know you can’t say anything. I remember that part of your job.”
Gage rested his hands on his hips, revealing the gun holstered to his side. “Then why are you here?”
To say I’m sorry. To tell you I shouldn’t have allowed Mom and Frances to persuade me to leave. She heard herself say, “How long will you all be out here?”
Cynicism sharpened his gaze. “Worried about your money?”
“Yes.”
He pulled in a breath, his nostrils flaring. “Always looking out for yourself.”
The accusation hit hard. “I don’t believe Craig killed that woman.”
Gage leaned toward her a fraction. “Or that you married a murderer?”
“I wasn’t that wrong about him.”
“Hey, we all misjudge people.” Bitterness sharpened the words. “I’ve been known to get it wrong before.”
“Meaning you read me wrong.”
“Now that you brought it up, yeah. I always figured I was good at reading the signals, Adrianna. But you faked me out better than anyone ever has, and that includes my ex-wife. Which is saying a lot.”
I’m sorry. “Are you going to hold that against me during this investigation?”
Gray eyes narrowed. “The only thing I care about is solving this case.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah. I’m damn sure.” Anger rolled off him like heat from an inferno.
Adrianna raised her chin. “Good. Do us both a favor. Solve this case so I can get on with my life.”
On legs about to give way, she turned and moved back to her car. Feeling his gaze on her, she didn’t dare look in the rearview mirror. Eyes fixed on the road ahead, she drove back to the city in a daze. She arrived in time for the two scheduled meetings with only minutes to shake off her mood and get organized.
The next few hours buzzed with client comments as she presented her designs. After those meetings, it was a mad dash to a scheduled visit to a furniture maker to discuss why several orders had fallen behind schedule. More calls and text messages on the upcoming charity auction kept her brain humming for several more hours.
