“Christopher?” she asked, stopping at the table beside the waitress.
“Yeah, hello there!”
She took a seat and shook his hand. “I’m so nervous,” she admitted. “I’m glad I could find this place. I don’t usually come over to this side of town.”
He loved it there. It wasn’t that far from his and Elizabeth’s townhouses. They could walk home…
He had to stop thinking about her.
Shit!
“It’s a great place. I love seeing new places,” she offered, smiling at him.
It helped ease his fears.
“What would you like to drink?” he asked. “I thought we could start there and get to know each other.”
“That would be awesome. I’ll have a whiskey sour.”
The waitress headed off to get her drink and to get him a second beer.
“I’ll be honest, Madeline, I’m nervous too,” Chris admitted. “You’re my first online date. I don’t usually do this kind of thing.”
She smiled at him. “Then at least we’ll be nervous together. That’s always much better.”
He grinned. “Yeah, it is.”
“Tell me about you.”
Chris figured this was the perfect way to break the ice. “I’m a doctor. Actually, I’m a forensic Medical Examiner.”
Her eyes went big. “Really? That’s kind of sexy. I bet you get to see so many different things out there in the world. I love to learn.”
“You think what I do is sexy?”
“Yes, it really is.”
This was the first time a date had ever said that to him. It was so new to him that Chris wasn’t sure how to handle it. He wanted to laugh and cheer all at once.
Maybe this online thing would work out. He was hardly thinking about Elizabeth.
Okay, he was thinking about her a lot, but maybe Madeline would take the edge off.
This girl was pretty, she didn’t mind he played in dead bodies, and he could finally forget about the woman he was tied up in knots over.
The waitress brought Madeline’s drink, and they kept talking.
“Do you live around here?” she asked.
“I do.”
“I love this part of town. All the buildings are so pretty and old. They have history. That’s what I love most. I’m a history teacher.”
He grinned. “I’d love to be your student.”
She laughed. “I’d say I loved to be your patient, but that’s not a good thing.”
He loved her sense of humor.
Finally, Chris had met someone, other than Elizabeth, who got him.
Tonight, it was going to be epic.
He forgot about his best friend, home alone, and he opted to live a little.
It was about time.
* * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *
Two Hours Later
The night went by so damn fast. Time flew. Before he knew it, it was already after nine at night. Normally, by now, he’d be getting ready for bed.
Instead, he was having fun.
When Madeline groped him, and asked to go back to his place, he couldn’t believe it was happening.
Things like this didn’t happen in his life.
Women didn’t want him like this.
Chris couldn’t fathom it.
He’d hit pay dirt. Granted, the chemistry wasn’t there between him and Madeline, but he could still have fun. Maybe a one night stand wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Chris’s head was spinning. He drove them back to his place tipsy, and that was dangerous.
He never did shit like that.
Madeline made him want to do wild, crazy things. She was like a storm, and he was getting swept away.
As they got to his front door, he unlocked it, and they stumbled inside.
Her hands were in his pants, her mouth sealed to his. Chris was shocked how easy it had been to get this woman to come home with him.
Hell!
Maybe he was good at this shit.
He was in Heaven too.
For the moment, he wasn’t thinking about Elizabeth. No, she was the furthest thing from his mind. He was thinking about getting Madeline naked and in his bed.
He was going to seal the deal, break his sex fast, and move on. Chris was done with abstinence and frustration. It was time to live.
It was time to love someone else—someone who would love him back. Someone who would want him.
Someone not Elizabeth LaRue.
The drunken anger was fueling him, and he didn’t care. Chris was too swept up in the moment to give a shit.
He was about to get off.
As they stumbled up the stairs, Chris lost his shirt. It was tossed along the way as Madeline practically climbed up his body. She was leaving kisses across his chest, and Chris was heated up.
At the top of the stairs, they made out even more. Chris had a handful of Madeline’s ass, and she was stroking him through his pants.
For a brief second, he thought about her.
He thought about Elizabeth.
Then he had to push her out of his mind. Tomorrow, they’d be friends, but tonight, he needed this woman to erase that need, and it was happening.
In his bedroom, she jumped up on him. Her weight took him to the bed. They rolled around, Chris getting his hands caught in her hair.
“Take off your watch. It hurts,” she muttered.
He stopped kissing her to do just that. He slid open his nightstand drawer and dropped it in.
“Oh, handcuffs,” she stated, as she yanked off his dress pants. “Kinky.”
Chris couldn’t think.
He was buck naked, and there was a pretty girl in his bed. This was overload for him, and he was celebrating what was to come.
“Let’s be completely wild and use them,” Madeline stated. “I’ve never done it with a sexy man as he was handcuffed in bed.”
Chris didn’t care how they did it.
Only that he did it. That sexual tension had been locked inside him for a year. For a full year, he didn’t think about touching another woman but Elizabeth.
Again, she was back in his mind.
“Okay,” he said, trying to forget her.
“Lie on the bed,” she said, licking her lips. “I’m going to rock your world.”
He didn’t hesitate.
Madeline climbed onto him, straddling his hips. Chris moaned as she ground her body against his naked one.
Then there was the click of cuffs locking.
Then it all stopped.
Chris opened his eyes. “What are you doing?” he asked, as she stood there straightening her clothes. “Madeline?”
“Sorry, buddy. That’s not my name.”
His pulse kicked, and not in a good way. “What do you mean it’s not your name?”
She laughed. “You’re an idiot. Do you know how dangerous it is to bring a woman to your place on the first date?” she asked. “You’re just lucky I’m not into killing men for a hobby.”
“What?” he asked, trying not to be sick. That beer buzz was officially gone. He was now feeling the adrenaline high.
This wasn’t good.
“What the hell are you doing?” he asked.
He was horrified when she began stealing his things.
No!
This couldn’t be happening. There was no freaking way that he was being robbed by a woman who posed as a date. There was no way the universe would be that cruel.
Then she dropped his keys into her purse.
That was exactly what she was doing.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked. “I thought we were having a good time!”
She laughed. “Honey, don’t take offense. It’s not you. It’s me. This just wouldn’t work out. You like dead bodies, and I like pretty things.”
He wanted to be sick. There was no way this was happening. He was trapped, on his bed, and she was a thief.
Jesus!
He would never live this down.<
br />
“So my job isn’t sexy?” he asked.
“Uh, no, it’s creepy, and honestly, so are you. Girls don’t like pretend doctors. We like the real deal.”
His heart broke.
And here was the truth of his life. Chris wanted to weep. He wanted to hide.
He wanted his best friend.
What had he done?
God!
What had he risked for this?
Madeline picked up his dress pants from the floor and began rooting around in them. When she pulled out his wallet, she smiled. “Thanks, Doctor.”
When she picked up his watch from the nightstand, where he’d placed it, he wanted to weep. “Don’t take that.”
“Why not?” she asked. “It’s a Rolex.”
“It was my fathers. It’s all I have left of him.”
She laughed. “Well, it’ll be mine now,” she stated, dropping it into the purse. “I’ll sell it for a pretty price, and he’ll be my favorite dead person.”
“You’re a bitch.”
“Tsk, tsk, Doctor. It’s not my fault that you fell for this bullshit act. Men are so easy. You see tits and ass, and you forget your manners. Since you’re being rude, I’ll show you what a bitch is really like.”
She yanked his boxers off.
“Now I’ll leave you like this. When you’re found, that’s going to be embarrassing.
Shit.
Now he was going to cry.
“But I will be a little less bitchy since I have your things—your gun, your keys, your wallet, and your watch. Here’s your phone,” she said, dropping it onto the nightstand out of his reach.
That’s when she saw it.
His badge had fallen onto the floor, and he was praying she wouldn’t notice it.
“What’s this?” she asked, flipping it open. When she did, she began laughing.
“You’re a Fed? I thought you said you were a medical examiner?”
He honestly believed he was going to die.
He really thought she was going to shoot him because he could describe her.
Didn’t criminals kill people who they considered witnesses?
Chris didn’t say anything.
He was too afraid to say the wrong thing.
Clearly, he was a bad judge of character. Right now, he could be on a date with Elizabeth, and not handcuffed to his bed with some burglar.
Shit!
Shit!
Shit!
Why had he done this?
He wasn’t a stupid man.
Oh, that’s right. He’d been horny and angry, and now he was going to die.
“I asked you a question,” she said, moving closer to him. When he still didn’t speak, she pointed the gun at his forehead.
Her finger was on the trigger.
Tears filled his eyes.
In that moment, he was thinking about Elizabeth. She was going to find him, and this would hurt her.
What had he done?
Why had he let his anger do this to him?
“Yes, I’m an ME for the FBI.”
He closed his eyes and waited for the click. Instead, he heard laughter.
“You’re an idiot. A normal man would know better, but a guy who is a cop? You’re ridiculous. You deserve this. Tomorrow, I’ll make an anonymous call so they can free you. Hopefully, you get out by then, or you’re never going to live this down.”
He didn’t argue.
At this point, it was about getting her to leave. She was now armed with his gun, and he didn’t want to die.
God!
He didn’t want to die.
She continued to root around, digging through his personal things. She found any, and everything, that was of value.
When her purse was filled, she waved at him. “Have a good night,” she said. “It was nice meeting you, Doctor.”
It wasn’t long before he heard laughter and the door slam. She was gone. Madeline, or whatever the hell her name was, had left, and he was alone.
Chris wanted to puke.
He wanted to cry.
There was no doubt he’d be found in the morning. Elizabeth would realize it was out of character when he didn’t show up at work.
Did he want to wait that long?
Shit.
He needed to get to his phone and fast. Using his feet, he grabbed it and tossed it onto the bed. It landed beside him. Chris curled onto his side and used his knees to push it toward his face.
Thankfully, it had all the buttons on the top, and all he had to do was push two.
One brought it to life.
The other hit redial.
Chris was so freaked out that he couldn’t recall who he called last. Whoever it was would save him.
All he hoped was it wasn’t her.
Please not Elizabeth.
Chapter Nine
I t was Saturday night, and instead of being out, she was sitting on her couch doing searches on all the people who had popped up in the investigation. Kaleb tried to get her to meet him for some drinks, but she knew what he wanted.
Elizabeth wasn’t up to a rebound guy.
Were they called that if the person before them wasn’t really an ex?
She wasn’t sure, but instead of batting away all his sexual innuendos, she opted to work. She was behind with her schedule.
All afternoon, after questioning the madam and pimp, Elizabeth and Kaleb worked on getting Becca into a safe house where Clayton wouldn’t find her.
She’d get a second chance, and that was the most important thing. When that was done, she’d dropped Kaleb off at the Hoover building, and she headed home.
Charlie was there and she wanted to do some work. He was good at being a cop, so she was going to use his brain. It wasn’t like she had anyone else to help.
Gabe was with Livy, making their family bigger.
Chris was out on his first date in as long as she could remember, and she didn’t want to think about it.
It was just her and Charlie.
The only man she could ever count on in her life. So, they got down to work.
They began searching everyone.
They started with the name on the card that Becca had given them.
Mason Coffman.
He was easy to find.
Apparently, he was a local man, and a God-fearing pastor in training. That didn’t set off any alarms in her head, since the killer wasn’t leaving any messages that he was doing this for God.
Granted, he was killing hookers, but still…
The other two men that Kaleb had given her were a different story. They were going to be on the top of her interview list tomorrow.
She was going to see what was up with Rodney Cole and Harvey Wellstone. They were both into hookers, and that was never a good thing.
It sucked for marriages.
It sucked for families.
And it sucked for the medical bills when you picked up a raging STD.
As she sat there searching, her father was watching her. She could feel his eyes burrowing into her.
“What’s going on, Lyzee?”
She looked up. “I’m working, why?”
He put down the laptop he’d been using to help her with searches. “You didn’t want to eat dinner, you’re staring at the screen like your life depends on it, and you’re cranky.”
She stared at him.
Elizabeth wanted to snarl, but she wouldn’t. This was her daddy, and she didn’t get to see him often. He lived nine hours away, and she missed him.
“Chris has a date tonight with someone else.”
That was all she had to say. Charlie heard it in her voice, and saw it in her eyes.
“Oh.”
“So I’m trying not to think about it.”
“The boy is crazy about you.”
She didn’t buy it. “Yeah, well, I know when I’m crazy about someone, I date someone else. Totally logical.”
Charlie hated that she was hurting.
“
I’m sorry. How about I go find him and beat his ass into a pulp for you?”
Normally, she’d say yes. Only this was a special case. It was Chris, and she didn’t want him hurt.
“It’s not his fault. I told him I just wanted to be friends, and that we’d likely fuck it up if we pursued it.”
“Elizabeth Renee LaRue.”
“Sorry…screw it up.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. If you like the boy, you owe it to yourself to see what happens. What if he’s the one? I thought I made myself clear yesterday with our little talk.”
She snorted. “He’s not. If he was, he wouldn’t be dating someone else.”
“When I met your momma, she was dating this football guy. He was this big guy all the girls swooned over.”
“That’s saying a lot since you’re a big guy,” she stated. “I’m betting you had some floozies following you around, too, Daddy.”
That wasn’t the point.
“Just listen to the story. You are so much like your mother it brings tears to my eyes.”
“Okay. I’ll behave.”
“Anyway, everyone told Catherine it wouldn’t work. She was super smart, pretty, and this big oaf was into stupid shit like wanting to be a cop.”
That had her attention.
“Her friends wanted to marry lawyers and doctors, and they called her crazy. In fact, they called him big and dumb.”
Elizabeth loved hearing about her mother. She was ten when she died in that accident, and Charlie didn’t talk about her all that much. When Abigayle showed up in the picture, Catherine LaRue was put on a shelf.
Literally.
It looked like she was coming back down again.
“Anyway, Catherine didn’t care. She gave him a shot. They were the most unlikely couple. Still, they got married, he became a cop, and they had this little girl. She was the apple of her momma’s eye.”
“What was she like?”
“Amazing. She was so damn sarcastic, but she was the sweetest woman ever. She loved you so much. When we had you, she cried, held you to her bosom, and said…I hope she’s badass just like me.”
She laughed.
“And here you are. The moral is that everyone told her she and I weren’t compatible. What if you’re wrong, and that boy is an important part of what’s to come? What if he’s not THE missing piece to your puzzle, but he’s still part of the picture and needs to be there?”
Stalked by the Past: An FBI Flashback Novel. (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 17) Page 27
