Time for her to say something. Because now she was curious about quite a few things. Why would she think Newman would kill someone?
“What woman are you talking about?”
Chrissy looked at her, her eyes round as saucers. “Tonya Moretta.”
“What about her?” Susan asked, her heart suddenly pounding.
“She’s the other woman. The woman he slept with.”
Susan couldn’t believe her ears. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, I’m positive. I found them in my bed together. Her face and breasts are ingrained in my mind. He’d been sleeping with her for a while before I found out. He didn’t think I’d be coming home early, but I did.”
Susan almost couldn’t breathe as the implications Chrissy just dropped at her feet flashed before her. “Are you saying that Newman had an affair with Tonya Moretta, the first woman who was murdered recently?”
“Yeah, I am.” Chrissy looked perplexed. “Don’t you work for the police department? You didn’t know that? Newman didn’t share that news? Wow. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”
Susan’s heart rate sped up as she shifted through all the evidence in her head, her theory that she couldn’t shake all morning, Newman’s lies, and his recent behavior.
She thought a cop could’ve killed all three women.
Now it looked like she might actually be right.
Chapter 12
He ran the pencil back and forth over the paper he had been working on for over an hour with way more strength than was necessary. Nothing but garbage. The long gray marks scribbled over the design made his heart ache. The sketch had been decent. But that was the problem. Decent, not awesome. Not awe-inspiring, something he tried to achieve in every piece of artwork.
Stitch pushed away from his desk and stood up. His eyes glanced around his office, around the artwork adorning his walls, around the livelihood he created. He was proud of everything he had accomplished. He was proud of his work.
But he wasn’t proud of his behavior last night. How he walked away from Deena. How he walked away from Susan without declaring some sort of feelings for her.
Mid-afternoon already and he still hadn’t found the nerve to call either one of them to apologize. Better yet, speak to them in person.
He had a few clients today, and he could’ve rescheduled them and did it right away this morning. He’d been making a nasty habit of that, though, and he didn’t feel right rescheduling again.
Of course, he knew that was a lie. A handy excuse for his fear.
Fear of losing his best friend all together.
Fear of rejection from Susan.
Fear of speaking the truth.
He could do the crime and time, but spilling his guts was something else. Would Susan still want anything to do with him when she heard the truth?
A knock sounded on his door. Short and to the point, which signaled Jensen wanted to talk to him. Him, he could handle. Stacey would only drive his already forming headache to deeper proportions.
“Yeah, come in.”
The door swung open. Jensen swaggered in as he normally did anywhere he went and plopped down into his chair. He didn’t hesitate to roll up his sleeve and tilt his arm to show a small patch of skin that looked funny, devoid of any tattoos, considering most of his arm was covered in some sort of ink.
But like some, Jensen only wanted a tattoo when it had a specific meaning behind it. If he had nothing to fill the space, he’d keep it blank no matter how dumb it looked.
“You think I have time for that shit right now?”
“Yep.”
A man of few words. Jensen never spoke unless he had something to say, which wasn’t very often. Some of his clients even made comments about it at times that Jensen was bizarre. He sympathized to a point. Jensen could act strange, but he was also one of the best damn tattooers in the city. Suck it up, or get the hell out. The only thing he always said. He had yet to lose a client over his candid words. Because ultimately, they all walked out of his shop happy campers. As they always would.
He nodded once and prepared to do a tattoo he hadn’t been set to do today. The only consolation at this point was his wrist hadn’t been bothering him today. Besides, he still wasn’t ready to speak to Deena or Susan. This gave him another excuse to delay the inevitable.
Nobody could ever call him a chickenshit. Today, they could. It bothered him to no end, yet it didn’t get his ass in gear to do the right thing. Apologize.
“What do you want?”
“A robin.”
Since the moment he met Jensen five years ago, nobody else tattooed him. Jensen preferred it that way. Jensen always had the utmost ability in his craft. So when he started to apply ink to Jensen’s skin without a stencil, he didn’t flinch. He knew that shit would come out looking just as he planned it. Although, he did pull his phone out and skim the Internet a bit to find some pictures of robins to get a base of what he wanted to do.
A robin was an odd choice. It would be a tiny robin since he didn’t have a ton of room to work with. He had questions for Jensen on why he wanted this particular tattoo, this particular animal. Robins symbolized a new beginning. What did that mean? He sure hoped it didn’t mean he was leaving. He couldn’t afford to lose one of his best tattooers, especially when his wrist was starting to become a problem.
But he didn’t say a word. He got to work and let the buzzing noise from his machine calm him into a sense of peace. His mind drifted away from his problems, from all the issues that had been plaguing him lately.
His creativity came out front and center, his attention solely focused on the robin he detailed down to the feathers and to the bird’s beady little eyes that spoke of such wisdom. He made that tiny as shit bird come to life, as if it would fly right off Jensen’s arm and into the big wide world, into a new beginning.
A few hours later, his arm ached with a dull throb forming in his wrist. He scooted back and shut off his machine.
“Done.”
Jensen smiled, stood up, and turned around to the mirror. His smile grew. “Thanks.”
Stitch cleaned up the tattoo, applied the cream, and sealed the tattoo as he always did. The entire time Jensen stood quietly and with the same damn smile on his face. It wasn’t the smile that bothered him, it was the way Jensen kept staring at him. As if he knew something he didn’t.
“You got any more clients today?” He didn’t know what else to say as he ripped off his gloves, but he needed to say something to get that look out of Jensen’s eyes.
“Nope.” Jensen started for the door. He paused as his hand touched the handle. “Hope that helped.” With those parting words, he walked out.
Hoped what helped?
That dude was weird as shit.
As Stitch continued to clean up his area, he tried to figure out what Jensen meant. He said the strangest things at the strangest times.
As he started to crumble his drawing from earlier in his hand, he stopped squeezing, as it hit him.
A robin. A new beginning.
Not for Jensen.
For him.
They didn’t talk once as he tattooed, but Jensen still managed to make that tattoo session into a therapy session of sorts. That was his way of calming him down, centering his focus on what was important. Tattooing always did that.
It was time to talk to Deena and Susan.
He’d have to thank Jensen later.
And now he had a badass tattoo of a robin. They both came out winners.
♡
“Dee, you have to stop pacing. I’m getting dizzy watching you.”
Dee rolled her eyes and continued back and forth in the living room as they waited for Sauer to come home. “Where is he? Why isn’t he home yet?”
Susan tried to sound calm, even though she was just as anxious for Sauer to get here. “He should be home any minute. We called him on our way home from the mall. He said he’d come right away.”
“I should’ve told him the
reason why. He would’ve driven faster.”
Susan stood up and stopped Dee with a hand to the shoulder and a smile that she hoped would calm her down. The stress couldn’t be good for the baby. “It’s better we talk to him about this in person. And we don’t know if Newman was with him.”
She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea that Newman could be a killer. Not any killer, but a serial killer. Murdering three women. It didn’t sound like him.
Yet, the evidence she had, which was nothing but enough to give her a bad feeling, said it was a possibility. The killer could definitely be a cop. Why wasn’t there any good evidence at the crime scenes? Why couldn’t they find out how the killer got in? Now it could easily be explained. Most people would open their door to a cop and let them in. Tonya would’ve opened her door to a former lover.
“I need a drink.”
Susan chuckled. “In six more months you can.”
Dee smiled and slumped down on the couch. “Do you think it’s possible he killed those women?”
She took a seat next to her. “I don’t want to think it’s possible.”
“He did it. I know he did.”
“Just because he’s a douche doesn’t mean he’s a killer.”
“It’s good enough for me.”
Dee stood up again and resumed pacing. Susan didn’t want to argue with her. She didn’t want to think that Newman killed anyone, and she wouldn’t. She would do like she did on every other case. Find the evidence to prove it. Not assume guilt because she held a grudge against the man. Dee might not agree with that, but she didn’t care. She wouldn’t change her mind either, or break her professionalism because she knew him.
The front door finally opened and Dee didn’t hesitate to rush to Sauer and wrap her arms around him without giving him a chance to remove his jacket. He smiled and chuckled as he embraced his wife back. The look was sweet and endearing. It made her wish for things she might not ever experience. At least, not with the man she wanted it with.
Thinking about Stitch right now wouldn’t help her. She’d wallow in that pity later at home when she was by herself.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?” Sauer suddenly looked panicked. “Is the baby okay?”
“The baby’s fine. We’re fine. Newman’s a serial killer,” Dee said, deadpan, as she let go of him and started to pace once more.
Sauer’s mouth dropped open, then shut, then opened again. Dee had that effect, rendering people speechless. Susan honestly had no clue what to say, but she didn’t think Dee had to drop the bomb like that and not provide any further information. Of course, she wasn’t surprised. Dee loved her suspense and intrigue.
“Umm…okay. Why do you think that?” Sauer finally asked as he stopped Dee from walking and cupped her chin. “What’s going on?” He kissed her lips softly, then pulled her in for a hug. “I love you.”
Susan suddenly felt like she was intruding on a personal moment. Or maybe she could call it jealousy at seeing the tender moment, Sauer trying to calm down his wife and kiss her so lovingly.
Damn Stitch for making her fall so easily for him. She should’ve known better than to let her heart open. Now, she was aching so much for his touch, his cocky words, it hurt to see her friends happy and in love when she never felt jealous before.
“I love you, too. I said Newman’s a serial killer.”
“We don’t know that, Dee.” Susan couldn’t keep hearing her say that. No matter how it looked right now, they needed evidence to corroborate that statement before they accused an innocent man of anything.
Dee pushed out of Sauer’s arms, pointing a finger at her. “We do. Don’t be dumb, Susan.”
“Don’t convict a man before you have all the evidence. Innocent until proven guilty, Dee.”
“He’s a killer.”
“You don’t know that.”
“He’s—”
“Enough.” Sauer stepped between them. “How about someone tell me why we’re having this kind of conversation?”
Dee smirked. “Yeah, Susan, how about we tell him.”
She didn’t know why Dee was acting this way toward her. Maybe it was fear or worry for her husband because they were about to tell him what kind of person his friend was. She tried not to let it bother her, but she couldn’t help but feel a little hurt at the attitude.
“You know what? I can’t do this right now. I can’t think about that asshole.” Dee kissed him on the lips and left the room.
“What’s going on, Susan?”
She hated the worry in his eyes. She hated what she was about to say, especially since Dee left the room and put it all on her shoulders.
“We ran into Chrissy at the mall today. Have you talked to her since she broke up with Newman?”
“No.”
“I had no idea why they broke up. According to Chrissy, the version Newman told you is a lie. He cheated on her.”
Sauer ran a hand through his hair. “We don’t…we don’t talk much about that, but I can’t see him lying to me. Why would he lie about that?”
“Why would Chrissy? She said he wouldn’t stop calling her for a while after they broke up. That his behavior almost scared her.”
“He moved out because of what she did.”
“No, Sauer, she kicked him out because of what he did. It’s her name on the lease.”
He sighed heavily. “Okay, I don’t want to argue the point on whether my friend is a liar. What does him possibly cheating have to do with him being a serial killer?”
This would be the hard part. She didn’t want to tell him. She hated how broken he already looked.
“Well, Chrissy saw the reports in the paper about the recent murders. Apparently, Tonya Moretta is the woman she found in bed with Newman. I’m guessing he never told you he knew the victim, did he?”
Sauer’s face fell ashen as his hands started to tremble. She wished Dee hadn’t walked out of the room. She didn’t know how to comfort Sauer hearing that his friend lied to him. Multiple times. A huge lie that could possibly implicate him as a killer.
“He wouldn’t…he’d never…” Sauer ran a hand through his hair. “He hasn’t been himself lately. I can see why he lied about the cheating, but why would he not say he knew the victim?”
“Do you think he’s capable of murder?”
His eyes met hers. “No. He’s a lot of things, but I don’t think he’s a murderer. Do you?”
“I…people can surprise you sometimes.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“Sauer…” she sighed heavily, “we have to be objective and look at the evidence, not what we think about him.”
“He’s my friend. He’s my partner. He wouldn’t do something like this, Susan.”
“Yet, he’s been lying and withholding information about the case from you. That says something. Maybe not that he’s a killer, but it’s not good.”
Sauer fell silent. They stared at each other, neither saying a word.
He ran a hand down his face as he grimaced. “He’s been acting weird about this case. Obviously, I know why now. I wonder if he ever met her ex-husband.”
“Why?”
“He wanted to split up the day we found her body. He didn’t come with me to interview him. We never split up. I thought it was odd.”
“Do you know where he is right now?”
Sauer started to pace, almost imitating Dee’s movements from earlier. “No. We had an argument today. I have to talk to him before I tell Captain Ganderson.”
“Are you sure about that, Sauer?”
“Yes. I want to know why he would lie to me.” He stopped pacing and glanced toward the hallway. “I should go check on Dee. Tell her I have to go find Newman. Will you stay with her?”
Susan wanted to say no. Was this his way to keep her from saying something to Captain Ganderson? In all likelihood, she should’ve reported this new evidence immediately before talking to Sauer. The way Newman had been acting toward her, he didn�
��t deserve her silence. She should report him for withholding information in an investigation, and she should do it now.
“Please, Susan. Let me talk to him first.”
The plea in his voice was her undoing. “Okay. I’ll stay with Dee.”
“Thank you.” Sauer headed down the hallway when the doorbell went off. “Do you mind getting that?”
Sauer didn’t leave her a choice as he kept walking away. Susan sighed and made her way to the front door.
What a day, and it was only half over.
She opened the door and tried not to faint from surprise.
Standing tall and a little tired looking, and oh so remorseful, was Stitch.
“Can I come in, shorty?”
Her heart ached even more as she realized he hadn’t come to see her. He came to see Dee. He probably never wanted to see her again. His use of that dumb nickname was evidence enough. She didn’t see it as a term of endearment as she did when he called her sweetheart, or better yet, when he called her Suzey baby.
She stepped back and opened the door wider. “Sure. I’ll go get Dee for you.”
She turned to go find Dee, to get away from him, now determined to leave whether Sauer liked it or not. She wouldn’t go to Captain Ganderson yet, but she wouldn’t stay here while Stitch was here.
A hand grasped her arm, making her jerk to a stop. Warmth instantly soothed her as Stitch twirled her around and into his embrace.
“I’m sorry, Suzey baby. Don’t be mad at me. I’m a dumbass…about everything. Forgive me?”
Forgive him? And then what? What was he saying?
Because she would forgive him, but she wouldn’t let him back in her life unless he gave her one thing.
Commitment.
Chapter 13
He tightened his hold. She hadn’t responded to his apology, something he obviously wanted to do, just not so abruptly. When she started to walk away from him, he saw her walking away for good, and it scared him. He honestly didn’t like how much it scared him.
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