CORE Shadow [1] Shadow of Danger

by Kristine Mason

The door opened. In an instant, the victims, Winston, the entire fucked up case, disappeared from his mind.

  She stood in the doorway wearing low-cut jeans, and a long-sleeved t-shirt that hugged her breasts and brought the blue out in her eyes. Her curly, blond hair framed her pretty face. The memory of twining his fingers through her hair as he’d made love to her that afternoon had his fingers tingling. Her vanilla and cinnamon scent had his mouth watering for a taste of her smooth skin. He stared at her lush lips, and a hunger that had nothing to do with his empty stomach made him move fast.

  Needing to touch her, to erase away everything bad, he dropped his briefcase, kicked the door closed and pinned her against the wall. Unable to stop himself, he cupped her cheeks and kissed her. Kissed her the way he’d been aching to do since he’d left her bedroom this afternoon.

  She released a throaty moan and parted her lips. The arousing vibration hummed through his body and straight to his cock. Hard, ready, and aching to bury himself between her thighs, he tangled his tongue with hers, and made love to her mouth.

  Gripping the back of his head, she held onto him, surged her body against his. Her response fueled his need. He raised one of her legs around his back, then gripped her rear and ground his dick between her thighs. Dragging his lips along her neck, he pressed a lingering kiss where her pulse beat hard at the hollow of her throat, then snared her gaze.

  Her eyes were bright, glittering with both desire and shock. The desire he welcomed, but the shock? He looked to the wall. God, he was a presumptuous ass. While she’d responded the way he’d hoped, the way he’d needed, he might have moved a little too fast. He was sure there had to be some sort of rule out there about when it was appropriate to kiss someone hello, and he was also sure he’d just broken it. Besides, her brother could be in the next room. Distracted by her warm curves and inviting scent, he hadn’t bothered to check.

  She placed two fingers on his cheek and forced him to meet her eyes. “What?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Kiss me hello?”

  “Yeah, with Will in the house—”

  “I sent him to his apartment a little while ago. I knew you’d be here soon.” She rubbed her fingers along his jaw, the light, feathery touch arousing. “Why did you really stop?”

  “I didn’t just kiss you hello, I was ready to...”

  “Fuck me against the wall.”

  Her bluntness had him impossibly harder. “You betcha,” he mimicked the accent the locals used with a grin.

  Smiling, she brushed her lips against his. “Did I look like I was complaining?”

  “No, but—”

  “Celeste? I saw headlights,” Will called from the kitchen.

  She disentangled their bodies. “John’s here, we’re in the foyer.”

  He quickly grabbed his briefcase and hid his arousal as Will approached. Her brother eyed him for a second, then nodded. “Glad you’re here. I didn’t like leaving Celeste alone.”

  “Quit worrying.” She took her brother by the elbow and led him back to the kitchen. When she reached the sliding door that led to a pathway to Will’s studio apartment, she stopped. “Get back to work. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Will hesitated and stared him down for a moment. “Call if you need me,” her brother said, then walked toward the garage.

  She closed the door, locked the deadbolt, then met his gaze in the reflection of the glass. “Were you planning on going back to the Chippewa Inn tonight?”

  “I thought I’d leave that up to you.” His heart raced. He wanted to spend the night with her, needed to. In a matter of days, he swore she’d become the best thing about him. And even if whatever they had ended after the investigation, he wanted to soak up every chance he could with her. Making love, holding her throughout the night...

  She swiveled, a big, saucy grin on her face. “Good, let’s get you fed. After this afternoon, and your hello kiss, I’ve got plans for you tonight.” She waggled her brows, walked toward him, then planted a quick kiss on his lips. “Have a seat. How was your day?”

  He did, his mind busy, his body still hard and wanting. With Renee, he’d have sex to ease the tension. Afterward, pillow talk involved whatever case they’d been working. Celeste had become his pseudo partner. But the kind of pillow talk he’d have with her would not involve the investigation. While he liked the idea of spilling details and bouncing ideas off her, once in the bedroom, whatever happened would only have to do with them.

  “Other than making love to you and kissing you in the foyer, terrible.”

  She blushed. “It’s nice to be the highlight of someone’s day.” She placed a Styrofoam container on the counter, then dished the chicken marsala onto one of her gnome plates before popping it into the microwave. While his dinner cooked, she went back to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine. “Want some?”

  “A beer would be better.”

  She gave him one, and when the microwave dinged, pulled the plate out, then set it in front of him. His mouth immediately watered and his stomach grumbled. “If this tastes half as good as it smells...where’s yours?”

  “I already ate.” She took a sip of her wine. “Dig in and enjoy.”

  He did, and as he ate, he told her about Lauren Sundahl first. “Roy and I went to see her mom, but she wasn’t home. One of Roy’s deputies, Ed Young...”

  “I know Ed, he’s a good guy. His wife’s an ER nurse at Eau Claire Hospital.”

  “Ed mentioned that. He also said that he’d remembered seeing Lauren—when she was a few years younger—in the ER when he’d stopped by to pick up his wife. Apparently Lauren was a frequent visitor. Either she was exceptionally clumsy or...”

  “Her mom beat her,” she finished, rubbing her finger around the rim of the wine glass. “What about...how she was killed. Were you able to tell if two men...” She shivered and looked away.

  He pushed his plate aside, then her wine, and reached for her hand. “Carl has made her his first priority. We’ll know something in the morning.”

  “And Curtis Hoyt?”

  Releasing a deep sigh, he looked to the ceiling. “Carl and Dean are pulling an all-nighter for us. After they’re finished with Lauren Sundahl, they’ll take care of Hoyt. CSU did conclude that there were two sets of fingerprints found on the syringe Winston used against Hoyt, and that it was likely some type of ammonia-based cleaning supply. They also found traces of this same substance in Hoyt’s front pants pocket. They’ll know exactly what was intended to kill Winston once they get the tests back, hopefully tomorrow.”

  “You honestly think Curtis tried to kill Winston?” she asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. “I knew him, and his wife. Everybody loved the guy. He was a former cop. I just can’t imagine...”

  “It gets worse. Roy and I went to see Mrs. Hoyt after we’d left Lauren Sundahl’s home. CSU met us there, and we searched the house.” Rachel had already run through bank accounts in not only Hoyt’s name, but his wife and children, too. She’d found nothing that would prove someone had bribed him to kill Winston, but they had. “Underneath a floorboard in his bedroom, we discovered an old tackle box, containing ten thousand dollars in small, unmarked bills. Along with the money, we found pictures of Hoyt gambling at a casino, as well as cheating on his wife.”

  Her eyes grew even wider. “What are you saying? That he was being blackmailed?” She shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would a blackmailer pay Curtis? Wouldn’t the pictures be enough of an incentive?”

  “You’d think,” he said with a shrug. “There was also a typed note in the box stating that once ‘the job’ was done, Hoyt would receive another ten grand. Between the money and the note, Roy and I think Winston definitely had a partner.” He leaned back in the chair. “A partner who wants him dead.”

  “Based on my last trance, that makes sense.”

  “It does, but, no offense, your trances aren’t considered hard evidence.”
r />   “True, but what about Winston’s confession?”

  I know something you don’t know.

  Winston’s parting words from the night he’d been arrested still taunted him. He’d been coked up that night, based on the urinalysis they’d forced on him. Arrogant and self-assured. Why?

  “I’m still not sure, and we might never know. Thanks to the beating he took, Winston’s in a coma.”

  “A coma? Oh my God. What did the doctor say? Is there any chance he’ll recover? Not that he deserves to live. I’d rather see him suffer in prison.” She picked up her wine glass. “Actually, I wish Wisconsin still had the death penalty.”

  “Eye for an eye?”

  “Oh yeah. Especially when it comes to a monster like him.”

  “After what I’ve witnessed over the years, I wholeheartedly agree with you. As for his doctor, he said these next few days will be crucial as to whether or not Winston will survive. He sustained a subdural hematoma.”

  “Which is?”

  “Bleeding around the brain is the gist of it. Once they drilled a hole in Winston’s head to drain the blood, the doctor said the swelling around the brain should dissipate, but that the coma could linger for days or weeks. And, if Winston does wake up, he might not be...normal.”

  “Like he was normal to begin with,” she said, and reached for her wine.

  He lifted his beer in a mock toast. “No kidding. I just hope to God he does wake up. If Winston does have a partner, and they’ve been killing women for years, he’ll know everything about the other man. Roy and I never had a chance to interrogate him. Every time we tried, he’d refuse to speak to us.”

  “Let’s get back to his partner. Do you think Winston confessed as quick as he did—and I know it sounds like something out of movie—because he and his partner had an escape plan?”

  Damn if they weren’t sharing the same thought patterns. “I thought that, too. Only Roy thought it was too Hollywood.”

  She rose and picked up his empty plate. “Roy would know. He and Bev watch more movies in a month than I do in an entire year.”

  “You don’t like hanging out and watching movies?”

  “I do, but there never seems to be any time. But now that I have an assistant manager, I might be able to catch up on the stuff that I’ve recorded on my DVR.”

  “They have that kind of technology in this small town?” he teased.

  She stuck her tongue out at him, which he knew was meant to be playful. Only he imagined the things she could do with that tongue, those full lips...

  “Have you looked into Winston’s past?” she asked as she shut the dishwasher door. “I mean, if he’s been killing women for some time, maybe along his truck routes—”

  His chuckle stopped her mid-sentence.

  “What?”

  “You’d seriously make a good investigator. I’m already on it, which was why I brought my laptop with me.” He explained that Rachel had created a program to match all of Winston’s truck routes to any unsolved murders matching his MO.

  “Impressive.” She a raised brow. “How many years back are we talking?”

  “Fourteen.”

  “Scary.”

  “Tell me about it. Rachel has already sent me data spanning the past five years. I need to look at each unsolved murder. Hopefully she’ll have more for me tomorrow. When Winston wakes up, if he wakes up,” he amended. “I want to hit him with everything and anything we’ve got against him to coerce him into giving up his partner.”

  She wiped the counter clean. “I told you I’d help. What do you say we get at it?”

  Work was the last thing on his mind as he drifted his eyes to her kissable lips. “You don’t have to help, just keep me company.”

  “Nope, the sooner we can get this done, the sooner...” She cocked a brow and her mouth curved in a sexy grin.

  “You’re sure?”

  “I wouldn’t have offered. So where do you want to work? Living room or kitchen?”

  He loved her cozy living room, all of the family pictures, the fireplace, the comfy couch. He grabbed his beer and briefcase. “Living room.”

  Ninety minutes later, between the two of them, they’d reviewed the two dozen unsolved murders Rachel’s program had matched with Winston’s MO and his truck routes. Fifteen of those murders looked more promising than the rest, which meant he’d be on the phone in the morning calling the homicide detectives who had worked those cases. While time consuming to investigate, those crimes might give him more insight into Winston, and his partner. And if they were lucky, maybe even more evidence, too.

  “This is depressing,” she said. “And hell on my back.” She stretched her arms behind her, the tight shirt tugged against her breasts.

  He didn’t bother to pretend he didn’t notice. Despite what they’d been researching, his mind had been focused on the promises their kiss in the foyer held. “Need a break?”

  “Definitely.” She leaned back into the couch. “I forgot what it was like to sit, hunched over a computer.”

  “It doesn’t help that two of us are sharing my laptop, or that we’re not exactly in sturdy office chairs.” They’d been sitting on her couch, legs brushing, heads together, her scent bombarding his senses and putting him in a constant state of arousal.

  “True.” She placed her bare feet on the coffee table, wiggled her toes, and rested her head against the couch cushion. “What do you do for fun, John? You know, when you’re not looking for bad guys.”

  “Where’d that come from?”

  “I dunno, maybe because this is more than depressing.” She pointed to the laptop. “You’ve got to have some way to blow off steam.”

  Thinking of a few ways he could blow off steam, he glanced at her breasts.

  “Besides sex,” she added with a raised brow.

  He laughed and leaned back into the couch, his gaze on hers, their faces inches apart. “I watch some TV, news and sports mostly.”

  “Movies?”

  “Not really.”

  “Do you go to baseball or football games, or meet friends at a bar?”

  His face heated. “Not in a...long time.”

  Not since Renee.

  “So when was the last time you had any real fun?”

  “This afternoon,” he said honestly.

  His confession earned him a shy smile. “Seriously?” she asked, moving closer.

  “Seriously. Your turn. What do you do for fun?”

  “Um, bake.”

  “Bake. Boy do you know how to live on the wild side.”

  With a sexy smile, she lightly slapped his chest, then surprised him by straddling his thighs. “Crazy wild.” She rotated her hips along his arousal.

  Gripping her rear, he pulled her closer. “Feeling a little crazy wild now?”

  Her breath hitched as he nibbled her neck. “What I feel is an impressive erection between my thighs.” She scooted down his lap, dragging her fingers along his chest and stomach until she reached his belt buckle. “Work can wait.” She loosened his belt buckle. “Let’s have some fun for a while.”

  The door bell rang. Her hand stilled over the erection beneath his jeans.

  Frowning, she rose. “I can’t imagine who it could be.”

  Tense, alert, he stopped her. “Wait, I’ll check.” When he looked through the front door’s peep hole, he swore under his breath, and unlocked the deadbolt. “It’s Lloyd,” he said as he opened the door.

  The fucking Viking barreled into the foyer, sweeping his gaze between him and Celeste. “I need to talk to you,” he said ignoring him, his eyes on Celeste. “Alone.”

  “About?”

  “I said alone, Celeste. Now.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “Now?” she repeated, her cheeks flushing.

  “Yeah, now.”

  “Does this have anything to do with my brother?”

  Lloyd slid his gaze to him. “No.”

  “John, then?”

  “Most definit
ely.”

  “Then say whatever you have to say in front of him.”

  He slammed the door, and crowded the foyer. “Fine. Maybe it’s better this way. I’ll throw all the cards on the table and watch him squirm.”

  She dropped her arms, and wrinkled her forehead. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “It’s not me, it’s him.” The Viking stared at him with self-assured satisfaction. “Yeah, I’m onto you, Kain. Remember my contacts with the FBI field office in Minneapolis? Well, I did some checking. While you’ve been trying to put the moves on Celeste, did you tell her about your last partner?”

  John looked to Celeste to gauge her reaction. Her blue eyes had become shards of ice as she stared at Lloyd. “No, I haven’t.”

  But maybe I should have.

  “It’s none of my business,” she said. “Leave. Now. Whatever happened with John’s partner is none of my business.”

  “It should be. She’s dead.”

  Her eyes widened a fraction. “Get out,” she demanded, her jaw clenched tight.

  “No way, you need to know. He’d been sleeping with his partner, and was dirty. Filtering money into his own bank accounts, using the system, his badge, to get what he wanted. His partner ended up dead, with his gun. And I’m not about to allow you to—”

  “Leave now or I’m calling Roy,” she shouted.

  The fucking Viking gripped the door handle. “Will’s out back?”

  “As always. Now leave.”

  “Fine. But I don’t like this.”

  “I’m sure you don’t.”

  She shoved him. With Celeste being no more than five foot four, on any other occasion, he might have laughed at the way she made Lloyd cower. But he couldn’t. Lloyd had opened a can of worms. Celeste would have questions. He would have answers. But would she believe him?

  “Celeste,” Lloyd pleaded.

  “Stay out of my business. And I had better not hear anything from Will, either. If you go see him tonight, don’t you dare mention a word of this.”

  Lloyd’s cheeks developed red splotches. “Yeah, I got it.” Then he looked to him. “Do anything to hurt her, and I’m coming for you. Understand?”

  He didn’t like Lloyd’s possessiveness, and as he was about to counter the threat, Celeste rolled her eyes. “Quit with the BS and leave.”