The Naked Eye

by Iris Johansen

  “We already have an ID on the hair. Why should we go any further?”

  “Because if you don’t search further, then you’ll look like asses if we turn up something that makes her look like a heroine victimized by the hometown cops,” Griffin added softly. “And we’re very good at what we do. Let us help you tie this case up.”

  Stokes’s gaze narrowed on his face. “Why are you doing this? She’s not one of your agents.”

  “In the interest of justice. In the spirit of cooperation. You name it, Stokes.”

  He hesitated. “We remain in control of the investigation?”

  “Of course.”

  Stokes slowly nodded. “Compromise is a good thing. Particularly when I come out on top.” He pushed back his chair. “I was close to releasing her anyway. I can always pick her up again.” He smiled at Griffin. “And I made a deal that the department will appreciate. We don’t often get the chance to give orders to the FBI.”

  “Enjoy it.” Griffin took Kendra’s arm and nudged her toward the door. “It will be a rare pleasure for you.”

  Kendra only waited until they were out of the room before she turned to face him. “Why?”

  “That sounded suspicious,” he said. “When I’m only trying to do you a small service.” He thought about it. “No, it was not small. Not huge, but considerable.”

  “Why?” she repeated. “Why did you come down here?”

  “I heard you were having some difficulty, and I thought I’d see if it was necessary to step into the arena.” He led her toward the elevator. “I thought you were handling them with admirable coolness until you decided to go on the attack. You had to bring up Ketchum’s affair?”

  “I just wanted him out of there. Those detectives were very aware of those cameras. Stokes, at least, is aware of my abilities. He probably didn’t want another detective put on the spot and his private life revealed on that tape.” She got on the elevator. “Why are you here? You wanted me to beg you for a favor that was less than this one. Now you show up and offer a bribe to get me off the hook.”

  “Merely a deal that will benefit all of us.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll leave you to figure that out for yourself. Maybe it’s because I have a real affection for you.” He was smiling as the doors started to close. “Or maybe it was because I couldn’t see how you’d be able to repay the favor you promised me if you ended up in a jail cell.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “THEY KEPT YOU A LONG TIME.” Beth was standing by her car, waiting, when Kendra walked out of the precinct. “By the time you called, I’d started to wonder if I needed bail and a defense attorney for you.”

  “I think it was a little close,” Kendra said. “I changed from a person of interest to skirting the edge of being an actual suspect.” She got into the passenger seat. “And if Griffin hadn’t gone to bat for me and offered the facilities of the FBI to help in the investigation, I might have had to lawyer up to keep out of jail.”

  Beth pulled away from the curb. “Griffin helped?”

  Kendra nodded. “Like Batman to the rescue. I was surprised, too.” She looked out the window at the passing streetlight. “He pointed out that DNA could be planted and that a woman of my background and abilities would never make the mistake of leaving a piece of crucial evidence like that.”

  “And they said that everyone makes mistakes,” Beth said. “I’m glad they decided not to play hardball.”

  “Me too.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “But Colby won’t be glad. He went to so much trouble to set it up.”

  “You think it was Colby,”

  “Who else? It would show how superior he was to me. How he could manipulate me to suit himself.”

  “Kendra,” Beth said quietly. “Where did he get that strand of your hair?”

  “I wish I knew.” Her eyes opened. “The logical answer would be my hairbrush. It’s also one of the most frightening. Did he find a way to break into my condo to get that hair?”

  “Possibly. How is your security?”

  “Very good. Is it perfect? Probably not.” She shook her head. “It’s not the only answer. I go to the hairdresser for hair trims every five weeks or so.”

  “That’s not much scarier. He would have had to be watching you to know that was where he had to go to get what he wanted.”

  I’m watching you.

  “That goes without saying. But I don’t know how long he’s been watching me.”

  “A minute is too long.” She grimaced. “This really spooked me, Kendra. I didn’t care about been thrown into jail myself, but I hated the idea that bastard was railroading you. I felt helpless. They wouldn’t even let me see you.”

  “You couldn’t have done anything anyway.”

  “Sure I could. I just had to think what to do. If you could spring me out of that jail when Bubba was out to get me, there wasn’t a question that I have to return the favor.”

  “Colby isn’t Bubba.”

  “But they’re both evil and want to manipulate the world to suit themselves.” She was pulling into a parking spot in front of Kendra’s condo. “And we can’t let them get away with it.” She opened her door. “But that’s not tonight. Tonight, you need to go to bed and get a good night’s sleep so that we can tackle Colby tomorrow. I’ll walk you to your door, then take off for my hotel.” She was walking toward the condo entrance. “Unless you’d like me to stay the night?”

  “No. And I don’t need you to escort me to my door.” Though she found it very touching. “I would have let you bail me out if necessary, but I don’t need a bodyguard, Beth.”

  “Sure you do.” She smiled as she watched Kendra key herself into the building. “I keep telling you. I’m your muscle.” She turned and headed back toward her car. “See you tomorrow…”

  Kendra shook her head as she watched Beth get into her car and take off. Her relationship with Beth was getting increasingly complicated. Who was protecting whom?

  And what difference did it make? It was a dangerous world they were living in right now, and it was only important to survive.

  And make sure that Colby did not survive.

  But Beth was right, she had to rest so that she would be ready to resume the battle tomorrow.

  Shower. Maybe have a cup of tea. Try to go over what she’d seen on the houseboat and see if she would have a breakthrough. Then go to bed and try to get to sleep.

  The gully.

  Pleasant dreams.

  If the nightmare came, it would come. She would not let him make her afraid.

  * * *

  SHE’D FINISHED THE SHOWER AND washing her hair and was making her tea when her cell phone rang.

  Beth checking on her?

  No, not Beth.

  “Why are you calling, Lynch? Bored? I’m too tired right now to try to entertain you.”

  “When did you ever make that attempt? And evidently you’re keeping yourself too busy to get bored,” he said grimly. “I’m surprised you still have your phone. That must mean that they thought better of tossing you into jail.”

  “Ah, your spies are on the job again.” She dropped down in the chair and lifted her cup to her lips. “Or was it Griffin?”

  “Both. I got a report that you were being questioned, and I called Griffin and made him fill me in. He wasn’t pleased, but he did enjoy the fact that you were up to your neck in trouble and I couldn’t do a thing about it.”

  “That sounds like him. But even if you wanted to help, there was no way you could from Luxembourg.”

  “Even if I wanted—” He drew a deep breath. “Of course, I’d want to—” He stopped. “Why didn’t you tell me that Colby contacted you?”

  “You were flying to Europe. What could you have done anyway?”

  “How the hell do I know? But you didn’t give me the option.”

  “No one believed it was him anyway. Even Griffin said copycat.”

  “But you believed it?”

  “W
hat difference does that make? Everyone knows I’m obsessed about Colby.”

  “Stop being flippant. Was it him, Kendra?”

  She was silent. “It was Colby, Lynch. I’d swear it.”

  He muttered a curse. “Do you know? I was hoping you were wrong about him.”

  “So was I. But hope doesn’t always carry the day. Anyway, thanks for not being completely skeptical like the rest of the world.”

  “The rest of the world doesn’t know you the way I do.”

  “If they did, they’d probably think I was even worse than my reputation. You’ve seen me at some very bad times, Lynch.”

  “And a few magnificent ones.” He paused. “What’s all this DNA business?”

  “Colby, backing me in a corner, trying to bring me down before he strikes the final blow.”

  “Strikes the final blow,” he repeated. “That was very matter-of-fact.”

  “Because it’s not going to happen. I’m not going to let Colby have his own way. He’s going down.” She added, “This conversation isn’t heading anywhere. You called to express your concern, and I appreciate it, but there’s nothing—”

  “Express my concern? You’re damn right I’m concerned. I haven’t been here more than a day, and you’ve already been contacted by a serial killer who wants to make you the next victim on his hit list, then came close to being arrested.”

  “And, of course, none of that would have happened if you’d been here watching my back?”

  “Maybe not. I’m really good at watching your back.”

  She was silent a moment. “Yes, you are. But we both know I can’t rely on you to do it. I have no right.”

  “Rights can be negotiated.” He paused. “We can deal.”

  “You sound like Griffin. He made me promise to return the favor if he got me permission to go into the houseboat.”

  “He did? That’s dangerous. Griffin isn’t a man you want to owe.”

  “I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You have a choice with me,” he said quietly. “Take it. Take what I can give. You won’t be sorry.”

  She felt a sudden rush of heat. She could almost see him, the lean strength, the power, the intensity. The words could be taken many ways but there was a note in his voice …

  “Kendra?”

  “What are you talking about?” she said brusquely. “We’ve been working together for months. I’ve accepted your help. It’s just that there have to be limits.”

  “Do there? I don’t think that I agree. The idea of a limitless relationship appeals to me. It’s a disciplined world for you right now. You’ve forgotten how fascinating it can be to slip under the boundaries. That might be where the negotiating comes in.” He changed the subject. “Look, I’m working to wrap this situation here up quickly. There are a few sticky angles that I’m having to skim around, and I may be stuck for a day or two.”

  “Why are you telling me? It’s your business to do as you please.”

  “I’m telling you because if it wasn’t a possible hostage situation, I’d be on the next plane.”

  “Hostage. You didn’t tell me that.”

  “It could go either way. I may have to go in and do some fancy tap dancing. And if I do that, it will be incognito. I won’t even be able to take my own phone.” He was silent. “But I’ll shove it to someone else if things get more dicey for you. You’ve got to promise me that you’ll tell me right away.”

  “I don’t intend to come running to you if—”

  “Promise me.”

  She knew that tone of voice. He wasn’t going to give up. “I’ll tell you if I don’t believe I can handle it.”

  He muttered a curse. “And that’s almost less than nothing. Okay, remember that he’ll strike not only at you but the people close to you. If you don’t want to accept help for yourself, do you have the right to not bring in additional troops to save them?”

  Beth. Olivia. Her mother.

  Lynch was not called the Puppetmaster for nothing. He had found the one argument she couldn’t refute. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “And isn’t it time that you moved into my place?”

  “No, it is not. Drop it, Lynch.”

  He didn’t push it. He knew that he’d already won a major battle. “Okay, but remember it’s an option.”

  “How could I forget? Good night, Lynch.” She hung up.

  She sat there staring down at the phone. The call had been disturbing and annoying and … comforting. Not surprising, when Lynch could be all things to all individuals if he wished.

  Tonight she’d try to forget the disturbing and remember the comforting. It had been a rough day, and she needed to be soothed and told that everything would be all right.

  And he had not done that, but he had said he wanted to watch her back, and that was pretty good, too.

  She finished her tea and took the cup to the kitchen. She had planned to go over the items in the houseboat and try to put some clarity to confusion. But she would leave it for the night and go to bed. Maybe everything would be clearer in the morning.

  She went back to her bedroom and started to turn out the light.

  Then she stopped.

  Not yet. One more thing before she risked that nightmare again.

  She went into the bathroom and opened the drawer where she kept her toiletries.

  Her silverback brush that Olivia had given her last Christmas shimmered in the lights from the vanity.

  She looked at it for a moment, then took it out of the drawer. It felt light to the touch. There were a few strands of hair still on the bristles.

  It would have been so easy for someone to run a comb through those bristles and take those strands.

  Had Colby been here, looking in this mirror, the brush in his hands?

  She shuddered. She could almost imagine him standing behind her, smiling.

  No!

  She threw the brush in the drawer and slammed it closed. She whirled, flipped off the light, and strode back into the bedroom.

  She would not imagine what she did not know. She would not let him torment her. He was doing quite enough of that without her help.

  She dove into bed and closed her eyes.

  Don’t think of the gully.

  Don’t think of that hairbrush.

  Think of Lynch. Don’t push away any part of what he made her feel. It might save her from Colby tonight.

  Take it. Take what I can give. You won’t be sorry.

  I’m taking it, Lynch. Tonight, I choose you.

  * * *

  KENDRA WAS PERCHED ON THE edge of the sofa, staring intently at her television, when Beth entered the condo the next morning.

  “Aha,” Beth said. “The only thing that could require that level of concentration is the latest episode of Real Housewives. Or maybe Duck Dynasty.”

  “I got up early, and I’ve been going over the video you shot of Sheila Hunter’s houseboat.”

  “Even more entertaining. I went over it a couple times myself. I have a hunch that you saw more than I did though.”

  “Not necessarily.”

  “Does it give you any ideas?”

  Kendra paused the video. “Yeah, maybe. At any rate, today we’re going to meet with the powerful CEO of a multinational media corporation and ask him a boatload of questions. No problem, right?”

  “You’ve got to be talking about Robert Schultz. I saw the references to him in her phone records. You’re going to try to see him?”

  Kendra nodded. “Sheila Hunter was in constant contact with him, at all hours of the day and night. I can see it on the call logs Lynch pulled for me.”

  “You think something was going on between them?”

  “Something was. It rang a bell with me when I was talking to those cops yesterday. One of them got extremely shifty when I accused him of cheating on his wife.”

  Beth laughed. “You accused a cop of—”

  “Not my finest hour. I kind of lost my patience. Anyway, it
suddenly occurred to me that some of the things that had been wiped clean might have been done to hide evidence of an affair, not a murder.”

  “What?”

  “The main reason that Colby wanted me to go to the houseboat was to see how clever he’d been in planting that DNA. But there might have been something else, and I didn’t see anything. Everything was wiped clean. Colby wouldn’t have wiped anything clean if he wanted me to see it. So I began to wonder if someone else wiped that crime scene down.”

  “He could have been hiding evidence of his affair and the murder.”

  “If I didn’t know Colby was responsible, I might have thought that myself. I need to talk to Schultz right away.”

  “Not that I doubt you, but high-powered executives tend be a little busy. How exactly are you going to pull that off?”

  “I already have. We’re meeting him at Amici Park in half an hour.”

  “You’re not joking.”

  “No, I have his personal cell number, remember? Plus a bit of embarrassing knowledge. Trust me, it’s a potent combination.”

  * * *

  IN TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES, KENDRA and Beth were walking on the outskirts of downtown’s Amici Park, which on weekdays became the playground for an adjacent elementary school. The small park was located in Little Italy, and it offered one of the few grassy areas for dog walkers in the downtown area.

  A slender man in an expertly tailored suit was already there. In his fifties, he had fine features and slightly thinning brown hair. He was leaning against the fence, skimming e-mails on his phone. Kendra approached him. “Robert Schultz?”

  “Yes, Ms. Michaels.” He put away his phone. “When I suggested this place, I didn’t realize it was closed to park goers on school days. We can go somewhere else.”

  “This will be fine. Our conversation isn’t going to last long.”

  “I hope not.” He turned to Beth. “And you are?”

  “Helping me,” Kendra replied. “Beth Avery.”

  Schultz nodded. “Which means she’s cut from the same cloth.” He turned back to Kendra, and said coldly, “I don’t usually respond to tactics like yours, Ms. Michaels. I don’t appreciate threats.”