Roulette

by C. D. Bradley

  “I’m actually a forensic entomologist. Nice to meet you.” His voice came through the door and swirled around Olivia exciting and terrifying her at the same time. Every nerve ending tingled and the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up. “I’m special agent Dominic Kain.”

  JUST LIKE THAT the roller coaster crested the top of the hill and plummeted over the other side taking her stomach with it. Olivia’s head spun, sudden nausea rose up and threatened to return the bad coffee she had just consumed. This had to be a joke, somebody in this room was punking her. She looked around but no one was laughing. They were all staring at the incredibly handsome man standing in the doorway with the black suit and tie. A tie that she had ripped off him just six blazing hours ago. Fuck, her mouth went dry.

  He stepped into the room and scanned their faces until he locked on hers. The bastard smirked. It was supposed to be a one-night stand. She was never going to see him again. Why didn’t he tell her who he really was? Some fucking secret identity. Was he undercover there or was he really also a male model? He didn’t look surprised to see her. No, that smirk. He knew she would be here.

  Surprise turned into anger. Olivia was pissed at him for lying and fucking embarrassed for not knowing. She liked being in control. The one night she gave that over to someone she was never going to have to look at again and here he was. He moved to the front of the room like he fucking owned the place. Olivia turned away but the movement caused her to smell his cologne where his hands had just been on her. She could still feel him on her skin. The heat still radiated from his touch. She couldn’t do this. They did not need him on this case. She had to find a way to send him packing back to Langley.

  Mr. Davis introduced himself and brought Dominic up to speed. Olivia wrung her hands and looked anywhere but at the incredible specimen of a man in that suit. Had he looked that good the night before? She knew he had. The dark suit had to be tailored just for him concealing the exquisitely cut muscles of his shoulders and abs. God that tattoo, she could see it staring back at her through his clothes.

  “May I look at the preliminary autopsy report?” Dominic asked and looked around the room. No one answered. Olivia forgot for a moment that she was holding it.

  “Olivia.” Mr. Davis spoke up. “Do you still have that report? Agent Kain this is Olivia Hastings she is one of our top prosecutors.”

  “Nice to meet you, Ms. Hastings,” he offered and extended his hand. Reluctantly Olivia took it. His touch was just as electric as it had been the night before. He shook her hand and gave it a little squeeze. Olivia drew back.

  “Olivia likes to be involved with the investigative side of her cases. I would like for the two of you to work together,” Mr. Davis said patting Olivia on the back.

  “I don’t know if that—” Olivia started but Dominic cut her off.

  “It would be my pleasure, Mr. Davis,” he answered professionally but the word pleasure rolled off his tongue and caressed Olivia. She remained as calm as possible and handed over the report.

  “This is just the preliminary, Dr. Mattis was hoping to talk with you before she finalized anything,” Olivia reported. She absolutely could not work with him. Someone else was going to have to do it. “Detective Shaver usually handles the field work. You may rather work with him. Most of my work is done alone researching.” Olivia did her best to sound authoritative and distant. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and Special Agent Kain as possible.

  “I love research,” he said with a wicked smile. “I’m here to help however you need me.”

  Detective Shaver spoke up. “You’re always trying to get into the investigation, Olivia, here’s your chance,” he answered with the sarcasm of a hateful older brother. She knew he had never been fond of her asking questions at the crime scene. This was his chance to kill two birds with one stone.

  Olivia gritted her teeth; as much as this investigation meant to her she was not about to spend the next month working side by side with Dominic Kain. She couldn’t. He stood there looking at her like a Greek god in a dress suit and a badge. That smile was the same one he gave her when he undid her bra with his teeth. The sudden memory sent a jolt of electricity through her clit and Olivia jumped bumping the table.

  “Are you all right, Olivia?” Mr. Davis asked her arching his eyebrows in concern.

  “Yes, I’m sorry. I really work best alone. Agent Kain is from the FBI, I’m sure he doesn’t need an attorney tagging along,” Olivia blurted. She knew her argument sounded weak but she was getting desperate.

  “I think you could be just what I need,” Dominic countered. His eyes lit up and he stared only at her. Olivia felt her chest heave involuntarily. “You are familiar with the case and have a working knowledge of the victim.”

  “That settles it.” Mr. Davis killed any chance of escape. “Olivia, you and Agent Kain will work together on this. Keep me informed.”

  This was going to be impossible. She had to put last night out of her mind. It never happened. She had been reckless and stupid. She would not let it happen again. Olivia’s head was in the game but her body and heart had already left the stadium.

  “Let’s head over to the morgue I would like to take a look at the victim and the larvae that Dr. Mattis obtained,” Dominic said, his tone all business.

  Olivia looked around the room in one last ditch effort for help. There was none to be found. “Okay, I need to get a few things from my office first.” Olivia conceded and started toward the door. She needed to stall just for a moment to get herself together.

  “I’ll walk with you,” Dominic offered and followed her into the hallway. Once in the hall Olivia picked up the pace. She needed to get to her office. She needed space but he stayed right with her.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were an FBI agent?” Olivia spat as soon as they were behind her office door. It was Sunday and mercifully this part of the building was empty.

  “You didn’t seem to care what I did last night. As I recall you didn’t want to know anything about me,” he shot back eyebrows raised, ready for whatever challenge she threw at him.

  “It was supposed to be a one-night stand,” Olivia grumbled and found the aspirin in her desk and chugged two with a bottle of water. The small hangover headache she woke up with was turning into a full-blown tension migraine. “You weren’t supposed to show up in my professional life.”

  “So just a piece of meat to use and throw away huh?” he asked. This guy would probably poke a snake until it struck.

  “Oh don’t give me that bullshit,” she hissed. “You are a male model on romance covers for God sake. You probably have one-night stands all over this damn country. I’m just not naïve enough to believe you are some kind of prince charming.”

  “I am actually a forensic entomologist. The modeling is just something I do to help my sister. But you would know that if you took time to learn more than my name,” he countered.

  “Last night will not be repeated. It was simply a one-night stand between two strangers. End of story,” Olivia snapped. She needed to draw a line between what happened last night and their professional lives if she was ever going to be able to work with this man.

  “Whatever you say,” he said with a smirk and put his tongue to his upper lip. “Care to grab some coffee and a bagel on the way? It’s been hours since I ate anything besides you.” He raised his eyebrow and popped a piece of cinnamon gum in his mouth.

  Olivia cursed the excited chill that ran over her at the memory of that cinnamon mouth on her most tender flesh. Fucking fireball whiskey, that shit was from the devil, or maybe the god of pleasure. She pushed it out of her mind and grabbed her bag. “There’s a coffee shop around the corner if you must eat before going to the morgue,” she said dryly.

  “We’ll since there’s no chance of repeating my earlier meal that will have to do,” he quipped back and held the door for her.

  Olivia huffed. The sooner they finished this case the better. Who was this man? A
part of her longed to know him better. He was the first man she had ever felt this connected to and it scared the hell out of her. She knew better than to let her guard down. When the case was over he would be gone. She would not set herself up for heartbreak.

  They went into Java Surf Café and Espresso Bar. Olivia loved this place, it was only three blocks from the courthouse and had killer breakfast burritos. The blue swirl tile floor and ocean city walls gave the feeling of walking into Atlantis. She recognized the young blonde behind the counter. She had been working there about six months.

  “Your usual, Ms. Hastings?” The girl asked never taking her eyes off Dominic. The girl’s cheeks flushed and she fumbled with the cup.

  Oh for heaven’s sake. “Yes, thank you.” She turned to Dominic who seemed to be mesmerized watching her tap her fingers impatiently on her purse. “Hello . . . what kind of coffee did you want?”

  “Black is fine, and a bagel please,” he told the girl behind the counter who nearly tripped jumping to get it for him. Olivia wondered if he had this effect on all women. He didn’t even seem to notice. He was staring at her hands again.

  “Is there something wrong with my hands?” she asked eyeing him.

  “No, they’re beautiful. Why?” he asked as if he hadn’t been staring at them for the last five minutes.

  “You are staring and starting to creep me out,” she responded.

  “Sorry I guess I was just remembering . . .” he said with a smile and raised his eyebrows at her.

  “We have a job to do,” she corrected. “There is no time for that.” They grabbed their coffee and started back out to the street. “Do you want to follow me to the morgue?”

  “We could ride together and go over details on the way,” he offered.

  Olivia looked at him and sighed. With anyone else she would have just assumed they would go together. He was different. She didn’t know if she could stand being confined in a car with him without wanting to touch him. “Fine but we are taking my car and I am driving.”

  “Do you always have to be in control?” he asked her, his eyes dancing.

  “I like things as controlled as possible, yes. There is nothing wrong with that,” she answered back defensively. They both knew she hadn’t had any trouble giving up control last night. In fact she had loved it when he took control.

  “Makes sense. You don’t seem like much of a risk taker.” He observed.

  “I sometimes take risks. Well calculated ones anyway.” Olivia didn’t know why she felt the need to defend herself. His opinion had no bearing on her life or career.

  He smiled. “Placing a safe bet is not the same as gambling.” He paused and leaned closer to her. “Kinda like preferring a one-night stand to taking a chance on love. To really live you have to be willing to go all in.”

  “I’m not afraid to live,” she blurted and double clicked the button on her key fob to unlock her Audi.

  He laughed, a loud full chuckle that echoed in the parking garage. “Then prove it,” he said and pointed at his bike. “Ride with me.”

  Olivia stood wide-eyed staring at him like he had grown a second head. Ride on that death trap in place of her five-star safety rated Audi, he must be smoking crack. She was not about to get on that thing. “You must be joking. There is no way on God’s green earth that I am going to place my life in your hands.”

  “The Ducati XDiavel is a safe bike and I am a good driver. For once, let go and trust me.” His voice lowered.

  Olivia took a deep breath. She did not give into peer pressure. This was not an after school special, this was real fucking life and she was not about to piss it away. “You’re fucking crazier than I thought,” she snipped and started to climb into her car.

  “You’ll never get her on anything like that. Liv doesn’t color outside the lines.” Vincent Trudeau’s voice snaked its way across the garage.

  Olivia turned around scowl plastered on her face. “What are you doing here on a Sunday?”

  “Working, same as you. Who’s your friend?” Vincent stepped forward into the space between Olivia and Dominic and extended his hand.

  Dominic’s eyes darkened like a raging sea. He took Vincent’s hand and they exchanged a very firm handshake. Olivia almost snickered. They looked like two bucks clashing over a doe.

  “Special Agent Dominic Kain.” She heard Dominic say as she rolled her eyes and climbed in her car leaving the two men to their pissing contest.

  As she exited the garage she heard Dominic’s bike fire up. He was behind her in seconds. Safe my ass. She couldn’t help stealing glances at him in the rearview mirror. She had never pictured a suit on a motorcycle but he looked pretty badass. Uncontrollably her mind flashed back to his hand around her ankles pulling her back for more. She had never felt so free and full at the same time. Every ounce of energy was focused on her pleasure. Olivia had never experienced that before. She couldn’t get over how he knew her body better that she did. When he . . .

  Olivia was jolted out of her fantasy by the sudden realization of the taillights in front of her. The light had turned red. She slammed on her breaks and stopped just short of hitting the car in front of her. Dominic easily changed lanes to avoid hitting her and pulled up beside her at the light. He tipped his visor and grinned at her.

  “Not a word.” She mouthed without rolling her window down. She had to get this guy out of her head and focus on this case. This was perhaps, the biggest case of her career so far and the similarities to Grace’s death made it personal. She needed everything about this investigation to be spot on. She didn’t have time for distractions like Dominic Kain.

  They made it to the morgue without further incident. Olivia got out and Dominic was on her in a second. He was standing entirely too close. She wanted to push him away but he felt incredible against her. “What was going on back there? Are you okay?” He looked down at her, his forehead crinkled with concern.

  Olivia mustered all the will power she could manage and pushed him away. “I’m fine. The car in front of me stopped suddenly and so did I,” she answered haughtily and started toward the door. She could tell by the look on his face they both knew she was lying. She was not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing why she was so distracted. “Let’s just get inside we have a job to do.”

  Once inside Olivia introduced Dominic to Dr. Mattis. Was Dr. Mattis beaming? Was that makeup? Olivia couldn’t believe her eyes.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you,” Dr. Mattis gushed. “I’ve heard so much about you.” She shook Dominic’s hand a little longer than what Olivia thought was even close to professional. Dominic just smiled and graciously talked with the older woman. Olivia started to do the math. Dr. Mattis wasn’t that much older, maybe early fifties. The way her cheeks were flushed she was actually quite pretty. Olivia felt a slight pang of jealousy. It caught her by surprise as she didn’t ever care enough about anyone or anything to be jealous.

  They entered the morgue and Dr. Mattis brought Gwen back out on the table. Dominic looked shocked for a moment like he was seeing a ghost. Olivia was impressed how quickly he composed himself and got to work. He examined the larval colonies in her body and then asked to use the microscope. Watching him in his element was something to behold. He pulled out a pair of dark rimmed glasses and tidied each specimen. Olivia watched as he studied, stopping only to make notes and occasionally ask Dr. Mattis a question.

  “The size of this larval soldier fly suggests that it’s close to twenty days old.” He paused and jotted down the measurements. “And soldier flies are not usually attracted to a corpse until it has been exposed for around two weeks. Yet you spoke with this woman two weeks ago in your office correct?” he asked turning toward Olivia

  “Correct. Interviewed her in connection with a case we have been working on and tried to get her to file a domestic violence complaint against her boyfriend that we had taken into custody at the time.” Olivia closed her eyes. She could still hear the fear in Gwen’s voice. Sh
e opened them back up and stared at Gwen’s cold battered form. Olivia bit her lower lip. She felt pangs of guilt rising up to get her. Had she caused this woman’s death by trying to get her to talk?

  “Then I need to see the location where the body was found,” Dominic noted. “It’s possible that there was a nest of soldier fly larvae under where the body was found that might indicate why the mature larvae is already on the deceased. If not then we need to consider other options.” Dominic gathered his notes. “Can you take me to the scene where she was found.”

  “You know detective Shaver was on scene when she was found. He could—” Olivia tried to offer but he didn’t let her finish.

  “I would rather you take me if it’s all the same to you,” he interjected his eyes piercing her.

  Olivia wanted to argue. She should just tell him she couldn’t do it. But she knew she would go wherever he asked and she hated herself for it. She had a job to do. She told herself she was not going to let lust or infatuation get the best of her. “We can take my car,” she offered shortly.

  Gwen Robertson’s body was found partially submerged, in the Owl Creek Marsh area. Olivia got directions. She had a vague idea where it was but she didn’t want to look like a complete idiot in front of Dominic. She was already thinking of the car wash her spotless Audi was going to need when they got back. Dominic Kain climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. Immediately the erotic notes of his cologne began to make their way to her side of the vehicle. Damn that man smells good. It was a hell of a lot more than she could say for herself. She wished like hell that she had taken more time to get cleaned up. Olivia took a deep breath and started the car.

  “What can you tell me about the last time you saw the victim,” Dominic the FBI agent began in a professional tone as if the night before never existed.

  “We already went over this,” Olivia answered confused.

  “Yes but doing it again may help jog your memory, bring up something you may have forgotten.” He studied her as he spoke like he was examining a rare specimen.