Why couldn’t his life be easy?
It was as if he was cursed from birth. All he wanted was to be loved, and he would promise the woman who gave him that his undying devotion.
He’d love her.
Cherish her.
Never stray.
If he could just get a break. Didn’t his boss say that if it was meant to be, it would work out? Maybe this was his sign.
Glancing up, he found her standing there. He couldn’t speak. If he did, he’d beg. He was full of shit the previous night. Curtis would crawl after her and humiliate himself to get her back.
In fact, he was about to do it again.
Brynn could see how much he was hurting, and it broke her heart. She’d done this to him, and now she needed to heal him. Moving toward him, she watched him brace.
It was like she was going to attack, and he was waiting for the first strike.
Instead, she did something that she’d never done before. Brynn grabbed him by the tie, pulled him to his feet, and kissed him.
It was a full on lip lock, shooting sparks through both their bodies. Her hands went to the back of his neck, as he held onto her body.
She wanted Curtis to know the truth. Every part of her wanted him.
This was her public declaration.
Curtis held on through the kiss. It was certainly not what he was expecting, but it was what his heart needed. He couldn’t believe Brynn was doing this.
Then again, why complain.
Tessa giggled as they sat there watching it all unfold. She laughed even more when their boss walked through the doorway and came to a stop.
Paris cleared his throat, warning the two.
Immediately, they broke apart.
Normally, Greyson would have busted the man unmercifully, but he knew Curtis was suffering. “I’m going to guess that this kiss has something to do with that mountain of flowers on Brynn’s desk,” he stated, cuing the confused man in.
She stared at him. “Tulips are my favorite. How did you know?” she asked.
Emma jumped in, covering for him. “Who cares? Holy crap I’m jealous. It looks like someone is going to have to try harder,” she stated, elbowing her husband.
Croft nearly laughed. Yeah, why buy flowers when you could get your wife a protective mercenary. It was the gift that kept on giving.
Emma got them to refocus. “Maybe we should focus on work. That’s all we need is for the media to see anyone on the team making out while on duty. The papers are already a mess.”
Brynn sat beside him, holding his hand under the table.
Curtis really believed he must have fallen asleep. Had he known that Brynn wanted flowers, he would have sent her them every day. Then, he felt her fingers.
They were slipping the wedding ring from his pinkie. He glanced down, watching her put it back on her finger.
He was going to kiss Emma, Greyson, and two gay men later. Before there was no hope, and now there was so much.
“We just had a friendly little visit with our ME, and he found some interesting things,” Croft said, focusing on Paris. “We’re in need of some profiling,” he stated.
“Give me the details.”
“Our killer isn't only escalating, but he’s also changing it up. He had sex, but didn't ejaculate.”
That had Paris’s attention. Immediately, he began thinking. The wheels were turning.
“None at all?” he asked.
Croft shook his head.
“That may explain why he went crazy,” he said, sending the autopsy photos to the main screen in the room.
“The ME said the bruising was postmortem,” Emma stated.
Wheeling away from the table, Paris approached the wall. “It makes sense. He lost his temper. I’m willing to bet that she died before he could get off, and he couldn’t seal the deal,” he stated.
“Oh, well it’s good to know he’s above having sex with a corpse,” Greyson stated sarcastically. “Here, I thought he had no scruples.”
Paris glanced over at his boss. “This is bad.”
“On a scale of one to ten, what are we talking?” Emma asked, needing a little more information before they rolled out the plan.
It was going to be dangerous.
“Twelve,” Paris stated.
“Oh shit,” muttered Croft.
“Whoever he gets next is going to be tortured. He’s going to want to prove he’s in control. When Reanne died before he could get off, she stole his ability to prove he was in charge. The next woman is going to be the one who suffers.”
“How long do we have?” Croft asked.
“Not long. We’re talking hours. He’ll strike again, knowing that he’ll need to make someone pay for her failure. She didn't do her job. She didn't get him off.”
This wasn’t going to be good at all.
“What are we going to do?” Brynn asked.
“Well it’s funny that you should ask that. While on our way over here,” Emma began, getting ready to tell them her plan, “we had an idea.”
Greyson opted to take the heat on this one. There was no way his partner was going to like this, especially now.
“We think we have a way to catch this guy, but it’s not going to be easy.”
They all listened.
“We have his ISP address, and all the different accounts he’s used to lure these women in, so what if we flip it around and do the same thing?”
They looked confused.
“We’re going to bait the hook. We’ll get a ringer to ask for a date, talk about her fantasies, and lure him in. When she agrees to meet him, we’ll have him.”
Immediately, Curtis saw where this was going. Emma was a redhead, Tessa had raven hair, and the only woman left was Brynn.
He stood up, outraged. “Not happening. You’re not using my wife as the bait in some sick man’s trap. I won’t let her get hurt!”
Croft wasn’t surprised by his anger, but he was by the admission. As far as he knew, no one was aware that they were married.
Paris and Tessa stared at him.
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Brynn,” he muttered, realizing what he’d just done.
Tessa started laughing. “Wow. It looks like someone eloped. The marriage bug is going around.”
Brynn hated that he was worried about spilling the truth. Once more, she took his hand in hers, joining them together. “Yes, we got married on Friday,” she stated.
There was nothing more added.
Not that it was a mistake.
A screw up.
Or a drunken error on their behalf.
Then, she stared into his eyes. “We have to do this, Curtis. If we don’t, someone else is going to die. There are five people in here that I can trust. I know no one will let me get hurt. Besides, this is my job. I became a cop and I’ve worked the streets before for vice.”
He hated it.
This was the worst idea ever.
Yet, he knew it was also the most likely to get the job done. While she stared at him with her blue eyes, he couldn’t say no. “What do we have to do?” he asked, trusting his boss.
They were his family. He’d put his most treasured gift in the man’s hands.
“Brynn is going to add some sexy photos, bulk up her account, and make it look like she’s a sex maniac,” Emma stated. “Curtis, you can go into the website’s accounts and backdate her membership. If our killer notices its days old, he’ll be suspicious.”
“What kind of pictures?” she asked, hoping they weren’t going to be naked.
Curtis reluctantly pulled out his phone. I have some on here. There are some of us on a date, a few of you smiling at me. I may even have one before the auction where Emma was playing the piano, and quite a few party ones from Friday.”
“Thank you, Curtis,” Croft said, patting him on the back. “Paris, I need you to help Brynn. Tell her exactly what she needs to put in that profile to lure herself a lunatic. Make it work.”
He nodded.
Emma couldn’t believe it.
“Another body? Are you freaking kidding me?”
He nodded. “No, I’m not, and he’s picked his favorite place to leave dead women. It seems he likes that sleaze bag motel. He’s found a new dumping ground.”
They stood.
“Get to work, everyone. Tessa, you’re coming out with us. We need another set of eyes for now. This killer is getting ballsy, so we need to cut his off,” Croft stated.
They headed out, hoping that Paris was wrong. No one wanted to see another woman butchered, but the odds weren’t in their favor.
The sicko was driving the crazy train.
They were helpless to get off.
Now they just hoped it didn't derail.
* * *
At the hotel, they found the ME just pulling up. He looked just as irritated as they did. Every day seemed to turn up more bodies.
The man was on burn out.
“You better catch this guy soon. My cooler is full. I don’t have any more room. Soon, I’m going to have to start storing them in refrigerated trucks out back.”
Yeah, that would make one hell of a story.
Emma pointed at the one cop. “What happened?” she asked.
“The owner went to clean the room and found your victim. She called it in.” He pointed to the patrol car and the sequestered woman.
It was probably a good idea, since the media was already beginning to arrive.
“It looks like they’ve all been sitting on their police scanners,” he stated, shaking his head. “We’ll give Steele a head start.”
Emma agreed. Heading for the patrol car, she could see the pale woman in the back. This had obviously shaken her. Now, Emma had to hope she wouldn’t have a heart attack.
Opening the door, she stared in at Mildred Myers. “Ma’am, can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head, still not speaking.
Yeah, this had to be bad.
Real bad.
“What happened, ma’am?” she asked, crouching down beside the open door.
“This woman came in last night, needing a room. I knew she was a reporter, I could tell right off. I’m familiar with them. They ask questions a specific way.”
Emma made notes.
“So, she asks about the dead woman and wants the room right next door. I just think she’s a freak at this point, but she was paying cash.”
“Did you get her ID?”
She nodded.
“What happened next?”
This morning, I noticed the car she was driving was still there. So, I went to the door to knock. There was no answer. I figured she was just sleeping. I decided to go do my billing, and then come back later.”
Emma could tell that Tessa had seen her point at the vacant car. Already, she was running it.
“Then?”
She cleared her throat. “I went back. I knocked and told her I was coming in. When I did…”
Mildred Myers wiped her eyes.
“Did you touch anything?” Emma asked.
“Nothing inside the room. I did touch the door and the knob to get in.”
“Okay, ma’am. You sit right here. We’re going to get an ambulance to check you out. You look a little pale.”
The woman didn't argue.
As they walked away from the patrol vehicle, Tessa read off a name.
“It’s registered to Nia Howard. No arrest record.”
Emma headed toward the open door. As she approached, she could smell the blood.
This one wasn’t going to be the same.
Greyson held out his hand, taking two pairs of gloves from the tech.
“Tessa, can you get that name back to the team? They can start running her to see if she was on that dating site.”
The agent moved off to make the call.
Inside the room, they stared at the carnage. The killer had definitely deviated from his normal methodology.
“Doc, do I dare ask what the hell we have?” Emma asked.
He glanced up. “Well, he slit her throat. That’s new.”
“Did he strangle her first?” Croft asked.
Doctor Bentley shook his head. “No. I don’t believe she was dead. With this kind of blood splatter, it shows that her heart was pumping at the time.”
“So, not to point out the obvious, but she’s a blonde and still has her hair,” Emma stated.
“Yeah, I noticed. She has abrasions on her arms, so he restrained her. That’s new too.”
Croft spoke up, “Was she raped?”
He nodded. “There are tears in the vaginal wall and there appears to be dried traces of semen. Apparently, his previous problem didn't carry through to this woman.”
“Great. He can get it up again. That’s reassuring.”
“We need the DNA, and fast. I’m not sure if this is the same guy, or if it’s a copycat trying to screw with us. The only thing which matches up to the previous deaths is the motel.”
When the ME rolled her over, Emma gasped. “I recognize her.”
“What?” they both said, glancing over at her.
“Not only do I know her, I can tell you what she did for a living.”
Okay, Greyson was intrigued. “How?”
“She’s one of those irritating reporters who is always outside the police station. I blow her off daily, or at least I used to.”
This was all getting bizarre. It was like trying to keep track but the killer’s brain was all scrambled.
“We need to head to her home to check it out. I want to see if she had a laptop there. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Emma glanced over at her ME. “Let me know what else you find, if there’s any trace. I think we’re good with COD. She bled out.”
He nodded before going back to his work. “I’ll call you when I finish her up.”
They headed out.
Greyson was being incredibly quiet. Emma could tell that he was stirred up.
As they passed the police tape, the barrage of reporters’ questions began. They ignored most of them. The only one who got their attention was the man assisting them. When he was allowed to approach, there was bitching and moaning from the other reporters.
“What do you have?” he asked.
“You know I can’t give you specifics, but we are getting closer. The FBI is on the cusp of finding the killer.”
He made notes. “Is that your official word on this?”
Greyson Croft nodded, dropping his arm over his wife’s shoulders. When she glanced up at him, he smiled down at her. “Try and make it look like we’re just having a friendly conversation now and not working,” he stated. From the corner of his eye, he could see the TV cameras rolling.
She did what he asked.
“Put away your tablet,” he stated.
The man obeyed. There was no way he was screwing this one up. He wanted details.
“Do you know a Nia Howard?”
The man thought about it, and then the light bulb went on. “Oh my God! Is that who died in there?” he hissed, lowering his voice.
“Smile,” Croft warned.
Once more, the man did what was asked. “Yes, I did. She’s my competition. We usually vie for the same news stories. Lately, I’ve been smoking her! Well, since you’ve decided to play nice and help a guy out.”
“Yeah, blackmail does that,” stated Croft.
He simply grinned.
“Wait! Why are you telling me her name?” he asked, suddenly looking suspicious.
Croft kept smiling. “We’re going to use each other. You’re getting details from me, and I’m going to get you to work in my favor. I want the killer to know that we’re on his tail.”
“Are you really? Can you guarantee me that I won’t look like an asshole if this drags out for three more weeks? My boss will have my head on a silver platter.”
Greyson
nodded. “We’re close.”
He looked hesitant. Then, he agreed. “Okay, done. What else?”
“Just tell the public the truth. The killer is close to being caught, and there are more details coming.”
He raised his hand. “I want your word I get the interview with you when this is all done.”
Croft shook his hand. “Deal, but you feed the public what I want them to know.”
“Absolutely.”
He jerked his head. “Go do your job, so I can do mine.”
They watched as the man took off.
Emma simply shook her head. “I really hate reporters,” she stated. “They’re like vultures.”
Croft was well aware, but his back was to the wall, and he’d be damned if he didn't use what he had.
The man was going to be helpful, one way, or another.
“Let’s get to Nia Howard’s place. Hopefully, the animals won’t follow.”
She grinned over at him. “That’s kind of cute. You were actually optimistic for a second there.”
“Not buying it?”
She laughed.
“No way in hell.”
* * *
Once they got the call, the team began pulling Nia Howard’s life apart. They dug into the ‘Perfect Indiscretions’ website, looking for her name.
When they found a variation of it, there was no surprise.
This one thing about the killer was never going to change. He had his sick playground.
Curtis sat there scanning the data, taking it all in. He was curious about everything he was pulling up.
“What did you find?” Paris asked.
He told the man.
“Interesting.”
“I think so. I can’t wait to tell the boss man,” he added, before going back to work. “Something about this doesn’t make sense.”
Paris had already begun working on that in his head. “We’ll figure it out. It’s what we do.”
Curtis hoped so.
He had a really bad feeling about it.
It was twisting his gut, making him sick.
“Give me her financials,” Paris said, sensing the man’s mood.
Something was coming.
He could see it a mile away.
* * *
He stood outside the motel watching the cops. He knew he shouldn’t be there gawking, but he couldn’t stay away. What he was observing had him nervous.
Heaven is Weeping (A Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 5) Page 42
