Killer Romances

by Dana Delamar, Talullah Grace, Sandy Loyd, Kristine Mason, Dale Mayer, Nina Pierce Chantel Rhondeau, K. T. Roberts, H. D. Thomson, Susan Vaughan

  And when he came, an explosion of pleasure that hit simultaneously, he surely thought time had stopped. It took him a long while to come back to earth and when he did, he pushed up on his elbows so as not to crush her.

  When she opened her eyes and glanced at Jack, need clutched at his heart. He shouldn’t want her again after that endless climax, but he did. He found her lips again and began slowly moving in and out.

  As her moans floated somewhere above him, he wondered if he’d ever get enough of her.

  ~~~

  Lucy woke slowly the next morning and stretched, feeling well used. In a good way.

  Smiling, she glanced at a sleeping Jack. She observed him for long minutes, enjoying the view and pretending, while she could, that he was hers and she could have him for a lifetime.

  “Don’t go there, Lucy,” she whispered, pushing out the foolish sentimentality. Even if Jack hadn’t already made it clear he wasn’t long term, she’d do something to screw it up, which was the biggest reason for keeping her distance. But a girl could still ogle such an attractive specimen, she reasoned, continuing her perusal.

  His body was long and lean. Powerful and strong to her soft, and smaller, build. Amazing how the golden stubble and tousled blond bed head gave him a rougher appearance, adding to those surfer-dude good looks. Her gaze followed the line of his muscled shoulder along his arm all the way to his hands, where she marveled at how those fingers had made her body sing. Jack definitely knew a few moves. He’d known just where to touch.

  Sighing, she pushed a lock of hair off his forehead. The movement caused his eyelids to flutter open and a slow grin appeared, softening the granite harshness of his features.

  “What time is it?” He sat up and rubbed a hand over the stubble she’d just finished admiring.

  “After eight.”

  “I haven’t slept so well in a long time.” Jack stretched and pulled her into his arms. He nuzzled her neck, nipping his way to her ear. “You’re therapeutic. I should make love with you more often.”

  Lucy’s grin reached all the way down her body. Even her toes wanted to grin, she felt so good. “Maybe you should.” Yet more chumminess at this point wasn’t in her best interest. She leaned away from him even as his mouth was making its way across her chin. “Didn’t you get enough last night?”

  “Obviously not.” He laughed and took another nip at her neck. “I like kissing you. Maybe I’ll just keep you here all day.”

  “I can’t stay.” She ignored the tingles his nearness caused and slipped out of his arms, immediately feeling a sense of loss. “I have too much to do. I’m searching for Cassie. Remember? So, I’ve got to get home.” She cleared her throat and reached for her T-shirt. “I slept really well too, thanks to you. But I should’ve been out of here hours ago.” It darn sure wouldn’t do to lounge around in bed. Not after last night. She jumped out of bed and headed for his bathroom, grabbing her underwear and jeans along the way.

  When she re-entered the room after showering, Jack was talking on his cell phone. He’d also showered, shaved, and put on fresh clothes.

  “I’ll see you at dinner.” He met Lucy’s gaze and winked. “I’m bringing a friend.”

  “What was that all about,” she asked, as the scent of brewed coffee wafted under her nose. She noted a mug on the dresser. Of course he’d have coffee. What she would give for a cup of tea…

  “That was my mom. She invited me to dinner and I included you.”

  “I don’t think so.” Lucy looked around for her shoes, found one, and stopped to put it on. “This has been nice while it lasted, but we should just leave it at that. A nice time.”

  Jack moved to pick up her other shoe and handed it to her. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “What do you mean, later?” Lucy finished with her shoe and started out of the room. “I have things to do.”

  “I have plenty of time to convince you because we’re spending the day together.”

  She halted at the door and spun around. “No, we’re not.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  “Why?” Lucy’s narrow-eyed gaze searched his. What the hell was he up to?

  He only shrugged and slipped on a determined expression. “Simple. I’m still keeping an eye on you. At least until we find your friend.”

  She remained mute as he led her out to his car. Questions filled her mind. Was that what last night was about? Him keeping an eye on her? She shouldn’t have found the thought disturbing when he’d made no bones about his true motivations before they’d had sex. All the more reason to keep her distance.

  Within thirty minutes, they were hopping out of his BMW and heading up her walkway.

  “Jack, I promise to behave myself,” she said a little too urgently, rushing up the porch stairs with him on her heels. Jeez, did he have to stick so close? It wasn’t as if she could escape him. Halfway to the door she stopped short and turned around, almost bumping into him. “You know, you don’t have to follow my every move. Hell, I’m not planning on going anywhere but Cassie’s apartment and then back home.”

  He took a step back and smiled. “Pavlovian response. I remember all too well how quickly you used to disappear. And I thought I’d already made myself clear about spending the day with you.” He nailed her to the spot with a deadly serious gaze and added, “So, don’t go getting any ideas of ditching me because you won’t get far.”

  Ignoring an urge to scream, Lucy counted to ten, before spinning around to unlock the door. Once open, she smiled sweetly back at Jack as Sadie nudged her leg. “If I wanted to give you the slip, I’d be gone.” She pushed inside with one thought. How to ditch him so she could breathe. Unfortunately, the resolve in his voice, along with that determined glint, told her he planned to imitate superglue.

  “My point exactly. You might as well accept my presence because I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  “Fine.” Lucy bent to pick up Sadie and stroked her silky fur to silence her loud cries, as Jack walked past her a few feet and stood, surveying the living room.

  The cat then wiggled out of her arms and began weaving in between her feet doing circles, all the while continuing her tirade for food. “I need to feed Sadie and get the charger for my cell phone. Hopefully Cassie called and we can knock off the search.” Oh, how Lucy hoped for some sign that Cassie was safe. Then she’d get some space.

  “Just hurry.” Jack moved over to her window and peeked out.

  Working in double-time, Lucy fed Sadie and once ready, grabbed her cell phone’s battery charger along with the adapter to the car cigarette lighter. This way she could charge her phone while they drove. “Please, Lord,” she prayed under her breath, “let there be a message.”

  Minutes later, Lucy was relocking her door. She and Jack retraced their earlier steps, walking side by side toward his BMW. Once buckled inside, he started the car and she stuck the battery charger into the lighter receptacle, then plugged the other end into her cell phone.

  Lucy didn’t bother turning it on as Jack pulled away from the curb. Her phone was ancient by today’s standards. So was her car charger, which wasn’t strong enough to charge and allow her to use the phone at the same time. But after the drive to Cassie’s apartment, her phone would have ample power to check for messages.

  Jack eventually eased the BMW onto the westbound ramp to I-64, sped up, and merged into light traffic, heading toward Louisville.

  While he drove, neither spoke, which was fine by Lucy. She sent up a silent thank-you when they finally turned into Cassie’s apartment parking lot.

  A wall of heat and humidity slammed into Lucy the moment she stepped inside the second-story unit with Jack close on her heels. The apartment wasn’t big, maybe seven hundred square feet, including an L-shaped living room/kitchen/dining room. A hallway led to two bedrooms and a full bathroom.

  “The air is off.” Jack slipped past her and headed in the direction of the thermostat, situated on the inside hallway wall on the other s
ide of the living room/dining room.

  “That means she hasn’t been home since Thursday morning.” When Jack threw her an inquisitive glance, Lucy added, “Cassie likes fresh air and kept the windows open at night whenever possible. It was too hot for open windows Thursday night, which means she’d have turned on her air conditioner and left it on.”

  “Then I doubt she’ll mind if I turn it on now.” Jack reached for the little box and flipped on the thermostat, saying over his shoulder, “If we’re going to be here awhile, might as well be comfortable.”

  Immediately, hot air blew from a vent near Lucy’s legs. The air gradually cooled, replacing some of the stifling heat, as he indicated with the tilt of his head the direction of the bedrooms. “Why don’t you start with those two rooms and I’ll start out here.”

  At the door to Cassie’s office, Lucy stopped and surveyed the room, which contained a big desk, a chair, two filing cabinets, and a couple of bookcases filled with CDs and DVDs. Neat as a pin and serviceable. Nothing fancy. Though Cassie could well afford any luxury money could buy, she hadn’t shared Lucy’s need to decorate. For much the same reasons. Their past experiences. Where Lucy needed to validate her existence and prove her worth with material things, Cassie validated hers by going without all the trappings of wealth.

  Despite being a multi-millionaire, her friend lived a modest lifestyle except for an annual trip to Paris, a necessary indulgence according to Cassie, as the change of scenery gave her the emotional rejuvenation to continue such heartrending work. Other than that one splurge, Cassie took just enough money from her job to pay her bills, then spent the rest, along with the annual interest her inheritance provided, to save her lost kids. Money well spent made up for the sins of those who originally stole it off the backs of others, she was always fond of saying.

  Lucy couldn’t argue with her philosophy. Cassie was just trying to even the score, she thought, doing a quick search and finding a few items out of place. Hmm. She always assumed her friend was neater. The thought registered as she opened another drawer and noted items tossed haphazardly. She glanced around and shivered in the still hot room. Had someone else been through the apartment?

  She started for the master bedroom, hoping Cassie’s safe would yield a clue as to the earlier intruder’s identity. Like the rest of the apartment, the room was almost barren—white walls and an off-white bedspread blending with the tan wood of the nightstand and one dresser. No color graced the walls other than a lone framed poster of a street scene showing patrons eating at an outdoor café—Cassie’s favorite restaurant in the City of Light.

  Lifting one edge of the poster, she checked the wall safe behind it. The safe was closed, but left unlocked. Lucy took the oversized frame down, then opened the door and peered inside before reaching to locate the latch to the hidden compartment. If someone opened the safe, a connecting digital camera automatically snapped a picture to catch the perpetrator in the act. Lucy felt the small indentation and pushed. The hidden compartment slid open. She reached for the camera and took out the memory card. With any luck, whoever had searched the place had been caught on candid camera.

  Still gripping the memory card, Lucy retraced her steps to Cassie’s office and her computer.

  Jack followed. “Whatcha got?” he asked, watching her from the door as she turned on the hard drive.

  “The memory card from a hidden camera in Cassie’s safe. I want to see if there are any pics on it. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” For once, Lucy was glad of her friend’s paranoia. The second the computer booted up completely, Lucy stuck the small disk into the right slot and began working the mouse. While the pictures loaded onto the hard drive, Lucy’s cell phone beeped, indicating an incoming text message. She’d switched the device on just before climbing out of Jack’s car and had expected something then. But when no call or text registered, she’d pocketed the phone and had forgotten about it until now.

  She glanced down at the small screen and her heartbeat stuck in her throat. “Oh my God!”

  “What?” Her excited voice drew Jack’s interest and he hurried to stand behind her, looking at her expectantly.

  “I just got a message. From Cassie.” She skimmed the text. “Maybe she made it back to the motel and the sleazy desk clerk mentioned something about my visit.” What the hell? Her brow furrowed in confusion as she reread it a couple of times. “Only it doesn’t make any sense.”

  First of all, Cassie never signed her texts. Since the phone number showed up in the message, she never took the time to type her name, assuming people knew who sent it. She never used punctuation either, other than dashes. Plus, she rarely capitalized words and she always used one-letter words whenever she could. This message did not come from Cassie, but it came from her cell phone.

  “Read it to me.” Jack leaned over her shoulder as she read the words out loud.

  “‘I’m undercover and can’t communicate. Stay away or you’ll blow my cover. Cassie.’”

  “What’s weird about it?” Jack asked as the device beeped again, indicating another incoming message. “Seems very straightforward to me.”

  “I don’t think it’s from her.” Lucy hit Reply, then quickly typed, “Where the hell r u?” After sending it, she went back into the in-box where a new message appeared. The one word sent a chill down her spine.

  HELP. Cassie’s failsafe. An app she’d programmed into her phone.

  Lucy had laughed at her for creating the one-word message that would automatically go out if a code wasn’t entered upon turning on her iPhone. She’d laughed even harder when Cassie had urged Lucy to create her own failsafe code. Lucy had considered it a waste of time and energy, and definitely unnecessary. She lived in the boonies, for heaven’s sake. Nothing happened in Oakmont. Drunks and cheaters were the only threats she’d ever encountered since her days of living on the streets. Before then, Lucy had stumbled upon a few dangers in the form of those who’d do anything to survive. Unless drug-crazed, they hadn’t been that much of a threat, not to her person anyway. Yet Cassie had insisted.

  “That’s not good.” Jack’s voice drew her gaze and she looked over to see him eyeing the one-word text.

  “No, it’s not.”

  He arched a brow. “What do you make of it?”

  “The first message isn’t from her.” How fitting that the paranoia that led Cassie to provide the means to get the help message out in case something happened to her in the first place, had actually become foresight. Considering all that had happened since her friend had gone missing, Lucy realized her assessment of her safety had been slightly skewed, too Pollyanna, even if she had lived on Oakmont’s streets all those years without any true mishaps.

  It didn’t matter where you lived. If bad people were around, they’d do harm.

  Suddenly another fact dawned, striking Lucy with clarity. She’d been damned lucky all those years. Or maybe not, she thought, remembering how ultra-cautious she’d always been.

  And still was, it seemed.

  The phone beeped again. Already logged in to the in-box, Lucy looked down and read the new message. “At the Starlight Motel. Like I said, keep away. I will contact you. Okay?” Again it was signed “Cassie.”

  Thank God for quirks. Cassie’s message would read something like “At starlight motel–keep away–will contact u–k.”

  Lucy typed “K” and sent it on, knowing without a doubt, just based on the signature alone, that something wasn’t right. No matter how much she’d scoffed at Cassie’s paranoia, Lucy had abided by her wishes, had set up her own failsafe which would send the same help message if anyone unfamiliar with the phone got a hold of it and bypassed the passwords. Just in case.

  Lucy’s focus shifted to the computer and she clicked the mouse to bring up the last pictures taken.

  “Oh my God!”

  “What now?” Jack asked.

  “That’s the sleazoid from the motel. Manny Graves—the same person who claimed to have seen Cassie.”


  Jack whistled. “He looks like a nasty character. Do you think he has something to do with all this?”

  “He’s got to. I need to go back to that motel and talk to him.” She printed off copies of the photos of the motel manager, closed the file and removed the card.

  Jack placed a hand on her shoulder, concern etched into his expression. “I don’t know if that’s such a great idea.”

  Lucy’s brows furrowed. “Why? You’ll be with me, right?”

  He dropped his hand and shook his head. “I’m a lawyer. This cloak and dagger shit isn’t my thing.”

  “Fine.” She clicked the mouse to shut down the computer. “I’ll go alone. You can drop me off at my place.”

  “Hell, no. No way I’m just dropping you off at your place,” Jack said, practically yelling the last word. “If you’re too stubborn to change your mind about going, then I’m going too!”

  “Why?” She glanced up at him, and noting his resolute expression, she frowned. “If my hunch is correct, your precious candidate is no longer my top suspect.”

  He nodded to the screen that had just gone blank. “I tell you why. That guy looks dangerous and I’m not about to let you go off and get yourself killed. You don’t know anything about him.”

  “Something I intend to remedy.” She shoved away from the computer and rose, sliding the photos into her purse. “Besides, what do you care what happens to me as long as Frank Cardello isn’t involved?”

  “I care. A lot. I always have.”

  Lucy ignored the warm, mushy feeling growing inside her belly. “Let me just put this back in the camera in Cassie’s safe.” The way he looked at her as he moved to follow her into the other room made her believe his sentiment about caring. Okay, so he might care about her. Hell, if she were honest with herself, she believed he’d cared about her back when she’d been a homeless person too. But again, it highlighted their inequities, because his caring came from an exalted level, like it was his purpose or something to help a lowly creature. She didn’t want, or need, that kind of caring, thank you very much.