The ring on her finger now felt like little tiny thorns in the inside circlet. She twirled the diamond ring around her finger unconsciously, hoping it would ease the pain. Of course Gerard would have a meltdown if he caught her not wearing the atrocious thing. The Doctor would have none of it. No fiancée of his was going to wear something that you had to carry a magnifying glass to see! But now the ring was too tight around her finger to remove without great effort. She would have to wait for the swelling to go down. "Funny," she thought, the pain and swelling really didn't start until she started wearing the pretentious thing.
Now it seemed as if it was drawing blood. She sat back down and frowned at the ring as she now consciously twirled it and tried to remove it. As if it knew what she was trying to do, the pain started to subside. Finally she was able to look back at her work on the screen, but by now her concentration had been broken by the loud obnoxious chiming of the doorbell disturbing her ruminations. It was a big house and Gerard wanted to make sure they could hear it from wherever they were inside. The bell chimed again, seemingly with its own sense of urgency.
Who the hell could that be at this hour? She grumbled to herself. Surely Gerard would not have forgotten his key. She padded in bare feet to the big oak door letting the coolness of the ceramic tiles chill her feet. The bell chimed a third time.
"I'm coming!" She yelled with a lot of attitude in her voice. If it was one of Gerard's reality show producers coming to kiss his ass some more, she was going to blow her top!
Danny swung the big oak door open and was startled by the sight. Two men stood in the doorway, one in a dark blue suit that looked like he had gotten it off the rack at some bargain bin. He was kind of pudgy and average height. His Hispanic features made him look like any number of men that lived in the area, but he also looked like he was right out of high school. The second man was totally different and exotic. He stood at the doorway, one large arm on the doorjamb, looking extremely casual. He was a mountain she noticed. He has to be at least 6'4, she thought to herself.
"I'm Agent Aiden Stone ma'am, and this is Agent Alejandro Ramirez. I believe we spoke the other night."
I didn't know mountains could talk. Danny mused to herself, "And I believe I told you I wasn't available, Agent Stone."
Stone had the gall to look amused. "And I believe I told you that I needed your help before you hung up on me."
"You're an agent you say?" Danny retorted, never letting the door handle go. "I can believe Agent Ramirez is an agent, but you Agent Stone, really? Jeans and a polo shirt?I was unaware of the new dress code policy at the bureau. OK boys out with the shields."
Danny was not one to mess around; she was a civilian now and for all intents and purposes was practically free of the Bureau. Whatever they wanted from her, they were not going to get it.
Alejandro fumbled with his wallet in his back pocket trying to look more experienced than he was. It was clear he was a rookie. Agent Stone stood straight, and all 6'4 of him made her realize how small she now felt. His skin tone was the color of a deep Hawaiian tan and he had a very island feel about him. She could almost smell the coconuts and ocean breeze around him. He stood before her looking very smug and confident. This irritated Danny as she watched him reach into the front pocket of his impossibly tight jeans, lifting his polo shirt slightly to show a little of his tight abs. She found herself staring a little and turned her head away feeling some heat on her cheeks. Both men now had their badges in front of her and she pretended to inspect them.
"Are you happy now?" Aiden asked his tone sarcastic.
Danny folded her arms across her chest. "OK, fine, what do you guys want?" She inquired, growing more irritated by the moment.
"Can we come in?" Aiden asked. "As I said over the phone I need help on a cold case. We need to talk to you about it, just to pick your brain."
Figuring that the only way to get rid of the two G men would be to let them in and hear their story, Danny decided to let them in only for a few minutes. It would be kind of awkward explaining to Gerard why the Feds were standing on their doorstep.
Danny led the way to the great room with the big round chrome wall clock that now chimed 9:15 pm. Not wanting to keep them there any longer than she had to, she purposely failed to offer them anything to drink. Agent Ramirez was looking around the big room and was just grateful to be out of the heat.
"Phew!" Aiden whistled, "Quite the fancy digs you and the good doctor have got here!"
Danny didn't know whether to be offended or pleased. Alejandro looked like a lost little boy enveloped by the huge couch. She took the matching chair opposite the men. Agent Stone slid back into the sofa and stretched out his arm along the back of it looking like he wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Those laser blue eyes of his were targeting her, and she suddenly wished she was wearing more than her AC/DC tee shirt and cotton shorts.
"Well, you've certainly done your homework. You know where I live. You know my phone number, whom I'm engaged to and where I used to work. Congratulations! You've now passed FBI 101. Now, what do you want?" Her tone took a very serious turn. Gerard was due home in forty-five minutes.
Finally the big man spoke. "Look I'm not going to fool around, I know the work you did and the special talent you possess. I need your help. We have a cold case and no leads. I was told by Agent Johnson that if I needed any help, you were the one to call."
Agent Ramirez looked a little puzzled, like he had wandered into the middle of a conversation. "Agent Stone, what special talent are we talking about?"
Danny spoke up instead, "Agent Ramirez is it? A few years ago, the Bureau decided to try a little experiment. A few people with psychic abilities were recruited, and our talents were used to solve crimes for the federal government. Things didn't go quite the way they were supposed to, and the group was disbanded. End of story."
"Uh, you're a psychic?" Alejandro now directed his gaze to Danny. Aiden spoke up quickly.
"Yes she's psychic and a prodigy according to our superiors." he said.
"You mean like Professor X." the rookie asked, referring to the wheelchair-bound leader of the X-men of comic book fame.
Danny rolled her eyes at the agent's comment. "No, I can't read minds!" she quipped. "My specialty is forensics. I gather evidence and clues and can relay that information to the authorities."
"This is exactly why we need your help." Aiden informed her again.
"You're starting to sound like a broken record, you know that?" Danny complained, feeling his eyes on her, though much to her chagrin, she couldn't keep her eyes off him either. Everything about him was big. Trying to keep cool, she had a hard time forgetting what she and her girlfriends used to joke about when talking about guys with big hands and feet.
“Are you going to help us or not?" Stone asked impatiently. "We have a dead junkie prostitute, no evidence, no motive and no clues."
The big clock now chimed 9:30, and Danny knew she needed to move these gentlemen along. The last thing she needed was FBI agents sitting in the house when Gerard came home, especially with the topic where it was at that moment.
"I'm not making any promises, but leave me your card and I'll think on it. I'm not trying to get tangled up with the Bureau again." She didn't like the fact that they sought her out. She was very happy with her work from home with the e-zine. "I must ask that you leave now, I have a deadline for an article I'm writing."
"Ah yes, The Body Hunters, isn't it?" Agent Stone once again had that smug look on his face showing he knew her more than she thought.
"That's right Agent Stone. How clever of you to know!"She gave him a little glare before she got up and headed to the door. Agent Ramirez stood up quickly and stopped fidgeting nervously with his tie. He walked behind her like a lost puppy dog without really meaning to do so.
Agent Stone stood up from the huge black couch and left a very deep indent in the sofa due to his massive muscle mass. Danny knew she would have to turn over the cushion before Gerard
got home hoping it would give it time to go back to its normal shape.
Aiden swaggered to the door where Danny now held it open, He reached into his front pocket and took out his wallet and placed his card between his index finger and middle finger. When he got to the door he stopped at the frame and looked back, holding up his hand with the card still between his fingers.
"Please, if you will help, here is my card. We are staying at a motel just 2 miles from here. Call me at any time."
"Like I said, I'll think on it. Goodnight Agents." Danny closed the big oak door behind her. She went to the big picture window in the great room and pulled the white-colored curtains aside to watch the agents depart in the standard four-door bland bucar. She laughed to herself at the thought that such an big man as Agent Stone was forced to drive such a vehicle and not, as she presumed, a huge SUV.
With her unwanted company gone, Danny walked back to her office and logged back into her computer. While proofreading the article, a sharp pain shot through her ring finger like lightning. Wincing, she stuck the finger in her mouth and cursed. A popup window abruptly appeared on her computer desktop behind her web browser. Figuring that her popup blocker somehow had become disabled, she rechecked her internet settings. Yet another screen intruded on her computer. Closing the web browser, Danny was horrified to see that the popups were actually autopsy reports featuring two female corpses. To no avail, she tried to close the windows. However, every time she clicked the mouse, another gruesome picture appeared before her eyes. Danielle stepped back from the computer as dozens of coroner photos filled her screen.
Danny turned her back to see her office was filled with the spiritual representations of the victims now on her desktop. The ghostly women were silent, but Danny knew exactly what they wanted. They wanted justice. It looked like her plans not to get entangled with the FBI were not going to work after all.
At precisely a quarter past ten, Dr. Gerard Wolfe's Bentley purred as he coaxed the performance car into the circular drive of his house. Whistling to himself, the doctor grabbed his leather briefcase and strolled into the house as if he hadn't a care in the world. Parked at the curb in front of an adjacent home, Ramirez and Stone observed silently.
After being dismissed by Miss Labouleaux they had circled the block and returned.
"Stone, is there a reason why we're watching Miss Labouleaux's house?" Ramirez hated being clueless, hated it more that his partner was not forthcoming with his plans making him feel like less of a partner and more like a paperweight.
"No, I'm just curious." Aiden absentmindedly drummed his fingers against the steering wheel of the Ford Crown Victoria.
He watched the light to what he presumed was the second floor bedroom of the Wolfe home flicker out. The doc was probably sliding between the sheets with his fiancée. The very thought of her touching him in that way bothered him like a splinter stuck under his fingernail. Ms. Labouleaux struck him as the savvy street smart type with her history as a police officer and with the Bureau. What she was doing with a metro sexual, pretty boy doctor escaped him. There was no way he figured the good doctor knew how to handle the needs of a woman like her. She was as smoking hot as molten lava. But some women were willing to sell their souls to the devil to live the high life. A twinge of something he identified as jealousy jabbed him between the ribs. There was no way he could possibly be attracted to Danielle Labouleaux. No way in hell.
Chapter 9
Aiden stood in front of the mirror preparing to remove the five o'clock shadow growing on his chiseled jaw line when he felt the delicate hands reaching around from his back. The small hands enveloped his chest, caressing his muscular pecs and giving the hard muscles a squeeze. The feminine frame the hands belonged to snuggled up to his backside. Danny's breasts pressed softly against his back as she hugged him. Her nimble fingers fell on the towel wrapped around his waist. In one deft move, Danny dropped the towel exposing him in all his manly glory. He turned around and slowly unbuttoned his cotton shirt which she was wearing and unhooked her bra, releasing the perfectly round wonders from captivity. His kisses seemed to go on forever as her soft lips pressed against his. He growled softly when she playfully nipped at his lower lip and slipped her tongue into his mouth.
He was definitely enjoying her undivided attention, and his manhood couldn't complain. Danny's agile hands took the scenic route down his chest to his abdomen feeling each defined muscle on the route until she reached his member which also now had her full attention. He was losing control, her sweet touch alone enough to set him off. But he desperately wanted the seconds to last and to savor her pleasures like a delicate morsel. His fingers suddenly full of lead, he fumbled with the button and zipper on her jeans, racing to slide the denim and her lace panties off her. She was his willing accomplice, kicking them free of her legs. The only thing between them now was a soft sheen of sweat, the sensual current between the two of them electrifying their senses.
Her breasts were now his favorite new playthings, his roughened fingers alternating between them toying with her nipples before he gently kissed them. With his arm around her waist, Danny suddenly felt the floor leave her feet as her island Adonis carried her to her bed and lay her down. He slid atop her as if sliding into silk sheets till they were chest to breasts and thigh to thigh. Anticipating his next move, Aiden arched his muscled back while his hand found the pleasure spot between her legs he was looking for. Tenderly, he slid his now rock hard member into her. She gasped softly, arched her back off the mattress and spread her long sinuous legs to welcome him.
The fullness inside of her excited her as she lifted her body over and over to meet his hard thrusts. Her crimson nails softly scored his back, the red welts branding him hers and hers alone. She recited his name over and over again in his ear, her sultry southern voice threatening to push him over the edge. Their rhythmic motions caused them to reach a fevered pitch before she exploded in ecstasy. Her thighs that quivered in their death grip around his waist now loosened. Feeling the familiar tingle in his spine, he gave one final push that sent him freefalling into his own delicious agony. Happily exhausted and sated, he slid off her body. Pushing her hair aside, he nuzzled her neck and shoulder, delicately biting the sensitive skin, leaving his own tattoos on her body. Relaxed and drained, the lovers didn't even bother with the covers, preferring to let their naked skin air dry. Minutes later, the couple fell into a deep, contented slumber.
The motel alarm clock screamed as the sun squinted through the motel window. Aiden turned to see his lover fast asleep but was dismayed to see she was not there. He cursed a nasty four-syllable expletive, realizing she was never there. The second pillow had never been disturbed, but as he lifted his blanket and looked, something else certainly was. Horny and irritable, he cursed himself for having such a vivid dream.
Moments later, he stood under the harsh lukewarm spray of his motel room's shower. He growled in frustration, pounding his fist against the pea-green tile wall. In his dreams she had those small hands of hers all over him, whispering his name over and over in his ear. Those golden brown eyes of hers had been locked on him, her lips on his mouth. It had seemed so real! Feeling the heat all over again, heturned the water to an ice cold deluge. He was a combat-hardened ex-marine. There was no way he was going to let some slip of a girl get the best of him, especially an iron-willed woman who had another man's ring on her finger.
Before he could even step out of the shower Alejandro started knocking on Aiden's motel room door like the devil himself was chasing him. Using some of the colorful curses he'd learned while in the marines, Aiden grabbed a threadbare towel and shoved open the bathroom door. He was going to have to teach the rookie about making a nuisance of himself this early in the morning.
He swung open the door. "Ramirez, what the f--"
"We've got a problem." Danny, the object of his erotic dream brushed right past him and entered into his motel room.
Stone openly ogled her like a prisoner who hadn't
seen a woman in years. Her caramel skin was flawless, with not a hint of makeup save for a light-colored gloss across her full lips. Her ebony mane was pulled back into an unruly ponytail. The white cotton shirt she wore was unbuttoned just enough to show a hint of fullness that lie underneath. Her denim shorts were rolled up just above her knees, showing off sexy brown legs that would probably feel like heaven wrapped around him. Desire slammed into him like a freight train.
Oblivious to the havoc she was wreaking on him, Danny opened the black messenger bag slung across her shoulder and started pulling out files, piling them on his unmade bed.
"Something crazy is going on. After your visit last night, my computer went haywire. Even when I was at the Bureau, I never had anything like this happen."
He listened intently as she excitedly explained the dozens of horrific popup photos on her screen and the ghostly visitors.
"I've been up for half the night doing research on these cold cases. This psycho has been killing women for at least the past seven years. I've found a trail of unidentified female bodies that fit the profile all over the country."
Arms folded across his broad chest, Aiden just stood there in his towel silently observing her.
"Did you hear me Agent Stone? I said we have a problem." She repeated, not liking the fact that he was ignoring her.
"I'm hearing you loud and clear, lady." His deep voice rumbled like he had just gargled with a handful of gravel. "But as you can see, I'm standing here in this flimsy ass towel. If you like what you're seeing, thenplease by all means let me know. Otherwise I need to put some clothes on, because I'm going to embarrass you and me."
Danny's jaw dangled open, for the first time noticing the shirtless FBI Agent in the shabby hotel towel. Droplets of water dripped off his body like miniature diamonds. Her eyes hit his muscled biceps, powerful chest, and rippling abdominals, before roving even lower to what was nothing more than a loin cloth that left little to the imagination. Suddenly the temperature in the air conditioned room was stifling and she was having a little trouble with what she wanted to say. A little flustered, she ran her palm over her face. "Um.Yes, of course. By all means, put some clothes on."
The Body Hunters Page 9
