Jack the Stripper

by Jennifer Macaire

“Let’s find rooms here and stay the night. I’d like to get to work on that file right away. I have a feeling we’ve found the Heart Taker,” said Jack.

  “That’s not a bad idea. I saw a motel not far from the orange buffalo on Dakota Drive. It was called ‘Tall Chief’s Tepee,’ I think.” Brianna wrinkled her nose. “I never stayed overnight here. The casino has a couple hotels there too.”

  “That’s where you saw the Heart Taker.”

  “I didn’t see him. Only you can do that.” Brianna gave a small laugh. “So it’s not really a coincidence then, is it? He used to work here. He knows this place well.”

  “That’s what we’ll find out in the files. But I think we should go to the casino hotel. Just to see the place where he must hang out. Because if you think about it, it’s one way to get money. If he’s living here, then he probably goes there often and steals chips or even money that pours out of the slot machines. He could grab part of it and no one would be the wiser.”

  Brianna drew a sharp breath. “He wasn’t there to kill me then. He was just there because he’s always there.”

  “We don’t know that yet. It’s just a hypothesis.” Jack grinned. “I felt like a real detective saying that. I always wanted to work that word into my conversation.”

  Brianna snorted. “In detective lingo we call it a hunch, not a hypothesis. You’re not a scientist, you’re a cop.”

  “I’m a secret agent.” Jack pointed to a department store. “Toothbrushes and clean underwear?”

  “A real secret agent always has that with them,” said Brianna smugly. She pointed to her purse. “Extra toothbrush, extra pair of underwear.”

  Jack shrugged. “That’s a girl thing, not a secret agent thing. I never saw James Bond whip out his extra pair of jockey shorts and pull his toothbrush out of a secret compartment in the sole of his shoes.

  “That’s because he didn’t change his underwear or brush his teeth.”

  Jack loved when Brianna giggled. He took her hand. “Come on, you can pick out my underwear. I’ll choose my toothbrush. Then we’ll get a room at the casino hotel and we’ll call Jeffrey to tell him about our hunch. All right?”

  “I’ll call him right now.” Brianna dug her cell phone out of her purse and punched in a number. “Jeffrey? Got a minute? It’s Brianna. Listen, we’re at the reservation and we’re going to stay overnight. Jack and I have a …” she paused and looked at Jack, her grin widening. “A hypothesis we want to check out. Yeah. That’s right. He is? He did? Oh, I see. Nine. Of course. Goodnight.”

  “I thought you said …”

  “You have to stop listening to me.” She sighed. “Jeffrey wants us in his office at nine tomorrow morning. Dee’s checked out of the hospital, but he needs care for a few days, so Mamie Hoya took him to my place. Jeffrey said Dee’s place is too small or else Mamie Hoya would have taken him there.”

  “She should have called you,” said Jack.

  “I turned my cell phone off. I didn’t want any distractions. I forgot how to operate as a cop.” Brianna looked upset.

  “Don’t worry. It will all come back.”

  “I hope so. Little things like that can get you killed. Or kill someone else.”

  ****

  The hotel at the casino was flashy in a cheesy, Hollywood western way. But the two beds were wide and comfortable, the bathroom vast and clean, and it had a decent desk and two chairs so they could get to work.

  They had tried to get two rooms next to each other, but the place was nearly full, so they decided to share a double room. Jack didn’t care; he seemed to be more interested in going over the files than anything else. “We share a bathroom in my apartment,” she pointed out when Jack asked her if she minded.

  “Room service?” Jack asked, after they’d opened the file on the desk and sorted it into three sections. The first was the doctor’s past, before he’d arrived at the reservation. The second pile was the biggest, and included all the years the doctor was in residence. The last pile was all the records the hospital had gathered after his disappearance, including a missing persons file and a transcript from the police.

  She was hungry, but didn’t feel like eating in. “No, let’s go down to the casino and eat at the bar and grill. We can stroll around and you can see if you spot the Heart Taker.”

  “I didn’t bring the handcuffs,” said Jack. “Damn.”

  “Tada.” Brianna pulled them out of her purse. She always carried them with her.

  Jack and Brianna grabbed a quick meal at the grill and then headed into the casino. Then they went to see the head of security and asked if he could tell her about incidences of missing money, unexplained theft, or just strange happenings.

  “Strange happenings?” Chief of security Brad Silverbird raised his eyebrows. This is a casino. Strange happenings are commonplace here.”

  “Things that vanish, like betting chips or something,” Brianna insisted doggedly.

  “All the time. People don’t count them, or miscount them, think they had more than they did, and report it. If we catch someone stealing on camera it’s usually solved pretty quickly. But a lot of times we don’t have anything on camera and the person complaining has to face facts. He’s either lost the chips or miscounted.” Brad Silverbird shrugged. “Our security system is state of the art, and the cameras can catch every inch of the casino.”

  “Do you keep records of all the complaints?” Brianna asked.

  “Of course. I can get you copies if you like. How far back do you want to go?”

  Jack said, “Three years.”

  Brad Silverbird’s eyebrows went even higher. “That’s going to be a lot of paper.”

  “Can we just have the statistics then?”

  “All right. I’ll get my secretary to print them out for you. What room are you in?”

  Brianna and Jack went back to their room and started dissecting the files. The map of the town was also spread on the table, and Jack helped by putting red and blue markers on it. Red for the Heart Taker’s crime scenes, and blue where Dr. Silas Mercury had lived and worked.

  Jack bent over the map, a serious expression on his face. Brianna stopped her reading to just look at him. She loved how his eyebrows went straight and then tilted downward. His nose was Greek statue-straight, and his square chin had a dimple in it. Another dimple danced just on the corner of his smile.

  His lips were curved naturally in a smile. She liked that in a guy. And his lips looked good enough to nibble on.

  She looked back at the list she had drawn up. The words blurred. Blue eyes stared back at her. How could anyone have eyes so blue? They were like sea-glass. Sometimes blue gray, and sometime blue green. And his wide jaw was made for running her fingers over it. Her eyes traced a line from the corner of his jaw down his strong neck to his collar. In her imagination, she slid her fingers under his collar, next to his warm skin and …

  The list! Look at the list. Get your imaginary fingers out of his collar. Her mind certainly knew how to scold. Brianna blinked and peered closer at the papers. Dr. Silas Mercury used to live in the reservation but he moved. That was a start.

  Jack stood and stretched. “See what you think about this,” he said, pointing to the map.

  Brianna saw right away. Every mark, blue or red, was made along the A line. It stretched from the reservation to the industrial park, passing through all of downtown and the trailer park. “Impressive,” she said, pretending she wasn’t thinking about his wide shoulders. He was so much taller than she was. Strong tendons and veins were penciled into the smooth skin on his arms and hands. He moved his finger across the map and she imagined him stroking her skin. She swallowed. This was not good. Get your mind back on the map, Brianna!

  “He must still live near the train line,” said Jack. “What do you think?”

  The train line? Oh yeah. The train line. “I think you have something there.” She looked at the map but aside the obvious fact the murders and the Heart Taker’s last address were
on or near the train line, she couldn’t come up with any ideas. “It seems clear,” she said.

  “What?”

  “The train line is important.”

  “Right.” He seemed to be waiting for her to say something else.

  “It’s a long train line,” she said.

  “The longest one in the city,” he agreed.

  “He could live anywhere along it.”

  “According to the handbook, serial killers rarely kill near their homes.”

  “Is that so?” Brianna managed to stop thinking about Jack touching her and stared at the map. “He’s killed all along the map except on this side of the river.” She pointed to the trailer park. “And here, at the reservation, he’s not killed either, but that’s where he lived before. That could mean he lives in or near the trailer park, which still leaves a lot of places to search.” She stopped and rubbed her forehead. Her vision was blurring with fatigue.

  Jack touched her shoulder. “Let’s take a break. I’m beat. First dibs on the shower if you don’t mind,” he said, putting the caps back on the markers.

  “All right.” Brianna watched as he went into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. She propped her head in her hands and stared at the lists, the map, the files, and the desk. She stared at the rug and the curtains. All she could see was Jack.

  She tried to imagine what her shrink would say. But suddenly it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Jack was back. Somehow life, necromancy, death magic, or whatever you wanted to call it, had given her another chance. If she blew it this time, she promised herself she’d never try again. He ran away from her because it was the wrong time, wrong place.

  This seemed like a better time and a much better place.

  What if it doesn’t work?

  She sat on her bed and took her shoes off. It didn’t bear thinking about. She’d messed up her career by making a pass at Jeffrey. This had the possibility of ending her friendship with Jack once and for all.

  Did she want to be friends with him? Yes. She couldn’t imagine life without him. What about Jeffrey? She was friends with him now, wasn’t she? She admired him. She respected him. They got along well professionally. They’d never been anything but friends.

  Jack, on the other hand, had been her lover. They’d clicked together like two magnets that day at the outdoor market. And in bed he was … fabulous.

  Maybe all he wanted was to be friends with her, and to sleep with that May creature.

  She shot to her feet. No way was she letting May have Jack. At least, not until she’d given it her best shot. She took her clothes off, tossing them determinedly on the bed. This was war.

  She stomped into the bathroom and paused. Mist filled the room. The shower hissed invitingly. Brianna took a deep breath and parted the curtain. It was now or never.

  Jack stood with his back to her. She paused and admired his physique. Of course, she’d seen him stripping, but that was on stage. This was up close. And he was better up close. Whatever magic the necromancer used, it was incredible. His muscles knotted and smoothed as he scrubbed at his neck and head, the water pouring over him outlining his body.

  So why was she still hesitating? Her hand tightened on the shower curtain. Because of the last time she’d tried to seduce him. What if he wasn’t interested? She got a bitter feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was crazy about Jack, and had been from the moment she set eyes on him. But he wasn’t the same. He was undead, like a vampire, and that was not just a small problem. That was something she would have to face squarely, and she wasn’t sure if she’d really come to grips with it.

  The problem was, you couldn’t tell he was a mutant or undead. You could tell with vampires—by their incredible pallor, by their fangs, and by their aversion to sunlight. They sort of looked, well, undead. But Jack looked fine. His skin glowed, his hair was silky, his eyes sparkled …

  And right now they were trained on her.

  ****

  Jack took a long shower, letting the hot water wash away the knots in his back and arms. He hadn’t known detective work could be so tiring. He leaned against the tiled wall and closed his eyes.

  A small noise caught his attention and he turned around. Brianna was staring at him, and suddenly she pulled her head out of the shower and yanked the curtain closed.

  “Brianna? What are you doing?” he asked, grabbing at the shower curtain.

  She hurriedly wrapped a towel around her, looked up at him and gave a nervous laugh. “Seducing you again.” She raised her eyebrows. “If you want, I’ll leave.”

  He thought about it for a second. “No.”

  Her smile nearly blinded him.

  At that moment, a face appeared behind her.

  Jack gave a yell and stepped back, nearly falling. He saved himself by grabbing the guard rail on the shower wall. Brianna shrieked too. “What is it?”

  The face had vanished. In fact, Jack was suddenly unsure if he’d actually seen anything. A face? Maybe it had been a shadow, there was a lot of steam in the bathroom. He must be tired. He rubbed his hands over his eyes. “It was nothing, sorry. A hallucination.”

  “Oh.” Brianna gave a sigh of relief and then grinned. “So, where were we?”

  “I was going to get dry.” He reached over and grabbed a towel. With it wrapped around his waist, he felt a little more relaxed.

  She came close to him and ran her hands down his body, delicately tracing the scars on his torso. “They are fading. Does it still hurt?”

  “No.” He shivered with delight as her hands danced over his body. He shivered even harder when the face reappeared. Closer now, and definitely male. Jack wanted to pull back but Brianna held him firmly.

  “Hug me,” she growled softly. I just want to feel your arms around me.

  The face, still hovering about six feet off the ground, faded a bit, and then came back even clearer. It was the face of a Native American. The face was watching him intently, and grinning. A body appeared. Naked torso, leather leggings, leather loin cloth, and on his body, some interesting scars. Jack knew he was looking at the real thing, not a costumed actor. The leather was too worn, plain, and comfortable looking. And as he watched, the ghost reached under his loin cloth and stroked himself.

  “Brianna …” he didn’t know quite how to tell her that they had a voyeur ghost in their bathroom. “Let’s go in the other room.” Maybe if he could get into the bedroom he’d vanish.

  Or maybe not. The ghost followed them right into the room, and didn’t hide his pleasure at watching them.

  Brianna let her towel slip down and lay back on the bed. Jack’s mouth was dry, but under the amused gaze of the ghost, he couldn’t do anything remotely romantic. He tried to hide Brianna from its sight.

  “Why are you pulling the covers up?’ Brianna wriggled and shrugged out of the sheets.

  Facing them, standing at the foot of their bed, the ghost cupped his hands in front of his chest, imitating Brianna’s breasts. He said something in a guttural language, but Jack didn’t understand his words, but the message was obvious—he liked Brianna’s breasts. The ghost’s hands were now moving beneath the loincloth. Jack looked away, embarrassed.

  Jack tried to pull the covers up again and this time Brianna rolled out of the cover, pulled him down on the bed, and laughing, straddled him. She leaned over.

  The ghost’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

  Jack froze.

  “What’s the matter?” Brianna stopped kissing the corner of his jaw and pulled back, looking at him with a worried expression.

  He couldn’t say anything. She would take it wrong. But if things kept on like this she would get the wrong impression too because he wasn’t reacting as well as he should.

  “Jack?”

  “I think we need to talk.” Jack pulled her down next to him and pulled the covers firmly up to her chin.

  The ghost made a face.

  Brianna’s cheeks flushed scarlet. “I did it again, didn�
�t I?”

  “No.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

  Her eyes filled with tears. “I am such an idiot,” she said, misery strangling her words.

  Jack leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You are not an idiot. There is someone watching us.”

  Brianna stiffened. She looked around the room. “Where? A camera? Someone is filming us?”

  “No. A ghost. He’s standing at the foot of the bed and he’s making it very hard for me to concentrate.”

  Brianna was silent for a while. Colors came and went on her face. “A peeping Tom ghost,” she said finally. “Yes, it would fit with the rest of my life.” She sighed. “Does this mean we’re still friends?”

  Jack nodded. “More than friends. But not tonight. Not with that fellow over there waving at me.” He didn’t want to tell her what he was waving.

  Brianna sighed, closed her eyes, and she must have been exhausted, because in a very short time she was sound asleep, her head nestled in the crook of her arm, her face tear-stained but peaceful

  Jack glanced up. The Native American ghost was still there. He had a stupid grin on his face. He waved, and said, “Ja-ck,” and vanished.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tea with a Necromancer

  The autumn wind blew bitter and the sky was like clear blue glass. Brianna pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders and clutched her purse. Jack was being quiet that morning. Brianna had fallen asleep, but Jack had stayed up late, bent over the desk, studying the dates intently. The next morning, she’d woken up to find Jack slumped on the desk, sleeping, his cheek pressed into the folder’s spine. There were still some funny marks left on his skin. She’d ordered some breakfast and woken him up with a coffee and a kiss.

  The peeping Tom ghost didn’t show up that morning. But Brianna and Jack were in a hurry to get to M.U.C.I. with their notes. Brianna wondered what Jack was thinking, but mostly he just looked tired. He did give her a tender kiss just before they left the room. That was enough for her to hang onto for the meantime.

  The taxi dropped them off in front of the construction site. The entrance was the same for everyone, a walk down an alleyway leading to a chain link fence. Walking through the creaking gate and up the cracked cement sidewalk, broken glass crunching beneath her shoes, Brianna admired the building's disguise. It looked like a foreman’s trailer attached to a cement-block warehouse. A warning sign saying Danger, hard hat area only, was stuck out in front Another sign saying Deliveries Here and a small sign with a phone number which supposedly connected you to the construction company were glued to a board on the wall.