Strong, Sleek and Sinful fscs-1

by Lorie O

  “Well, you know where I am,” Dani said. “I’m not allowed to leave the house or even unlock the front door. I don’t think Mom meant you couldn’t come over, though.”

  “Call her and get permission and let me know,” Kylie told her, and glanced up when John Athey paused in the doorway of Paul’s office, where she’d set up camp this morning while Paul was at a doctor’s appointment. “I’ll talk to you soon, Dani.” Kylie said good-bye and pulled her Bluetooth from her ear. “Good morning,” she said, again looking at the wall clock and confirming it was still morning. It seemed as though it should be almost five.

  “You mind filling me in on the excitement you had last night?” John asked, crossing his arms as he leaned in the doorway.

  Kylie was convinced John simply wasn’t a happy man. Either that or he really didn’t like her. He scowled at her now as if whatever it was he’d heard about last night didn’t impress him, or pissed him off.

  “You already knew I had plans to have dinner with Perry-Lieutenant Flynn’s sister and her daughters,” Kylie began, ignoring the frown that created more lines on John’s face as he watched her.

  “And you knew I told you not to go,” he informed her dryly.

  “It’s a damn good thing I did go. We’re closer to Peter than ever now. And we’ve got a witness who can ID him.”

  “Do you really think Flynn will allow his niece to be used as bait to bring the perp in?”

  “Of course not. I would never ask him to do that. She’s only sixteen.”

  “You make it sound like he would do anything you would ask of him.”

  “Do you want to discuss my personal life or this case?” Kylie snapped, and stood to refill her coffee.

  “Tell me what happened last night.”

  “I ate dinner with Megan and her daughters and then Perry picked me up to take me home.”

  “To take you home?” John interrupted. “Why didn’t you drive there?”

  “I’d planned on it.” She needed to choose her words carefully, without tipping John off that she’d fucked Perry. And that she couldn’t wait to fuck him again. “He insisted. I think he wanted to be there when introductions were made.”

  “Cut the crap,” John hissed, walking into the office and stopping when he loomed over her. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”

  Kylie stood, glaring at him even though he was a good six inches taller. “I know exactly who I’m talking to,” she sneered. “And I’d like the same respect. I’m getting damn close to cracking this case wide open, and your going on about my private life is distracting us from the issues.”

  “Your private life becoming a distraction is the issue.” He narrowed his gaze on her. “Not to mention you were specifically asked to stay away from anyone who could be a suspect.”

  “For crying out loud!” Kylie threw her hands up in the air while turning and pacing the length of the small office. “His own niece was almost abducted last night. Do you really think he’s a suspect?”

  “Mighty damn convenient that she was almost a victim.”

  “Would you rather have had her raped and killed?”

  “What I would rather have is an agent who does as she’s told.” John stepped in her path, preventing her from pacing. “You can date a cop, or you can solve this case.”

  Kylie froze. Anger attacked so hard she damn near shook from it. John didn’t have the authority to fire her, but his word would carry a lot of weight if he filed an official complaint about her performance. As much as she ached to say a few choice words to him, Kylie stepped around him, grabbed her purse, and stormed out of the office.

  “I’ve got a job to do,” she sneered, grinding her teeth while the bilious words fought to slip out.

  “I’ll take that as your answer.”

  “I don’t do ultimatums,” she growled, storming out of the building and into the parking lot.

  Her outrage hadn’t subsided when she pulled up in front of Dani’s house. As Kylie parked behind Perry’s Jeep, mixed emotions hit her that he was here, too. She’d forgotten to call Dani to make sure her mother was cool with Kylie being there, and pulled out her cell phone to place the call while staring at the back end of his car.

  Perry wasn’t worth losing her job over. She scrolled down her list of numbers to Dani’s number while repeating that mantra inside her head. What pissed Kylie off more than anything was that field supervisors seldom cared what she did in her downtime while working in their cities. And not that it happened that often, but she’d seen men before on the side while handling a case. Nothing ever that serious. Other agents did it, too.

  “Dani, I’m here,” Kylie said when Dani answered the phone. “Did your mother say it was okay?”

  “My uncle is here, so I know it is okay. I’ll unlock the door.” Dani hung up without saying anything else.

  Kylie dropped her phone into her purse and shut off her car, putting her keys away, too. Grabbing her door handle, she paused when a black Suburban drove by. She froze, certain she’d seen wrong, but her wits returned quickly and she jumped out of her car, squinting to catch the letters and numbers on the tag.

  XLS519.

  “I know those are the same,” she grunted, dragging her phone out and feeling the cool hardness of her gun brush against her knuckles. Kylie snapped her purse shut and pushed speed dial on her cell phone, pausing on the walk leading to Dani’s home. “This is Special Agent Kylie Donovan,” she said quietly, glancing at the house and then back in the direction the Suburban headed. “I need you to run a tag for me, Kansas, Johnson County, XLS five-one-nine.”

  She fidgeted, waiting while the dispatcher at the FBI field office chatted with her about nothing while pulling up the tag. Paul was out of the office, and the last person Kylie wanted to speak with was John, so the dispatcher would do.

  “Are you sure you got the tag number right?” the dispatcher asked. He cleared his throat before she could answer. “I mean, if you did, it’s a fake.”

  “I’m sure, and thank you,” she said, telling him good-bye and snapping her phone closed. One more quick check of the side street in front of the house and she turned to the front door. Following the Suburban crossed her mind. Something told her she knew where it would head. If Franco was Peter she needed more proof. Nailing a cop was tricky business.

  As if her emotions weren’t already all screwed up, now adrenaline pumped through her. Peter had just driven by the house. And there he found her car and Perry’s. More than likely Peter knew Perry, if he was Franco, or at least knew who he was, and would recognize his car. Kylie gave Peter credit for being on top of his act, which would include knowing all law enforcement in town, especially since he was probably one of them.

  She would wager he also knew Dani wasn’t in school today. Most serial killers learned everything there was to know about their victims, bonding with them, in a sense, before killing them. It made the attack more personal, and some, although not all, got off on that moment of death when their victim quit breathing. It was a sense of victory, of claiming a life they’d become so close to. Sick. So fucking sick. Kylie wasn’t aware of any rehabilitation that had been successful in curing this type of mental disorder. But after seeing what this monster was capable of, she would get off with his death.

  The front door opened when she stepped onto the first step leading to it.

  “What were you doing?” Dani stuck her head around the door but was pulled back as Kylie approached.

  “I didn’t want to be rude and come to the door while on the phone,” Kylie offered, smiling easily at the teenager.

  Perry had a firm hand on Dani’s shoulder and pulled her farther back into the house as he opened the door wider so Kylie could enter. He shut it the moment she was inside and slid the dead bolt into place.

  “It looked as if you were looking for someone. Not that I could see all that well with my personal bodyguard haunting me worse than a stalker.”

  “You’ve got it so bad,”
Perry said, rolling his eyes and glaring at Dani. “I’ve been waiting on you hand and foot.”

  “That’s because you love me the most.” Dani wrapped her slender arms around her uncle’s waist and smiled up at him. When she shifted her focus to Kylie, she swore she saw a bit of territorial possessiveness going on in the glow of Dani’s eyes.

  “Don’t push your luck.” Perry looked stern and his face was lined with worry or stress, although probably both. “Go get your picture you drew for Kylie.”

  “I didn’t just draw it for her,” Dani said, and pouted, reluctantly dropping her hands when her uncle peeled her off him. “And you really want me to go upstairs alone?”

  “Hurry,” Perry ordered.

  Dani’s attention shifted from one of them to the other. “Don’t worry. I will.” She damn near ran out of the living room and pounced up the stairs.

  Perry didn’t move in for a kiss the moment Dani left the room. Kylie wasn’t sure how she felt about that, and her indecisive emotions irritated her as much as being unable to piece the puzzle of this case together.

  “Did you see the Suburban drive by?” he asked, keeping his voice low. He’d showered recently and his dark hair almost looked black as strands covered the top half of his ears and turned in small curls at his collar.

  “Yes.” She recited the tag number to him, admiring his green eyes that were also exceptionally dark today. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and it wasn’t often she got to admire all of that roped muscle out of uniform. “It’s the same tag number you called in when you chased him out of the bowling alley last week. It’s a fake.”

  “That makes it the third time this morning he’s driven by,” Perry announced, walking past her to the window and clasping his hands behind his back while staring outside. His jeans were faded and looked very comfortable, as well as providing eye candy that made her insides swell with instant need as she studied the roped muscle flexing in his thighs.

  “Good thing you’re here then,” Kylie said, her mouth too moist after drooling over Perry. She was certain it wasn’t the only part of her body now soaked. “She’s going to need to be watched over twenty-four-seven until we catch him. Why are you out of uniform?”

  He pierced her with a hard stare as he turned his head and captured her gaze with his. “I took a personal day. It was that or kill Rad when he implied I could get a thirty-day suspension without pay if I didn’t stay away from you.”

  Was that why he didn’t touch her? Or was there another reason? She ached to ask but wouldn’t. There wasn’t any reason to open up that discussion in spite of her heated craving to know the answer.

  “I got a similar speech,” she offered.

  Dani came bounding down the stairs holding a piece of typing paper she’d used to draw Peter’s face. She’d used colored pencils, and at first glance it was obvious she’d labored over the task. Kylie stared at the picture, willing recognition to kick in. Who was Peter?

  “Your job or a relationship?” Perry asked, his soft baritone doing a number on her almost as bad as when his dark eyes caressed her soul.

  “What?” Dani asked, pausing in between the two of them and staring from one to the other.

  “Pretty much.” She stared over Dani’s head into those compelling eyes of his, and her insides twisted into a knot of anticipation. There was an overwhelming urge to walk into his arms, to say to hell with supervisors and threats of job security.

  “Uncle Perry doesn’t like it.” Dani lifted her drawing to eye view for Kylie.

  Perry pulled his gaze from hers first, shifting his attention to his niece. “I never said I didn’t like it,” he said in that low, soothing voice of his.

  “Fine. He said it wouldn’t help.”

  Kylie pulled her attention and her focus to the drawing, then took it from Dani, staring at it. “You were pretty upset last night; maybe if you tell me again exactly what happened.” She stared at the drawing, understanding Perry’s comment. The cartoon caricature could be anyone.

  “I’ve already told Uncle Perry twice,” Dani groaned.

  Perry moved over to the couch, his expression serious and unreadable when he looked out the window. Then reclining, stretching his long legs out before him with cowboy boots making them look even longer and more muscular, he rested his arm on the back of the couch and looked at Kylie.

  Every inch of her tingled when she once again lost herself in his dark, brooding stare. If she was going to learn anything during this meeting, though, she needed to keep her thoughts off how his hands felt when he touched her.

  “This is a good picture,” Kylie said, turning her attention to Dani and trying to reassure her. “Is this a ball cap?”

  Dani walked around the coffee table and sat right next to her uncle, sitting cross-legged and brushing her long brown hair over her shoulder. “Yes. I don’t remember what it said on it, but I think it was red, so that is what color I made it.”

  Kylie nodded, taking the other end of the couch and leaning against the side so she faced Dani. Her gaze shifted to Perry’s long fingers, relaxed behind Dani’s head on the back of the couch, but she diverted her attention again to the picture.

  “So his hair is dark and his eyes are blue?” That much information eliminated Perry from any line of suspects, not that she believed his chief suspected him or he wouldn’t have put Perry on the case. His eyes were definitely not blue. “Can you describe his build?”

  Kylie already guessed John would be wary of any statement coming from Perry’s niece. She wasn’t sure why John didn’t like Perry, but it was obvious he didn’t.

  “Now you’re asking questions like my uncle.” Dani narrowed her gaze on Kylie. “How much time are you spending with Uncle Perry?”

  Kylie wasn’t sure why a wave of relief washed over her, but she grinned easily, grateful the smart and attentive teenager didn’t bust her for being more than a college student and friend. She focused on Dani’s soft green eyes. Of all his nieces, Dani probably looked the least like Perry.

  “You know, you look a lot better without all that eyeliner.” Kylie meant it, too. Dani was very beautiful and minutes away from looking like a young adult instead of a child.

  Especially when she narrowed her gaze and made a tsking sound with her tongue. “And you suck at avoiding answering questions,” she retorted, lifting one eyebrow and looking rather haughty. “What are your intentions with my uncle?”

  “Dani!” Perry exploded, coming forward on the couch and practically knocking Dani onto the floor.

  “It’s okay.” Kylie held her hand up, grateful for his outburst so the focus wouldn’t be on her while she struggled for an answer. I just want to fuck him as much as I can before I leave. That wouldn’t be an answer Dani would tolerate. Hell, Kylie was having trouble tolerating that conclusion.

  “You want information from me. Well, I want answers, too.” Dani adjusted herself on the couch, facing forward now so she could look at her uncle before returning her attention to Kylie.

  “You’re out of line, young lady,” Perry said, his tone cool and reprimanding. “You will answer any questions we have. They are imperative for an investigation and you know that. As for-”

  “I’ve already lost a father and I will not lose my uncle,” Dani cried out, jumping off the couch and trembling. She balled her hands into fists at her sides, obviously a lot more upset about this than Kylie originally thought.

  Kylie hurried off the couch, pulling Dani into her arms, in spite of Dani stiffening at first. “You won’t lose your uncle, not ever.”

  “You can’t swear to that,” Dani said, suddenly very quiet. She’d been traumatized and now was on house arrest. It made sense she would strike out in the only avenue that appeared safe.

  “I can swear that you won’t because of me.”

  “But you like him.”

  Kylie sucked in a breath, all too aware of her backside tingling from Perry keeping an attentive watch on both of them yet remaining quiet and ob
serving.

  Kylie nodded, unable to lie to Dani any more than her job required her to. “Yes, I do,” she whispered.

  Dani pulled out of Kylie’s arms, wiping her face and brushing her hair behind her shoulders as she straightened and stared Kylie in the eye. “If he got a girlfriend he wouldn’t be over here all the time. Mom couldn’t raise us without him. She wouldn’t ever admit it, but it’s true,” she whimpered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “I don’t have any family, not like you do,” Kylie said, the words spilling out of her before she gave them much thought. “If, someday, I committed to a relationship, having a guy with a ready-made family would be pretty cool.” She straightened, sucking in a breath and keeping her focus on Dani even though she felt the heat burning her alive from Perry watching intently behind her. “But there are complications,” she began, swallowing the lump in her throat. They were thoughts she would swear were on Perry’s mind as much as hers. And they needed to be voiced. She would take advantage of his niece’s outburst and say out loud what needed to be said. “So many complications they might not be able to be overcome.”

  “Like what?” Dani’s face lit up.

  Kylie stared at her for a moment, the silence in the room growing. Perry wasn’t going to jump in and help her here at all. Exhaling, Kylie decided she could go out on a limb fairly safely. She wouldn’t insult Dani’s intelligence but felt safe that her next comment wouldn’t jeopardize anything.

  “The FBI have ordered me to stay away from your uncle,” she said quietly.

  “What?” Dani howled, her milky green eyes growing as large as saucers as a slow smile spread over her face. “You’re breaking the law being here? And why would anyone care if you saw Uncle Perry?”

  “I’m not technically breaking the law,” she conceded, just risking her entire future. That wasn’t something she would explain, though. “The FBI is involved with this case, too, apparently. And like you, I’ve been questioned. They believe the man who is kidnapping teenagers in town, Peter, might be a cop.”