“He was here when I was getting ready to go meet you at the restaurant. I thought it was you coming through the door, like maybe you forgot your wallet or something, but when I came out of the downstairs bathroom Adam was here.”
“Did he touch you? What did he want?”
She’s crying hysterically now and throws her arms around him in a steel-like grip. He swears if Adam laid a hand on his girl it’ll be his last day with that hand.
“Sh, it’s okay, babe.” He pulls her closer into him and rubs her back.
She mumbles something in response, but her face is buried in his shoulder, and he can’t make out a word she’s saying.
“What was that?”
“It’s not okay, Parker. He said he’s going to kill you.”
Gently placing his hands on either side of her face, he tries to dab at some of her tears, but they’re flowing faster than he can wipe them away, so instead he searches her green eyes with his blue ones. “He’s not going to kill me, Dani. He was trying to scare you.”
She hiccups, and he thinks it must be the cutest thing he’s heard all day until she opens her mouth and lets out a string of swear words.
Hearing her curse is pretty amusing too. On the outside she looks like an innocent twenty-four-year-old, but then she’s got a mouth like a sailor.
“Well it fucking worked! That sick, twisted son of a bitch!”
“Where were the roses?”
“The first one was left in my condo the day we had our first date. The second one was in one of the lecture halls I TA in. After that I found them in my car, in my office on campus, in the labs I’d teach. More recently I’ve found them on my driver’s seat, outside our front door, and . . .”
“Where else, Danielle?”
“Our bed.” She turns abruptly in his arms. “Oh, God, Parker! He’s been in this house when we weren’t home!”
He wraps his arms around her more securely and tries to reassure her. “I’m calling the team in. He won’t be able to touch you again.”
…
Parker finally gets her calmed down and soaking in a hot bath with lush bath bombs and a full glass of her favourite white wine when his phone rings.
“Jay?”
“He’s in town, Parker.”
“I know. He was in our house. Danielle thought it was me coming through the front door.”
“Shit! Did he hurt her?”
“I didn’t see any bruising. He shook her up pretty good, spewed some shit about wanting to kill me.”
“You don’t believe he’s capable of that?”
“I think he wanted to scare her and did a pretty good job of it.”
“If he has access to your house we need to bring the team in on this, Parker.”
“Agreed, but I’m not leaving Danielle alone right now.” Parker sighs. “Shit, there’s only one way this is going to go down.”
“Have you told her about the multiple homicides?”
“Not yet, we’ll have to tell her today. But I know her, she’ll blame herself first and then she’ll want in on the case.”
“Roger that.”
Now comes the hard part.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THERE ARE TEN MEN in the living room, all of them in tactical gear. What the actual fuck is going on?
Ashley came downstairs, relaxed and calm after the amazing bath Parker had put together for her, to find him, Jay, Mike, and seven other deadly looking guys, with their heads bent together in an intense conversation.
Previously he’d come upstairs with another member of the team to take her blood so they could test it for any remnants of the drug Adam had used, but she didn’t see him among the men in their dining room.
She doesn’t notice her at first, but Bella is coloring in a brand new coloring book on the rug on the living room floor. A huge grin splits her face when she sees Ashley. Bella throws down her pencil crayons, jumps up, and runs over to her with her arms wide.
“Dani!”
“Hey, princess! Whatcha coloring?” She bends down and scoops Bella up in her arms.
“Parker bought me a Descendants coloring book.”
“He did, did he?”
Bella nods her head enthusiastically.
“Where’s your sister?”
“She’s in the kitchen making dinner. Can I go back to coloring now?” Bella wiggles in her arms, making Ashley laugh as she puts her down.
“Sure thing, princess. I’ll come join you in a bit.”
Anne is throwing chopped vegetables into a pot when Ashley walks in the kitchen. “Smells good in here.”
“Hey, Dani.” Anne grins, pulling her into a hug.
“Hey, Anne. What are you making? My mouth’s watering just from the smell.” Ashley laughs hugging Anne back.
“Beef stew. It’s my specialty.”
“Sounds good. I can’t wait to try it.” Ashley walks around the counter and takes a seat on one of the bar stools while Anne goes back to cooking.
“It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
Movement catches Ashley’s eye and she turns to see the guys leaning over the dining room table with various papers strewn about.
“Thanks, Anne.”
…
“You guys caught a new case?” she asks, walking up next to the men surrounding the dining room table.
The team goes silent and Matt looks from Parker, to Jay, and then to Mike uncertainly.
Parker concedes. “Go ahead. Might as well tell her now. She’ll find out soon enough.”
Matt nods, clearing his throat. “Multiple homicides. All female. All brunette. All five five or shorter. All of them killed on the other side of the Alberta border.”
Parker slowly hands her the file he’s holding, “Jennifer White was the first victim.”
“Jennifer White?” she opens the file, but her forehead creases in confusion when she sees the picture of the beautiful, blonde, blue eyed twenty-five-year-old. “I thought you said all the victims were brunettes.” She closes the file then hold it up. “She doesn’t fit the victim profile.”
“No, she doesn’t. She’s the only one who doesn’t,” Jay announces.
“But there’s a reason for that,” Parker adds.
“Which is what?” She glances up at him.
“She was Adam’s wife.”
Her stomach drops. “What are you saying?”
“We’re saying you might want to prepare yourself to have protection wherever you go from now on because Adam has become our primary suspect for these murders,” Jay states
“His rental car has been flagged making multiple trips back and forth across the border around the same time their bodies were dumped.”
Parker shoots Mike a look to shut him up before he can say anything else, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by her.
“What?” She tilts her head and narrows her eyes at him. “What are you not telling me, Parker?”
“We have reason to believe that he’s killing to send us a message. To send you a message,” Parker says.
“Danielle, all of these women look like you,” Jay says apologetically.
She slaps the file down on the table and crosses her arms over her chest. “Maybe it’s a coincidence.”
“Dani—” Parker starts, but she cuts him off.
“No, Parker. I can’t believe Adam is doing this because then it means he actually could make good on this threat to kill you.” She inhales deeply then releases her breath. “What makes you think he did all this? Besides the dead wife.”
Mike stands up and hands her another file. This one has a picture of a little girl around three years old. Light brown hair hangs in pigtails down her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes are smiling at the camera.
“Shauna White. Adam’s younger sister,” Mike states before sitting back down.
“How did she die?” she inquires quietly, still staring at the little girl in the picture.
“Official report says she drowned in the family
’s pool back in 1996,” Nick, another member of the team, adds from across the table.
“Why do I feel like there’s a but in there?”
“But that’s what the unsealed file says. The sealed file says that it was suspected homicide,” Nick finishes.
“Inspector Porter was able to get the file unsealed for us,” Cole adds.
She looks questionably around the table, hoping one of these men will be able to give her a straight answer,
“Can somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on? Are you saying that Adam killed his three-year-old sister? He was ten at the time. That’s insane.”
“That’s what we think happened, but not all of the details were available in that sealed file. The Ontario team is heading over to his parents’ place today, and Porter is trying to get the full details of the file,” Parker explains.
None of the team says anything, but all ten pairs of eyes stare back at her as she puts the pieces together.
“Did he . . . Did he have a history of starting fires or a record of stealing?” She’s hesitant to know the answer to her question, but some sick part of her needs to know.
As her gaze locks on each of the ones staring back they’re all quick to look away. She thought these guys were supposed to be the toughest. The manliest. But none of them are able to give her a straight answer. Her eyes lock onto Parker’s, but he drops his head, running a hand through his hair.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” She runs out of the dining room and up the stairs to their bedroom
She barely makes it to the attached bathroom before dry heaves rack her body.
…
The sound of a door slamming upstairs catapults him into action and he’s running after her.
“Dani?”
Anguished cries sound from the middle of the bed where she’s sitting with her legs folded up to her chest, her forehead resting on her knees.
He removes his holster and places it on the nightstand before crawling onto the bed and pulling her into his side. “Talk to me.”
Her breath hitches when she shakes her head. “I can’t believe he’s capable of those murders, Parker. Because if he is, that means he was killing while we were together. I lived with a serial killer.”
He sighs and wars with himself on whether to tell her the rest of it, but she needs to know.
“Dani, the murders started one and a half years ago. After you had already left.”
She lifts her head, and confusion marks her face. “What?”
“He never killed when he was with you.”
“What?”
“He never—”
“No, I heard you.” She shifts back out of his arms. “He never killed when I was still there,” she repeats.
“Danielle.”
But she just gets off the bed and starts pacing a hole in the carpet of their bedroom. He moves to sit on the edge of bed with his elbows resting on his knees.
“If I hadn’t run from him, those women would still be alive,” she whispers.
He opens his arms and she moves to stand between his legs. “You can’t think like that, Danielle. He killed before you and he probably would’ve killed you too if you’d stayed.”
“I know. I just can’t help but think that maybe those women would still be alive—”
“Babe, don’t do this to yourself. I know it’s hard to process right now. And I, for one, am happy that you got out when you did because then I wouldn’t have met you and had the opportunity to fall in love with you.”
“You love me?” She peers down at him from under her long, black eyelashes.
He places a soft kiss on her lips. “I love you. Funnily enough, Jessica knew before I did.”
“I love you too.” She grins
Tears are flowing like a river down her face now.
“Oh, baby, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry.”
He spots the Kleenex box still on the bed side table and moves to grab it, but she reaches out and places a hand on his arm. When he turns to face her again she flings herself at him and wraps her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.
“I love you,” she mumbles in a whisper so small that if he hadn’t been paying attention he would’ve missed it.
He kisses her soft lips. He’s fully prepared to end the kiss there, but apparently she has other plans because she’s grabbing the hair at the nape of his neck and pressing herself closer to him as she deepens the kiss.
His fingers skim over the smooth skin of her shoulders and down her back to cup her ass. Her legs instantly tighten around his waist when he lifts her and walks them into the bathroom while exploring the delicate flesh of her neck with his tongue.
He kicks the door closed with the heel of his boot, letting her slide down his body until she’s standing. He hurriedly turns the shower on before spinning back around to her.
Hooking his thumb under the hem of her black tank top he lets it gently caress her skin while moving it higher, past her belly button, past her breasts, and up until it passes her head and then drops it to the floor. Her black, lacy bra is the next to follow.
He leans down and trails kisses over the tops of her breasts, stopping at her nipple, running his tongue around it, drawing it into a peak, and sucking it into his mouth.
She moans and his cock jumps, straining against his boxers. He moves to her other breast and repeats the same action. Making his way down her stomach, he trails kisses down to the waistband of her black yoga pants.
He runs his fingers under the waistband, sliding it slowly over her hips, and down her thighs, all the while continuing his onslaught of open-mouthed kisses on her skin. Shivers rake her body when he kisses her over her black, lace thong.
He hooks his fingers in her thong and slides it down to join her yoga pants on the floor.
Her eyes are lidded when he lifts her in his arms and carefully stands her up in the shower.
He washes her hair and soaps up her loofa with her cucumber and melon body wash.
She giggles. “I could get to use to this.”
He moves her hair off her shoulder placing open-mouthed kisses along the top of her shoulder to her neck. “Hmm, me too, babe.”
“Parker! You in here?” Mike yells from the hallway, knocking on the other door to the bathroom.
He groans in frustration at having been interrupted.
She sighs. “Maybe if we ignore them, they’ll go away.”
“Now there’s a thought I could get behind,” he says, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her ass closer to his cock.
She laughs. “I bet that’s not the only thing you could get behind.”
“Dude! Put it back in your pants.” Mike pounds on the door again.
“Be there in a sec!” he yells back.
When she turns around to face him, he leans down and crushes his lips to hers, demanding entry. When she complies, their tongues duel for dominance.
Reluctantly he pulls back. “Fuck, I need to go down and talk to the team fast so I can come back up here and finish this.”
She grins, and he kisses her lips one more time before regretfully stepping out to get back into his gear. With one last longing look at her gorgeous body, naked in the shower, he turns, leaving the bathroom to make his way downstairs.
…
Jay glances up from the laptop when he re-enters the dining room. “How’d it go?”
“Better than I thought.”
“I bet it did.” Mike smirks.
Parker picks up the football from atop the gym bag still sitting on the counter, and throws it at Mike in a perfect spiral. “Fuck off.”
“Someone’s been practicing their passes.” Mike raises an eyebrow.
“My passes are better than yours, asshole,” Parker retorts.
“Target was last seen at the flower shop on 48th.” Joe hands him the surveillance picture of Adam purchasing a dozen long-stemmed, red roses. “The time stamp was from three days ago.”
“Any hits on his credit cards?”
“None so far, sir,” Matt says.
“Where do you want to go from here, P?” Jay asks.
“We’ve already put an alert out at the airport and bus depots, but that won’t stop him if he’s driving. We put an APB out for his license plate and the make and model of his car,” Mike adds.
“From now on we divide the team. We’ll partner up so there’s at least one of us with Danielle at all times. Joe and I will be with her tonight. Jay and Nick, you two get the next shift. Mike and Cole, you two switch with Jay and Nick in the morning. Clint, you’ll take over for Joe tomorrow night. Tyler, Matt, and Caleb, the three of you will be on constant surveillance. If anything new comes in I want to know about it. I don’t care what time it is.”
“Yes, sir.” They all nod in agreement.
Parker’s pocket vibrates with an incoming call. It’s Kyle. He had Kyle draw a sample of Ashley’s blood for the lab to analyze to see if they could identify the drug Adam used.
“Collins,” Parker says into the phone.
Jay and Mike aren’t paying attention to the rest of the team, instead they’re intently watching him pace back and forth between the table and wall separating the kitchen.
“Thanks,” he says before hanging up and slipping the phone into his back pocket.
“What was it?” Jay asks.
“Attracurium besilate. It’s a paralytic mostly used for anesthesia.”
Mike’s back straightens with the name of the drug Adam had injected her with. He rummages through the files laying on the table before grabbing the one he was looking for and handing it to Parker.
“You might want to see this.”
“Jennifer’s file?” Parker looks questionably at Mike.
“Just look at the coroner’s report.”
“She was injected with the same paralytic.”
“Not just injected. The report says she was possibly hooked up to an IV.”
“She was still alive when Adam tortured her?” Jay asks, reading over his shoulder.
Mike nods. “She felt everything he did to her.”
“Do the other reports say the same thing?” Parker questions Mike.
“We got the coroner’s report back from the body found in the parking lot of the visitor’s centre. The tox screen came back as the same as Jennifer White’s,” Nick says, handing Parker the file in front of him.
Skin Deep Page 11
