Declan

8

DEC STARED DOWN AT the pile of magazines that Rachel had handed him, his mouth hanging open. “What the hell are you doing with all this porn in your office?”

“We used it for a study,” Rachel said, her eyes fixed on the book she was reading. “I couldn’t throw it away since we bought it with grant money. Besides, those magazines don’t really go out of date that fast. They’re all pictures.”

“You realize what you’re asking me to do?” Dec said.

Rachel glanced up from her book, sending him an exasperated expression. “How am I supposed to get any work done if you insist on talking to me the whole time? I have things to do and since you’re determined to accompany me everywhere I go, then you need something to occupy yourself.”

“So you decided porn would do the trick? That titty magazines would occupy me?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t like porn,” she said.

“Well, I do occasionally indulge, but it’s not a huge part of my life.”

“I’m giving you permission to indulge, so just sit back and enjoy it. I’ve got at least another hour’s worth of work to do and then we can go.”

Dec sat back on Rachel’s leather sofa and picked through the selection of magazines. There were all sorts, from the standard men’s magazines to some pretty raunchy stuff. “What exactly were you studying?” he asked.

“We asked men ages eighteen to thirty-five to choose their fantasy female from the magazine. And then we took the qualities of those women, quantified them and ran them through a computer program to see if there was a typical fantasy object for most American men of that demographic.”

“So you sat around and looked at porn with these guys?”

“No,” Rachel said. “They sat in a room and went through the magazines. They picked out a girl, then brought it out to me or one of my assistants and we logged it into the book.”

“You put a guy in a room alone with a bunch of porn?”

“We asked that they refrain from pleasuring themselves with our porn, but I didn’t ask what they planned to do once they left. I’m studying sexual behaviors, Dec. It would be hypocritical to begrudge them their own pleasures.”

Dec flipped through one of the magazines. “So what did you find out?”

Rachel closed the book in front of her and set it aside. “There was a certain type of woman who appealed to the majority of the men. After we made a composite photo, we gave it back to the men in our study and asked them on a scale of one to ten, how they’d rate the woman as their ultimate fantasy. She scored an 8.7, which was statistically significant.”

“And what does that mean?”

“We postulated that society, through media images in television, movies and magazines, trains men to be attracted to a certain type of woman. Back in the caveman days, these women were sturdy, strong, good gatherers and able to bear plenty of children. And this held true up until the industrial revolution. But now, things are changing. Men don’t take into account how a woman will help extend his genetic line. He’s simply interested in the sexiest fuck on the planet.” She smiled. “Excuse my Latin.”

Dec frowned. “Is that true?”

“Our research proved that. Once a woman was freed from the difficult and dangerous work of keeping a home and bearing children, she was free to be something else-a sexual object. A woman could be incapable of sustaining marriage and a family, yet the strongest men will choose her because she has large breasts and a tight ass.” She frowned. “As you can see, this doesn’t bode well for the future of mankind.”

Dec chuckled at her sarcastic delivery of the last line. “I love listening to you when you get all academic on me.”

Rachel continued her work as Dec paged through the magazines. He found his mind not captured by the sexy images he saw, but by what he and Rachel had shared the previous night. Though he had been guilty in the past of choosing women because of their looks, with Rachel it was different. Not that she wasn’t the most beautiful woman on the planet, but he was attracted to her because of her intelligence, her vulnerability and her honesty.

And then there was the way she made him feel in bed. He wasn’t sure what it was and maybe it was a combination of all the things he loved about her, but when she turned her full attention to making him feel good, there was nothing like it in the world. Every touch, every movement, drove him wild with desire.

He drew a deep breath, the thoughts in his head spinning into further fantasies. He had been in a constant state of arousal since the very moment he’d met Rachel and until last night, there’d been no decent relief. But now, he had every belief that what they’d shared would be enjoyed again.

With a satisfied smile, Dec picked up another magazine and flipped to the centerfold. He held it up, letting the page open into his lap. “Look at this,” he said, turning the magazine so Rachel could see. “You have much nicer breasts than this woman. See, these don’t look real. Yours look…natural.”

“Thank you,” Rachel said.

“And you have nicer hair,” Dec added. “I like your hair. It’s…different.”

“Different good or different bad?”

“Good,” Dec said. He plucked at his own hair. “It’s wavy and thick, so I can sink my fingers into it when I’m kissing you. I like that.”

“Anything else?” Rachel asked, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

“If I had to describe my fantasy woman, she’d look pretty much like you.” He paused. “Well, she’d look exactly like you.” He tossed the magazine aside and stood, then crossed the office to her. Leaning forward, his hands braced on her desk, he kissed her upturned face, first her cheeks, then her nose, then her mouth.

“Do I have to give you something else to occupy your time?” she asked. “I have some nice drawings of sexual positions you might like.”

“I’ll let you know if I need them for reference.” He circled around the desk and pulled her to her feet, then wrapped his arms around her waist. This time, he gave her a long, deep kiss, designed solely to make her forget her work and turn her attention back to him.

“You know pretty much everything about sex, don’t you,” he murmured, his voice warm against her ear. She nodded. “There’s one thing you don’t know, though.”

“What’s that?” Rachel asked.

“Never give a man porn when he’s locked in an office with a beautiful woman.”

“We’re not locked in,” she said.

“Then I think you better lock us in,” Dec countered.

Rachel slowly backed away from him. At first, he thought she’d find an excuse to put him off. He turned around and leaned against the edge of her desk. And when he heard the lock click, he smiled.

The click was like a starter’s pistol and Dec walked across the office and grabbed Rachel, dragging her into a frantic kiss. He didn’t want to spend time with preliminaries. They could do that in the privacy of his apartment later that night. Right now, he just had to have her naked body in his arms.

His hands fumbled with her clothes, stripping them off as quickly as he could. At first, Rachel seemed surprised by his aggression, but then she laughed softly and began to tear at his clothes, too.

Within seconds, they were both naked, their mouths still fixed on each other’s. He couldn’t get enough of her as his hands skimmed over her body, enjoying each sexy curve. Every inch of her skin was so soft and warm, like silk against his fingertips.

Dec reached down and grabbed her behind her thighs, then picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist. If last night had been slow and easy, then this would be the exact opposite. He wanted it all and he wanted it right away. He pressed her back against the bookcases and Rachel spread her arms out and held on to the shelves for balance.

“God, you feel so good,” he whispered, his body pressed into hers. He reached down and cupped her breast in his hand, then bent to capture her nipple, licking and sucking until it was hard.

Rachel groaned, arching against him. “Oh, yes.” She let go of the shelf and wrapped her arms around his head. “Oh my.” She rocked against him, his cock sliding against her clitoris. He moved with her, growing slick with the damp of her desire.

Dec shifted, grasping her buttocks and moving her up and down against him. Her breath came in quick gasps and she moaned in rhythm to his thrusts. “Do you want it?” he asked, his tone thick with desperation. “Do you want me inside you?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Now. Please.”

“Condom,” he murmured. Wrapping her legs more tightly around his waist he walked with her to the desk where his jeans hung off the edge. He set her down on the smooth wood surface, then grabbed his wallet and pulled out the plastic packet he’d tucked inside. He tore it open, fumbling with the slippery rubber before he smoothed it over his cock.

He picked her up again but Dec wasn’t sure he could hold her and come at the same time, so he shoved the papers off her desk and laid her back down in front of him. She seemed ready for him, but Dec wasn’t about to ignore her needs. He spread her legs, then knelt down to lick and tease at her clitoris.

She was already aroused and within a minute or two, she cried out, exploding in a powerful orgasm. He wanted to feel the spasms of her body so he quickly rose and slipped inside her. She was hot and swollen and still convulsing as he began to move inside her.

It didn’t take long before he was dancing on the edge of his own orgasm. Dec gathered himself, pushing back against the pleasure until it was too much to bear, then pushing back again. He grabbed her foot and brought it up to his mouth, kissing her instep, then running his tongue up to her toes.

How could it feel this good? Even the very first time he came inside a woman, it hadn’t felt this good. It wasn’t just the physical pleasure that he was experiencing but the sensation of possessing Rachel, of her being entirely his for the time he was inside her.

He’d never been a jealous person, but he knew now how a man might become crazy with need for a woman. If anyone ever dared try to take Rachel from him, there’d be no limit to what he’d do to keep her. It wasn’t a rational thought, Dec knew that. But the feelings inside of him were so powerful that he felt he couldn’t control them.

He brought her legs over his shoulders, then stared down into her face, her beautiful face. Her eyes were closed, her damp lips parted. She was his fantasy come to life. Though he’d said the words to her, he didn’t really know what they meant until now. This was all he’d ever needed or wanted.

Dec reached down and slid his thumb gently between their bodies, rubbing at her again. After last night, after the sensation of her body clenching around him, he wanted be inside her when she came. He moved slowly, giving her time to relax and recover from her first orgasm. But it wasn’t long before she began rocking against him in an ever-quickening rhythm.

He was close but Dec waited, holding back far longer than he’d ever thought possible. And when Rachel arched against him, he let go, joining her in a shattering orgasm that seemed to last forever, driving into her one last time.

Spent, Dec fell forward. He nuzzled her neck, kissing a trail from her ear to her shoulder, then back again. “I bet none of your research subjects ever had that reaction to those magazines,” he murmured.

Rachel laughed softly, then grabbed his hair and pulled his head up so she could look at his face. She gave him a slow, deep kiss, then sighed. “Remind me to put those in a bag so we can take them home.”

“I don’t need pictures of naked women to get me going,” Dec said. “You do that just fine on your own.”

She sighed, then pulled him back down on top of her. “I don’t think I want the police to catch my stalker. Then you could be with me forever and make me feel like this all the time.”

Dec wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. Funny, he was thinking exactly the same thing.

RACHEL STOOD STARING INTO HER suitcase and studied her wardrobe possibilities, searching for an outfit that was sophisticated, yet simple, and flattered her figure as well.

She and Dec had come back to his place from her office and immediately tumbled into his bed, repeating the experiences of that afternoon. She’d just assumed that they’d stay in bed until it was time for her to leave for her shift at the station, but Dec was determined that they go out on their date.

He’d already made a reservation for dinner and though they’d missed going to an early movie, Rachel agreed that a night out would be good for them. After all, an entire day of sex had left her famished-and a bit exhausted. And if they stayed in Dec’s bed any longer, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get out.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“No,” she called. “I’m not sure what to wear.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “You’ll look pretty in anything you put on.”

For most men, the compliment would have simply been a way to move things along a little faster. But Rachel honestly believed that Dec would be attracted to her whether she wore a potato sack or a designer gown.

She plucked a black camisole from the suitcase and set it aside, then found a pretty black peasant skirt, adorned with jet beads. She usually wore the camisole underneath another blouse, but she decided to be daring tonight. Dropping her robe, Rachel pulled the camisole over her head, not bothering with a bra.

The hem rested just above her belly button and the skirt, just below, offering a tempting view of her stomach. She turned around in front of the full-length mirror on the back of Dec’s bedroom door, then smiled. It was simple and very sexy. She grabbed a cropped jacket to put on when she reached the station, then slipped into a pair of strappy sandals.

“I’m ready,” she called as she walked out the bedroom door.

Dec was waiting outside the room, his shoulder braced against the wall. When he saw her, he straightened, then smiled. “Wow,” he said. His gaze slowly raked her body. “You’re not wearing any underwear, are you?”

Rachel smiled. “Is that a problem?”

“I’ll let you know,” he said. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, through the kitchen door. When they got outside, Dec helped her into his car then circled around to get behind the wheel. He started the car and popped in a CD. Soft jazz filled the car.

Rachel sat back in the leather seat and smiled. Of all the things they’d done together, this was the most normal. It was as if they were just a regular couple going out on a Saturday night. She turned to Declan and smiled. She’d met him not even a week ago and yet it seemed as if they’d known each other for ages. The details of their lives before they met weren’t important. Yet, Rachel still wanted to know more about the man she was falling for.

“I guess that whole celibacy promise is down the drain,” she said. “What will your brothers say?”

“I don’t know. I’ll definitely have to pay up. And I guess I’ll get razzed for it for the next few years.” He glanced over at her. “But it was well worth it.”

“Did you learn anything?”

“Yeah, I think I did.”

“And what is that?”

He paused, as if to consider his words carefully. “I think when I decided to propose the bet, I was hoping it might change something in me. That if I wasn’t constantly looking for sex, maybe I’d be able to see something more in a woman.”

“Like what?”

“Like a future,” he said. “Something that lasts longer than just a few nights in bed. Other guys have it and I guess I wanted it, too.”

“And is that what your brothers want?” Rachel asked, steering the conversation in a different direction.

Dec shrugged. “I think so. We had kind of a screwy childhood and I think that made it more difficult for us to form attachments. You could probably figure it all out for us.”

“What happened?” Rachel asked.

“My ma got sick and me and my brothers were sent to Ireland to live with our grandmother.”

“That must have been interesting,” Rachel said.

“It probably would have been, if we hadn’t stayed for eight years. Hell, almost nine. One day we had a family-parents, brothers and sisters, and a home-and the next day, we were on a plane going to live with a woman we’d never met. My mother’s illness pretty much ruined the family financially so it was probably the only thing they could do. My grandmother was rich, we were poor.” He looked over at her. “So, am I totally screwed up for the rest of my life? Or is there hope for me?”

“There are probably some scars, buried pretty deep,” Rachel responded. “And I’d guess that you’ve maintained a distance with women, and with people in general, because you’re afraid of being abandoned again. But you’re an adult, Dec. You can look at those fears and face them for what they are. A lot of people have difficult childhoods but they get beyond them.”

“I think that may be happening,” he murmured.

Rachel wanted to ask him what he meant, but when she looked over at him, he seemed completely lost in his thoughts. Had she changed him somehow? Had their relationship made him realize it was possible to have a future with a woman? She drew a deep breath. And was she that woman?

So many times over the past week, she’d had to remind herself not to get caught up in the romance of it all. This was every woman’s fantasy-handsome man come to rescue her, an undeniable chemistry, and then sex like she’d never had it before. Already, they’d shared so much and it was still early in their friendship.

There were so many different ways it could all turn out, she mused. They could continue on for a long time until the passion was spent, the interest faded. Or they could burn out quickly, unable to find anything more than sexual attraction. Or, they could spend the rest of their lives together.

Rachel knew the odds of making it to happily-ever-after weren’t very good. But they did increase a bit considering how well she and Dec seemed to get along. She liked him. He was sweet and sexy and funny. And he was a man who enjoyed pleasing a woman. And not just in bed, but everywhere else, from opening her car door, to drawing her a bath, to bringing her breakfast in bed. He liked to make her smile and she’d grown to love him for that.

She sucked in a sharp breath, turning her gaze to the window. Love. She loved him. Or did she? This could be simply infatuation, the flood of affection that came with a new relationship. She’d have to be careful. Dec had his own demons to wrestle with when it came to love. Confiding her own feelings to him too early might just scare him away.

“Where are we going to dinner?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise,” he replied. “Oh, by the way, there’s a box in the backseat. Can you reach around and get it for me?”

Rachel leaned between the two front seats and grabbed the small white box. “What is it?”

“It’s for you,” he said.

She laughed. “For me?”

“Since this was an official date, I figured I ought to give you something to remember it by. Go ahead, open it up.”

“When did you have time to buy me something?”

“I made a few phone calls and then sent one of my guys out to pick it up.”

She pulled the cover off the box and sighed. Tucked inside pretty pink tissue paper was a tiny bouquet of flowers, a nosegay. “In Victorian times, men used to give little bouquets like these to a woman they wanted to court,” she said.

“I know,” he said.

“How do you know that?” Rachel asked.

“I’m not a complete idiot in the romance department,” he said. “My grandmother had a huge flower garden and she used to make us help her pick weeds. She used to rattle on about tussie-mussies and what all the different flowers meant. My brothers and I would just roll our eyes. I guess some of it must have stuck.”

“Do you know what these mean?” she asked.

Dec examined the bouquet as she held it out to him. “The red roses are for passion. The forget-me-nots speak for themselves. The lavender is…devotion, I think. And the ferns are fascination.”

Rachel held it up to her nose and drew in a deep breath. “You surprise me,” she said.

“That’s good, right?”

She leaned over the center console and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Yes, that’s very good.”

They rode for a time in silence. Dec reached out and grabbed her hand, then brought it to his lips. “I’m looking forward to tonight,” he said. “It’s our first official date.”

“It is,” Rachel said. “I’m actually kind of nervous.”

“Don’t be,” Dec teased. “I promise, I won’t try to kiss you at the end of the evening. And I definitely won’t ask if I can come in for a drink.”

“Good,” she said. “Because you should know, I’m not that kind of girl.”

“No, you’re definitely not that kind of girl,” Dec said.

Rachel’s cell phone rang and she picked up her purse, then set it back down. “No,” she said. “No calls tonight.”

“You should check to see who it is,” Dec said.

She reached in her purse and glanced down at the caller I.D. The lighted display showed a number from the university exchange. She put the phone back, but then decided she ought to take it. “I promise I’ll make it quick,” she said, flipping it open. “Rachel Merrill.”

“Professor Merrill, this is Officer Franklin from university security. I’m afraid we have some bad news for you.”

Rachel glanced over at Dec and forced a smile. “Yes?”

“Someone has broken into your office and vandalized it.”

“I see,” Rachel said, trying to keep her voice calm. “Can you give me more details?” She listened as the officer relayed the damage and the method of break-in. “And what would you like me to do?”

“We’d like you to come down and see if there’s anything missing. We’ve called the police because we understand you’ve been having trouble with a stalker. They’re going to be sending a detective down. Can you meet him in a half-hour?”

Rachel drew in a deep breath. “I really don’t think so. This will have to wait until tomorrow morning. I’m sure you can take care of it on your own.”

“But, Professor Mer-”

She snapped the phone shut and tucked it back into her purse. “Sorry. Just some university business.”

“Everything okay?” Dec asked.

She nodded. They drove on, Rachel mulling over the news she’d received and attempting to act as if it hadn’t bothered her. The stalker was getting much more bold and aggressive and yet the police seemed no closer to finding out who it was. Even Dec had been stymied. Detailed examination of the security tapes from the parking lot hadn’t shown any hint of the person who vandalized her car. Either the stalker knew where all the cameras were and avoided them, or he was just downright lucky.

They were nearly downtown when Dec’s cell phone rang. He reached into his jacket pocket and grabbed it, but she reached out and took it away from him. “Don’t,” she murmured.

“It’s the office,” he said. “I promise to make it quick. They might have something on your case.”

The moment he flipped the phone open, Rachel knew what the call was about. Of course he’d find out about the vandalism. The university police had called the Providence police and they would have called his office. And his office would call him.

She listened to his side of the conversation as she stared out the window, knowing what would come next. When he stopped speaking, she risked a glance over at him to find his mouth set in a tight line.

“So you weren’t planning to tell me what your call was all about?”

“I didn’t want to spoil our date,” Rachel said.

He cursed softly, shaking his head. “You didn’t think I’d find out?”

“I didn’t really think about it. I-I’m sorry. I should have said something, but I didn’t want to ruin this.”

“Baby, we can have as many dates as you want. But this is your safety we’re talking about. That is number one. If you’re not with me on that, then we have a serious problem.”

“I didn’t want tonight to be about you doing your job,” she snapped. “I’m tired of that. I just wanted to have a nice night, just the two of us.”

Dec glanced over his shoulder and pulled across a lane of traffic before guiding the car into an empty parking spot. He turned off the ignition and then faced her. “This stopped being about the job a while ago, Rachel. You have to know that. And maybe that’s the problem. Maybe I’ve been spending too much time thinking about you and not enough time thinking about your stalker.”

“No,” she said, reaching out to touch his cheek. “No, you’re the only one who has kept me together through all of this. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Rachel, my first priority has to be your safety. And I honestly can’t say that it has been. I didn’t have to stay with you. I could have sent you somewhere safe or put an army of my guys around you.”

“You can’t leave me,” she said, hearing a desperate edge to her voice. “I’m not sure I could feel safe without you.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. “We’re going over to the university. And we’re going to figure out who is doing this.”

“All right,” she said. “Maybe there will be a clue there. Maybe there’s a witness who saw something. We can figure this out.” But even as she said the words, Rachel had her doubts. Her stalker had pretty much gone unnoticed for the past few months, slipping in and out of her life as if he knew her every move. They weren’t any closer now than they had ever been.

She held the tiny bouquet up to her nose and inhaled the scent of the flowers, closing her eyes. This couldn’t go on forever. Sooner or later there would be a confrontation and whoever was doing this would reveal himself. And then she’d find out whether Dec would ever be a more permanent part of her life.

DEC WATCHED RACHEL THROUGH the glass window of the control booth, standing in the shadows so she couldn’t see him. She was aware that he was there though. Since her show had gone on the air, she’d constantly glanced up to reassure herself. But with each glance, Dec felt more guilty.

He knew from the start he was breaking every professional rule he’d ever laid out for himself. Every instinct had told him to maintain his distance, to keep an objectivity with Rachel until her case was resolved. But he hadn’t listened to his instincts, or at least not his professional instincts. He’d let his desire lead the way. And Rachel’s stalker had continued on without consequence.

A knock sounded on the control room door and Rachel’s producer turned as a skinny young man walked inside. He carried a package, wrapped in brown paper, and a stack of letters. “This is Dr. Devine’s fan mail,” he said. “And a package that came for her this morning.”

“I’ll take that,” Dec said.

The young man handed him the mail, then stood awkwardly in front of Dec, shifting from foot to foot. “Are you watching over Dr. Devine?” he asked.

Dec nodded.

He reached into his back pocket and withdrew another envelope. “Would you give this to her? It’s an apology note. I know it probably won’t help, but I want her to have it.”

“You’re Jerry,” Dec said.

The young man nodded. “The infamous Jerry,” he said with a weak laugh. “Tell her I’m sorry I screwed things up.”

“Why did you confess to something you hadn’t done?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I thought people would look at me differently. Nobody ever sees me around here. I just bring the mail in and clean up the studios and make coffee. Nobody really cares what I do. But for a little while, they knew who I was.”

“You shouldn’t have confessed,” Dec said.

“I know. After I did it, I couldn’t take it back. The cops wouldn’t listen. They didn’t believe me, that I made it up. I knew too many details, they said. But I only knew those things because everyone at the station was talking about Dr. Devine’s stalker.”

Dec nodded. “I’ll give her the letter.”

The young man smiled, then nodded, backing out of the control room. “Thanks. I really appreciate that.”

“I’m surprised the station let that guy come back,” Dec muttered after Jerry was gone.

“He’s the owner’s nephew,” Rachel’s producer said.

Dec groaned. “Yeah, well, he should have known better.” He turned his attention to Rachel’s mail, flipping through the envelopes. They’d all been opened. Perhaps it was station policy or maybe security was looking for more letters from her stalker, but as he read through a few, Dec didn’t find anything of interest.

Then he turned his attention to the package, flipping it over. The moment he did, his heart stopped. A slash of red paint covered the brown paper, the same shade that had been tossed on Rachel’s car.

He excused himself from the control room and walked across the hall to a small conference room. He set the package on the table. There was no telling what was inside. The prudent thing to do would be to call in the bomb squad.

He picked up the package and carried it through the hallway to the back door of the station. When he’d reached the middle of the empty parking lot, Dec knelt down and carefully began to unfasten the tape and string that held it together. He’d had some training in disarming explosives when he was in the navy, but if there was some type of explosive device inside, it probably wasn’t as sophisticated as what he was used to dealing with.

He got the brown paper off the box without incident, then ran his finger under the lid of the shoebox. There weren’t any trips or triggers, so he carefully tipped the box over and lifted the bottom off the top.

A small can of paint, streaked with dribbles of red, tumbled out. Stuck to it with a piece of tape was a note. Dec picked it up and squinted to read it by the parking lot lights. I’m watching you, the note said. We’ll talk soon.

“Damn it,” Dec muttered. He raked his hand through his hair, then carefully put the can of red paint back into the box. His first thought was to turn it over to the police. But maybe it was better to first give it to one of the private labs he used, just to make sure nothing was missed.

He walked over to his car and unlocked the truck, then put the box, along with the paper wrapping inside. He wouldn’t tell Rachel about this. It would only worry her further. But he did want to talk to Jerry. It seemed a bit more than coincidence that he was the one delivering the package.

Dec pressed the security buzzer for the back door and a few moments later the station guard came and let him in. He walked back toward Rachel’s studio, searching for Jerry along the way. He found the guy in the coffee room, refilling the sugar and creamer dispensers.

“Hey,” Dec said. “I need to talk to you.”

Jerry glanced up. “Did I do something wrong?”

“That package you brought in. Where did you get it? It didn’t come through the mail. There was no postage on it.”

“Some lady dropped it off this morning.”

“She brought it in?”

Jerry shook his head. “Yeah,” he said. “I mean, no. She was out in the parking lot and I was coming into work. She asked if I’d deliver it to Dr. Devine. I said yes.”

“And you didn’t think anything of it? You know that Dr. Devine has a stalker.”

“But this was a lady,” Jerry said. “Dr. Devine’s stalker is a man.”

“We don’t know that.” Dec sighed. “What can you tell me about her? Describe her.”

“I don’t know,” Jerry said. “She wasn’t old. But she wasn’t really young either. And she had kinda dark hair, but you couldn’t really see because she was wearing a big hat. And sunglasses.”

“How tall? As tall as Dr. Devine? And older or younger than Dr. Devine?”

“She was a little older I guess and about the same height,” he said. “She had a pretty good body. I noticed when she was walking back to her car.”

“You saw her car?” Dec asked, stepping closer.

Jerry backed away. “Yeah. It was grey or maybe light blue. Some kind of sedan.”

“What make and model?” Dec asked.

“Hey, I don’t know much about cars. I couldn’t tell you. But it didn’t have four doors, only two. It was a little smaller, so maybe it was a foreign make.”

“Anything else you can remember?”

Jerry thought about it for a while, then shrugged. “She was really nice to me,” he offered.

“All right,” Dec said. “I want you to keep this between me and you. Don’t tell anyone else. Do I have your promise on that? I’m going to call someone from my firm over to see if you can pick out a photo of the type of car it was, or maybe make a drawing. Will you do that?”

“Only if you promise to give Dr. Devine that letter,” Jerry said.

“All right. But I’m going to read it first.”

A flush crept up the young man’s cheeks. “Sure. I guess.”

Dec made a quick phone call to the investigator he’d assigned to Rachel’s case, then turned and walked back to the control room. He slipped through the door and took a seat in the shadows again. Rachel’s voice came over the station speakers as she explained the proper and improper ways for men to masturbate. Dec hadn’t realized there was an improper way, but then he learned something new from Rachel every day.

Finally, he had something new to offer her. Her stalker wasn’t a man, but a woman. His buddy at the FBI had been right all along. So that seriously cut down on the number of suspects they were looking at.

This woman had struck at the university, at the radio station and at Rachel’s home. There had to be a way to connect all these dots, Dec mused. Somehow, he sensed that if he’d been working on the case full time and not spending his time protecting Rachel, he’d have been able to work this out. But his mind had been completely distracted by her.

The best thing to do would be to put a different detail on her, give her another bodyguard so he could go back to doing what he did best-investigating. But the thought of putting Rachel into someone else’s care, even one of his own guys’, wasn’t really an option.

For now, he’d have to do both jobs, starting with a thorough interview with Rachel. He was beginning to think her stalker knew her well, that there was a reason beyond just some crazy obsession that she was doing this. Rachel couldn’t know that many women personally, and of those she knew, how many of them could she have angered enough for someone to want to take revenge.

The minute he got her home, they’d begin. And he wouldn’t stop questioning her until he was sure he knew everything about her.