Sex, Lies, And Online Dating

Chapter 11

Hungryman: Seeks Snack Tray…

Using a pair of tweezers, Quinn slid the third letter into a clear evidence bag and sealed it. He set it on the table beside the others and placed the tweezers in a small collection kit. If they were lucky, they’d get some good prints and DNA. If not, at least Breathless was talking. Like a lot of organized killers, she couldn’t stop herself from bragging. He just wished like hell she’d chosen to talk to anyone but Lucy Rothschild.

The last time he’d been standing in this kitchen, Lucy had slapped his face, then kicked him out. Not that he blamed her. He’d figured he’d never be in her house again. Not in a million years, but then this wasn’t exactly a social call.

“Are you sure you can’t think of anyone who might’ve written those letters?” Kurt asked Lucy. He sat in front of her chair with his notebook open on his lap.

She shook her head. “It could be anyone.”

Quinn tucked the ends of his blue-and-green silk tie between two buttons on the front of his green dress shirt and planted his palms next to the evidence spread out in front of him. If he had to guess, he’d say Breathless had used Microsoft Word to construct the letters; he hoped the printer was more distinctive.

Without lifting his head, he raised his gaze to Lucy. She was pale but every bit as beautiful as when he’d seen her three days ago. She wore a pink shirt that laced up the front and a pair of jeans. The second he’d entered the house, he’d recognized the look in her blue eyes. No matter how much she tried to hide it behind anger, she was scared shitless.

“Do you have any fans whose appreciation for your work seems out of proportion?”

She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Well, yeah. To me it seems out of proportion much like Trekkies seem out of proportion, but nothing as crazy as this.” She’d pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail high on her head, and she looked young and very vulnerable. A slight purple bruise marked her collarbone. It was hardly noticeable really, but Quinn had noticed within seconds of seeing her. Maybe because he’d put it there.

Quinn had spent the past three days interviewing Robert Patterson’s friends and relatives, going over phone records and credit card receipts. He’d discovered that, like the other victims, Robert had dated heavily online. Quinn had gathered a list of names from Robert’s e-mail program; many of them he’d already crossed off the suspect list. Quinn had spent a lot of time rethinking the direction of the investigation, too. Perhaps Breathless wasn’t meeting men online. And he’d spent a lot of time thinking about Lucy. Maybe he could have done some things differently where she’d been concerned.

As Kurt pressed Lucy about her friends and fans, Quinn’s gaze moved to her full, pink mouth. He’d been working undercover to stop a killer. He’d worked within the legal guidelines, which allowed him to do or say anything as long as it didn’t taint evidence. Yeah, he’d lied, deceived, and talked dirty to Lucy. He’d kissed and touched her, and the whole time he’d stayed within the rules. He’d just been doing his job. At least that’s what he told himself.

Too bad he wasn’t a better liar.

“My friends wouldn’t do anything like this,” she told Kurt, and Quinn’s gaze slid once again down the side of her throat to the little mark on her collarbone. Yeah, he could tell himself and everyone else that he’d just been doing his job, but the fact was that he’d enjoyed it a little too much. He’d enjoyed hearing her laughter and seeing her smile. He’d enjoyed the hell out of kissing and touching and hearing her little moans. He’d enjoyed looking at her in his mirror as he’d touched her breasts and played with her through the thin lace of her bra. He’d enjoyed seeing the desire reflected in her blue eyes and the soft intake of her breath.

He’d picked her up to carry her to his bedroom, but he’d only made it as far as the hall. He’d like to tell himself he’d only stopped to catch his breath, but that wasn’t true. He’d stopped because he’d wanted to get her naked away from the prying eyes and ears of the audio and video equipment. Like a jealous lover, he’d wanted her all to himself.

He’d kissed her bare breasts and touched between her legs, and he couldn’t remember when he’d enjoyed himself so much. He’d felt like a kid again, touching and rubbing and tearing at each other’s clothes. He’d enjoyed the hell out of making her come and the touch of her soft hand inside his pants, wrapped around him. And while they’d been getting hot and sweating, he’d never forgotten his job. Not for one second. He just hadn’t cared. The way she’d looked at him, touched him, whispered his name, had made him want her with a ferocity that had trumped his self-control and made her more dangerous than a pack of serial killers armed with flexi-cuffs.

“What do you know of The Peacock Society?” Kurt asked.

“Peacock Society? You mean those women who wear colorful hats with feathers sticking out?” She shrugged. “Not much, other than I think you have to be over fifty, loving life, and loving to clash.”

“You’ve never spoken at any of their chapter meetings?”

She shook her head. “No. Why would I? I write mysteries. Not rah-rah sisterhood stuff.”

There were twenty-two chapters of The Peacock Society in Boise alone, and Quinn had contacted all of them and requested member profiles and rosters. He was also waiting for a membership roster and profiles from the Women of Mystery and the latest toxicology report from the coroner’s office.

“What about the Women of Mystery?” Quinn asked her.

Lucy turned her head slightly and looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. If he’d had any doubt about her feelings for him, the daggers in the depth of those dark blues would have cleared up all confusion.

Her voice was perfectly bland when she asked, “What about them?”

“They seemed to know the plot of the book you’re currently working on.”

“So?”

“Has it occurred to you that your book has a lot in common with the way Breathless operates?”

She turned to look at him fully. “Not really. I know she’s suffocating her victims, but it could be a coincidence. If you want to control someone’s breathing, there’s several different ways to do it.” She pointed to the evidence on the table all neatly bagged. “That person doesn’t say how she’s killing these men.”

“No, but we know how she’s doing it.” He rose to his full height and kept his gaze pinned to Lucy’s. She obviously didn’t like him. He didn’t really blame her, but it didn’t matter. He had a job to do. This time he was going to do it by the book. “She’s cuffing them to a bed and placing a dry-cleaning bag over their heads. Sound familiar?”

If it were possible, Lucy’s face turned a shade whiter, and even though Quinn didn’t want to give a damn, he felt like a real asshole for scaring her more than she was already scared.

She stared at him for several long moments, then said as if she had a choice, “I don’t want to be involved in this. It’s sick.”

“Too late.” He untucked his tie and pointed to the letters. “She’s involved you. I don’t want to scare you, but this is serious. A psychopath has chosen to reach out to you because she feels a connection to you through your work.”

“I realize that, but can’t you just take the letters and leave me out of it?”

He wished he could. More than she could know. Normally he would be ecstatic that a serial killer was finally talking, and he would be looking at every angle and planning the next move in his head. Not this time.

“We can leave you out of the investigation as much as possible,” Kurt said as he played the “good cop,” patting her hand and trying to pacify her nerves. “But I don’t believe you’ve heard the last from her. She will contact you again. You were really smart to put on gloves to open the third letter.”

Quinn slid the envelopes toward her. “Have you noticed the postmarks?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “She mailed the letters three to four days after each murder.”

“Meaning I should get another letter today or tomorrow.”

“Exactly. I take it you haven’t checked your PO box today.”

“No.”

“If you give us the key, we can check it.”

She shook her head and stood. “No, I get important business mail in that box. I’ll go.”

“You just said you wanted to be left out of the investigation.” Which was impossible. She just didn’t know it yet.

“I know, but I can’t let just anyone rummage through my mail.”

It was easier not to argue with her, and Quinn shoved the collection kit into his larger evidence duffle and zipped it closed. “I’ll take you.”

“No thank you.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion, Lucy.” She opened her mouth to argue, and he cut her off. “Or I can get a warrant and seize everything in the box.”

“But we don’t want to do that,” Kurt hurried to explain, trying to soothe her.

She grabbed her purse off a kitchen chair, and Quinn’s gaze slid from her face, over the laces of her pink shirt, and down her jeans to her feet. She wore brown sandals that looped over her big toes. Her toenails were painted red. “Fine, but I’m driving,” she said and turned to march out the back door.

“Maybe I should go,” Kurt offered. “Soften her up so she’ll work with us. She’s not real fond of you.”

Quinn lifted his gaze to her behind. “She’ll get over it,” he said, then turned his attention to the other detective.

Kurt gathered the evidence sealed in clear plastic bags and slipped them into his notebook. “What happened between the two of you that I don’t know about?”

“Nothing much,” Quinn lied. Only he and Lucy knew what had happened between the two of them in the hallway of his house, and he sure as hell wasn’t talking.

“You’re looking at her like something happened.”

“I’m not looking at her like anything.” Quinn grabbed the small evidence collection kit back out of the duffle. He hoped Kurt would let the subject drop, but Quinn knew better.

“Yeah you are. You look like you’re kinda hungry and she’s a snack tray.” Kurt shook his head. “Too bad she looks at you like you stomped that fat cat of hers.”

Kurt was full of shit, but Quinn didn’t have time to stand around and argue. “Remember to photocopy those before we turn them into the lab. See you back at the office,” he said and walked outside as Lucy backed her silver BMW out of the small garage. He opened the car door and sank into red leather upholstery and palpable animosity.

“Nice car,” he said as he reached over his right shoulder for his seat belt.

“I like it.” She put the car in first gear and practically laid rubber in the alley.

He looked over at her and snapped the belt in place. “Where’s the fire?”

“You didn’t have to come along.”

“Sunshine, you’re wrong about that.”

She stopped the car at the end of the alley, then pulled onto the street. “Don’t call me Sunshine. My name is Lucy. Ms. Rothschild to you.”

He chuckled. “How long are you going to be mad at me, Mizz Rothschild?”

“I’m not mad.” She shifted into third gear and shot down Fifteenth Street at least ten miles over the limit. A squirrel darted into the road, skidded to a halt, then ran back to the sidewalk instead of taking his chances.

“Right.” Yeah, he’d lied to her, but it wasn’t as if he’d had a choice. And yeah, he’d taken things a little far, but she hadn’t exactly complained. She’d gotten off. He hadn’t. If anyone should be pissed off it was him. “You always this good a driver, Mario?”

“If you don’t like it, get out.” She stopped at a light on Bannock and about put him through the windshield.

He smiled and reminded himself that his job would be a lot easier with her cooperation. He’d talked confessions out of hardened criminals; he could handle Lucy. “It’s good that you called me about the letters.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she said as she continued to look straight ahead. She refused to look at him, but that was okay with Quinn, as it gave him the chance to look at her all he wanted. Kurt was right. She did look like a snack tray. “I didn’t call you. I called someone who transferred me to you.”

“It doesn’t matter.” His gaze took in her high cheeks, straight nose, and her full mouth. The first night he’d seen her, he’d thought she had a great mouth. “The result is the same. I’m going to be in your life for a while longer.”

“Lucky me.” She tapped her red fingernails on the black leather steering wheel. “I guess your name really is Quinn.”

“Yep.” His gaze moved from her chin to the long white column of her throat. He liked her neck. It smelled great and tasted better.

“Is there really a Millie?”

“Yes.”

Tap tap tap. “Your wife? Girlfriend?”

“My dog.”

Her head slowly turned toward him like she was in The Exorcist, and her eyes got all squinty. “Your dog? You made me feel sorry for you because your wife died, and the whole time Millie was really your dog?”

“I was doing my job, Mizz Rothschild.”

“Your job sucks.”

“Sometimes.” The light turned green, and she sped through the intersection.

“So who was the redhead in the photographs?”

“What photographs?”

“The ones on your mantel.”

“Oh, that’s Anita. She works in the tech department.” He could practically see the mental wheels spinning in her head. “The photographs were planted there to make me think she was your dead wife Millie.”

“Something like that.” He hoped to God she never found out about the video and audio tape. “Listen, I’m sorry about everything. I’m sorry you got caught up in it. I’m sorry I had to lie to you.”

She made a scoffing sound. “Probably not as sorry as I am.”

“The others didn’t take it so hard.”

Her head whipped around to look at him. “Others? While you dated me, there were others? You told me I…jerk.”

Maybe he should have kept that one to himself. “Watch the road.”

She frowned and looked out the windshield once more. “How many others are we talking about?”

“While I dated you? Just a couple.”

Lucy slowed the car and pulled into a parking place in front of the post office. Just a couple. He said it as if it were okay. As if it didn’t completely crush her, no matter how much she didn’t want to be crushed.

“Over the course of the past month,” he continued as he unbuckled his belt, “about fifteen or sixteen.”

Lucy opened her car door and stepped out. “Fifteen or sixteen?” She couldn’t help but wonder how far he’d gone with the others. Had he kissed them like he’d kissed her? Had he shoved them against a wall and touched them all over?

He held his evidence collection equipment in one hand as they moved up the steps. “It was exhausting,” he said, holding the door open for her as if he were a gentleman.

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” He wasn’t tricking her for a second. He wasn’t a gentleman. “Poor guy. You wined and dined fifteen or sixteen women and lied to us all.”

“Some I just met for coffee and never saw again.”

And others he’d kissed like he hadn’t been able to get enough. Others like her. And though she would rather die than admit it out loud, she felt a tiny stab of jealousy for all those faceless others.

They walked into the old post office. Across from the rows of PO boxes, she set her purse on a table used for labeling. She would not ask how many he’d kissed and touched as he’d kissed and touched her. Not if it killed her. “And out of all those fifteen or sixteen, I’m the one you were most convinced was a serial killer.” She opened her purse and set her wallet on the table. “That’s brilliant police work.” Next she pulled out her brass knuckles and stun pen, then dug a little deeper. The more she thought of all those other women, the angrier she got. “I knew there was something wrong with you, but did I listen? No. I did not. I even made excuses for you trolling chat rooms and for all the really crappy e-mails you sent me.” She finally pulled out the special set of keys that always ended up in the bottom of her purse. “That spark to flame stuff was so lame. I mean, get a clue, Lucy.” She looked up, and Quinn took several steps backward. “What are you doing?”

“What do you have in your hand?” he asked, looking at her as if she held a cobra.

“The key. What else?” His gaze moved to her stun pen, and she smiled. Oh, that was tempting. “Are you afraid I’m going to zap you?”

“No. You wouldn’t get close enough.”

“Mmm hmm.” She held out the keys and made a little zapping sound through her teeth as she dropped them in his open palm.

“Funny. What’s your number?”

She told him, then turned to stuff everything else back into her purse.

“You’re the only one who’s complained about the e-mails.” He rocked back on his heels. “The other women liked them.”

“The other women were being kind to you. Believe me, I know hyperbolic crap when I read it.”

He chuckled and said over his shoulder, “That’s what I told Kurt when he wrote those e-mails. Although I’m pretty sure I didn’t say his crap was ‘hyperbolic.’”

He hadn’t even written the e-mails she’d spent so much energy trying to excuse and justify. Figured. She leaned her hip into the table and watched him move to her PO box. For some reason, the skin on the back of her neck and arms started to tingle as she waited for him to open it. A part of her wanted to tell him to stop. Not to open it. She didn’t want to see what was inside. Reading the sick rambling of a killer professing admiration for her work tainted what she’d always loved. Made it feel as if she were somehow responsible, although she knew she wasn’t. The thought of writing a mystery about a female serial killer no longer seemed like fiction. The lines between fact and fiction had blurred, and it was real now. She’d always loved her work, but sitting in her chair and writing seemed too horrific. The thought of never writing added a different shade of fear into the mix. She not only loved writing but it was also how she made her living. Without it, she was uniquely qualified to work in the fast-food industry.

In the span of three hours, her whole life had changed. Her emotions were raw, her mind numb with the weight of it. More than anything, she felt disoriented, as if she’d been on a five-day bender. She watched Quinn fit the key into the lock, and her hands tingled and her fingers got cold. She didn’t want to look, but she couldn’t look away. The small door swung open, and Lucy’s heart felt as if it were going to pound right out of her chest.

The box was empty. Not even a piece of junk mail. Lucy let out a breath. She couldn’t go through this every day, but she didn’t see that she had a choice. Maybe she’d heard the last from a sick woman. Maybe she could get her life back.

Quinn locked the PO box and moved toward her with that long and lean purposeful stride of his. A scowl wrinkled his dark brow, and he handed her the key. “Are you going to pass out?”

He raised a hand, as if he was going to touch her, but she stepped back out of his reach. “I’m fine.”

His hand fell to his side, but his scowl remained in place. “We’ll check again tomorrow.”

Without a word, Lucy took the key ring and dropped it into her purse. Tomorrow. She didn’t want to see him again tomorrow. Nor did she want to stand in the post office with her heart pounding out of her chest.

Together they walked from the post office, their shoulders inches apart as they moved down the steps. Lucy felt so alone that it might as well have been miles that separated them.

On the ride to her house neither spoke. In the past week, Lucy had fallen in love with a man who didn’t love her and had only dated her because he’d thought she was a serial killer. If that wasn’t crazy enough, she’d been contacted by the real killer, who claimed Lucy had taught her everything she knew about committing murder. The police thought Lucy somehow knew the killer, or at least had met her. Lucy had a feeling they were right. She’d always considered herself a strong person, but with each passing hour, as bits and pieces of those letters spun around in her head and the significance sank in, she was having a harder and harder time keeping it together. She feared she was going to dive headfirst into a freak-out, and she wished she had something to hang onto before she lost it. Someone to hold her tight and make her feel safe. Someone to tell her everything was going to be okay, even if it was a lie.

There was no one. Especially not Quinn. He was the last person to make her feel safe or the last man who could fill the emptiness that he had created.

Lucy pulled the car into the garage, and Quinn followed her into her house. “We’ll check again tomorrow,” he said as he reached for his duffle.

She didn’t want to go back to the post office. She didn’t want to stand around, watching and waiting. She walked to the kitchen window and looked out at Mrs. Riley’s fake tulips. Some of them were blue. She didn’t recall ever seeing real blue tulips, but who was she to question someone else’s reality when she felt as if she might truly lose her mind? “What’s going to happen now?” she asked, although she’d written enough books to have a very good idea. She knew that the police saw her as a link between them and a serial killer. The irony didn’t escape her.

“The letters get processed in the crime lab for prints and DNA. Kurt and I will pore over every word, looking for any clue or connection that will point us in the right direction. I think these letters are going to help us find her.” Lucy heard him walk across the room, and she felt, rather than saw, him come to stand directly behind her. “Do you still have my home phone and cell numbers?”

“Somewhere. Probably.”

“Will you call me if you need anything at all?”

“I don’t need anything. I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“Thanks.” She laughed without humor and glanced down at her white hands grasping the edge of the counter.

“I just meant that you look pretty shook up. Those letters would get to anyone.”

“Do you really think she’ll write again?” Lucy asked and prayed he’d say no.

“Yes. It might be better to give me your key and I’ll go to your PO box. You won’t even have to see the letters. Think about it.”

Lucy had always thought she was so brave. So smart. At that moment, she didn’t know what she was anymore. She just knew that her life no longer felt like her own.

“Okay.” She still had her purse on her shoulder, and she reached inside and pulled out the key to her PO box. She took it off the ring and turned to face him. “Could you do me one favor? Would you bring the regular mail to me?”

“Sure.”

She placed the key in his palm and his hand closed, trapping her fingers in his warm grasp. She glanced up to his face. His gaze touched her forehead and cheeks, then landed on her mouth. He was looking at her as he’d looked at her before. This time she knew that the desire she thought she saw there was an illusion.

She pulled her hand away before she could give in to the illusion and sink into something bigger and stronger than herself. “Do you think she knows where I live?”

He raised his gaze, and his brown eyes looked into hers. “Your phone number is unlisted and there isn’t enough personal information about you on the Internet to lead anyone to your door. Since she sent the letters to your PO box instead of to your home address, my guess would be no.” He shoved the key into the front pocket of his pants. “But I’m not going to take a chance with your life.”

That almost sounded like he cared. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and looked down at her ring-toe sandals. Lucy would rather not take the chance either, but she wasn’t quite sure why he cared. Oh yeah, she was now valuable to his case.

“We’ll increase police patrol in the area, and I’ll check on you as much as I can. We can install a security system and lights. And I know cops who work security when they’re off duty. They can stay with you if you’d like.”

She shook her head, and her gaze slid a few inches from her sandals to the toes of his brown loafers. She had enough family and friends in the area that she didn’t need strange men in her house.

He placed the tips of his fingers beneath her chin and brought her gaze up to his. His light touch seeped into her, spreading warmth down her neck and into her chest. Once again she had to fight the urge not to lean into him and hang onto something stable in a life that was quickly unraveling around her.

“Tell me what you want.”

So many things. None of which he could give her. Except, “The security lights sound good.”

“I’ll get that rolling as soon as I leave. We’ll get them working on it tomorrow.” He dropped his hand to his side. “What about today?”

“I’ll go stay with my mother. Tomorrow I’ll have one of my friends stay with me here.”

“One of the writers?”

“Yeah.” He’d remembered. A few days ago she would have thought that meant something. Now she knew better.

“We’re going to get her, Lucy. I promise, but until then, don’t go anywhere alone if you can help it.”

She wanted to ask him when he thought this whole thing might be over, but she knew he couldn’t give her an answer.

“Keep that stun pen and pepper spray handy.” The corner of his mouth lifted, and he almost smiled.

It didn’t occur to her until much later that night, when she was lying in her old bedroom at her mother’s, to wonder how Quinn knew she carried pepper spray.