“Making a joke of it. Tell me about your nightmare.” Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.
She was like a bulldog. He glanced out the window. “I shot an innocent woman.”
“Okay, I wasn’t expecting that. What happened?”
“Do we really have to do this?”
“I think so.”
He grinned. “Not going to come comfort me anymore?”
“If you don’t stop with the jokes, I’m going to punch you in the throat.” She whipped the wheel to the side and swerved into the parking lot of a grocery store before facing him. “I am not a pain killer for you. I am not a nurse maid. I am not your comforter, although I lost myself for a minute. I am your partner, and I want to know what your nightmares are about so I can find a more healthy way of helping you.”
Ouch. “On a professional basis.”
“Yes.” Her look could cut steel. “Sometimes, talking about these things actually help them stop. Have you seen a counselor?”
“Many times.” He didn’t believe in them, which is why they probably didn’t work. “We had a hostage situation in New York shortly after I arrived in the states and entered the police force. A man was holding two women and a small child inside a dress boutique. One of them was his girlfriend and her daughter, the other the store clerk. My sergeant ordered me to take the shot. I squeezed the trigger right as the man pulled the woman tighter against him. The shot went through him and into her, killing them both.”
“That wasn’t your fault.” She made a move to put a hand on his arm, then drew back.
Now, she was afraid to touch him. Way to go, MacKenzie. “I should have waited.”
“You didn’t know. You were following a direct order.”
“Are you always going to make excuses for me?” He narrowed his eyes. “I was asleep, I didn’t know what I was doing, I almost forced myself on you, I didn’t know he was going to pull the woman close? Stop making excuses for me.”
“Fine. It’s all your fault.” She drove back onto the road. “Maybe you need to learn to forgive yourself.”
The load was too heavy. Forgiving himself didn’t seem harsh enough in light of the things he’d done. “Can we forget personal conversation and keep things strictly professional? It’ll be a heck of a lot safer.”
She rolled her eyes. “That was my intention all along.”
~
Draco strolled into the bar, Mary trailing a few feet behind him. If he wanted the woman off his back, he needed to let her finish deleting her enemies.
She pointed out the target, a pretty blond around the age of twenty-five sitting alone at the polished mahogany bar. She was turned to face the men playing pool, her emerald slip of a dress sitting high on her thighs.
He knew her type. He’d approach her, ask to buy her a drink, and get laughed at. Then, he’d pester her until she made the excuse to use the restroom, where he’d grab her, drag her through a back door and turn her over to Mary. So simple these pretty people. So predictable.
“Hey, pretty lady. Can I buy you a drink?” He was careful to keep the scarred side of his face away from her. Let her think him handsome for a few seconds more.
She tilted her head, a sliver of a smile on her glossy lips. “Sure. Chardonnay, please.”
Motioning to the bartender, he placed the order, then faced her full on, knowing how the scar twisted his lips on the one side. “Do you come here often?”
Her eyes widened. “Um, no. Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”
Just as planned, she headed for the glowing red sign marked restrooms.
Just once, he’d like to know what it felt like for a woman not to look at him with revulsion in her eyes. He paid the tab, took the glass of wine, and followed Mary’s prey, motioning for the other woman to follow.
He dropped a tablet into the wine and waited. “You forgot your drink,” he said, when the woman emerged.
“Oh, thank you, but I must decline. My boyfriend…”
“One of those playing pool?” Right. Liar.
“Yes.” She smiled. “I really must get back.”
“Please take your drink. No hard feelings.” He held out the glass. “You can at least spare me a few minutes since I bought it for you.”
“I…suppose.” She took a sip, then another, as if by hurrying, she could rid herself of his company. She swayed on her feet. “Oh, I must have drank it too fast.”
“Here, let me help you. No strings attached.” He clubbed her on the side of the head, then propped one shoulder under one arm while Mary moved forward to take the other.
They helped their victim outside and into the trunk of Mary’s twelve-year-old Dodge Charger. “You make it look so easy,” Mary said.
“It is easy. You need only learn to read people. Who is this woman to you?”
“My father’s youngest daughter by his new trophy wife. She’s done nothing but point out how much better she is than me. Thinner, more attractive, more successful. I can’t wait to rid the world of her.” Mary slammed the trunk.
“Be patient and take care.”
“Aren’t you coming?”
Draco shook his head as he slid behind into the driver’s seat of his car. “I’ll be sure to watch the video. You should know what to do by now.” With a toss of his hand, he drove away. He couldn’t babysit the woman forever. She knew the consequences if she messed up. Either he would dispose of her or turn her over to the authorities. Either way, she’d no longer be his concern. He had bigger things to take care of.
13
Cassidy followed Colin’s directions to a large apartment complex on the edge of Conway. From the looks of the place, Vince Smith had fallen on hard times.
Wood trim in need of paint, white siding grayed from the weather, a pool thick with slime, and more rusty automobiles than should be in one place. Weeds claimed every patch of ground that sported a bit of dirt. The sign out front stated luxury apartments for lease. Must be a lot less.
Side-by-side, she and Colin climbed stairs to the third floor. Cassidy stood off to one side while Colin rapped sharply on the splintered door. The man who answered had more tattooed skin than not. A scar, covered by a snake tattoo, disappeared down his shirt.
“Vince Smith?” Colin flashed his badge. “Mind if we ask you a few questions?”
“What about?” The man reeked of cigarette smoke.
“Something that happened at college a long time ago. The attack of Maureen Monroe ring a bell?”
“That night haunts me.” He stepped aside and waved them into an apartment so clean Cassidy had to take another look outside to make sure she hadn’t entered an alternate dimension. “Have a seat,” he said. “Y’all want a soda or water?”
“No, thank you.” Cassidy perched on the edge of a dark brown leather sofa.
Colin took a chair across from her.
Vince sat in a chair angled to face the one Colin had chosen. “That was such a long time ago, man.” He rubbed both hands down his face.
“Did you know Maureen?” Cassidy kept her gaze glued to his face.
“Yeah, we went out a time or two. Sweet girl.” He shook his head. “She wasn’t much of a partier, but wasn’t a prude either. She could have fun…when it was called for.”
“Did you see who she left the party with?”
“Nah, I was drunk as a skunk. Spent most of my college life that way. Ended up getting dropped from my classes. Me and my buddies heard her scream, then some guys carried her out of the trees. She was covered in blood.” He shuddered.
“Was there anyone there you didn’t know? Anyone who stood out?” Cassidy glanced at Colin, glad to see him taking notes, then transferred her attention back to Vince.
“A lot of people.” He frowned. “It was one of those mixer things where students could get to know each other. We had Freshmen to Senior there. There’s no way I could have seen everyone.” He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “There was this one guy. Pretty good-looking, I gu
ess. He kept going from girl to girl, flirting and offering them drinks.”
“Can you describe him?” Cassidy leaned closer.
“Dark hair, blue eyes, maybe. When he came up to the girl I was hanging with, I run him off.”
“Did he talk to Maureen?”
“Yeah.” His eyes widened. “I could tell she was only being polite. Wasn’t really into the guy. I looked over there a couple of times, just in case she needed me to get rid of him, but they were laughing and seemed to be getting along. When they disappeared, I didn’t think much of it. Man, do you think it was him? Could I have saved her?”
“You were one of the male students who didn’t return to the party when Maureen was found. Where were you?”
“Passed out with the girl I was hanging with. After seeing Maureen, finding out what happened, well, I drank a lot more.” He hung his head. “I had to erase the image of her, you know? I’ll never forgive myself if I could have done something.”
In his condition, Cassidy doubted he could have done much. She handed him a business card. “Please call if you think of anything else. Anything at all that might help us find this guy.”
He took the card. “Why are you looking after all these years?”
“We believe he may be responsible in the death of another young woman.” She stood and offered her hand. “Thank you for your time.”
He shook her hand. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
They at least had a description of sorts. Not that they could take the word of a drunken college student twenty-five years after the fact, but it was more than they had when they arrived. That, and the fact her mother might have left willingly with her attacker.
“Do you know whether they did a tox screen on my mother?” she asked Colin once they stepped outside. “What if this man she was laughing with slipped her something?”
“The same thought occurred to me. I didn’t see anything in her file, though.”
Since she hadn’t been killed, most likely the screen hadn’t been scheduled. Either that or her mother hadn’t gone to be tested. She sighed and climbed back into the jeep.
Their next stop was an expensive community in North Little Rock. They pulled into the long drive and parked next to a red Ford convertible.
Cassidy squelched a bit of car envy and led the way to the front door. She pressed the bell and waited. When several minutes passed, she knocked. “Where to now?”
Colin dug through the mail in the mailbox. “He’s probably at work. We need to find out where that is. Nothing here.” He replaced the mail.
“Can I help you?” An elderly man came around the corner of the house, a shovel in his hand. “The Halers are working.”
Colin flashed his badge. “We need to speak with Mr. Haler. Do you have the address of his job?”
He shook his head. “It’s something, something, Haler. A law firm.”
Colin grinned. “We’ll find it from that. Thank you.” He started to take Cassidy’s elbow, then dropped his hand.
Good grief. It wasn’t like touching her would burn him or anything. Oh, that’s right. He didn’t need his painkiller right now. Well, next time he had a nightmare, she’d yell loudly from the doorway! No more getting too close. She was the one who would get burned.
~
Colin rolled his head on stiff shoulders and wished for a good night’s sleep. He had a prescription from the last counselor he’d seen, but after Cassidy’s nighttime visit, then the pipe bomb, he needed to be alert. Hopefully, he’d sleep that night from sheer exhaustion.
“Haler looks like he does well for himself,” he said, studying the brick two-story office building in front of him. “Funny how people in the same class at college can take such different routes.”
Cassidy made a noise in her throat and pushed open the double glass doors. “Let’s hope he has a minute to speak with us.”
Colin shot out an arm to hold the door open, then followed Cassidy into the plush waiting room. Their shoes clipped across the marble floor.
A receptionist smiled at them from behind a oak desk. “Welcome to Larson, Moore, and Haler. How may I help you?”
Colin showed his badge again, thinking he might as well wear it around his neck. “We need to speak with Daniel Haler, please.”
“Let me see if he is available.” Her smile never wavered as she punched buttons on her phone. “Mr. Haler, the police are here to see you. May I send them in? Thank you, sir.” She beamed up at them. “He’s busy.”
“Tough.” Cassidy glanced at a sign. “We’ll show ourselves in.” She marched down a long hall.
Colin shrugged at the lovely receptionist, smiled, and followed the Bull Dog. “You get more with sugar than vinegar.”
“I’ve heard that.” She continued to the elevators and pressed the button for the fourth floor. “You can remain the good cop. I’m comfortable with my role.”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. Immediately, tension filled the space as the doors closed.
Colin kept his gaze locked on the numbers flashing above the buttons. He would have to find a way to be alone with Cassidy without feeling like a boy with a crush. One who had snuck a kiss while playing Truth or Dare. He remained still while the doors opened and she stepped out, then followed her to the right.
A brass plate on a glass door announced they’d found Daniel Haler. Cassidy shoved open the door, bypassed a wide-eyed girl behind a counter and marched into the man’s office. “We’re Detectives Monroe and MacKenzie. Thank you for seeing us.”
The man’s face darkened. “I said I was busy.”
Colin stepped forward to diffuse a situation that could spiral out of control. “Sir, this is important. We only want a few minutes of your time.” He closed the door and took a seat across from Haler, motioning for Cassidy to do the same.
“We’re here about an assault on a Maureen Monroe that happened while you were at college.” Cassidy tossed a business card on his desk.
“I had nothing to do with that.” The man scooted his chair back a foot. “I barely knew her.”
“Where did you go that night?” Gone was the nice officer who had questioned Smith. Cassidy was sharp as nails and about as friendly as a pit bull.
Colin bit back a grin. This was the woman he’d met over the first victim’s body. This hard-nosed partner he could deal with.
“I was at the party.” Haler’s brows drew together.
“After Maureen was brought to the on-campus clinic, you were one of the few men not spotted again for several days.”
His gaze flicked around the room. “I…don’t know where I was.”
“Do you have any scars, Mr. Haler?” Cassidy gave him a shark-like grin. “From a knife, perhaps?”
“No, nothing, I swear.” Terror filled his eyes.
“Do you mind visiting the restroom with Detective MacKenzie? Or would you prefer a search warrant?”
“I have nothing to hide.” He lunged to his feet. “Fine.” He unbuttoned his shirt. “I was stabbed a few years ago by a disgruntled client. You can check my medical records. I pressed charges. What’s this all about anyway.” He fixed his shirt. “That girl’s attack happened a long time ago.”
“Sir.” Colin held up his hand to halt Cassidy from further questioning. “We believe her attacker may have recently killed another woman. Anything you can tell us will be greatly appreciated.”
He settled back in his chair. “I was there as a spy.” He shook his head. “The dean wanted to know who brought drugs to the parties on campus. I’d drink, then go in the bushes and throw up, then start the process all over again. I was purging when I heard a girl scream. I didn’t know at the time that it was Maureen. When I parted the bushes, a guy was running away holding his face. Blood was everywhere. I got sick for real and fell in my vomit. By the time I was conscious, it was all over and she was being cared for.”
Colin glanced at Cassidy. Hope shone in her eyes.
“He was hold
ing his face?” she asked.
“Yeah, like this.” Haler cupped his cheek. “That’s all I could tell. Oh, and he had dark hair.”
Cassidy jumped to her feet and reached across the desk to shake his hand. “Thank you.” She took a deep breath and left the room.
Colin shrugged at Haler and joined her in the hall. “Talk about doing a one eighty.”
“We now know any injury my mother caused him was to the face. I say that’s a huge step forward. Now, we can check hospital records of that night without questioning every single person stabbed that night.”
“Do you get many stabbings around here?”
“We didn’t get much of anything around here…until recently. Not in Clear Springs, anyway.” She pressed the button on the elevator again.
The tension was somewhat relieved as Cassidy continued to talk of what they’d learned. Excitement laced her words. “We can get the FBI to help us track down knife victims and interview the names we find. I mean, I’d like to have a go at all the names we find, but the interviews will go a lot faster with five people instead of two.” She glanced up at him and fell silent.
He hadn’t meant for her to catch him looking at her as if she were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He hadn’t wanted her to see in his eyes how he was growing to feel about her. Especially after the other night. He cleared his throat and looked away.
“I think having help is a good thing.” He closed his eyes and prayed for strength.
14
The conference room echoed as five people made phone calls to hospitals and clinics within a fifty mile radius of the college. Cassidy set her pencil down and stretched. It would have definitely taken just her and Colin forever to go down the list. Once they had their suspects, she prayed she would be the one who got her mother’s attacker. She rubbed her hands together. She’d love to get her hands on him.
Colin looked up from his phone and laughed. “You look pleased with yourself.”
“Plotting revenge.” She smiled. “Two more locations on my list.” She reached down and scratched behind Rosie’s ears.
“I’m finished. I have five names to visit.”
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