Craig

by Celeste Raye

  Craig had to be alone with her. They had work to do, but more than that, he needed to be alone with her. He said, “Gina, how about you and I go down to where she worked and see what we can find out. Peterson, you stay here and keep looking. In fact, what I want you to do is open all these files, all the cold cases, and open your computer and try to do some kind of magic that will give the ones that we have not yet identified a name.”

  Peterson, knowing that it was rare that a rookie ever even got to do that much work on such a high-profile case, gave them an eager smile. “Consider it done.”

  Craig knew leaving a rookie alone on such a big task was stupid, but he had to see Gina, had to talk to her. He had to ask her if they were okay and if she was okay. He nodded. “Great, thanks.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gina and Craig got into the car and, finally, they were alone. She pulled out of the station and down a few streets until she spotted an empty alley. She pulled in and turned to face him. Before she could even speak, his lips found hers and then they were kissing, hard and passionately. His mouth tasted of spearmint and coffee, and she drank that flavor in, let the familiar and powerful shape of his lips press against hers as his tongue sought hers.

  Desire hit, making her nipples stiffen, and her body go taut. His fingers found her hair and fisted it, and her breath went to a pant, her body stuck in the seat, straining to reach his. They broke apart and then kissed again, neither of them willing to stop just yet.

  Eventually, they regained their senses. He broke the kiss off, and she whispered, “I missed you too.”

  He chuckled. “Thanks. I was worried that…well, that you’d just say to hell with me.”

  “I almost did. I was really sure you were not coming back after all. That you had decided to stay.”

  “There’s still a war. The Fae are there now.”

  Had she heard him right? “You mean like fairies?”

  “Yeah. Do not even ask. I do not want to talk about it.”

  Her heart sank. Was he going back? She had a horrible feeling that he would, that he would have to. That they would be separated again. She kissed him again. She wanted to do much more than kiss him but right now kissing was all she had so she just did that.

  He said, “We need to catch this bastard.”

  “I know. It’s time. It really is time. I really am done with this guy and us not being able to find him. He’s making mistakes. He’s slipping for some reason. Maybe Jack’s right. Maybe he wants to get caught, or maybe you are right, and he is just somehow aging or crazy…” Her forehead puckered. “I do not even know. I just know it is way past time.”

  Her radio chirped, and she hit the button. “Yeah?”

  Peterson said, “Hey, the coroner guy called. Said you need to call him, stat.”

  “Will do.”

  She grabbed her phone and hit the screen. Craig listened intently as she greeted Robert and asked, “What’s up?”

  Robert spoke through a long yawn. “Hey, just figured out who the first was. Good thing since I hear he just nailed number two.”

  Gina tensed. “Yeah. How?”

  Robert grumbled out, “Believe it or not, I recognized her. Even with as badly as she was beaten, it occurred to me that I know her and so I ran a few things to check, and yes, I do know her. Or rather, I knew her. Not in the sense that we were friends or like that, but I did know who she was.”

  Craig lifted a sooty brow. He asked, “Say that again please?”

  Robert yawned again, and then said, “She was here last year.”

  Gina asked, “How the hell could she have been there last year?”

  Craig said, “Maybe you really do need some sleep.”

  Robert said, “Listen, I don’t mean she was here as a body. I mean she was here last year, doing an ID on a body. She was identifying her sister. Carla Morris, remember her?”

  Gina went cold. “Gripper number three from last year.”

  “Right. I had some DNA in the fridge. I ran a check. Yup. They are related.”

  Gina thanked him and hung up. She opened the computer, and they ran the name. It came up, and they both leaned in, peering hard at the screen. Gina said, “Addiction issues. Lots of arrests. Just like her sister.”

  Craig ran a finger down the screen, reading the rap sheet. “Lots of trouble in that file. Just like her sister. That is either the biggest coincidence in the world or…”

  “Or it was deliberate. I do not believe in coincidence, not at all. This feels like…like it’s the taunt we thought he didn’t leave. Like he’s playing us. Like…”

  Craig’s body was hot, and the heat seeped into hers as he leaned closer to her to get a better look at the screen. “Like he is trying to make us think he is slipping but really he has some sort of plan in all this.”

  “Yeah, that. Even the way he left the last vic, with her body positioned the right way but at the wrong direction. It all feels like he’s saying hey, I’m making a mistake—but he isn’t. Not really.”

  “I agree.” They sat there, looking at the screen. Gina asked, “I wonder how many of his Jane and John Does are related? Is this the first time he did this?”

  Craig said, “I don’t know, but that is a damn good question. He always did pick people hard to identify unless they had criminal records If they did have records, we didn’t recognize them. Part of that might just be due to so many of them having drug issues and missing teeth and maybe they actually managed to avoid arrest. How, I do not know, but it can happen, even for the most serious addicts.”

  “How does somebody with the addiction issues and other things we see in our vics escape arrest?”

  He shook his head. “Beats the hell out of me. I would say the only way that could happen would be that they had family that could make things like that go away, but if so, where is that family now? I mean, we tried to identify. People know when he strikes. We have yet to have anyone who came forward with a missing person after his kills that had a relative that actually matched.”

  “Back to square one. I mean really, it is like we are right back at the very start of an investigation that is just beginning instead of one that has been ongoing for nearly two decades,” Gina complained.

  Craig said, “You know what? You are right. So, let’s go at it like that. Let’s go at this like we know nothing about the Gripper.”

  The suggestion took her by surprise. “Why?”

  “Because maybe we are letting too much of the case get in the way. We keep saying we are overlooking something. Maybe we are so busy assuming that all the legwork was done years ago, that we are swimming through a lack of evidence, but maybe—well, maybe the evidence, and lack of it, that was collected before, the assumptions made, and the profiles the FBI gave us—maybe they are in the way. Let’s pretend this is a fresh case and do what we would do if it was.”

  She said, “That’s a great idea.”

  An even better idea was dragging him off somewhere that she could get him naked. But she had to handle this case first. Time was running out. They could save someone’s life if they just hurried. If they just worked the case. The year before she had been so worried about finding Christy and Heather that she had gotten distracted by that, and she had wasted both her time and the time of the vics who had not yet died. That was not going to happen this year, not if she could help it. That meant she had to stop thinking about getting her hands on Craig’s body and making love to him.

  Delayed gratification, she thought wryly; everyone says that that is such a good thing. Boy, are they wrong. But in this case, it has to be that because someone’s life is way more important than my getting laid.

  She said, “Okay, so let’s get back to the station and take a room and get started.”

  He nodded. He said, “We have less than two days to find this guy. But I wish we had more time because I can think have a few ways I would much rather spend my nights.”

  The grin she gave him was impish and regretful. “Yeah, me
too.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Craig groaned and rolled his head on his shoulders. The files sat on the table of the room they had commandeered, and they had all been gone through, over and over. They were concentrating on the two current vics and were getting nowhere.

  He said, “Okay, so let’s regroup. Think this way; what do all our vics have in common other than the fact that they are usually addicts, homeless and hookers?”

  “They were all murdered by the Gripper.” Gina’s voice was hoarse, and there were dark shadows below her stunning eyes. She rubbed those eyes with a hand and added, “And they all had their problems outside that too. At least those who were identified seemed to have their share of problems.”

  Craig tapped a finger into the table’s surface. “Yeah. You know what? Has Peterson gone home?”

  She nodded and ran a hand through her hair. “I think he left a few hours ago. He did manage to get a big collection of missing together, and he’s trying to get names for the older Does now. He says that nobody seems to have put much effort into finding out who they are, the older dead I mean. Looks like after a few years they just got shoved into the cold files and left. The task forces have always been more concerned with finding the Gripper than finding out who they were.”

  “That’s probably the biggest mistake any of us have made in this whole thing.”

  “Yeah.”

  He stared down at the files and then shook his head. “I’m beat, and so are you. We’re done for now. Really, if we don’t get some sleep, there is no way at all we’re going to be able to get anything done here.”

  Gina’s lips turned downgrade. “I’m scared we won’t stop him in time.”

  “Me too.” He was, but he added, “We have to concentrate less on saving whoever his next vic will be and focus on finding out who he is. That’s also been a major mistake on the part of all of us who have ever worked this case. We have been so busy issuing warnings and trying to get his vics saved that we sometimes let finding him slide by the wayside. It’s like the whole focus has been on the crime and once his killing spree ends, it gets back-burnered until he kills again. That too is a mistake.”

  She nodded wearily. “I agree. There have been a lot of mistakes over the years, and those mistakes have let him keep killing, but if we could save just one…”

  He reached across the table and took one of her chilled hands into his. “I know how you feel. I do. But really, in the long run, saving whoever might die next year might be our best hope.”

  Her face took on a grim cast. “Yeah.”

  He stood and stretched. Blood and oxygen flowed through his body, snapping through his tired muscles. “I’ll stack them and rack them.” He began gathering up the files and putting them back into the boxes while Gina made a few last notes in the notebook she carried with her everywhere she went.

  They walked toward the front door of the station together, and he said, “You want to come to my place?”

  She smiled at him, and there was something else under the fatigue on her face now. “Your place is across town. Mine’s right down the street. Let’s just head there. We don’t even have to drive, and really, I am way too tired to drive right now.”

  He was sure the last thing he wanted to do was be in a car with her when she was tired. She was a crazy driver, and that was when she had full control of herself. “Deal.”

  They set off down the street. Their bodies met and touched, their hips and hands brushing against each other’s. Anticipation had been building within him all day and night, and now it turned to something else: pure lust. He wanted her, and badly. He’d had to set all his lustful thoughts aside all day, not an easy feat to accomplish given how badly he wanted her and how long it had been since the two of them had been alone together, but they had a case to work.

  The air was cold, and the rain had come back in, but it was just a mere misty little drizzle that barely wet his hair and clothes. The fresh air helped to clear his head and drive away a little of the weariness, and it also made him aware of her body as it met his, the heat and softness of it. His member stiffened as his arm brushed against the swelling curve of her breast and he heard her suck in a small breath that said she too had felt that sharp and electric flash of passion that raced through him at that touch.

  Her apartment was small and messy. She ran through it grabbing things and throwing them into piles. He chuckled a little and said, “Gina, stop.”

  She gave him a look and then a nervous laugh popped from her lips. “Sorry. Reflex. I…I have been pretty busy.”

  He took her into his arms. The heat of her body met his, and her breasts smashed flat against his chest. Passion spiraled through him. His mouth met hers, his tugging at her bottom lip for a moment before he flattened his mouth against hers and kissed her hard and deep. Their tongues met and danced. Her gasp sent breath into his mouth, puffing his cheeks slightly. She shivered, and his hands fisted her hair, brought her even closer. Her pelvis titled and her body ground against his, causing the thickening length of his staff to stiffen and harden yet again. His hand dropped from her hair to her blouse. He yanked it off, disregarding the buttons. He found the clasp of her bra between her small and high breasts and undid it. They bounced out of the fabric and into his hands. His fingers stroked across the pebble-hard peaks of her nipples and his mouth trailed along her neck to the pink crowns at the ends of her breasts.

  Her cry was soft and dazed. She murmured, “The bedroom,” just as his lips and teeth closed around her nipples. He ignored he words, his fingers squeezing her flesh while he kept suckling at her nipples and her lower body arced forward again, her fingers tangling so deep into his hair that he felt the sting of her nails against his scalp.

  He began to walk forward, and her body bowed into his. They stepped toward the bedroom with his mouth back on hers and the kiss growing so deep and hot that it sent spikes of pleasure rolling through his skin and made him go even harder. He wanted to be inside her so badly, wanted to feel her body parting for his. He wanted to make love to her like he had never wanted to make love to anyone else in his life.

  Her bed had not been made. He did not give a damn. They dropped onto the mattress, letting it sink below their weight. Her hands went to his clothes, and she stripped them away as he managed to get her out of hers. Her hand wrapped around his hot and pulsing staff, her fingers tracing the veins wrapping that hard and silken length. The sensation made him shiver, and he let his mouth wander over her neck and breasts again. He gave a small jerk of his hips, removing his rod from her grasp so he could go lower but the phantom warmth of her fingers and palm stayed on that throbbing flesh of his.

  Her skin was satiny and supple. His lips and teeth wandered down her belly, stopping for a moment at her navel and then he was between her legs. He muttered, “Damn you smell so good.”

  Her legs parted at the words. He could see the glistening juices already streaking her lower lips. He let his fingers wander over her lips, rubbing those slick and slippery oils into her flesh. Her pubic curls, already damp, emitted a musky-sweet fragrance that drew him like a bee to nectar.

  His tongue found the seam of her and split it open. Her cry was guttural, “Oh God yes.”

  His tongue slid upward, finding her spot. That hard flesh grew even stiffer, more erect and hotter, pulsing slightly beneath the pressure and motion as he let his tongue move back and forth across the surface of it. His fingers delved into her, two fingers, and her heated inner walls stretched open for them, telling him she was ready for more, eager for more. He withdrew those fingers and began to circle her with his tongue, alternating the back and forth licks with that new motion all in the name of giving her as much pleasure as humanly possible.

  Gina groaned, “Jesus Christ. Oh my God. Yes, yes please.” Her ass jerked and then her hips bucked forward and upward, bringing herself closer to his mouth and giving him a better angle of penetration. He let his mouth continue to devour her, tasting every slick and
salty-sweet drop of her body’s juices as they dripped from her soaked folds and hot core and onto his face and tongue.

  She began to shiver. Her inner thighs clenched and began to spasm. Her inner folds quivered, and he worked harder and faster, knowing he was about to take her to the climax she was so desperately wanting.

  She came. Hot spurts of her juices burst from her body, coating his fingers until they were sticky and sodden. He took a deep breath and wiped his face on the tangled sheets then moved upward again to kiss her. Her hand snaked between their bodies, and then he was inside of her, her legs wrapped around his body and his stiff and swollen member slid into her wet passage.

  She was so good, so wet and tight. It took everything he had to hold back, to move slowly. To set a soft and slow rhythm that would help her ride out the aftershocks and take her back to the brink of a second orgasm. He wanted to pound into her, to give her every hot and aching inch of his large and powerful staff, but he had to go slow or risk it ending far too soon. They were both too tired for a round two, so this one had to count.

  Her nails raked along his back. Her breath panted into his ear. Her body rose and fell in perfect time with his, making his teeth clench as her inner folds cradled and milked his flesh, taking him deeper into her body with every met thrust.

  A long, spurting release made his body go stiff and then limp. He braced himself on one forearm, his mouth finding hers again. They both shuddered. Her legs, still locked around his waist, jerked and then she whimpered as her body let out few more pulses of a small but powerful second rush. He groaned and curled his fingers around her slim shoulders, his eyes closing as the aftershocks ran along his body, making little bursts of pleasure come from his rod, which was sending out the last bit of his seed into her heated depths.

  They lay in a tangled heap as they got their breath back. He withdrew from her slowly after his breath had gone back to a more normal pace. His member, flaccid now, left a thin dribble of fluid along her upper thighs that made her lower body even stickier. They cuddled close together, and his arm went around her waist. Her face wore a soft and stunned expression, the red flush that came up with the exertion of sex and pleasure still lingering there.