by L. T. Marie
“Ms. West,” Agent Steele said. “Amanda Franklin’s death made it clear that this man is serious. His letter requests you meet him tonight. If you help us out, we will guarantee your safety. If you decide not to meet him, he’s likely to kill again.”
Jo crossed her arms. “Not happening.”
Tory smiled and grasped Jo’s hand. “You heard my sister. So what are our other options?”
“We wait,” he said, his displeasure with Tory’s decision obvious. “For the time being, I would like to add a few agents to your staff.”
“Is that really necessary?” Jo said.
“Yes, ma’am, it is. Your bodyguards aren’t enough. I’m sure they know their jobs, but we’re trained professionals and better equipped to handle these types of situations. They don’t have the tools or the ability to deal with a problem of this caliber.”
Maybe it was the way he said it. Maybe it was his tone or the fact that he dared disregard Lee’s ability with a simple shrug or that shit-eating, patronizing grin. Whatever it was, she’d heard enough. “Agent Steele, I’m sure my sister agrees with me on this. We appreciate your help with this matter, but I have one bodyguard and I don’t want another. You all work this out among yourselves. And Tory,” she said, turning to her, “let me know what the plan is after while.”
“Okay, talk to you later.”
Jo rose from her chair, refusing to break eye contact with Agent Asshole. She’d had enough of his arrogant, macho attitude and didn’t care how big the man was. If he so much as hinted again that Lee wasn’t capable, she’d take a stab at trying to knock out one of those pearly whites.
“I can’t believe this,” she said, moving into the living room with Lee in tow. She sank onto the sofa as Lee moved to the dining table to retrieve a few documents. The word edible came to mind as she caught Lee bending over the table wearing her usual pair of Levi’s, black boots, and a tight black T-shirt. It took all of her restraint not to jump her where she stood.
“What’s not to believe?” Lee sat next to her and gently squeezed her knee. “Look, I know you’re stressed but it will be all right.”
“How can you say that?”
“Look at me. You have to trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you. And the FBI is doing what they do best, even if they’re a pain in the ass.” Lee softly ran her thumb over Jo’s lower lip.
It took all of Jo’s control not to take that thumb into her mouth and suck on the tip of it until Lee either pulled away or surrendered. Suddenly the past few days became a blur. Her hands shook where they rested on Lee’s bare forearms. The muscles beneath her fingertips twitched. She licked her lips, eyeing the trickle of sweat that coursed down the side of Lee’s neck. When it passed over Lee’s rapid pulse point, the dam burst. Leaning forward, she licked it away. Lee groaned.
The taste of Lee ignited a spark that set her entire body on fire. She was slowly becoming engulfed in sexual heat—every nerve ending in her body screamed for Lee’s cool tongue to put out the flames. Lee gasped as Jo’s fingers played up and down her arms. She knew exactly what she was doing to her, and it didn’t appear Lee had the strength to pull away anymore. Lee touched Jo’s face and traced the length of the thin scar beneath her eye. She shuddered, and then, trembling all over, she grabbed Lee’s shoulders.
The sound of footsteps out in the hallway caught their attention and Lee pulled away.
Lee straightened, needing distance from Jo. She wanted Jo more than she wanted air to breathe, but now was not the time. The stalker was still out there and that knowledge left her feeling helpless. She couldn’t do this now, not with so much at stake. She slowly withdrew, even though her body was screaming at her to reengage and finish what they’d started.
“Why do you always pull away from me?” Jo said sadly.
“I’m sorry,” Lee said, unable to look at her. “I have other things to do.”
Lee moved to the door but Jo stepped in front of her, blocking her exit. Lee almost laughed at the idea of Jo using herself as a barricade, considering she could bench more than twice Jo’s weight. But the defiant stance and the fire in Jo’s eyes made her heart rate double.
“I’m sorry but I thought I was your thing,” Jo said thickly, placing her hands firmly on Lee’s chest.
“You are.” Lee held Jo’s hands tight against her body. Just an inch to the left or right and she’d be begging Jo to touch her.
“Then why won’t you talk to me? Let me in? You keep pulling away at a time when what I really need is for you to pull me close. I see the ghosts in your eyes. What are you hiding from?”
Lee flashed back to a time when death and destruction were a part of her daily life. Losing people, especially people under her command, had nearly cost her what was left of her sanity. When she thought about what could happen after Tory ignored the UNSUB’s last request, thoughts of losing Jo rendered her powerless. Suddenly her legs shook and she rested against the door for support. “Jo, give me a second.”
“Stop. I’m the only one here. It’s okay,” she whispered, stroking the sweat-soaked hair away from Lee’s eyes. “No one will see you like this, I promise. Just tell me what happened.”
Lee moved to the couch and sat with her head bowed and her arms dangling between her legs. “I was remembering the war and the loss of my troops. Then I thought about…about…”
“Hey, come on. I’m here. Tell me.”
“I thought about something happening to you.” Lee finally looked at her. “It scared me.”
Jo couldn’t think of anything on earth that could possibly frighten a woman of Lee’s caliber, but the admission brought a new round of tears to her eyes. “And it scared you because of—what? Because it’s your job to protect me?”
“It used to be.”
“Used to be? But I thought…”
“What I mean is, it isn’t just about my job anymore.”
Lee kissed Jo, a brief kiss full of meaning and want. She knew of no other way to explain to Jo that she wasn’t going anywhere. Jo’s obvious sigh of relief proved that another barrier had disintegrated all around them. When she opened her eyes, she smiled regretfully at Jo.
“Don’t,” Jo whispered. “You know I feel the same way.”
“But we shouldn’t…”
“Don’t.” Jo whispered more fiercely, wrapping her arms around Lee’s waist and laying her head against her strong chest. “Just…don’t.”
Chapter Seventeen
Lee paced her apartment, feeling uptight and a little wild. She couldn’t believe she’d kissed Jo—again. Or that she’d nearly fainted in her arms and told her things that she should never have admitted. Some soldier she was. What a disgrace.
The bottle of tequila sitting on the nightstand was the apple in her Garden of Eden. Struggling to resist the temptation she took slow deliberate breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart. She couldn’t risk a drink when she’d promised she’d be back at Jo’s within the hour. Breaking her word wasn’t an option, and she swore she wouldn’t allow her fears to convince her to do it now.
Recalling the softness of Jo’s lips and the way she’d surrendered in her arms, Lee was lucky to be standing at all. She’d explained that she needed to shower, change, grab some clothes, and contact Gary for an update, but that was only the partial truth. She really needed to remove herself from the situation and get a grip on her emotional state. Blaming her roller-coaster feelings on PTSD would have been the simple way out, but it was a weak argument at best.
She was wearing a hole through her rug thinking about what the UNSUB would do when Tory didn’t show up tonight. Gary’s profiler suggested that Tory’s refusal to show could quite possibly push him over the edge, meaning Jo would be thrust into danger, and there was no way to know when or where it would come from. She had decided to stay the night in one of the many guest rooms to be nearby if the stalker tried something, so she placed her clothes in a carry-on. No way could she let Jo out of her sight right now. Not af
ter everything that had happened.
The FBI had done its own profile on the stalker and had termed him as an “intimacy-seeking stalker.” People that fit that profile weren’t likely to disappear and believed that they were loved, or would be loved, by the victim they stalked, if only they could get their attention. They normally focused on someone of higher-class status, like celebrities, and more often than not were mentally ill and delusional. No big surprise there. The profile also suggested that the stalker might suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder and possess low self-esteem. All this meant was that Gary’s profiler had been correct from the start. Tory’s plan to ignore his love for her would make him become more unpredictable, more violent.
Lee read the profile numerous times to commit it to memory. Words such as loner and highly intelligent stood out, and as she was about to leave and rejoin Jo at the house, the phone rang, making her jump. “Winters.”
“Hi.”
Lee closed her eyes, her hands trembling. Jo’s voice held the power to turn her to mush, and she was glad for the momentary distance. “Hey, yourself. Need something before I come back?”
“Just you. I wanted to make sure you were coming back.”
The response made Lee’s knees go weak. “I’ll be there.”
“Okay. See you then.”
Given the lines she had crossed, it was inevitable that Lee felt her barriers, her carefully constructed defenses, beginning to fragment, ready to shatter at any moment. She had a decision to make. Should she break down completely and let Jo in? Or should she do the sensible thing and run? A relationship between them could never work, because even if the professional part of their relationship wasn’t in place, it wouldn’t be fair for Jo to have to deal with all of her emotional baggage. Jo would say she could, but when she saw the real damage and woke up to Lee’s screaming nightmares, could she really endure being with someone so broken? No. It wasn’t fair to expect that of her. When the stalker was behind bars and Jo was safe, she’d have to bow out of Jo’s life for good.
She pocketed her keys and grabbed her bag, not looking forward to the stressful night ahead. She’d accepted loneliness long ago, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
*
Jo glanced up as the large grandfather clock in the library struck four a.m. Lee sat near the window, a book in her hand she wasn’t even pretending to read anymore. She couldn’t possibly sleep, knowing that somewhere out there a man had waited for Tory to meet with him and realized a few hours ago she wasn’t going to show up. Jo wished she could sleep in order to wipe away everything she’d read about stalkers on the Internet and about their psychotic behaviors. Out of all the information she’d acquired, one common theme hit her hard. Stalkers didn’t normally change their behaviors and only tended to become more obsessive over time. If they couldn’t stop themselves, they had to be stopped. That thought alone made her shiver. If they didn’t catch him soon, how long would they have to live in fear?
“Cold?” Lee asked.
“Yes, thank you.” Jo accepted the fleece blanket and placed it over her legs.
“You really should try to get some sleep. The house is locked tight and there’s plenty of muscle staying the night.”
“Yeah, right. I’m so amped I don’t think elephant tranquilizers could help me sleep.”
“Can I get you something then?”
Jo threaded her fingers through Lee’s and yawned. “Just you being here is enough.”
“Jo, be reasonable. It’s late and I think it would be best if you turn in. You’ve had quite a day.” Lee stifled the protest that was coming with a little shake of Jo’s hand. “What I mean is…” She inched closer. “You look tired and I don’t want you getting sick. You’re still recovering.”
“Are you saying that you care about me?” Jo asked, staring at Lee’s lips.
“I think we’ve established that I do.”
“And what do you plan to do about it?” Jo held her breath as Lee leaned forward, waiting in anticipation for those perfect, warm lips to touch hers when the phone on Lee’s belt began to vibrate. When am I going to catch a break?
“Winters,” Lee said, clearing her throat.
“Lee, I have something and it’s important,” Gary said.
“Go ahead.”
“Not over the phone. Too many ears, if you know what I mean. How about we meet in an hour.”
“Location?”
“Sand and sun.”
“Roger that. See you then.”
“Where are you going?” Jo asked, refusing to let go of Lee’s hand as she stood.
“To meet with Gary. He has some information he doesn’t want to share over the phone.”
“You will be careful, right?”
“Worried about me, Ms. West?” Lee’s voice showed a trace of humor.
“As a matter of fact,” Jo wrapped her arms around Lee’s waist, “I am. It would seriously piss me off if something happened to you, so I don’t want any holes in this sexy body of yours. You got me, soldier?”
“Roger that.” She pulled Jo close and wrapped her in a strong embrace. “I have to go.”
“Will you be back later?”
“Yes.” Lee kissed her soundly, reverently. “I promise.”
*
Lee straddled a stone bench directly outside the entrance to the popular state park. She had notified the FBI that she was going out so they knew to watch out for Jo, but she still wanted to get back as quickly as possible. The beach had closed shortly after sunset the night before and wouldn’t open until sunrise, which made this particular meeting place perfect to discuss private matters. Gary arrived a few minutes later, surprising Lee by using crutches and wearing a prosthetic leg. He’d always said that he’d be damned if he’d ever wear a fake leg, but he’d never elaborated on why. Apparently something was changing for the better in Gary’s life. He handed her a blank manila folder, his grim expression suggesting that the contents didn’t bear good news.
She read the information carefully before looking out over the rhythmic ripples of water. Peace had descended over the early morning, but she’d learned from experience that it was always calm before the storm. “Who else knows about this?”
“As far as I know, just the FBI.”
“And should I ask how you got this information so quickly?”
He shook his head. “Probably not wise.”
A tinge of color lit the sky on the horizon. Dawn was breaking, and the new day marked more trouble for the West sisters. “This isn’t going away, is it, Gary?”
“Afraid not, and I wish I had a different answer. This guy is resourceful, Lee. I mean…the chemicals he used in Franklin’s death were common household shit. Anyone could have logged onto the Internet to put that bomb together. He wanted them to think he was an amateur, but a voice-recognition trigger? Jesus Christ.”
“I feel ya, buddy. Give me your take?”
“Wow, this is a first,” he said in surprise as Lee glared sideways at him. “You never ask for my opinion. But I think this guy used to be military and is more resourceful than we give him credit for. Someone called Amanda at home moments before the kitchen exploded, triggering the explosion and destroying everything within five hundred feet of the blast. It took ATF and the FBI until last night to find even a small piece of the device. They were lucky it wasn’t completely destroyed and that a few of the serial numbers could be detected. He finally fucked up. At least we know something about him now.”
She’d been thinking along the same lines since the killer used the word “shadow” in one of his letters. Gary’s opinion confirmed her suspicions. “Tell me.”
“For one, the military tested this type of equipment a few years back but decided at the last minute to scrap the project. My insiders told me that a few of these triggers went missing, but unless you knew what they were, you’d probably mistake them for a common light switch. Now you and I both know you can’t walk down to the nearest Radio Shack a
nd pick up that kind of shit. And they don’t make them anymore because they were unreliable. As far as I could tell, the only way he could know about these triggers and get access to them was if he served.”
“So you said used to be military? Not anymore?”
Gary nodded. My profiler is confident that the UNSUB has military experience but wouldn’t be mentally fit to serve now. Yeah, the bastard can create a bomb but is twitchy and wouldn’t do well under gunfire in his delicate state.”
“The profiler actually used the word twitchy?”
“No.” Gary laughed without humor. “He used some technical mumbo jumbo about PTSD and crap I didn’t understand.”
Now there was a topic she understood all too well. A fellow soldier suffering from the same disorder but unfortunately lost in his own psychosis. If he hadn’t killed someone or gone after Jo, she might have actually felt sorry for him. “I think it’s time we ask for outside help.”
“Who you got in mind?”
“Teigs,” she said. Gary didn’t even try to hide his shock.
“Are you crazy?”
“Do I look like I am?”
“Okay, let me rephrase,” he said at Lee’s look. “Are you sure? Teigs is an A-1 wacko. Don’t get me wrong. I know he was the best. In fact, I seem to recall that fucker could find dynamite in a six-foot hole in the middle of the Sahara. It was like his nose was a needle on a compass and explosives had a magnetic field pointing him north. But I remember what happened the last time you talked with him. I’m surprised you let him live.”