by Deborah Camp
“Nuh-uh.” The blonde grinned, showing discolored teeth. “That was awesome.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll keep him.” The brunette leaned in for a kiss, her tongue voracious. She left a trail of saliva on his lips as she tugged on his cock, trying to coax it to sit up again. Damn! That hurt! It was sensitized, blood still close to the surface.
“Babe, wait.” He brushed her hand away. “Give it a minute, will you? The one-eyed python needs to recuperate.”
They had a good laugh over that. Britt got up off the bed and grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter off the table. Her squeal when she’d come reverberated in his head.
She’d make that kind of sound if I shoved a blade between her ribs. Yeah, she’d squeal like a fucking pig if I took a hammer to her head and made that blond hair turn red. Maybe instead of taking her home, I could take a detour. Wouldn’t have to tell anyone about it. Sure wouldn’t be the first time I offed one of the bed guests. But I promised not to . . . not yet. Soon, though. It’s gotta be or I’ll go rogue. I swear I will . . .Trudy . . .Trudy?
“Trudy? You with me? What’s going on? Where are you?”
The bed and women blinked out and Levi’s troubled expression filled her vision. Trudy jolted up and looked around as her stomach did a slow roll. Oh, yes. The hotel. The balcony. Levi crouched in front of her, his hands on the chair arms, caging her in.
“Where’d you go?” Levi asked, his voice as soft as a breeze.
“With that man. The same one.”
“What was he doing?”
“He was with two women and they were having a threesome, I guess.”
Levi’s brows shot up. “Well, Jesus. That must have been interesting.”
“It was. It . . . I felt him ejaculate.” She drew in a breath, filling her lungs with sweet air even as the dirty scene played out in her mind again. “Do you feel a tingling along your spine when you come? Do your . . . um, testicles get hot and heavy feeling?”
He tipped back his head and chuckled. “You’re an interesting woman to be around, Trudy Tucker.” His eyes danced with mischief. “Yes, I suppose I do feel a tingle and yes, my testicles get hot and hard right before I come. So does my cock. Now that sex education class is over, did you happen to learn anything about the case we’re working on? Is this man you keep seeing the murderer or not?”
She covered her face with her hands as the world around her stabilized and she could think straight again. “Yes, I’m almost positive he’s the killer – or a killer, anyway. He’s holding off killing anyone else right now. He’s promised someone he won’t murder anyone, but he’s getting anxious about that and he’s thinking he might disobey and break rank. One of the women there – the brunette – she is close to him. A girlfriend or maybe even his wife. The blonde, she was a visitor. He called her a ‘bed guest.’”
“Bed guest. How quaint.” He pushed up to his feet, gripped her upper arms, and pulled her out of the chair and into his arms. “Let’s go inside. It’s chilly out here now that the sun has set.”
Trudy glanced around, startled to see that it was dark. “How long have I been sitting out here?”
“An hour? Maybe more.”
“Felt like only a few minutes.”
“I woke up and saw you.” He guided her into the living room, sitting down on the couch with her. “Are you okay?”
Her head still felt fuzzy. “I guess. Just give me a few more minutes.”
He rested one hand on her knee. “So. He was balling someone. That’s different. Aren’t they usually thinking about killing someone or in the middle of it?”
“Yes.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth as her thoughts reversed. “I did something a little different and I guess it worked.”
He squeezed her knee. “Tell me.”
“I imagined that I erased my mind. Like sweeping an eraser across a chalkboard so that someone else could write there. And someone did.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and then angled back to get a better look at his sagacious expression. “What?”
“See what you did? You took yourself one step further and you succeeded. You called to the monster and the monster answered.” His eyes narrowed to slits. “How can you doubt yourself when you’re so fucking remarkable, Trudy?”
She looked away from him, feeling shy. “I don’t know. I’ve always been a little frightened of what I can do and I . . . I didn’t want to test it. But I feel safe around you. I know you’ll catch me if I fall.”
His hand moved up to her thigh and his voice was soft, his tone resolute. “I will. Always, baby.”
He slipped his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against him and closed her eyes. Street sounds drifted in from outside as her thoughts returned to the man who had been in her head. She concentrated hard, trying to recall every detail. After a few minutes, Levi stirred against her.
“Anything else before we take a shower and then go find a place that plays hot jazz and sells cold drinks?”
“Yes.” She sat up, twisting about to face him. “He feels like he’s in his late twenties or early thirties. He has long arms. He’s lanky. He has a long, thin penis.” She took a breath, watching Levi’s brows knit in concentration. “He was having anal sex with the woman and he called her Britt. The other woman was watching, I guess. After he was done, he thought about killing Britt. He thought about shoving a knife into her or beating her over the head with a hammer and the squealing sounds she’d make.” She closed her eyes, reaching for any other information floating in her memory banks. “Oh, and it wouldn’t be the first time he’d killed someone he’d just had relations with. He thought that he might not take her home, but take her somewhere and kill her like he’d done with other bed guests. But then he backed off on that because he’d made some kind of promise.”
“So, he’s working with someone. The girlfriend or wife? You think she’s in on it with him?”
Trudy mulled that over. “Maybe. Yes, that’s definitely possible. You think the victims were chosen as sex partners?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think that all of the victims had signs of sexual assault. We’ll have to check that out to be sure. But if the couple you saw are into kink, perhaps the victims were, too, and that’s how they found each other.” He swung up from the couch. “Good work, Trudy. I’ll see if I can connect with a victim or two.” He reached for her hand and she stood so that he could drop a kiss onto her lips. “Tomorrow. Tonight, we drink weirdly named cocktails served in souvenir glasses and we dance!”
“When in New Orleans,” she agreed, wanting to let go of the ugly images for now. “Right?”
“Oui, mon amour,” he whispered, close to her ear, his breath warm and tickling.
A flame ignited in her heart. She was putty in this man’s hands. “Keep speaking French like that and you won’t even need the cocktails.”
Chapter 7
Sitting in the middle of the canopied bed, Trudy set aside her laptop and leaned closer to the TV when Levi’s image appeared. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Eight-fifteen. He’d left the hotel at seven-thirty for the television station. Good Morning New Orleans had invited him on as a guest after Trudy had e-mailed a press release about their involvement in the salvage yard murders. A short news item about their involvement had also been in the morning newspaper.
Levi looked calm and in his element – which he was, Trudy thought with a smile. Dressed in a black suit, black shirt, and a black and dark purple printed tie she’d given him for Valentine’s Day, he emitted dark, delicious, mysterious sex appeal. His hair was carefully brushed, gleaming under the lights, and he sat with legs crossed, hands resting comfortably on the chair arms.
“And we’re back,” the interviewer chirped. Long brown hair, big brown eyes, big bright smile, the thirtyish on-air talent could barely take her attention away from Levi for a few seconds at a time. “Levi Wolfe is with us. He’s a psychic detective and he’s in New Orleans looking into t
he salvage yard murders that have been in the news since late last year. Tell me, what is a psychic detective, exactly?”
“Some psychics do ‘readings’ for clients and some, like me, do that and also work in tandem with local law enforcement on murder cases. You see, Laura, I’m able to communicate with the deceased and so it’s possible for me to pick up clues from them that can actually help zero in on a suspect. I hope to do that with this case.”
“That’s fascinating. How does that work? You see ghosts?”
“No. I see the subjects in my mind and I can hear them – or at least lip-read – what they’re saying.”
“Really? How long have you been able to do this?”
“Since I was a child.”
“Since you were a child! Did you tell your parents about it? How did they react? Did they believe you?”
Trudy winced, hurting for him. These were topics he didn’t want to explore.
“Children are often not believed when they relate such things to their parents. Because children are usually quite imaginative, it’s presumed by parents that they are making up such things or confusing reality with fantasy. Often, they are. That wasn’t the case with me.”
Trudy winked at the television. “Well done, Mr. Wolfe.” But, of course, he’d been asked these things before, she realized, so he’d have pat answers for them.
“Laura, nineteen people have been murdered,” Levi continued, resuming control of the conversation. “Their families are grieving for them. I’m here to do whatever I can to make sure the killings stop.”
“Yes. It’s really terrible. That many people killed by one person – at least, that’s what the police believe as of now. You have some experience with this kind of thing. And you’re a best-selling author, who has written about some of the more famous cases you’ve worked on.”
He nodded. “That’s right, and this case could very well be included in my next book. I’m joined on this case by my fiancé, who happens to be a superlative psychic, as well. Trudy Tucker is able to actually penetrate the killer’s mind and see what he sees, hear what he hears. She’s remarkable and very successful at tracking killers and finding missing children.”
Trudy pressed her fingers against the grin blooming on her lips. Stupid, grinning like a goofball because he called her his fiancé and bragged on her. But she couldn’t help it. Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Wolfe.
“That’s amazing! You must make quite a team.”
“Absolutely,” Levi agreed, and then he looked past her, directly into the camera. “And we’re determined to see this murderer exposed and arrested.” He looked at Laura again. “If all goes well, which I believe it will, he’s claimed his last victim.”
Trudy’s hand dropped away from her now frowning lips. He was goading the guy to make a move, to kill someone else, and that didn’t sit well with her.
“I certainly hope you’re right,” Laura said. “So, do you ask the dead victims to identify the murderer and then you work with the police in making an arrest?”
“I wish it were that simple.” Levi shifted slightly in the chair. “Sometimes the victims are blindfolded or rendered unconscious, so they don’t see their assailant. Or he wears a disguise.” He glanced at the camera again – pointedly, sending a message to the killer. “However, the murderer isn’t as clever as he thinks. He inadvertently identifies himself. Then it’s a matter of connecting the dots until we finally trap him.”
“This is really intriguing.” Laura flashed a smile at the camera and then at Levi. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, but I won’t need luck to catch this criminal.” He looked at the camera again and a smart-aleck smirk claimed his lips. “My intellect will be enough, I imagine.”
Trudy fell sideways on the bed with a moaning groan so that she didn’t hear Laura’s sign-off to end the segment. “Wolfe, you are a menace,” she told him before his image was replaced with a dancing toilet paper roll and a silly commercial jingle. He’d dangled a big hunk of bait and she couldn’t imagine that Desmond Forté would be able to resist it.
###
“I’m flying back to Atlanta tomorrow to do Sissy’s show, but I’ll jet back here that night,” Levi tossed over his bare shoulder as he walked into the bathroom.
Trudy finished typing a Twitter message, then signed off. Closing her eyes, she took in a few, calming breaths. Sissy Sexpot Franklin. She switched on the lamp beside the bed and closed the drapes against the night sky, taking a few more moments to get a grip. Simply hearing that woman’s name set off an alarm in her brain.
Levi stood in front of the wall of bathroom mirrors. Fresh from the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair glistening and wet, he squeezed a line of green paste onto his toothbrush. They’d spent the day making timelines and compiling dossiers on each victim. There were gaps that needed to be filled in and they’d discussed ways to get more information.
“You’re doing Sissy Franklin’s show tomorrow? When did you schedule that?” She was immensely proud of her level tone of voice.
“This morning after I did that interview.” He motioned with his toothbrush in the general direction of the bedroom television. “She texted me and suggested it. It’s perfect timing. Her show is national.”
Sissy suggested it. Naturally! It had been weeks since Sissy had seen Levi, so she obviously was having withdrawal symptoms.
“You can look up addresses and phone numbers of the victims’ family members while I’m away.”
She tapped her foot and folded her arms, watching as he brushed his teeth. “May I? Oh, thank you. I know you had your heart set on doing that, so I’m ever so grateful that you’ve bestowed that task on me.”
He rinsed his mouth and dabbed at it with a towel before turning around, a big shit-eating grin on his face. “Do I detect sarcasm, Miss Tucker?” He gripped her by the shoulders and walked her backward into the bedroom. “While I’m there, I’m going into the office to sign some contracts and check on some work. Then I’m winging it right back here because I don’t want to spend a night away from my baby. But if you want to go with me, you can hop on the plane. No prob. You can even be on Sissy’s show with me. She’s always asking me why you won’t appear on it.”
“Oh, is she always asking you that?” Trudy challenged, finding that really hard to believe, seeing as how Levi had been Sissy’s main sex toy before Trudy had put a ‘No Trespassing’ sign on him. She suspected that Sissy would be happy if she never saw her again and even happier if Levi never saw her again.
“Scout’s honor.” He struggled to look sincere. He failed miserably. “So, don’t work on the case. Go shopping for some clothes or come to Atlanta with me. Or do both!”
“No.” She wiggled free of his hands. He knew that Sissy was one of her least favorite people, but she didn’t want him to think she didn’t trust him. It was Sissy she didn’t trust. “We’ll get more done if I stay here.” She sat on the bed. “I was on Twitter just now and a guy messaged that he’d seen a man at the salvage yard one night a few months ago. I’m going to follow up on that, too.”
“Don’t waste too much time on that stuff. Most of them are just trying to get your attention.”
“Right, but it’s not wise to discount all of them. People want to help, but a lot of them don’t want to go to the cops.” She leaned back on her locked arms. “When are you going to try to connect with a victim or two?”
“When I get back.” He sighed and sat beside her. “That’s why we need to make contact with some of the victims’ family members. Especially those here or near here. I need to borrow something owned by the victims to make it easier to contact them.” He ran his thumbs over his fingertips.
“Oh, right. Like an article of clothing or a piece of jewelry?”
“Anything that was theirs. Yes.”
She sensed his hesitation. “You’re dreading it? Why?”
“There are so many of them and they were brutally murdered.” He scrubbed
his face with his hands. “Since Jazeem’s description of how they were attached to Forté . . . I don’t know, it’s freaky. And the one I have already connected with was horrible. Draining. He was so terrified and confused . . . and then what happened to him.” He shot up as if propelled. “Anyway! I think the interview and the one I’ll do with Sissy will definitely get Forté’s attention. Why don’t you call Jazeem tomorrow and ask her to get in touch with her client to see if she wants a private séance.”
“You’ve baited the trap and now it’s time to lure him in closer.”
“Exactly.”
“Thank you for bragging on me this morning.” She dragged a fingertip down the center of his chest.
“That wasn’t bragging.” He bent lower to kiss the tip of her nose. “Just facts.”
“What’s your plan for the séance, assuming that Jewel Chambers takes us up on it.”
He turned and went to the old, French chifforobe. “I’ll try to connect with whoever she wants me to, but I’ll also tell her that there is interference. I’m betting, of course, that Forté is in the room so that we can both keep an eye on him and watch for any telltale signs that we’re getting under his skin.” He removed a neatly folded pair of sleep pants from the bottom drawer. “I’ll say that others are crowding in, wanting to be heard, but they aren’t related to Jewel.” He discarded the towel, stepped into the pants, and yanked them up over his hips. “Mainly, I want to see him – eye to eye – and get a read on him. And I want him to meet us and know that we’re the real deal and he should be afraid.” He grinned and stalked toward her. “Very afraid.”
Realizing his intent, Trudy had only a moment to release a squeak before Levi pounced on her. He drove her back into the comforter and mattress and rained kisses over her face, neck, and shoulders while his fingers attacked the ticklish zones at her ribcage.