by Deborah Camp
“Take it easy.” The terror stamped on her features made him break out in a cold sweat as his heart iced over.
“Levi,” she whispered, her voice soft and shivery. “He murdered me. He thought he was killing me!”
Chapter 13
“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor,” Gonzo said, stepping in front of Levi to interrupt his pacing.
They were all gathered in the living room, following Trudy’s gut-clenching revelation. Levi, Trudy, Wes, Gonzo, and Quintara. Gonzo had taken his wife home, but had returned when Wes had texted him about the recent episode.
Sitting on the couch with Quintara, Trudy leaned her head back against the cushions and closed her eyes. She could feel the extra aspirin finally kicking in as the pain throbbing in her temples began to subside.
“Can I get anything for you, dear?” Quintara asked, her voice low and consoling. “A Diet Dr. Pepper? Beer? Champagne? Lobotomy?”
Trudy couldn’t keep the smile from poking at the corners of her mouth. “Finally! Something I could use.”
Quintara patted her hand. “That’s my girl. Feel like talking now? Can you tell us more?”
“Don’t push her,” Levi said. “Let her rest.”
“No, it’s okay.” Trudy sat straighter and gave Levi a reassuring nod. Anyone with eyes could see that he was anything but assured. He was the epitome of leashed anxiety and banked pain. “I should talk about it while it’s fresh. Do you have the recorder ready, Wes?”
“Right here.” Wes held up a device no bigger than a cigarette lighter. “Fire away.”
Trudy took a steadying breath and allowed herself to journey back to the killing scene. “I never saw his face, which isn’t unusual because I see what he sees – through his eyes,” she explained, going slow because she knew about the hairpin curves up ahead and was in no hurry to get to them. “He has a tattoo on his chest and stomach. I glimpsed it every so often. It’s a coiled snake. I saw words and I believe it’s that saying, ‘Don’t tread on me.’”
“The symbol of American independence,” Wes said. “He sees himself as a rebel.”
She considered this, rolling it through her insights of the killer. “You’re probably right. He’s a big, muscled man. Like Gonzo. Powerful, sweaty, but I sense he’s not nearly as good looking.” She chanced a glance at Gonzo and saw surprise flash across his face before he let loose a huge grin.
“Must be an ugly sonabitch,” Levi muttered, and smirked when Gonzo gave him the bird. “Go on, Tru.”
“I didn’t see any hair on his arms or chest. He must shave or wax his body. He wore black leather pants and a leather vest. Black boots with silver buckles and studs on them.”
“Biker stuff?” Gonzo ventured.
“I saw a white van. An old one. It had rust spots on it above the wheel wells.”
“Where’d you see it?” Gonzo asked her.
“It was parked in the place where we . . . he was. Concrete floor with oil stains on it. Maybe a garage? I think the walls are metal. It’s hard to tell because it’s dark in there except for a light hanging from the ceiling and . . . maybe another light source. A window? I don’t know. There are things piled around us. Tires. Metal boxes. They might be tool boxes. It’s crowded. Lots of stuff all around. The smell of grease stings my nose. And there’s a musky scent . . . mothballs?” She took a few seconds to prepare herself for what was coming, chanting to herself that she was strong and in control. There was nothing to fear. Finally, she was ready to face the end of an innocent life again.
“Heather Asher’s hands and ankles are bound with silver duct tape,” she said, closing her eyes so that the memories would sharpen. “The tape is across her mouth, too. She’s terrified. He’s triumphant and so proud of himself. He’s laughing.” A sob wedged in her throat and she paused long enough to force it back down into her chest.
“Tru, you don’t have to do this right now,” Levi said, coming to sit beside her. He rested one hand on her thigh.
His touch was like a tranquilizer, calming her, soothing her. Even the pounding in her head diminished. She wished she could bring ease to him, too. Guilt lay on him like a heavy, smothering cloak. She wanted to tell him that none of this was his fault, but she knew he wasn’t ready to listen.
“I’m okay. I want to finish this.” She settled back into the ugly scene in her head. “He heard her identify herself as Trudy Tucker and that’s why he forced her into the van. He couldn’t believe his luck! He was at the right place at the right time. She was bragging about being Levi Wolfe’s girlfriend. She was spouting off about being psychic just like Levi. So, he asked, because he wanted to be sure this time, ‘Are you Trudy?’ and she had smiled at him and put out her hand for him to shake. ‘Yes. I’m Trudy Tucker.’ He told her that he wanted her autograph and he had something for her to sign. She followed him to his van. So easy. One touch of the stun gun and she was his.” Trudy took a moment, breathing in and out, clearing herself of the hateful feelings.
“He drove to this place, but I didn’t get a good look at it because it was dark and I don’t know the area. There’s a chain-link fence around it, though. I remember that. He hit her and knocked her out so that he could bind her with the tape.” Twisting her hands in her lap, she felt Levi’s worried gaze, but she forged on, allowing the thoughts and images to return. “When she came to, he strangled her until she passed out again. Then he waited for her to come around so he could choke the life out of her. He kept saying things about teaching Levi a lesson.”
Her heart went out to Levi. He shook his head, clearly baffled and fighting emotions that he couldn’t understand and had little chance of conquering. Tearing her gaze from his, she looked around at the others and saw shock, anger, and puzzlement.
Gonzo stepped closer to her. “Where was she when he grabbed her?”
“I don’t know.” She sifted through leftover images. “She was telling some teenaged girls that she was me and not the stalker.” She looked toward the windows. “I think they were in a park. But not Olympic Park. A smaller one.”
“So, it sounds like he targeted you because he hates Levi.” Gonzo eased his big frame down into one of the slipper chairs.
“He despises Levi. It’s all about revenge. Macho bullshit. He even thinks of himself as ‘the master.’”
Levi flinched, jerking all over, drawing everyone’s gaze to him.
“Do you recognize anything about this guy?” Gonzo asked.
“No.” Levi’s face was taut, his lips almost white.
“Do you remember anyone like him who might have been married to or in a relationship with a woman you were –.” Gonzo paused, glancing at Trudy. “Uh, seeing?”
“No.” He spit out the word, his lips barely moving, his eyes dark pools of turbulent emotions.
“The master,” Quintara piped up. “That could be bondage dominance sadism masochism terminology. Kink. BDSM. Couldn’t it, Levi?”
Levi nodded, but said nothing.
Trudy squeezed his hand just as another image speared her mind. “Oh!”
Gonzo leaned toward her. “Yeah? You got something?”
She gasped as the memory solidified. A sharp spasm passed through her. She didn’t want to voice what she knew because it would hurt Levi even more than he was already hurting. But there was no getting around it. “I don’t know if . . . that is, I believe he . . .” Just say it, she told herself. “He thought about a pretty blond woman he’d killed. He called her a mistake. The wrong girlfriend. He told Heather that he had the right one this time.” She drew in a big breath. “He was talking about—.”
“Nicola,” Levi said, the name dropping from his lips like a death knell. “That bastard killed Nikki.”
“How can that be?” Gonzo surged up from the chair. “That makes no sense. What could you have done to make this crazy fuck think he has to take out your girlfriends?”
With an almost feral growl, Levi stood and strode to the windows, giving everyone his back.
He pressed the flat of his hands against the glass and stared out at the darkness. From across the room, Trudy could hear his heavy breathing. Her gaze moved unerringly to the picture of the wolf on the wall. The lone wolf, patrolling, pacing, bred to fight or die.
“I don’t fucking know him!” He hung his head and his voice was gruff. “Don’t you think I’d remember a guy like that? He’s not exactly the type who blends in with the crowd.”
“Did you see what happened after, dear?” Quintara asked Trudy, taking the focus off of Levi. “Did he leave Heather there or take her somewhere else?”
“He put her in the van, but I don’t know what happened after that because I . . . when I realized he thought she was me I lost my connection with him. Shock, I guess.”
“His thoughts came to you all of a sudden? You haven’t connected with him before tonight?” Quintara asked. “Not even when he murdered the other woman?”
“I’ve felt something before,” Trudy said, massaging her temples. “A presence . . . a feeling that I was being watched, or watching, or both. It didn’t make sense until now. He was looking for me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Levi asked, shoving away from the windows and turning to look at her. “Why keep it from me?”
She sighed, resenting his assumption that she was harboring secrets. “I didn’t know what it was for sure.”
“What about the nightmare you had when I was in Seattle?” He tugged viciously at his tie, yanked it up and off his head, and flung it onto the table near him. “Was it him?”
She lifted her hands and then let them fall back into her lap in a helpless gesture. “I don’t know! I wish I did, but I don’t. I guess it could have been.”
He freed his shirt’s top two buttons. “It’s enough for tonight. You need to rest.”
“Should we tell the police about this?” she asked.
Gonzo and Levi stared at each other for a few seconds before either one spoke.
“No body yet, so nothing to report,” Gonzo said. “I’ll check in with Detective Brand and let him know what Trudy experienced. That way it will be on record if anyone at the police department cares.”
“Where was Nicola’s body found?” Wes asked.
“Oakland Cemetery,” Levi answered.
“Where was she buried?” Gonzo asked.
“In Minnesota,” Levi said. “That’s where she was from and her family had her body shipped back to the small town where they live. They had a private funeral for her – family only.” He shrugged. “I sent flowers.”
Trudy swallowed hard, seeing how difficult it was for him to talk about Nicola. He shouldered tremendous guilt about her murder, even though it was irrational of him.
“I’ll suggest that Brand have a look at Oakland Cemetery,” Gonzo said. “It might be his drop-off place again.” He checked his watch. “I’m heading out. Call me if you need anything else.” He leaned down and patted Trudy’s shoulder. “You take care.”
Wes handed the tiny tape recorder to Gonzo.
Levi stuck out his hand to Wes. “Thanks for everything, Wes. I’ll walk you out.”
Trudy noted that Levi leaned in close to Wes, whispering something that Wes responded to with a nod and a whispered reply. They closed the double doors behind them, blocking her view.
“Wonder what they’re conspiring about?” Trudy asked with a frown.
“Whatever it is, don’t worry. Wes is a rational man and he’s skilled at keeping Levi’s temper and rash decisions on a tight rein.”
Trudy nodded. She and Wes had spent hours together in the penthouse while Levi had been at work. Although he never revealed any confidences, Wes did relate humorous anecdotes about Levi, where they’d met, and a few of his concerns about his employer. Chief among them was the rage simmering beneath Levi’s polished exterior.
“Sometimes it’s like he’s boiling with anger,” Wes had noted over lunch one day as he and Trudy had shared cheese enchiladas and Mexican rice. “He goes into his gym and whams the hell out of that punching bag or he kicks the stuffing out of it and it’s like he’s fighting demons. Not the kind that his heartless father preaches about, but demons born from things he was forced to endure as a child. We all have childhood traumas, but his went way beyond that and he had no one to turn to, no one to champion him.”
“Yes, he’s told me a little about his childhood.”
“He’s confided in you more than anyone. Maybe even more than his shrink.”
“You’re wrong there,” she had corrected him. “There are things in his past that I wouldn’t be surprised if his psychiatrist is the only one who knows about them. Things so painful that Levi can barely stand to think about them.”
“You’re far away, dear,” Quintara said, snapping Trudy back to the present.
“Oh, sorry. I was thinking about how close Wes is to Levi. He’s closer to him than he is to Gonzo.”
“Yes, much closer,” Quintara agreed. “But he’s known Wes longer.”
“Wes told me that Levi used to dine at a restaurant where he was the sous chef. He hired him away from there.”
“That’s right. Wes didn’t like the job because it kept him away from his wife and children too much. But the pay and benefits were good. Levi offered him a forty hour week with higher wages and better benefits. Levi recognized a man of honor when he saw one. He knew, instinctively, that he could trust Wes.”
The front doors opened and Levi entered the living room again. His hair was attractively mussed and his face was drawn. How could he still look so sexy? Trudy wondered. It just wasn’t fair.
“I’m beat, ladies. How about we call it a night?”
“What time is it?” Trudy asked, stretching her arms above her head until her joints popped.
“It’s only ten, but it feels as if it should be creeping toward dawn.” He grasped her hands and pulled her up from the couch. “How’s your headache? Better?”
“Almost gone.”
He ran a hand over her hair. “I’m sorry, Tru. I hate to put you through this.”
“You didn’t.” She linked her fingers with his.
“He’s killed two women because he hates me.” He huffed out a sound of frustration. “Christ, I don’t know what to do with this!”
Quintara placed a gentling hand on his shoulder. “Have you channeled the weather girl?”
“No.” He shut his eyes. “No.”
“I see. I was just wondering if she might be able to identify this man.”
A frisson of pain tightened Levi’s face and set the muscle to fluttering in his jawline. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure.”
“Let’s go to bed,” Trudy said, throwing Levi a lifeline. Enough already!
“You two go ahead,” he said. “I’m going to have a drink before I turn in.”
Reluctantly, Trudy left him to the liquor cabinet. She changed out of the party clothes – a party, was there a party? – pulled on one of Levi’s t-shirts, and crawled into bed. She was asleep within minutes. When she roused near dawn, Levi’s side of the bed was empty. She debated whether to go search for him, but sleep claimed her again before she could make a decision.
###
A little after eight, Trudy made her way to the kitchen. She’d showered and washed her hair, then slipped on her red, silk kimono and stuck her feet into her fuzzy white slippers. Tying the belt of the robe as she entered the dining room, she looked up and then froze.
Seeing Sissy Franklin sitting at the table with Levi and Wes was not what she’d expected. Sissy sent her a bright, cunning smile, obviously tickled pink to have jolted her.
“Morning glory,” she trilled. “I was wondering if you were going to lie abed until the crack of noon.”
Realizing that she was frowning, Trudy ducked her head to hide her expression. She figured she was too late, though. “Good morning,” she croaked, then cleared her throat and nodded when Wes held up his mug in a silent query. “Yes. Coffee, please.” She
switched her focus to Levi. His dark gaze swept her from head to toes, slowing as it moved down her legs, lingering on her slippers. One corner of his mouth twitched.
“Have a seat, Trudy. I asked Sissy to stop by this morning because it occurred to me that she needs to know about what’s gone down. If this guy is after women in my life, then that could make her a target, too.”
“Sounds to me like Trudy’s the one who should be guarded like Colonel Sanders’ recipe,” Sissy said, fussing with the flounces that marched down the front of her plum colored blouse.
“That’s the plan,” Levi murmured.
Sissy tapped her long, white-tipped nails on the table. “That billy goat killed Nicola and she never wronged a soul. I’d love the chance to grab him by the balls in one hand and have my pinking shears at the ready in the other.”
Some of the defensiveness Trudy felt toward Sissy Franklin dissipated, allowing a giggle to tickle her throat. The image of Sissy snipping off the big muscled guy’s balls made her giggle again as she sat next to Levi at the table. Wes placed a basket of delicious smelling lemon and poppy seed muffins on the table and handed Trudy a steaming cup of coffee, laced with half-and-half.
“Thanks, Wes.” She took a tentative drink of the hot liquid and decided that coffee was a magic elixir. “Ahhh. I feel so much better now.” Grabbing a muffin, she sent Wes a wink before facing Levi. “Did you drink all night?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “You think I’d be functioning right now if I had? I downed a couple of shots of whiskey and collapsed on the couch. I was out for the count until just a couple of hours ago.” Leaning close to her, he opened his mouth and waited for her to stick her muffin in it. She obliged and he bit off half of it. “Thanks,” he mumbled. His eyes twinkled and she knew he was thinking of his birthday cupcake.
The morning was odd to the max, she thought, feeling conspicuous and under-dressed. She was the only one in sleepwear. She had the feeling that Wes was enjoying the whole scene. He didn’t usually hang at the table with them in the morning, although he was always welcome. Most of the time, he made himself scarce, giving her and Levi private time before Levi left for work.