“I think we both know that’s impossible. For me, at least.”
A lump in her throat prevented her response. She turned her gaze to the ground and simply nodded.
“I guess this is goodbye.” But he stood frozen to that spot on the sidewalk. “We’ll take Valentine from here. Thanks for your thoughts on the file.”
“I’m happy to help. Thanks for the opportunity.” Calm, professional and in control. She didn’t radiate a single sign of the ache that was pooling in her chest.
He looked away. “You’ll probably be hearing from one of my officers about the gun. It’s just routine.”
“I know.”
Dammit, she hated the way her heart tugged, and why was she so upset? She’d spent the better part of twenty-four hours working with Gray—that was all. When she was feeling a little better, perhaps she’d do well to speak with one of her colleagues about her need to form such strong attachments to strangers.
Well, handsome strangers. Maybe that was forgivable.
“Okay.” He nodded tensely and gripped his car keys. “You call me if you need anything.”
“You, too.”
She managed a brave smile before turning and walking up the steps. Behind her she heard the ignition of his car and the shift of gears as he pulled away from the curb. When she reached the door to her building, she turned and gave a little wave. He wasn’t looking.
* * *
Sigmund greeted her when she turned the doorknob, mewing and weaving his white body between her ankles. Then he sat by his food dish. Mia pulled a container of dry cat food from the pantry and poured his dinner, but he only sniffed it and walked away. Something about that rejection made her want to burst into tears all over again. “I’m really striking out tonight,” she muttered.
She flung her handbag into the corner and kicked off her shoes. Her apartment was small but affordable enough that she didn’t need a roommate. No one would want to live with her, anyway. The second bedroom—which she used as an office—was barely large enough to fit her desk and bookcases. Only a college student would find such cramped living quarters acceptable, and Mia would rather clip coupons and eat noodles from a foam carton than live with a college student.
She grabbed a glass of cold orange juice from the kitchen before settling into her desk chair and clicking on her computer. She was teaching a lighter course load than usual this summer, but she had papers to correct and a lecture on Friday that she needed to prepare.
She typed her username and password into the system. She couldn’t exactly blame Gray for wanting to work so much. Bury yourself in your work so there’s no time to bury yourself in your emotions. At least thinking about all the work ahead of her stopped her from thinking about the impossible.
Like being with Gray. Bad idea with a capital B. She enjoyed her profiling work, and having a relationship with a lieutenant was a good way to end that. Being a criminal profiler meant she needed to guard her objectivity and impartiality with her professional life. She couldn’t risk being seen as biased, and the truth was, her work as a profiler greatly benefited her academic research into abnormal psychology. She’d worked too hard for her career to lose everything. Not even love was worth that.
Love! She shook her head. Who was calling this love? This was nothing more than infatuation. The only thing the past twenty-four hours had proven was that she could succumb like any other woman to an attractive man in a powerful job who knew how to handle a weapon. Big deal.
She opened her email. Lots of junk, as usual. She scrolled down, her eyes glazing over at the advertisements for psychology conferences and vacation getaways. She’d won a million dollars. Delete, delete, delete. She sat back in her chair and raised the juice to her lips. Then she froze.
The newest email carried the subject Warning. The sender was Lena Perez.
Some sick joke. Now her chin trembled, and the tears she’d been suppressing spilled over. Holding her breath, she highlighted the message and saw the words Your life is in danger appear on the screen.
A joke. A terrible, terrible joke.
Mia spun in her chair as the hair on the back of her neck prickled. The curtains were drawn in the little room. On shaking legs she swept her apartment, checking the closets and the space underneath the bed, flooding the bathroom with light and flinging back the curtain to make sure no one was lurking in the bathtub. She double-checked the locks on the door, but she’d already secured the two locks and the dead bolt.
She shivered, suddenly freezing, her heart racing. The hair on her arms stood on end as she trembled in the doorway to her office, staring at the lit computer screen, wrenched between not wanting to read any more of that email and needing to know what else it said. She grabbed the phone from the receiver and wrapped her white-knuckled fingers around it.
Her legs shook as she inched toward the computer, her bones jelly as she sat back down in her chair. “Okay, you bastard,” she whispered softly. “Let’s see it.”
With an unsteady finger she clicked on the message, illuminating the entire screen.
Your life is in danger. Back off the Valentine case.
A chill flushed through her body, and she hurried away from the screen. Gripping the phone, she scrolled through her contacts list and called the first number for the only person she needed right now. He picked up on the second ring. “Gray Bartlett.”
“It’s Mia,” she gasped.
“Mia?” His voice filled with concern. “What happened?”
“I have an email. It says it’s from Lena.” There went the tears again. Frustrated at her inability to control her emotions, Mia hastily swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “It says my life is in danger. Gray, I don’t know who else to call.”
He didn’t hesitate a moment. “There’s no one else,” he said. “Hold tight. I’m turning around.”
Chapter 8
Kate slipped in and out of wakefulness, but when she slept, it wasn’t soundly. She startled at every noise, her heart jumping. Then she would lie, listening in the dark, waiting for the man who wanted to kill her to return.
She forced herself to eat the bars he’d brought, though God knows she had to choke down the food. She had to keep up her strength. She didn’t know how many days she’d been in that basement, but judging from the bare light that streamed through the window, it had been only a day or two. The darkness was no doubt designed to throw her senses off and leave her disoriented and unable to fight back. What a coward.
She wondered if it was true what he’d said, that he’d killed Greg. She had no memory of that, and she wasn’t about to take his word for it. He was probably playing psychological games, and she couldn’t allow herself to be mentally derailed. She’d still sobbed herself to sleep.
Her muscles screamed for activity. She’d tested the length of the chains on her feet and estimated they were five feet long—long enough to allow her some movement. She paced in a circle for a while, then did some squats and push-ups, trying to keep her blood flowing. He’d done everything he could to weaken her, but moving made her feel strong again.
She sipped her water, wanting to conserve it. It could be days more before he came back into the basement. Or he may never come back.
She tried not to listen to the voice in her head. That voice wasn’t going to get her down. Not now, when her life depended on it.
Kate chewed on a piece of chocolate, enjoying the small burst of energy as the sugar hit her veins. And then she sat on the dirt floor and waited for him to return.
* * *
The pounding on the door sent Mia’s heart into her throat. “It’s me,” a voice boomed.
Gray.
She unlocked the door and nearly wept with relief that she wasn’t alone any longer. “I’ll show you.”
He followed her to the study. “It’s on the computer,” she said, pointing. She wasn’t about to move past the doorway.
Gray proceeded into the room and leaned across the desk to read the scr
een. “Any ideas who would do something like this?”
“I wouldn’t have called you if I knew who did this,” she snapped. Then she crossed her arms across her chest and rested her shoulder against the doorframe. “I’m sorry. I’m a little jumpy.”
“That’s understandable.” Gray sat at her desk and began typing. Out of the shadows, Sigmund sprang onto his lap. “Jeezus!”
“Siggy! Sorry.” Mia crossed the room and reached toward the cat. “He’s affectionate.”
“He’s okay.” Gray patted the cat’s snowy head a few times and was rewarded with a purr.
Mia hesitated. “You like cats?”
“Not really.” He continued typing. “I found the IP address. Someone in Boston sent the email.” He reached for his cell phone. “I’m going to call one of my guys. He’s a genius at this stuff.”
While he dialed, Mia crept closer and removed the cat from his lap. It was an innocent-enough motion, but she brushed his upper thigh in the process and her cheeks began to burn. Clutching the purring animal to her chest, she fled the room before he saw how embarrassed she’d become and plopped herself on the overstuffed couch in her living room. The cat continued to purr contentedly on her lap, so she pulled her knees closer to her chest and sank into the corner of the couch. She felt a little safer curled up, and as the minutes passed and she heard Gray’s voice in the next room, the anxiety started to subside.
Mia was staring out the window when Gray returned, looking disturbed. “Where are all of Lena’s things being kept?”
She blinked, trying to sort her ruffled thoughts. “Her apartment. Why?”
“Her apartment?” He was still grasping his cell phone, but as he stood in the middle of the room, he slipped it into a carrier on his belt. “All of her stuff is still in her apartment? What, does she have roommates or something?”
“No.” Mia sat up straighter, concerned by the direction this line of questions was taking. “Mark has been paying the rent. We all hoped that she’d come home. We didn’t want to throw anything out.”
“And you’re saying that no one has access to this apartment.”
“No one except me and Mark.” Mia’s shoulders tensed. “Why? What’s going on?”
“That email was sent from her computer.”
“That’s impossible.” The blood rushed to Mia’s feet.
“Evidently not.”
She rubbed at her forehead. “There must have been some kind of break-in. But the landlord was supposed to be monitoring things.” She groaned. “I wonder what else was stolen.”
“My guy traced the IP address.” He read off a scrap of paper. “Any chance your sister lives on Commonwealth Avenue?” He gave the street number.
Mia’s breath snagged in her lungs. “That’s her address. What does this—?”
“I don’t know what it means,” he said. “But pack up your things. You’re not staying here alone tonight.”
She was frozen in place. “Where are you taking me?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere the creep who sent that email can’t find you.”
“Somewhere like a hotel? Where?”
“Somewhere safe, okay?” He smoothed a hand down his face and then around to the back of his neck. “Can I help you pack?”
God, no. He didn’t need to see the sad state of her bureau. “I’ll just be ten minutes. Maybe fifteen.”
“I can wait.” He took several long strides and then eased his large frame onto the couch. The cat immediately jumped up into his lap. “Hey, buddy,” Gray said, scratching him behind one ear.
Mia hurried into her bedroom, yanked her old black suitcase from the back of the closet and tossed it onto the bed. She moved quickly, grabbing fistfuls of clothing. She paused at her lingerie drawer, wondering how many days she would need to pack for and whether anyone would see what she selected. She shook her head. Ridiculous thoughts.
She emerged from the bedroom less than ten minutes later, feeling sheepish as her heart spun in her chest at the sight of the man sitting on her couch. She thought back to the sensation of his lips on hers and how for only a few brief seconds not too long ago, he’d made her feel weightless. He looked her directly in the eye, and Mia wondered if he could see through to her thoughts. “You ready?”
She nodded. “Just let me grab my toothbrush.”
* * *
Officers Langley and Morrison were already at Lena’s apartment when Gray and Mia arrived. “We did a sweep. It’s safe,” Langley said as they approached the door.
Gray turned to look at Mia, placing one hand on the small of her back. “You sure you’re okay with this? You don’t have to go inside.”
She stared past Langley into the room behind him, then nodded. “I’m okay.”
Langley stepped aside to allow Mia to enter the apartment first but stepped back after she’d passed, partially blocking Gray. “Lieutenant,” he said in a hushed tone, “what’s going on? You said this was about Valentine again.”
“Something like that.”
“So is she back on the case?”
Gray kept his gaze fixed on Mia, who was wandering the apartment in something of a daze. “It’s a fluid situation.”
“What about her role in those two murders?”
Now Gray turned a steely glare toward the officer. “She had no role in them. Any more questions?”
Langley stepped aside, chastened. “No, sir.”
The lights in the apartment were on. Gray entered a modest entryway and was surprised to see bare walls and boxes stacked in the kitchen. Mia was standing in the middle of what must have been the dining room, biting her nails and pacing. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Everything!” She gestured haphazardly at the surrounding space. “All of it! There’s nothing here!”
Gray nodded his head toward the stacks of boxes in the corner. “Maybe everything is in those boxes.”
She muttered something indiscernible and reached for the top box on the closest stack. “That’s not the point. I never packed these things.” She set the box on the floor with a thud and stepped back. “It’s taped.”
Gray pulled his keys from his pocket and slit the tape with a jackknife. “There you go.”
She mumbled a thanks and dove for the box flaps. Sure enough, inside were stacks of white dishes. Mia cursed under her breath and looked at him over her shoulder. “I’m calling Mark.”
“Mark? Her fiancé?”
“Yep.” She was already dialing, her face pulled into a tight frown, her fingers tense.
Gray glanced at his watch. It was after midnight. He wondered what kinds of hours Mark kept.
“Voice mail,” she said, tapping her foot while she waited. “Mark.” She nearly spat into the phone. “I’m in Lena’s apartment, and it seems everything has been packed into boxes. Call me back.” She disconnected the phone with a growl. “I can’t believe this.”
Gray took a deep breath and left the room. This, he was sure, had little to do with the threatening email that had been sent and everything to do with family politics. He didn’t need to get involved in family drama. He wandered into the kitchen to see Morrison examining a laptop computer. Gray pointed to it and said, “Is that the one?”
Morrison nodded. “This is it.” He slid the device into an evidence bag and sealed it. “We’ll dust for fingerprints.”
Gray took a quick scan of his surroundings. The counters were clear; the cabinets were empty; the floors and windows were bare. Everything in the apartment had been packed away. “Where did you find that?”
Morrison gestured to a spot on the kitchen counter. “Right here. It was just sitting there.”
“Out in the open like that?” He tried to piece the situation together. “So someone entered the apartment and dug through a bunch of boxes just to find that computer so they could send an email that we would trace to Lena’s apartment?”
“Looks that way. Someone went to a lot of trouble to send that message.”
Gr
ay’s jaw tightened. “I’ll say.” He just didn’t know what, exactly, that message was. Why go to such lengths? He rubbed at his eyebrows. “Did you find signs of forced entry?”
“The window on the fire escape was kicked in.” Morrison led Gray to a broken window in the living room. “Glass all over the floor. Looks like he broke it, then reached in to unlock it and entered that way.”
“And closed it again on his way out? That doesn’t seem right.” Gray snapped on a pair of latex gloves before feeling his way around the edge of the window frame. He tried to open it, but it stuck. He peered closer. “This window is painted shut.”
Morrison stepped closer. “I’ll be...” He pointed to the jagged hole in the glass. “No one could fit through that.”
Gray frowned. “No one did.” He stepped back again. “There must be another point of entry.”
The floorboards creaked behind them, and both men turned to see Mia standing in the entryway, her arms folded across her chest. “What are you finding?”
Gray eyed Morrison. If the officer was concerned about her presence on the scene, his face didn’t convey it. “Someone broke the glass here, but the window’s sealed shut, so there must be another point of entry.”
Mia frowned. “So someone tried to enter from the window, couldn’t and then entered another way?”
“I’m going to look around,” Morrison said. “Maybe there’s another window the perp could’ve used.”
He left Mia and Gray standing alone. Mia wrapped her arms around herself as if she’d caught a chill. Gray looked down at her. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t answer right away, instead standing in place and shivering. Then she said, “Yes, I’m fine.” A pause. “No, I’m not. I haven’t been here in months, and I’m kind of a mess right now.”
Someone in the hall cleared his throat. “What is it?” Gray asked.
Langley entered the living room, scratching at his forehead and looking apologetic. “Sorry to interrupt. Sergeant D’Augostino’s here to help out, sir.”
When No One Is Watching Page 11