Harlequin Intrigue May 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Carol Ericson

  Kyra slumped in her seat, her chin dropping to her chest. She said in a low voice, “I thought tonight was the night. I thought I’d see his face.”

  “We’ll find him.” Jake squeezed the back of her neck lightly. “That woman, Yolanda, is not going to have any loyalty to some guy off the street who paid her to send an email.”

  “She’s not going to have any loyalty to us, either, unless I can convince her I’m a supermodel.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Oh—” she waved her hand in the air “—never mind. It’s a long story. How are we going to locate Yolanda?”

  Jake gave Kyra a quick, appraising look. She wouldn’t have to do much to convince him she was a supermodel with her high cheekbones and wide eyes.

  He dragged his gaze away from Kyra’s perfect features, ended the video and closed out of the program. “You said she’s a regular, right?”

  “Seemed to be. The reference librarian knew her name, and Yolanda knew the reference librarian.”

  Jake wheeled his chair back from the desk and said, “We’ll ask Renee the name of the reference librarian who usually works at the time you were here, and have her give us a call the next time she sees Yolanda.”

  “We don’t even have to go through all that. The reference librarian who knows Yolanda is named Inez. We can tell Renee to have Inez call us...you.”

  “That’ll work.” He placed his hands on the back of her chair, his knuckles skimming her shoulder blades.

  Being cooped up in this small space, working closely with Kyra, had put his senses on high alert. Every time she shifted in her chair, he caught a whiff of her rose scent. Every time her fingers accidentally brushed his hand, he felt a quiver down his spine. Despite his attraction to her, he was ready to call it a night—alone.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Kyra had folded her arms and was bouncing her knee up and down. “How did he know that I’d track him to the library? This guy not only used a public computer, he paid someone to do the deed so he wouldn’t be caught on camera.”

  “He’s not an amateur.” Jake lifted his shoulders. “He knew to contact Matt Dugan, used Matt’s knowledge of you to stalk you. He knows you work with the police because he left one of the cards by your car parked outside the station. He knows who you are, Kyra. That’s no secret.”

  She hopped up suddenly. “And we’re going to know who he is soon enough.”

  They exited the room and Jake poked his head into the office next door. “Renee, we’re done, but we do have another request.”

  “Did you find what you were looking for?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” Jake slid a glance at Kyra. “We’d like to speak to a homeless person who was on the computer. Kyra said that the reference librarian, Inez, knows who she is.”

  Renee gave them a tight smile. “That doesn’t surprise me. Inez would know the regulars on the public computers.”

  Jake raised his eyebrows hopefully and asked, “Is Inez here tonight?”

  “Inez left for the day. If you want to leave your card, I can have her call you.”

  Kyra rustled in her purse. “I’d like to leave my card with a note for Inez. I met her yesterday, and she’ll know what I’m talking about.”

  “That’s fine.” Renee held out a pen to Kyra, who continued to rummage in her purse.

  “Thanks.” Kyra leaned over Renee’s desk and printed a note on the back of one of her cards. Before she handed it to Renee, she nudged Jake in the ribs. “Leave one of your cards with mine so she knows it’s part of the search warrant and legit.”

  Jake pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to Kyra, who held them out to Renee.

  “I will leave these for Inez at the reference desk so she can’t miss them.”

  They both thanked Renee and walked out into the night air, now being taken over by a low marine layer rolling in from the Pacific.

  Jake stopped under a streetlamp that had just turned on, the moist air carrying a hint of salt and caressing his face. “What was in the note?”

  “I told her I needed to speak with Yolanda and to let me know the next time she saw her in the library, or at least let me know the hours Yolanda haunted the public computers.” She shook her head, her blue eyes glassy beneath the light. “I’m just not sure how much help Yolanda’s going to be. She thinks she’s involved with the fashion industry and that she’s looking for new styles for the designers.”

  Jake pressed a hand to his forehead. “Wow. How did The Play...La Prey manage to settle on Yolanda for this task? Seems like he was taking a big risk with her.”

  Kyra jerked her head up when he almost said The Player again. He’d honor her wishes of calling the guy La Prey in her presence, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d used an anagram of the player to ID himself.

  She brushed her hair from her face, accustomed to having it drawn into a ponytail. “Yolanda must have her moments of clarity, or maybe she’s just really good at following directions.”

  “We’ll find out, one way or the other.” Jake turned toward where he’d parked his car, and after a few moments, Kyra followed him.

  As he opened the door for her, he grabbed her hand. “Didn’t Quinn ever tell you that good investigative work takes time?”

  Her lips lifted at one corner. “Quinn also told me to trust you. I should always listen to Quinn.”

  Jake slammed her door with a full-fledged smile on his face. He owed Quinn a six-pack.

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING, Jake walked into the task force war room, dragging his heels. Castillo had already called him to let him know he was going out to Mindy Behr’s family home today in San Marino, a ritzy area just south of Pasadena.

  Turned out the Behrs were big contributors to Mayor Wexler’s campaign. Now the brass would turn up the heat even higher on the task force. The urgency of the investigation shouldn’t depend on the victims, but it often turned out that way.

  His eyes tracked to Kyra’s desk as if it held some magnetic power over him—just like she did—but she hadn’t made it in yet. She didn’t always report to the station to work. She had clients outside her police work, although he knew she was one of the LAPD-sanctioned therapists. Her name had even cropped up on the list the department had handed to him when they mandated anger-management sessions for him after his blowup at that Lizbeth woman.

  He’d opted out of one-on-one therapy and had chosen a group meeting instead. He had to admit the group had helped him, but it was because the group leader, Max Darotta, employed what Jake learned later was behavioral therapy. Max gave the group members actual tools to use. He couldn’t have handled sitting there talking about his feelings.

  He gave a shiver and hunched his shoulders. It was a good thing he hadn’t chosen therapy with Kyra after all. At that time he probably would’ve hated it and her, and then he wouldn’t have been able to date her later.

  Not that they’d been on an actual date yet.

  He jumped as Billy thumped his back. “Daydreaming, brother?”

  “Yeah, daydreaming about when you’re going to come up with some video we can actually use.”

  “Just might be your lucky day.” Billy winked and then hunched in closer. “You hear the Behr family is connected?”

  “Friends of Wexler’s. Castillo called me this morning. I’m taking a jaunt out to San Marino today to talk to them.”

  Billy crossed one index finger over the other and held them out. “I can’t go with you today. Is that all right, or does Castillo expect the both of us?”

  “Hate to break it to you, Billy, but your name never came up in the conversation.”

  “Then you’re on your own.” Billy skimmed his hand across his short Afro. “This is a PR move for Castillo and Chief Sterling. From what I’ve heard, Mindy didn’t have much contact with her parents. The
y didn’t know her friends, but it didn’t stop them from disapproving of them. They’re not going to be able to tell you much about Mindy’s habits and whether or not she was being stalked.”

  “I know that, but you’re a better PR guy than I am.”

  “You’re the task force lead.” Billy drilled his finger into Jake’s chest. “They want the top dog.”

  Jake barked just as his desk phone rang. “McAllister.”

  “It’s Captain Castillo. You’re taking Kyra with you to the Behrs.”

  Jake’s heart jumped and then settled to a dull thud. Though he looked forward to any time spent with Kyra, it wasn’t common for someone like her to sit in with a detective when he or she was questioning family members. Now he knew Billy was right. This was a PR move.

  “You got a problem with that? I thought you two were—” Castillo cleared his throat “—getting along.”

  Jake hadn’t been too pleased with Kyra’s appointment when they’d first formed the task force for the Copycat Player. He’d moved past that...way past that.

  “No problem at all, Cap. I’ve watched her work, and she’s an asset. I’m just wondering what kind of interview this is going to be. Do the parents have material evidence or insight into their daughter’s murder?”

  Castillo snapped. “No. Wexler and the chief are calling the shots on this one and the rest of us dance. Is that too hard for you to figure out, J-Mac?”

  Jake had held the receiver away from his ear and now rolled his eyes at Billy, who was mouthing something to him.

  “No, sir. Not at all. I’ll let Kyra know, and we’ll be out there this afternoon.”

  Castillo slammed the phone down before Jake could even pull the receiver from his ear. “What is Castillo’s problem these days? He acts like we never ID’d and stopped the Copycat Player last month.”

  “You know how it goes.” Billy raised his eyes to the ceiling, holding his palms up. “Stuff rolls downhill. Wexler’s on Sterling’s backside, who’s on Castillo’s backside, who’s on ours. We just need to find a way to remove a few of those backsides.”

  “Thanks for the primer on politics.” Jake folded his hands behind his head. “Now give me one on handling well-connected families of victims, who are probably going to report back to the chief.”

  “You don’t need me for that. You’ll have Kyra with you. She’ll have your back, but you know what?” Billy’s gaze wandered to Kyra’s side of the room. “You might want to watch that one.”

  Jake’s pulse ticked at the side of his mouth. Had Billy discovered something about Kyra’s past? “What do you mean?”

  “She saw Tara’s name on your phone, and then she hit me up later and asked if you were dating Tara. Bro, you don’t want no crazy girlfriend. They become crazy ex-girlfriends.”

  Jake let out a breath that turned into a chuckle. He wished Kyra was the jealous type. “I think she’s okay. Haven’t seen her today?”

  “No.” Billy waved at two cops coming through the door. “We’ve got video to look at. We got a line on some cars in Andrea’s neighborhood, and a few of them look similar to cars in Crystal’s neighborhood. We’re going to isolate those and get to work on the blocks around Mindy’s house.”

  “Thank God for CCTV.” When Billy walked away, Jake picked up his work cell and called Kyra. She answered right away.

  Her voice breathless, she asked, “Did Inez from the library call you?”

  “Haven’t heard from her yet, but it’s still early.” He paused as Kyra breathed heavily into the phone. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Just finished doing some yoga on my living room floor.”

  His heart returned to its regular beats per minute, which were higher than normal when talking to Kyra anyway. “The task force has an assignment for you.”

  “I know. Captain Castillo already called me. I can be at the station in about ninety minutes if that’s not too late.”

  “I’ll make sure it’s not. I haven’t even called the Behrs yet to set a time. Not that I’m complaining, but do you know how this came about? How did they even know we had someone like you on the task force?”

  “No clue. Maybe they were asking for additional services? People like that are accustomed to full-service attention—not that I’m saying they don’t deserve it at this time.”

  “Just curious. I’ll see you at the station in an hour and a half, then. Good thing I wore one of the suits Billy suggested for me.”

  “You may not have the sartorial splendor of Billy, but you can definitely fill out a suit.”

  When they ended the call, Jake had a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach at Kyra’s compliment. He really didn’t want a jealous woman—he’d seen how deadly that emotion could be—but could puff out his chest a little at Kyra’s compliment. If she wanted him for more than his detective’s mind, he’d take it.

  The warm fuzzies receded as he pondered the puzzle of Kyra Chase. She seemed to have connections he could never quite fathom, and he didn’t know why those connections always came with an edge of mystery.

  * * *

  DRAGGING THE ELASTIC band from her hair, Kyra muttered to herself, “Definitely fill out a suit? You are definitely an idiot. Who says things like that?”

  She rolled up her yoga mat and shoved it into the hall closet. On the phone with Jake, she’d had an urge to step up her game. He hadn’t made any moves last night when they left the library, but then she hadn’t exactly been sending out welcoming vibes.

  She’d been angry when she discovered La Prey had beat her again. Seeing his image on the library video and identifying him would’ve put an end to his torment. What did he want from her, anyway? He hadn’t demanded money or information or favors. Probably one of those sick crime buffs who spent all his time researching other people’s misery and wanted to feel connected to it all. She knew there were internet discussion groups, blogs and message boards devoted to true crime. She’d snuck in on a few of them anonymously. Some comprised amateur sleuths who cared for victims and really did want to help, and others were composed of vicarious thrill-seekers who wanted to feel close to the action. If any of them actually did get close to a violent murder, they’d change their minds really fast and find another hobby.

  As she showered, she heard Jake’s lingering questions in her head. She had an idea how she’d gotten on the Behrs’ radar. Mindy Behr’s mother must be friends with Monica Wexler, the mayor’s wife. Even if Kyra would never reveal that she saw Monica Wexler on a professional basis, there was nothing stopping Monica from telling her friends about her therapist.

  Jake could continue to think she had some Svengali-like powers over the LAPD, or that Quinn’s influence somehow stretched to the mayor’s office, but she’d never out a client. Everyone had a right to their secrets.

  Dressed in a pair of straight-legged beige slacks and a white blouse with a ruffle at the neck, Kyra draped a beige sweater with a white zigzag through it over her shoulders and locked up her apartment.

  On her drive to the station, she checked her phone several times for a message or call from Inez. She’d also kept an eye out for Yolanda on her morning walk down to the beach and back, peering at transients on bus stop benches and huddled on the steps of businesses before they opened for the day. Other than a few requests for money and an invitation to go swimming in the ocean, she had come up empty. Yolanda could spend her nights in a shelter and then wander into the library during the day to do her...business.

  Kyra eased out a sigh and rolled into the parking lot of the LAPD’s Northeast Division. She’d have to leave the finding of Yolanda to Inez.

  When she got to the conference room that housed the task force, she stood at the door with her mouth slightly ajar as she watched the activity and heard a buzz of conversation. Grabbing the sleeve of one of the uniforms as he squeezed past her, she said, “Fingerprint?”
<
br />   “Video.”

  Kyra wended her way to Jake’s desk and planted herself next to it. “You have promising video?”

  “A couple of cars from Andrea’s neighborhood around the time we figure someone snuck into her garage match a couple of cars in Crystal’s neighborhood. We have clear enough footage on Andrea’s tape to get some license plates. Billy and his team are scouring the footage in Mindy’s neighborhood.” Jake grabbed his jacket and grimaced. “And I have to leave the action to hold the hands of Wexler’s pals.”

  “Hey!” Kyra jabbed him in the ribs. “Wexler’s pals are also grieving parents. They can’t help it if they have the pull to get some extra attention. Anyone in their position would take advantage of that.”

  “You’re right.” He put a hand over his heart. “That’s why you’re going with me.”

  Herding her out of the room with his hand pressed to the small of her back, Jake pointed at Billy and said, “Keep me posted.”

  Kyra didn’t mind the heads turning at their departure. They had a legitimate reason to be together today.

  As Jake took his car north through LA to the Foothill Freeway, they discussed the case, Yolanda and even Billy’s canceled meeting with the PI today. Kyra wasn’t the only one tiptoeing around their mutual decision last night to head to their own beds, alone.

  Whenever the time seemed to be right and their emotions swept them up in a tidal wave, some outside force erected a barrier, or, in the case of the phone call from Jake’s daughter, the force was more like an insinuation that floated between them.

  Last night the only emotions Kyra could muster were anger and frustration at the wiliness of her adversary, and Jake had seemed tired, defeated. Did he feel as if he had to work too hard at seduction? Would he get tired of the effort?

  She focused her gaze outside the window at the banners with roses on them as they followed the same route as the Rose Parade. Tapping the glass, she said, “I always wanted to go to the Rose Parade when I was a kid. Did you ever go?”

  He snorted. “My old man would’ve never taken us to anything like that, but I’ve been a few times as an adult with Fiona. Even camped out one night on the sidewalk.”