Etched in Glass

by Nyxie Marrs

  “What’s up?” Miles whispers into my ear and puts his hand on the small of my back. An act that flushed my cheek as he pulls me close.

  “Thought I saw someone. Maybe I’m just seeing things.”

  I shake my head. I take another look around trying to locate that unknown man I know I won’t find, he avoided me. I sigh. All I need is the examiner’s report, and a thorough search into her file. Redmond knows what we need. He’s been so understanding about all of this. It almost makes me feel bad that I’ve told Anya to shoot him down some more. But not quite.

  “What do you mean? Who did you see?” His worried voice draws my attention to him. There’s a hell of a lot more worry in his actions than before, his hand never leaves me and the deep concern in his eyes increases.

  “It’s nothing. I think my mind is in overtime and trying to find a way to figure out how I know that man at the bar.” I run my hand through my hair as he starts driving. There’s got to be an explanation, right?

  “Do you think it’s someone we work with?” His deep voice gets to me. Someone in law enforcement? Wouldn’t be the first time, but I’ve never seen it.

  “I don’t know.” I quietly say as I watch the road go by.

  “Vega?” Miles asks lightly.

  I’m sure he’s confused about my complete change in demeanor. That grieving woman he saw earlier today is replaced by a hell-bent woman who will get what she wants. He got acquainted with that woman last night. A woman I used to be before this case consumed me.

  “Don’t worry about me, Miles. I’m as fine as I can be right now. I need evidence and I need to scout. This bastard isn’t getting away from me.”

  “That’s my girl. Don’t worry, I’m with you every step of the way. As long as you let me know what’s up, I’ll stop asking if you’re okay and I will follow your lead.” Well, hell. I can’t let him bend over backwards for me. It’s a nice gesture, but hell no. I’m not having it.

  “What I need is for you to keep that asshole number two state of mind, I kind of like him. I don’t need you to follow me, I need you to help me with this. Redmond may get jealous, but I need a strong partner on this case. Any recommendations?” There’s that sly smile I’ve grown accustomed to.

  “I may have a suggestion. Now, where to first? Our drive or waiting for Anya’s report?”

  “Drive of course.” I’m back into my kill mode and more than ready to take on the world.

  What I need to find out is why they’re dumping the body so close to the last one. Usually they wait a month at a minimum. Now they’re erratic, taking one woman quickly after leaving miss thirty, and then leaving thirty-one a day after that. Something isn’t right in this. I need to find out what’s going on and how I can find them to save these women.

  “I figure we won’t go too far, I wanted to scout out the town a bit. Especially since they’ve just dropped off thirty-one, they may be out looking for their forty-one. Maybe we’ll see their car? Do you remember the bars you mapped out or do we need to go pick that up?” I’m liking this partner. Straight to the point and knows what I need.

  “We should pick up the list anyways, just in case I forget some information.”

  “Doubt you will, but no problem.” So much confidence in me. I wouldn’t be, but it’s nice to know someone has my back in this mess of crazy.

  After I grab the papers from his house, we head out searching the town. Starting with the high traffic bars. I’m hoping we can catch them cutting the surveillance outside. But the longer we’re out, the more areas we search, we come up empty.

  “Miles. Let’s assume they’re not complete idiots, and they’ve changed cars. Then we have no idea what we are looking for.” Hell we’re randomly searching for a clue. Even fate wouldn’t let us be so lucky in a search like that.

  “Want to wait and see what Red gathers? Take another look at what we have back at the house?”

  “Yeah. We should. Anya is efficient with her job. Redmond won’t leave there until he’s got what we need. What is there left to do? I’ll go over what we have, and take a look at the case for this woman.” Defeat sets in my muscles. What the hell else is there to do? We’re stuck.

  Chapter 39

  Talia

  “Fuck. She fucked this up.” A scratchy voice emits from the cracked open door. Whoever that woman is, she seems to be rattling them. My heart surges with the thought of someone finding us, that there may be hope of being saved.

  “You fucked this up.” Another man replies after a few minutes. I can hear those heavy boots from the man who smokes. Those boots making their way into here, and shake into my body.

  The door swings open and two figures now stand in the doorway. Two large, male figures that threaten our lives. They turn to a woman opposite from my cage and open it.

  “No. No!” Her weak scream grabs the attention of the others in here as they take her. Dragging her out of this hell, I’m sure going to a worse place. Her whimpers shaking me to my core as they drag her kicking and screaming body away. I wish I could help.

  “So what do we do?” A grumble moves through the room as one man looks around.

  Is that one of the men that just took this woman? I can’t tell. My body is so weak I can’t think, let alone see clearly.

  “You were sloppy. You fucked up. We’ve got to fix this quick.” The door slams shut and those beating boot steps retreat.

  “Elara?”

  “Yeah?” She still sounds weak, but who in here isn’t?

  “Here.” I hold out the remaining part of my food for her to grab.

  “You take it. I’m feeling better now. Any ideas on getting out of here?” She does sound better than before, but I’m not entirely convinced.

  I lower my head. “No.” The most defeat I’ve heard in my voice. I’m losing hope fast with each passing hour- or day.

  The latch on the heavy door clicks again, what’s going on? A strike of fear touches my nerves at the thought of them dragging another one of us out of here.

  “Fuck you!” A woman’s voice pounds through the door. She sounds like she has a lot of strength.

  The door slams open and a woman is thrown in the newly empty cell. “Oh, you’re going to regret this.” She threatens the man. He laughs in reply and blows smoke into her face.

  “Doubt that bitch.” He steps out and locks the heavy door again. Is this the 'bitch' they keep talking about? The woman who’s screwed them up?

  “What the fuck is this place?” her voice squeaks.

  “Conserve your energy. You’ll need it.” I reply as I curl up into the corner of this hell. I take it back, there is no hope that we will live.

  Chapter 40

  Miles

  As soon as we step foot inside, she heads straight to the files. I sit in the kitchen and watch her methodically go through every piece of paper we have here. I need to figure out what we can do, and how I can keep her safe. She pours herself into this work and I can see the toll it’s taken on her. On our way to the crime scene, her quiet question about it being Elara jarred me. That didn’t cross my mind until she said it.

  I’ve never thought about walking up to a scene like that and thinking it could be someone I know. After that quiet voice, she seemed to have regained strength and focus though. Her calm voice and confident stride as she neared the woman’s body shocked me. What would have happened if it was Elara? I’m damn sure she had no plan for that, just hoping it wouldn’t be.

  She places file thirty-one in front of me. I look down at it and back to her. “There was no video in this place. No one saw anything weird. The friends she was with saw nothing. Became concerned when, after ten minutes, she didn’t come back to their table. The police came and went. Figured she left with someone.”

  “Why is that always the assumption? And, don’t women usually go to the restroom in groups? At least they should now, hell.”

  “The assumption is based off of being in a bar, generally in a group where the friends’ intent is
to hook up. Whether or not a woman just got out of the relationship, it can be assumed there’s a ‘rebound’ type of thing happening.” Hell, I wouldn’t think that, but she’s right. If the friends were there to hook up, it could be assumed the victim was too. Rebounds aren’t uncommon.

  I pull her into me. “Vega, I’m concerned that you’ve seen the guy. What happened today?”

  She shrugs. “I don’t know. Saw a man, looked familiar.”

  “Well, you’ve been to the precinct, you’ve seen the men we work with. Wouldn’t they look familiar anyways? What was different?” There had to be something out of the ordinary to catch her eye. She’s been damn good with details, nothing gets passed her.

  “He saw me and turned away quickly. I mean it could be anything I suppose. It’s just, he disappeared before I had a chance to get a good look at his face. Again the familiar feeling, but I don’t know.”

  “Are you doubting yourself? Do you think it could be the guy at the bar?” Fuck, that’s possible isn’t it? They’d have inside information, they would know her actions, and they would have access to all of her information by looking her up in the system. That would make a lot of sense.

  “Do you think there’s a list of who was at the scene today?” Now she’s thinking.

  “I’ll get Red on it. How’s that?” I text him that small request hoping it can make a connection for her.

  “You delegate a lot to Redmond.”

  “Only with this. I need to make sure you’re okay, he knows that. I’d do the same for him if anything happened to someone he cared for.” She leans her back into me.

  “Yeah. It’s too soon to be caring like that, Miles. How long have we known each other? Maybe a month? We still don’t know a whole lot about one another, and our focus needs to be on this.” She says as she puts her hand on the file in front of us. That remark doesn’t stop her from being comfortable against me, or leaning into me as she is now.

  “I can focus on more than one thing here, Vega. Like you, your safety, and the case. Trust me, the case is important too, don’t think it isn’t to me. I just need you safe with me. Someone needs to make sure you don’t drive yourself crazy or starve yourself over this case.” Maybe she’s right. We haven’t known each other very long, but I can’t help the way I feel around her. She’s my priority.

  “Yeah, well this unexpected thing between us better not mess anything up.” For someone so certain on what she wants, she sure does avoid intimate topics like this.

  “Come on, Vega.” We walk to the couch and she grabs the file. Reading through it as we sit. “Tell me something about yourself then. How long has it been since you were on a proper date?”

  Of course I’m going to go there. I can figure out what those guys did wrong, and see how close I am to being the only one to give her what she needs. We may not know a lot of details about one another, but that doesn’t stop our attraction.

  She scoffs. Her previous dates obviously didn’t impress her. Good. “You’re nothing like them. Don’t worry.” Oh, I’m not worried. I’m investigating.

  “That’s not what I asked.” She harshly puts the file down on the couch next to her and looks at me.

  “A proper date? Hell, probably never depending on your definition. An actual date, maybe eight months ago. As for sex, which I’m assuming you’re really asking about. Before last night.” She pauses and seriously thinks about this. “Maybe a year or more. Not entirely sure, obviously wasn’t impressive.”

  “Well, what does impress you?” Now I’m asking for insider information on what she wants, and hoping I can live up to her expectations. A slight chuckle emerges through her lips and she moves closer to me.

  “Don’t worry about that.” She grabs my face and kisses me. Well, I’m going to take that answer as I impress her.

  “Okay, okay. Come on. You want no distractions. I just wanted to get to know you a bit more. Harmless questions. And here you are, attacking me.” I laugh as I pull her closer. Her leg swings over me as her vixenish smile speeds up my heart.

  “Answer me those exact questions.” Her seductive whisper in my ear makes it damn hard to concentrate. So much for no distractions.

  “A date?” I try to steadily say as she stays on me. Wrapping her arms around my neck and watching my reaction. “Four months maybe.”

  “Mm-hm.” She grunts as she bites my ear. “And?” I didn’t think I’d get a reaction like this from asking a simple question.

  “And you hold my entire interest. More than anyone ever has, Vega. I can’t think when you’re around.” Damnit, I can’t focus on anything else other than her body my hands are roaming over.

  “Can’t be the only thing. Nothing else to add either?”

  “Nope, that’s all I asked you. And yeah, Vega. That’s all I’ve got right now.” Her sweet laugh radiates through me. Her lusty lips trail down my neck, and her impelling body is convincing me this is just the beginning.

  “Miles.” Her actions are taking me over. This spellbinding woman is taking over my mind and body with that sweet, arousing voice. I will give her anything she desires right now. “We-.”

  Hell no. A damn knock on the door is disrupting my hold on her, but she doesn’t stop. She continues her arousing assault like nothing in the world will break this connection. A deep passion radiates between us, and is interrupted by the fucking doorbell and another knock.

  “Twenty bucks and a date it’s Red.” I amusingly say as she swipes another deep kiss.

  “You know I’d lose if I disagreed.” She sits back down with the file and reads through the details like that hot act never happened.

  I open the door to find Red who takes one look at me and his smile fades quickly.

  “Shit.” By the look on my face, he knows damn well what just happened.

  “It’s fine Redmond. What do you have?” She says from the living room.

  “Yeah. Excellent timing Red.” I say with sarcasm. He walks inside with a chuckle.

  “Sorry to intrude, once again. I don’t have the report yet, but I wanted to stop by and give you that list you wanted. Why is it important to know who was there today?”

  As soon as I get back to the living room, I see Vega sitting with her legs crossed under her on the couch. Her darkened hair ruffled and damn sexily falling down her shoulders. I swear my heart stopped the second she looks at me. Smiling as a craving glimmer hits her eyes, with that addicting body relaxing on the couch, and her enticing lips tease me as she quickly tucks her lip between her teeth and smiles.

  Red definitely read the room as he catches me staring at her. He redirects himself to the kitchen for the coffee after handing her the paper.

  “Vega thinks she saw someone at the scene.” I know if I sit next to her right now I’m done for. I know exactly what she’s thinking with that sexy smile, and here I thought she brushed that passion aside.

  “Like who?” He stands at the counter, trying his best to not stare at either one of us as my eyes never leaves hers.

  “A familiar man who made damn sure I couldn’t study his face.” I don’t know how she can be so calm saying she thinks the man she saw could be the guy we’re after. Red nearly drops his cup after that statement.

  “Serious, Vega? When I asked, you said you were fine.” He stands next to me at the counter and now watches her. I want to push him out of here. My body is seconds away from declaring her mine.

  “And I am fine. Like I told Miles, my mind can just be fucking with me. Taking a familiar face and placing that doubt.” She growls back and gets right back to the file.

  “Could explain how they know your address, or hell, probably watching your progress on the case.” Red doesn’t hide that concern.

  “Yeah, well then he fucked up, didn’t he? I’ll know who he is.”

  “That’s the problem.” I reply softly. “You’d know who he is. And that makes him more dangerous. To you specifically.”

  “I think that will be the other way around ther
e, Miles. That bastard better be scared of me.” She laughs back without concern. I need her to take this seriously. They may be after her now that she’s seen one of them, and if that was him at the crime scene, then we need to get this case solved immediately before anything happens to her.

  “Anything new you can find?” Red asks, breaking my thoughts of Vega in trouble.

  “Nothing I didn’t already know. I really need pictures of the people from today. Names aren’t doing a damn thing for me.” She stretches her legs out and stands up. Her body is the only thing I’m thinking about as she moves closer to me. Hell, I swallow hard as she leans over the counter and looks at us. This is pure torture right now and she knows it. Her subtle actions are doing a damn good thing for me right now.

  “You know, it’s getting late. I should go see how Anya is doing. Maybe wait for the report and I’ll come by tomorrow?” Red says as he moves towards the door, it’s only a little after eight, but I agree. He should go. I’m stuck in place. I’m not the only one nervous about that look she’s giving me, except I’m nervous because I want my hands on her. I have a feeling she’s on the same thought.

  I make sure Red leaves and lock the door, hoping there won’t be any more distractions from my thoughts right now. Vega is addicting and I can’t stop myself from looking over her body as I stalk back to her. She stands and wraps her arms around my neck. I put my hands on her hips and we’re slowly making our way to the bedroom.

  “Couldn’t wait to get him out of here I see.” Her seductive voice pulls me closer to her.

  “Hell, I considered not letting him in in the first place.” I whisper as I gently push her hair away from her face.