Crossing the Line (Daniels Brothers #3)

by Sherri Hayes

  She didn’t answer, of course.

  Paul lowered himself to sit on the edge of his mattress, clutching his wife’s photograph with both hands. “Why now? Why her?”

  He paused as the scene from downstairs replayed in his head. “Why?”

  Kicking off his shoes and removing his tie, he lay back on the bed, his head on the pillows. For the longest time after Melissa died, his life outside of his job and Chloe didn’t make sense. It had taken him years to begin to feel somewhat normal again—like he wasn’t missing an arm or a leg.

  People always told him that things would get better in time. He hadn’t believed them. But they’d been right, in a way. Although he never went a day without thinking about his wife—missing her—the time and distance had made it easier for him to cope. It was as he’d told Megan. He was good at faking it. As the years passed, it was easier to smile and act normal even if he didn’t always feel that way.

  He traced the curve of Melissa’s cheek with his index finger. “She’s twenty-three and very persistent.” Paul paused, and closed his eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Turning, Paul laid Melissa’s picture on the pillow beside his head, and stared at the beautiful woman who gave birth to his daughter. A part of him wished that she was here to tell him what he should do. The logical part of his brain, however, knew that if Melissa were there with him, he would never be in this type of situation. Megan would never be part of his life. Not in the way she currently was, anyway. She’d just be his baby brother’s sister-in-law—someone he saw from the outside looking in, but never had too much contact with.

  His eyes began to close as he continued to gaze at Melissa’s image. Deciding to give up the battle, he sighed and allowed the exhaustion to take him.

  Megan had a huge smile on her face as she continued to sit at the table and drink her coffee. She was wearing him down. Megan knew it. She only had to have patience. Not her strong suit, but she could do it. For Paul, she would do just about anything.

  A half hour later, she was in the living room watching some television when Chloe came creeping down the stairs. She was rubbing the sleep from her eyes when she spotted Megan on the couch. Without a word, Chloe padded across the room to where Megan sat, and climbed onto her lap. Wrapping her arms around the little girl, Megan kissed the top of her head, and flipped the channel to some cartoons.

  Eventually, Chloe began to wake up more. “Where’s Daddy?”

  “He was called into work last night, so he’s upstairs sleeping. That means we need to play quietly downstairs for a while and let him rest.”

  “Did someone die?”

  Megan nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

  Chloe seemed to think really hard for a while. “Why?”

  “Why what, honey?”

  “Why did they have to die?”

  Megan brushed a strand of hair away from Chloe’s face. “I don’t know. Sometimes bad things happen.”

  While Chloe considered that, Megan decided it was time to change the subject. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen and get you some breakfast, and then we can play a game or something?”

  “Okay.”

  Seeming to have completely forgotten their conversation, Chloe slid off Megan’s lap and ran into the kitchen.

  Four hours later, a freshly showered and shaved Paul sauntered into the living room where Megan and Chloe were playing Candyland. Megan saw him first. “Feeling better?”

  Before he could answer, Chloe chimed in, “Daddy, do you want to play with us?”

  Paul walked over, and knelt down beside his daughter. “I’d love to, sweetpea, but I’ve got to go into work for a few hours.”

  Chloe pouted.

  He sighed. “Maybe we can play some tonight after dinner, okay?”

  “Okay.” She still sounded disappointed.

  Megan picked up a card, looked at it briefly, and then moved her little plastic man. “Will you be home around the usual time?”

  “I should be.”

  “Okay.” She gave him a sweet smile, and gently brushed her hand along the side of his thigh. “We’ll see you at dinner.”

  Paul cleared his throat, and stood. It took all Megan had in her not to do a happy dance when she saw how he quickly turned away from his daughter to hide any reaction he was having. “Be good for Megan, Chloe. I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Okay, Daddy.” Chloe went back to concentrating on her game.

  Paul moved to the door, and after telling Chloe she’d be right back, Megan followed him. He paused with his hand on the doorknob, and by his stance, he knew she was right behind him. She waited for a moment to see if he’d turn around, and he did. The look on his face made her want to giggle. She suppressed it, though.

  “I wanted to thank you again for the coffee this morning. It was a lifesaver.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Megan glanced over her shoulder, making sure Chloe was still out of sight in the other room before she stepped closer to him.

  He clenched his fists, but other than that, he didn’t budge.

  Inside she was grinning like a Cheshire cat. “After you went upstairs this morning, I got to thinking.”

  Paul swallowed. “About?”

  “Tessa mentioned to me a few weeks ago that Debbie’s been asking if she and Chloe can have a sleepover.”

  “A sleepover.”

  She shrugged, not wanting to make too big a deal of it. Yet. “Yeah. We’d drop Chloe off in the afternoon or early evening, and then pick her up the next morning. They’d play, watch movies, eat junk food. You know, girl stuff.”

  He looked over her shoulder toward the room Chloe was currently occupying, before returning his gaze to Megan. “I guess that would be okay. If Chloe wants to.”

  This time Megan didn’t hide her smile. “Great! I’ll let Tessa know.”

  Paul nodded, and started to leave again.

  Megan stopped him. “So I was thinking . . .”

  “Yes?”

  “Since Chloe will be gone for an entire evening, I was thinking maybe you and I could do something. Go out.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Megan’s nerves skyrocketed. She might appear confident, but really she was scared to death.

  “Go out?”

  “Yes.”

  He closed his eyes, and sighed. When he opened them again, he was wearing his cop face. “You’re a lovely girl, Megan, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “How will you know unless you try? We try.”

  Paul shook his head. “Look, I need to get to work. Why don’t you . . . stop by around five, and the three of us can go out tonight? Get out of the house.”

  It was Megan’s turn to sigh. “Fine. We can do that, but the three of us going to dinner isn’t what I had in mind.”

  “It’s all I can offer you, Megan. I’m sorry.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “Because you don’t seem to be listening.”

  “Megan?”

  She turned toward the little girl’s voice for a second, but it was long enough for Paul to make his escape. Megan gritted her teeth in frustration, and went to help Chloe.

  Paul couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She’d asked him out. On a date. At least, that’s what he assumed it was. He was a little rusty at those types of things, but he was pretty sure that was her intention.

  Knowing Megan, he doubted his little brush-off was going to stop her for long. The woman was relentless.

  It would be easier if he didn’t feel anything for her, but damn it, he did. More than he wanted to admit.

  That didn’t change anything, however. He still wasn’t right for her. Even if the thirteen-year age difference was taken off the table, they were in very different phases of their lives. Megan was going back to college, trying to find her way in the world after being sidetracked for almost six years. Although he knew she adored his daughter, that didn’t mean she was ready for a long-term commitment.

  Stopped at a
red light, Paul realized where his thoughts had gone, and shook his head trying to clear it. He couldn’t go there. It wasn’t fair to her, or to Chloe.

  A little voice inside his head reminded him how it had felt to kiss Megan. To hold her in his arms—feel her soft skin beneath his hands, his lips—

  The car behind him honked its horn, and Paul looked up to find that the light was now green. Cursing, he pushed his foot on the gas, and continued on to the station. He was going to have to figure something out fast.

  He strolled into the station about ten minutes later.

  “Hey, you made it in.”

  Paul reached for the coffee pot before answering his partner. “Yeah. It’s amazing what a few good hours of sleep can do for you.”

  With his coffee in hand, he followed Janey back to their desks.

  “The report’s in your in-box. I looked it over. Seems fairly straightforward to me.”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “Yeah, it was. Perp dropped his wallet trying to get away, and went straight home afterward. We had him in custody quickly.”

  Janey shook her head. “There are some pretty dumb criminals out there.”

  “Yes, there are.” He couldn’t disagree with her. Most cases were solved because criminals made mistakes. Some of them were small and easily missed if the detective wasn’t paying attention. Others, like the one the previous night, were blatantly obvious. “Makes our jobs easier, though, when they’re stupid.”

  She nodded. “Now if only our serial killer would lend us a helping hand and do something equally stupid.”

  Paul couldn’t agree with her more. “At least we now have DNA. That’s something.”

  “It is. Doesn’t help, however, that the guy isn’t in the database.”

  The DNA the coroner lifted from one of Casey McMurphy’s fingernails confirmed their serial killer was a male. But what Paul wanted to know was what had made Mrs. McMurphy fight back when the other two victims had not? “Anything new come in on the case?”

  “Not really. I’ve been combing through our three victims’ backgrounds. Again. This time I’m looking at shopping patterns, routines, anything that might put all three women in the same place. We need to find out where this guy is selecting his victims.”

  He nodded and took another sip of coffee. “It would be nice if we got lucky and could figure it out before he set his sights on another woman.”

  “Unfortunately, we are probably running out of time. I’d say we’re due for a new body to turn up soon.”

  Paul knew Janey was probably right. Their first victim had turned up two weeks before he’d gone to his parents’ for Thanksgiving. The second was found almost two months later. With the discovery of yet a third victim, also found almost two months after the one previous, a pattern had been established, and their two months was nearly up. It was one of the few things that aided in the apprehension of such psychopaths. They had an order of things, and most of them meticulously stuck to those rituals—even if, in the end, it was their downfall.

  For the next hour, Paul finished going over the report from the previous night. He’d been the lead detective on the scene, so it was his responsibility to make sure all the i’s were dotted and the t’s crossed. He was about done, when he realized he needed some clarification on a few details from the first officer on the scene.

  Paul looked around the room before focusing on Janey. “Have you seen Officer Rollins?”

  “Not recently, no.”

  Pushing away from his desk, Paul went in search of the patrol schedule. Since Rollins was working last night, there was a possibility that he was home in bed. Sure enough, Rollins had the next twenty-four hours off.

  Paul sighed, and went in search of the patrolman’s contact information. He wasn’t going to sit on the report for almost two days until he could track Rollins down.

  Ten minutes later, Paul returned to his desk and picked up his phone. It rang several times before a groggy voice picked up. “Hello?”

  “Officer Rollins?”

  “Yeah?” The voice sounded measurably clearer.

  “It’s Detective Paul Daniels down at the station.”

  “Oh, hi.” Paul heard movement, and he figured Rollins was getting up out of bed.

  “You were the first officer on the scene of last night’s homicide, were you not?”

  “Yeah, I was. Is something wrong?”

  “I want to go over a few details of your statement with you.”

  There was a grunt on the other end of the line. “Ah. Yeah. Okay.”

  Paul glanced up at the clock. It was already after two. “I’ll be here until around five. Can you make it in before then? I want to clear this off my desk today.”

  It took a moment for Rollins to answer. “Sure. Give me forty-five minutes, and I’ll be there.”

  “See you then.”

  He hung up the phone, and noticed Janey giving him a look. “What?”

  “Being a little hard on the guy, aren’t you?”

  “Just trying to get this dreaded paperwork done.”

  “Hmm. This doesn’t happen to have anything to do with a certain nanny that lives at your house, does it?”

  “Megan? No. Why would completing a report have anything to do with her?”

  “I wasn’t talking about the paperwork itself. I was talking about the tone you took with Officer Rollins. And don’t think I missed the tension between you and your nanny the last time I showed up at your house.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Paul stood. “I’m going to see what I can wrestle up from the vending machine. Do you want anything?”

  Janey chuckled and shook her head. “No. I think I’m good.”

  Paul nodded, and went in search of something to fill his rumbling stomach. He should have known better than to think Janey wouldn’t have noticed something wasn’t right between him and Megan. She was a detective, after all. It would be more unusual if she hadn’t noticed.

  As promised, Officer Jay Rollins strolled into the station forty-five minutes later. He was freshly showered and wearing street clothes. Considering what Janey had said, Paul figured he should make nice. “Thank you for coming in. I appreciate it.”

  Rollins pulled up a chair beside Paul’s desk, and opened the file Paul handed to him. He quickly scanned over the information. “Everything looks accurate. What more did you need?”

  They were minor details, granted, but Paul knew from experience how the tiniest facet could become a huge deal when a case made it before a judge. Once Paul explained the additional information he needed, Rollins went in search of a computer so that he could adjust his section of the report.

  Rollins returned at a quarter till five with the file and his updated statement.

  “Thanks again.”

  “No problem.”

  Officer Rollins turned to leave, and a lightbulb went off in Paul’s head. “Hey, Rollins?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re single, correct?”

  A questioning look crossed Rollins’ face. “Yes.”

  “No girlfriend?”

  “No. Why?”

  “My daughter and her nanny will be here in a few minutes, and we’re going out for dinner. I was wondering if you might like to join us.”

  “Are you trying to set me up with your nanny, Detective?”

  Paul shrugged, trying to keep it casual.

  “How old is she?”

  “She’s . . .” The words died in his throat as he saw Megan across the room. “. . . here.”

  Officer Rollins turned to follow Paul’s gaze. No more than two seconds passed before Paul heard Rollins mutter, “I’m in.”

  Chapter 10

  Megan was seriously contemplating violence as she sat across from Paul. When she and Chloe arrived at the police station, she’d been surprised to find out that it wouldn’t only be her, Paul, and Chloe going out to dinner. A patrolman, Officer Jay Rollins, was joining them.

  At first, s
he hadn’t thought much of it. He was a colleague of Paul’s, and she figured they were friends, or needed to talk shop, or whatever. That theory quickly went out the window once they were seated at their table. Paul made sure that she and Officer Rollins—Jay—were sitting beside each other. Jay even pulled out her chair for her when she went to sit down.

  She was further convinced that the whole thing was a setup when Jay began asking her all about herself, and not in a casual, friendly way. He also, aside from a few interactions when they were ordering, had pretty much ignored Paul and Chloe—focusing solely on her. Megan felt as if she were on a blind date, only no one had bothered to give her a heads-up in advance.

  To his credit, Jay appeared to be a nice guy. He was cute, with sandy blond hair and blue eyes, and he had an infectious smile. Six months ago, she might have been interested, but as he continued to talk, her mind would drift back to conversations she’d had with Paul. If it was a topic they’d talked about, she’d remember what he’d said or done—if he’d laughed, or taken a firm stance on the opposite side of the argument.

  Jay seemed determined not to upset her. No matter what she said, what position she took on a particular subject, he smiled and nodded. Where was the fun in that? Where was the passion? She loved verbally sparring with Paul. From the beginning, he’d valued her opinion, even if he didn’t always agree with it. Up until she’d made her feelings for him known, he’d never treated her as anything other than an equal.

  That was why she was currently fuming. Paul had done this on purpose because she’d asked him out. Did he not understand that she didn’t want to date just anyone? She wanted to date him. Truthfully, she wanted a lot more than that, but she could be patient. Really, she could. She only wanted their relationship to move forward, no matter how slow the pace.

  Unfortunately, for most of the meal, Paul studiously ignored her and Jay. He spent most of dinner talking with Chloe, and helping her color the menu the hostess gave her. It didn’t matter how many glares Megan sent his way. Paul appeared oblivious. It was as if he’d put on blinders and could only see what was directly in front of him. She understood him wanting to show his daughter some attention, but Megan knew that wasn’t what was going on.