Lollie cursed her luck. She would need to head to a new town sooner than she had thought and hoped. While the house Andrea lived in was nice, it wasn’t perfect, and she could already tell she and Andrea weren’t hitting it off as well as she had once hoped. The extra rooms in the house were completely unnecessary, furniture didn’t match or go well together from room to room, and Andrea still had issues of her own. Lollie bent her foot up on her knee and stared at the blood pooling around her cut. She’d have to take care of that and clean it well before she left. It would only be a matter of time.
###
Andrea had patched up Lollie’s foot with a few butterfly bandaids, and Lollie had hobbled around for hours afterward before she dared put the full weight on it. Andrea had eventually nestled back into the couch with the throw blanket tossed over her legs to keep the chill away while Lollie settled next to her.
A book balanced precariously on Andrea’s knee as she read. Lollie tried to distract her by pressing kisses to her neck and sliding her fingers under her shirt. Andrea had giggled, kissed her, but always went back to the book. Giving up, Lollie headed for the kitchen to start in on dinner for the both of them.
As soon as Andrea came in, she knew their night would be perfect. Andrea slipped into the chair at the table, and Lollie dropped a kiss to her shoulder. “Dinner is served.”
“How sweet.”
Andrea waited until Lollie sat before she grabbed the spoon and sipped the stew. She hummed her pleasure. Lollie took her own sip. It had been far too long since she had eaten a full dinner made at home. She longed for that type of relationship. She watched carefully as Andrea ate, wishing their last meal together wasn’t one so filled with good memories. It had been easier with Katie, the arguing and the pain as they fought through that last night.
“Where do you work?” Lollie asked, realizing she didn’t even know.
Andrea hummed and nodded as she swallowed. “I work in finances. Simple, but lucrative.”
Lollie nodded. “I lost my last job just before the end of the month.”
“I’m so sorry.” Andrea’s hand found hers and squeezed.
The sympathy had been exactly what Lollie wanted. It would deepen their connection, allow their trust to build. Perhaps their relationship could last.
“How’s your foot?”
“Much better, thank you. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
Andrea nodded and took another bite. Lollie mimicked Andrea’s movements, but she no longer tasted the sweet stew she’d spent hours making. Instead, she focused entirely on Andrea. The breath in her chest, the way her eyes closed, the sound as she breathed in.
Each wrinkle on Andrea’s face told a story. She was over two decades older, but Lollie loved older women. She didn’t need to teach them, they just knew how to follow her, please her. They didn’t want to play games or ruin a good thing.
Lollie set her spoon down and curled her fingers behind her own ear to brush the hair from her face. She sent Andrea a coy look, knowing it would set her on edge. Older women liked the attentions of a younger woman. They enjoyed her as much as she enjoyed them.
Reaching out, Lollie grasped Andrea’s free hand. She set about eating her dinner, wanting to make sure she had a full stomach before she left. They finished eating with Andrea continuously touching Lollie under the table. Before they got to the end of dessert, Lollie pulled Andrea up and pressed a deep kiss to her lips. She swallowed as she ran her hands down Andrea’s arms and twined their fingers together.
They only had one more day left, and Lollie planned to make the most of it. Sighing, Lollie nipped at the base of Andrea’s neck.
“Bedroom?” Lollie breathed into Andrea’s ears.
“Yes, please,” Andrea answered, her voice deep with desire.
“I’ll meet you there. I just want to start the dryer with my clothes in it.”
Andrea pouted, and Lollie’s stomach churned at the move. She hated women who used their wiles to get what they wanted. Andrea skimmed her hand down Lollie’s side, and Lollie moved into her, wanting it to seem as though she was still completely into Andrea.
“You’re staying until tomorrow, though, right?”
“Yes. Until tomorrow. And then the real world beckons.”
“It does,” Andrea whispered. “I’ll have to dig my way out of here.”
Lollie bit her lip. Andrea wouldn’t be leaving. She liked a woman who stayed home where she could keep an eye on her at all times. Kissing Andrea again, this time quicker than before, she sauntered out of the kitchen. Calling over her shoulder, Lollie ordered, “Bedroom!”
“Yes, ma’am.” Andrea giggled as she walked down the hallway, following Lollie until they reached her room. Andrea turned, and Lollie went straight until she got to the washer and dryer.
She picked each piece of clothing out of the washer and checked it over. Everything looked clean, the red stain in her track pants gone. Katie had been damn close to being exactly what she wanted, but it wasn’t meant to be. Neither was Andrea. The way she continuously ignored Lollie, her obsession with the news anchor, and her inability to do exactly what Lollie expected was beyond any fixes. Andrea wasn’t the woman for her.
Knowing their relationship would be ending, Lollie put the clothes into the dryer, and set the timer to eighty minutes. Pressing the start button, she let out a breath, anticipation making her fingers and toes tingle while her stomach clenched. She had eighty minutes—the timer had been set. It was like it had been with Katie, only then she’d had ninety minutes.
Lollie sauntered to Andrea’s bedroom. Andrea was already on her back, completely void of all clothes, legs splayed with her hand between them. Lollie bit her lip and swallowed; the sexy sight almost made her want to change her plans. However, with the timer set, there was no turning back.
Crawling onto the bed, Lollie covered Andrea’s belly with kisses. She hummed deep in her throat, drawing in the scent of Andrea’s body wash. She swallowed as she moved farther down and bit lightly at Andrea’s thigh. “You’re so beautiful,” Lollie whispered.
Andrea’s breath hitched.
“Perfect in every way. I knew we would be good together.” Lollie licked the inside of Andrea’s thigh and nudged her nose into the soft hair between her legs. She took in a deep breath and grinned. “Smells so good.”
“Just…just taste me already,” Andrea begged.
Lollie sent her a look and shook her head. “I always like a wanton woman.”
Andrea reached down to brush her fingers through Lollie’s hair. Lollie dashed her tongue out before swallowing the juices that hit her tongue. “Amazing.”
Andrea shivered as Lollie dipped down. Lollie spent the first forty minutes lulling Andrea into a false sense of security. She praised Andrea’s body, making her muscles pull and relax in the many ways she had done the night before. They rose and fell on the bed in an age-old rhythm that had them both heaving.
Once the sixty mark hit, Lollie had Andrea right where she wanted her—exhausted and lax in her arms. Straddling Andrea’s hips, Lollie bent down and kissed her red lips gingerly. She started slowly, deepening the kiss every few seconds until Andrea’s hands were tangled in her hair, and Lollie could feel nothing but the way Andrea squirmed between her legs.
Pleasure ratcheted up a notch, and Lollie couldn’t control herself. She swirled her hips against Andrea’s stomach, the grinding motion adding so much to the movement Andrea already made. Lollie was on the cusp of her orgasm, the timer was almost up, and Andrea was ready. Skimming one hand up from Andrea’s breast to her neck, Lollie latched her fingers hard. Her second hand followed moments later, her grip tightening. Andrea’s lips parted in surprise, and her hips bucked up, causing a wave of pleasure to pull through Lollie’s stomach to her core.
Andrea clawed at Lollie’s hands as she pressed more of her weight down onto Andrea’s body and spread her thighs even more. Lollie gritted her teeth, keeping the pressure on Andrea’s neck as hard as she could.
Andrea turned her body, her hip digging between Lollie’s legs, making pleasure coil deep within her. Lollie ground herself against Andrea’s hips as she tried to escape. Lollie breathed through the pleasure as she kept her fingers locked in place.
Blue lips greeted her when she opened her eyes after Andrea stopped moving. Minutes had passed, and she continued to grind until the waves of her orgasm pulled her over the edge. The timer on the dryer went off, resounding down the hallway, through the open door and into the bedroom. Lollie stayed seated on Andrea’s stomach, her core pulsing and her fingers still around Andrea’s neck.
Bending down, she pressed a kiss to Andrea’s forehead and smoothed out her hair so it wasn’t in her face. Lollie touched their lips together before she got off the bed and wandered around the house, cleaning up her mess. It took her two hours to finish.
After dressing in her jogging clothes, Lollie went into the bedroom where Andrea stared at her, unseeing. Lollie pursed her lips and walked over to the bed, running her fingers over Andrea’s chest and cheek.
“It’s not because you’re not beautiful. You’re just not right for me,” Lollie whispered. “I’m sorry, but I do have to go.”
Andrea didn’t move, but Lollie didn’t expect her to. Every time she broke up with someone, they always gave her the same cold, blank stare. Taking a deep breath, Lollie walked out of the bedroom without a glance back. She was thankful her departure from Andrea’s wasn’t as loud or angry as leaving Katie’s had been.
She headed to the kitchen and grabbed a knife from Andrea’s pristine collection. Heading into the bedroom once more, Lollie straddled her lover and fisted the knife. “You should know better than to break my heart.”
Stabbing down in Andrea’s chest, Lollie gasped. Joy flooded her belly. It was one of the few times she ever felt true happiness. She brought her hands down again and again and again, making a total of four knife wounds to Andrea’s once-beautiful chest.
“Now you’ll be marred like I am.”
Grunting, Lollie got off the bed. She cleaned the knife good and well, wrapping it in a kitchen towel to bring with her. Lollie then went around the house and collected a few things she might need. She went through Andrea’s purse, found her cards and the cash she had missed before. Shoving them into her pockets, she went through the photos Andrea had on the wall in the hallway. Most of them were of other people, but there were a few with Andrea and another woman.
Punching the glass with her fist, Lollie took the picture out. She ripped it in half, dropping the piece of the other woman and pocketing the half that had Andrea smiling at whoever took the photo. It was her memento of their relationship. They hadn’t had time to take photos of the two of them together. It had been a whirlwind romance at that.
Sighing, Lollie grabbed Andrea’s winter coat and wrapped it around herself. She toed on her shoes and picked up the keys Andrea had left on the hook by the door. Opening Andrea’s front door, Lollie stepped out into the falling snow. She locked the door behind her and stared longingly at the car.
It’d take her hours to dig it out, if not another day entirely. Grimacing, Lollie bypassed the car and tossed the keys in the middle of the snow covered yard. They would not find them easily. Trudging through the fifteen inches of snow that had fallen in the last two days, Lollie went to the end of the driveway. She knew the bus wasn’t far, and if she could reach it, she could get to somewhere safe and warm. Somewhere she could call her own. Stretching her muscles, Lollie headed down the road, putting her relationship with Andrea behind her.
Chapter Five
Rubbing the end of her pen against her lip, Morgan stared at the image search she’d run. She’d gotten a hit. Opening the file, her heart thudded. Pax was out somewhere dealing with the Topeka office, and she was blissfully continuing their work in a conference room so she’d have to revel in her joy by herself. She bit her lip, dropping the pen onto the table as she stared at the image of seven-year-old Haven Dunne, born August 31, 2004. She was abducted the day before her seventh birthday from the front yard while her father, Rob, had been bringing in the groceries.
It was a story Morgan had read and seen before. It wasn’t uncommon for traffickers to follow their prey home from a store once they’d gotten a whiff of an easy take. Rob probably hadn’t even known what had hit him. Morgan pulled up the second image that was of an age-advanced Haven Dunne. She compared the image to the mug shot of Reilly. They looked similar enough.
Only a DNA test would prove Reilly was Haven, or Reilly remembering when she’d been abducted, but being at the mercy of her trafficker for the better part of ten years, Morgan had her doubts she’d willingly remember the family she’d left behind. Morgan picked up her phone as it rang and rolled her eyes when her mother’s name appeared. Hitting decline, she set the phone down and went to get the papers she printed.
Her phone rang again when she returned. Cursing under her breath, Morgan declined the call. If her mother couldn’t understand she was at work and unable to answer every call, she’d have to make sure her mom understood it. The third time it rang, she gave in. Maybe three phone calls in a ten minute window meant there was an emergency.
Answering on a huff of frustration and shoving the phone between her shoulder and ear, Morgan filed papers while she spoke. “Ma, what’s wrong?”
Her mother’s voice filtered through, her pitch high. “What? Nothing’s wrong, baby. I was just calling to check in. I haven’t heard from you this week.”
Morgan couldn’t resist rolling her eyes again. “I’m at work.”
“Oh, are you?”
Morgan imagined her mom was pulling the phone away from her ear to look at the time. “I thought I’d caught you before you went in.”
“It’s eleven. I get to work at eight every day unless I’m out on a call or out doing something else. Really, though, now that I answered, what did you need?”
“I wanted to check in. You know how I like to hear from all my kids every week.”
Morgan slapped the paperwork down on her desk. She caught sight of Pax coming through the doors. Perfect. He could be her reason for hanging up. “I’m fine. Sorry I didn’t call. Got busy.”
“Your sister might be getting married soon. She says she’s expecting a proposal any day now.”
Narrowing her eyes, Morgan shook her head. “Which sister?”
“Amya, of course.”
Morgan snorted. There was no way Amya was getting engaged. Holding back her laugh, she shook her head. Her mom and her wild thoughts were known throughout the family. She always had her hopes up that each of her kids would get married and have two-point-five kids—or preferably nine since that’s what she’d done—stay home and stop putting their lives at risk.
None of them had followed their mom’s not-so-silent expectations. Licking her lips, Morgan focused. “Well, when Amya does get engaged, I expect I’ll be one of the last to hear about it, but I will be there for the wedding.”
Chuckling, she smiled at Pax, who walked around the desk and gave her a questioning look. Morgan grabbed the papers and handed them over so he could catch up. Morgan shifted the phone.
“Mom, Pax just showed up. Why don’t you call me again when Amya’s planning the wedding and let me know when I need to request off, okay?”
“Okay, baby. Just know I love you and miss you. Please come visit your poor old mother soon.”
Holding her tongue, Morgan smiled. “I will, as soon as I can plan a vacation.”
It was a lie. She knew it. Her mom knew it, whether or not she wanted to admit it, but it was a game they played each and every time they had a call like this…which was every week. She hung up and set the phone down before turning to Pax and crossing her arms.
“Yeah. Did you see this?” Pax asked, eagerly.
“See what?”
Pax flipped the paper he was looking at so Morgan could skim it over. It was a record of all the identifying factors on young Haven’s body, which were slim to few sinc
e she didn’t have tattoos or piercings at seven, but she did have a birthmark on the back of her right calf muscle that spread upward to the back of her knee.
“Well, that’ll be helpful.”
“Hey, what happened with that detective yesterday? I forgot to ask.”
Morgan pursed her lips. “Not much. She wanted an opinion on a case. She doesn’t have much to go on. She was at my talk last year about profiling, guess she thought I might be interested, but with only one murder in the books, it doesn’t look like a serial case.”
“Did you search for similar?”
“It wasn’t highly specialized. There could be similar cases, but nothing stood out that would make it special.”
“Ah.” He leaned in his chair and crossed one ankle over his knee. “So did you look?”
Morgan narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes.”
“I knew it.” He grinned. “Did you find anything?”
Sighing, Morgan brushed a hand through her short hair and popped open the briefcase at her left. She flipped her fingers through a couple folders before pulling one out. “A few cases that could match up, but not much, really. If this is a serial case, whoever it is hasn’t done it much before, if at all. This might just be the first escalation.”
“You sure?” Pax took the file from her and flipped through the pages.
“Yeah. It’s not anything that’s making my radar go off.”
He hummed until he got to the second to last case. “I remember this one.”
With the paper back in front of her, Morgan nodded her agreement. “Yeah. That one was tough, but they found the killer.”
“You’re sure?”
“They are.”
“But are you?”
Morgan shrugged. “I’d have to look deeper into it and get the rest of the files, something I am not wanting to do right this very minute.”
He scoffed. “Special Agent Morgan Stone turning down a potential case? Since when has that ever happened.”
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