“Sure you can.”
Rolling her eyes, Morgan stared at her screen. Pax was right. She’d seen bodies three weeks out, and it wasn’t pretty, and it did not smell good at all. It was something she could certainly live without witnessing again. “Did he say why he killed her?”
“She had a date, and he was jealous. Look down here.” Pax pointed on the screen, and Morgan scrolled the curser down. “There.”
Leaning in, she read his confession. Sure enough, he claimed the victim had gone on a date with a woman the night before he went to confront her. He hit her in the process, they fought, and he confessed to strangling her. “He didn’t say he stabbed her.”
“He didn’t. But with a confession and a plea deal, the judge accepted it, and he’s in prison.”
“The hell? He didn’t even tell them what happened.”
“Don’t talk to me about it.” Pax put his hands out in front of him.
Morgan clicked print on the files. She’d completely forgotten her coffee until then, but she chugged it to get the rest of the juices in her brain flowing as she waited for the printer to do its magic. “So she started in Grand Rapids, moved south to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the northwest to Chicagoland, and back south. She seems to like this area of the country, perhaps she’s from around here.”
“Maybe. Hey, you coming to dinner for the twins’ birthday?”
“Uh…what?” Morgan shook her head at him in confusion. “What dinner?”
“Didn’t Mel call you?”
“No. She did not.”
“Ugh. I told her to call you.”
“Because you can’t ask me at work?” Morgan licked her lips and finished her coffee.
Pax narrowed his eyes in a glare. “Now you sound like her.”
“When’s the dinner?”
“Next week.”
“Pax. You gotta give a girl more warning than that.”
“What? It’s not like you have a date. You’re perpetually single.”
It felt as though a rock was pressed down onto her heart. He wasn’t wrong, although it wasn’t for lack of trying. She’d tried with Fiona Wexford, and that had gotten her exactly nowhere. Not that he would know. Grunting, Morgan turned to the printer. Noting it was done doing its thing, she got up to grab her newly printed case file.
When she sat down, he raised a brow at her. “So you coming or not?”
“What day next week?”
“Friday.”
“Time?”
“Seven.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Morgan shoved the papers into a file and grabbed the rest of them, heading for a conference room. She wanted to lay everything out like she had done the night before now that she had the final missing piece to her puzzle, but more importantly, she wanted some space between her and Pax. She loved him dearly, but he was such an oaf sometimes that she wanted to give him a good punch to the nose. She knew Mel would agree.
###
Pax had picked up her slack for the rest of the day on the trafficking case. She’d gone to assist him in a few quick profiles, but Morgan had focused mainly on her serial murderer. She pulled video footage from the last places Katie and Andrea had gone to see if there was anyone who looked the same between them. She had requested video footage from the Grand Rapids case and from the Fort Wayne case, but she knew that would take days if not a week to get to her. She’d also tried to get the full case files from both, but seeing as the one in Indiana was considered closed, she struggled to convince them to let her look at it.
Her frustration level had risen and fallen several times throughout the day, and the lack of sleep wasn’t helping her brain stay sharp and her tongue stay tied when she wanted to make smart retorts to idiots who wouldn’t cooperate. She didn’t want to take over their cases, for the most part, she just wanted to solve her case and get a murderer off the street.
She was halfway home when her phone rang. Her mother. Groaning, Morgan answered. “Mom.”
“Morgan! You answered this time!”
“I do have a job, and I do have a life, you know. That means I do not and can not always answer my phone. Just last night, I didn’t answer Amya’s call.”
“She called you?”
Cursing under her breath, Morgan scrunched her nose. “Yeah, but she was returning my call. She didn’t call to tell me any special news that may or may not have happened, but I’m telling you, Ma. Amya is not getting engaged, like ever.”
“I think I would know before you.”
Morgan really should have had more coffee before she left, especially before dealing with her mother. Sighing, she let her mom think she would know first, when in fact, she would likely be one of the last to find out. Knowing Amya and Grace as well as she did, Morgan would not be surprised if they went to the courthouse, got hitched, and then didn’t tell anyone for three or four years.
“What’d you call for? I’m on my way home, but I still have work to do tonight, so I can’t talk long.”
“You really need to take a break more often. When’s the last time you took a vacation? You know you can’t keep working hours like this, find someone to marry, and have a family.”
Morgan’s fingers clenched her steering wheel so hard she swore it would break if she didn’t let up. Biting her lip, Morgan took a deep breath and calmed the rage building in her heart. She hated these types of conversations with her mom. Normally, if she was working at full-capacity and firing on all cylinders she would have scouted out this conversation before it even came up and been able to side step it. Instead, she’d practically walked straight into it.
“Ma, please stop.”
“I’m not going to stop worrying about you. That’s my job. You’re my baby, and that’s what I do.”
Morgan stepped on the brake as she came to a red light. With one more deep breath, she worked out a tactful way to convince her mom to change topics. “I appreciate the concern. I’m not interested in a family. You’ve known that for years. Please accept what I have decided.”
“You’ll change your mind when you fall in love.”
“Mom.”
“What?”
“Please stop. Really.”
“Okay, okay.”
Stepping on the gas, Morgan took a left turn toward her apartment. “Really, why did you call? I’m tired. It’s been a really long week.” She may have been over exaggerating, but her mom didn’t need to know.
“I’m calling because of Lauren. I don’t know what to do with her.”
“What does she need?”
“I don’t know. I keep bringing her food.”
“Have you asked her what she needs?”
The silence on the other end of the phone told her the answer. Morgan turned into her parking garage.
“Look, ask Lauren what she needs and what she wants. She’s not your daughter, you have to remember that.”
“She is my daughter!”
“By marriage. She is not your daughter by blood, which means she is probably going to react differently to you than her own parents, especially because it’s your son who screwed up and put her in this situation. If you want to help, ask Lauren what she needs and what she wants. If you really want to help, convince your son to go to fucking rehab.”
“Morgan! Language.”
“I’m sorry, but the kid seriously needs some help. This is out of control.”
“I know. I agree. I’ve talked to him about it already, and he’s considering it, but he’s not sure how to pay for it.”
“I’m sure the family can figure something out if he’s truly committed to going, but until then, he’s not seeing a dime from me.”
“He’s your brother—”
“Yes, he is. He’s also a drunk, and now he’s a convicted addict. That changes a lot of things. I love him, but I ain’t going to let him walk all over me. Look, Mom, I’m home. I’ve got some work to catch up on. I’ll talk to you later.”
Before her mom could say anything else
, Morgan hung up and turned off the engine of her car. She rubbed behind her neck. The knot of tension was bigger than she remembered, but to be fair, a phone call with her mom could easily do that.
Morgan grabbed her stuff and headed upstairs. As soon as she got inside, she picked up her phone and dialed Wexford. Folding herself into her couch, she waited as it rang and rang and rang and went, once again, to voice mail. This time she opted to leave a message.
“Detective, it’s Special Agent Stone. I was calling to see if I could get your opinion on a case you might be interested in. I could really use some fresh eyes on it.”
Hanging up, she put her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes. She really needed a cat. Any friendly face as soon as she walked through the door would be a welcome sight. She’d only ever lived with one significant other in her life. Other than that and a few roommates here or there, but she was finding in her near to middle age if she’d admit it, that she missed the companionship. Perhaps not the nagging, but the companionship for sure.
Morgan let out a sigh and ran her hand through her hair. She had to get a handle on the case. It wouldn’t be long before she’d have to focus back on the human trafficking case because they were coming close to finding Mr. Jimmy, and she really wanted to find this killer. The guilt that would come with finding another murdered woman would no doubt crush her to pieces.
Opting not to work even after she’d made the excuse to her mom, Morgan ate a light dinner of leftover takeout she’d ordered sometime in the last two weeks—she forgot when and decided she really needed to label the shit in her fridge but also knew she’d never get to it. She picked up the laundry all over her apartment and shoved it into the stackable washing machine that sat in the tiny-ass what may possibly pass for a closet in her hallway. She picked up the rest of her apartment so it was passable for clean and then she passed out in her bed, finally not dreaming of murder and mayhem.
Chapter Thirteen
Lollie had stayed every night with Samantha, their relationship taking a steamy turn just about any time they were in each other’s vicinity. Unlike with Andrea, Samantha clearly had a much higher sex drive, which matched Lollie’s. She was pleased with how everything was turning out. It was early in the morning, Samantha had already gone to work but told Lollie she was welcome to stay until she woke up, and they could meet up after she got home from work.
It was clear that while Samantha trusted her enough to stay the night, she didn’t want her there all day. It was an odd conundrum for Lollie. She couldn’t quite figure it out. Everything seemed to be going well for their relationship, they went on dates together, laughed, joked, flirted, but when it came to Samantha taking the leap to allowing her to stay there more permanently, Samantha always hedged.
Lollie stayed in Samantha’s warm bed until she felt the calling to get up. She stretched and slowly walked around the apartment naked. She touched everything. She hadn’t had much time to herself there since she’d met Samantha, so she envied this time. Brushing her fingers along the dresser, Lollie pulled open each of the drawers. Samantha had everything folded but haphazardly tossed in the drawers. Lollie pulled open her underwear drawer last and smiled as she found some lacy panties inside it, something she had yet to see Samantha wear, and she figured Samantha probably had worn once and that was it.
Unless it was another woman’s.
Picking it up, Lollie brought it to her nose and took a deep breath. She didn’t find anyone else’s scent on it. Pursing her lips, she folded the article and set it right back where she found it. Lollie opened the small boxes on top of the dresser and peeked inside. She found some necklaces, one pearl and one gold. She pulled them out and shoved them into her purse.
Going into the bathroom, Lollie turned the shower on and stepped under the spray. She picked up Samantha’s shampoo after wetting her own hair. Sniffing it, she wrinkled her nose. She scrubbed the shampoo through her hair and then the conditioner. Using her razor, Lollie shaved her legs and her pits, setting everything back right where she found it. When she was done, she wrapped herself in a big fluffy towel and let her hair drip down her back. Using a fist, she wiped down the mirror so she could see her reflection.
She was getting too old to be trying to find someone. She’d wanted to be married and maybe have a kid or two under her belt by the time she was thirty, but her twenty-ninth birthday was fast approaching, and unless Samantha made any sudden moves, which she was beginning to doubt would happen, then she wouldn’t be finding a partner in her.
Taking a deep breath, Lollie carded through the baskets under the sink and looked through everything Samantha had there. She looked at her tampons, her blow-dryer, her soaps she hadn’t opened. It was all clearance and cheap shit she must have gotten at the store she worked at.
Lollie headed to the bedroom and pulled out a fresh outfit she had bought after she’d arrived in St. Louis. She’d have to go shopping again, especially if she was going to have to try and sway Samantha into letting her stay there yet another night. As soon as she was dressed, Lollie wrapped her hair up in the towel to dry. She grabbed a bowl of cereal and ate at the kitchen table with Samantha’s iPad between her fingers.
Running some searches on names of her past girlfriends, Lollie found nothing and deleted the browser history. If they hadn’t released any information on the others yet, then she was still golden to stay at Samantha’s. Swallowing down the last bit of her breakfast, Lollie did the dishes, tidied up the kitchen, and headed out to her car they had finally gone back to get.
Not having a place to stay was pissing her off. Anger bubbled in Lollie’s belly as she drove away from Samantha’s house, but she wasn’t going to stay there if Samantha didn’t want her there. Cringing, she headed off to drive the town. Maybe there was someone better out there for her, someone who was a more perfect fit. All she had to do was find her. She still had another six months before she turned twenty-nine to find the love of her life.
Then again, maybe that was Samantha. Groaning, Lollie ran her hand through her hair and turned into the mall parking lot. She would do some shopping, and then she would see what Samantha wanted to do for dinner. They’d discussed briefly meeting up but not where, although any time they’d attempted to go on a dinner date in the last week they hadn’t made it farther than the couch, or the wall, or the front door before they both decided they’d be better off staying in and ordering food for delivery.
After buying some special lingerie for that evening, Lollie got in her car and sent Samantha a picture of her most recent purchase. It was near time for Samantha to get off work, and she wanted to know for sure that night if Samantha was willing to move forward with their relationship or not. Smiling when she saw Samantha’s response, Lollie headed to the apartment to wait for Samantha’s arrival.
###
Samantha pulled Lollie out of her car as soon as she parked next to her. Lollie went with it, and heat pooled in her belly as Samantha pressed her against the door of the car. Their lips were locked. Lollie’s hand wrapped around Samantha’s neck, and she moaned as Samantha tugged Lollie’s lip between her teeth and pulled seductively.
“I hope you’re wearing it.”
Lollie chuckled. “No, not yet. I came right here.”
Samantha growled. “Better get it on, my friend. I want to see you in it before I rip it off you.”
With Samantha’s mouth at her neck, Lollie tilted her head to the side and gave her more access. She loved that Samantha was so aggressive during their love making. She enjoyed it immensely when Samantha would wrap her fingers around her throat, cutting off her air supply all the while bringing her to an orgasm that made lights shine behind her closed eye lids.
“It’s all for you,” Lollie whispered, lowering her voice and making the tone husky to entice Samantha to keep going.
It worked. Samantha’s hand slid up between her shirt and her body, her nails scraping into her skin. Shivers ran along Lollie’s spine, and she pushed her hips ou
t toward Samantha and away from the car. She closed her eyes and bit her lip as Samantha pressed her teeth into the soft spot just above her collar bone.
“Don’t stop,” Lollie whispered, knowing her words would spurn Samantha on. She typically wasn’t one for public sex, but for some reason, anytime Samantha was involved, she didn’t care. Lollie pressed her fingers into Samantha’s hips and jerked her closer.
Samantha reached up and cupped Lollie’s breast, squeezing. Lollie keened into Samantha’s ear. “Let’s go inside so I can show you this outfit I got.”
“Good idea.” Samantha promptly pulled away but grabbed on to Lollie’s hand. She led the way upstairs to the apartment, unlocking the door and heading inside.
Lollie teasingly sauntered on ahead of Samantha and into the bathroom. She undressed completely and tugged on the black lace to cover her, scantily. She checked her hair and touched up her lipstick—well, Samantha’s lipstick. Making sure everything was perfect, Lollie left the bathroom and went in search of her lover.
The living room was empty, and when she walked into the bedroom, she had to stop. Samantha lay on the bed, her wrists in cuffs on the headboard, her body completely bared to Lollie. Swallowing, Lollie walked tentatively over to the side of the bed and stared down at Samantha.
“What’s all this?”
Samantha grinned. “Something for me and something for you. I thought it only fair.”
“Hmm.” Lollie bit her lower lip like she was contemplating. She ran one finger down Samantha’s neck to her chest and over a nipple, stopping. “So do you like?”
Lollie twirled in a circle, wiggling her ass so Samantha could see. When she turned back, Samantha breathed hard, and her cheeks flushed. “Very much. Get on top of me.”
Doing as commanded, Lollie straddled Samantha’s legs. She leaned over and pressed her lips to Samantha’s. “Why the cuffs?”
“You like it rough. So do I. Figured we could try this.”
Pleasure burst in Lollie’s chest. Samantha, always thinking of Lollie and her pleasure. That was what made them such a good team from the start. They anticipated what the other wanted. Pressing her lips to Samantha’s pale skin and leaving red marks from her lipstick behind, Lollie kissed all over her body. Samantha writhed underneath her.
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