by Nikki Duncan
“What about Grayson’s study? Anything on that?”
“I need a court order and right now there’s not enough to compel a judge to issue one.”
“So there’s nothing.”
“There’s a third victim.” Dressed in perfectly pleated, black slacks with wide legs and a brilliant blue blouse, Lana crossed Tyler’s space and kissed his cheek. “How are your CPU chips?”
“Processing nicely.” Tyler rubbed his thumb across her cheek and smiled. “Who brought you up here?”
“Breck cleared me.”
Aidan dug his molars into the inside of his cheek. Lana was crisply put together right down to her flawless makeup and shiny lipstick, but it wasn’t her appearance that had him wanting to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off. It was her easy intimacy with Tyler. The tech rarely paid attention to anything other than his machines, but Lana pulled his attention without effort.
“They always do.” She bumped her shoulder against Tyler’s and faced Aidan. “Not a productive day?”
“Depends on your definition of productive.” Aidan shoved his hands into his jacket pockets to keep from grabbing for her. “What do you mean there’s a new victim? You were supposed to back off the story for a while.”
“You asked me to back off the doctor. I did that.” Her glossed lips seduced the words and had Aidan thinking too much about what she’d done with them last night.
“And you found out about this new body how?”
“A source. Cops found a woman this morning with a severe rash like the others.”
Her smirk pissed him off and aroused him simultaneously. The woman was dangerous and made concentration on work a challenge. “And?”
“She was found in a cardboard box in an alley. The field tech said it looked like she’d only been there a few days. The autopsy suggests she was frozen before that.”
“They’ve already autopsied her? And what do you mean frozen?”
“The officer on the case asked for a rush. She’d thawed out, but there was damage consistent with frostbite on some of her internal organs and in her nasal passages.” Lana shuddered over the information she was imparting. As tough as she was, she was a civilian and by extension was naturally sheltered from some of life’s realities. “The other victims were discovered almost immediately and in nicer neighborhoods. This woman was found in West Little Havana.”
“Is this how you back off a story?” Aidan’s nerves, and instincts, tingled. Whatever had started as a potentially linked series of deaths was looking more related by the moment.
“I didn’t pursue the story. It pursued me.” Lana saw logic differently than he did. Of course, most journalists did. “While I was with the detective at the scene he let me see the box the woman was found in. The cardboard was warped and tearing and still moist. She was moved in it and left near a dumpster to thaw and be discovered.”
“We could try running freezer sales to see if anyone pops up,” Tyler said. “Though it’s unlikely. Especially given the use of deep freezers to store meat and fish.”
“Don’t you have some sort of profiling abilities?” Lana asked. “Some way of estimating how far a killer would carry a body to dump it? You know, would he travel far from his home? Would he dump her where it’s convenient? Why would he freeze one, but not the others?”
“Farther away keeps the spotlight off. The better question is who is she and why was she frozen? Why preserve her body?” Aidan stepped closer to Lana until her floral perfume reached him. Its softness suited her when she was in the bedroom melting beneath his touches. Outside the bedroom, it was at odds with her tough exterior. “The ME give you any idea how long she’d been frozen?”
“A few weeks was his best guess. He’ll know more after running more tests, but—”
“That takes time,” Aidan finished. “I’m hearing that a lot today.”
“So…” Lana cocked her hip. “Are you willing to concede my point?”
“Today’s body has strange circumstances, but it’s not our case. I don’t want to pull it from the locals and piss them off just to soothe…a suspicion.” He’d almost said her imagination, but stopped himself. He didn’t want to appear to not believe her any more than he wanted to fight with her while they were still getting along. “I want facts.”
“But they could hand it over to you willingly.”
“They won’t.”
“If they would, would you seriously look at it? Would you follow the evidence?”
It wasn’t what they normally did. They were talking one victim with obviously suspicious circumstances. Aside from the rash there was no connection between the deaths. Damn if the rash wasn’t a curious point though. “If the officer in charge turned it over willingly.”
“Great.” Lana reached into her bag and pulled out a business card. “Lionetti’s expecting a call. Would you like me to take you to where she was found?”
“You’ve already been there?”
“This morning.” She shrugged. “I got a tip another body had been found. I followed up.”
“Without calling me.”
“It wasn’t your case. Isn’t yet. You said you wanted to look into the doctor. This wasn’t near the doctor. Besides, for all we could have known it wasn’t related. I am still a journalist.”
She was arguing semantics when they both knew she’d known the body had been like the others. “You promised to back off.”
“As I’ve already stated, I haven’t done anything to follow up on the other bodies or contact the doctor.”
“Not the point.”
“Guess you need to be more specific next time.”
Tyler laughed. “You two sound like a married couple bickering over who’s going to pick up the kids.”
“Ha!” Lana scoffed. “And on that horrifying note, I’m leaving so you can call Lionetti.”
She spun on the ball of her simple black stiletto and headed toward Kieralyn and Ava who were huddled over something at Kieralyn’s desk. Even dressed more sedately the woman was walking provocation. Aidan didn’t need to see her legs to imagine how the muscles flexed and released with each step.
Aidan turned toward Tyler, who was watching him as intently as he normally studied his computers. “What?”
Tyler shrugged. “Didn’t expect to see you fall so fast.”
“What? No. Lana? Nuh-uh. I am not falling for her.” She was only going to be a fun distraction until the desire for her burned out. It had to burn out because he couldn’t be with a woman who always put herself in danger. He couldn’t risk the pain of losing her if he was able to get past her job.
“Because you’re already sunk.”
“How could you know anything when you never take your nose out of your electronics?”
“My nose isn’t what I see with. And I can still read people.” Tyler’s fingers flew across the keys as he set the computer before him to work.
“Not accurately apparently.”
“Keep telling yourself that, but anyone who sees you watching her would think the same as me. Hell, Ian would think the same.”
“Bullshit.” The idea was ludicrous, but damn if it didn’t have his guts twisting. “Every man watches her.”
“Maybe.” Tyler grinned. “But not every man’s eyes flash with murder at the thought of other men looking at her. And not every other man gets antsy when she walks in the room.”
“Get your eyes checked.”
“I have a more fun idea. We’ll get you and Lana in a room with Ian. Fifty bucks says he says your heart rate changes when she’s near.”
“I’m not taking that bet.”
“Because you know I’d win.” Tyler’s laugh started slow and low and built into a rumble of humor. It was always a surprise when he cut loose because he was so often deeply engrossed in some piece of technology.
“Because it’s a ludicrous idea.” Aidan stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder. “Keep your eyes to yourself. And hands.”
“Or I’ll be having my back checked for knives.”
“Nah. I’ll let you see me coming.”
Tyler grinned wider. As simply as that Aidan had confirmed his interest in Lana Quinn. Damn it. “Get back to work, Tyler.”
“Do some of that profiling your girlfriend mentioned.” Tyler turned back to his monitor. “It’ll keep you out of my hair for a while.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he muttered as he headed to his desk.
The idea made his skin itch. It was a quickly spreading itch that no amount of scratching would cure. Unless the scratching came from Lana’s manicured nails, and even then they’d likely only incite a stronger desire to be with her. Her touches would inflame his need to touch her, taste her. If it wasn’t already too late.
He’d allowed the fires to be fanned. He shouldn’t have agreed with Tyler on any level, but denying his attraction was impossible. He was not, however, falling for Lana.
Sure, getting her into bed again wouldn’t be a hardship, but his interest ended there. In bed.
“You’re playing with fire, Lana.”
“Sure she is.” Kieralyn winked as she looked toward Tyler’s tech room. “But it’s a fire she’s been after for nearly a year.”
“I keep an extinguisher handy.” Lana looked between Kieralyn and Ava. Her oldest friend and her newest.
Ava and Kieralyn’s gazes—ripe with the pungent intensity of interference—locked on her. They had something to say and she wasn’t escaping until they’d said it.
In fairly new relationships, they were both eager to see everyone paired up and a part of their new couples’ club. They were both entertaining ideas on how and when to interfere in her relationship with Aidan. Their interference, however, wouldn’t be with the intention of preventing a burn. No, they would do whatever they could to bring her and Aidan closer together. And if they thought for a second more help was needed they would call in Kami, Breck’s fiancée.
“Babe.” Ava rolled her chair a little closer. “Some fires are not meant to be extinguished. When you let them burn…” she licked her lips and sighed exotically, “…they reach so deep inside that every part of your soul is inflamed.”
“And then there’s no escape,” Kieralyn finished.
Lana needed to choose her words carefully, because while she wanted the kind of relationship they wanted for her, Aidan wasn’t the man to go after it with. He was a…weak spot. They’d had tension from the beginning. Then they’d spent a night together and just when she’d started to think they had something more he’d said they were an aberration. They’d gone back to tension that volleyed between hatred and desire. Now they were… She wasn’t sure what they were now, but she hoped she could excise the craving for him from her system. “Ladies, I appreciate what you’re thinking. But Aidan is not my Mr. Right.”
“Then what is he?”
“And why have you hung in for so long without a man hoping to be with him?”
“He’s Mr. Right Now.” She turned to Kieralyn and tilted her head a little. “I’ve been with Mr. Right. There isn’t another like him.”
“Naoko,” Kieralyn stated.
“He set a high standard.” The man she would have married if he hadn’t bowed beneath family expectations, Naoko had been the first man she’d known who hadn’t cowered beneath the truth of who her father was. He’d shown her the inner strength she’d unknowingly buried beneath the weight of family expectations. Then he’d helped her see life’s possibilities and taught her how to go after anything she wanted. And then he’d sworn to always love her even as he honored the marriage his parents had arranged.
“But is it fair to measure every man against him?” Kieralyn asked the same question she’d asked countless times before. “I adored Naoko, but isn’t it possible you’ve idealized him over the years? Built him into more than what he was?”
“No.” Her phone rang before she could say more. Checking the caller ID, she immediately flipped it open. Ava rolled her chair back so Lana could move to a more private spot. She headed to Aidan’s desk and claimed his chair.
Ava smirked at the choice, but Lana said nothing. She told herself she’d chosen the desk because it was the closest. That his scent lingered in his chair was merely a side benefit. “Nigel.”
“Hello, darling.”
“Who did I pleasure that I get to hear from you twice today?”
Aidan stepped out of the tech room and headed her way. He arched a brow at her question to Nigel, but didn’t bother giving her privacy. Instead he closed the distance to his desk and sat on the corner. Ava and Kieralyn stopped talking about whatever they’d started talking about and settled in to blatantly eavesdrop.
Nigel chuckled a little. “Just being you, I guess. Jane Doe is Natasha Lambert.”
“You work fast.”
“She had a deformity in her ankle. Most of her ankle joint was replaced with titanium.”
“And there was a serial number,” she finished for him.
“You always were too smart for me.”
“Honey, you know we’ve never worried about who was smarter. Too preoccupied with…” She locked her stare with Aidan’s, enjoying herself more because he was listening to her every word. “Other stuff.”
“You’re using me to drive another man crazy, aren’t you?”
Aidan’s eyes clouded. His jaw stiffened.
“Another reason I adore you. You know me so well.”
“I hope he makes you pay.”
“Some payments are easier to swallow than others.” She grinned as she imagined Nigel rolling his eyes. The muscles at the back of Aidan’s jaw twitched.
“Oh, he’s going to make you pay.” Nigel laughed as he was no doubt picturing her trying to talk herself out of a corner. “But before you get yourself in too much trouble and have your phone taken away, I’ll tell you that the ME who did the autopsy is expecting to hear from Lionetti soon.”
“Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Friendly warmth smoothed his accent a little, but nothing would ever completely erase his British flavor. “You might not have been the girl for me, but I still love you.”
“I love you too.” And she did love Nigel, as much as she would love a brother. She trusted him with everything, including the secrets and insecurities she’d never shared with Kieralyn. And as close as she and Kieralyn were, Nigel had a way of reading her that no one else did. She adored that about him.
Aidan took her phone from her hand and made sure the call was ended. “Now that you’re finished playing your innuendo games, did Nigel have anything new?”
“Excuse me?” Aidan couldn’t know what she’d been up to. They hadn’t spent enough time around each other for him to be able to see past the shield she’d learned to hide her thoughts behind. And while they knew each other’s bodies intimately they didn’t know each other. He certainly didn’t know her well enough to know her mind. “What games?”
“Give me a break. I’d bet that few of your sources are women and there’s only a handful of men you’d talk that way to in the ME’s office. I also know you’d have better luck charming a younger man than the older men who’ve been around longer.”
“Are you kidding? Older men are considerably easier to charm into a loyal relationship. They want to be adored while young men just want to get laid.”
“You think talking to a friend with that sexual purr to your voice is going to make me jealous.”
If anyone had a purr to their voice it was Aidan, and the way he said purr in his Scottish accent was as sexy as his dark looks and bad boy leather jacket. “If you don’t like what you hear of my conversations you shouldn’t listen.”
“You’re at my desk. Nigel is your contact at the ME’s office…” He leaned down, bracing himself on his palm, until his face was half an inch from hers. His gaze arrested hers. “Not a lover.”
His voice dropped to a whisper much like the one he used when they were in bed. Her heart quickened. The ri
bbons of air she breathed drifted through her and felt more…alive. Fire was suddenly a tame word for what she was playing with. Aidan could do much more than burn her.
“I’m not revealing my source.” Pleased with herself for sounding level and not aroused, Lana kept her stare steady with his. “And don’t assume to know what my relationship with anyone is.”
“No assumptions necessary. So, what did you find out?”
Lana told him Jane Doe’s real name.
“On it,” Ava said as she moved to set her computer to work without waiting for the slightest flick of Aidan’s eyes in her direction.
“Call me if you find anything.” He addressed Ava but still watched Lana. “Kieralyn, would you call Detective Lionetti and ask for the case file from this morning’s scene?”
“I’ll have it here by end of day,” Kieralyn promised.
Aidan nodded once, grabbed Lana’s hand and pulled her from the chair and toward the elevator.
She winked at Ava and Kieralyn as she snatched her bag from Kieralyn’s desk on the way by. When they were in the elevator, with the closed doors sheltering them from spying eyes, Aidan retained his tight hold on her hand.
The casual warmth most women found from such a gesture didn’t exist. Instead, anticipation marked her skin as clearly as the words she used to craft her stories marked paper.
It charged the space surrounding them. It heightened her awareness until even the shift of her slacks rubbing her legs was like awakening caresses.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked as they exited the elevator on the lobby floor.
“To prove Nigel isn’t your lover.”
A step behind him, she allowed herself a small smile. The idea of her being with another man bothered Aidan and she dug that. She wasn’t going to allow Kieralyn’s questions to become true, but neither was she going to miss the chance at spending more time with him.