by Lexi Blake
Her warm brown eyes turned to her ex-husband. Jake didn’t know why the couple had broken up, but there was no doubting that they still cared. There was also no doubt that there was a wall between them. As Eve’s hand went for the file, she carefully avoided contact.
“What was your take on the husband?” Eve asked, her eyes sliding away from Alex’s.
Alex cleared his throat and sat up straighter, his usual professionalism back in full form. “I’m not half the profiler you are. I would rather you formed your own opinions. And he’s her ex-husband. They divorced years ago. He filed. She didn’t contest it.”
She started to flip through the file. “Then why would he start harassing her now? Especially if he’s the one who decided to leave?”
“That’s what’s thrown the cops off.” Ian finally took the seat at the head of the table. “Look, according to the cops, she’s somewhat suspicious.”
“Bullshit,” Adam said. “There was nothing suspicious about her.”
Jake thought about strangling his partner. He never knew when to shut up. He could practically hear Ian’s thoughts before he put them into words.
“Adam, don’t make me regret giving this to you. She is the client. Actually, she’s not the client. Lara Anderson is the client. Serena Brooks or Amber Rose or whatever you want to call her is to be handled carefully, and part of her handling is going to be figuring out what’s the truth and what’s complete fiction. She should know a little bit about fiction. She writes a bunch of it.”
“Are you trying to say she’s not trustworthy because she’s a writer? That’s ridiculous.” Grace looked ready to defend the author.
Ian held out a hand to stop her. “I’m saying she’s incredibly ambitious. The woman went from working part time at a retail store to publishing fifteen books in a two-year period. She learned the business very quickly. Lara said she’s never had a writer quite as prolific as Serena. She’s worked the whole e-publishing business to spectacular advantage, building a devoted following in a short period of time. A woman like that could use the publicity. Tell me, Grace, what is she known for? What types of books does she write? We all know it’s erotic, but there’s something more, isn’t there?”
Grace’s flushed face told Jake that Ian was right.
Ian shook his head in a brief arc. He wasn’t going to take silence for an answer. Ian rarely asked questions for which he wasn’t pretty damn sure of what the answer would be. “And what types of plots does she write?”
“Suspense.” Grace sighed. “She’s known for writing great suspense plots. Damn it, Ian, that doesn’t mean she’s making this up.”
“Has she ever written a stalker book?”
Grace’s head shook, but her words told the truth. “Three Riders, One Love. The heroine was being stalked. She ran to a small town and found her lovers there. But she’s also written serial killer books and books that feature Russian mafia hit men. They haven’t shown up in her life.”
Ian’s fingers drummed against the desk. “She’s very creative. This would make a great story. Aren’t all writers looking for a little publicity?”
“Then why hasn’t she publicized it?” Jake was a little surprised he’d said the words out loud. He’d intended to stay completely neutral, but those big green eyes were haunting him. Now that everyone else was leveling accusations, he felt a need to defend her a little.
Ian’s shoulder came up in a negligent shrug. “Maybe she’s waiting for the right time. I’m sure she has a book that will launch sometime soon.”
“Two weeks,” Grace said.
Eve looked Grace’s way. “Could you give me a list of her books? You can tell a lot about a writer from her work. Writers can be…unstable. They can also be wonderfully sane. Rather like the rest of the world. The good thing about writers is they usually give you a view of their soul, right there on paper. Well, in her case, on an e-reader.”
Ian frowned. “Just buy the books and expense it. That’s going to look great on our tax forms. Mommy Porn.”
“It’s not porn.” Grace practically fumed.
“You know what they say about porn, you know it when you see it.” Ian slapped his hand against the desk, a sure sign that they would be dismissed. “Start tonight, you two. And bring her into the office to meet with Eve tomorrow afternoon. And Adam, try not to sleep with her until we figure out whether or not she’s fooling us all.”
Adam gave him a snappy salute. “I will try, chief.”
Ian sighed as though he knew Adam wouldn’t try very hard. “Don’t fuck up.”
Jake sighed. At least he had his marching orders. Don’t fuck up. If only he hadn’t fucked up so brutally in the past, he might actually look forward to the assignment.
Chapter Four
Adam couldn’t help the thrill of excitement he felt as Jake pulled the SUV into Serena Brooks’ drive. He hadn’t expected to see her again so soon—maybe not at all. He’d felt a connection to her the moment he’d seen her. He didn’t even want to deny it. He was naturally optimistic. The thing with Grace hadn’t worked out. She was happy with Sean. Adam was happy for her. Now it was his and Jake’s time to find what they needed. He had the strangest feeling Serena Brooks was it.
Her house was a neat little ranch-style house in a fashionable section of Dallas. It wasn’t Highland Park, but it was certainly upper middle class. According to his records, this wasn’t the home she’d shared with her husband.
Her yard was lush and green, the house set back amidst a small copse of old trees. There was a small patio at the front of the house with a little fountain. It was hidden by Spanish style walls and a gated entry that wouldn’t keep a three-year-old out. It was a lovely house, but tactically it was a bit of a nightmare.
“Fuck,” Jake said as he put the SUV in park. “I hope her backyard is bare.”
“Probably not. It’s more than likely as much of a nightmare as the front.” Adam knew what Jake objected to. There were far too many places to hide in that front yard. It wouldn’t be difficult at all to conceal a body in any number of places. The trees were huge. The porch itself was surrounded by lovely brick walls, covered in ivy. Adam was sure it was beautiful in the daylight, but in the gloom of night, all he could think was how easy it would be to hide there and attack the lovely homeowner as she searched for her keys.
“She parks in the driveway. That means she has to walk all the way across the yard. Anyone could walk right up to her and force her to let him in the house.” Jake’s low, angry voice gave Adam a tiny bit of hope. He wouldn’t be this upset if Serena Brooks hadn’t moved him in some way.
“We’ll obviously have to talk to her about some security protocols. She needs to park in the garage. Well, if she has a garage door opener. God, I hope she has one. And an alarm system.” Adam snapped the hold on his seatbelt. “That is if she doesn’t slam the door in our faces. What time is it anyway?”
“Almost ten. I doubt she’s gone to bed, but I intend to lecture her if she actually answers the door.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Jake shrugged. “Then I’ll praise her for being smart after we’ve broken in and proven to her she doesn’t have enough security.” Even in the dark shadows, Adam could see that Jake’s face was set in stark lines. It was a bad sign. Adam knew his partner. Jake could be dangerous when he was on the edge.
Adam kept his tone light and easy, not wanting to feed Jake’s beast. “Come on. Hasn’t she been through enough? Shouldn’t we go a little easy on her?”
“I doubt this stalker, if there is one, will go easy on her. And if she’s playing us all, then it might do her some good to get a little scared.”
He was so fucking frustrating. Adam took a deep breath. How long was this going to go on? It had been over a year since they’d tried a long-term relationship. Adam had known almost immediately that Lila wouldn’t work out, but he’d been so sick of one-night stands that he’d held on for four months. “You know not every woman in the world i
s out to screw you.”
Jake turned back, his mouth a flat line. “And not every woman in the world is trustworthy. Can we figure out which one Serena Brooks is before we sacrifice another career for a woman?”
“Don’t you blame me for Jennifer. You found her. I didn’t even particularly like her.” He slammed the SUV door, hoping it would give the poor woman some warning that they were here.
Jennifer had been the reason they got their asses kicked out of the Army. Jennifer was the reason his family no longer spoke to him. He’d lost as much as Jake. It had been years, and the bitterness had faded. He still didn’t talk to his father or his brothers. He was still the first Miles in four generations to get kicked out of the Army. But he wasn’t going to give up on life.
Jake walked down to the end of the yard. He looked up and down the quiet street. There were cars in the driveways and at the curbs. No one would probably notice someone parked and watching.
“I bet she doesn’t know her neighbors past the ones on either side,” Adam commented. The world didn’t work like that anymore. Especially in an upscale neighborhood. These were two-income, highly ambitious families. They sent their kids to private schools and worked twelve-hour days.
“If she even knows those.” Jake pointed down the street. “Those lights are out. I wonder why they haven’t been fixed.”
“I’ll call the city tomorrow.” It would be first on a list of things he was going to have to do to make her home safer.
“And she doesn’t have motion sensor lights. We’ve been standing out here for five minutes. She should have called the cops by now.” Jake’s head shook in disappointment.
Adam looked back at the house. The shades had been drawn in the front. The house looked neat and tidily shut up. He strode up to the door. The gate opened, creaking slightly, but there was no movement inside the house. No one opened a shade to check outside. If she was listening, she hadn’t heard him. Her porch light was off, the small enclosed space locked in gloom. Even if she looked out the peephole, she wouldn’t be able to see the person requesting entry to her home. He sighed and rang the bell.
“I don’t hear anything,” he said after a moment or two. He tried again but nothing. “Maybe she’s not here. Maybe she’s staying with a friend.”
“Not according to Ian.” Jake walked back out to the driveway. “I talked to him before I changed out of my leathers. He said Lara spoke to her earlier in the evening, and Serena had promised her she would stay locked up tonight. Apparently she’s working on another book. Ian was going to call her to let her know we’re coming. If she’s pissed off, well, she’s in for a surprise. She’s not really the client. Lara is. I’m not about to let her little temper tantrum keep me from doing my job.”
Adam slapped his partner on the back. “Just keep talking that way, buddy. That’s the attitude that’s going to have her eating out of our hands.”
“I’m sorry.” Jake sighed heavily. “I just wish this case was a little more cut and dry. If she’s doing this for publicity, you’re going to get hurt again.”
And he wouldn’t? Jake was the badass, but there was a soft spot underneath that had been damaged in the past. It was up to Adam to gently push him toward the right outcome of this little mess. If Jake wanted to be the bad cop, Adam would let him play it that way. But only to a point. “Fine. But let’s not call her very reasonable anger, with you I might add, a temper tantrum.”
Jake’s face remained closed. “Fine. I was an asshole. But we both know I’ll be an asshole again. Let’s go around and check out the back. She’s got the front closed up, but she has windows everywhere. You want to bet they didn’t secure the small windows?”
Jake looked at the small metal sign that proclaimed which security firm proudly protected the home. “No way. I know that firm. They secure the doors and large windows. They never tag the smaller ones.”
Despite the fact that he didn’t want to scare her, he always did like a little breaking and entering. It reminded him of those days in the Green Berets, going on covert operations. He’d been a different person then. He’d loved being part of a team. It was why he’d been happy to join McKay-Taggart. “Let’s get going then.”
Jake’s lips curved up in a grin. “You know you would have made a good criminal.”
“Absolutely.” Adam followed Jake toward the back of the house, stopping at Serena’s car. “Wow. Nice ride.”
The little Audi A6 was a pretty car.
“Apparently writing has been good to her. Between this car and that house, she seems to be doing well.” Jake got to one knee, his hand tracing the sleek lines of the car. “Although if it was parked in the garage all the time, no one would guess that she lives alone.”
Adam could hear the suspicions underlying Jake’s tone. Some people would do a lot to keep a lifestyle like this. Some people would do even more to move up. An odd line on the car’s side caught his eye. It was a jagged white streak that looked wrong against the black of the car. “Is something wrong? Is that some damage?”
“Someone keyed her car.” Jake showed him the thin line that ran across the passenger side of the Audi from the rear all the way to the front.
“Bastard. She didn’t mention property damage this morning.”
Jake got to his feet. “No. She said it was just threats. Looks like this guy is escalating at precisely the right time. Just as she thinks we’ve turned her down, something worse happens. Interesting. I want security cameras around the perimeter of this house.”
Because he wanted to see if Serena had a hand in this herself. Adam didn’t agree, but there was zero reason to argue with Jake until he had some proof. Jake was a “guilty until proven innocent” kind of guy.
Jake came to the backyard gate and gave it a tug. It didn’t budge. “Good girl. She has a lock on it. Unfortunately, I can climb.”
Jake hefted himself over the tall gate without a care. Adam planted his feet, pulled himself up, and followed. If this stalker worked out at all, he wouldn’t have a problem.
Her small backyard looked like an oasis of calm. She had a lovely patio with sunny furniture and a little fire pit. The whole house was surrounded with old-growth trees—the kind that would be easy to climb and hide in.
There were five windows on the back of the house. Jake checked the largest two carefully.
“Sensors on these.”
Adam inspected the smaller windows. The blinds were drawn. It could lead to a bedroom, but he would bet his money that this was a kitchen or a dining room window. He didn’t see any wires or other sensors. “Here’s our in. Are you sure we shouldn’t just keep knocking on the damn door? We could easily prove this to her without giving her a heart attack.”
“No.” Jake shook his head as he pulled out the super sharp knife and duct tape he’d brought. Jake had a bag in the trunk of his vehicle filled with helpful items. “She needs to understand a few things. We won’t always protect her in the manner she wants to be protected. You know how these things can go. She thinks because she’s the ‘client’ that she gets to call the shots. And that will get her killed. I would rather have her pissed off and alive.”
“And if she knows we’re out here and she comes after us with a baseball bat, or worse, she shoots our asses?” Both were very reasonable scenarios. He’d just recovered from the last time he’d been shot. Without thinking about it, he put a hand over the scars on his gut. A single bullet had torn him apart. He was lucky to be alive. When he’d woken up and realized he hadn’t gone into the light, he’d sworn he wouldn’t let anything hold him back. He wouldn’t give in to fear. He would be open to the possibilities. But when the possibilities included another round of surgery…
“She won’t. If that woman owns a gun, then I can’t read people. She’s one of those ‘gun control’ nuts. Trust me, the only thing we might be in for is her cat meowing us to death.” Jake worked quickly. It wasn’t the first time they’d broken into a place to complete a mission. He passed Adam the
knife as he tore through the duct tape. “Get to work on the glue.”
It was a frighteningly simple thing. Jake made small handholds out of the duct tape while Adam cut through the glue that held the glass pane to the window. His knife was small and wickedly sharp, making quick work of the glue. In mere minutes, Jake pulled the entire pane out of the window and they had easy access to Serena’s haven.
Adam decided to go first. Maybe she’d hold back when she realized it was him. He was pretty sure she’d shoot off Jake’s junk the minute she had a chance. He lifted the shades, and sure enough, there was someone waiting for him. An enormous dog sat with wide eyes as though he’d just been waiting there for a playmate to show up. Adam got a big old kiss from the large mutt who seemed to have some form of doggy halitosis. He sputtered a bit, wiping away dog drool. “You were wrong about the cat. It’s a really big dog.”
Jake’s low voice floated into the room. “He doesn’t sound like he’s growling.”
The dog wasn’t. His tail was wagging in a powerful thump, and he licked at Adam’s face as though greeting an old friend. “Yeah, I think we can bet that this boy wasn’t top of his class at security dog school.”
The dog panted and did a couple of circles as Adam threw a leg over the sill and hauled himself in. The dog took advantage of his now fully exposed body to hop up, put his massive paws on Adam’s shoulders, and lick at him enthusiastically.
“Well, at least we know you’re going to find love in this house. It’s a guarantee now,” Jake said with a smirk as he, too, entered. “That dog is worth nothing.”
But he put a hand out and greeted the enormous thing. Jake snorted slightly as the dog licked him, too. “I think this is a mix between a lab and a retriever. Do you think she walked in and asked for the biggest pussy dog she could find? Yes, boy, I called you a pussy. That’s what you are. You should have already gnawed through Adam’s leg. Yes, that’s what good dogs do.”