A Serial Affair

by Natalie Dunbar

  Briefly she toyed with the idea of joining him. Had he seen her and decided to drink alone? She realized that she really didn’t care because the prospect of hurting with Reed was a damned sight better than sitting here hurting alone.

  Marina stood on unsteady feet. Those Black Russians were stronger than she’d thought. Holding her drink, she moved down.

  “Great minds think alike,” she said, taking the stool next to Reed.

  He glanced at her briefly. “We’re in the same hole.”

  “We’ll get out of this. We’ll find our serial killer,” she assured him.

  “That’s for damned sure.” He stared down into his drink as if it held all the answers. “I remember something Mom used to say a lot. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. You’ve been through this before. What could we have done to come out smelling like roses?”

  Shaking her head, she swallowed the last of her drink. “There was no way for us to be heroes unless we’d already caught the killer. We can’t find our killer through the media.”

  Reed’s somber gaze touched her. “It’s been done.”

  Shifting on her stool, she ordered yet another drink. “Yes, but we couldn’t have given them everything we’ve worked out. Too much is at stake.”

  “Not to mention the sterling reputations of our fine pool of potential victims,” he added sarcastically.

  Marina didn’t have a comeback for that. She had more than enough inner conflict over protecting the slimy group of young men who more likely than not were being stalked by one of their past victims. She sipped the rest of her drink silently.

  By ten, they were both plastered though they’d stopped drinking to consume a couple of burgers. Reed stood slowly. “We should go.”

  Holding on to the counter, Marina stood, too. “I can’t drive like this.”

  “I’m tired of this joint,” Reed said, his words slurring only slightly. “You can come by, have some coffee, and come back when you’ve sobered up. You know I don’t stay too far.”

  Giggling, Marina covered her mouth. She wasn’t normally a woman who giggled. “How are we going to get there? Did you drive, too?”

  “I walked. I do that sometimes, just to work off stress.” Reed straightened. He studied the crowd. “I’ll get us a ride.”

  She saw him talking to someone at the bar and then the bartender. Several minutes later a taxi dropped them off at Reed’s. Glancing around, Marina spared a brief thought for Reed’s stalker as she followed him upstairs and into his loft apartment.

  The first thing that grabbed her attention was the group of framed photos on the wall in the entryway. The center featured an enlarged photo of their college friends at last year’s Christmas party. She’d been hanging with Reed that night and having a blast. Her glorious smile in that picture haunted her. She hadn’t been that happy since.

  Reed closed and locked the door behind her. “Coffee?”

  “Please.” She followed him across the hardwood floor into the modern kitchen. While he started making the coffee, she sat slumped at the counter, watching him.

  He moved slow and deliberately, but was still a bit unsteady on his feet. He looked handsome in a rough, Reed sort of way. If he felt like she did right now, it was much easier to sit or lie down.

  “I appreciate you helping me out,” she said.

  “No problem. You’d do the same for me.”

  “Yeah, but I think you’d get instant. I’m not for moving too much right now.”

  He chuckled. “I guess you’re just lucky.”

  She giggled. Damn, she wished she could stop that. “Yeah, I am lucky. I think a man working out in the kitchen is just too damned sexy.”

  “Truth?” His tone dipped a bit.

  “Oh, yeah.” Sucking on her bottom lip, she eyed him with what she hoped was a come-and-get-me look. It was an invitation and a challenge.

  It must have worked. Reed pushed the button on the automatic coffeemaker and headed for her.

  She was almost breathless with anticipation when he got there.

  “I’ve been wanting to kiss you,” he muttered, settling in the chair beside her and pulling her close.

  The scent of him mixed with whiskey and cologne filled her nostrils, making her dizzy. “I’ve been wanting you to kiss me,” she admitted, tilting her head up.

  He leaned down and his mouth fastened on hers in a warm, tantalizing swirl of lips, tongue and Reed. Marina plunged into the depths of sensation. Thrusting her fingers into his thick hair and massaging the sides of his face and neck, she tried to get even closer.

  His hands slid restlessly up and down her back as he pressed her so close that the aching tips of her breasts burned hot against his chest. She was half in her seat and half in his lap. He deepened the kiss.

  A tremor went through him and echoed one within her. She moaned in pleasure.

  Reed moved away, pushing her securely back into her seat.

  “No,” she protested breathlessly.

  “Coffee’s ready,” he said firmly. Reed pushed to his feet and headed for the coffeemaker.

  That’s when the full-bodied fragrance of it hit her nostrils. Marina sagged against the counter, still hungry for Reed and his kisses.

  He opened cabinets and drawers, producing mugs, spoons, sugar, artificial sweetener and caramel-nut-flavored creamer.

  While he fixed the coffee, she closed her eyes, working to get past mounting frustration. She was used to working for what she wanted and getting it. Why couldn’t she have Reed? Surely he’d had time to get past her mistake in choosing Emilio over him.

  Reed approached the counter with a tray. He set a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.

  “Here. Drink this.”

  Pushing up on her elbows, she breathed in its aroma. Her mouth watered, but she really wasn’t up to drinking anything so hot.

  As if reading her thoughts, he gave her a spoon. “You can start with this.”

  “So my kisses turn you off?” she asked lazily, stirring her coffee and sipping a couple of spoonfuls.

  His eyes narrowed. “You know better than that.”

  “So what gives?”

  He gave her the you’re-so-stupid look. “If you weren’t so pickled, you’d know. We’re both drunk. What seems like a good idea now could be something we’ll both regret tomorrow.”

  “I know what I want,” she insisted.

  “Really? Then let’s talk when we’re both sober, ’cause I’m not taking you up on anything tonight.”

  The nerve of him. She sipped her coffee in silence, burning up inside.

  “Quit pouting,” he admonished, drinking his coffee across from her and running a hand over his face.

  “I’m not pouting.”

  “Yes, you are. You do it whenever you don’t get what you want.” He chuckled.

  “No, I don’t,” she insisted, pulling in her drooping bottom lip.

  He didn’t bother with a reply. When she was done with her coffee, he led her into his great room and sat next to her on the black leather sofa.

  Marina leaned over to place her head on the armrest. The room was spinning.

  “I’m not up to getting the car right now,” he said. “All I can think about is my bed. It’s been a long night. Think we could just get up early to pick up your car?”

  “Sure.” She wondered if he’d changed his mind about being with her.

  Abruptly, Reed hauled her to him for another soul stirring, toe-curling kiss. They were both breathless when he pulled away.

  “I’ll get you a pillow and some sheets,” he choked out in a low tone.

  Disappointed, Marina didn’t bother to respond. She wasn’t going to beg. Closing her eyes, she rode the waves of sensation still simmering inside her from his kiss. She barely felt him lift her head to place a pillow beneath it and covering her with a blanket.

  “Good night, Marina.”

  She felt his soft lips on her forehead. Then he was gone.

  At 4:
00 a.m. Marina awakened. She was not in her bed. It took a few seconds to remember that she was at Reed’s and why. She toyed with the idea of walking down the hall to join him in the king-size bed. She hadn’t been so drunk that she didn’t remember him rejecting her. Instead she got up and went into the bathroom to freshen up as best she could.

  As she stepped out of the bathroom she heard him call her name. Turning back in the dim illumination from the night-light, she caught a glimpse of tousled hair and naked chest. Reed looked good enough to fuel a thousand fantasies.

  “Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll drive you to your car,” he promised.

  Twenty minutes later, he dropped her off at Cuff’s. The bar had been closed for hours, but her car was fine. Reed had apparently asked one of his buds on duty to keep an eye on it.

  “Thanks for taking care of me,” she murmured, covering his hand briefly with hers.

  “Anytime. It was a pleasure,” he said, those brown eyes speaking volumes.

  The problem was that Marina didn’t know how to interpret what she saw in them. She scooted across the seat and got out. “See you at work in a few.”

  He echoed the sentiment as she closed the door.

  Marina drove home thinking Reed Crawford was a true-blue knight. It was one of the things she loved most about him. He’d taken care of her when she was vulnerable and gone out of his way to avoid taking advantage. Her mind replayed scenes from their evening together and a smile spread across her face. Somehow, some way, she would clear the air with him and see if he still had the same feelings for her.

  CHAPTER 11

  Blinking behind her darkest sunglasses in the bright morning sunlight, Marina arrived at work determined to move the task force forward.

  Javier had been camped out on her couch when she’d arrived home and she’d had difficulty evading his questions. She’d finally had to resort to ignoring them. It made her feel bad because she’d always had a close relationship with her father and she respected his opinion and his feelings. But he needed to acknowledge that she was an adult. Her problem was that her feelings for Reed were still too undefined for her to let anyone else in on their existence.

  Javier had looked a little sad. Once he’d realized that she wasn’t going to give him the details of her evening out, he’d focused on the press conference. Astute enough to know how the bad press had affected her, he told her how proud he was to have her as his daughter and how much good she did with her work. When he finished she felt comforted.

  “I love you Dad,” she’d said as he hugged her hard and turned his head to kiss her cheek.

  Javier had given her his thousand-watt smile. “Love you, too, mija.”

  He’d insisted on making her toast while she readied for work, and stayed to make sure she ate some of it. He’d taken off when she left for work.

  Marina slowed her walk and lengthened her stride once she discovered that each step caused a sharp answering pain in her head. At any other time she would have called in sick, but she’d be damned if she let anyone at the FBI or C.P.D. tack on the name coward to what was already being said in the media.

  In the empty task force office, Marina settled at her desk with a bunch of typed sheets the temp had left. The woman was good, Marina thought as she scanned the pages. The temp had gotten the contact information from the potential victims who had called in and checked them against the Merriwhether records and Reed and Marina’s task force lists. In addition, she’d contacted the other two former students and arranged for all of them to come in for a ten o’clock meeting with the task force.

  Walking slow and carefully, Reed arrived with an orange juice jug filled with a reddish orange concoction. Producing two ten-ounce paper cups from a bag, he filled them with the liquid and offered her one.

  “What is it?” she asked, eyeing it suspiciously.

  “Mom’s cure for hangovers.” Reed lifted his cup and drained it in one long, continuous series of gulps.

  “And what’s in it?”

  “Some of everything, so don’t ask.” He tossed his empty cup into the trash. “All I can say is that it works. You’ll feel better in half an hour, guaranteed.”

  Marina’s stomach whined. She’d tried to eat toast at home, but her mouth and throat had been too dry to swallow much. Water hadn’t helped. Coming to a decision, she lifted her cup and followed Reed’s example. The concoction wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. She was sick enough to want to drink it.

  “Half an hour and you’ll feel fine,” Reed promised again.

  Marina showed him the information the temp had gathered and told him about the ten o’clock appointment. Together they studied the list of remaining potential victims: Gerry Chandler, Harrison Hicks, John Stuart and Marshall Mason.

  “If the killer goes the way she’s been going, Gerry’s at the top of her list,” Marina remarked.

  Reed nodded in agreement.

  At ten, the former students arrived and Reed moved the group to a bigger office for the meeting. Marina followed, already beginning to feel better. She was going to have to ask Trudy for the recipe for her concoction.

  Inside the office, Marina studied each of the young men curiously. She knew that being accused of rape and assault didn’t make a person guilty, but based on the information she and Reed had gathered, the odds weren’t in favor of their innocence.

  Gerry Chandler was a tall, lanky man with freckles, rust-colored hair and sea-green eyes. He seemed friendly enough and not at all embarrassed that he needed police protection due to something he might have done during his time at Merriwhether. He was an environmental analyst at GTC—Global Terraforming Cooperative Corporation.

  A financial analyst, Harrison Hicks was about five foot eleven with blue eyes, a sensual mouth and a head full of dark shiny hair that he’d pulled back and tied with a cord. Women would have killed for his creamy skin and long thick eyelashes. Hell, Marina thought, he’d have made a pretty woman. Quiet and subdued, he seemed aware that his looks attracted a lot of attention. He didn’t look like a man who would have to rape anyone, but then Marina knew that rape wasn’t about the sex. It was about control.

  Harrison sat quietly with the group, listening to their banter and responding to questions, but Marina sensed something odd or different about him.

  John Stuart, a leading cryptographer with the department of defense, had a short, stocky build, sandy-brown hair and brown eyes. He cordially recognized the others, but more or less kept his distance. Behind his bland expression Marina detected a bit of distaste.

  This was more along the lines of what she’d expected to see. She imagined, too, that the serial killer and the need for police protection was wrecking havoc with all their lives.

  Marshall Mason was last and a few minutes late for the meeting. A gemologist, he had curly black hair, lively gray eyes and a gregarious manner.

  Introducing Marina and himself, Reed started the meeting by reviewing the information they’d gathered on the serial killer and explaining that membership in the Alpha Kappa Epsilon fraternity, being the subject of on-campus rape or assault allegations, and attending Merriwhether during a specific three-year period had likely landed each of them on the serial killer’s list. He told them that Elliot had a meeting scheduled with an unknown woman the night he’d died, and that witnesses had seen Alderman Huber leaving the new construction celebration party with an unknown woman, and Reed suspected something similar happened with Aubrey Russell, who had been found behind a popular nightclub. If they were going to survive, they had to be careful not to go out alone or to go off with strangers until the serial killer had been caught.

  “Who’s next on the list?” Marshall asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

  “As near as we can determine, it’s Gerry,” Marina said. She didn’t believe in holding her punches. “This information isn’t something to be shared with the press. We’ll do what we can to protect you.”

  Gerry’s forehead wrinkled and his shoulde
rs slumped. A troubled expression marred his young face. “How long do I have before she makes a run for me?”

  This was a question that Marina had spent a lot of time thinking about. She answered Gerry carefully. “We’d gauged it at about four months between murders, but Alderman Huber’s murder threw all of that out of the window. If I had to guess, I’d say you’re okay for a couple of weeks, but beyond that…”

  Marshall’s boyish voice rang out in the stunned silence. “And who’s on the list after Gerry?”

  Reed turned to meet Harrison Hicks’ gaze. “Harrison.”