Long, Lean and Lethal

by O'Clare, Lorie

  “I wouldn’t talk to anyone about Steve,” Joanna said, sincerely looking offended. “And you know I’m the only one who defends both of you when all the others start going on their trashing binge.”

  Susie sipped her coffee; then once again wishing she could call her imaginary servant to refresh her cup, she sighed and accepted that she would have to do it herself this time. Joanna wouldn’t understand Susie’s need to have others take care of her. No one understood.

  Joanna misunderstood Susie’s sigh as meaning she cared what anyone else thought of her. “You know I always protect you the best that I can,” she added, scooting forward on her own chair. “If you only knew, Susie, what I go through.”

  If Joanna thought Susie would get up and wait on her, she could just go without more coffee. Susie took her time, watching the dark amber fluid pour into her beautiful coffee cup. She added her spot of cream and one spoonful of sugar, then stirred, listening as the silver spoon clicked against the side of the cup.

  “What exactly is it that you believe you’re going through?” Susie asked, and continued stirring her coffee.

  Joanna finally got up and took a step toward Susie. “The coffee was very good,” she said slowly.

  “Yes. It’s one of my favorite blends.” Susie pulled her spoon out of the coffee and placed it gently on the silver tray, making sure it was placed exactly in the middle of the folded cloth that was placed there specifically for that purpose. “You may have some more while you tell me what trials you are going through on my behalf.”

  Joanna’s high heels made muffled thudding sounds in the thick carpet when she walked over to the other side of Susie’s chair and poured herself more coffee.

  “Just the other night, over at Rain and Noah’s house,” she began.

  “There was a gathering at their house? Why wasn’t I informed?”

  “It was impromptu.” Joanna once again sounded like her usual pathetic ass-kissing self. “Jan was fighting with Ted, and Richard was lonely.”

  “Jan is a pathetic drunk. Ted would do well to find himself a hot little college girl, too.” Susie wondered if she could possibly arrange something. Ted was well built, and was huge. Put him with some skinny girl and film that! She’d make a million. “And Richard is probably better off alone. Roberta was always whining. Didn’t you think?”

  “Most definitely.” Joanna used way too much of the sugar and damn near took all of Susie’s real cream when she refilled her coffee.

  The selfish bitch only cared about herself. Trusting anything she said would be a fool’s mission. Fortunately, Susie was no fool. She knew how to work Joanna, and she was just getting started.

  “So tell me all about this impromptu gathering at Rain and Noah’s, my dear.” Susie smiled pleasantly and fought to keep her expression from changing when Joanna gave her a quizzical look. Always keep them sweating. It made people flustered, and made them slip. Exactly what Susie wanted.

  Joanna held her coffee in her lap with her fingers wrapped tightly around the cup. She sat up straight and pressed her feet together and looked very much like the schoolgirl getting ready to suck up to her teacher.

  “Admittedly, I instigated it.” The cruel harshness in Joanna’s blue eyes was gone. Her gaze drifted around the room, focusing anywhere but on Susie. “Richard has been begging to take me out, but Jan was calling and crying about how cruel Ted was. I figured it would do the Kaynes good to start taking their share of the load so they can get used to our group.”

  Susie doubted seriously that Joanna thought any such thing. “Good, my dear. Very good. Keep going.”

  “Rain was all for having everyone over. She started praising her husband’s ability to barbecue to the point where she was making me hungry.” Joanna laughed, then placed her cup on the end table without using a coaster.

  “Joanna,” Susie said softly, knowing the plastic coating over the end table would prevent any water stains from damaging the wood. But if the end table were really expensive cherrywood as it appeared to be, placing a coffee cup on it without a coaster would be positively sinful.

  “Yes, Susie?” Joanna asked, her voice so pleasant it was nauseating.

  Susie stared at the coffee cup, imagining her servants leaping across the room, lifting the cup before it could damage the outrageously expensive piece of furniture. She hated that there were no servants, that the furniture wasn’t priceless, and that she was forced to deal with a slut too stupid to behave while being entertained in a parlor with fine, quality coffee. At least the coffee was high priced.

  “What is it, Susie? Are you okay?” Joanna suddenly sounded worried.

  “Remove your cup from my table,” Susie hissed, wondering if there was anyone on this planet she didn’t have to completely think for.

  “Oh crap!” Joanna lifted her cup, which was dry and didn’t leave a mark. “I’m so sorry, Susie,” she wailed.

  “I’m sure you know how to use a coaster,” Susie said, keeping her tone low and firm and loving how Joanna squirmed uncomfortably in that too-tight dress she was about to burst out of.

  “Of course,” Joanna said, but then looked around the room.

  Susie wasn’t sure she knew anyone with enough brains to pull off murdering five people in cold blood. Hell, the only person intelligent enough to accomplish such a feat was her. Like she would do such a thing. Blood was sticky and had such a foul stench to it.

  “The coasters are right there,” Susie said, pointing to the stack of coasters on the buffet along the wall.

  Joanna got the coaster and placed it next to her on the side table, then smiled sweetly at Susie.

  “You were telling me about this impromptu party. Were Rain and Noah good hosts?” Susie ignored Joanna’s disgusting attempt to suck up to her.

  Joanna pulled her long red hair over her shoulder and began twisting the strands around her fingers while shifting her attention to the kitchen door and then the hallway. “She really is a good cook. Rain threw together some casserole stuff, but Noah seemed surprised that she did it.” Joanna laughed and gave Susie a shrewd look. “They play the perfect couple, but I can tell he finds her spoiled and annoying. And you can tell she is by looking at her, do you agree?”

  “I’m not sure,” Susie said slowly. “Go on.” Truth be told, Rain and Noah were a couple she hadn’t figured out yet. That wasn’t usual for her, but it certainly wasn’t something she would try explaining to a twit like Joanna.

  Joanna cleared her throat and reached for her coffee, then gulped, made a face—probably because she ruined the great coffee by taking too much of Susie’s real cream. Would serve the bitch right.

  “The rest is simple to figure out. Jan got drunk off her ass and tried making out with anyone nearby. Richard obviously wants to fuck Rain.”

  “Did he fuck her?”

  “No one did. Noah managed to get us all to leave and drove Jan home, alone, I think. I’m pretty sure Rain went to bed when he left.” Joanna stared at her painted toenails in her open-toed shoes. “But everyone started complaining about how mean Steve is, and how he demands to know what everyone is doing. They even accused him of cheating on you and said that you didn’t even know it. I told Noah that they were wrong, and that you two were wonderful.”

  “But Steve does sleep around with all of those women. He loves them thinking that I don’t know. It makes him hot, and when he comes home and tells me all the details he can’t wait to fuck me next.” Susie chose her words carefully, waiting for Joanna’s gaze to harden again. “Why, just the other day, when he fucked you in the ass. You should have seen him when he came home. You really are a prize, my dear.”

  “He talks about me to you?” Joanna asked, and then pressed her lips together in what probably was supposed to be a smile.

  “He talks about all the women he fucks,” Susie said easily, but then waved her hand in the air as if none of it mattered. He might as well talk to her about all of them. It wasn’t like she didn’t know. Steve was such an
idiot. “As for him being mean, or demanding to know what everyone is doing or where they’re going, my husband is a bit possessive of those he cares about. You should see how he is with his new little college girl. He got her a cell phone, and insists she call his private phone number so that he’ll never miss her calls. And now he wants to help remodel the small apartment she’s living in. Maybe you can help with that?”

  There it was. Susie had hit it. Joanna’s blue eyes darkened to a dangerous midnight color. She didn’t blink but simply stared at Susie while her pallor turned so white Susie swore it would glow in the dark if she turned off the lights.

  But she needed to take Joanna even further. Obviously the woman stewed over the knowledge, however fabricated it might be, that she wasn’t the only one who knew Steve’s secret phone number. It pissed her off royally, thinking she was having a hot affair with a married man and then to find out that Susie knew all about it and didn’t care. That took the passion right out of it. Which served the bitch right.

  After a moment it appeared Joanna wouldn’t lose it over any of this information. Susie needed to find that one special little trick that would push the stupid slut over the edge.

  “Oh. There is something I wanted to ask you about,” Susie began, and then stood, placing her coffee cup on the silver platter. Later her imaginary servant would clear it away, but he couldn’t do that while Joanna was here. “Come into the kitchen with me.”

  “Steve doesn’t see anyone on the side other than me and this college girl, right?” Joanna got up and followed Susie into the dark kitchen. “I mean, I’d like to know who he’s having sex with. I have a right to know that about someone I’m sexually active with, don’t I?”

  Susie pressed the light switch and then walked across her modern kitchen, deciding it would be nice if the oak cabinets were polished sometime soon. Possibly she could get James over here in the next few days, dress him up in something sexy, maybe a loincloth, and make him dust. She grinned at the thought, her back to Joanna and ignoring her ramblings as Susie walked over to the cabinet that had the bullet hole in it. It didn’t surprise Susie at all that Joanna didn’t notice it. The little bitch was hopelessly lost in her own delusional state of mind. Sometimes it seemed the entire world lived in an isolated state of pure insanity. Susie was the only sane person walking this planet, which meant she needed to tread carefully. Taking her time, manipulating and coercing the person she was with, always ended up in her getting exactly what she wanted out of them. It was incredibly ludicrous how easy it was to control someone, or push them to where they were out of control.

  “I wonder, do you know anything about guns?” Susie asked, turning around in time to catch Joanna’s expression.

  “About what?” Joanna had been rambling but interrupted herself and frowned at Susie. “What do you want to know about guns?”

  Susie pointed to the cabinet but then made a show of being surprised. “It’s not here. But this is where Steve always keeps it. I thought it would be nice to have it cleaned for him. I wonder where it is.”

  Joanna came forward and then squatted and stared into the empty bottom cabinet that usually was locked. A square red piece of velvet was on the top shelf where the handgun was usually kept.

  “My father taught me to shoot when I was a kid,” she told Susie. “I’m a pretty good shot. Steve asked me about his gun, a Bobcat, because he didn’t think it was working properly. I switched the barrel on it for him, but that was it. I don’t know where he put it.”

  Susie fought the urge to jump up and shout. It wasn’t too often that something got her that excited. She then found it odd that news that her husband wasn’t the killer impressed her. She already knew he wasn’t. Except now she knew.

  “You swapped the barrel from your gun with Steve’s?” Susie asked.

  “No. I picked up a gun at a pawnshop and used that barrel.”

  NINETEEN

  Noah leaned against the wall while Rain paced in front of him. Chief Noble sat behind his desk, his chin resting on his folded hands as he glanced past her to Noah.

  “I’m all about wrapping this up, folks.” He squinted at Noah as he spoke, then rubbed his temple, showing all the signs from the weight of a case that was wearing on too damned long. “We’ve got our murder weapon, enough motive to satisfy any jury—”

  “And what motive is that?” Rain demanded, spinning around and causing her twisted hair to slip farther down the back of her head. “We’ve just touched on the intensity of friction flying around in this swingers’ group. But that doesn’t mean we can pin the fact that Steve hated these people enough to kill them. It was more like they all should have murdered him. You didn’t see that group last night.” She waved her hand at herself and Noah. “We did.”

  “Rain, the AP wire has picked this up. We’re starting to appear in newspapers around the country. Not to mention someone did a spoof on it on YouTube this morning. This isn’t the kind of publicity that Lincoln wants, or can afford to have.”

  “Aaron,” she said, putting her hands on her hips with her back to Noah. “This is my town, too. Hell, my father is buried here. My roots don’t get any deeper. But I swear to God that Steve Porter isn’t our man.”

  “Then who the fuck is?” Chief Noble barked.

  “Possibly our man isn’t a man,” Noah said. He ignored Noble when he groaned loudly. “I think we can wrap this up in the next few days. In fact, I’m sure we can.”

  He stepped forward when Rain looked at him. She looked as exhausted as he was after brainstorming the hell out of every angle to this case; the strongest urge to pull her into his arms hit him like a blow to the gut. Noah didn’t fight it but reached for her, as if the act was a normal thing to do.

  “You’ve got twenty-four hours.” Noble pointed his finger at Rain, scowling at Noah’s hand resting on her arm. “I’ve got everything I need to get a warrant and arrest Porter. If you don’t give me good reason why I shouldn’t by tomorrow night, we’re charging him.”

  “I need a couple days,” Rain complained instantly.

  “You can’t have it. I can’t hold Porter longer than another day, and he’s a serious flight risk if we let him go.” Noble stood slowly, pinning Noah with a watery stare. “Not to mention your supervisor is threatening to book him if we don’t.”

  “Are you scared of the FBI bitch?” Rain teased, a smirk appearing on her face that didn’t fade when Noble stood.

  His intimidating glare didn’t faze Noah, either, although he waited silently for the chief to reprimand his detective for her insubordination.

  “Get the hell out of my office,” he growled.

  Rain laughed and then turned into Noah, almost walking into his chest. Noah shook his head, silently agreeing with the frustrated look on Aaron Noble’s face. Rain would be a challenge to anyone, no matter their relation to her. Noah’s hand slid down her back as he led her into the hallway. It hit him hard how badly he would welcome that challenge in his life. If he could figure his way through the warped group of swingers they were associating with and nail their killer, then he could figure out a way to keep Rain in his life.

  “You know what we’ve got to do,” Rain pointed out, shifting in the passenger seat and pulling one knee to her chest while giving him a determined look.

  They’d parked a few doors down from the Porter house and cut the engine. Noah couldn’t risk someone overhearing them if they cracked any of the windows. It was tight in the car and he tugged at his T-shirt, surveying their surroundings as darkness settled in around them.

  With the murders hitting national news, not only were reporters hitting Lincoln in droves, but pressure was coming down everywhere that an arrest be made immediately also. The news was having a field day with the knowledge that Porter was being held but not yet charged with even one of the murders. Newscasters around the country were speculating on whether Porter had killed all those people in Kansas City and Dallas. The nation would have him on the gallows before the case
even went to trial.

  “What’s that?” Noah had put his phone on silent and looked at it when it lit up. It was a Kansas City area code. He didn’t know the special agent assigned to the case down there, but he had a few buddies in that area. Noah sent the call to voice mail and focused on Rain.

  “We need to get together with Joanna again.” Rain let her attention drop to the monitors that showed the activity going on inside the house. It was a bit of a surprise to both of them to learn that Joanna was spending time with Susie.

  “Again?” He remembered soaking in the hot tub with both Joanna and Rain, naked. Under different circumstances, watching her get it on with another woman would be hot as hell. He wasn’t too cool with Rain being intimate with a possible murderer, though. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Not what you’re thinking.” She gave him a lazy smile.

  “Suddenly I’m an open book?”

  “Sometimes.” She shrugged and looked out the windshield. “But maybe something close to what you have in mind.”

  His blood pressure damn near shot through the roof. Suddenly feeling cramped, he adjusted himself in his seat and leaned forward to check the equipment on his dash. He loved this little contraption. It didn’t have any lights on it that would glow in the dark and draw attention to them. And sitting in the dark right now was a damned good thing. Rain couldn’t see how her comment affected him.

  “And what exactly is it that I have in mind?” he asked, keeping his attention on the screen. It showed two people in a room downstairs. They weren’t moving, so he guessed they were sitting. He watched as one of the dots on the screen, which indicated a person, started beeping, indicating movement.

  “I would say you’d imagine watching two women getting it on, and then when every ounce of blood was completely out of your brain, you’d jump in and fuck both of us.”

  He narrowed his gaze on her. “I have no desire to fuck Joanna, or anyone else for that matter.”