Till The Dead Speak (Killer Affections Book 2)

by Jerrie Alexander

  A figure came out of the shadows, moving silently and with purpose. Samantha almost cried out his name as it rose up in her throat. But Linc’s head moved slightly, his finger tapping his lips, indicating he wanted her to remain quiet. Like a panther stalking his prey, he inched toward them. In an instant, he locked his arms around Dylan’s neck, jerking him backward.

  All three of them tumbled to the ground with Samantha rolling to the side. On her hands and knees, she scrambled out of reach. Dylan jumped to his feet, waving the knife wildly.

  “I’ll kill you,” he screamed at Linc.

  Linc glanced at her. “Go,” he growled at her. “Get the hell out of here.” Stone-faced and emotionless, he turned his back on her and gave his full attention to the man now rushing at him. Linc was faster, moving fast as the knife was jabbed at him.

  Where were her keys? Crap. The contents of her purse lay scattered across the sand in the dark. The resounding snap of bone breaking rang like a pistol shot from behind her. Samantha did the only thing she could think to do. She grabbed a decorative rock from the patio and threw it through a window. The burglar alarm went off, sending a notice to the monitoring company and flooding the dark with the exterior lights.

  CHAPTER 26

  Dylan lay in a heap on the ground. Linc whirled at the soft cry behind him. Sam had launched her body into the air, giving him mere seconds to brace himself to catch her. The anger boiling through his veins calmed.

  Gathering her close, he buried his face in her hair and breathed in her scent. His heart filled with love to the point of pain. Was it possible she’d become part of him in such a short time? Holding her, he felt as if he was a puzzle that had just been put together. Sam was the piece that made him whole.

  She leaned her head back and smiled, tears brimming, threatening to spill down her cheeks.“Thank you. I’ve never been so scared.”

  “Me, either.” Linc wasn’t let this moment get away. He wanted her and not just her body. He wanted her mind. Her laughter. Her determination. He couldn’t go on wondering if there was even a slim chance she cared for him.

  “Really?”

  “I was scared that Dylan had already hurt you. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him. Are you okay?” Linc smoothed one hand over her cheek and down to her neck, his fingers cupping her warm skin. Sam’s eyes closed and the tip of her tongue slid across her bottom lip. He lowered his head and captured her mouth.

  Sam whimpered into the kiss, wrapping her hands around his waist, she dug her fingers into his back. Linc swept his tongue inside the warmth of her mouth. Both were panting when a siren screaming in the distance interrupted their moment of intimacy.

  “What a smart move to break the glass.”

  “I knew it would bring the fire department and the police.”

  “Where’s your phone?”

  “I dropped it when he grabbed me.” She nodded at Dylan, who was beginning to stir.

  Linc touched his lips to hers. “Before this night is over, I want to talk to you. That is, if you’re willing.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Her gaze slid from his head to his feet and back. “You’re dressed for work?”

  “No. I dressed to crash your party. Once I got there, I lost my nerve and started home but turned around and came back.”

  “Why did you come back?”

  “For you.”

  “Good answer.” She smiled up at him.

  Linc glanced at Dylan who was stirring but not yet functioning. “There’s your purse.”

  She ran to retrieve her handbag. His body immediately protested the distance between them.

  Sirens screaming and lights flashing, two police cruisers and a fire truck roared into the parking lot, ending their discussion. Linc fished out his identification and had it ready. Within minutes, he was in the back seat of the police car, describing what had happened. Samantha was doing the same but with a different officer. Another stood at the back of the ambulance observing as Dylan was checked out by the EMTs.

  Linc wasn’t surprised when Ham and Phil drove up and parked. Phil exited his car wearing his badge clipped to his belt. He shook hands and spoke with the officer at the back of the ambulance before heading toward Linc. Ham walked straight to Sam.

  “You know Detective Garner?” The officer questioning Linc asked.

  “Yeah. Him and his father-in-law.”

  Phil leaned down so he could see inside the cruiser. “You get this Fed cleared, Mancuso?” Phil clamped his hand on Linc’s shoulder.

  “I did. You got a dog in this fight?”

  “I’ve been working on a case related to this restaurant for a while now.”

  Linc interrupted. “While you two talk, I’m going to check on Sam.”

  The officer nodded. “Go ahead. We’re done here.”

  Phil stepped back. “What’s Dylan’s condition?”

  “He’ll have his jaw wired shut for a while, but otherwise he’s fine. His knife is in an evidence bag with this officer.”

  “Go. Ham will be glad to see you’re alright, too.”

  Linc joined Sam, slipping his arms around her waist. Ham’s gaze dropped and came back up, bringing a smile with it.

  “The ambulance is leaving,” the officer commented. “We’ll follow. I’m glad this turned out okay.”

  “Me too,” Sam said, placing her hand over Linc’s, which was still resting at her waist.

  “What about the broken window?” Officer Mancuso spoke up. “We have everything we need for now. You have someone coming?”

  “I called earlier. My construction foreman is going to board up that area.”

  “Good enough.”

  “You two come see me tomorrow,” Phil said. “We’ll get tonight’s events into a report.”

  “My testimony will put Dylan and his father in prison, right?”

  “That’s up to a jury,” Ham said. “But if I were a betting man, which I’m not, I’d put my money on both of the Smythe men spending a long time behind bars.”

  A pickup drove up just as the parking lot emptied. Linc rolled up his sleeves and helped Lenny nail up two strips of plywood. Sam thanked him profusely, accepted his apology for not attending the party, and then hurried home to his family.

  The sun had barely cracked the horizon when Linc and Sam were finally alone. The air was still and the ocean had calmed, as if were resting after the night’s drama. Sam was exhausted and leaned against him.

  “I need a ride home.” Linc kissed the top of her head.

  “You drive.” She dug her keys out of her sand covered purse.

  They held hands on the way to her car. “I haven’t had the chance to tell you how beautiful you look tonight.”

  “That was you I kept seeing outside.”

  “Only once. Right after everyone arrived.”

  “Then Dylan had been there for a while, just waiting for everyone to leave.” She slid inside her car. “I wish you had come inside.”

  Linc got in and started her car. “Want to stay with me? We can talk after you get some sleep.”

  “Yes. Let’s go to your place.” Her soft voice was almost a whisper. “It’s closer.”

  He kept his questions to himself during the short drive. Once he’d closed the door to his condo, shutting out the rest of the world, he pulled her into his arms.

  “Can we begin again? I handled everything badly and hope you’ll give me a second chance.”

  Sam took a deep breath. Her breasts rose and fell with a sigh. What if he’d read her wrong?

  “Under one condition.”

  “Name it.” Hope flared.

  “That you forgive me for running from my feelings. I was afraid to care for you. After all, we’re almost strangers.”

  “More like intimate strangers.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I think I fell in love with you the first day you were here. Is that possible? Do you believe in love at first sight?”

  “I do. It runs in my family.”

  “Th
at’s a story I want to hear, but first you should know I was assigned to the Dallas office. I leave Sunday night, probably on the same fight you took home the night The Cage burned. Long distance romances have to be hard to keep alive, but I’d like to try if you’re willing.”

  “We owe it to ourselves to try. Coming to California taught me a lot about regret. Charlie and Nana spent their lives full of regret, wondering how things might have been and wishing for something they’d lost. I’m not going to repeat their mistakes. I intend to live life to its fullest.”

  “When did you get so wise?” Linc reached behind her head and removed the pins holding her hair high, releasing long tumbles of waves down her back.

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  She melted against him. Soft, yielding, and warm, she imprinted on his heart and soul. He swept her into his arms, carried her to his bedroom and placed her on the mattress. He didn’t know how they would work the logistics out, but together they would find a way.

  Sam rolled off the bed to her feet. A slow smile lifted the corners of her mouth. She reached behind her back and unzipped her dress, pulling her arms free of the narrow straps, but holding the fabric just covering her breasts. Her eyebrows lifted.

  “Are you joining me?”

  “Duh.” Linc jerked his shirt over his head and toss it toward a chair.

  She peeled the dress down her body in slow motion and when the material hit the floor so did his shoes and jeans. She stood in front of him wearing a wisp of panties and high heels, and Linc found he’d lost his voice. He needed her like he needed to breathe. More than food. More than life. He stripped off his underwear and knelt in front of her.

  “Give me your foot.” He slipped off the shoe from her right foot and then repeated the process on the other. Being so near her warm, soft thighs was too good to resist. He kissed the creamy white skin inside her knee and worked his way up to her panties.

  Linc held her perfect ass in his hands and licked her through the lace. A sharp intake of air from above his head said he’d reached the perfect spot. He pushed the silky cloth across her clit, abrading her flesh until she whimpered. He quickly slid the cloth to the side and reenergized his attention to her most sensitive place. He took the tiny nub between his teeth and her hands clasped his head, holding him close as she rocked into him, crying his name.

  He wanted her, needed her; but more than that; he ached to hear her call out his name again in that moment of release. His need to please her, to show her how he felt, was overwhelming. He wasn’t good with words, so he’d try his best to ensure she understood.

  Linc slid her panties down and lifted each foot out of them. Carefully he picked her up and placed her on his bed. This was where he belonged.

  “Come here,” she whispered, opening her arms.

  “On my way.” Linc covered himself before slipping between her legs.

  Holding his weight on his forearms, he kissed her, reveling in the hot inner-space. Her tongue tangled with his, pulling him into her mouth and sucking. He slid down her body to the most beautiful breasts he’d ever seen and took her ridged nipple into his mouth. Her body vibrated beneath him.

  “Now, Linc. I need you inside me.”

  Already poised at her entrance, he drove home, sinking to the very depth of her core. She lifted her hips to meet his and started a blistering pace. He studied her face as passion played across her and when she peaked, he abandoned all thought and released himself to her clutching spasms. He collapsed on top of her, realized he was too heavy, and started to roll to the side.

  “No,” she murmured in his ear. “Stay where you are. I want to hold you just like this for a minute.”

  All the air rushed from his lungs, and he relaxed, allowing her to hold his weight for a few seconds. Finally, he lifted his head, kissed her softly and rolled to the side. She stretched like a cat and gave him a lazy smile.

  “Get some sleep. Before we go to the police station, we’ll take time to talk logistics.”

  “Do you think Ham was right? That Dylan and his father will go to prison?” she asked, though her eyelids were heavy.

  “The investigation will be intense. I’m betting there’s a lot more people involved. When this shakes out, it may end up with a lot of indictments. He confessed a lot to you, so you’ll have to testify. Plus, I heard some of what he said. We’ll get through it together.”

  “I’m glad we know who killed Charlie.”

  “Me, too.”

  Linc watched her sleep for a long time. His gut tightened as the night replayed in his mind. He’d gone to The Cage trying to work up the courage to face her rejection. What if he’d stayed away? Thank God, he hadn’t.

  ****

  Linc woke with her head on his chest and one leg thrown across his body. He eased her onto her pillow, made a run through the bathroom, and made coffee. She hadn’t stirred when he took his steaming mug and the leather pouch out on the balcony. Until this morning, he hadn’t wanted to look inside, hadn’t wanted to deal with losing both Charlie and Sam.

  The sky was full of dark rolling clouds and the wind had whipped up the water, creating white capped waves that hit the shore and rushed up the sand. It worried Linc that he’d wanted to kill that bastard Dylan. The memory of Sam stretched across the hood of her car brought the night flooding back in great detail. An overwhelming desire to put the crazy bastard out of his misery had swelled up inside, leaving a feeling so strong he could still taste it in his mouth.

  Linc gulped down a swallow of the hot coffee and emptied the pouch. Along with five medals, a faded yellow envelope fell out. Across the front was one word, ‘Samantha.’

  “Good morning,” Sam said. She held a cup of coffee under her nose. The steam caressed her face. She’d slipped on one of his T-shirts, which came to her thighs.

  “Morning. I didn’t hear you moving around.”

  “You were lost in thought.” She came closer. “Are those Charlie’s?”

  Linc stood, cupped her face with his hands, and then kissed her. She immediately responded, melting against his body. They were both gasping for breath when he released her and stepped back. “Damn, that felt good.”

  “Yes, it did.”

  “I hadn’t looked inside the pouch with the medals until just now.” He handed her the envelope. “It has your name on it.”

  Sam clasped the envelope to her chest. Her hands were trembling when she pulled the faded paper away so she could study it. Linc hoped it contained the answers she’d searched for; answers that would complete the connection between her and Charlie. She reached for Linc and he moved his chair next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Tears slipped down her cheeks.

  “You can’t read it if you’re crying.” He gently wiped the tears away. “Want me to open it for you?’

  “I’ll do it.” She carefully pulled the flap and the old glue gave way, easily allowing her to remove two yellowed pages.

  Linc gripped her shoulder to give her strength.

  CHAPTER 27

  Samantha licked her lips and read out loud.

  Samantha,

  If you’re reading this letter, it means life finally got the best of me. I’m sure the news that I am your grandfather came as quite a shock to you. I hope someday you’ll forgive my absence in your life. What you do with the information I’m going to tell you is strictly up to you. I’m sorry to burden you with the truth, but I think you have the right to know.

  First, you should know that Ruthie and I were very much in love. Sure, we were kids, but we knew our feelings. I was eighteen years old when Ruthie’s father threatened me with statutory rape charges. He didn’t tell me Ruthie was pregnant, and I didn’t find out until a few years later. I only knew I was never to contact her again. Scared and stupid, I let my mother talk me into running. Once I left home, I had no contact with my family or friends, no letters, no phone calls, nothing. To them, I was a pariah.

  Four years later, I mustered out of the Army and re
turned home. I knew Ruthie had turned twenty by then and could make her own decisions. I had no doubt she still loved me and would forgive me. My parents, while frightened the law would come and haul me off to jail, were happy to see me. It was from them I learned Ruthie had disappeared, vanished as if she’d never existed. They’d heard rumors around town she’d been sent away to have a baby, but that’s all the information they had, and I couldn’t confirm it. You can’t imagine my anger at not being told she was pregnant. It all made sense to me, why that sorry father of hers was so furious with me. But I had to know for sure. There was only one way to find out.

  The rest is hard to put on paper. I’ve lived my entire life avoiding the truth, but I’m dead, and it’s time to speak up.

  I drove to Ruthie’s house. All I wanted to know was how to find her. But when her father saw me get out of the car, he charged out on the porch and started shouting at me, damning me to hell for all eternity. I begged, pleaded with him to tell me where Ruthie was. He said as far as he was concerned, Ruthie and her bastard child were in hell, because they were dead to him. He ordered me off his property, and when I refused to go until he told me where I could find Ruthie, he drew back his fist and hit me. God help me, I shoved him. He stumbled backward, hitting his head against the door of his pickup. I reached to help him up but realized his head was at an odd angle. He was probably right about me spending eternity in hell, because I had broken his neck and killed him.

  Nobody in that town would have believed it was an accident, so for the second time in my life, I ran. I drove to Fort Worth and parked right there in front of the recruiting office, slept in the front seat of my old Ford. The next morning, I re-upped in the Army. I never looked back and never regretted what I’d done.

  Why did no one ever come after me? I can’t answer that question. I waited for that tap on the shoulder or the knock on the door. But for some reason it never came.

  I finally found Ruthie. And then I found you. But it was too late to come forward, too late to know my son. If you are anything like your grandmother, it’s eating at you as to why I never came out of the shadows. Now you know. It wasn’t because I didn’t love you or my Ruthie. I didn’t deserve either of you.