Killer Romances

by Dana Delamar, Talullah Grace, Sandy Loyd, Kristine Mason, Dale Mayer, Nina Pierce Chantel Rhondeau, K. T. Roberts, H. D. Thomson, Susan Vaughan

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at three thirty.”

  Lucy disconnected, all but ran back to Jack’s BMW, and climbed inside. “Do you mind if we do this another time? I need to go. Something came up with an unrelated case,” she easily lied, amazed she hadn’t lost the skill. “This could be a big break. We can come back later for a tour of the house.” She glanced up at the clapboard farmhouse and sighed. “It’s not like it’s going anywhere.”

  “What about your missing friend? And checking out her apartment? What about Reecie’s date book?”

  “They’ll just have to wait for a couple of hours.” Lucy reached for the book Mrs. Holloway had given them and hugged it close. “I have no choice but to take a break. If I let work slide, Gerald will know something’s up.” The more lies she told the easier they came, she thought, ignoring the twinge of guilt she felt as she snapped her seat belt into place. “Can you drop me back home?”

  “Not a problem. I’ve got a few things to take care of too. We can meet up later to continue our search and maybe go through the book together. How about I call you?”

  Lucy smiled, glad to note he’d all but forgotten the topic of her past. “I’m sure you’ve got better things to do. I can check out Cassie’s apartment by myself and if I find anything interesting in the book, I’ll let you know.” Mike’s earlier comments from that morning about Jack’s motives came rushing back and she grasped the reason for her caution. Trust. Or lack of trust. It seemed the past had a way of repeating itself.

  Neither spoke after that. Lucy returned to the date book. While trying to make some sense of it, Mike’s news about finding Cassie’s car weighed heavily on her mind, the mean girl’s phone weighing just as heavily in her pocket. She realized another fact. Lucy was dying to talk to Jack about both, but Mike’s warning, along with their past skirmishes, continued playing over and over again in her mind, preventing her from saying something she might regret.

  Jack eased the car to a spot right in front of her house. Then he slanted that sea-blue gaze her way, making her wish for things she shouldn’t.

  Lord, he was tempting. If only she could trust him. But she couldn’t. Not completely. Besides, Jack didn’t trust her any more than she trusted him, so they were even. She didn’t owe him anything. They were still adversaries, for God’s sake. That hadn’t changed just because she liked his kisses, nor had anything changed because the color of his dreamy eyes did strange things to her insides when he looked at her as he was doing now.

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay?” he asked, shifting into park and maintaining eye contact.

  Shoving the last bit of guilt over not revealing her secrets to the far reaches of her mind, Lucy moved to grab the door handle, unable to keep staring into such a sincere expression. If she stayed here one more moment, she would cave.

  “I’d be happy to tag along with you to Cassie’s apartment.” His voice sounded so hopeful.

  Clutching the book to her chest, she halted and turned back to him, tossing out a nervous laugh minus her usual confidence. She meant to make a quick exit without tipping him off to her indecision.

  “What’s this? Concern?” She reached up to kiss his cheek, then quickly opened the door and slipped outside. Opening it wider, she leaned back inside. “I really appreciate the offer, but you don’t have to babysit me any longer. I’ll be fine.”

  “You sure?” The wattage of his smile could light Manhattan.

  Jack was used to women bowing at his feet, Lucy thought, reinjecting herself with a strong dose of common sense. She nodded. “Yes.” He’s just being charming, she chided silently. Pay no attention to it. “And I know who to call if something happens.”

  “You promise?” he asked, eyeing her intently. “You’ll call if you need me?”

  Lucy struggled to hold on to her resolve. When he stared at her with those gorgeous eyes, she almost forgot to think. And that smile? Lord, she’d allow him to go anywhere with her if he would just keep it up and smile at her forever.

  “Of course.” She nodded. But this wasn’t a movie and Cassie’s life depended on her digging deep down for enough willpower to maintain her course. “I called last night, didn’t I?” Crossing her fingers behind her back, she steeled herself and said just before shutting the door, “I promise to call you later and fill you in. Okay?”

  “Then I have no choice but to take you at your word.”

  Ignoring Jack’s teasing, Lucy slammed the car door and turned. She hurried up the walk as fast as her legs would carry her, not daring to look back for fear she’d give in to temptation and take him up on his offer.

  ~~~

  Lucy slipped inside her house as a sinking feeling in the pit of Jack’s stomach urged him to rush out and shake some sense into her. Her genuine smile didn’t assuage his guilt over keeping silent about the identity of the girl in mall or her connection to Frank.

  Surprisingly, he missed that Maddox attitude. In fact, now that she wasn’t sitting next to him glaring at him, he felt even guiltier for bailing on her. How stupid was that?

  Jack shifted into drive as his foot hit the accelerator, with no other choice but to be satisfied with her promise to call. To have pushed for more might have instigated too many questions he would rather not answer right now. After all, Lucy had made no bones about her agenda. She expected answers. So did he.

  There was only one solution to obtaining what they both sought. Confront Frank. Without involving Lucy, because he couldn’t risk her overreaction.

  Bogie and Bacall greeted Jack when he unlocked his townhome front door, both cats weaving in and out of his feet, crying for food. He hadn’t expected to be gone from them this long. Nor was he looking forward to the rest of the afternoon. Jack hadn’t slept for shit at Lucy’s. His throbbing head left him with one desire—to hit the bed and sleep for at least twelve hours. Since he hadn’t gotten twelve straight hours of sleep in over a year, he’d have settled for two or three.

  Yet his head ached from more than lack of sleep. This entire situation had him by the balls, and his thoughts centered on the best way to go about the dreaded confrontation with his mentor. He could just imagine Frank’s reaction. Worse, Jack didn’t much like the additional doubt swirling around his brain since he’d spotted Kim.

  Working his way toward the kitchen, he wondered about the craziness that had recently taken over his life. Overnight, and it all seemed to have one common denominator. Lucy Maddox.

  Why had he ever gotten involved with the lady in the first place?

  Chapter 10

  Sadie jumped into Lucy’s lap.

  Earlier, before showering to rid herself of the cigarette smell, Lucy had reviewed the leather-bound book and found nothing that led to Lindsay or the girls in Cassie’s files. The cat walked in circles looking for the perfect spot while Lucy reached around her and continued typing.

  After hitting the Okay button, she glanced first at her watch, then at the doorway, half expecting the bell to ring at any second.

  Mike was already ten minutes late. Not a big deal, because downloading the information from the stolen iPhone took more time than she’d anticipated. When it finished saving, Lucy was about to close the file. Then on a whim, she reached for a CD to copy the same information as a backup.

  The second the screen flashed Done, she hit the Eject button, stuck the CD in with the others without labeling it. She then spent a moment on Google searching for missing teens in the area. Fortunately, Kentucky didn’t have that many kids missing in the last two weeks, but unfortunately, none were named Lindsay. Lucy shut down the computer, leaned back in the desk chair and picked up the iPhone.

  The cat gave her a dirty look for daring to move. Chuckling, Lucy stroked her a couple of times. “Sorry, Your Highness, but I still have work to do,” she murmured distractedly, eyeing the small device. And not a lot of time to do it, she added silently, deciding to use the extra minutes to figure out the phone’s owner.

  Still petting Sadie, Lucy use
d her other hand to tap into the phone’s text messages, slowly scanned a few and quickly read the highlights, noting mostly teenage stuff. She then clicked on the contact list, scrolled through close to a hundred, and sighed.

  Kids sure had a different lifestyle these days, one dependent on technology for communication and friendship rather than on traditional social skills. Lucy wondered briefly if having all this technology at her fingertips would have made a difference in her life back then. She snorted. Probably not, seeing as how technology cost money. She hadn’t had the luxury of squandering what little she’d possessed—most of it stolen to survive—on something so frivolous.

  Lucy glanced at her watch again. Rats. No time to reboot her computer for an Internet search in order to check out a reverse directory and figure out who owned some of the numbers. After plowing through half, most of which were filed by initials and had Louisville prefixes. Interestingly enough, she recognized a couple of the initials from Reecie’s date book. Wondering what it meant, she clicked on the listing titled Home and hit the Connect button, intending to check it out later.

  “Hi,” Lucy said seconds later when a man answered. “I’m Maggie Smith with Oakmont Mall Security, and I’m calling about a cell phone found in the mall restroom near the food court. I was hoping you could give me any information as to its owner.”

  “Thank God someone found it and turned it in.” Lucy offered a positive response and he added, “My daughter’s gone nuts searching for it. She was devastated to lose what she calls her life. So, that makes you a lifesaver.”

  A flicker of guilt had Lucy shifting in her seat. In the past, her marks had only been those she’d deemed wealthy enough to withstand losing a few bucks. She’d never liked stealing, but survival had depended on it. Working had been impossible when no one would hire her because of her situation. Heck, stealing beat selling her body or worse, peddling drugs. Besides, she reasoned, shoving all guilt aside and remembering her purpose…this was another matter of survival. Cassie’s. Desperate times called for desperate measures and no one was more desperate than she to find answers to her disappearance. “If you can give me a name and an address, I’ll make sure the phone is returned.”

  “Kim Darlinski. She works in Oakmont on the weekends. We live in Louisville and she usually drives back and forth, but last night she attended a fancy party at her aunt’s house, so she spent the night. Let me give you my sister’s number to reach my daughter. I’m sure Kim’ll be only too happy to pick it up at the mall before she heads into work.”

  “That would be great,” Lucy murmured, tamping down her impatience as the man rattled off a number and added, “Her aunt’s name is Olivia Cardello. This is her phone number.”

  “Wait a minute.” She could barely believe her ears. “Did you say Cardello? As in Judge Cardello?”

  When he confirmed the question with a “Why, yes,” a strum of excitement had her adrenaline pumping. Finally, a solid lead connecting the girls in Cassie’s files to Judge Cardello.

  “Can you repeat the number?” Ignoring the cat’s protests, she set Sadie on the floor to reach for a pen and paper and quickly jotted the number down, knowing damn well she’d have to be careful about making that call. Lucy didn’t bother to write down the address. The house was within walking distance of her own, so there was no need.

  Hell, the kid had been at the fundraising ball last night. Imagine. Right in front of her nose. But now, Lucy had a bigger problem. How to get the phone back without giving herself away.

  Maybe she could give Jack the phone to return and convince him she found it in Justine’s dressing room, and simply forgot about it while watching the girls. He might suspect she’d stolen it, but he wouldn’t outright accuse her without proof. She doubted he’d be happy about it, though. Palming the phone, she pursed her lips, then shook her head. In fact, the more she thought about Jack and his reaction, the more she realized she had no idea what he’d do. So, nix that plan.

  The doorbell chimed.

  Mike. In her excitement, Lucy had forgotten all about him. He arrived at the perfect time. She could give Kim’s phone to Mike to return to Lost and Found at the mall. He might not like her methods either, but he’d accept them, considering his crass behavior earlier that morning. And if he didn’t? Then she’d just have to jog his memory a bit. Funny, but outside of being a decent investigator, Mike had his uses. Imagine that. She almost laughed out loud at the implausibility.

  “Let me give you the mall’s phone number.” Lucy rattled off a fake number along with her fake name once more, then ended the conversation as the doorbell rang again. Sticking the phone into her bag, she started for the front door. While walking, her mind spun, searching for a simple way to bring up the subject without creating a hassle or raising Mike’s curiosity.

  Of course, it wasn’t lost on her that stealing the phone in the first place may have been a wasted effort. If Mike had found Cassie’s car, then maybe that meant Cassie wasn’t missing. Maybe something had come up, just as everyone kept implying. Yet maybe wasn’t a good enough answer. Until Lucy saw her in person, she’d keep searching.

  Lucy yanked open the door to stop the impatient ringing. “Don’t wear it out.”

  Mike wouldn’t meet her eyes, a clear indication of guilt, in her opinion. “You ready?”

  She nodded. “Sure.” Well, he should still feel guilty for his earlier ugly comments. Guilt worked just fine for her purposes, she thought, eyeing him thoughtfully.

  If his lead didn’t go anywhere, maybe Mike could help her with the information she’d downloaded off the phone. He was better at the computer, which was more his thing than tailing kids anyway. Lucy’s skills were more geared toward breaking and entering, and surveillance. With her plain looks, she tended to blend in with the environment and no one paid much attention to her when on a job.

  Lucy locked the door, leaving a content Sadie on the sofa, and followed Mike down the porch stairs. When she looked up and saw the white company van, her smile turned into a frown. “How’d you get Gerald’s okay?”

  His shoulders lifted in an unconcerned shrug and he reached out to unlock the van with the key fob as the locks clicked. “He doesn’t exactly know.”

  “But why take it?” Lucy asked. “If Gerald finds out I’m using company equipment to investigate Cassie’s disappearance, he’ll can me for sure.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Mike opened the passenger door and waited for Lucy to climb inside. “I need the surveillance equipment for later on and didn’t want to have to backtrack for it.” He added, just before slamming it shut, “Besides, I’m the who checked it out, not you, so Duncan will never know.”

  He had a point. Gerald Duncan never minded his agents using company gear for personal use, in fact considered it part of their perks. Of course, he’d never warned his agents off their extracurricular cases before, either.

  In minutes, they were driving on the main road leading out of town in the direction of I-64. Now seemed like the perfect time to bring up the cell phone she’d lifted, since they’d pass by the mall along the way.

  She brushed a handful of hair behind her ear. “Ummm, listen, Mike. I have a favor to ask.”

  “What is it?” He focused on the road ahead with a blank expression on his face.

  “I kind of went a little overboard.” She hesitated, wishing she could read him better.

  After driving a block, Mike looked over, his expression still closed, and prodded, “Well? Out with it.”

  She offered a quick, almost guilty smile. “I lifted a cell phone earlier, while I was tailing some girls at the mall that I think had a hand in Cassie’s disappearance. I need you to turn it in to mall security.” The mall was coming up on the left. “It belongs to Cardello’s niece, so I can’t take it back.”

  “Are you shitting me?” Mike’s eyeballs practically bulged out of their sockets. Shaking his head in clear disgust, he whipped into the left lane to make the turn into the mall. When he was about t
o yell something else, Lucy held up a hand, then punched the number Mr. Darlinski had given her into the iPhone, ready to cut the connection if a real person answered. When an answering machine picked up telling the caller to leave a message, she sent a quick thanks to the heavens above for her luck and said, “This message is for Kimberly Darlinski. Your phone has been turned in as lost and will be waiting for you at Oakmont Mall Security.” She hung up as Mike pulled into a spot near the door closest to mall security.

  The second he put the car in park, he turned her way and said with a voice as cold as his glare, “Damn it all, Lucy, you’re freaking crazy to pull a stunt like that.”

  “I didn’t know she was the judge’s niece when I lifted it.” She put her hand on his arm. “Please? Just take it in and it’ll be over. No one needs to know and she’ll get her phone back. Everyone’s happy.” She didn’t add, “And if I don’t find Cassie, I have another link to the judge.” She couldn’t trust Mike with that much information, considering his negative reaction to her stealing it in the first place, which meant she was on her own as far as navigating the web. Instead, she reminded him, “Besides, this will square us after this morning.”

  Holding her breath, she crossed her fingers as he waged a mental battle.

  “Fine,” he said after a long pause. “I guess I do owe you.”

  He held out his hand while Lucy dug the phone out of her bag. The second she slapped the small device in his palm, he shoved the van door open, mumbling something about the things he had to do for friends. He was so upset he didn’t bother closing his door, just walked away.

  Lucy smiled. “Thanks, I knew I could depend on you,” she shouted at his departing back.

  “Damn right you can,” he said, giving her a backward wave before she leaned across the steering wheel and shut his door.