Inseparable

by Brenda Jackson

  He growled out her name as he felt himself come…and come…and come. Making love to her was off the charts. It was never like this with any other woman—only with her. Pleasure surged through him, touching every part of his body, and he leaned down and kissed her, tasted the sweetness from her lips. He knew at that moment that she would never move into the condo she was building, because he intended to keep her here with him always.

  He slowly pulled out of her and got off the table. Once his legs were steady enough for him to stand on, he gathered her into his arms and carried her to the hot tub. He gently eased them down into the warm water. He couldn’t remember a time that he’d enjoyed a woman more. But Kenna wasn’t just any woman. She was the one woman he wanted to spend his life with, and each and every day he intended to make sure she knew it. Hopefully his “show me” approach would convey the emotions he had yet to put into words.

  Chapter 21

  Lynette leaned across the table as her lips curved in a half-mocking smile. “Must be nice.”

  “What?” Kenna asked, looking up from her menu. She had agreed to join Lynette for lunch at Rowdy’s. Because of everything that had happened yesterday, Steven and Shaun had the night shift for the rest of the week.

  “To have a sex-all-night glow on your face that lasts through lunch,” Lynette said, smiling.

  Sheer willpower was keeping the heated blush off of Kenna’s face. “You’re imagining things,” she admonished

  “I don’t think so. Besides, if the blush didn’t give you away, that passion mark you tried covering up with makeup did. Admit you’ve been caught.”

  Kenna was saved from admitting anything when one of the waitresses came to take their order. Lynette shook her head when the blond-haired woman walked off. “I bet she was just itching to ask where Shaun was today.”

  Kenna glanced over at the waitress, who had gone back behind the counter. “You think?”

  “Hell, I don’t know and I shouldn’t even care,” Lynette moaned.

  “But you do.”

  Lynette nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right, I do care. But I don’t think she’s his type. She doesn’t have enough curves.”

  To be honest, Kenna didn’t think the waitress was all that attractive anyway and wasn’t much competition, at least not in the way Alyson was. She still couldn’t understand why Reese wasn’t taken with Alyson, when it had been apparent at the party that most men were. Instead, Alyson had tried encouraging them to take an interest in her.

  “So what’s the latest on the woman who was found yesterday?”

  Lynette lifted a brow. “You haven’t heard?”

  Kenna looked confused. “No. What?”

  “The details were released to the press a short while ago. It was bad enough she’d been raped, but it seems she was thrown into a pit with rattlesnakes while she was still alive. She had bite marks all over her body. There was enough venom in her body to take down an elephant. The bastard probably sat there and watched her die.”

  Kenna shivered at the thought of someone dying so horribly. It seemed the killer was becoming more and more vicious. He probably stayed awake at night trying to come up with new ways to torture his next victim.

  “People are beginning to panic. They are arming themselves for protection. We’ve hired more people just to keep up with all the calls we’re getting and to work the tip line. According to CNN he’s killed sixteen women now. But he usually has at least six kills before moving on to another place,” Lynette said.

  The thought that the serial killings would continue angered Kenna.

  “I’m glad Reese got to you yesterday,” Lynette said interrupting Kenna’s thoughts. “I’m not saying you were in any danger out there by yourself, but right now I wouldn’t take chances. Even when I’m working undercover next week, the captain has assigned a partner to act as my boyfriend.”

  Kenna lifted a brow. “Who? Shaun?”

  “No. Some rookie who joined the force a few months ago. That means I’m going to have to look out for his back as well as mine.”

  “Well, well, if it isn’t LaKenna James.”

  Kenna glanced up and wished she hadn’t. It was Alyson, and she was with, of all people, Wendell Thomas. She plastered a smile on her face. “Alyson. Wendell. Yes, and how are the two of you doing?”

  “Fine. We were downtown strolling around and thought we would drop in here, although now I wished we hadn’t. It’s not what I thought,” Alyson said, putting her hand in the crook of Wendell’s arm to make sure Kenna got the picture.

  Kenna introduced them to Lynette. But when she introduced him as Wendell Thomas, he immediately corrected her. “I’m Doctor Wendell Thomas,” he said. “I’m one of the head neurologists at Park Plaza Hospital.”

  Kenna hid her smile. If he was trying to impress Lynette he was wasting his time. In fact, Kenna had to fight back her laughter when Lynette batted her eyelashes and said, “Evidently there’s a reason for you wanting me to know, but last time I checked my nervous system was working just fine.”

  The smile on Wendell’s face turned into a frown. “Well, I’ll leave you ladies to your meal.” He then quickly ushered Alyson toward the exit.

  “Was it something I said?” Lynette shrugged with an innocent look on her face.

  Kenna couldn’t hold back as she and Lynette burst out laughing at the same time.

  “Who are they?” Lynette asked, shaking her head. “I’ve never met two more self-centered people in my life.”

  “Alyson is Reese’s ex-girlfriend and Dr. Wendell Thomas is the guy she was all but throwing in my face,” Kenna said. “Now it looks like she has him all to herself.”

  Lynette chuckled. “Yes, it looks that way.” She checked her watch. “It’s taking forever for them to bring our food. But today is Wednesday, Flo’s bad day, and I for one don’t intend to get on her bad side.”

  Kenna grinned. “Is she that mean?”

  “I bet you won’t ask me that a month from now,” Lynette said, taking a sip of her soda. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to bring Aleena out to the ranch Saturday? She loves horses, and to think I actually know someone who owns one.”

  “It’s not me who owns the horses. It’s Reese, and he has several. I know he wouldn’t mind.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m positive,” Kenna said, smiling.

  “He sure sounds like a nice guy.”

  “He is, and you deserve a nice guy, too.” Kenna paused a moment. “I’m the last person to give advice about affairs of the heart, but if you’re so sure Shaun won’t ever come around, then…”

  Lynette drew in a deep breath. “I know. I know. My mom and my sisters think I need my head examined, and they’re probably right.” She paused a moment. “Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a rumor floating around the station that Shaun is being hit with a paternity suit. One of the dispatchers is claiming she’s pregnant by him. The last thing I need is to get involved with all that drama. I’m a hard-working woman who has a lot to offer, and I shouldn’t settle for a man who might end up causing me nothing but heartache.”

  Kenna didn’t say anything and was glad when the waitress finally brought their food. Although Reese was a good man, she couldn’t help but wonder if he could end up causing her nothing but heartache.

  “Hey, what’s this I hear about Kenna being missing the other night?” Dex Madaris asked as he slid onto the bench next to Reese. They were working on a site downtown, getting the area prepped for what would be a major department store.

  It was lunchtime, and the workers had scattered to eat. Reese, who wasn’t hungry, had brought a copy of The Wall Street Journal to read.

  “I can just guess who told you,” Reese said, shaking his head. News traveled fast in his family by way of Mama Laverne. “Kenna wasn’t exactly missing. Her car wouldn’t start once she got to where they’re building her condo, and her cell phone battery died. Luckily, she’d told one of her coworkers she was planning to st
op by the site after work.”

  He frowned. “By the time I got there it was dark and she was a nervous wreck.”

  Dex nodded. “I can imagine with a killer on the loose.”

  “I hope they arrest him, and soon, or you’re going to have people taking the law into their own hands and shooting anything that moves. Hell, Granddaddy Luke is talking about loading up his shotgun.”

  Dex chuckled. “Yeah, I heard about that. We might want to send Jake to talk to him. All Milton will do is help him load it.”

  Jake was the youngest of Reese’s grandfather’s brothers and Milton was the oldest; the difference in their ages was nearly twenty years. From what Reese had heard, Milton, who was Blade, Slade, Quantum and Jantzen’s grandfather, had been hot-headed back in the day. Jake, the youngest of the seven Madaris brothers, had always kept a level head.

  “Are you bringing Kenna to the meeting at Mom’s tonight?” Dex asked.

  “Yes, this thing is serious. Deadly serious,” Reese replied. “There’s never been a serial killer in Houston before, and I can’t believe the police still don’t have any leads.”

  “Yeah, well, I hear the killer has covered his tracks. I would just love to get my hands on him,” Dex said angrily. “Even though most of the murders have happened at night, I don’t plan on taking any chances where Caitlin and the girls are concerned. Caitlin and I are practically joined at the hip, and the girls are never out of our sight. But I’ve warned them about being careful during the daytime as well. Still, I’d loved to get my hands on him and give him a taste of his own medicine.”

  “I think you’ll have to stand in line,” Reese said.

  That evening, his attention shifted from the magazine he was reading to the flat-screen television. He shook his head at the news report.

  “This is the fourth woman that has been murdered in Houston within the past two weeks, and each was killed in a very violent way. They were all raped and then brutally tortured before being murdered. All the victim’s bodies were found with only one shoe. So far, the police and the FBI don’t have any real leads in finding a suspect in the Shoe Killer murders.

  He smiled.

  “Women are being warned to take every precaution. Houston police have increased their patrols around universities and shopping malls and they are encouraging businesses to install surveillance cameras in their parking lots to protect their employees, especially those who work at night. This is Cherie Saunders reporting for Channel 2 News.”

  He picked up the remote, turned off the television and continued reading his magazine.

  Trevor looked over at Alex. “What have you been able to gather up so far?” he asked.

  The four of them had met after their meeting with the mayor to determine the best way to proceed. They’d decided that it was best to involve as few people as possible—even their wives, although there would probably be hell to pay. But they eventually decided that it would be impossible to keep a secret from them, so they’d agreed to tell them tonight.

  Since Alex’s wife, Christy, was attending a meeting at her mother’s house, they had decided to hold their meeting in the basement of his home. The place was set up with so much technical equipment and computers it looked like a NASA command center. Alex was able to pull in data from just about anywhere and had access to the FBI and Homeland Security intelligence.

  Alex leaned back in his chair. “First, we are looking for a guy responsible for sixteen murders. His DNA is a positive match for all the women, but his DNA is not in any state or federal database. He’s good at covering his tracks. But I think, as anxious as everyone is to get him off the streets, there are too many things that have been overlooked.”

  Ashton lifted a brow. “Such as?”

  “There was a certain type of chewing gum wrapper found at a number of the crime scenes, but so far no one has determined what kind it is.”

  “That would matter?” Drake asked.

  “Maybe, maybe not. Could be the clue we need. We can’t leave any stone unturned. Here’re the things that we do know. Number one, we are definitely looking for a man. The semen found on all the victims is from the same person. Number two, he takes the shoe of his victims as a souvenir, a trophy. And three, he kills just six women in each locale.”

  “That means he plans to kill two more women here in Houston before moving on,” Trevor said.

  “Yes,” said Alex.

  “What about the fact the majority of the women were handcuffed and stuffed in the trunk of a car? Are the handcuffs used by law enforcement?” Ashton asked.

  “No,” Alex replied. “Although they’re just as effective, they’re the kind you can pick up at any arts and crafts store.” He shook his head, smiling. “They tried looking into bulk purchases of the handcuffs and found that they were a hot item for couples who’re into bondage.”

  “Is there anything else about the information you’ve uncovered? I understand his first six victims were around Miami, and the next six were in Minneapolis,” Sir Drake said.

  “So far, all the women are professional women in some way, with nice jobs—not a prostitute among them. In fact, it seems he deliberately stays away from the seamier side.”

  Ashton nodded. “That is interesting. Apparently he’s angry about something—maybe a wife or girlfriend. He’s holding a grudge.”

  “Possibly,” Alex said. “I also find it interesting that he seems to stay on top of what the police are doing. Like he might possibly have an inside connection.”

  “Or one of those police scanners,” Trevor interjected.

  “Precisely. They aren’t hard to come by. I have one here myself,” Alex said. “There’re several places where they sell them in town. I’ll run an inventory check to see if one has been recently purchased that raises a red flag.”

  “You mentioned the other killings were in Miami and Minneapolis,” Trevor said thoughtfully. “Now he’s here in Houston. Is that something significant we need to be concerned about?”

  “Only if we can figure out a pattern that will tell us where he’s going when he leaves Houston,” Alex said softly. “But then I don’t intend for him to leave here.”

  “At least not alive,” Sir Drake said, standing. He was getting impatient. Everyone knew he was a man of few words but plenty of action. “Okay, where do we start? I’d like to get a move on before Ashton begins tracking him down. He’ll take away all the fun.”

  “Then I guess the best way is to set up a trap,” Ashton said, grinning.

  “A trap?” Alex said, lifting a brow, hoping Ashton wasn’t suggesting that one of them disguise themselves as a woman and hit the streets of Houston.

  “Umm, trap. Did anyone call my name?” said a feminine voice behind them. They all turned around, surprised when Drake’s wife, Tori, walked into the room.

  Chapter 22

  Kenna looked around the expansive, beautifully decorated great room. She had been to Reese’s aunt’s home once before. It was the same house his cousins Justin, Dex and Clayton were raised in. It had been a home filled with plenty of love, just like the house she’d grown up in as a child with her grandmother after her parents had died. Her grandfather had passed away before she was born, so she never got to know him. But Kenna figured that had he lived, he would have been much like Reese’s grandfather—a crabby old man, who would do anything to protect his family. But then all the men in the Madaris family were that way. That was why it had been the men in the family who’d called the meeting and made sure that none of their wives had come alone.

  “I think we all know why this meeting was called,” Clayton Madaris said. “There’s a serial killer in the Houston area, and until he is apprehended we want to make sure our families are safe.”

  The first thought that ran through Kenna’s mind was that technically she wasn’t a part of the family. But evidently the Madarises felt that as Reese’s friend she should be included. Reese hadn’t given it much thought when he’d picked her up from work to drive
her there.

  Several of his aunts had prepared dinner for everyone, and the children had been ushered upstairs to the game room while the grown-ups held their meeting downstairs in the massive family room. According to Reese, the great room had been an addition to the house when his uncle Jonathan and aunt Marilyn needed a place for their growing number of grandchildren.

  “Everyone should be paired up,” Clayton said, interrupting her thoughts. “None of you ladies should be going anywhere alone, not even to get the mail out of your mailbox.”

  Dan Green smiled at his wife, Tracie. “I guess that means I’ll be tagging along while you go shopping, sweetheart.”

  Kenna held back her laughter. Traci looked horrified at the thought. “But—but…I thought all the murders were committed at night,” Traci stuttered.

  “So far,” Clayton said to his sister, trying to hide his smile. “But you never know when his pattern may change, so going shopping with your wife is a good idea, Dan,” he said to his brother-in-law.

  “What about those of us who have business trips and don’t want to leave our wives and families alone?” asked Clayton’s other brother-in-law, Raymond, who was married to Clayton’s other sister, Kattie.

  “Then she can stay with us until you return,” Clayton said. “I take that back. She can come here and stay with the folks until you get back.” The room burst into laughter. Reese leaned over to Kenna and said, “Kattie has a tendency to redecorate other people’s homes, even when they don’t ask her to.”

  Kenna looked over at Kattie, who smiled sweetly and shrugged. “I get bored easily.”

  “What about my shotgun?” Luke Madaris Sr. said loudly.

  “Keep it handy, just in case,” Milton Madaris suggested.