Darlene spoke up. "Now you let her go you old horn dog!"
"Aw, shut your pie hole and plant one on old' big boy over there!"
"You'd better stop or I will!" Darlene was laughing "That boy won't know what hit him when I do! C'mere young fella." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She turned around to Danny and said. "Girl, you don't know what you're missin'!"
Ralph laughed and walked over to Aiden and whispered in his ear, "Bide your time son, it will all work out, yahear me?"
"Yes sir I will." He said, saluting the man like he was his commanding officer.
"Come on Ma we're makin' tracks. Good luck to both of you. We had a great time. Come by again when you're in our neck of the woods!"
"Yes sir, nice meeting you and thanks for the dancing lessons Darlene."
Darlene grabbed Stone's hand and said. "With a good looking partner like you, anytime!"The couple left the bar.
"What the heck was all that about?" Danny asked.
“None of your business woman! Just guy talk."He answered. "We should probably call it a night too. I'm trying to line up a stakeout tomorrow, and I'll be gone most of the night."
"I'm going with you then." she advised emphatically.
"I don't have permission yet for it, and they don't let civvies go on stakeouts!"
"We'll talk about it later." She yawned out the words.
"C'mon lets go back to the hotel before you turn into sleeping beauty on me." He opened the bar door and the night breeze greeted them. He held open the passenger door for her and she climbed into the Suburban.
In just a few short minutes she had fallen asleep in the SUV. The combination of the alcohol, dancing, and night air had obviously taken its toll on her. He chuckled to himself hearing her snore lightly in her sleep.
After pulling up to their adjoining rooms, he effortlessly scooped her into his arms and carried her into her room, laying her on the bed. He took off her shoes and contemplated what else he could remove without getting into trouble with her the next day. He opted for taking off her jeans and top, leaving her lacy lingerie on. He got her under the covers and left a short note: No nothing happened. You fell asleep. I wanted to make you comfortable. Wake me up when you get up. We'll do breakfast Stone.
He wandered into his own room contemplating what Ralph had told him; admit your feelings to yourself but don't force the situation. Wait for her, but let her know you'll be there for her. And lots of cold showers!
Sage advice he thought, especially since he just had an eyeful of her gorgeous body. He headed into the bathroom yet again for another cold wet reminder of why good things come to those who wait.
Chapter 14
Early the next morning, Danny awoke to find that her clothes had been removed, leaving her down to her bra and panties. After reading his lame excuse in his note, she was a little perturbed that had taken it upon himself to undress her while she slept. She wasn't a prude by any means, but she wasn't the type of woman to just let any man take her clothes off even if it was for an altruistic reason. She had only two lovers in her life, and they were the only men, other than her primary care doctor, to see her even partially unclothed. Aiden Stone was another story entirely. Last night she figured he had probably made sure he got a good look at her in all her semi naked goodness and Lord have mercy. If he was cocky yesterday, good God, he was going to be harder to live with this morning.
Seated across from her at the mom and pop diner, over his scrambled eggs and toast, he kept grinning at her like a schoolboy with a naughty secret he wasn't going to share.
“How's breakfast?" He asked.
"Fine, though my eggs seem a little naked I could have sworn I asked for some cheese on them." She complained, turning her eggs over with her fork.
"Well maybe the cook thought your eggs would be more comfortable without the unnecessary layer of cheese. They look so yummy without it." He said with a straight a face as he could muster.
"Ugh, it's too early for your foolishness, Stone." She warned as she rolled her eyes at him. She knew she walked into that one. She swore half the time she wanted to just punch him dead in the face, and the other half she just wanted to take his face in her hands and kiss him hard. Shaking herself loose from the quick daydream of sucking on his full lips, she realized he had called over the waitress for the check.
"We’ve got to pick up Ramirez." He told her "You ready to go?"
"Yes, just let me put my coat on. It's a little chilly this morning." She grabbed her coat from the bench seat and stood up.
"Here let me help you." He took the coat and held it up for her to slide her arms in.
"Oh, now you want to be a gentleman!" She half snarled at him.
"I didn't hear you complaining last night!"
"I was passed out!" She said zipping the lightweight green jacket half way.
"Don't act like I took all of them off, though if I'm going to get this much grief, next time I will make it worth my time! Geez do one chivalrous act!" Aiden grinned from ear to ear. He knew he was getting her goat.
"Next time?It's cold this morning but not cold enough for hell to freeze over, Agent Stone!"
"Sure, you say that now Nani, but I'm not the one who couldn't hold my liquor!"
"Ooh! You are so frustrating, you know that?" No matter how hard she tried she couldn't wipe the smile off her face.
"And you Nani are beautiful when you're angry!"
"Fool, would you just shut up and pay the bill? And I told you not to call me that! Didn't you say we have to pick up Alejandro?" She was glad they were going to have him with them for a while. She felt she needed a buffer between her and Aiden. The sexual tension was getting a little too dangerous around him to be alone with him much longer.
"Yeah we'd better get going." He said. He paid the check and the two of them were off.
After picking up his partner from his hotel and wrestling with the stop and go of the morning Dallas traffic, He maneuvered the Suburban into the Dallas FBI headquarters parking garage. Caravans of news trucks surrounded the outside of the building, their satellite dishes hovering in the sky like vultures. Cable, web, and local news reporters armed with microphones stood in front of cameras prepping for the upcoming news conference. Since it involved sex, drugs, and murder of a senator's daughter, the masses devoured every new detail of the tale. The Sherry Cavender tragedy had blanketed the news outlets and by far was the hottest story at the moment.
A security checkpoint waited for them at the building's entrance and Alejandro showed their credentials. Danny reached into her bag and pulled out her high priority level security clearance which gave her access to FBI facilities as well as Federal, State, and Local government databases that SAIC Johnson had provided for her. Finding the conference room they had used for their last meeting empty, Stone, Ramirez, and Danny were directed to the new and slightly bigger meeting area. Since Lucius had flown in his entourage from Washington, The amount of people in the room had nearly doubled. There were a couple of FBI Behavioral specialists from Washington on site along with several investigators who would soon be joining forces with Dallas Police Detectives delving into the murders related to the Cavender case.
The group had arrived early and the newly arrived investigators were just taking their seats in preparation for Agent Johnson's meeting. With a press conference and a meeting with the Dallas Police Department on the agenda for the day, Johnson had a full plate. Over the years, Johnson had mastered the game of chess that was the FBI. He was adept at moving the pieces along the board and getting his desired results. He was conversing with one of the Behavioral Specialists when Danny walked into the room.
Though Lucius was a master at cloaking his emotions, Danny registered genuine shock on the man's face when he laid eyes on her for the first time in years.
"D-Danielle."He stammered, his gunmetal gray eyes widening at the sight of her. He had forgotten all about his flunky who was left holding a scalding Styrofoam cup of coffee.
Suddenly, Johnson's tie was too tight around his neck, and his fingers fumbled with the collar of his shirt. He fidgeted like a little boy in church, his fingers now toying with his watch.
"I-it's good seeing you again." His eyes travelled from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. "You look…good."
"Thanks, Agent Johnson. You're not looking so bad yourself." She smiled at him.
Traces of a smile played at Lucius' mouth until he finally noticed Special Agent Stone standing beside her, his hand possessively at the small of her back.
"Excuse me Agent Stone. I didn't see you. So good of you to join us."His voice was now downright bone chilling. The air in the room seemed to have dropped 10 degrees. "I'd like to have a word with you after our meeting."
Aiden nodded. "Yes sir."
The meeting started with the agents from the Behavior Analysis Unit giving their profile of the killer or killers. They hypothesized that he was a male between the ages of thirty and fifty who due to some serious mommy issues hated women. They also thought that he might have something against illegal immigrants because all the women attacked weren't American citizens, but like Danny they couldn't figure how Sherry fit into the mix.
Agents Gaines and Holmes updated the team on their progress. Using Danny's research they were able to trace the vehicle that Sherry's killer used. The VIN was traced to an elderly gent who admitted selling the Ford to a hippie-looking man with long hair and an overgrown beard just a day before Sherry was killed. The vehicle was sold for just a few hundred bucks, but the vehicle was never registered with the DMV with the new owner's information. After the murder, the vehicle seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. More than likely it was rusting in some junkyard or rotting at the bottom of some lake.
A couple agents from DC brought the team up to date as far as their progress with the other cold cases relating to this case. Side by side they had been working with Dallas homicide detectives in digging for information. So far they weren't able to unearth any leads worth following.
Finally, Lucius let Danny have the floor. Sitting beside Aiden, she observed the amount of attention she was attracting from the FBI personnel in the room. Lucius introduced Danny to those in attendance.
"Ms. Labouleaux is one of our best forensic consultants. She's extremely gifted when it comes to researching these types of cold cases. I recommended to Agent Stone that he enlist her skills for the Sherry Cavender murder. Ms. Labouleaux, please provide us with any pertinent information you've managed to uncover." He waved his hand, letting her have the floor.
Feeling a bit like the new kid in the class joining in the middle of the semester, Danny walked to the front of the conference room. The looks she received from the agents ranged from curiosity to skepticism. She unsheathed her laptop from her messenger bag.
"Geez, thanks for putting me on the spot, Agent Johnson. I appreciate it." She quipped to a few light chuckles. She plugged the machine in so that it would show on the overhead projector. In her element, she confidently took a seat at the front of the room.
"Over the past few days, I've been collecting information pertaining not just to Sherry Cavender's disappearance and murder but to killings that may have been committed by the same killer or killers."
One click from her computer brought up murder cases investigated by Interpol, the Haitian National Police, and the Mexican Federales. The chilling faces of the victims in various stages of decomposition glared back from the screen.
"Damn." Someone muttered.
"These killings began approximately seven years ago. Like the other cases that occurred on US soil the one similar thread to link them is that the victims were known prostitutes. This is more than likely connected to a human trafficking ring."
In truth, Danny had another visitation the night before she left Phoenix. As before, her computer was pirated, the screen nearly bursting to capacity with the faces of her victims. The only difference was that these victims were not killed in the United States.
"Okay, I don't understand how you were able to link all these cases together." Agent Holmes said crudely. "How do you know this is the same guy?"
"Because that's what I'm good at." She said assertively. In reality, she knew because she had walked the crime scene with every one of the victims. "I went through the case files for these murders. Every one of these murders was conducted in a similar fashion. It's the same pattern, right down to the lack of physical evidence."
"What kind of killer has time to kill in the US and abroad?" One of the agents asked aloud.
"Gotta be a travelling businessman or maybe even military." Another agent deduced.
Danny asked if there were any more questions before she continued. She brought up a map of the United States that matched the map at her apartment.
"Another similar thread I found was that there are several Highland Clinics located in the cities where the victims were found. Somewhere there's a link between the prostitution and the clinics."
"Well dad gum, we ought to be looking at Wal-Mart’s too. Them sumbitches are everywhere." One skeptic drawled to the laughter of his peers. The agent's gut shook as he laughed at his own joke.
Danny fixed her fiery gaze on him, one eyebrow upraised. "Excuse me agent, Are you quite through or do you have any other important news you'd like to contribute concerning these murders?"
The man's grin shriveled off his face and was replaced with a contemptuous frown as he looked at Danielle. More Texas male ego to contend with she thought, and she was in no mood to deal with their bullshit.
"As I was saying, these clinics are only located in cities where our victims have been found. I called all the locations and was directed to the same answering service. So it may be a way for the traffickers to communicate back and forth."
Aiden added. "Agent Ramirez and I checked out the Dallas clinic. Things just didn't feel right! We believe there's more going on behind the scenes."
"We can't get a warrant or a wiretap with just a hunch, so I'm sending agents to stake out the clinics around the clock. If there's any suspicious activity going on then we'll have probable cause for a warrant. I'll also relay those orders to the field offices in the other states to do the same." Agent Johnson said.
"Ms. Labouleaux has given us a running start on this case. Let's not lose our momentum, people."
Dismissing the other agents with their orders, Lucius sent Danny and Agent Ramirez to email her findings to the other agents. Aiden stayed behind after the room was vacated.
"When I told you to involve Ms. Labouleaux in this case, I was under the impression that she would forward you any information she was able to acquire." Lucius said, his voice tone just a level below chastisement.
"That was my intention." Aiden said, not liking the attitude the senior agent was giving him. "Circumstances dictated that for her safety she work with me in Dallas."
Lucius raised his eyebrows, finally showing an emotion other than indifference. "Her safety?"
"Yes, her safety." Aiden affirmed.
"Are you sure her safety is the only reason you want her close?" Lucius asked with a scowl.
Aiden met the man's frown with one of his own. "With all due respect Agent Johnson, why are you suddenly so concerned with why I keep Ms. Labouleaux close?"
"Is Danielle privy to the fact that her life may be in danger, and in what way is her safety in question?" Lucius queried, redirecting the line of questioning.
Aiden shook his head. "It's not something I have proof of, but I have a gut feeling that she may be in jeopardy. I just can't connect the dots. I didn't want to say anything, but it may, and I say mayas a long shot, involve her fiancé Dr. Wolfe. He may have a slight connection to the clinics. He may have volunteered there or something. It's just my hunch for now. I don't have anything firm yet. I just want to be better safe than sorry, Agent Johnson. If this case is going to explode and he is
involved, even in the slightest way, I want her to be out of the blast radius."
Lucius was silent for a few heartbeats gauging Stone's reaction to his stare. Aiden didn't seem the least bit intimidated. “Fine. Since Agent Ramirez originated from the Cyber Crimes unit, I'll send him to Danielle's apartment in Phoenix to continue her research. She is thorough so he'll have no problem following her breadcrumbs."
"Good." Aiden nodded. With Ramirez in Phoenix, he could have the agent discreetly look into Dr. Wolfe's background.
"When I selected you for this investigation Agent Stone, I did a little research on your career in the Marines. I was in fact impressed with some of the missions you'd fulfilled for your country."
Agent Johnson paused for dramatic effect. "But hear me and hear me good, Stone! Danielle Labouleaux's safety is not one of your black ops missions, and her being in harm's way, no matter how small the risk, is unacceptable! This young lady means quite a lot to me, and if even one solitary hair on her head is harmed I will hold you personally responsible! It won't end pretty! Is that clear to you Agent?"
"Crystal clear sir."
Gerard had been blowing up Danny's phone since her arrival in Dallas yesterday afternoon. The combination of wanting him to feel what it was like to try to get in contact with someone unsuccessfully and being busy with the Cavender case stopped Danny from taking his calls. To be honest, by the time she and Aiden went to dinner and dancing the previous night she had forgotten all about Gerard. With no more excuses left to use, she took the keys to the Suburban from Aiden as he headed to the press conference. Since he was the lead investigator on the case it was important for him to be there even though Lucius would be the only one speaking. Now sitting in the privacy of the Suburban watching the cell phone vibrate on the dashboard, she had no excuse not to pick up the call. Sucking in a deep breath she answered the phone.
"Hello?" she answered, knowing damn well who it was.
"Danielle? Where the hell are you? I got out of surgery yesterday afternoon, and imagine my surprise when my secretary informed me that my fiancée had left town! I've been calling you since last night, and you haven't had the decency to even call me back! What the hell is going on with you?"
The Body Hunters Page 16