Pure Vengeance (On the Line Romantic Thriller Series Book 1)

by Lori Ryan

  She gave him the kind of look that said personal growth was in order, and he squirmed knowing she might be right. “He wants to interview me.”

  “What? Who wants to interview you?”

  Joy tugged on his arm. He hadn’t even realized he was practically up out of his seat until she pulled him back into it. “Ray Lansing.”

  “What does that mean? How does he know you? Is he badgering you about the vigilante? I’ll kill him.”

  “Settle down, big brother.” She patted his arm like she was calming a child and he grunted. “I’ve followed his blog for a while. I comment sometimes or write to him directly. Sometimes I’m defending you and your guys. Other times, I’m telling him I see his side of things. He wants to do a piece about my attack.”

  Cal rubbed a hand down his face, blowing out a breath. “And you’d want that? You’d want some guy telling your story and questioning why your attackers were never brought to justice?”

  “You never say the word rape with regard to my case. Do you know that? They aren’t my attackers. I mean they are. But they’re more than that. They raped me, Cal. It’s okay to use the word.”

  He shook his head and looked away. He’d never wanted to use the word when it came to Joy. What happened to her was too barbaric. Too wrong for him to even speak of sometimes. Now this Lansing asshole thought he could take her story and plaster it all over the city?

  “Do you know if he’s safe?” She asked.

  “Who? What? If who’s safe?”

  “Lansing. Is he safe for me to meet with?” She was quiet, but there was a determination behind her eyes.

  Cal studied her. “He’s safe.” He’d known Ray Lansing for years. He might not like the guy, but he wasn’t a danger to Joy. Not in the sense she was asking anyway. He wouldn’t attack her. “I should be here, though.”

  “No.” She was firm on that, and Cal raised a brow. How could she really be talking about meeting with this guy without Cal there?

  “Joy—”

  “I said no, Cal, and I meant it. I told him I won’t meet with him until after this shooting case is resolved, and I don’t want him running my story as part of the vigilante angle. He agreed.”

  Cal was fairly sure he was going to knock a filling loose clenching his jaw the way he was. Hell, never mind a filling, he might take out a whole molar or two.

  “At least tell me when you’re seeing him and text me when you’re done so I know you’re okay?”

  “I can do that.” She nodded and smiled.

  “Will he be coming here?” He probably had no right to ask, but since Joy didn’t leave the house, he really couldn’t figure out any other way for her to meet with Lansing.

  She shook her head. “I’m going to have him come to mom’s house. I think I can handle that.”

  “And how do you plan to get to mom’s?” Joy didn’t drive. Cal picked her up anytime she went to their mom’s house.

  “Oh yeah.” She shrugged. “Guess I’ll need a ride.”

  Now they laughed together. It hit him that it was a little twisted for them to laugh at that, but they’d lived with the reality of Joy’s situation so long, they were able to. He leaned back and put his arm up on the back of the couch. “So, tell me about this little boy in your dreams.”

  They spent the rest of his visit talking about a boy running and laughing in her dreams. A boy she saw anytime she closed her eyes. A boy who called to her and ran into her arms when she opened them, who demanded to be put on her canvas when she woke.

  Cal listened but his thoughts were half on Lansing. He’d need to go pay a visit to Lansing to be sure this guy understood what would happen if he dicked around with Cal’s sister and her story. The picture Cal would paint for Lansing would be as detailed and graphic as the paintings his sister created. Only this one wouldn’t be anywhere near as pretty.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Okay, so what have we got that’s outstanding?” Cal surprised Eve by sliding into the booth next to her instead of sitting across the table. They’d stopped at a cafeteria-style café for a quick lunch and grabbed one of the tables toward the back of the room.

  He pulled out his phone and scrolled through to the notes file, pulling up a page and looking her way.

  They’d ordered at the counter and had one of those little number things that told the restaurant staff where to bring their food. It wasn’t much of a lunch break, but it was better than what they sometimes got. A lot of days, it was fast food drive-thru in the car or crap coffee from the coffee room at the station.

  Cal’s leg brushed hers. Her body was especially aware of his now. The kisses had changed things from a charged arousal to unquenchable thirst every time he was near.

  Despite that, she focused on the case and hoped their food would come soon. Not only was she starving, she needed the distraction. “We need to follow up with forensics on our abandoned car and see if there’s anything to tie it to Kevin Williams.”

  Cal held up a finger and switched screens, flipping to email. “Got an email on that.” He opened it and scanned, before frowning. “Nothing. The car was completely wiped down. They looked everywhere—undersides of door handles, mirror, trunk latch. Not a single print.”

  Eve shook her head. “This guy is a pro. No hairs in the carpet? Nothing?”

  Cal tilted the phone, showing her the email as he answered the question for her. “Nothing. They think our shooter must have vacuumed the carpet. Still gunshot residue in the carpeting, but no fibers or hairs. Nothing useful to us.”

  “Williams would have the discipline to do that, coming from the military.”

  Cal agreed, and they sat back as a runner dropped food on their table and took the numbered paddle away. Both took a minute to take a first bite of their respective sandwiches before continuing.

  “We need to check in with Mary Gentry,” Cal said. Their assault victim had had a few days to recover from her attack. Maybe she’d be willing to talk to them now about what he saw. “What about traffic cameras around the park?”

  Eve swallowed the french fry she’d been working on before speaking. “No traffic cameras right there, but there are a few in surrounding areas. It’s taking time.”

  Cal reached over and stole one of her fries.

  “Hey!” Eve smacked the fry out of his hand with a laugh. “We’ve crossed into fry-stealing territory?”

  He grinned, leaning into her space a little. “Yup.” He grabbed the same fry again and popped it in his mouth before she could stop him.

  “Why did you order a salad instead of fries if you weren’t going to eat it?”

  “Oh, I’ll eat my salad. I’m just also going to eat some of your fries. I’m doing you a favor. They’re not good for you.”

  Eve raised a brow. “Watch it, buddy. You’re getting into dangerous territory, there.”

  He laughed as he went back to his own food. Eve reached over and took a cucumber from his salad, dipped it into his ranch dressing, and ate it. She had to admit, she liked the easiness when they were together. There was heat and there was no mistaking the sexual tension, but it was also easy to be with him.

  “So, we’ll go see Gentry this afternoon?” Cal asked.

  She nodded her agreement. They’d already gotten back the forensics on the bullet the bomb dogs had found at the park. The bullet had wound up going through a tree and lodging in another after going through their would-be rapist’s neck. The striations matched the bullets from the other two shootings. They were looking at the same sniper. He’d simply gone mobile for this shooting, which wasn’t good news for them. It made their jobs harder, particularly since the car had been ditched. They could assume if the killer wanted to strike that way again, he’d just pick up a new car for each kill.

  They ate in silence as Eve mulled over that. Eventually, this guy would leave something at one of the scenes. He had to. At this point, it was unfortunately a numbers game, and Eve hated those kind of cases. They were waiting for their kill
er to screw up so they could catch a break, find some lead to follow.

  Cal tossed his napkin onto his now-empty plate and looked over at her. Eve must have had her thoughts written in her eyes. He stopped when he saw her face and turned his body toward hers. With a glance over his shoulder to be sure no one was headed their way, he leaned in and spoke, close to her face. “We’ll get this guy. We’ll stop this.”

  Eve held her breath. She wanted to lean in and close the distance between them. She wanted to lose herself in the feeling of his mouth on hers, of his arms around her. Of his body pressing, hard and heavy, against hers. Pressing her into the bench as he gave her an escape from the weight of the case.

  She wanted to lean in and take all of that and more, but didn’t.

  As he pulled back, slowly, he let a wide grin cross his face. He leaned back in. “You were thinking about it.”

  “About what?” She’d like to think her voice sounded cool and steady, even if she was nothing but. Damn, the man knew how to push her buttons. It was getting annoying.

  He laughed, low, deep, sexy. The kind of laugh that held a promise. “You know exactly what.”

  He pulled back, leaving her to follow him out the door as he continued laughing. She’d need to make his cocky ass pay one of these days.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Hey Ma, it’s Cal.” He was waiting for Eve to come out of the restaurant where she was using the restroom. As always, calls to his mom were short and shoved between things here or there in his day. He needed to get better about that.

  “You know I only have one son, right?”

  He grinned. They’d been through this before. “Yeah, yeah, I know. If a man calls you and says Hey Ma, you know it’s me.”

  She harrumphed in response.

  “You doing anything exciting?” Most of their phone calls started this way. One day, he hoped she’d tell him something other than laundry or gardening.

  “Just a little laundry. Might repot some of my indoor plants later.”

  Cal shook his head, but he was smiling. She was nothing if not predictable.

  “Hey, I need you to let me know when that Lansing guy is coming to the house to talk to Joy so I can be there.”

  “I’ll do no such thing.”

  Cal pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, before realizing how stupid that was. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me, Cal. This is Joy’s interview and I’m not going to let you butt in. She’s made some progress lately. You need to let her have her space to keep doing that.”

  Cal stewed on that for a minute. The attack on Joy had taken its toll on all of them. Cal always swore his dad’s heart attack three years later was a result of the strain. His mother had tried to cope largely by burying her head in the sand. And, Cal, well Cal had taken over. He’d done what Joy needed and been her protector.

  He could hear his mother’s sigh through the line. “Honey, I know you mean well, but Joy needs to stand on her own someday. If she’s starting to do that, you need to let her. Besides, I’ll be here.”

  Cal laughed. “What are you going to do if the guy upsets her?” He could picture a few scenarios, most involving a garden hose or a small spade, neither of which were going to be much use. His gut clenched and the laughter died. He didn’t really think Lansing would harm Joy. He never would have told her it was safe to meet with him if he thought Lansing was a danger. But the idea of him pressuring Joy into talking about more than she was ready for killed him. He wanted to be there for that.

  “She’s stronger than you know, Cal.” His mother spoke just as Eve stepped outside, and his eyes went to her small frame. Maybe Eve wasn’t the only strong woman around him, after all. Maybe his mother and Joy were stronger than he’d been giving them credit for.

  He sighed and rubbed at his temple with one thumb. “Yeah, all right, Ma. But you’ll call me if you think he’s pushing her too much.” It wasn’t a request.

  “Yes, dear.”

  Cal looked at the phone again. Well, damn. His mother had just yes, deared him and hung up the phone.

  Eve was looking at him with a question in her eyes, but that turned to laughter when he said he’d been on the phone with his mother.

  “Why is that funny?” he asked as they walked to the car.

  “Because clearly, your mother just hung up on you.” She rubbed his arm like she was consoling him but the fact that she was laughing harder negated the concern. Damn.

  Mary Gentry was willing to talk to them, but she still had nothing to offer.

  “I can’t tell you anything. After that man grabbed me, I was focused completely on him. I’d like to be able to say I kept my head and I can tell you everything that was going on around me, but I didn’t. I froze up. I couldn’t move with him pinning me to the ground, and I couldn’t see anything but him.” She seemed to shrink in on herself as she spoke and Cal hoped she was seeing someone for help in handling the fallout from this. She might not have been raped, but he would bet she was dealing with plenty of fear and anxiety just the same.

  “Tunnel vision,” he said calmly. “It’s not at all uncommon. You shouldn’t beat yourself up about that.”

  Eve nodded. “I think you can still help us out Mary. Can you remember a few minutes before the attack? When you entered the area. Did you see anyone sitting in a car? Or anyone around the park, maybe standing or walking through the area?”

  They believed the shooter had made the shot from within the car, based on the built-in sniper’s nest they’d discovered. But it had occurred to them that maybe the shooter was using a partner as a spotter. Obviously, their guy was grabbing the car idea from the D.C. snipers, a pair of snipers who had plagued the D.C and Virginia area for weeks before being caught. One reason they evaded capture for so long had been the use of a sniper’s nest built into the back of a car. They’d fired out of a hole in the car, before driving away.

  So maybe there was a partner here as well. Not to mention, that was standard operating procedure for most military snipers.

  Mary clenched her hands as she looked at them both, then nodded. “There was a car parked near the corner.”

  “Which corner?” Cal prompted.

  “Oak and Lake Street.”

  “Can you tell us what kind of car it was? The color?”

  “It was old. A silver sedan.”

  Eve took out a picture of the abandoned vehicle they suspected their shooter had used. “Is this it?”

  Mary nodded.

  “Do you remember seeing anyone in the car?”

  “Sure. Someone was in it, but I didn’t notice anything about them. I can’t tell you what he looked like.”

  Eve used a technique Cal had seen dozens of people use with a witness, but her tone engendered trust and cooperation. “How about an impression of the person?”

  Mary’s mother came into the room, putting a cup of tea in front of Mary and nodding to Cal and Eve before sitting. They’d already refused her offer of tea or coffee.

  “An impression?” Mary continued as her mother sat next to her. “What do you mean?”

  Eve made a casual gesture with her hands. “Anything you can remember. Big, small, heavy, lean…”

  “Smaller, I guess. Well, maybe not small as in short. But, I mean not like a big huge guy or anything. And he wore a hat,” Mary said with less hesitation toward the end.

  Eve tilted her head as Cal took notes. “What kind of hat?”

  “A baseball cap. A dark blue or black cap.”

  “Could you make out a face?”

  Mary shook her head. “I mean, I didn’t try. It was just a glance at the person as I went by, you know? And I was halfway down the block at the park entrance.”

  “Okay, that’s good, though. That’s helpful. Can you tell me what color the person was? Could you make out if he was white, black, or Latino?”

  Another head shake. “I think white, or maybe he was Hispanic. I don’t think he was black.” She put a hand
to her head and her mother glanced to Eve and then Cal.

  “I think she’s had enough, officers. She hasn’t been able to sleep much.”

  They stood, and Eve reached out toward Mary, squeezing her hand. “Thank you, Mary.”

  Mary’s mother walked them to the door. “She’s seeing a counsellor, but I don’t know if it’s helping.”

  “It takes time,” Cal said. He didn’t mention that for some, there would never be enough time. That wasn’t what Mary’s mother needed to hear right now. Sometimes, just having that little bit of hope that there might be a light at the end of a tunnel was enough to keep you moving until you could get to it.

  “I won’t be sorry that sniper shot her attacker before he could rape her. I know you need to catch this man. I understand it’s dangerous to have someone running around out there with a gun, but I can’t be sorry he stopped—” She didn’t seem to be able to voice what could have happened to her daughter. She pressed a hand to her mouth and shook her head. He got it. If he ever let himself think about what had been done to Joy—hell, it just wasn’t a place he could visit. He would imagine Mrs. Gentry felt the same way, if not worse. Mary might be a grown woman, but she was her daughter.

  Cal nodded and he and Eve walked out.

  “I can’t say I blame her for feeling that way,” Eve said looking back at the door.

  “Neither can I,” Cal said. “Doesn’t change what we need to do any, but, yeah, I get it.”

  Eve nodded. “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Where to now?” Cal asked as they got into his car. “You said you have one other stop you wanted to make?”

  “Yeah,” Eve pointed down the street. “Get onto the Merritt,” she said gesturing to the small highway that ran up and down this section of Connecticut. “There’s a gun dealer who isn’t completely opposed to talking to cops. I want to see if he’s got any ideas for us.”