by Taylor Lee
To Sky’s surprise, Jude crouched down beside the open door so that he was at her height, and reached for her chin. When she jerked her head away he said firmly, “Look at me, Skylar.”
As hard as she tried, Skylar couldn’t keep from obeying him. Seeing his rigid jaw and slight frown, her stomach took a dizzying dive to her groin. Only the curve of his lip and twinkle in his eyes confirmed that while he looked scary as hell to her, he obviously was enjoying tormenting her.
“You are correct, Ms. Hughes. It is none of my business what you eat, but I’m making it my business to see that you do eat. Given that I’m at least partially responsible for the fact that you probably haven’t eaten anything since your breakfast doughnuts yesterday, you need to eat now.” He added, “And I’m going to see that you do.”
His lip quirked up in a grin and his eyes sparkled with amusement. “I’m not sure how your father handled your temper tantrums, Skylar, but I’ll tell you how I intend to.”
To her shock he reached across her waist and unsnapped her seatbelt. Before she knew what he was doing, he grasped her under her arms and lifted her out of the car. Ignoring her shocked gasp, he stood her on the ground in front of him then tipped up her chin forcing her to look at him.
“You have a choice, Skylar. We can walk nicely together into the Shipwreck and order our lunch. Or I can pick you up and toss you over my shoulder. If you choose to go into the pub with your ass in the air, once inside I will sit you on my lap and feed you your lunch—bite by
bite.”
Stunned by his outrageous threat and the firm set of his jaw, Sky struggled to respond. The best she could do was to stammer, “You…you wouldn’t dare do that!”
He shrugged and tightened his grip. “You should know by now, Squirt, that when I say I will do something, that is exactly what I will do.” He paused for a moment and then cocked a brow.
“Your choice, Squirt. While I’m sure the Shipwreck patrons would be delighted to see you enter with your ass in the air, you might want to be a good girl and do as you’re told.”
Skylar was shaking so hard she had to grab hold of his arms to keep from falling. Staring at his chest, she forced herself to take one deep breath after another. When she could finally stand on her own, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. Glaring at him, she pushed him back, then turned and strode toward into the pub. His taunting “Good choice, Squirt.” and soft chuckle followed her as she stormed into the crowded restaurant.
Skylar stumbled in the darkened doorway and might have tripped if Jude hadn’t caught her arm. He held her next to him then nodded at the hostess who was gazing up at him with a glowing expression. The long-limbed beauty smiled and leaned forward against the podium. The practiced movement accentuated her impressive chest, which was already shown to advantage in the scanty Shipwreck uniform. “What can I do for you, Detective?” Her sultry insinuating voice brought back memories of Jerri Ross. If she wasn’t so upset, Skylar might have laughed at the open invitation in the young woman’s breathy question. Instead she snorted softly, acknowledging that it was clear Jude had a type. Which was voluptuous, eager women panting for his attention.
“Good afternoon, Amy. My colleague and I would like a table. Somewhere quiet if that’s possible.”
Amy tossed her head and nudged aside the server who came forward to take them to their table.
Smiling sweetly at the surprised waiter, Amy said, “It’s okay, Denny. I’ll show Detective Justice to his table.”
Swaying her curvy bottom from side to side, the pretty young woman led the way though the crowded saloon, making the most of her abbreviated sailor costume, the back of which showed as much of her ass cheeks as the front did her breasts.
When she stopped at a booth in the back of the room, Skylar moved ahead of Jude and slid into the booth, pretending not to see the flirty young woman gazing up at Jude. Amy brushed up against him as he moved to the booth and Sky heard her murmur, “Don’t be a stranger, Jude. I’ve been missing you.”
As she sauntered away Amy said over her shoulder, “Have a productive business lunch, Detective.”
Her catty remark underscored what Jude had already made clear with his request for a quiet table. Obviously, the overwhelmingly handsome cop was a known commodity. Just as Sky was sure that it was equally obvious that he wouldn’t be here with her for anything but business.
Fortunately, their waiter had followed them to the table, negating the need for them to talk. When Denny started to give him the menus, Jude held up his hand.
“It’s okay, Denny. We’re ready to order. My colleague will have a double-bacon cheeseburger with everything on it. And a side of cheese-covered french fries.”
Denny wrote the order on his pad and looked to Jude. “How about you, Detective? What do you want?”
Jude smiled. “Against my better judgment, I’ll have the same.”
“Sure thing, Detective Justice.”
As an afterthought Jude asked, “What kind of pie did Selma make today?”
Denny smiled. “She must have known you were coming, sir. She made her famous strawberry-rhubarb pie fresh this morning.”
Jude grinned at Skylar. “How about it, Squirt? Think you can handle a piece of pie on top of your burger?”
When Sky pressed her lips together in a hard straight line and looked away, refusing to answer, Jude chuckled. “Let’s take that as a yes, shall we, Denny? Oh, and be sure to add a couple scoops of ice cream to our pie.”
Denny returned Jude’s grin. “How about something to drink, Detective?”
“Water will be fine.”
Skylar whirled on the server and said curtly, “Please bring me a Scotch.”
Jude pulled back, then shrugged at the surprised waiter.
“On second thought, bring us each a double Scotch. Skylar prefers Glenmorangie. I know it’s early but we’ve had one hell of a morning and it promises to be a long day.”
When the waiter scurried away to place their order, Jude settled against the back of the booth and studied his companion. It took real effort not to grin at her. She was staring at the wall, her body language throwing off visible shards of anger. Her cheeks were flushed, and her bottom lip was puffy from her chewing on it. Jude admitted that he’d surprised himself by challenging her. Hell, make that threatening her. But, goddammit, the little squirt honestly thought she could decide whether or not she would have lunch with him? Not gonna happen. He had some apologizing to do for last night, the least of which was to excuse Jerri Ross’s rude behavior. Even more importantly, Jude knew Skylar hadn’t had a damn thing to eat in twenty-four hours, which was at least partially due to him. No, whether she liked it or not, the Squirt was going to eat. That he would ensure.
As he studied her, Jude admitted that he was intrigued. Damn, how could he not be? Who would have guessed that the studious, seemingly oblivious young woman with the spiky hair, black plastic glasses, and shapeless clothing would be feisty as hell and not the least bit afraid to confront him? Christ, for a moment he thought he was going to have to make good on his threat to toss her over his shoulder and carry her ass-up into the saloon. Remembering warning her that unless she did as she was told he would hold her on his lap and feed her lunch, he should have been surprised that his dick perked up in interest. But the more he studied the tempestuous young woman glaring at the wall, the less surprising it was that his dick was eager to get to know her.
Looking into her eyes last night, Jude had been able to see past the black-rimmed nerd glasses to the gorgeous tanzanite spheres secreted behind them. At the moment, the stormy, multi-hued pools rimmed with purple were flashing with anger and a hint of tears—which Jude confessed made them even more mesmerizing. In fact, the more he studied the angry young woman, the better he understood why Jared found the sprite attractive.
He nodded when Denny appeared with a tray of glasses. The earnest young man put a water glass in front of each of them, then placed the double shot glasses of S
cotch on napkins before them. Jude waited until the server was out of earshot, then raised his glass in a teasing salute. “Bottoms up, Squirt. Here’s to a pleasant lunch.”
Skylar glanced up, and without answering, grabbed the shot glass and in one swift move tipped up the glass and drained it. The rush of three ounces of 66-proof potent alcohol was too much. She choked, spraying a stream of alcohol across the table. Unable to catch her breath, she sputtered and coughed, then choked again. Her cheeks turned bright red, and a flood of tears ran down her cheeks.
Jude was on his feet and beside her in seconds. He smacked her on her back and murmured, “It’s okay, kiddo. Take it easy. You’re going to be fine.” When she coughed harder, fighting to breathe, he rubbed her back and said firmly. “Listen up, Squirt, take a breath. And when you can, I want you to take a few sips of water.”
She shook her head and tried to push his hands away, but when another fit of coughing overtook her she gave in to having his arms around her. He kept patting, then rubbing her back until she was able to breathe without coughing. He held the water glass up to her lips and said quietly, “Take a sip, Skylar. Now.”
When she began to sip on the water, he took off her glasses and put them to the side, then handed her the napkin.
“I’d wipe those tears away for you but I’m not sure how you’d retaliate now that you’re no longer in danger of choking to death.”
She tried to free herself from his arms but he held her close, not letting her go. At that moment, Denny appeared with a large tray holding a gargantuan mound of food. The young waiter stared at her in concern.
“Is…is she okay?”
Jude answered for her. “Yeah, she took a larger swallow of Scotch than she intended. Went down the wrong pipe.” He glanced at the loaded tray and pointed to the table. “Leave the food, buddy. We’ll decide when and if we’re ready for it.”
Denny glanced at Skylar’s overturned shot glass on the far edge of the table.
“Do you, does she…want more Scotch?”
Jude shook his head and said firmly, “No, she’s had enough.”
Shaking her head fiercely, Skylar glared at Denny. “No, please. Bring me another glass. A double shot.”
Jude forced himself not to overrule her ridiculous request, and nodded to the baffled server to comply. Rather than arguing with her, he held her trembling body more securely in his arms. After several long moments, he pointed to the overflowing tray of food. “Don’t tell me Squirt, that we’re not gonna make it through another one of these giant-sized mountains of unhealthy food?”
At that moment her stomach growled plaintively. He pulled her more tightly into his arms, glad that they both were able to laugh. He stroked her cheek, grateful when she didn’t push him away. “Then again, if I’m going to live down your assessment of me being a prissy pussy, at least when it comes to food, how about we dig into these calorie-filled piles of semi-nutrition and prove that I can keep up with the best of the Major League Eater contestants.”
Jude glanced at the giant burgers. “Hell, if I can handle those I may sign up for the Chicago RibFest RibMania. A buddy of mine won four big ones at the XVIII event. Only had to chow down on twenty-three pounds of ribs.”
He chucked her playfully under her chin. “That’d be an appetizer for you, right, Squirt?”
Chapter 13
Jude reached for one of the platters and put it in front of her.
“Are you going to feed me?”
Startled by her unexpected question and even more surprised at the sudden tightness in his jeans, Jude struggled for an offhand response. Aware of her soft body leaning against him, he realized that while she wasn’t sitting on his lap, she was pretty damn close. He aimed for nonchalance. “Do you want me to?”
Skylar leaned back and looked up at him, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow. Jude met her serious gaze, noting that her stunning eyes, luminous with leftover tears, were truly the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.
She stared at him as if deciding how to answer, then shook her head. Stammering slightly, she nodded at the huge plate of food and said, “No…but I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat all of this.”
Doing his best to ignore his randy cock that was making a serious effort to participate in the discussion, Jude dropped his napkin over his lap and said, “I have a suggestion. Why don’t we attack one of these platters and see how we do?”
At her relieved sigh, Jude understood that she had believed his threat to feed her if she didn’t eat all her lunch. Trying to ignore her citrusy fragrance mingled with lavender, two of his favorite scents, Jude wondered if he was making a mistake by not following through with his provocative threat. He shoved the audacious thought aside and reached for his knife.
Seeing Denny approach with Sky’s requested Scotch, Jude shook his head, signaling for him to take it back. As if just seeing him, he said, “Hey, Denny boy, how about you bring me and Ms. Hughes a couple of smaller plates while we plan our attack on this mountain of food.”
Ignoring the server’s wide-eyed expression seeing the two of them huddling next to each other in the corner of the large booth, Jude took the plates the kid handed him. With a nod he dismissed the clearly interested waiter. Once they were alone, Jude carefully cut one of the mammoth burgers in fourths and put one section on each plate with a small pile of french fries next to the burgers. He handed one plate to Sky and took the other for himself.
When Jude was sure she was going to eat at least some of the food, he picked up one of the cheese-laden french fries and munched on it. Surprised at how good it was, he took a bite of the four-inch-high burger. Swallowing the mix of charred meat and crunchy bacon slathered with spicy sauce, he shook his head and whistled in appreciation. “Damn, Squirt. You’re right on. These babies are great.”
When they had polished off the remains of the food on the platter, Jude raised an inquisitive brow. “How about it, Sky? You ready to take on another?”
She frowned thoughtfully, then shook her head. With a hint of a smile she said, “No, but I think I would like to try the pie.”
Jude gave a hoot of laughter and hugged her. “That makes two of us. Talk about a woman after my own heart.” He raised a hand to call for Denny.
“Hey Denny, bring us two slices of Selma’s best, and don’t forget the ice cream. Oh, and also bring a pot of the hottest, strongest coffee you have. Not having the iron-hard constitution this sprite has, I’m gonna need all the help I can get to digest this lunch.”
Skylar ate the last bite of her pie, then rubbed her finger in the remaining dollop of syrupy ice cream.
Watching her daintily lick the gooey mixture off her fingers, Jude laughed. “Sweet tooth much, Squirt?”
She shrugged and said casually, “Remember, I didn’t have my doughnuts today.” Pushing the licked-clean plate away from her, Skylar reached for her glasses and planted them on the bridge of her nose. Her slight frown as she stared thoughtfully at an empty spot on the wall confirmed that she’d gone into analysis mode.
Jude poured each of them a cup of coffee and moved back slightly to give her room. He knew he should move to the other side of the big booth so that they could concentrate on the murder case. Instead, he kept one arm stretched across the back of the booth. With a self-aware snort, he acknowledged that while he didn’t want to make an issue out of it, he liked sitting next to her. She smelled good, and while she looked fine now, he knew she’d had a rough night and today hadn’t exactly been easy. Plus, he instinctively knew that while a breakthrough in the case was a long way off, making headway would be a hell of a lot easier if they worked on it together rather than separately.
As if he’d needed confirmation, Skylar turned from her study of the blank wall and faced him. “It must have taken them years to plan it.”
Jude waited for her to continue. It was the first thing she’d said since they finished eating. A full five minutes of silence elapsed.
Her eyes behind the bla
ck plastic frames were lit with intensity. “Think about the decisions they had to make, Jude. Not only choosing the exact mixture of drugs, but titrating the dosages to achieve the maximum effect—dosages of drugs that are rarely combined. Then, they had to determine how much weight the beams could hold. And the chandelier. Look at the size of the victims. Mr. Parker was a big man. After they decided how they would hang him and his wife, they had to figure out how to get the bodies up there. After, they needed to determine and assemble the weapons. They needed a knife to castrate him and to cut out her tongue. It’s not clear from the preliminary reports what they used to poke out her eyes, but by the how clean the eye perimeters were, I think it might have been a socket wrench. Finally, they had to decide what diameter of pipe would cause the most pain and damage when they shoved it up the victim’s rectum.”
She inhaled deeply, then slowly let it go. Her expression grew more intense if possible. “Jude, I can’t stop thinking about the bungee cords. They were a stunning, even inspired choice. Although the Parkers likely died of strangulation, the elastic cords ensured it would be a slow, agonizing death. Imagine the victims trying not to struggle because each ghoulish bounce would tighten the cord and then unmercifully release it, ensuring that their travails were not over.”
Jude granted himself a moment to marvel at her insight. Christ, even he hadn’t considered a socket wrench, but it made sense. Each of the details she described was what made the murders unique. As a whole, they were the essence of the crime. Jude knew that if they could follow the critical clues that Skylar had defined, they might have a fighting chance of figuring out who the murderers were.
She sighed, once more catching him off guard. “And then there is the fact that there was no semen. In either of them.”
With the startling news about the drugs that were administered, it was almost easy to overlook the other facts, which Skylar had just described. But this was the first time that anyone had mentioned the lack of semen. It was an omission that had been tantalizing Jude since he first saw the lab report. Naturally, it would have caught the pixie’s attention.