Serial Escape

by Melinda Di Lorenzo

  “I know. But he also didn’t know about Sally’s boyfriend.”

  She stepped into the jeans and zipped them up, frowning at him. “It’s not exactly the same thing. I mean. Jim would know if—oh.”

  Lucien nodded. “He might not know. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that he could’ve fathered a child somewhere else.”

  She snagged her bra from the footboard of the bed, then stepped to the dresser and opened a drawer, pulling out one of her own cotton tops. “But how would Hanes find out?”

  “Not sure yet.” His gaze lingered on her as she started to pull off his T-shirt.

  “Close your eyes,” she ordered, pausing midyank.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “You realize how thoroughly naked I just saw you.”

  “But you weren’t staring at me.”

  He couldn’t stop his sudden smirk. “I was most definitely staring.”

  She shot him a glare—one that looked like a cover-up for amusement—then tore his shirt off and tossed it right at is head. By the time he’d fumbled it off his face, Raven was already back in her bra. Lucien couldn’t say it made the view any less interesting. The black fabric—designed for running, he was sure—hugged her breasts perfectly, and the hint of cleavage was just enough to add a bit of temptation.

  “So damn beautiful,” he murmured.

  Pink crept up her cheeks, but she eyed his naked chest for a moment, and said, “Ditto,” before pulling her shirt on.

  Grinning a little, he watched her for another second, then dragged his own shirt over his head, stood, and held out his hand. “C’mon. Let’s go see if the sergeant has any news for us.”

  Palms clasped and fingers intertwined, they made their way out of the bedroom and back to the living room. As they stepped in and moved toward the laptop, the screensaver—a digital clock moving in a slow circle—caught Lucien’s eye. When he saw the time, he stopped so short. So much so that Raven jerked forward, her hand slipping free and her shin bumping the coffee table.

  “Hey!” she said, turning to face him. “What happened?”

  He turned a wry look her way. “Just realizing not as much time went by as I thought.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing? Time is something we don’t have to waste.”

  “To waste?” he echoed. “Okay. There’s the proof that I should drag you back to bedroom and dedicate another hour or two to ensuring that three years was worth the wait.”

  “What do you—” Her mouth stopped working for a second, and her eyes went wide. “Are you implying that wasn’t long enough to be worth it?”

  “Are you saying it was?” he teased.

  She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or just fishing for a compliment.”

  He took a step, grabbed her hand again and gently pushed lips to her palm. “Neither.” He dropped her fingers and pulled her closer. “I just want to treat you how you deserve to be treated.” He dusted a kiss across her lips, and relished the little catch in her breath. “Satisfy you in ways that—” On the table, his phone jumped to life, startling him, and he shook his head and finished his sentence differently than he’d planned. “In ways that only my boss can perfectly interrupt, apparently.”

  Raven laughed as he released her, but before he could turn fully away, one of her hands shot out to clasp his forearm. “Hey, Lucien? Just in case I don’t get to tell you before Sergeant Gray interrupts again...it was worth it, and I happen to be very satisfied.”

  As he snapped up the phone and prepared to issue a greeting, he had to remind himself to keep his grin from entering his voice.

  Very satisfied.

  Hearing it made his heart expand. It also made him realize something. In spite of all the perfection, he did have one regret. He hadn’t yet told her he loved her.

  Chapter 16

  With the silent, self-directed promise to get the declaration out, Lucien was sure it was going to be hard to stop himself from trying to hurry through the conversation with his boss, no matter what the other man had to tell him. As soon as he’d offered his greeting, though, the awkward throat clear on the other end told him it wasn’t going to be so simple, because it wasn’t his boss at all.

  “Uh. Detective Match?” said a vaguely familiar voice.

  It only took him a second to place it. Sally’s alleged boyfriend.

  “Mr. Gallant? Is that you?” Lucien said.

  “Yeah. It’s me.”

  “Everything all right? Did you make it to the station all right?”

  “I did. Gave a statement, and they told me to stay close in case they had any more questions, or in case I thought of anything. I’m at Sally’s place now. They said it was all clear, but they put a car outside, just in case.”

  Henry sounded worried, and Lucien offered an automatic reassurance. “That sounds about right, Mr. Gallant. They clear the scene and do their thing quicker than most people think. That being said...is there something I can do for you?”

  “I did just remember something, and it might be nothing, but... I guess it could be important, too. I tried to call the number they gave me, but I got voice mail. I didn’t wanna wait, just in case.”

  “Understandable.”

  Raven gave Lucien a nudge, then pointed emphatically at the phone. He nodded his understanding and tapped the screen, then set the phone back on the table and sat on the couch. Raven joined him.

  “Okay, Mr. Gallant,” he said. “I’ve got you on speaker again. Go ahead and hit me with the details.”

  “A couple of weeks ago, Sally did one of those mail-order DNA tests.”

  Lucien tensed and exchanged a look with Raven. He was already sure of what Sally’s boyfriend was about tell him.

  “And?” he prodded. “What were the results?”

  There was a pause. “I dunno.”

  “You don’t know what?”

  “The results. That’s why I thought it might matter.”

  Lucien gritted his teeth and tried not to let his frustration seep into his reply. “I’m not following, Mr. Gallant. If you aren’t aware of the results, how could they be significant?”

  “Oh.” A sigh carried through. “Sorry, Detective. I think I’m overtired, and quite frankly, I’m worried as all hell about Sally. Starting to feel like I can’t keep things straight.” He sighed again. “Anyway, the guy at the station was asking me if Sally has any brothers or sisters, and I said no. Because she doesn’t. She told me her mom couldn’t have any more children.”

  “Okay.”

  “Then she got that DNA test done, and I was on the phone with her when she got the results via email. She was excited at first, but then she got a little weird. I asked her what was wrong, and she changed the subject. So I just thought...” There was a shrug in the trail-off of his words. “It could matter, right? I’ve seen TV shows where stuff like that happens.”

  Now it wasn’t irritation that tried to filter through. It was excitement.

  “It absolutely could matter,” Lucien told Henry.

  “Yeah?”

  “Definitely.”

  Henry’s relief was palpable, even though the phone. “That’s good. Great. Is there anything else I can do?”

  “Maybe just check one quick thing for me,” Lucien replied.

  “Yeah. Name it.”

  “I’m assuming forensics would’ve grabbed it, but before I start making calls...is Sally’s computer there?”

  Henry’s immediate reply surprised him. “Your forensics guys don’t have it. They can’t have it. Someone stole it this morning. She sent me a text and said she thought she’d left it in her car overnight, and when she went out to check, it was gone.”

  Lucien’s finger strummed against his knee. “Did you tell the folks at the station?”

 
; “Twice.”

  “Okay. I really appreciate all of this. I promise to do what I can.”

  “Thank you.” There was a pause, and then Henry said, “Detective Match?”

  “Yes?”

  “I really want her to be okay. I need her to be okay, if I’m being honest,” the other man admitted. “I’m scared. And I’m not even sure she knows how much she matters to me.”

  Lucien forced himself not to steal a look at Raven. He knew precisely how Henry Gallant felt, and he had a feeling that if he glanced her way, it would be written all over his face.

  “Talk to you soon, Mr. Gallant,” he said, then clicked off the phone, his mind and his heart engaging in a quick battle.

  He wanted to tell her right then and there. He didn’t want another moment to slip by without her knowing precisely what was in his heart. Contradictorily, though, he didn’t want the first time he said it to be overshadowed by the circumstances. Or for her to think—even for a single second—that he was only declaring it because of the life-and-death pressure. In the end, he was saved from having to make a hard-and-fast decision by the fact that Raven pointed to his phone.

  “You’re buzzing again,” she told him.

  He glanced down and realized she was right. A text message from Sergeant Gray had come through, but Lucien been oblivious to the vibration in his hand. With a rueful shrug, he swiped his thumb over the screen, and read through the unusually long message.

  “Bad news?” she asked right away, her tone neutral, but her expression tense.

  “Some bad news and some great news.”

  “Please, please start with the great.”

  “They found Juanita Rickson. Alive. She was at the pool-table-manufacturing place, just like we suspected.”

  Relief flooded into Raven’s face. “Oh, thank God.”

  “Sergeant said she’s doing okay. No life-threatening injuries, but they’ve got her sedated.”

  “Has she had a chance to see Jim?”

  “If not, hopefully they’ll find a way to connect them soon. Fingers crossed for side-by-side beds,” he said with a small smile.

  “Best of a bad situation, I guess,” she replied. “Did Hanes leave a clue for Sally?”

  “Yep. Sergeant’s going to send me a picture shortly. He said in the meantime, I’d probably want to know that it was written in ash. The burn kind, not the tree.”

  “Ash,” Raven murmured, closing her eyes for a second, then opening them and frowning. “What was the bad news?”

  Lucien felt his mouth set into a line. “Press.”

  “Press?” she repeated. “Someone leaked the story?”

  “Yeah. The Hanes bit was already out there because of the APB. But the sergeant said someone hinted that he may have started killing again, and now it’s bogging things down because a group of reporters is trying to get the scoop. Someone tailed the officers who went after Juanita. Now Gray’s been asked by the mayor to give an official statement.”

  “That’s not good news for Sally.”

  “Agreed.”

  “I feel like we need to do something.” Her frustration was clear in her voice, and Lucien reached over to give her knee a reassuring squeeze.

  “We are doing something. Jim and Juanita were found because of your ideas,” he reminded her.

  Her face only sank more. “How do you keep going with it all, Lucien?”

  “All what, sweetheart?”

  “The work. Trying to solve cases like this. You finish one, and another comes along, and you solve it, but then there’s another. And every time there’s a risk that you won’t solve it. It’s just so overwhelming.”

  “It can be overwhelming. Intimidating and depressing, too.”

  She made a face. “Not really helping.”

  “Look...” He moved his hand up to thread his fingers through hers. “There are cases that don’t get solved, bad guys who go free and things that never leave you. Sometimes, you get five in row, and four never get wrapped up. But you have to keep going, because that single case did. And on the next five, that other single one might not get solved if you give up. It’s the same with your job, isn’t it? You don’t walk away from your client if they don’t have a breakthrough on the first session.”

  “No. Definitely not.”

  “Even when it’s hard, the rewards outweigh the frustration.”

  He kissed the back of her hand, then let her go as his phone signaled another incoming message. It was the promised photo from Sergeant Gray. A quick click zoomed in on the soot-colored words, which were scrawled over a slab of broken concrete.

  SHORTEST TO TALLEST, SIDE BY SIDE. TAKING ONE IS THE ONLY CHOICE.

  When he held it out for Raven to see, she exhaled a shaky breath and leaned against him. “I know we’re focusing on what the message is written with...but I can help but wonder what the words mean, too. Do you think Hanes would really write just random thought?”

  “Not in the slightest,” Lucien admitted. “But we have to work with what we know will bring us results.”

  “I guess so.” She sat back up. “So what does the ash mean? Something to do with the fire that supposedly killed Hanes’s parents?”

  “It’s the best place to start. Do you know much about Sally?”

  “No. Just what her parents have told me. And it’s definitely not enough to figure out what her life has to do with ash.”

  “Okay. Different solution them. Talking to Juanita’s not feasible at the moment, and even if Jim’s still lucid, he probably doesn’t need the added stress, so if we can find a way around that...” He trailed off as an idea popped to mind. “I can’t believe I’m going to suggest this—I think we should take a drive over to Sally’s place and take a look around for anything that might relate to ash or fire.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. It’s not an active crime scene, and Sally’s boyfriend is there. He might have info for us, too. But don’t get too excited,” he said. “I’m probably going to get my butt handed to me when the sergeant finds out. I’ll be living on the streets.”

  She jumped to her feet and held out her hand, and then—with an utterly serious look on her face—replied, “Don’t worry. I make enough money to support both of us.”

  * * *

  Raven kept her mouth shut for most of the ride over to Sally’s place.

  Her blurt-out—which more or less equaled an offer to live together—was bad enough, considering that they hadn’t even started to discuss the consequences of sleeping together.

  Are there consequences? She clamped her teeth together and refused to give in to the need to ask, replying to the question silently on her own. Of course there are consequences. But another silent moment prompted a follow-up question. But what are they? And why didn’t we talk about it?

  She could hazard a guess as to her own reasons. Lying next to him had just felt too normal to prompt a “what now” conversation. It didn’t feel like a momentous change. Never mind that in her head, it should’ve altered everything. It had, the hundred times she’d imagined it. But in reality, it was like her whole life sighed contentedly. Finally. And that was that.

  But now, she wondered if it was too much of an assumption to think it was the same for him. And she couldn’t say anything. She was afraid if she did, she’d give away the three-word sentence that kept playing through her mind.

  Her mouth went a little dry at the thought.

  She loved him. It wasn’t ever a question. She’d loved him for the two months they’d lived together. She’d loved him for the three years they’d spent apart. But feeling it and saying it were two different things.

  She stole the smallest glance of Lucien’s profile. As always, he was heartbreakingly handsome. His exterior matched his interior, too. Just the right mix of hard and soft, strong and kind. Yes, she loved him. S
o much that it was almost painful. But even if sleeping together hadn’t changed anything, admitting it aloud would undoubtedly set a new course. One where—in spite of his assurance that he liked being her bodyguard—he might be forced to make a choice.

  I love you.

  In a way, it was an ultimatum. Because there was no going back. Either someone said it back, or they didn’t. If they did, it meant something big. A commitment. And if they didn’t say it back...

  Raven swallowed. Her heart couldn’t take the thought, so she focused her gaze out the window and tried to concentrate on something other than her feelings for Lucien.

  At least keeping silent has the added bonus of not drawing attention to the fact that I really shouldn’t be here at all, she reasoned.

  It was true. She couldn’t quite shake the worry Lucien was going to change his mind about their course of action. He’d already violated more than a few rules, and she was afraid that he was going to come to his senses at any moment. That he’d remember that aside from her personal investment in the Hanes case, she had no reason to be involved. He could call her a “consultant” all he wanted, but when it came down to it, she was just a civilian.

  A civilian who’s in love with the cop who’s working her case.

  “Shut up.” She accidentally muttered it aloud, then blushed as Lucien immediately turned her way.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” she lied quickly. “I think we’re almost there.” She pointed to the four-way stop just ahead. “If that’s Diver Avenue, then we need to go left.”

  Sure enough, as they reached the red sign, she could see that she was right. Lucien flicked on the turn signal, eased into the intersection then tapped the gas as they rounded the corner. But he slowed again almost right away.

  “That’s strange,” he murmured.

  Raven’s heart tapped a nervous beat. “What?”

  “Henry said there was a patrol car stationed outside. I don’t see one.”

  Raven scanned the street. There were a number of cars parked up and down the side, and a few in driveways, too. But none of them was topped with blue and red, and none looked like an unmarked vehicle, either. The nervous tap in her chest became a thrum.