by Geri Foster
Lincoln leaned back, lifting the front legs of his chair off the floor. “Why didn’t you guys notice this before?”
Michael stretched his back. “We weren’t looking for it. It’s very rare for serial killers to work in pairs. They’re usually loners by nature. Keeping their killings a secret is part of the excitement.”
Lincoln studied his beer. “My question is, who did he get to partner up with him after all these years? Who would agree to do what he does?”
“Lots of crazies out there,” Mia said. “Just check out our files. You’d be completely amazed at what people do.”
Lincoln cleared his throat and put his hands on the table. “Okay, what’s our next move? How do we track these guys down and bring them to justice?”
“First,” Michael began, “you have to realize there are two different men with two different agendas. One is our old killer who loves kidnapping young girls and murdering them in a ritualistic act. The other is younger, less talented, more impetuous.”
Lincoln thought on that. “He’s been at it less time. He doesn’t have the skill, the training, or the finesse to do a better job. He simply wants to kill for the sake of killing.”
“Yes,” Michael said, staring at Mia. “But which one of them wants to kill you, and why?”
“I don’t know. I can’t honestly answer that question. It must be the new killer. The older one has had plenty of opportunities to come after me.”
“I want to go to Dallas tomorrow,” Lincoln stated with conviction. “We need to find where our guy’s been for twenty years. I have a feeling it’s jail.”
“You think he got caught?” Mia asked, her eyes big.
“Not for the killings. We would’ve been called in on that. But what if something else sent him to prison? What if he committed another crime and got caught?”
Mia let out a deep breath. “I see myself rummaging through a lot of paperwork.”
Lincoln stood and held out his hand to Mia. “I want to know exactly where his hunting grounds are. Also, I’d like to get a team out in that area where we found the first body to look for more graves. With new techniques, equipment, and better trained dogs, we might get lucky.”
They said goodbye to Michael, thanked him for his insight, and left the bar. Lucas met them in the parking lot.
Lincoln approached. “See anything?”
“Nothing. I decided to wait out here until you left just to make sure you were safe. If he was here, he’s gone. I flashlighted the interior of every car in the lot and came up with nothing.”
“We’ll keep our eyes open.”
Lucas’s frosted breath puffed out into the night air. “Be careful. Get to the hotel, lock the door, and stay put.”
“Yeah. I think we’ll grab a pizza and be done for the night.” Lincoln slid into the car and looked over at Mia. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Will a pizza do?”
She rubbed her stomach. “Right now, anything’s fine as long as it’s food.”
“How’s your arm,” he asked, genuinely concerned. “You doing okay?”
She shoved her hair out of her face. “I’m taking a pill when I get to the room.”
Heading back toward Main Street, they called in an order and picked it up on the way to the motel. Lincoln didn’t feel good about sitting in a pizzeria with two huge square glass windows and no place to hide.
At the motel, he drove around the lot several times without noticing anything unusual. Finally, they entered her room, and after a quick check, they put the pizza down along with two drinks. Pulling up chairs, they opened the box and both sighed.
The spicy aroma of oregano and parmesan cheese filled the air. Lincoln’s mouth watered. “This looks delicious.” He took a slice and bit in, slowly chewing as he moaned the whole time.
“Is it good?” Mia asked, taking her own slice. Chewing slowly, she closed her eyes. “Oh, this tastes real Italian. And I’m so hungry.”
“Me too.” He glanced at her, his brows crumpled. “Did we have lunch today?”
“I don’t remember, but I had a stale donut when I first got to the office.” She wrinkled her nose. “It was from yesterday and I threw it in the trash because it was so hard.”
“Well, now, right before bedtime we’re stuffing ourselves. That’s going to make sleeping a challenge.”
She titled her head. “I bet you eat a whole roll of Tums before turning in tonight.”
“Probably. When I was younger I had a cast iron stomach.” He shook his head. “But if I eat before I turn in now, I don’t sleep as well.”
“Usually, I don’t eat after seven. Tonight, I’m breaking the rules.”
He lifted his brows and slid her a sly grin. “All the rules?”
* * *
They finished up and set the empty pizza box outside in the hall so it didn’t continue to smell up the room. While it was delicious in the beginning, now they were both full and it didn’t smell as appetizing as before.
She laid across her bed and propped her head on her palm. “What did you think of Michael?”
“He’s more familiar with this case than we are. He worked it a long time.”
“I think his biggest regret is that he never caught the man responsible for killing all those little girls. I imagine it must’ve broken his heart every time he had to tell a dead child’s parents.”
“That takes a toll,” Lincoln said. “Makes a man old before his time. I know. I’ve made a few of those myself. There’s no good way to do it.”
“And imagine he did it over twenty times.”
Lincoln scoffed. “That we know of.”
“Yeah, that’s been my big concern. Exactly how many little girls are lying in the ground unaccounted for?”
“There were a lot of missing children during that time, but if we can’t find the bodies, how can we claim he murdered them?”
“Maybe in Dallas tomorrow we’ll find out more. Also,” Mia added, “let’s go to Denton. The crimes were committed around here. While Dallas’s office worked it a lot, there were good agents here who might have something to offer.”
“Good idea.” Lincoln stood and stretched. He walked to the window and looked out. Nothing out of the ordinary, but he didn’t want to become complacent about this. Some crazed man out there wanted Mia dead and they’d have at go through him first.
“Well, I guess I’d better go to my room and get ready for bed. I’m leaving the door unlocked in case you need anything.”
“That’s not necessary,” she complained. “I—"
He held up his hands. “I know. You’re an FBI agent and as good as any man. But you were shot at. I take that seriously and I want you to be protected. So the door stays unlocked. If not for your peace of mind, then mine.”
She nodded as he walked across the room, opened the door, then left it slightly ajar behind him. She instantly undressed and jumped in the shower. She’d had a hard day and the warm water beating against her back muscles felt wonderful. She just had to be careful to keep her arm dry.
She stood there for a few moments, allowing her body to relax and get ready for sleep. She braced her hands against the tiled wall and lifted her face to the water.
After a while, she soaped up, rinsed, and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed a towel when she heard a sound. Pressing the linen against her body, she called out, “Lincoln, is that you?”
Nothing.
She reached over and locked the bathroom door then moved back, listening. She was positive someone was in her room and she didn’t think it was Lincoln. He wouldn’t come in without letting her know.
Holding her breath, she waited. If someone wanted her dead, it wouldn’t take much to blow a hole through the door and kill her. Slowly, she stepped back into the tub and laid down flat, struggling to control her breathing. She expected any minute for the door to be smashed opened and a killer to be standing there staring at her.
A door slammed and the shower
curtain was slung open. Lincoln stood above her, a dark scowl on his face. “You left your door open?”
Lincoln must’ve heard. That meant he wasn’t in his shower yet. Thank God.
“Of course not. I don’t know who it was or how they got in my room.” She sat up, holding the towel against her.
“The only reason I got here in time is because the adjoining door moved slightly when they opened your door.”
“What the hell is going on? How did someone get in here?”
“I don’t know,” Lincoln said, helping her out of the tub. “But he did and he could’ve killed you.”
She struggled to keep the towel covering everything as he helped her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Not sure what to do, she glanced up at him. “What do you think?”
“I think your damn weapon should’ve been in the bathroom with you.” He pointed to the table beside her bed. “You know someone is gunning for you and here it is on the nightstand. It damn sure won’t save your life there.”
She hadn’t thought of that and suddenly felt horribly inept. When did she become so careless? “I wasn’t thinking,” she whispered.
“Your damn right, you weren’t.”
Lowering her head, she muttered, “Let me get dressed.”
“Throw on some clothes. You’re sleeping in my room tonight. That’s the only way I can think to keep you safe.”
“I can’t sleep with you.”
“The hell you can’t.” He raised his voice. “I’m not playing around here, Mia. I don’t want to attend your funeral.” He pointed to the door. “That bastard wants you dead, and he’s working overtime to get it done.”
“But I can...”
“Save it. I know. You can take care of yourself. Well, not tonight. Hurry up. I want to get some sleep.”
He marched out the door like she had no option but to do as he said. She didn’t like that attitude, but she liked being shot at less.
Against her better judgement, she slipped on her warm pajamas and padded across to his room. He was on the phone, talking to the front desk clerk. Evidently, they’d agreed to leave everything until in the morning.
Wearing a pair of tight, black jockey shorts, he sat on the edge of the bed and put his gun beneath his pillow. Mia had little choice but to crawl in beside him. She pulled the covers up and turned her back to him.
“Did you take a pain pill?” he said, lowering his tone. “The doc said you should take one tonight.”
“I forgot all about my arm, so it must not hurt that much.”
He leaned over her, his dimples deepening. “You aren’t trying to play Super Woman again, are you?”
She shoved him away. “No.”
“Did you lock the adjoining room?”
“Yes.”
He moved to the opposite side of the bed. “Good. We should be safe for tonight. Tomorrow, we make a better plan.”
Mia flipped on her back. “What do you mean?”
“We’ve got to find a way to keep you safe or find the idiot out to get you. We can’t go on like this. I won’t have him busting into our motel rooms.”
She was a lot more scared than she let him know. “How can we stop him?”
“He seems to know way too much about us. Like how we happened to be here in a motel and in exactly which room. No one should know that but us.”
“You said he’d been following us.”
“Well, that ends tomorrow too. No more him having the upper hand.”
“I hope you have a good plan. We’re going to need it. I have no idea how he broke into my room. The door was securely locked.”
“Did you have the night latch secure?”
“I’m not sure.”
Mia couldn’t see his expression because he kept his back to her. “You should’ve been. All he had to do was get a key card from downstairs.”
“But why would they give him a key to my room?”
“Maybe they didn’t. Could be he just took it.”
“How?” Nothing was that simple.
“The clerk has to step away from the front desk occasionally. Maybe the guy used that opportunity to make his move.”
“And that’s when he found out what room I was in?”
“Yeah, or he could’ve killed me as well. But like I’ve said all along, it’s you he wants. At first, I thought he wanted to kidnap you for some reason. Maybe torture you, treat you like one of his other victims, but now I’m not so sure.”
Chapter 11
Lincoln woke to a very warm body pressed against him with an arm tossed over his chest and a set of breasts tattooed to his side. Her long hair tickled his nose and the scent of her clean body had his standing up and taking notice.
She moaned softly then threw her leg over his. He hoped she was comfortable because he damn sure wasn’t. He grew more uneasy as the minutes ticked by. Damn, she felt good snuggled up next to him.
So good, in fact, he stayed perfectly still so as not to disturb her and her move away. His thoughts liked that, and so did the rest of him. In a way, it told him he was getting back to the human race. Since the death of his wife, Lincoln hadn’t felt anything. The thought of a woman in his bed hadn’t crossed his mind.
Now, he knew he’d be thinking about Mia’s petite body against his all day long.
She stretched and blinked several times before realizing exactly where she was and how his body was responding to her closeness. He looked down and their eyes clashed. “You might want to move,” he suggested softly. “It’s getting pretty serious beneath the sheets. On my part, anyway.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She gasped.
“I’m not. But unless you want this to go further, I suggest you go to your room and get dressed.”
Mia was out of his room in a flash, but not before he caught a glimpse of her sexy black panties. With the door closed, he jumped in the shower and quickly dressed. Then he knocked and told Mia to come in and dress in his room since her door wasn’t secure.
She agreed and quickly donned her work clothes. She pulled her hair back and winced when she lifted up her arm. Groaning, she stopped and cradled it.
Lincoln saw her discomfort and moved behind her and took the brush out of her hand. “Here. Let me do that.”
“You know how to make a ponytail?” she asked, as if it was an impossible task for a man.
“You forget. I have a niece I love like my own. I’ve fixed her hair a dozen times. But, bear in mind, it isn’t going to look as good as when you do it.”
He put the band between his teeth, gathered up all the strands then slipped it in tight as a pro.
She looked in the mirror and smiled. “Not bad, Lincoln. Not bad at all.”
“See, you don’t know all my talents.”
Mia applied a hint of lipstick, and they left.
Lucas waited for them in the lobby. “I’m getting tired of chasing after you guys,” he said with a frown that would stop an eight day clock. “What happened last night?”
Lincoln explained while Mia walked over and poured three cups of coffee from the breakfast bar. They joined her at a small table away from the other guests.
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Lincoln said, staring down into his cup. “But like I said, a man broke into Mia’s room. Me acting so quickly might’ve saved her life.”
“And neither of you have any idea who it was and why they wanted her?”
Mia shook her head. “None. I can’t imagine why now, after all these years, the Wise County Child Killer would come after me.”
Lincoln stirred his coffee. “Last night we met with the lead FBI agent who worked the case before he retired and we came up with the idea that maybe there are two killers working together.”
Lucas leaned back and let out a troubled breath. “That’s not what I want to hear. Two killers on the loose.”
“I know,” Lincoln said. “It kind of turns my stomach, but the three killings so far are too different to be the same guy.”
“Not according to the ME,” Lucas said. “She didn’t notice a big change in anything.”
“What about him just dumping the bodies?” Mia challenged. “Maybe the WCCK is doing the killing and another guy is getting rid of the bodies.”
“Could be,” Lincoln uttered. “I worried about the bodies being discarded the way the last two were. That doesn’t fit his MO.” Lincoln put down his cup. “We’re going to Dallas today to see if there is even a hint this guy might have had a partner. If that’s the case, we’re in a whole different ballgame.”
“Yeah,” Lucas said, averting his gaze. “That’s double the trouble.”
“We’ll let you know what we find out in Dallas,” Mia said, coming to her feet. “But we need to leave. I can’t stay here anymore.”
She walked toward the door and Lucas and Lincoln exchanged a glance. “She’s doing everything she can to hide it,” Lincoln said. “But she’s scared.”
“And with good reason. Stay close to her. Austin isn’t going to be happy if one of his agents gets murdered.”
“I’m on it.”
“Where do you two plan to hide out?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet, but I’m working on it. I’ll let you know.” That said, Lincoln rushed to catch up with Mia. He didn’t want her walking into the parking lot alone.
* * *
Mia was still shaken from the night before, but she hoped Lincoln didn’t notice. Would she be able to do this much longer? Keep up this ruse of being a brave FBI agent when she could’ve died in a hotel room the night before?
Also, there was the uncomfortable situation of waking up with her body wrapped around Lincoln’s. She was practically on top of the guy, for crying out loud. Embarrassment didn’t quite describe her discomfort.
It startled her that she felt totally comfortable being next to him and could’ve spent the whole day like that. But, she couldn’t afford to become involved with a man like Lincoln. He was walking wounded. He’d not gotten over his wife’s death yet and she didn’t want to be the bandage that helped him heal.