Authors: Georgia Tribell
He was wearing khakis pants, dress shirt and a leather
bomber jacket, like ninety percent of the businessmen who worked in this town.
That was where the similarities ended. It could be the long blond hair that was
carefully tied back, or the diamond earring that flashed in his ear, but more
likely it was the aura of danger, self-confidence and power he emitted that
told her he was a born fighter.
It wasn’t any of this that unnerved her—it was the sexual
awareness running wild and rampant through her body because of him. It was all
she could do not to jump him right here and that angered her even more.
“The kiss was uncalled for.” Eris was thankful her voice
didn’t crack.
“That might be true, but you didn’t have to bite me. I’m not
going to hurt you.”
“And how was I to know that?”
He held up his hands in surrender as he stepped back. “You
have me there, but that was the object of this little lesson.”
“I don’t need you to teach me anything.” Eris stayed out of
arm’s reach as she made her way past him and moved toward Bourbon Street. She
would feel more in control once they were out of the alley and back in the
open. She kept an eye on him as he followed her to the street and then she
turned, purposely put her back to him and started walking away. She’d only
taken a couple of steps when he caught up and fell into step beside her.
“What are you doing?” she snapped as his arm brushed against
hers and fire traveled through her body.
“Walking with you, making sure you’re safe.”
Eris stopped and turned to face her self-appointed
bodyguard. “I don’t need anyone taking care of me.”
“Well, I happen to think you do. Where are you headed?”
“Home. I’m tired and my very large,
professional-body-building, gun-toting family is expecting me at any moment.
Don’t feel you need to come along, it’s only a few blocks.” She hoped he would
take the hint but doubted it.
“Sounds good,” he said, matching her stride as she continued
on her way. “Maybe I can tell them they shouldn’t let you roam about alone late
at night.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s not a safe area, especially in the dark alleys. What
the hell were you doing there anyway?”
“I’ll have you know I grew up right here, in the middle of
the French Quarter,” she answered, ignoring his question. “I know it like the
back of my hand.”
“Then you must be a few bricks short to ignore the dangers.”
She ground her teeth as they rounded another corner. “
You’re
out all alone.”
“Yeah, but…”
“Let me guess—you’re a man. That automatically makes doing
stupid things acceptable.” She stopped in front of an old apartment building,
which had seen better days, and turned to face her nemesis. “You’re not my
father, brother, husband or lawyer—so I don’t have to explain dick to you.” She
smiled sweetly up at him. “Good night.”
She tried to go inside but before she could turn her back on
him, the hunk bent down so she was looking into vivid blue eyes that, at the
moment, flashed with suppressed anger. “I was simply trying to do a good deed.
Shoot me for being concerned that you might end up as the town’s next crime
statistic.”
Eris took a step back from his penetrating gaze and away
from the citrus scent that threatened to lure her in for another taste of those
wonderful lips. “Well, I’m not your concern, now am I?”
With that said, she turned and entered the building. The
screen door slammed behind her. She hit the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Unfortunately in her haste, she almost ran over Pixie, who lived on the second
floor. She mumbled a quick apology as she passed but wasn’t even sure Pixie
knew she was there. By the time she reached her third-floor apartment, her
nerves were down to a slight tingle. Maybe, in another hour or three, she would
forget the irritating man and be able to sleep.
“Don’t tell me you live here.”
Her keys fell to the floor and her heart skipped a beat as
she whirled around. “Make some noise the next time you sneak up on me.”
“I didn’t walk quietly, but a herd of elephants could come
through here and you wouldn’t know it with all the moaning coming from the pair
on the second floor.”
She met the hunk’s gaze and refused to blush. “Pixie’s
clients are sometimes in a hurry.”
“I understand urgency, but couldn’t they at least make it
inside?”
The heat in her cheeks was unavoidable. She knew exactly
what he’d seen. She’d seen it too, and unfortunately it put ideas into one’s
head, but she refused to turn away. “I happen to agree with you. We might live
in a town where sex is a major business but that doesn’t mean we want a
front-row view to every performance. Some things are better shared in private.”
He gave her a slow, sexy smile that reached his eyes and
made her heart quiver. For the first time all evening she relaxed and pushed
her current problems to the back of her mind. It felt so good not to be strung
tighter than a piano string. In a passing observation, she found it odd that
every time she was close to this man, a feeling of being safe and secure washed
over her. It was like being wrapped in her favorite worn bathrobe. She’d never
felt this way around anyone, not even her ex-fiancé. Suddenly she didn’t want
the evening to end. “Would you like to come in?”
He didn’t answer immediately as he bent to retrieve her keys
and handed them to her. Then he gave her that smile again.
“Sure.”
Her toes curled inside her boots as she opened the door and
entered her small one-bedroom apartment. She spotted Drew asleep on the couch
and, feeling the slight chill from the air conditioning, immediately went over
and covered the boy. She turned back to her guest and motioned for him to
follow her into the small alcove that was her kitchen. There they could have a
drink and talk quietly. Lord, she didn’t even know his name and she’d invited
him into her apartment. She must have gotten hit harder than she thought.
When she would have walked away, she noticed that he still
stood frozen in the open doorway, his gaze fixed on the boy.
When he finally turned to her, fire virtually shot from his
eyes as he motioned for her to come back out into the hallway. She declined and
pointed to the kitchen. In three steps he crossed the room, took her by the arm
and pulled her back out into the hall. Before the door closed, he started in on
her.
“So where exactly are those body-building, gun-toting
relatives of yours?”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Eris pulled her
arm free of his grip and briefly wondered if she’d been wrong about him.
“Answer me. Is someone, other than that small boy, home or
not?”
Eris frowned because she had no idea where this conversation
was headed. “I lied about there being a bunch of people waiting for me. What is
wrong with you?”
“You left a small child here alone.”
“He’s eight and I—”
“You don’t even live in a complex with a secured entrance.”
“I—”
“Do you realize anyone could walk in here and be inside that
apartment within three seconds flat?”
“Well—”
“You don’t even have a decent lock on the door.”
“I—”
“People like you disgust me. You shouldn’t be allowed to
reproduce.”
“
Excuse
me.” Eris started to blast right back at him
but before she could form a response, he turned and walked away. As he
disappeared down the stairs, she found her voice. “Well, good riddance to you.”
“Is that man going to come back and hurt us?”
Eris swung back to the door to see Drew standing there
holding a cooking pot by the handle. The pot was almost bigger than he was.
Immediately she reassured him. “He was angry, but he’s not going to hurt us.”
Instinctively she knew that without a doubt.
She took the pot from the boy then shut and locked the door.
“I told you as long as you’re with me, I’ll keep you safe. Now let’s get you
back to sleep. In the morning I’ll make us pancakes.”
Eris tucked the boy into his makeshift bed and stayed beside
him until he fell back to sleep. The poor child was fighting his own demons.
His mother had her own priorities and one of them wasn’t raising a son. A few
months back, Eris had opened her home and heart to the little boy. Now he
showed up whenever things got rough at home, which was a sad little apartment
on the bottom floor of the building.
When she finally heard his soft, steady breathing, she stood
and tucked the covers around him one last time before heading to her room.
Today was going to be another tough one and there weren’t many hours before the
sun would be coming up. She hoped to get at least a couple hours of sleep
tonight but doubted she would. Not after her encounter with a man who looked
like a Roman god but kissed like the devil.
* * * * *
The next morning, Rob paced the conference room of Titan
Security Agency and inhaled a badly needed cup of hot coffee. Sleep eluded him
the night before, which wasn’t a huge surprise. It’d been months since his last
good night’s sleep. The restlessness he’d felt prior to taking a two-month
overseas assignment hadn’t abated as he thought it would. Instead, he still
found himself wandering the streets in the wee hours of the morning.
Last night was different though. For a few precious moments
he’d felt connected to another human being, something he’d never felt, not even
with his mother. The emptiness that had plagued him his entire life had
dissipated, and for a few minutes he wasn’t an empty shell.
By the time he arrived back at his place, he found it
impossible to forget the woman and child he’d left at that apartment. Seeing
the child hit way too close to home and brought back memories he’d just as soon
remained dormant. It was the woman who haunted him though. Something about her
big, innocent green eyes seemed inconsistent with the negligent mother image he
knew all too well. There was even a part of him that wanted to believe she was
different.
Rob turned at the sound of a door opening to see his very
late partner, LD Carmouche, walk into the room. Rob was more than ready for a
distraction from his thoughts. “Can you give me some details about this case that
you so graciously agreed to without consulting me?”
LD gave him a sharp look and Rob could tell he was pushing
his friend’s patience. “I agreed to take this case for a lot of reasons, one of
them being income for the firm. As for the other reasons, we don’t have time to
go over them at the moment because I saw our clients pull into the parking lot
as I was walking into the building. I’ve assigned Matt to work the case with
you. He is joining us this morning because it looks like this will be an around-the-clock
assignment.” LD paused a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it in earlier.”
“Bad night?”
LD took a long drink of his coffee and rubbed his eyes. “Not
really, but I’ll trade you this client for one housebound and very pregnant
Marie.”
Rob didn’t miss the strained look on his friend’s face or
the forced lightness to his words. “How are she and the twins doing?”
“Good. The doctor is pleased with her progress, and the
babies, but keeping her still and happy is like trying to lasso a tornado.”
Rob laughed. “No thanks,
padre
. I think I’ll take
this assignment, no matter what it is. Last weekend when I was over there,
Marie was snapping out orders faster than most five-star generals.”
LD chuckled. “Tell me about it.”
“How’s Kayla handling all of this?”
LD smiled. “She can’t wait until the babies are out of
momma’s belly and she can play with them.”
Voices from the outside corridor carried to them.
“Is there anything I should know before we get started?” Rob
asked as the voices grew louder.
“A third party is hiring us to protect the subject, but it’s
important that it appear to everyone that the police are paying our salary.”
“Why?” Rob was more than a little confused at this point,
but he trusted his partner to know what was right.
“Later,” was the only response LD got out before two police
officers and Matt walked into the room.
A lone figure, looking at the ground as if she didn’t want
to be there, trailed slowly behind the three men, and Rob could only assume
this was their subject. He adjusted his tie as he moved closer to the
conference room door and wished he’d opted for something more comfortable
today.
Rob liked being close to his new “assignments” when they
were introduced for the first time. A person’s initial reaction to a situation
often spoke volumes about their personality. As the woman passed by him, she
looked up and vivid green eyes met his gaze.
“Oh shit,” Rob muttered as he silently cursed his partner to
hell—and then some.
Rob stared at the woman. Today her hair was light blue. The
same shade as the letters embossed across the chest of her yellow t-shirt that
he couldn’t help but read.
Not for sale.
Inquire about lease options.
“Please tell me you are not my appointed bodyguard.” Even
though she spoke softly, her words carried a great deal of sarcasm.
Rob rubbed his chin, deliberately delaying the answer. “It
looks like you’ll be stuck with me some of the time.”
“Great. Just great. I hope last night wasn’t a display of
you at your best. If it was, then I’m in big trouble. Unless you can be taught
to stand back and let me handle the situation.”
“Excuse me?” The woman’s audacity irritated and intrigued
him at the same time.
“Yesterday you were more of a hindrance than a help. Because
of you, I have a bruise on my chin this morning. Look.”
She took a step toward him, lifted her perfect small chin
and pointed to a slight discoloration with one long, elegant finger. Her scent
wrapped around him like a warm summer day. For a fleeting instant he was
tempted to reach out and caress the spot, to tell her how sorry he was then go
find the kid and teach the punk a lesson. Instead, he shoved his hands into his
trouser pockets and backed away.
“Do the two of you know each other?” Detective Randall Olson
asked as he poured a cup of coffee from the side table.
Rob could feel LD’s curious gaze.
“Not really.” Rob thought his answer was more than adequate
but the woman obviously felt otherwise.
“And we’d rather not get to know each other any more than we
do. Thank you very much.”
“Well, that’s too bad because you’re here and you’re going
to do as we say for once.” Olson pulled out a chair and pointed to it with a
jerk of his finger.
Rob narrowed his eyes at the detective. He didn’t
particularly like the woman either, but he really disliked hearing someone
speak to her in such a disrespectful tone.
“I’ve already told you I don’t want, don’t need and don’t
require a bodyguard. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
The woman stood her ground as she frowned right back at
Olson. It was obvious she didn’t think highly of the detective either, which
was the only thing in the universe they had in common.
“Now, Eris.” Detective Charles Tarrington moved forward,
placed a hand beneath her elbow and guided her toward a chair. “Remember our
agreement.”
Tarrington’s softly spoken words worked their magic and she
reluctantly sat in the chair. Rob had only met Tarrington on a couple of
occasions and was always surprised by how low-key the man was. So low in fact,
he’d all but forgotten the man was in the room.
Rob watched as the woman they called Eris slumped in the
chair in obvious defeat. The name was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t
place where he’d heard it.
“Fine, can we just get on with it?”
Tarrington patted her hand. “Yes, now I’ll make the
introductions.”
LD and Matt both shook hands with Eris DuBose when they were
introduced. Then it was Rob’s turn, but he didn’t offer his hand.
“Don’t you own Moon Glow Finders Ltd.?” LD asked as he
refilled his cup.
Eris kept her gaze fixed to Rob’s. “Yes. I specialize in
finding lost articles.”
“You also have an impressive record for finding lost
people,” LD continued as he took a seat across the conference table from her.
“Thank you.” Her gaze moved to LD and Rob could no longer
see her eyes. The fact he couldn’t read her expression bothered him. Casually,
he poured more coffee then moved to stand behind LD.
“If memory serves me correctly, you found a body about six
weeks back?” Matt asked as he pulled out a chair next to Eris and seated
himself.
Eris’ eyes clouded as she crossed her arms protectively over
her chest. “I did.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Tarrington stated from his position
at the head of the table.
“All of you know about the serial killer running loose in
our streets.” Olson walked right over his partner’s words, taking control of
the conversation. “Ms. DuBose has found a few of the bodies.”
“I’ve found all the bodies.” Eris’ tone was hard but Rob
noticed the way she rubbed her arms.
“We are here to discuss your protection, Eris, not how many
bodies you’ve found.” Olson’s tone was strained.
Rob placed his mug on the table and walked across the room.
“I happen to think it’s information these men will want and
need. I know I get really mad when people aren’t upfront with me. It’s their
lives they’re putting on the line, and in my opinion—”
Olson cut off Eris’ words. “Nobody asked for your opinion,
girlie.”
“That’s enough, Detective Olson.” Rob stood behind Eris with
his jacket in his hands. “You can either speak in a civil tone to Ms. DuBose or
leave. Either way, understand that I will not tolerate further disrespect. Do I
make myself clear?”
Olson turned red with suppressed anger but gave a curt nod.
“Good.” Rob looked down to see Eris watching him over her
shoulder. Her emerald eyes were wide with surprise. He dropped his jacket
around her shoulders and watched her eyes grow even wider.
She pulled the jacket tight around her and flashed him a
shaky smile. “Thanks.”
Rob stepped back as she turned back to the others, confident
lightning was going to strike any second. Briefly he wondered why he’d given
her the jacket, because he didn’t like taking care of others. Then he turned
his attention back to why they were there. “Why don’t you try telling us the
whole story then maybe we can decide how best to help?”
Olson strutted around the room a couple of times, finally
taking a seat at the table across from Tarrington. Rob took the empty chair to
Eris’ right, putting her between him and Matt.
“Ms. DuBose found the four known victims of our serial
killer. If there are more victims out there, we don’t know about them,” Olson
stated.
“Serial killers normally work in a pattern or leave behind a
signature piece. They want people to know it’s them,” Matt commented as he
opened a notebook and started writing.
“True,” Tarrington answered. “This one has left his calling
card so to speak, but we aren’t at liberty to tell you what it is. We are
trying to keep that piece of information away from the news media. The fewer
people who know, the less chance of a leak.”
“I can accept that, but how are we to protect Ms. DuBose if
you don’t give us enough information to work with?” LD asked as he studied the
two detectives and continued. “Knowing something about the killer will go a
long way toward helping us protect her. Otherwise, we’re going to have to keep
the entire population of New Orleans away from her and in the process of doing
that, we’ll miss the obvious.” LD directed his statement to Olson.
Reluctantly Olson slid an envelope across the table. “This
is the FBI profile of the killer.”
The group sat silently as LD reviewed the information then
gave it to Matt, who read it then passed it to Rob. He started to read the
contents but was distracted when Eris laughed. He glanced up and saw Matt and
Eris with their heads bent together as they whispered like old friends.
The pair didn’t seem to be having a problem getting along,
which was great because Rob might be able to convince Matt to take longer
shifts. At that moment, Eris leaned even closer to Matt and the man’s eyes
dipped to the low neckline of her shirt.
Rob forced his attention back to the papers in front of him
and reminded himself that Matt was a dependable employee. He was the least
likely to do anything against company policy, such as sleep with a client. Not
that he cared, Rob told himself. Eris wasn’t his type.
Rob pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and did a
quick read of the document then closed the file. “This could be any male who
walks the streets of this town.”
Olson rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while he
tapped the fingers of his other on the table. “I know. It’s as if this guy
appeared out of nowhere and started killing. The FBI doesn’t have any matches
in their database. We’ve put out a bulletin to other police departments here in
Louisiana and the surrounding states, but so far all responses have been
negative.”
“Serial killers normally take years perfecting their skills.
Once their signature is identified, you can backtrack to earlier unsolved
cases,” LD stated.
“Believe me, we know that. We’ve tried to find any
connection to old cases that we could. But it’s like this guy has been planning
this for years then one day—bam, we have a fully matured serial killer on our
hands.”
“I worked a couple of these cases while I was with the FBI.
If you’d like, I could review the files for you. A fresh set of eyes couldn’t
hurt.” Rob noticed that his offer appeared to make Olson nervous.
“I’d like that, but we’re under strict orders from the
police chief to keep the extent of Titan’s involvement to a minimum. The chief
doesn’t want it to look as if we’re outsourcing our work.”
“We are hiring Titan to protect Ms. DuBose. Nothing more,”
Tarrington said.
“We’re qualified to do a lot more than look after one
woman.” There was the slightest hint of agitation in LD’s voice.
“We know that, but our problem at the moment is we don’t
have the manpower to devote to guarding Ms. DuBose. More importantly, we don’t
want the public to know we’re having her guarded,” Tarrington added.
“What makes you think that Ms. DuBose might be in danger?”
Rob asked.
Eris turned and looked him directly in the eyes. “Orbit, the
killer’s last victim, was my mentor and close friend. I’m going to see this
monster captured and punished for what she’s done.”
Rob turned to look at her. “She?”
“The killer’s a woman,” she stated with confidence.
Before Rob could reply, Olson continued. “We’ve agreed to
allow Eris to continue working the case from a safe distance but only if she
agrees to protection.” Olson made it clear he didn’t like the idea.
Rob didn’t miss the look of loathing that Eris gave Olson.
“It’s obvious that you don’t want our help, Ms. DuBose, so why are you agreeing
to it?”
“There are times when it’s best to go with the flow.”
“Were you going with the flow last night at Indulgence?” Rob
asked, and watched her eyes dart over to Olson.
“This conversation isn’t about last night,” Eris replied in
a terse tone.
Olson fumed. “You told us you were staying in, that you
wouldn’t leave your place until we came for you this morning. Do I need to
remind you of the consequences of not following our mandate?”
“You’ve already made that perfectly clear.” Eris turned away
from Olson and gazed out the window.
“You went out alone even after being warned of the danger?”
Rob couldn’t keep the censure out of his voice and knew she heard it by the way
she turned to glare at him.
“I had my reasons.”
“Now you see why we need your team to focus on protecting
Ms. DuBose while she’s off doing her thing. While you’re doing that, those of
us on the task force will spend our time searching for the killer.” Olson
looked overly pleased about her reaction as Tarrington fidgeted with a folder
that lay on the table in front of him. “Now who’s taking the day shift and
who’s stuck with nights? Tarrington and I don’t have all day.”
Rob’s palms became instantly sweaty at the prospect of being
around this woman all night.
“You said there was going to be someone with me during the
daylight hours while I investigate the crime, not someone lurking over me
24/7.” Eris’ indignant voice broke the silence.
“Do you think after last night’s escape we are going to
trust you to stay put until morning?” Tarrington asked in a low-key, logical
voice.
Rob watched the muscles in her jaw work as she visibly
forced her temper to stay under control.
“Fine, I can deal with that so long as I don’t have to stay
with
him
.” She pointed one perfectly manicured nail at Rob.
He took exception to the way she emphasized her point and
made it sound as if he were a plague to be avoided. Before he could add
anything to the conversation, she kept going.
“He cannot stay with me at night.”
Yes, for once the woman was speaking clearly and they
actually agreed on something. There was no way he could spend the night with
her and keep his sanity.
“Not a problem, Rob can stay with you for the rest of the
day and Matt will relieve him at seven this evening. Is there a problem with
either of you about this?” LD looked from one man to the other.
“Not a problem for me.” Matt gave Eris his famous playboy
smile.
Rob sat there silently, wondering if he should take the
night shift because the last thing their fledgling company needed was a
reputation for seducing the clientele.
“Is there a problem, Rob?”
Rob pulled his gaze away from the couple whose heads were
back together, busily holding a private conversation. He reminded himself again
that Matt was a good employee and never once gave them reason to think
otherwise. “No problem. It sounds like a workable plan.”
“Yes, that will be acceptable.” Eris directed her words to
LD.
Rob arched an eyebrow at the woman and wondered if she ever
kept her opinions to herself.
Tarrington slipped a folder across the table toward Eris.
“We need to get going, but we have something for you to look at, Ms. DuBose.”
Eris opened the file and began reading the information. Her
brows furrowed and she started worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.
“Is this another victim of the serial killer?” Rob asked as
he watched her reactions to the information in front of her.
“We don’t know, but she does fit the killer’s general
preference. There was a missing persons report filed on her two days ago,”
Tarrington continued.