Stopping at Cathy’s front sidewalk, Julia got out, slammed the Charger’s door, and opened the picket gate. She’d left Jasper in Cathy’s care, and she was eager to pick him up. As she walked up the marigold-lined brick path, she felt that Cathy would be pleased that Julia and Will had gotten together romantically. She’d been pushing hard enough for them to hook up, ever since Julia had arrived in Chattanooga. No one answered when Julia knocked, and the front door was locked. They could be at church, or perhaps they’d just gone out for dinner.
There was a huge fenced-in yard out back, and she walked around the house, looking for her beloved bloodhound. Jasper must have picked up her scent on the river wind, because he came barreling out of the dense glade of trees at about a hundred miles an hour. The other dogs were right behind him, all yapping and barking. She went inside the yard and shut the gate, kneeling down and hugging the lovable old bloodhound. She petted the others, too, gave them some of the baby talk that she used with Jasper, and then attached Jasper’s leash. She peered back into the shadowy woods, wondering if Cathy and Lonnie were somewhere out there; in Lonnie’s private studio, perhaps. It didn’t matter. She punched in Cathy’s number, got her voice mail, and left her a message that she’d already picked up Jasper. Otherwise, Cathy would be worried about him.
Jasper was thrilled to see her and eager to get home. His beating tail proved it. He scrambled up into the front passenger’s seat. She started the engine and headed home. Will was insisting that she spend the night at his place tonight. When she reminded him of Jasper, he said to bring him along.
A decision that Will just might regret
, she thought, amused. However, based on the way Will and Jasper loved on each other, they had already bonded. She grinned to herself, very interested in what kind of house Will had chosen. If she had to guess, it would be extremely isolated and well protected.
Probably has a moat, too
, she thought. But he had good reasons to be careful, and now she understood that.
Inside her house, she checked for messages. There was a call from Charlie Sinclair, and she punched redial but got no answer. She glanced at her watch, wondering where he was. Maybe he was feeding the boarded animals out back and couldn’t hear his phone. Maybe he was out fishing with Lonnie and Cathy. Their boat was gone, now that she thought about it. Not to worry; he’d call back if it was important. Tam had called but hadn’t left a message. Max Hazard had called and asked her out on a date again.
On the way back from the airport, she and Will had made a stop at Gloria Varranzo’s law offices and picked up her digital files. They planned to go over them tonight at his house. Will had gone downtown to check in at headquarters so Phil could fill him in on anything else that had happened during the short time they’d been away. They also needed to e-mail more photographs of persons of interest to Maria Bota and see if she could identify the man she’d seen at the Lockhart crime scene. She found herself rushing around, throwing things in her overnight bag, so eager to be with Will again that she finally stopped, shirt in hand, and chided herself for the girlish giddiness.
For Pete’s sake, Julia, act like an adult. Quit behaving like some trembling adolescent
. Still, the thought of Will’s hard body and warm lips inching down over her belly sent all kinds of electric currents bouncing around over her flesh.
So when she heard Will’s tires crunching over the gravel outside her window, she headed outside to meet him. Jasper had beat her to the door and started baying as Will walked down the path toward them. His step was lighter, he was smiling, and she hoped in her heart that his good spirits had everything to do with her. She opened the screen door, and he wasted no time grabbing her against him and giving her a long, satisfying kiss that lasted until Jasper decided enough was enough and jumped up on Will’s back, barking.
“I forgot to tell you that Jasper’s the jealous type,” she told Will.
“Yeah? Well, so am I. Looks like we’ll have to fight for your attention.”
Will kept looking at her mouth, and she decided Will was going to beat Jasper at that game every single time. Attempting to get her mind on something other than the way Will felt pressed up against her, she decided she needed to get their minds back on business. They had all night to enjoy themselves in bed. The idea brought a ridiculous blush rising up her throat.
“Did Phil have anything else on the Tongue Slasher?” she asked him.
“Yeah. The killer cleaned up pretty well after himself this time, too. They did find a drop of blood that they presume to be the killer’s, but the DNA hasn’t matched it up to anyone in our databases.” He hesitated. “They found something else at the Varranzo crime scene, too. A couple of dog hairs.”
“I didn’t see any sign of a dog at her place.”
“She didn’t have one. That’s the significance.”
“What breed?”
Will hesitated. “Actually, it’s from a bloodhound.”
They stared at each other a moment, both thinking the same thing. “So you think it’s Jasper’s?”
The bloodhound reacted at the sound of his name, lying down at her feet and presenting his belly for her to rub. She knelt and obliged, but she didn’t like the idea that she may have been so careless that she contaminated a crime scene with Jasper’s hair.
“I didn’t say that. It could be from another bloodhound, some kind of transference. I’ve seen how careful you are before you enter a crime scene.”
“I’m trained to do that, of course, but it can happen. It never has before—never, not once—but I guess it’s possible.”
“Send a sample of Jasper’s coat over to forensics and find out. Don’t beat yourself up until you know for sure.”
“God, I hope it’s not Jasper’s.”
Will glanced down at the CDs in her hand. “Are those Varranzo’s files?”
“Yes. It looks like we’re going to spend lots of time checking them out.”
“Not as long as you think. I just put in some really awesome computer equipment.”
“It’s still going to take time. I want to get through it all tonight.”
“What’s that you said not so long ago? Something about all work, Jack, dull boy—remember that?”
“This case has to come first.”
Will’s smile faded as he acknowledged the truth of her statement. “I know, but we have to eat and sleep. And make love.” He looked at her mouth again, with a lust he no longer even tried to disguise. He was going to have to stop doing that, or they weren’t going to get anything done. Man, the rippling cold chills he could give her. “We’ve got to get to know each other better, Jules, and there’s so much more I want to show you.”
Julia knew exactly what he meant and was glad to hear it. Okay, the sexual tension was gone, but now that she knew what it was like in his bed—his hands all over her body, the desire she felt—the idea of making love with him again was even more titillating. Jeez, she was going to have to get a grip and lock up her carnal urges, not to mention corral Will’s lusty bedroom appetite. She changed the subject.
“Are you sure you want me to bring Jasper along?”
“Sure. He can get to know my dogs.”
“You have dogs?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of dogs?”
“Two beagles,” Will said, then admitted with a sheepish look, “and a toy poodle.”
“You, Will Brannock, own a toy poodle? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“It’s Mom’s. When they moved to Las Vegas, she was afraid a scorpion or snake would get her, so she insisted I keep her here. She said my life was way too lonely, anyway, and poodles love unconditionally.”
“That sounds like Betty. What are their names?”
“The beagles are Rover and Spot.”
“How ingenious. And the poodle?”
“Don’t laugh.”
“I can’t promise that.”
“My mother named her, not me.”
“So, let’s hear it.”
“Baby Cakes.”
Julia laughed out loud. The idea of a big, virile, strapping man like Will cuddling a little lapdog named Baby Cakes struck her as more than funny.
Will frowned. “Don’t tell J.D., okay?”
“Oh, he and the other guys are going to have a heyday with this one.”
“I’ll have to think of a way to convince you to keep my secrets.”
At that, Julia became serious at once. He was now opening up to her about every aspect of his life. She didn’t want to do anything to make him reticent again.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the dogs?”
“I tend to keep my cards close to the vest, remember?”
“You wanted to protect your dogs?”
“Don’t you?”
Julia couldn’t disagree with that and admitted she’d found yet another facet of Will Brannock’s personality that she absolutely loved and that fit hand in glove with hers.
Tread carefully
, she told herself as she picked up the CDs and her backpack. She wasn’t used to having a romantic relationship and neither was he. They were already close to getting carried away with the euphoria of it all.
As it turned out, Will lived out on Chickamauga Lake. His place was just off Gann Store Road, in a gated waterfront community not too far from downtown Chattanooga. His property was enclosed by a tall brick wall with
KEEP OUT
signs and
BEWARE OF DOG
warnings.
“Beware of dogs? Don’t you mean beware of Baby Cakes?”
“Ha-ha. I don’t like the idea of people sneaking up on me. I’m careful. And for your information, Baby Cakes yaps louder than the other two put together.”
“The IRS probably couldn’t even get to you out here.”
“That’s an added perk, true.”
The gate was activated with a card sweep. A camera was positioned on the gate. “The president could stay here without the Secret Service and still sleep without a care in the world,” Julia commented.
“I like my privacy.”
“Well, at least you won’t get any door-to-door salesmen. How much land do you own?”
“Five and a half acres.”
The tarmac road wound up through a well-kept grassy lawn to a large contemporary house covered with dark wood siding and white brick. It was all dark except for a few lights on the ground floor.
“How big is this house? It looks huge.”
“Eighty-four hundred square feet. Or thereabout.”
“Is that all? Just a little bachelor pad, huh?”
“It’s got four decks and lots of windows overlooking the lake. I like looking at the water, just like at your house.”
“I just have one window.”
“But it’s got a good view of the river.”
They drove around the house to the three-car garage. The view was beautiful to behold, all right, and a
House Beautiful
house to go with it.
“Wow, Brannock. You Daddy Warbucks, or what?”
“I bought this place for the security systems. It’s hard to break in here.”
“Well, you got whatever you paid for this place, and more. I guarantee it.” She looked over at him as he hit a button on the remote attached to the visor above the driver’s seat, and the garage door slowly began to rise. They drove inside, where she saw his black-and-chrome Mercedes motorcycle and red Corvette convertible.
“Okay, I have one question. Where do you park the Rolls-Royce?”
“No Rolls-Royce. Way too flashy.”
“Are you kidding me? No Rolls-Royce. What do you take to the opera and all those posh charity galas?”
“I like vehicles, and I told you I’m part owner of the Taste of the South franchise. I’m not as rich as you obviously think.”
“Yeah, right.”
“That’s a 2005 magnetic-red Chevrolet Corvette hardtop. What do you think of it?”
“I think you should sell it to me, cheap.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Maybe I’ll take it in a New York minute.”
“Maybe I’ll just buy you a matching one. You know, his and hers.”
“You’re talking my language, baby.”
Will laughed, but the beagles had heard the garage door and were outside Will’s car door, barking up a storm and letting their master know they had missed him in the worst way. Jasper looked highly interested but was too well trained to go to pieces.
“Your guard beagles aren’t going to attack my bloodhound, are they?”
“Nope.” He opened his door but leveled a gaze on her. “At least, I don’t think so. They don’t attack Bab”—he cut that off, apparently not ready for another round of jokes—“the poodle. The poodle might attack him, though. She thinks she’s a Saint Bernard, or something. She’s quite a handful.”
Handful was right, Julia thought as they entered the house and the aforementioned canine slid around a corner with a great clicking of nails. The poodle was tiny, even for her breed, but her bark was as shrill as any ambulance siren. More so, in fact. Jasper looked like he wanted to lie down and put his paws over his floppy ears. Baby Cakes slid to a dancing halt on the glossy hardwood floor and stared suspiciously at Jasper.