Authors: Ronica Black
“What do you mean?”
“Did you think we were sending you into La Femme without a believable cover?”
“What about the real Katherine Chandler?”
“You’re looking at her.”
Erin grabbed the book and flipped through it, looking for a picture of the author.
“You won’t find a photo.” Patricia headed for the living room.
Her mind reeling, Erin followed her to a large oak bookcase. Patricia pulled a good-sized box from the cabinet and carried it to the coffee table.
“I’ve been writing for quite a while now.” She sat down on the leather sofa. “Katherine Chandler is my pen name. The book you’re holding is an advance copy of my fifth title. It’s not due for release until next month. Sergeant Ruiz and I thought Chandler might be the perfect identity for you.”
“Ruiz knows?”
“Yes. He’s the only one who knows, though, other than my publisher. I’ve kept it private.” She flushed.
Erin wondered why the topic seemed to make her uncomfortable. It was obvious that Patricia was talented and multifaceted, to say the least. Was she embarrassed by her success, or was it that the books were lesbian—written proof that Patricia must be, too? A fact she no doubt didn’t want to get around the department. Erin peered down into the box on the coffee table. It was full of neatly stacked books.
“Why do you keep coming to work?” she asked. “Why not write full time?”
“I love my job. Writing has always been just an outlet for me. Doing it full time isn’t an option.”
“Are you sure you want to expose yourself like this? If I go with the ID, everyone on the investigation will know.” Erin could see that Patricia had worked to build a wall of privacy and could only guess at her reasons. Why would she choose to tear it down now?
With a sigh, Patricia said, “Elizabeth Adams has to be stopped, and it won’t be easy. She’s beyond clever, Mac, she’s downright sharp. You need a real identity. Otherwise, she’ll catch you, and fairly quickly. You see, when she meets a woman who holds her interest, she goes to any length to find out everything about her. Nowadays it’s known as stalking. She always gets her way, and she has a lot of friends in high places who can’t seem to tell her no.” Patricia hesitated. Her eyes were deep and brooding and deadly serious. “When you go in on Saturday night and she sees you, you may not even see her, but you’ll answer your door the next morning to a bouquet of red roses beckoning your return to the club.”
“Whoa,” Erin said.
“Whoa is an understatement. From the moment you first catch her eye she’ll know everything—from where you live, to how much money you make in a year, to how many pets you have.”
“Doesn’t all that scare women away?” It sure gave Erin the creeps.
“No, because she doesn’t let on to all that she knows. She picks and chooses from the information she has and uses it to her advantage. For example, tomorrow night you’ll catch her eye and she’ll find out who you are. Katherine Chandler, the writer. She’ll start reading your books without letting you know that she knows.”
“She’s crazy.”
“She’s something, all right.” Patricia rubbed the back of her neck.
Erin could tell from the unconscious gesture that she was tense, troubled in some way by the topic of Elizabeth Adams. She lifted her eyes to Patricia’s beautifully shaped mouth, noticing the slight impression of teeth on the bottom lip. She must have been chewing on it slightly. In that moment, Erin wanted to kiss her, to take her soft lips with her own and tell her everything would be all right. She didn’t know where the feeling came from and it took her breath away, overwhelming her, body and soul. The rush of tenderness she felt for Patricia was more powerful than anything she had ever felt for another human being. She knew their roles called for Patricia to reassure her, but the desire to comfort the other woman burned within.
Patricia ran her hand under the front collar of her tight-fitting T-shirt and continued to massage her neck. It seemed obvious that she knew much more about Adams than was on file, and more than she had revealed in her notes. Erin guessed that she must have some history with their target and tried to imagine what it could be.
“I didn’t see this kind of information in the files,” she said carefully. “How do you know so much about her?”
“You’re right. Some of this isn’t in the file. I’m telling you because you’re the one going in and you need to know.”
“So, how did you find out all this personal information?” As soon as she’d asked it, she knew.
“Because I was once involved with her.” Patricia confirmed her suspicion.
“Oh.” Erin was embarrassed by her own naivety and hoped her questions weren’t opening an old wound.
“It was five years ago and I’m not proud of it.” Patricia made brief eye contact, then looked away while she spoke. “She has a way of sweeping a woman off her feet, making her feel like the only one in the world. She’s very impressive, Mac, but you can’t forget that she’s a predator and she’ll do whatever it takes to get the woman she wants.”
“If you dated her, how does she not know about the writing?” Surely the nightclub owner-slash-stalker would’ve found out everything about Patricia if they were lovers.
“I had just started to write when we began dating. I had yet to publish my first book. By the time I did, the relationship had ended.”
“I see. So what happens when she gets the woman she wants?” Erin didn’t understand why Adams would work so hard to get a particular woman when she seemed to have them by the dozen.
“Conquest,” Patricia said. “It’s all about dominance for her. She usually only sleeps with them once or twice, then she moves on.”
“Is that how it was with you, a one-night stand?” Her stomach turned at the thought of Patricia being seduced. The look on her face was one of defeat and embarrassment and Erin realized her question was invasive. “I’m sorry, it was rude of me to ask.”
“No, it’s okay. With me it was different. It lasted a few months before I found out she was messing around. I thought she was the woman of my dreams, and when I realized she wasn’t the person she’d led me to believe, I got out.”
“Why did it last longer with you?”
“Every once in a while she meets a woman who interests her beyond sex. And she sees it as a game. She mistakes lust and the need to control for love. If the woman leaves her, like I did, she freaks out and becomes hell-bent on revenge.”
Her face paled and Erin briefly considered moving closer to comfort her. But before she could do so, Patricia dug the books out of the box and handed them over. “You should probably read up as much as you can before Adams beats you to it.”
Fear pitted Erin’s insides. “What if Adams asks me about a book or a character and I can’t remember anything?” Her cover would surely be blown. How could anyone expect her to pull this off as early as tomorrow night?
“That’s actually pretty easy to handle. Just tell her you’re very private about your writing. Remember, you aren’t going to offer her that information. She’s going to find out on her own and without your permission.” Patricia stood and her tone became hurried. “We need to move on and talk about some other things. Come on.”
They headed down the hall and entered a spacious master bedroom where Erin immediately became flustered. An oak wood floor matched the Southwestern furniture and was accented with an Aztec rug. The bed was large and inviting, with goose down pillows and duvet. Eyes unavoidably drawn to it, she felt her face flush as she thought of the different topics that involved a bedroom. Patricia’s perfume lingered in the air and it stirred adrenaline deep within her once again. She cleared her throat nervously as she imagined Patricia nude in that soft bed, adorned by candlelight.
Patricia didn’t notice her reaction, instead walking into a large closet. She reappeared with garment bags and set them on the bed. “I took the liberty of buying you some clothes to wear to the club.” She unzipped a bag and pulled out an outfit. “I thought this would be good for Saturday. Adams is throwing a Wild West party for some business guests from back east. I hope the sizes are right.”
Erin eyed the clothing before her and her blush deepened at the thought of Patricia imagining her in the clothing. The jeans were faded and low rise. They looked to be slightly boot cut, nothing like the flare bottoms that were currently so popular. Next to the jeans was a camel-colored suede vest. Patricia opened up a large shoebox and pulled out a pair of suede cowboy boots to match.
“I hope they fit. I guessed on these too.”
Erin eyed the boots, impressed. They were the right size. Fingering the suede vest, she asked, “Where’s the shirt that goes with this?” She didn’t see anything on the bed that would work with the outfit.
“There is no shirt. It’s meant to be worn alone.” Patricia looked away quickly, pink spreading across her cheeks.
“I see.” Not wanting the other detective to think she was uncomfortable with the revealing outfit, Erin promptly scooped up the clothes and headed toward the master bath. “I better try all these on to make sure they fit.”
Patricia shoved her hands in the back pocket of her jeans. “Sure. I’ll go scare up something to eat, so feel free to use the whole room.”
*
When Erin returned to the kitchen, she found Patricia bent over, sliding a pan into the oven, her jeans hugging her firm backside nicely.
“Everything fit okay?” she asked.
“Perfectly.” Erin sat down at the counter and sipped the iced tea she’d left there earlier. “How’d you know my size?”
“It wasn’t difficult.” She closed the oven and wiped the counter. “We’re about the same.”
She seemed uneasy and Erin hoped it wasn’t because the incident in Sergeant Ruiz’s office was still on her mind. It hadn’t been the most professional way to make her point, and she didn’t regret doing so. Nevertheless, she had apologized. Her thoughts strayed to the photos of Adams she had seen in the files and she bit her lip with a sudden wash of jealousy. Thinking of the gorgeous Adams with Patricia made her blood boil. The suspect was tall, dark, mysterious, and devilishly beautiful, not to mention wealthy, powerful, and extremely sexually confident.
Erin chewed a piece of ice, nervously aware of being shorter, blonder, and completely inexperienced by comparison. She didn’t much like her feelings of inadequacy. Even if by some miracle Patricia did find her attractive, they worked together, and somehow Erin couldn’t see her carrying on a romance with a fellow officer.
“You want some more tea?” Patricia asked with a friendly smile.
“Sure.” Erin smiled back, truly taken in by her beauty. “So what are you cooking?”
“Lasagna.” Patricia refilled her tea. “I’m just reheating some leftovers. I hope you don’t mind.” She returned the tea to the fridge and then tossed a salad in a large bowl, stirring in a homemade vinaigrette dressing.
“Are you kidding? I hardly ever eat anything homemade.”
“You don’t like to cook?” Patricia licked some dressing from her fingertip.
“I wouldn’t say that. I guess I just never had a reason to. Mark and I were never home much.” Erin lapsed into silence for a moment, saddened at the thought of her nonexistent home life. She wished she had a warm, comfortable place and someone like Patricia to come home to.
“So how did the suede vest fit?”
Grateful at the change in subject, Erin said, “It fits, but it’s a little snug.”
“It’s supposed to be form fitting.” Patricia smiled up at her as she dished out the salad into serving bowls. “It’s an attention getter.”
“Ah, you mean girl bait.” Erin grinned.
“Something like that. You ready for some salad before the lasagna?”
Erin nodded and helped to carry the bowls and silverware over to the oak table in the small dining room nestled beside the kitchen.
After eating in silence for a few minutes, Erin voiced a concern. “Won’t Adams recognize you if you go in the club with me?”
Patricia took a sip of her tea before answering. “Yes. But it won’t alarm her. She knows we’ve been investigating her for weeks. Besides, it would show fear if she turned me away. And Adams never shows fear. It’s a sign of weakness.”
Erin pondered the information as they finished their salads. The more she heard about Elizabeth Adams, the more she felt a fierce determination to go after her. Patricia returned to the table with dinner plates and a large serving dish filled to the brim with steaming lasagna. She spooned out a hearty portion for Erin before serving herself.
Erin took a bite and let it melt into her taste buds. “Mmm, you are a great cook, Patricia. You can cook for me any time.” She chewed gratefully and marveled at how a home-cooked meal could warm the soul.
“Thanks, I enjoy it.”
“Feel free to bring any leftovers to the station.”
“Why the station? I can just cook for you here.” Patricia sipped her drink. “After all, we’ll be working twenty-four/seven on this assignment, and there’s no need for either of us to starve.”
Erin finished another mouthful, relieved that the tension between them had eased. “Those leather pants you got for me—when will I need to wear those?”
The shiny black leather outfit she’d found among the new clothing had fit her like a second skin and she was very curious as to what event she would wear it to.