She shook her head and tried to push his hands away, but when another fit of coughing overtook her she gave in to having his arms around her. He kept patting, then rubbing her back until she was able to breathe without coughing. He held the water glass up to her lips and said quietly, “Take a sip, Skylar. Now.”
When she began to sip on the water, he took off her glasses and put them to the side, then handed her the napkin.
“I’d wipe those tears away for you but I’m not sure how you’d retaliate now that you’re no longer in danger of choking to death.”
She tried to free herself from his arms but he held her close, not letting her go. At that moment, Denny appeared with a large tray holding a gargantuan mound of food. The young waiter stared at her in concern.
“Is…is she okay?”
Jude answered for her. “Yeah, she took a larger swallow of Scotch than she intended. Went down the wrong pipe.” He glanced at the loaded tray and pointed to the table. “Leave the food, buddy. We’ll decide when and if we’re ready for it.”
Denny glanced at Skylar’s overturned shot glass on the far edge of the table.
“Do you, does she…want more Scotch?”
Jude shook his head and said firmly, “No, she’s had enough.”
Shaking her head fiercely, Skylar glared at Denny. “No, please. Bring me another glass. A double shot.”
Jude forced himself not to overrule her ridiculous request, and nodded to the baffled server to comply. Rather than arguing with her, he held her trembling body more securely in his arms. After several long moments, he pointed to the overflowing tray of food. “Don’t tell me Squirt, that we’re not gonna make it through another one of these giant-sized mountains of unhealthy food?”
At that moment her stomach growled plaintively. He pulled her more tightly into his arms, glad that they both were able to laugh. He stroked her cheek, grateful when she didn’t push him away. “Then again, if I’m going to live down your assessment of me being a prissy pussy, at least when it comes to food, how about we dig into these calorie-filled piles of semi-nutrition and prove that I can keep up with the best of the Major League Eater contestants.”
Jude glanced at the giant burgers. “Hell, if I can handle those I may sign up for the Chicago RibFest RibMania. A buddy of mine won four big ones at the XVIII event. Only had to chow down on twenty-three pounds of ribs.”
He chucked her playfully under her chin. “That’d be an appetizer for you, right, Squirt?”
Chapter 13
Jude reached for one of the platters and put it in front of her.
“Are you going to feed me?”
Startled by her unexpected question and even more surprised at the sudden tightness in his jeans, Jude struggled for an offhand response. Aware of her soft body leaning against him, he realized that while she wasn’t sitting on his lap, she was pretty damn close. He aimed for nonchalance. “Do you want me to?”
Skylar leaned back and looked up at him, a thoughtful frown creasing her brow. Jude met her serious gaze, noting that her stunning eyes, luminous with leftover tears, were truly the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.
She stared at him as if deciding how to answer, then shook her head. Stammering slightly, she nodded at the huge plate of food and said, “No…but I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat all of this.”
Doing his best to ignore his randy cock that was making a serious effort to participate in the discussion, Jude dropped his napkin over his lap and said, “I have a suggestion. Why don’t we attack
one
of these platters and see how we do?”
At her relieved sigh, Jude understood that she had believed his threat to feed her if she didn’t eat all her lunch. Trying to ignore her citrusy fragrance mingled with lavender, two of his favorite scents, Jude wondered if he was making a mistake by not following through with his provocative threat. He shoved the audacious thought aside and reached for his knife.
Seeing Denny approach with Sky’s requested Scotch, Jude shook his head, signaling for him to take it back. As if just seeing him, he said, “Hey, Denny boy, how about you bring me and Ms. Hughes a couple of smaller plates while we plan our attack on this mountain of food.”
Ignoring the server’s wide-eyed expression seeing the two of them huddling next to each other in the corner of the large booth, Jude took the plates the kid handed him. With a nod he dismissed the clearly interested waiter. Once they were alone, Jude carefully cut one of the mammoth burgers in fourths and put one section on each plate with a small pile of french fries next to the burgers. He handed one plate to Sky and took the other for himself.
When Jude was sure she was going to eat at least some of the food, he picked up one of the cheese-laden french fries and munched on it. Surprised at how good it was, he took a bite of the four-inch-high burger. Swallowing the mix of charred meat and crunchy bacon slathered with spicy sauce, he shook his head and whistled in appreciation. “Damn, Squirt. You’re right on. These babies are great.”
When they had polished off the remains of the food on the platter, Jude raised an inquisitive brow. “How about it, Sky? You ready to take on another?”
She frowned thoughtfully, then shook her head. With a hint of a smile she said, “No, but I think I would like to try the pie.”
Jude gave a hoot of laughter and hugged her. “That makes two of us. Talk about a woman after my own heart.” He raised a hand to call for Denny.
“Hey Denny, bring us two slices of Selma’s best, and don’t forget the ice cream. Oh, and also bring a pot of the hottest, strongest coffee you have. Not having the iron-hard constitution this sprite has, I’m gonna need all the help I can get to digest this lunch.”
Skylar ate the last bite of her pie, then rubbed her finger in the remaining dollop of syrupy ice cream.
Watching her daintily lick the gooey mixture off her fingers, Jude laughed. “Sweet tooth much, Squirt?”
She shrugged and said casually, “Remember, I didn’t have my doughnuts today.” Pushing the licked-clean plate away from her, Skylar reached for her glasses and planted them on the bridge of her nose. Her slight frown as she stared thoughtfully at an empty spot on the wall confirmed that she’d gone into analysis mode.
Jude poured each of them a cup of coffee and moved back slightly to give her room. He knew he should move to the other side of the big booth so that they could concentrate on the murder case. Instead, he kept one arm stretched across the back of the booth. With a self-aware snort, he acknowledged that while he didn’t want to make an issue out of it, he liked sitting next to her. She smelled good, and while she looked fine now, he knew she’d had a rough night and today hadn’t exactly been easy. Plus, he instinctively knew that while a breakthrough in the case was a long way off, making headway would be a hell of a lot easier if they worked on it together rather than separately.
As if he’d needed confirmation, Skylar turned from her study of the blank wall and faced him. “It must have taken them years to plan it.”
Jude waited for her to continue. It was the first thing she’d said since they finished eating. A full five minutes of silence elapsed.
Her eyes behind the black plastic frames were lit with intensity. “Think about the decisions they had to make, Jude. Not only choosing the exact mixture of drugs, but titrating the dosages to achieve the maximum effect—dosages of drugs that are rarely combined. Then, they had to determine how much weight the beams could hold.
And
the chandelier. Look at the size of the victims. Mr. Parker was a big man. After they decided how they would hang him and his wife, they had to figure out how to get the bodies up there. After, they needed to determine and assemble the weapons. They needed a knife to castrate him and to cut out her tongue. It’s not clear from the preliminary reports what they used to poke out her eyes, but by the how clean the eye perimeters were, I think it might have been a socket wrench. Finally, they had to decide what diameter of pipe would cause the most pain and damage when they shoved it up the victim’s rectum.”
She inhaled deeply, then slowly let it go. Her expression grew more intense if possible. “Jude, I can’t stop thinking about the bungee cords. They were a stunning, even inspired choice. Although the Parkers likely died of strangulation, the elastic cords ensured it would be a slow, agonizing death. Imagine the victims trying not to struggle because each ghoulish bounce would tighten the cord and then unmercifully release it, ensuring that their travails were not over.”
Jude granted himself a moment to marvel at her insight. Christ, even he hadn’t considered a socket wrench, but it made sense. Each of the details she described was what made the murders unique. As a whole, they were the essence of the crime. Jude knew that if they could follow the critical clues that Skylar had defined, they might have a fighting chance of figuring out who the murderers were.
She sighed, once more catching him off guard. “And then there is the fact that there was no semen. In either of them.”
With the startling news about the drugs that were administered, it was almost easy to overlook the other facts, which Skylar had just described. But this was the first time that anyone had mentioned the lack of semen. It was an omission that had been tantalizing Jude since he first saw the lab report. Naturally, it would have caught the pixie’s attention.
He shrugged. “Yeah, Squirt, that one’s been niggling at me as well. What’s your take?”
She raised her hands with a ‘how many times do I have to say it’ expression on her face, and shrugged. “While sex was a major factor in the murders, revenge is what drove this appalling crime.”
He studied her then nodded in agreement. “You’re right. Both victims were penetrated—Ms. Parker vaginally and anally. Mr. Parker anally, then castrated. All of the attacks were sexual, but their aim was degradation and searing pain, not sexual release.”
They were both quiet, as if trying to grasp the person or persons who could have planned and executed the gruesome crimes.
Jude noticed his full shot glass across the table and decided a belt of Scotch would taste damn good at the moment. He reached for it and smiled at Sky. “If you promise not to choke, I’ll share this with you.”
Skylar sniffed. “Even after you told Denny to take back the one I ordered?”
Jude shook his head and grinned. “Jesus, Squirt, you don’t miss a fucking thing, do you?”
She tipped up her chin and said with a saucy smile, “No, Detective, I don’t. And no, I don’t want to share your Scotch. I want my own.” With that she boosted herself up over the edge of the booth and signaled Denny. “You can bring my Scotch now, Denny. The one I ordered forty-five minutes ago.”
***
Sky forced herself to take slow sips of her Scotch. She was still horrified that she’d thought she could throw back three ounces of single malt Scotch without choking. She’d made a complete fool of herself. What she had even more trouble believing was how Jude had jumped to her rescue, rounding the table in one fierce bound. It was equally hard to acknowledge that even now the powerful man was sitting a scant foot away from her. Or to forget that for at least five minutes he’d not only been sitting next to her, but had held her in his arms. Most of that time she’d been struggling to breathe and come down from the emotional turmoil that had been racking her psyche since last night. The memory of Jerri’s triumphant glance as she clung possessively to Jude’s arm morphed into the image of Amy sneering at her while rubbing up against the imposing detective. No wonder it had felt good to cower against Jude. Giving into his strong, surprisingly gentle hold blotted out the painful memories, at least for a few blessed minutes.
Skylar knew that Jude was studying her. In that way he was a lot like her. At least as to how they analyzed a scene and how they sized up people. But unlike her, he was big, brash, sinfully good looking, and unbelievably sexy, she admitted, shoving against the turmoil in her groin. She closed her eyes as if she could stifle the unfamiliar sensations heating her core but they were not to be stifled. She chided herself, admit it, Sky, you’ve let the Big Guy affect you. She gave herself room. After all, as Tara had said, ‘every woman within ten feet of Jude creams her panties at the sight of him’. Sky felt her cheeks heat at the lewd phrase, then tried to deal with the fact that for the first time, she knew how those other women felt.
Glancing up, Sky forced herself to meet his narrowed gaze. It wasn’t easy to do. She was sure his frown was caused by the ugly facts they’d been discussing and that his thoughtful expression was due to his concern about their case. But, she admitted, like her, he had to be thinking about their strange situation. After all, they were sitting on the same side of a huge booth with very little space between them. And even after she’d gotten control of her choking spells, neither one of them had chosen to move. Deciding to think positively, she hoped that his actions indicated he’d decided he might respect her after all—which would be an achievement. It wasn’t unheard of. After they got past her oddness, the few men she let get close to her liked and respected her. Jared certainly did, and so did Jake and the Judge.
But as he’d made clear to her and others, Jude wasn’t his brothers or his grandfather. He had a hard shell that the rest of the Justices didn’t have. Jude was exceptionally close to his brothers and the Judge, but Sky didn’t need the gossip to know that while he was widely respected, he didn’t have many friends. That was particularly true about women. Jude had told her explicitly that in his view, women were good for one thing and one thing only. Fucking.
Except, apparently, for her. According to his dismissive take, she was unappealing enough that the idea of fucking her was a non-starter. Looking for the positive, she’d concluded that assessment opened the way for them to be colleagues. Glancing at his arm stretched across the back of the booth, his fingers inches away from touching her shoulder, she tried to ignore his bulging biceps and muscular forearm. God, even his wrists looked strong. She swallowed hard and told herself she should be grateful. Since fucking was out of the question, respect for her gifts wouldn’t be a total loss.