Authors: Adelle Laudan
She
tucked light-wash jeans into her
knee
-
high leather boots and stood in front of a full
-
length mirror. Her fringed top
match
ed
the same dark tan
of
her boots.
After going a little heavy
on the eyeliner, she was good to go.
Hopefully I’ll run into one of our old contacts. Maybe one of them has heard or seen something.
On the way out of the house
,
Becca twisted her unruly red hair
and
tucked it under her helmet. Her bike
,
the one thing in her life that had never let her down
,
sat in the driveway.
On a
ny other night like this she
would’ve
head
ed
to
the lake, revelling in the scent of the water and the wind against her skin. All too soon she arrived at
the bar
and
parked
at the end of a row of bikes. A couple of guys were out having a smoke
; they
stopped talking to watch her take off her helmet. Her curls spilled
down
her shoulders. She felt
them watching her.
Not wanting them to think she was on the prowl, she kept looking forward, breathing a sigh of relief
once
her hand touched the
door
.
Here goes nothing.
Becca paused
just
inside the
entrance. Once
her eyes adjust
ed
to the dark room
, she
head
ed
to
the bar
, tuning out a few cat calls and whistles.
“Hey
,
pretty lady, what can I get you?” The bartender flashed perfect
,
white teeth.
“I’ll have a rye and ginger, tall glass, lots of ice.” She smiled.
“Coming right up.” A playful wink crinkled the corners of his eyes.
“Put it on my tab, Joe.”
Judging by the size of the dark shadow, the guy standing behind her was a big man.
Oh great, here we go.
“Thanks, but I buy my own drinks.” Her eyes lit up. “Ben?” She hopped off
the
stool to be engulfed in Big Ben’s massive arms. “It’s nice to see you. How’ve you been?”
“Not too shabby, l’il girl.” His bushy brow
s
arched. “Are you on or off duty?”
“Technically I’m off, but I’d love to buy you a drink and pick your brain.”
“Honey, lookin’ the way you do, you can pick anything yer little heart desires.”
Becca laughed, happy to have bumped into Ben of all people
, a
well
-
respected guy in the biker community, and a good friend of Jack’s.
“Let’s sit at my
table
.”
He
ushered her to the back corner of
the
room
. “So how can I help you, Becca?”
“I don’t know if you’ve been following the news or not, but we have a real piece of work out there. He’s killed six people so far
and
one of them was
a family friend.
” She swallowed hard before draining half of her drink in one big mouthful.
“I’m real
ly
sorry to hear that. Are you talking about the guy
who
sew
s
people’s mouths shut
and leaves a flower behind after he’s killed them
?”
“Yes, that’s
the one
. I’m here because there’s been a new lead on this guy. It seems the killer rides a motorcycle.”
“Shit, are you serious? Thanks for the warning.”
“I’m sure the press will blow it out of proportion—bad
-
ass bikers and all.”
Ben
took a swig of his beer
. “So are you saying you think he’s hanging out here?”
She
shrugged. “It’s very possible. He’s riding old school, all black,
and
with a kicker.”
He
rubbed his chin. “There’s a few like that around
.
Is that all you have to go on?”
“That and the guy knows
all about
floriculture
.”
Her friend chuckled, setting his belly in motion. “I’m not exactly
a
flowery
kinda guy.”
“Seriously
,
Ben, this guy is one sick puppy. I’d appreciate
it if you’d
keep your eyes and ears open for me. Maybe pass the word on
?
While you’re at it, you might want to warn everyone
about receiving even more negative attention than normal
.”
“You got it, and thanks for the heads up. Now
that
that’s out of the way, how have you been holding up?”
Becca shrugged. “Well, I’m back on the force. Too bad it took Susan’s murder
for
it happen.” She exhaled breath
il
y
and
shudder
ed
. “I’m doing okay, taking it one day at a time.”
Suddenly
her
mouth went dry, warning bells ringing in her head as she watched the waitress walk toward them.
“Becca?”
Words failed her.
“This is for you.” She handed
Becca
a pristine rose the deepest shade of purple she’d ever seen.
Becca jumped to her feet and
picked up
the rose from her tray. “Who sent it?”
“Joe found it on
the bar
.”
Her hand trembled as she took the note from the waitress.
Becca
was scrawled on one side. She flipped it over and time stood still as she read two words: Guess who?
“Show me where you found th
is
.” She plucked a napkin from
the
tray and closed it around the
card
.
“What’s going on?” Ben appeared at her side.
“It’s him. The sick fuck left this for me.” Her
heart
pounded so
fast
she feared
passing out
right then and there. She half jogged across the dance floor.
“Hey
,
Joe, can you show Becca exactly where you found the
rose
?”
Joe pointed
to the end of the bar
by
the door. “I don’t know how long it sat there. I’ve been busy with customers.”
Becca scurried
to the empty space beside
a
young couple groping each other
. They stopped
and looked her way.
“Did you two happen to see who left th
is here
?”
She
felt like she might explode.
“Sorry, when I saw the
flower
I turned and only saw
the
back
of him walk out the door
.”
Shit! He was right here, just a few feet away, and I missed him.
“I’m a police officer. Did you notice anything unusual or
did he stand out in
some way?”
The couple looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
“Wait, he had some kind of case on his back. Looked like something you’d keep a telescope in but black. In fact, everything about him was black—black rain suit, black shoes and gloves. He even
wore
a black
biker’s
helmet.”
The old lady had said practically the same thing word for word.
“I’m sorry
,
Ben, but I need to take this to the station
.”
“You’re not going anywhere by yourself with that whack job nearby.” He motioned for Joe to pass his helmet from behind the bar. “I’ll ride with you to the station.”
“If you insist.” She had no time to argue
,
inwardly happy to have him
go
along.
They
got back
to the station in record time. Ben put two fingers to his forehead and kept going. Becca mouthed the words
“
thank you
”
before practically flying through the precinct to Chief Thomson’s office. It wasn’t until she stood at his door
that
she realized the time. Luckily, her boss burned the midnight oil
on a regular basis
.
She
burst into the room. His head popped up from the file open on his desk. “Becca? What’s wrong?”
She
laid the
rose
on his desk along with the note in a napkin. She paused to catch her breath.
“I was at the bar tonight, talking to an old friend, when The
F
lorist left this for me.”
Chief Thomson jumped to his feet. “Did you get a look at him?”
“No.” She
clenched her jaw, frustrated beyond words.
Her
boss read the note and looked
at her over the rim of his glasses. “How did he know where you’d be? The psycho must be following you.”
Becca shivered. “I don’t know. I never noticed anyone trailing me nor have I seen anyone suspicious around my house. I’m always aware of other bikes.”
Chief Thomson picked up the phone. “Jerry, I’ve got a card I need printed. Put a rush on it. This is top priority. Send someone
over to get it.”
“Can you tell me what you were doing at the bar by yourself?”
“Can’t I go out for a drink on my own time?”
He
arched
an eyebrow
and narrowed his gaze on her.
“Okay, okay. I have a few
biker
friends and thought I’d ask them to keep an eye open for him.”
“No more, do you hear me? Why didn’t you call me or your partner?”
Becca shrugged. “Listen, I know it was a dumb thing to do. I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night.”
“Mike!” Within seconds the officer stood in the doorway. “I want you to follow Becca home and stay parked right out front until I make arrangements for a shadow.”
“Yes
,
s
ir.”
Becca wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea but knew there was no way around it. “Can you please call me when you get the results back?”
“You got it, kid. I’ll see you back here first thing in the morning.”
“Come on
,
Mike. I’ll put on a pot of coffee. I got a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”
The aroma of freshly perked coffee
wafted toward him
. A lazy smile spread across his face
as he
imagin
ed
her reaction to his gift.
It felt good to get a laugh at her expense, knocking her holier
-
than
-
thou attitude right out of the park.
Next time I want to see her face. What a thrill that will be.
He sat heavily on a bar stool,
his
smirk fading as he opened the journal and turned it to the book
-
marked page.
Kevin Baird is one of the angriest men I’ve ever known. Today he told me about his job as a bouncer. To see the pleasure in his eyes while he spoke about beating the crap out of guys was unsettling to put it mildly. Maybe I should stop seeing him, but I fear he’ll unleash that lethal rage on me
.
I’m a goner if he does.
He
picked up the photo and
sniffled
as he
gazed into her expressive hazel
eyes
.
He
traced the outline of her face
with his finger
and
then
lightly kissed the framed glass.
“No worries, my love. He’ll soon learn he’s not so tough.”
He rubbed his face and yawned
, sorely in need of
a couple days
of
rest. A flash of color in the cooler caught his attention and he smiled. The dark purple roses really were exquisite.
A pretty flower for a pretty lady.