No Ordinary Killer (4 page)

* * *

Megan woke with a start. 1:15 glared back at her from
the alarm clock. Slipping out of bed, Megan grabbed her jeans, shirt, socks and
shoes.

Once in the living room, she hastily pulled on her
clothes, then quickly stripped them back off again. Cooper was a sucker for her
naked body. Slipping into sandals and a silver trench coat, Megan grabbed her
purse and keys.

CHAPTER FIVE

Deep in thought, Cooper threaded his fingers through
his hair as he headed up the walk to his apartment. It’d been a long day and
tomorrow promised to be an even longer one.

“You usually stroll in at midnight?”

His heart skipped a beat and adrenaline pumped through
his veins. In one smooth motion, he reacted with gun in hand, pointed at Dallas
Fortune. “Damn, woman, never do that to me again. What the shit you doing
here?” He shoved the Beretta back into place. His actions didn’t seem to affect
her in the least. She sat on the stair landing, her back against the wall and
her legs crisscrossed in front of her. It appeared she might have been
sleeping.

“We found out about your interview on Ms. Winslow’s
talk show. I’ve been sent to go over what you can and can’t say tomorrow.”

“You have got to be kidding. First of all, no one—and
I mean, no one—is going to tell me what I can or cannot say. You getting this?”
He loomed over her as she attempted to get to her feet.

“It’s my job to inform you of your options. What you
do with them is your business.” She dropped back to the carpet. “Damn, my legs
have fallen asleep.” She slapped at them, pain evident in her expression.

“You do realize it could have been dangerous to be
sleeping out here in the hallway, don’t you? Have you heard of the cell phone?”

“I could have called, but my hotel is only a few
blocks from here and I needed a walk … so I just came over. I wouldn’t have
stayed so late, but I guess I dozed off—“

“Let’s get inside. We’re waking up the whole place
talking out here.” He waited while she rolled to her knees and made another
attempt at standing. Once she dropped to her stomach, he couldn’t help
laughing. “I’m sorry, but you look like a mermaid trying to walk on land.”

Contagious, her laughter spurred him on until they
both rolled on the carpet in front of his apartment. “Hurts like hell, doesn’t
it?” Her expression sent him off to another fit of laughter.

“Stop, my stomach hurts as much as my legs. Stop it!”

Cooper stood and scooped her into his arms. “Can’t
exactly leave you sitting out here until you can walk.” She didn’t answer, and
he didn’t offer more explanation. He expected her to be light in his arms, he
didn’t expect the wave of seductive eucalyptus and spearmint. Clean, enticing
and sexual all whirled into an unexpected epiphany. Dallas Fortune excited him
… and it had been a long time since he’d found any woman interesting.

“Keys are in my pocket, can you reach them?”

“I’m hardly going to put my hands in your pants
pocket.”

“Didn’t ask you to. They’re in my jacket pocket.” He
tipped her slightly to his right side.

“Why didn’t you say so?”

He remained still as she moved her palm down his rib
cage and waist, then pressed over his hip bone before finding the pocket. As
she fumbled around to retrieve the keys, he found it somehow intimate and
stimulating.

“I’ve got them.” She dangled them high above her head.

Chuckling, he stepped closer to the door. “You think
you could manage to unlock it before I grow old?”

“Why, Mr. Reynolds, I do believe you’ve got a sense of
humor.”

 
Once he heard a
click, Cooper pushed the door in with her feet. “Reminds me of carrying Megan
over the threshold on our wedding night. Biggest mistake I ever made.”

“You don’t really mean that, do you? Dang, it’s dark
in here.”

“There’s a lamp by the couch. I know exactly—” He
heard the keys hit the floor before stepping on them. “Ow, damn that hurt!” he
shouted, then hopped twice before losing his footing with Dallas in his arms. Two more wobbly steps
brought him crashing into, then onto, the couch, settling on top of her. “I’m
sorry … I’m damn sorry. Let me find the light.” Reaching around, he finally
felt the cold metal of the end table beneath his fingertips. A quick reach up
brought breaking glass. “I found the lamp, not sure it’ll work now.”

Her laughter told him she didn’t think him the
complete fool he not only felt like, but knew he looked like. Of course no one
could see him, thank God. “I promise you I didn’t do this on purpose. Let me turn
on a light in the kitchen.”

“You sure you can find it before you kill yourself?”

The tease in her tone made him smile. Several strides
in the dark, some simple fumbling brought the switch beneath his fingers. He
flipped it on. “Ta da,” he shouted, opening his arms wide.

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time.
You’re a regular Indiana
Jones.”

“I’m definitely not without skills.” He laughed before
wondering when the last time he’d let go like this. Longer than he cared to
admit. “How are your legs doing?”

“Actually, they’re coming to and I must admit they
burn and tingle like hell.”

“You want a beer or a glass of wine? It’s old
fashioned Pabst Blue Ribbon or a Columbia Crest Chardonnay.”

“A glass of wine sounds fabulous. I think your lamp is
totaled. I think I owe you.”

“Not really. I’ve hated that beaded disaster the day
Megan brought it home. She left it for me because she knew how much I hated it.
You did me a favor.” He grabbed an open bottle of wine and two glasses before
sitting on the couch next to Dallas.

“Sorry your marriage didn’t work. I’m sure you had
some good times.”

“At first it was great. The best part was the twins. I
love being a dad.”

“How old are they?”

“Tina and Tucker are three. They’re great kids and I
hate not seeing them every day. As soon as this case is behind me, I’m going to
take Megan back to court and get full custody this time. All I need to do is
prove she’s an unfit mother, and that shouldn’t be too hard.” He handed her a
glass of wine.

“No chance of reconciliation?”

The distant light cast softly on Dallas. Her long red hair complimented the
many freckles that spread across her cheeks. She was beautiful. “Being a
detective’s wife isn’t easy, but she could have tried. She hated being
pregnant, and even more, she hates being a mother. Staying faithful might have
helped.” Usually private, he didn’t mean to pour out his marriage secrets like
a confession.

“I draw the line at infidelity, too.”

“You married?” He hadn’t meant for the question to
sound cold and accusing … but it did.

“Once. A hundred years ago. Three years of fighting
whose job was more important. Then I wanted kids and he never wanted any. Now
he’s remarried with three kids, a cat, and a dog. Go figure.”

Absently, Cooper rubbed her foot. He didn’t remember
pulling her legs across his thighs. It somehow seemed comfortable, even
natural. She didn’t seem to mind and he found it relaxing. “I question if there
really is such a thing as a good marriage.”

“I’m fool enough to believe if two people really love
each other, they can make it work with laughter and passion.”

“I think the key word there was fool.” He smiled back
at her.

“You always this pessimistic?”

“No, actually I’ve always been the optimist! I saw the
glass half full, the bright side of things, and believed if there’s a will,
there’s a way. Need I go on?”

“What happened?”

“Megan and I happened. I got a call from the emergency
room. My wife was hemorrhaging after trying to abort her baby.”

“Oh, my God, how awful.”

Cooper slipped Dallas’s
other shoe off, then absently messaged her foot. “The baby wasn’t mine. We’d
been distant for some time. I never asked her who the father was. I really
didn’t give a shit by then. For me, we were over.”

The front door swung open, slamming hard against the
inside wall. Cooper jumped. “What the hell are you doing here?” He glared at
his ex-wife.

* * *

The last thing Megan expected was for Cooper to be
with another woman. She stared him down, pissed the woman was knock-out
gorgeous. This had been a mistake. She snugged her coat tight against her naked
body.

“You going to speak, or just stand there and watch?”
He made no effort to move.

“I … I didn’t know you had company. We need to talk.”
She wished he’d stop rubbing the woman’s foot. It revealed they were intimate.
Megan didn’t like it one bit. Jealousy gripped her and fury rose.

“You ever hear of knocking? How’d you get in here?”

“The door wasn’t locked.”

“I had my hands full, guess I was preoccupied.”

Their joint chuckle made it difficult for Megan to
hold it together. “For a detective, that’s not exactly smart.”

 
“Flip the lock
as you leave. You are leaving, aren’t you?”

She hated that strained, controlled tone of his. He
always used it when he struggled to keep from unleashing his temper. Turning,
she took several steps, then turned back. “This can’t wait. I need to talk with
you now, Coop.”

“I believe we’re all talked out, Megan. There’s
absolutely nothing I need to talk with you about.”

Maybe she did deserve this cold shoulder from Cooper.
It had been years since she’d been honest with him. The ultimate price was
losing the only man she truly loved. He could have given her a second chance
when she offered. He’d turned her down flat and for that she took the kids from
him. “We can talk in private … or in front of your girlfriend. But we need to
talk.”

“So you say. Well, let’s hear it. I’m sure it’s
nothing that needs privacy, hell the whole world knows all about your
ex-husband and his badge-on-the-line status. If that’s what you came to
discuss, then we’re through talking.”

So, he didn’t deny the woman was his girlfriend. Megan
hoped that he’d scored a one-night-stand. She took a few steps into the
semi-dark room and closed the door. Staring at Cooper, she straightened her
back and walked toward them. Her heel caught something on the floor and she
stumbled slightly before catching her balance. Their laughter shot anger
through her veins.

“Refuse to be a guest on Kari Winslow’s show. If you
don’t, you’ll pay dearly.”

“If that don’t beat all. You came here to tell me what
I can’t do. Are you threatening me, Megan?”

“I’m warning you. The future of the kids is at stake
here.” Finally he stopped rubbing the redhead’s feet. Now Megan had his
attention.

“Future of the kids, is it? Does that mean you’re
putting all the earnings from this book in a trust fund for the kids? Now that
is one heck of a gesture on your part. Didn’t think you had it in you, Megan.”

She hated his games. “I didn’t say that, Cooper, and
you know it. You always try reading into things. I didn’t … I do have a responsibility
to the kids, and so do you. What I make on this book can very well set up their
college funds. I … we … have a hot book here. The more revenue it brings in,
well, the more secure our lives will be.”

“Your life, Megan. I would expect that by the time the
kids are in college, you’ll have spent all your earnings as well as theirs. You
don’t fool me with this attack on my conscience. I don’t believe you. You have
a hidden agenda and I just haven’t figured it out yet. I don’t trust you. Can’t
really blame me, can you?”

“I have apologized for the past. I’ve offered
reconciliation. It was you who got the divorce, Cooper, not me.” She adjusted
her coat and glared beneath false lashes.

“Yes, and it’s you who got the kids. Tell you what,
you go to your attorney tomorrow and draw up a new custody agreement. Give me
full custody of Tina and Tucker and I’ll cancel my guest spot on Kari’s show.”

“You bastard! Think you’ve got all the winning cards
in your hand? Well you don’t.” She took several steps back, struggling with the
temptation to agree with Cooper’s offer. She hated the responsibility of the
twins. She never wanted them in the first place, but they were a great pawn to
get back at Coop. If he appeared on the Winslow show, he could destroy her and
upcoming revenues.

“I’m holding the winning hand and you know it. You
willing to gamble with me?”

Megan remained motionless while staring Cooper down.
She gave his girlfriend a quick glance. The bitch hung on their every word. His
eyes spoke of contempt and disgust. Megan didn’t really care who he slept with.
Losing everything wasn’t in her cards, though.

“If I … I will see James Airhart first thing in the
morning. I’ll have him give you a call.” She opened the door and walked through
it, her heart pounding. She turned and glared at the man she still loved. “I
wish there was another way of stopping you, Cooper.” She gripped her jacket
tight. “Someday the twins will find out how you tricked them from me.”

“They have names, Megan. Tina and Tucker will know the
truth, and you can be sure they won’t feel tricked by anyone but you. Have
Airhart call me by nine so I can cancel the interview.”