Renewed Faith (CSA Case Files 3 / Military Romance) (7 page)

Kevin finished his orange juice while the two men sitting across from him argued about the check. He’d probably be the one picking it up, but he didn’t tell them that. Max Higgens was a DEA agent that frequented Masters. He was a good man and even better agent. It was by happenstance that Kevin and Taggart had run into him.

“Hash isn’t one to carry a cell phone. For how paranoid he is over the fact that devices can be tracked nowadays, you’d think he was an eighty year old man who’d built himself a bunker in the middle of bum fuck Egypt.”

“He’s got a point,” Taggart replied with nod of approval. “You know where he lives?”

“You know the rules as well as I do.” Kevin leaned back against his seat wishing he could stretch his legs. This table was too damn small for the three of them. “I go to his inner sanctum, all trust is violated. I’m not a cop. I can’t just bring him in for questioning.”

“I don’t know what you think he’d know.” Taggart finished off his coffee. “If you’re right about the rapes and killings taking place exactly three months apart, a low level drug dealer doesn’t strike me as the type to be that organized. By the way, we’re looking at all possible Jane Does that were reported three months ago. If the body’s been found, we’ll link it through the autopsy reports.”

“So you think Hash knows something about your case?” Max had gotten much of the low down throughout the meal, and since his specialty was drugs and alcohol, it made sense that Hash’s connection would garner his attention. “I know he’s a low level drug dealer, but you should be aware that his ass is getting caught up in some serious shit. He’s been seen with Gibson.”

“Hash told me that Gibson was trying to run a couple of lines through the city, but I thought Carlos had his area sealed off.” Kevin noticed that since the conversation had technically steered off the case, Taggart was busy texting someone on his phone. “Hash mentioned a few weeks ago that Gibson was looking at some dealers in St. Paul.”

“Carlos’ supplier isn’t meeting the demand of his clients. Word has it that he’s thinking of teaming up with Gibson.” The waitress finally showed and placed the check on the edge of the table. Max silently slid the small piece of paper over so that it was situated in front of Taggart. “We have some people in place should that happen. If we can get Gibson’s supplier, we can take down multiple routes through the Midwest.”

“Interesting,” Kevin said, looking out the window of the diner. The snow was falling at a steady rate, and by morning another five inches would make rush hour traffic fucked up. He didn’t mind snow, but it was the aftereffect that he didn’t want to deal with. “I was hoping to catch both Hash and Bee tonight. As Taggart said, Hash was with two hookers earlier this morning. Told the detective who’d tried to question him that he was just there to walk the women home. The Hash I know isn’t known for his manners.”

“At least we know the victim’s name,” Taggart cut in, sliding his phone in his suit jacket. “Francie McQueen. I highly doubt that’s her real name, but we’re running her through the system now. According to Rachel and Clarisse, Francie wanted to work the area but Bee explained how his territory worked. I’ve been trying to track down Larry the Limey to see if he or his girls had any encounters. In the meantime, a cute barista is waiting for me. Move your ass, Max.”

“Not until you pay for the meal, Casanova.”

“Fine,” Taggart mumbled good-naturedly, reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out his wallet and threw a fifty down on the table, which would cover not only their meals but the tip as well. Kevin let him have this one, knowing Max wouldn’t let it go. “There. Happy?”

“Extremely.”

Max laughed and then stood up, allowing for Taggart to maneuver out of the booth. One would think that a man would look rumpled after such a long day, but there wasn’t a wrinkle in the man’s suit. Max and Taggart shook hands and patted each other on the back. Kevin just shook his head at their antics and then turned his gaze back to the windowpane.

Before leaving the office around two o’clock this afternoon, Kevin had made sure to pass the information he’d discovered over to Taryn. She said she would input the specific dates and see if they matched up with any other murders in the country and then if needed would broaden the scope. He’d even scanned in the photographs so that Jessie could send them off to Fallon. Maybe the profile that she was going to provide them would shed clues as to what type of scumbag they were looking for.

“I’ll touch base with you tomorrow morning.” Taggart’s words pulled Kevin’s gaze away from the street. “It should prove to be a busy day, so I’m going to go and enjoy the company of a nice young woman.”

“Made time to stop by Caribou, did you?” Kevin smiled, knowing that Taggart wasn’t one to let an opportunity pass him by. “Go get her, Casanova.”

Taggart laughed as he made his way to the door. Max sat back down, but something caught Kevin’s gaze and made him look outside once more. What the hell? Elle was walking down the opposite side of the street, bundled up in a white ski jacket with the same black scarf that she wore when he’d first met her. Her black hair was still pulled back and sitting in a high ponytail, making her look younger than her twenty-five years. And even that was young compared to his thirty-two.

“She’s still giving you a run for the money, huh?”

Kevin unfolded his frame from the booth and slapped his friend on the shoulder. Max attended Masters on a weekly basis and was well aware of Kevin’s fascination with Elle. Everyone busted his balls over the fact that he didn’t play at the club. It felt too uncomfortable to him to do that in front of Elle. Had either of them been in any other situation, where she didn’t manage the club his friends owned, it might be different. They certainly didn’t have a relationship and she made it abundantly clear that she didn’t want one. Kevin was free to sleep with whoever the hell he wanted…unfortunately, he wanted her.

“I’ll see you this weekend, buddy.”

With those words, Kevin snatched his jacket from the booth and was out the door. The cold hit him but didn’t really register in his brain as he looked both ways to cross the snow-covered street. He shrugged into his coat and had just about caught up with her when she quickly turned on him, light glinting off the blade of the knife she was holding.

“Jesus!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Elle yelled, practically stomping her foot. “I could have stabbed you.”

“Stabbed me? You could have killed me, woman.” Kevin’s chest finally loosened to where he could breathe. The first instinct that came over him when being confronted with a knife was to disarm his opponent and immediately get the upper hand. She was damn lucky that his brain kept registering that it was her and not some stranger. The likelihood of her actually having gotten the knife that close to him was nil. “You’re damn lucky that I didn’t hurt you.”

“You just said two different things with opposite meanings,” Elle replied in irritation, seemingly having caught her composure though. She folded the knife and slid it back inside her pocket. She wore no gloves, so her hands remained inside what must be warm material. “And yes, I could have killed you. You should know better than to sneak up on a woman.”

“I wasn’t sneaking up on you.” Kevin put his hands inside his pockets as well, the cold finally registering. “What are you doing out on the street at this hour? Didn’t I warn you that it’s dangerous right now?”

“As opposed to every other day?” Elle was being a little too snarky for Kevin’s liking, but he clenched his teeth to prevent himself from saying something that he would regret. Dealing with the submissives at the club was a hell of a lot easier than talking to Elle. He felt like he was back in Afghanistan walking through a minefield. “I was actually looking for you. I figured you’d be talking with Hash after what you said this morning.”

“You should know that no one’s out in weather like this.” The minute the words were out of his mouth, Kevin knew he’d made a mistake. Had he not been looking, he would have missed the flash of pain that tore through her brown eyes. The minefield had been a hell of a lot easier to navigate. “You took that the wrong way, but nothing I say right now will make you see that. Instead, I’ll walk you back to your apartment while you tell me why it is that you were looking for me.”

Kevin didn’t give her a chance to say no as he gently took a hold of her arm and led her back from the way she’d come. Once Elle was by his side, he kept a hand on her lower back regardless that the wind chill bit into his fingers. It was well worth the pain, or numbness as the case may be, to touch her in some way.

“Isn’t that Max Higgens?”

Elle’s question had him looking over her head and across the street. Max was just exiting the diner, holding a hand in the air in salute. Elle returned the gesture, while Kevin just gave a nod of his head. Max continued to walk the opposite way, the snow eventually hiding his form.

“Yeah, that’s where I was when I spotted you. We had a bite to eat. Taggart and I were going to have a chat with Hash and Bee tonight, but it’ll have to wait until the weather clears.”

“Who’s Taggart?”

Elle looked up at him, snowflakes falling on her lashes and making her look like one of the beautiful women in those jewelry commercials that were getting engaged. Wouldn’t she be a sight to see in that situation? Kevin mentally kicked himself in the ass.

“He’s just a detective that I’m working with on the case.” Kevin let his fingers sink into her jacket as they came to an intersection. Holding on tightly while he slowed his steps, he waited for the orange light to indicate it was okay to cross. “He works homicide, but since all the cases are related, my best shot at helping solve who raped Becky Rattore is through him. Again, this brings us back to the reason you were looking for me. Unless it was personal?”

“What?” Elle’s gaze once again swung up to meet his. Why there was surprise written across her features, he didn’t know. Kevin had made it blatantly obvious that he was interested in her from the get go, dropping clues as many times as the opportunity allowed. “Of course it’s not personal.”

“Of course,” Kevin replied wryly. Not giving her a chance to follow up on that, he continued. “Then we’re back to square one.”

“I went to the shelter today and Rachel was there.” They rounded the corner of a building and Kevin nonchalantly scanned the area while listening to what Elle had to say. He refrained from commenting on the fact that she purposefully went against his advice, but he knew it would get him nowhere. “I got information that I think will help you out.”

Kevin couldn’t repress the smirk that lifted one side of his mouth. He made sure she couldn’t see by looking ahead of them, but damn if she wasn’t just an enigmatic nymph all proud that she obtained information she thought he didn’t have. He knew all about Rachel and Clarisse, having double-checked the detective’s interview statements that Taggart had sent over to the office. He’d let her enjoy her little moment for a while longer.

“And what would that be?”

“Well, for starts, Rachel and Clarisse knew the victim. Her name is Francie and she was looking for an area to pick up johns. Bee confronted Francie and told her how the territories were split. Rachel never saw the girl after that.”

The wind and snow were picking up and Kevin didn’t like that the weather put them at a disadvantage if someone were to come up upon them. Regardless that there was a killer still roaming the area, Ryland was never far from his mind. It wouldn’t surprise Kevin if the man decided to take them out one by one in order to make a statement to Crest. Kevin was going to have to cut off her bragging a little sooner than he wanted. Her apartment was only one block away as it was.

“City girl, I hate to break it to you, but I knew that almost the minute I left your apartment,” Kevin stated, looking both ways as they crossed the final street to their destination. “As I said, I don’t want you putting yourself in danger by asking questions. You have a job, which is managing Masters. My job is to find out who is raping and murdering these girls.”

They were now standing directly in front of Masters and he allowed her to come to a standstill in front of him. They were facing each other and when his gaze landed on Elle’s upturned face, Kevin knew he was in trouble. Any satisfaction should have been wiped away by his statement. Instead, she looked like she was ready to deliver a final blow in their battle of wills.

“Then I’d say you’re not doing your job properly,” Elle replied, her brown eyes lightening in her delight. “If you were, you’d know that Bee was seen leaving the same warehouse where Francie’s body was found the night before.”

Chapter Six