"Have You Seen Her?" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rose Karen)

Chapter Twenty-five

Sunday, October 9, 6:30 A.M.

They snuck into Steven's house through the laundry room, holding hands like teenagers late for curfew. After the night they'd shared it was small wonder either of them could still walk. They'd made love twice more in the night, dozing until four a.m. or so. They planned to shower and get back to Steven's house so Jenna could get Jim and Casey's truck and be gone long before sunup.

Jenna squinted in the semidarkness. The sun had just started to come up. They were arriving home later than they'd planned, through no fault of her own. Steven had instigated the delay in the shower. She grinned to herself. She just helped. A lot. Her body still tingled from all the helping. She'd helped all night long. Altruism certainly had its benefits.

"What are you grinning at?" Steven murmured, looking down at her with a tender smile that made her heart do crazy things in her chest.

She lifted a brow and said nothing, which made him grin, too. "You're a pervert, Dr. Marshall."

She gave him her prim look. "And this is a problem how?"

He laughed softly. "Who said anything about a problem? Come on, let's find your dog and get you guys out of here before one of the boys discovers us. Or even worse, Helen."

"You're already trying to get rid of me," she grumbled playfully, following him through the door into the kitchen where she abruptly ran into his back. Because he'd abruptly stopped. Jenna peeked around his shoulder and immediately saw why.

"Oh, little boy," she murmured, experiencing a rush of something that felt suspiciously maternal. Nicky sat at the kitchen table, eyes closed, one freckled cheek plastered to the wood veneer, clutching something in his fist, next to his cheek. He was guarded by two hairy soldiers, Cindy Lou at his feet and Jim behind his chair. Jim lifted his head and Jenna swore the dog smiled.

Jenna took a tiptoed step closer to see what Nicky held in his hand and frowned. It was a rubber worm. A fishing lure. She turned around to find Steven looking stricken.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Last Friday I promised I'd try to take him fishing this weekend," Steven replied, his eyes glued to his little boy. He swallowed hard. "But I can't. I have a staff meeting at eight."

Jenna could practically touch the tension coming from him, and thought about all the responsibilities on his head. Three teenaged girls, two gone forever, one missing. A serial killer out there somewhere, still stalking his victims.

On the other hand, his own little boy was just starting to show sparks of life again after his own traumatic experience six months ago. His own little boy who he was going to have to disappoint. Feeling a bit like Solomon, Jenna put her arms around Steven's neck and hugged him hard. "Go to your staff meeting, Steven. Do what you need to do to keep our girls safe. I'll take Nicky fishing. When you're done you can come and meet us at the lake." She pulled back to find doubt written all over his face. "Don't worry, I am a very capable fisherman." She smiled up at him. "We might even catch something."

He shook his head. "Of that I have no doubt. There isn't much you can't do, Jenna. But are you sure you want to take an active boy fishing? You don't have to."

Jenna looked back to where Nicky sat sleeping. "I know I don't have to. I want to." Then a disturbing thought seized her. "But if you don't want me to, I'll understand. I know you're worried he'll get attached too fast."

Steven crooked his finger under her chin and pulled until she looked up at him and her disturbing line of thought was squashed by the look in his warm brown eyes. "He already is, Jen. So am I." He covered her mouth with his. so gently, so… lovingly, her heart clenched. A wave of wanting hit her, so intense she felt paralyzed in her tracks. Not sexual want-ing. He'd more than satisfied her in that way. This was more, this was a wanting of everything he represented. The man, the children, the instant family.

A family who would need her as much as she needed them.

A family she could love. A real family of her very own.

She wanted it, wanted it all so intensely she could only stand there, her heart pounding as he kissed her in his kitchen, as if she belonged there. When he lifted his head, his eyes narrowed slightly in concern. "Are you all right?"

Jenna drew a trembling breath, feeling the literal earth moving under her feet. "I'm fine. I'll be fine." She made herself smile at him. "Go get ready for work. I'll make you breakfast."

Sunday, October 9, 8:05 A.M.

He should have been exhausted, Steven thought, but he wasn't. In fact, his skin still tingled from her good-bye kiss. There was certainly something to be said for the rejuvenating powers of sex. He felt like he hadn't felt… ever. But playtime was over. His team had assembled themselves together early on a Sunday morning to find a murderer and hopefully to keep him from raising their tally of dead teens to three. Steven wasn't sure how close they were to doing either. "Good morning," he said and the murmuring quieted. "What do we know?"

Harry opened his notebook with a yawn. He'd been responsible for following Rudy all night. "Well, Rudy had quite an evening. Three parties, none of them keggers." He looked up with a baleful glare. "I really wanted to arrest him for underage alcohol consumption."

"That would have been too simple," Steven said dryly.

Harry shot him an amused look. "He left the last party with a girl who looked a lot older than high school. They went to her place and Rudy didn't come out until three a.m. Looking very rested I might add. The girl dropped him off at his house just before four a.m. and he didn't leave again."

Steven looked over at Davies who looked frustrated but said nothing. "He's had Alev Rahrooh for two days now," Steven said thoughtfully. "He kept both Lorraine and Saman-tha just under a week. I doubt Alev's already dead, so he'll have to go to her sooner or later. That's still assuming Rudy's our man. Sandra, how far did you get with the list of athletes with priors?"

Envies now looked both agitated and frustrated but still said nothing.

"About three-quarters of the way," Sandra answered. "No obvious connections. But I did check the cheerleading schedules of each of the vics' high schools. All three played Roosevelt High at Roosevelt within a week of each girl's disappearance. That makes a pretty strong case for Lutz."

Davies's smile was just the tiniest bit smug. "It's him. I know it."

Steven pushed back fiorn his chair and walked over to stare at the photos on the bulletin board feeling his own frustration grow. "Davies, any progress on the tattoo design?"

Davies's smug smile faded. "No. I've asked every cop I know. But I know it's him."

Steven gritted his teeth. "We have a prime suspect and we can't touch him. Dammit. I think we all need to take a break from the case," he said. "I know there's someplace I'd rather be today. See everybody tomorrow morning." Everyone filed out, Davies bringing up the rear, fidgeting with the change in his pocket.

"I called Jenna this morning to make sure she was all right after last night," Davies said.

Steven's defenses went straight up. "What about last night?"

"You were pretty angry when you left the bar. I wanted to be sure she was all right. That nothing happened. But she wasn't home."

Steven felt a smug smile of his own curve his lips and watched Davies's black eyes flash with fury. "Whatever did or didn't happen is none of your business," Steven said, "but if you must know, she's not home because she took my boys fishing. Which is just where I'm planning to go myself." He'd made it to the door when Davies spoke. Bitterly.

"Did she take her fiance's ring off while you did it?"

Steven froze. She hadn't. He'd noticed. He'd also told himself she'd take off Adam's ring in her own time. Steven might be jealous of Davies, but he'd be pretty low to be jealous of a dead man. Making his feet move, he walked away without dignifying Davies with an answer.

He'd made it to the parking lot and was seconds from getting away when he heard someone clear his throat. He turned to find a holy man with a very worried expression on his face.

"Agent Thatcher? I'm Reverend Monsignor Brennan of the Raleigh Dioceses. I was wondering if you could take a few minutes to talk about Father Mike Leone."

Steven sighed. He'd figured this would be coming sooner or later. "Of course, Monsignor Brennan. Let's go up to my office." He didn't bother glancing at his watch. He figured it would be after noon before he got done clearing Mike's name. Fishing would have to wait.

Sunday, October 9, 8:25 P.M.

Weary beyond measure, Steven entered his house only to have Helen, Matt, and Brad lift their respective fingers to their lips and shush him. The three stood around the bottom of the steps and Helen pointed upward. "Jenna's putting Nicky to bed. Sshh."

"But I'm not tired," came Nicky's whine from upstairs and Steven's heart stuttered. Most parents hated that whining tone, but he hadn't heard it out of Nicky since before his abduction. His baby had obeyed automatically for so long that a whine about bedtime sounded like an angel's choir.

"Well, I am," Jenna was laughing. "You kept me busy, taking all those fish off your hook."

"I could have done it myself." Nicky sounded highly amused. "I'm good at that part."

"Well, now you tell me. Are you sure you want to sleep on that hard floor? It doesn't look very comfortable." There was a long pause and Steven met Helen's eyes and realized they were both praying for a minor miracle-for Nicky to sleep in his own bed for the first time in six months. "Well, suit yourself," Jenna said and Steven let out the breath he'd been holding. Rome wasn't built in a day, he thought. They'd get there with Nicky. They would. "Can I at least cover you up?" Jenna asked. There was quiet and then Nicky's voice.

"Could you sing?"

"Me?" Jenna's horrified response made them all smile. "You want me to sing to you?"

"You don't hafta." Steven looked at Helen who smiled at Nicky's dramatically mournful tone.

"Well, since I don't hafta, I won't," Jenna replied and Matt snickered softly. "Besides," she added, "we weren't much for lullabies in my house. My dad had an old drinking song he would sing when my mother wasn't around, but I suspect your dad might have a problem with that."

"Yeah, he prob'ly would," Nicky agreed thoughtfully. "But he's not here right now," he added in a bright voice and Steven choked back a laugh.

"Good night, Nicky," Jenna said firmly.

"Will you be here when I wake up tomorrow?" Nicky asked, so softly they all had to strain to hear him and Steven swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed in his throat.

"No, sweetheart, I have to go home. I have school tomorrow and Jean-Luc will be missing Jim. I think I'll see you in a few days. Now, go to sleep."

Jenna appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in a pair of Steven's old sweats, her feet bare and her wet hair hanging down her back in a single braid. Steven felt his soul settle at the sight of her, even as she started in surprise. "I didn't know I had an audience," she said in a low voice when she got to the bottom where they waited. "Now I'm doubly glad I didn't sing."

"So are we," Matt said with a grin and she swatted him.

"Go get a shower, Matt. You're still covered in yck."

Steven took a look at his middle boy whose grin had become a scowl. Matt's jeans were covered in black slime up to his mid-calf. "Yes, you are. What'd you fall into, Matthew?"

"You don't want to know." Jenna answered for him and it was Brad's turn to snicker as Matt skulked up the stairs. "Don't you start," she said, turning to Brad. "Besides, I understand that you have some homework to catch up on." She looked his oldest in the eye, silently issuing a challenge.

Brad met her gaze for a long minute in which everybody held their breaths, then he nodded. "I understand that there's this really nice chemistry teacher who gives after-school tutoring."

Jenna sucked in her cheeks, considering his request. "It'll cost you. Standard tutoring fees."

Brad shrugged. "It's okay. My dad's good for it."

Jenna shook her head quickly. "Uh-uh. Cash comes from you or no deal."

Brad's eyes widened when he realized she was very serious. "Dad!"

Steven held up his hands. "I'm not involved in this negotiation. Plus, I agree with her."

"You would," Brad said in a disgusted tone. "I've got no cash."

Jenna raised her brows. "Then you'd best get a job." She looked at Helen. "Was there any pot roast left from dinner?"

Helen's expression was serene. "I already made you a plate."

Steven looked from one to the other. "Why didn't you eat with the others?"

"You don't want to know!" Matt yelled from up the stairs.

Jenna chuckled. "No, you really don't. Let's just say I hope I left some hot water for Matt after getting all the yck cleaned off of me and Nicky."

"I'm sorry I missed the fun," Steven said, with a pang of regret.

Jenna patted his arm. "Next time you can come. We'll just choose a different fishing hole."

"Brad, come," Helen instructed. "I have work for you to do to pay for those tutoring lessons."

"But-" Brad protested and Helen cut him off with a look. "Okay," he muttered and followed Helen, leaving Steven alone with Jenna in the relative privacy of his open foyer.

"Sounds like you all had an adventure today," he murmured, sliding his hands under the sweatshirt she wore, touching the warm, firm flesh of her back. Wishing they were more alone so he could touch the warm, firm flesh of her front.

"That it was." She linked her hands around his neck. "What about you? Any progress?"

He thought about his four-hour "deposition" with the mon-signor. He thought of Mike's career and wondered once again if he'd ever fully repair the damage they'd done to a great man's name. He thought about the fact that Victor Lutz had finally detected the presence of the unmarked cars on his street and complained to the mayor and how Steven had to tell the mayor they were watching for school vandals because he wasn't supposed to know Rudy Lutz was really William Parker. He thought about how humiliating it had been to be scolded like a schoolboy for misuse of county resources. And how he'd defied orders and extended the patrol surveillance for one more day.

He considered the latest barrage of questions from the press, outraged at his team's inability to solve this crime in their allotted one hour of prime time. And he thought about the mountain of paperwork he'd scaled, knowing it would have grown back to its previous height by tomorrow morning. So had he made any progress? "No, not a whole hell of a lot." he answered.

"Don't do that," she said softly.

"Do what?"

"Click off with me. It's like you go somewhere else and leave me behind."

He stiffened. It was a very Melissa-like comment, but delivered without venom. Today. Who knew where they'd be in five years. Ten? "It's part of the job, Jen. It's part of who I am."

She digested this in silence, not breaking her eye contact. Then finally said, "All right."

"All right? Just all right?"

She smiled and he felt the knot in his gut loosen by slow degrees. "Just all right. I guess the trick on my end will be not getting hurt when you click off." She lifted on her toes and brushed a soft kiss across his mouth. "But the trick on your end will be not to click off that often. Or wait too long to click back on."

It was a proposal of sorts. "I can live with that. If you can."

"I can," she whispered, still a fraction of an inch from his mouth.

But for how long? he wanted to ask. But didn't. He didn't have any right to ask at this point. They'd known each other nearly two weeks. They'd never talked anything more long-term than the next day. Certainly never come close to uttering the word "love."

Yes, you did, Thatcher, his self told him. You told her you could fall in love with her.

Yes, I did. And maybe I have, he thought. Maybe.

"Steven, you look completely exhausted. Go eat dinner and go to bed."

Her words reminded his brain of how tired he really was. "I'm sorry, Jenna. I'm not much company tonight."

She slipped one hand from the back of his neck to put gentle pressure on his mouth. "Get some rest, Steven. Call me tomorrow and we can talk some more. I'm going home now."

Home. To her apartment. His brain kicked back into full throttle. Until they picked up Rudy Lutz and his friends, he didn't want her being alone at night. "Jenna, I've been thinking about that. I'd feel better if you stayed here tonight."

Her lips quirked. "I bet you would, but I don't believe you have it in you, Special Agent Man."

He chuckled, despite his exhaustion. "If that's a challenge, I'll declare you the winner right now. No, I'm talking about Lutz and his friends. Pullman hasn't found anything tying any of them to your car yet and I just want you to be safe. For dumb jocks who can't pass high school these guys have shown an amazing amount of planning and care."

Jenna chewed on her lower lip. "I don't want those thugs to keep me from living in my own apartment. I'll be careful and I've got the dogs. I'll be fine."

Sunday, October 9, 10:25 P.M.

She was home. Finally. Driving her friend's car. Shame about her Jag. Somebody spent a lot of time restoring that baby. She could have been killed, he thought, and huffed a chuckle. When he was done with her, she'd wish she'd been behind the wheel of that car instead of her friend.

He watched her jog up the two flights of stairs to her apartment. Studied the construction of the balconies jutting away from the building. They would easily hold his weight and the weight of his kit. He frowned a little. He'd be bulky tonight, but that was the price of a house call. He really didn't want to drag her off to the barn. She was a lot bigger than the others, a veritable Amazon compared to the petite Lorraine and Alev. Samantha had been taller, but so willowy. He smiled remembering how pretty she'd been. How pretty they'd all been.

No, house calls weren't nearly as much fun. He'd miss the extended play opportunities the barn offered. He'd just have to make this one night with Miss Marshall count He'd been watching and waiting for this opportunity for days, even leaving Alev tonight, although Alev was just about gone. All used up. His heart quickened in anticipation. With her size and strength Miss Marshall would put up quite a struggle, so one night just might be enough.

He sat patiently as she walked her dog. Lifted his binoculars and watched her putter around her kitchen. Microwave her dinner and eat it at her dining-room table. From here he could just see the light glinting off the glass covering her diplomas and cursed the fact that from his vantage point in the parking lot he could only see both her and her apartment from above her waist. A lot of good stuff happened below the waist. He tingled just thinking about it.

And wondered if it felt any different killing a smart woman versus a stupid one.

Well, he'd find out tonight.