Dangerous Secrets (12 page)

In response she lifted her head to meet his hungry lips. Her entire body shivered with excitement as their bodies meshed together. A growing ache between her legs spread like liquid fire straight to all her nerve endings. Sometimes she wanted to pinch herself to make sure this was all real.

He shifted so that her back was against the wall and lifted her up. In a few movements, her ankles were locked behind his back and he was sliding into her. Before meeting Adam, sex had always been on a bed, usually with the lights off and never very exciting.

She moaned aloud as she took the full length of him. Grinning at her, he leaned down and nipped her neck and shoulder as he began to move inside her. The light scrape of his teeth over her sensitive skin was intensified tenfold.

Clutching his shoulders, she held on for life as he increased his speed. The cool tiles of the shower against her back did nothing to ease the heat racing through her. With each movement, she pushed closer to the edge of release.

He lifted his head and gripped her hips tighter. His neck and shoulder muscles corded tightly as he rocked into her and she realized how much strength it must be taking him to hold on to her. She was so close, it bordered on painful. Her inner walls tightened around him, and without warning, she surged into orgasm.

“Adam.” His name was a whisper on her lips. She couldn’t manage anything else. Her entire insides turned to jelly as she came down from her high.

With him, it seemed her mind was already primed for that normally elusive climax. In the past she’d always needed a lot of extra physical stimulation before she could even
think
about coming.

“Izzy.” The dark, primal way her name ripped from his chest sounded like a warning. A very good one.

With an inaudible moan, he buried himself inside her and held himself there. She could feel his release pulsing inside her and without warning, a few stray tears escaped. Until Adam she’d never let a man get so close to her. Never let a man get to know her. Maybe that’s why it had always been such a long process to wring an orgasm from her. She’d started to let him see the side of her she kept reserved for friends and family and instead of being turned off, he asked her to move home with him.

A satisfied expression played across his features when he looked at her, but almost immediately his smile fell.

“You okay?” he asked, still breathing heavily.

She nodded and unhooked her legs. “I’m more than okay.” Standing under the powerful jets, she closed her eyes and let the water course over her.

She was falling for Adam. No doubt about it. Unfortunately she had no clue how to handle it.

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face. After three hours at the hospital, his eyelids felt as if they had sandbags weighing on them. At least Andrew was going to be okay. He’d lost a lot of blood but the wound hadn’t been critical.

He opened the evidence bag containing a biology textbook they’d found at the scene and placed it on the table in their conference room. With gloved hands, he pulled it out. They’d already dusted for prints but he still wanted to be careful.

Flipping through the book, he realized it wasn’t just a college textbook, but a teacher’s edition. A few pages were heavily underlined and highlighted. It was the botany section. His heart leapt into his throat. Maybe his partner had been on to something.

As he set it down, Megan stepped in. “Hey.”

He frowned when he saw her. She wore jeans and a T-shirt and with her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and no makeup, she looked like she’d just rolled out of bed. “What are you doing here so early?” The sun wouldn’t be up for a few hours yet.

She shrugged. “I heard about Andrew and when you weren’t at the hospital I knew you’d be here.”

Everyone was either at the hospital or out patrolling looking for the asshole who’d shot his partner. With a department their size they only had two detectives and with Andrew bedridden, it was up to him to figure out what this guy would do next. “Thanks for coming by but you really didn’t have to.”

Megan’s lips pulled into a thin line. “I put on a fresh pot of coffee. Should be ready soon. What can I do to help?”

Jack glanced at the book, then at her. It might be a long shot but he had nothing to lose. “I need you to get me the fax number, phone number and email address for the University of North Florida’s dean.”

She nodded. “No problem. What do you need it for?”

“I’m following up on a hunch.” He didn’t tell her any more. Not yet. He wanted to be sure first. The university was far enough away that they might not have seen newscasts releasing the photo of the serial rapist. There might not be a connection but he wanted to see if there had been any sexual assaults on campus or if anyone in administration recognized this sketch.

While he waited for Megan he pulled out the file they’d been composing on the three—four victims.

They’d all attended the same university but at different times. They didn’t have any overlapping classes, no teachers were the same, they were all working toward different majors, only two were in a sorority and those were different. Maria, the third victim, had only been there for two semesters before her attack. The other three were about to graduate. Nothing in their schedules or lifestyles except the college linked them together. They were young and pretty of course, but that was where their similarities ended. “Why are you picking
them?
” he muttered.

The sound of Megan clearing her throat caused his head to snap up. “I got what you needed.”

“Good. Thank you.” The sooner he got this information out, the better. As he took the slip of paper from Megan, he flipped his file open to the first victim. Something had to have set this guy off and if the first attack was personal and he could figure out why, he could bring this guy down.

Jack looked up as Megan set another fresh cup of coffee in front of him. “You’re an angel,” he murmured.

The station was filling up but she’d stayed on with him the past few hours, poring over the files in case he and Andrew had missed something. Definitely above and beyond her job requirements as a receptionist.

Her lips curved up slightly. “Then you’re really gonna love me now. I’ve got Dean Keyes on line two.”

Immediately he reached for the phone. “Detective Dennis here.”

“Hi Detective, this is Dean Keyes. You can call me Matthew.”

“Thanks for calling me back.”

“I got your fax and email and wanted to talk to you personally.” His voice was concerned.

“Good. We’re working an investigation right now and I need to know if there were any unusual sexual assaults in the past year or even recently.”

“There were a few assaults on campus but all the cases have been closed. That’s not why I called you back. I recognize the person in the picture you sent me.”

Jack’s heart rate tripled. That was more than he’d hoped for. “Is it a student?”

“No. The sketch is of a professor who used to be employed here.”

“Used to?”

“He was let go a couple months ago due to inappropriate behavior toward one of our female students. He didn’t actually assault her but he was trying to use his position to influence her for…sexual favors. It wasn’t the first time he’d received a complaint but it was the first time we had proof. We’ve had a hell of a time filling his position but—”

“What did he teach?” He had a feeling he already knew the answer.

“Biology.”

“I need his name and the name of the student.” Jack wasn’t asking.

The dean cleared his throat nervously. “Ah, I don’t know if—”

“Someone is stalking and raping women. Don’t give me some bullshit about—”

“You’re right. His name is Phillip Gray and the student is Sasha Sorrentino.”

A low buzzing started in Jack’s ears. Sasha was the first victim and he didn’t believe in coincidence. “Can you send me everything you’ve got on Gray?”

“Fax or email?”

“Email. Is there any possibility he’d have access to student records, addresses, stuff like that?” Jack tapped his pen against the table. That had to be the link. With the exception of Sasha he might not have taught the other women or even known them personally, but he might have been able to find out their addresses and ethnicity.

“He’d have no business going into their records but…anything is possible.”

After they hung up, Jack felt as if he could breathe again for the first time in months. This was the best lead they’d gotten. Once he got the information he needed on Gray, it would only be a matter of time before he found him.

Phillip Gray grabbed his hat off the dresser and adjusted it in the mirror. Soon things would be back to normal. After he took care of that meddling bitch he was gone. Maybe he’d head out west instead of Miami.

As he walked out of the bedroom, he ran his hand along the bureau and kicked up a layer of dust an inch thick. He quietly shut the door behind him, descended the stairs and checked the blinds on all the windows in each of the three rooms. Everything was secure. Just as he’d left it.

Still, it didn’t hurt to double check. Everything had to be perfect tonight. His soft-soled shoes were silent as he walked across the tiled kitchen floor. For a moment, he listened at the door leading to the garage-turned-game room. Silence.

Good. Maybe she was done throwing a fit.

He opened the door. She still sat blindfolded in the chair where he’d left her. Her hands were tied behind her back and her ankles were secured to each chair leg. Her head lolled to the side, but she was aware of him. He could feel it.

Finally her head snapped up. “Who’s there?” Her voice came out shaky, and with a trace of something else. Raw fear.

“Eager, aren’t we?” he murmured.

“What do you want from me? Where am I?” Now there was nothing but pure panic in her shrill words.

Smiling to himself, he shut the door leaving her alone and terrified. He drank in her fear, let it course through him. Soon she’d be begging for her life. Soon she’d be promising her soul away if he’d just make the pain stop. This one wasn’t getting drugs.

The girl was still shouting questions, but her voice was muffled through the door. The owners had turned their garage into a playroom for their little brats, adding extra insulation.

Not that it mattered. The nearest neighbor was half a mile away and the owners only came here during the summer. No one would hear her—
their
—screams.

Jack leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept. Andrew was still in the hospital—and driving the nurses crazy. He’d finally gotten a hold of Sasha Sorrentino. She admitted that her old professor had been creepy but she hadn’t thought he’d be capable of hurting her like that. After showing Phillip’s DMV photo to Andrew, however, they knew he was the guy. They just couldn’t find him.

Sighing, he opened his eyes and stood. He felt like he should stay but he needed a few hours of sleep. He’d been making calls all day, trying to hunt down people who knew Phillip. Unfortunately the list was short. He’d left half a dozen messages with the guy’s step-brother—a beat cop in North Carolina—and still hadn’t heard anything back.

After Gray had lost his job he’d basically fallen off the radar. He’d broken the lease at his condo and just disappeared. Every now and then he’d take money out of his bank account but after the last big withdrawal a month ago, there hadn’t been any movement.

As Jack shrugged into his jacket, his phone rang. When he saw the Raleigh area code, his heart rate quickened. “Jack here.”

“Detective Dennis?”

“Yeah.”

“This is Ben Romano. I got a message that you wanted to talk to me about Phillip?”

Jack clutched his phone tighter against his ear. Christ, let this be the break they were waiting for. “Yeah. He’s a person of interest on a case I’m working right now and—”

The other man snorted. “He’s probably the main fucking suspect.”

Jack was silent for a moment. He’d wanted to tread lightly. If he attacked Phillip or accused him of something, he ran the risk of alienating his best lead. “I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. I haven’t talked to that bastard in over a decade. Whatever you think he’s guilty of, I’m sure he did it.”

“So you two aren’t close?” He asked the obvious.

“Hell no. My mom married his dad when I was eighteen. I moved out that summer so I didn’t spend a lot of time with him but that little fucker was weird.” His voice was filled with disgust.

“Weird how?”

“He didn’t have any friends and he was always dissecting stuff. Plants, bugs, and I can’t be sure if he actually did it, but my mom was afraid he’d killed a couple of the neighbors’ pets. With a father like that it’s a wonder he didn’t do worse.”

“Your step-father?”

“That guy was a raging racist. Blamed all his problems on anyone who wasn’t white. Typical ignorant bastard. Can’t believe my mother ever married him.”

“Was he abusive?”

“Nah, not to her. But I saw him rough the kid up a couple times when I came home for summer break. He said he was trying to toughen Phillip up. Hell, the kid even tried to join the police force—probably to please him—but he failed the psychological test. I’m not supposed to know but my mom let it slip.”

This guy definitely fit their profile. “Are they still married?”

“No. He died about five years ago. Heart attack. She moved up to live near me not long after. I’ll ask her, but I doubt Phillip has contacted her. She’d have told me.”

Jack bit back a sigh. He’d been hoping they were close. Now he had a history on the guy, but he wasn’t sure how much good it would do him if he couldn’t find him. “Is there anything else you can think of that might help?”

“In your message you said you were with Coconut Bay PD, right?”

“Yeah.”

“They used to vacation there.”

“They?”

“My mom, step-dad and Phillip. For the last three summers he lived with them, they always spent a month down there over the summer.”

A burst of adrenaline shot through Jack. “Did they own any property?”

“No, nothing like that. They just rented whatever condo was cheapest.”

So much for that angle. “Thanks for calling me back, I appreciate it. If you think of anything else—”

“There is one thing. It might be nothing but he used to have a massive crush on a black chick who summered there with her family. His old man put an end to that
real
fast. I know from my mom that he tried to see the girl in secret, but she broke up with him because she thought he was a coward. After that happened, my step-dad’s truck got water poured in the gas line. The kid was really passive aggressive so who knows if it was him or not.”

“You remember the girl’s name?”

“I remember she was rich. Like, really really rich. Her last name was…Sands. Don’t know the first name though.”

“Thanks, you’ve been really helpful. If you think of anything else, you’ve got my number.”

“No problem. Hey, what did he do anyway?”

Jack massaged his temple. He didn’t want to get into the gritty details with this guy but he owed him something. “He shot a cop.”

“No shit.” The other man let out a low whistle.

As soon as they disconnected, Jack fired up his computer. He was going to find this guy if it killed him.

Izzy popped the top on another beer and handed it to one of the few patrons at Mad Dog’s. “You want me to add it to your tab?”

“Sure. Thanks Izzy.” Don smiled as he took the beer. “You got a light?”

“You know you can’t smoke in here.” She placed a hand on her hip. Don had been coming to the bar for about fifteen years, long before she’d been around, and back when smoking had been legal.

“I know. I’m going to take it outside,” he grumbled.

She pulled out the silver lighter she always carried and slid it across the bar to him. “I’ll watch your drink.”

He winked and grabbed the lighter before heading toward the front door.

“How’re you feeling?” Adam’s voice sounded close to her left ear.

She swiveled and clutched a hand to her chest “Jeez, I didn’t even hear you.”

He grinned and her heart stuttered. “Any excitement tonight?”

“
No,
you haven’t missed any excitement in the past
three
minutes.” He’d been hovering over her like a hawk. Not that she wasn’t grateful, but she couldn’t imagine what he thought could happen to her in a restaurant when she was surrounded by people.

“Has Toby been up here to talk to you yet?”

She shook her head and tried to ignore what his presence did to her senses. “No, last I checked he was still on his phone.”

Adam frowned. “Me too.”

When they’d arrived at work ten minutes ago, Toby said he might have some information from his detective cousin, but then he’d gotten a phone call and they hadn’t talked to him since.

“You want to come to my place after work?” Adam’s question came out of nowhere.

Before she could answer a customer interrupted them. “Hey lady, can I get a beer down here or what?”

Izzy turned to see where the rude voice came from. The man had a buzz hair cut and wore a leather jacket with fringe. From where she stood it looked like he had the beginnings of a healthy beer gut. She walked to the other end, gave him his drink and ignored the annoyed attitude he threw her way.

Some wannabe biker was the least of her problems. As she walked back to the other end of the bar, she picked up a few dirty dishes and set them in the small sink next to where Adam stood. “Would you mind watching the bar for a few minutes?”

“Why? Where are you going?”

She cleared her throat. “The ladies room.”

“Oh…right. No problem.” He grabbed one of the dirty glasses and started washing it.

She patted the black mini apron tied around her waist to make sure her cell phone was still there. She ducked under the bar and hurried toward the back. Once in the bathroom, she checked the three stalls. They were all empty.

She locked herself in the last one and sat on top of the closed toilet lid and tried to steady her breathing. What was wrong with her?
Everything was happening so fast with Adam, that’s what.

For so long she’d lived in this state of distrust. If she hadn’t known someone from the time she was in grade school, she wasn’t likely to let them into her life. The few times she had, it had ended disastrously. Most of the men she’d dated turned out to be assholes who cared more about social status than her.

She pulled out her cell phone and hit one of her speed dials.

Her dad answered on the second ring. “Hi, sweetie. How are you?”

“Hi, Dad.” She wasn’t exactly sure how to handle this conversation.

There wasn’t a lot she could hide from him and he picked up on her anxiety right away. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s great. I want to ask you something, but I don’t want you to jump to conclusions.”

“Okay.” His voice was cautious.

“If I move back home, and this is a strong
if,
I want to know exactly what you plan on hiring me to do.”

He was silent for a long beat, but finally he spoke. “I want you in charge of marketing and development. At the start, you’ll have to get your hands dirty so to speak by visiting a lot of the jobsites so you get a feel for what Ballantine Industries is all about. You’re not going to start out at the bottom, but you certainly won’t be at the top either. You’ll have a boss just like anyone else.”

“Who?”

“Larry Hoffman.”

“Oh.” She’d known him since she was five. And she liked him. A lot. Definitely a plus.

“He’s a good man and more importantly, he won’t micromanage. He’ll guide you. He’s looking to retire in a few years and he wants someone competent—
and trustworthy
—to take over the reins.”

Marketing was definitely one of her strong suits. She knew how to sell. It was in her blood. She chose her next words carefully. “That sounds like something I might be interested in.”