Jane Doe's Return (9 page)

Travis laughed. “And Lana had nothing to do with it.”

“She’s got Katie.” Jake smiled.

“Katie’s a daddy’s girl.” Travis shook his head. “I doubt I’ll get over this trip, but I do need to pick your brain sometime.”

“Anytime.” Jake waved and buzzed off.

Shauna looked the other way. That kiss still lingered on her lips and she didn’t like it. To be honest, she didn’t like the fact that she liked it. She couldn’t afford to be distracted. Finding out what Travis knew and nailing her attacker were the only thing she should be thinking about.

****

Travis pulled the boat into the slip with ease, but he’d mentally given himself a good tongue lashing for trying to kiss Shauna. Not one of his most brilliant moments. Regardless of the sparks that had been flying, kissing her was literally his kiss of death.

The rest of the day he let her get overtaken by his family, just so he could stay away. Every time he got near her, he forgot why he was with her in the first place. He liked women, but most didn’t affect him to the point of distraction.

Sitting out on the front porch, legs stretched up on the railing, Travis held his sister’s picture in one hand and a soda in the other. There were moments he missed her so much it hurt, like now.

“Jessica looks a lot like her,” Shauna said, pulling up a chair.

“Jesus.” His feet hit the floor with a thud. “You shouldn’t sneak up on armed men.”

She took the picture from him. “Is Jessica like Marie at all?”

“Marie was very stubborn, like my brother Larry. Bill and I always tried to just get along. Those two were rebels without causes. Jessica is kind of in between. She acts all tough on the outside, but I suspect she’s just like her father.”

“A big teddy bear on the inside.” Shauna smiled.

“He’s married.” Travis smiled back. She had a way of breaking down his defenses and making him feel like he could tell her anything.

“Married, but adorable.”

“We try not to mention the similarities too much. Bill says the whole thing seems to really bother Jessica.”

Shauna pointed her face in the direction of the sun and Travis took advantage. He let his gaze enjoy her creamy looking skin and her touchable curves. But he kept his hands to himself.

“Why’d she run away?”

“There are times I’m not sure she did runaway.” He stretched his arms out to the side, tilting his head. “She’d told my parents she was staying after school with some friends and she’d take the late bus home. She wasn’t on that bus and it was three days before they found her.”

“I’m really sorry.” Her gentle touch sent a feeling of understanding through his skin to his heart. He glanced at her face and studied her deep expression. “What are you thinking?” He touched her knee.

The sparkle in her eyes from the reflection of the sun off the crystal blue lake made it difficult for him to focus on anything but her.

“If you look at the open cases, it looks like we have two killers. One who rapes, kills, and just dumps the bodies in the woods,” she said.

“The others are cleaned, as if he is trying to get rid of any traces of rape. Or maybe cleanse their souls.” He scooted to the edge of his seat, riveted by her instincts.

“The same killer wouldn’t change his MO,” she commented, pausing, biting her thumbnail. “But what if it everything hinges on whether or not the girls were virgins?”

“Not easy for a dead girl to tell us her past sexual history.”

“I take it you have already thought of that?”

He’d never seen her bite her nails before. Something about this conversation made her nervous, which in turn made him nervous because she was the most confident woman…no, FBI agent he’d ever met. “I once presented it to one of the other agents when I first started. I was informed that it would have to be perceived virginity, since it is possible for the hymen to be broken other ways.”

“Perceived virginity could be the key though.” With a shaking hand, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“What’s going on inside there?” He tapped her forehead, hoping she’d open up to him. She had a theory, or an idea, and he wanted her to share it.

“What if we approach this as two different killers? At least, how we present it to the task force. I think there’s enough to link the two hotel cases together.”

Travis held up his hand. “Too many years between them.”

“Don’t you see?” Her voice cracked.

“We need a bigger connection, before we present this, to make it more than a file we are continuing to aide the police on. You are on to something, though; we just need to dig a little deeper, like find Jane Doe.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to be found,” his mother said, standing directly behind him and breathing down his neck. “Maybe she wants to forget and move on with her life. Like you should.”

Avoiding his mother painful stare, he said, “I can’t get over it, and neither can you.” He clenched his fists.

“I’ll always miss my Marie. If I could’ve changed places with her, I would have, but I’m not going to let some psycho dictate what I do. She was my only daughter.” A tear dripped down his mother’s cheek. “If I could bring her back, I would.”

“Putting the jerk behind bars will certainly make me feel better.” He looked out over the lake, trying to find some calming aspect of his surroundings.

“They already put one behind bars.”

“The wrong man, Mother.” The small plastic table knocked over as he leapt to his feet, sending his soda can spraying down the stone path.

“Well, he was guilty of something and belongs in prison.”

“So does the man who raped and killed Marie,” Travis said.

His mother let out a long slow breath. “Are you prepared to bring an innocent young girl into this? She may not believe they caught the wrong guy. Do you want to ruin her sense of security? Don’t you think she has been through enough?”

“If that monster is still out there, she’ll never be safe.” The wood railing shook with his trembling hands. He struggled to keep his anger from igniting an all out war of words. “I just want to protect her,” he said behind clenched jaw.

“If she believed he was still out there, don’t you think she’d come forward?”

“Not if she’s smart.”

“Oh, that’s right. She’d stay hidden because she knows her attacker is out there,” his mother said. “I loved Marie as much as you did, but you have to move forward. Live your life, not live in her memory.”

“I don’t want to argue.”

“Then drop it. I don’t think you see what you are doing to this family. Now if you would excuse me,” she said softly, and went back into the house.

“Your mother’s right,” Shauna said.

Travis’s pulse increased. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I might be out of line, but your world seems to wrapped up in the past.”

“One, you’re out of line. Two, didn’t you just think we should present all this to the task force?”

“Yes, but not under the pretense of looking for your sister’s killer. We’re looking for the man who raped and murdered those girls. Even if they are one in the same, that is immaterial, as is Jane Doe.”

“But she might be able to help.”

Shauna stood and faced him. “While you say you want to protect Jane Doe, just talking to her could bring her out in the open, reveal her identity. If what we believe is true, if this is the same guy and if he finds out who she is—” Shauna blinked, “—then he’ll kill her. Can you live with that? Because I know I can’t.”

“I doubt he knows who she is, or he would have gone after the one person who can nail his ass. What happened to those instincts of yours?”

“Call these womanly instincts, but I doubt Jane Doe wants to be identified.” Something flickered behind her eyes. “Besides, what would the bureau do with us if we got caught trying to find a woman’s rapist who technically has been sitting in prison for years? We need to focus on the caseload we have. The victims we can tie to
a
killer, not the one that haunts you.”

“Jane Doe holds the key to our caseload. We need to find her. And we can do it on our own time.” Travis turned and entered the house. The one time he thought he had someone in his corner, thinking his way, she turns on him. Figures.

Well, he would make sure she came around to his way of thinking, she had to. She was too damn smart not to.

Chapter Five 

Shauna lingered on the porch trying to enjoy the sunset against the shimmer of the crystal-clear lake. A few boats hummed along the shoreline like a picture on a post card. But there was nothing picture-perfect about this situation. She feared her job would be on the line if any of her superiors knew she was ‘The Jane Doe’ in a case that involved her partner’s dead sister.

A loud shriek, followed by a splash and a roar of laugher brought her attention to two teenagers frolicking about in the water. Letting out a huge sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to remember the happy times in her childhood. But there were none.

“Hi.” Kamy’s squeaky little voice danced in her ears.

“Hi.” Shauna smiled as the little girl climbed up on her legs. The brushing of Kamy’s soft skin felt warm against Shauna’s cold memories. This child had the world at her hands and love in her heart.

“Mommy says you’re pretty. I do, too,” Kamy said as she settled into Shauna’s lap, smelling like peaches.

“I think you’re much prettier than me.” Shauna batted Kamy’s nose.

“There you are.” Kim slipped through the patio door. “You can’t just walk off like that, baby.”

“I’m not a baby!” Kamy pouted.

“You’re my baby. I hope she wasn’t bothering you.” Kim scooped up the little girl.

“She’s no bother. I enjoy her company,” Shauna said.

“She is full of sweetness, that’s for sure.” Kim lifted Kamy into her arms and gave her a big smooch on the check. “Let’s go get cleaned up for dinner.”

Shauna stood and stared out over the water, concentrating on the soft roll of the water crashing against the shore, instead of the heartache she felt deep in her soul.

“I’m sorry for my outburst.” Rita appeared at her side.

“Don’t apologize.” Shauna looked into the same intense eyes Travis had and swallowed.

“Travis is a very passionate man.” Rita rounded her shoulders. “He’s also very stubborn.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“May I ask you a question?” Rita touched Shauna’s hands. She nodded, trying not to tremble. How could she stand here, look this woman in the eye and not tell her.

Because to tell her would probably destroy her
.

“Do you think Jane Doe could help?”

Shauna broke out in a cold sweat and she was sure her face drained of all color. “I’m sure if Jane Doe knew anything, she’d find a way to help.” On some level, Shauna wanted to scream,
I
’
m right here.
But what good would that do? She couldn’t ease their pain, or deliver that bastard to them. “Truthfully, I don’t know. You’re daughter’s case is officially closed and all the reports indicate that Jane Doe was attacked by the same man, although that was never proven.”

“I know Travis believes other innocent girls have died, but I wonder if simply talking to Jane

Doe would ease his pain.”

It would probably only add to it, which was why Shauna had to keep her identity a secret. She set this lie in motion, now she had to live with it. “I’m not sure. However, I do believe we need to focus his attention on the here and now cases, especially those that are similar.”

“Do you believe the authorities convicted the right man?”

Not an easy question to answer without giving herself away. “I really don’t know. For now, I think Travis has too much on his mind and it’s blending with his past. He’s a very determined man.”

“Yes, he is,” Rita smiled. “When the cops first picked up Williams for my daughter’s murder, I was relieved. I felt as though I had some kind of closure, but with Travis’s thoughts and convictions, I have to wonder. He’s very smart and very good at what he does.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Sometimes I think we are all just nuts,” Rita said.

“I don’t think any of us are nuts.” Shauna fought the tears that begged to run down her cheeks. The need to be strong for this family outweighed her own personal agony.

Rita pulled Shauna into the kitchen with her. “Enough of this serious stuff. Rita placed a cutting board in front of Shauna. “You get to slice the cucumbers.”

“I think I can handle that.”

Rita put her hands on her hips. “So, tell me. Is my son behaving himself?”

“Oh, yeah. Always the gentleman.” Shauna easiest of the boys to train. I told him it was his job to teach Marie how to be a lady. I think he took it a little too seriously.” Rita held a locket that dangled from her neck, gave it a quick kiss and smiled at Shauna.