Red Red Rose (12 page)

“Danny,
this is my mother Karen.”

His
smile slipped into a curious frown and then he looked back at me. “Adopted I
presume, since biologically it would be a genetic impossibility.”

“Yes,
I was adopted.”

“Right.
Well, it seems as if you two were on your way out, so I’ll bid you a good
afternoon, and see you tomorrow Nora?”

“I
have the day off tomorrow, but I’ll be back Sunday.”

“Sunday
then.” He tipped his cup and then skirted around us to get another dose.

“I
think that boy might have a crush on you,” Mom noted on the way out the door.

“No.
I just don’t think he has much of a social life. He feels like we’re all his
friends at the shop.”

“He
certainly seems a bit odd.”

“He
is. But he’s cute and nice and sweet, and if he ditched those glasses and ran a
comb through his hair, maybe got some clothes that didn’t look like they
belonged on a sixty-five year old man, he’d be quite attractive.” His looks
were just hidden beneath the packaging.

“But
not as attractive as your Shaw.”

I
led her to my car. “He’s not
my
Shaw.” And it was hardly a fair
comparison. Channing Tatum wasn’t as attractive as Shaw.

“We’ll
see,” she chirped and slid into the passenger seat. I let out a deep sigh
before rounding the hood and climbing behind the wheel.

I
started the car up and she went to fiddling with my radio.

“I
think James is jealous. He didn’t seem to like him,” she commented.

I’d
also noticed James’ unusual gruffness directed at Shaw, but I had a hard time
believing it was jealousy. Even after our conversation in my kitchen where he
admitted to admiring certain assets of mine, he just didn’t seem the type to
get jealous. I didn’t have an explanation for his apparent dislike of Shaw.

Later
that night, when were all out to eat, he cornered me away from the others and
tried to warn me away from Shaw. “Be careful with him, Nora.”

“Why,
is there something I’m missing, here?”

“I
know you want to believe the best, but you’re too trusting. I don’t want to see
anyone take advantage of that.” As much as I pressed him, he wouldn’t elaborate
anymore than that.

Cryptic
much. I knew he was only trying to look out for me, but I couldn’t help but
wonder if my mother was onto something. Had Shaw sparked a dormant bit of
jealousy in him?

~~~~

She’d
found it. My present. Sooner than expected, but that was alright. It made no
difference. They needed to know that I was in control. That I had dear Emily.

I
watched her cowering in the corner. She knew. She knew I held the power. She’d
fought me at first, but learned very quickly that it wasn’t worth it. She knew
what I was capable of and what I wanted. She also knew I’d do anything to get
it.

I
walked toward her mattress on the floor. Fear-filled eyes peered up at me, and
like I did every night, I knelt down in front of her. A quiet whimper fell from
her lips and she tried to scamper away, but she was trapped between me and the
wall. There was nowhere for her to go. She pressed herself up against the wall
anyway. I grabbed her arm, no longer able to pull her by her hair, and yanked
her towards me. My hand closed around her throat and my heart started thrumming
rapidly in my chest as I watched the tears pool in her eyes and then stream
down her cheeks. With her arms bound she couldn’t fight my hold and I tightened
it. Her choked gasps stirred my blood and sent it pumping south. Such lovely
sounds they were. Her fear was beautiful. I squeezed harder and her eyes began
to bulge. Her life was literally in my hands.

The
choking sounds began to quiet and I watched as her eyes started to dim. It
would be so easy to let her go, to end her right now. I knew how good it would
feel when the last of the light left her eyes and her body went limp. She was
so close. Another few seconds and she would be gone.

At
the last second, I pulled my hand away and she collapsed to the mattress,
coughing and gagging, trying to fill her lungs with air.

“I
suppose I’ll let you live another night,” I told her, and stood. She began to
sob into the mattress. I undid the binds on her hands and immediately she
started rubbing her wrists while she continued to cry. At least she didn’t beg
anymore. At first I’d gotten off on her pleas, but then I quickly tired of
them. That was the first night I’d wrapped my hand around her throat and
thought about ending her life. But I’d spared her then just as I had every
night since.

Would
I spare her again tomorrow night? Or would it be the night that I finally
decided to end her. I didn’t know, but the power coursed through my veins and
made me feel so alive. I needed to fuck something. Not her though. Not Emily.

Someone
else would have to do.

James
and I put off telling our parents about the hair through the weekend, but we
couldn’t do it any longer. Sunday morning he got a phone call from our favorite
FBI agent. Almost as soon as he hung up with Monroe, my phone was ringing and
it was Parker, but by then I’d already heard James’ conversation and knew that
DNA had been pulled from the hair and it was Emily’s. Parker let me know that with
this new evidence, they would be stepping up the investigation, as if that
would somehow make me feel better.

He
gave me a heads up that they would likely be doing more thorough interviews with
the people in Emily’s life, including my employees and even some customers if
they felt it was necessary. They still couldn’t rule out, or say for certain,
that this was all tied to the strangler case, but were going to operate under
the assumption that it was, and that Emily was the piece of the puzzle that
would lead them to him. After that conversation, it was time to come clean with
my parents and fill them in on everything.

James
decided it would be best if he went and talked to his parents, and I had mine
come to the house. When I sat them down in the living room, starting with the
prowler and ending with the hair, I had to talk my parents out of kidnapping me
and locking me up in my childhood bedroom until the police made an arrest. To
say they were worried was an understatement. When I explained to them that I
was not leaving my home or my business, they made me call the landlord right
then and get the ball rolling on the security system. My dad offered to pay for
the installation, and when James got back, he made the call to the security
company to set it up for the next day.

“I
guess this is a good time to give you your surprise.” Mom looked at Dad and he jerked
his head in agreement and walked out to the truck to retrieve a small black
case. When he popped it open on my coffee table, a small handgun was nestled
inside. All shiny, metallic and black except for the slide and top of the
barrel which were hot pink.

“We
know you’ve had your license a while, but been reluctant to get a gun. Given
everything going on, your mother and I would feel better knowing you had a way
to protect yourself.”

I
remembered the first time my dad tried to take me hunting with him not long
after I’d come to them. I was fourteen, and still I cried when he shot a deer.
After that the only targets I shot at were non-living. I wasn’t sure I’d be
able to point a gun at a person anymore than I’d been able to point one at a
deer, but if I had to, hopefully it would be enough without me actually needing
to fire it. I thanked them for the gift, and my dad looked at me expectantly.

I
took the gun from the case and looked it over. The weight and feel of it in my
hand was good. Noticing James’ eager eyes, I passed it to him to check out.
When he completed his brief inspection, he gave a satisfied nod and then
returned it to me to place back in the case.

“Now
there’s some paperwork that will have to be done to transfer the piece to you,”
my dad explained.

By
the time they returned to Everett the next day, we’d taken care of everything
and I was outfitted to do some damage thanks to my parents and James. He saw to
the security system installation while we were out buying ammo and holsters on
Monday. I was grateful that it was done before they left town, not just for my
peace of mind but because I knew it made it easier for my parents to go. I
didn’t expect they would worry any less, but they’d done all they could to
ensure my safety, short of dragging me back to Everett with them.

James
was taking my security just as seriously, and my afternoon off that week was
spent at the firing range getting comfortable with my new accessory. I still
objected to wearing Stella, because all the best weapons had names and she was
a classy lady, on my body all day, but I compromised and took her to work with
me, where she stayed tucked securely in the safe until I went home each night.

Business
was even busier than usual over the next two weeks, and I think it had something
to do with the cops that were around almost every day. Nothing draws the masses
like potential scandal and gossip, especially about such a hot news topic. I’m
pretty sure Monroe and Parker had their guys looking into every person who set
foot inside my shop, even pulling a few aside to question. They’d asked me
about all of our regulars and if there were any who paid Em special attention,
or were around more than others, or anyone who came in that gave me a bad
feeling.

I
wished it was that simple. I wished I had a name I could give them, but Em was
rarely in the shop and when she was, most of her time was spent in the back
office. Everyone that knew her, loved her. And lots of guys paid her special
attention, but no one that gave me a bad feeling, and Em had never spoken to me
of anyone that her creeped her out. Still, I told them everything I knew about
the people who came in. Even my employees had to go through another round of
interviews as well, which it seemed not all of them appreciated.

Mitch
didn’t say it to me, but Will was in the shop on Tuesday when I was out and
relayed something he’d overheard. Mitch had been complaining to Carlie that he
was worried being in the middle of an investigation might hurt his chances of
getting into law enforcement, or slow down the process.

It
pissed me off that he was more concerned with that than cooperating in the
investigation. He was probably lucky he wasn’t scheduled to work with me for a
few days. I might have fired him, or at the very least ripped into him. I
didn’t believe for a minute that any of my employees had anything to do with
hurting anyone, but I still expected them to answer questions and do whatever
the police asked. Even if at the end of the two weeks Monroe and Parker still
had nothing to go on.

The
police and FBI were being raked through the media for their inability to catch
the killer. By this time, they’d picked up on the investigation into Emily’s
connection. Her story was back to playing twenty times a day, and only added to
the number of people flocking through my doors, hoping to catch juicy tidbits
about the case. My employees were under strict orders not to talk to anyone,
but I couldn’t keep my customers from gabbing. The longer it went without any
new updates, the worse it got. Everyone was getting antsy, just waiting for the
next girl to go missing, and suspicions were high. The killer had been speeding
up his timetable with each victim and everyone knew it was only a matter of
time until the next one was taken and no one knew where he would strike.

The
first, Missy, had been taken over the Fourth of July weekend. A night of
partying with friends on Lake Union had ended with her body being found a few
days later. Back then it was just an isolated incident. One gruesome tragedy. A
party girl with a sad fate, but by Halloween everybody had already forgotten
about her, even though the murder went unsolved. And then Natasha Rhodes was
found at Lake Sammamish almost a week after she’d reportedly disappeared from a
Halloween party near the UW campus. Two University of Washington girls from
Seattle killed and dumped in the same way and people started to worry.

Then
Erika Paul from Evergreen College in Olympia went missing at the end of their
fall quarter finals in December. When she was found several days later, all the
way up at Lake Stevens, people weren’t just worried. Three was the magic number
and we knew we had a predator preying on college girls and he wasn’t
restricting himself to Seattle. It was less than two weeks later that Em and Laney
both disappeared within days of each other. More than a month had passed since
then.

My
fear was that regardless of when and where he struck again, the number was
going to climb a lot higher before the police and FBI could catch him. According
to Ben, who was doing his best to keep me in the loop as much as he was, they
were working with very little evidence, and without a single witness to any of
the abductions or body dumps, it was a slow investigation. It didn’t help that
these girls were putting themselves in vulnerable, high risk situations, more
than likely under the influence of alcohol.

I
wondered how many red-heads in Washington were coloring their hair. And would
it stop him? Would it make them safe? Emily hadn’t been safe, which again
brought me back to her part in this. The one who didn’t fit, the one Monroe hoped
would tell them more about the guy who took her.

My
only comfort came from knowing that Emily was top priority.

On
top of looking into everyone at Urban Grind, they went back through and talked
to all of her friends and family again. They talked to everyone at the other
businesses she did marketing for, and I think they tracked down every guy that
she’d ever dated. They’d asked me and her parents for a list.

Even
though I knew statistics showed that most of these guys were people you’d least
suspect, I just couldn’t imagine it being anyone I knew. That didn’t stop me
from wondering every time someone walked into my shop. I’d ask myself if Mr.
Stevens from the drug store who came in every morning, or Dr. Andrews, the
pediatrician who liked to bring his wife and kids on the weekends for cinnamon
rolls could be the one who hurt Emily. Or Danny with his quirky nature and odd
habits. But it just seemed too absurd. I knew my customers, some better than
others, some not very well, but I made it a point to talk to everyone who came
in, ask them about their day, what they did, where they worked, what their
plans were for the weekend, especially those that came in more than once. I
just couldn’t imagine any one of them having a dark side like that and being
able to hide it so well, appear so normal, friendly even.

Which
meant I was no help to the police at all. That killed me more than anything. I
couldn’t do a thing to help my best friend, not even point the police and FBI
in the right direction.

“You
looked stressed.”

I
turned my head from where I’d been staring out the window aimlessly, telling
myself I had to be missing something, and my eyes landed on Shaw. He stood on
the opposite side of the counter, watching me intently. I searched the depths
of his eyes, wondering for a brief moment if he was the one. I could see a lot
of things in him; intelligence, cunning even, secrets, and darkness, but it
wasn’t a darkness that frightened me. If anything it made me feel safe and at
ease. Instinct told me I would be foolish not to think he was dangerous, but
that he wasn’t dangerous to me. That didn’t make sense, but it’s what I felt.

I
just didn’t know if I could trust my own judgment. What I did know was that for
the past two weeks he’d been coming in for his regularly scheduled black coffee
and sticking around to flirt. At least that’s what I thought he was doing, but
he never got to collecting on his rain check. I was beginning to think he
changed his mind.

I
let my face relax into a playful smile and rested my hip against the counter,
folding my arms across my chest. “I was just wondering if you were ever going
to ask me to dinner again. A girl gets impatient, you know.”

“Is
that so?” He placed his hands on the countertop and leaned in. “What are you
doing tonight?”

“You’re
in luck. I’m off at four.”

He
grinned and straightened. “Then I’ll pick you up a little before seven if you
give me your address.”

“I
have to open tomorrow, so can’t be out too late. Can we make it six-thirty? And
if you tell me the restaurant, I’ll meet you there.” Something inside me I
didn’t understand told me I could trust him, but I still wasn’t breaking my
date rules. And I never let a guy I didn’t know well pick me up on the first
date.

“Good
girl,” he nodded, not at all bothered by it. “Six-thirty it is. D’Anna’s?”

“It’s
a date,” I chirped. “Now, let me get your coffee. The usual?”

 “You
know what I like.” He waited while I made his coffee, but didn’t stick around
to visit today. Will was walking in as Shaw was leaving, but before he pushed
through the doors, he turned to me. “See you tonight.”

I
nodded and bit my lip to keep my smile from getting any bigger. Shaw retreated
out the door and I turned my attention to the slight scowl on Will’s face.

“What?”

“What
was all that
‘see you tonight’
about?”

“I
have a date.”

“With
that guy?”

“Obviously,”
I dragged out.

“I
didn’t know you were serious about hooking up with him.”

“Is
there a problem?” I asked, confused.

“How
well do you even know him?”

“Isn’t
the point of a date to get to know someone?”

“I
just don’t know if it’s a good idea with some whack job running around killing
girls,” he argued.

“I
get that, and it’s not like I’m going to go home with someone I barely know.
I’m not stupid, but why would the killer come after me? It’s not like I’ve been
any help to the police at all. Even if I’m wrong, I don’t think coming into my
shop every day for a month and asking me out publicly is how he would go about
getting to me. If his plan is to strangle me, then all he’s done is make
himself the prime suspect. Something tells me the real killer is smarter than
that.”