Renewed Faith (CSA Case Files 3 / Military Romance) (4 page)

“H
eads up!”

Kevin turned around just in time to catch the yellow stress ball that Jax had thrown his way. He caught the sucker inches from his face and immediately threw it back. Jax kept walking to his cubicle as if nothing had happened, leaving Kevin shaking his head in amusement. Ever since his wife, Emily, had hit her third trimester and the morning sickness had evaporated, Jax was one happy man. Seeing as Kevin had enough nieces and nephews running around in Wisconsin, he knew Jax’s good nature was about to take a nosedive when Jax Jr. was born.

“When do you think reality will hit?” Taryn asked, pulling his attention toward her as she placed a mug of water inside the microwave. Her addiction to tea was becoming a problem because whatever the hell those leaves were made of had the entire office reeking of wet dog. “You know Ethan will have a tub of popcorn with his feet up the first day Jax comes in here after a sleepless night.”

“I’m more worried that while he’s struggling with fatherhood, Ryland will make his appearance and blow shit sky high,” Kevin replied wryly as he poured fresh coffee into his battered Vikings mug. He spared a glance Taryn’s way to find her adjusting her black-rimmed glasses as if she wasn’t comfortable with his turn of the conversation. Considering she barely came up to his chest, it was a cute gesture. “Have you or Crest located him yet?”

Ryland had caused trouble for every single member of CSA and their families when he’d been hired to kill Emily Weiss, Jax’s wife. Whereas Kevin and the rest of the team were on high alert at all times, especially Jax and Emily, Taryn seemed confident that Ryland was lying low in Switzerland. Her sole purpose for the last six months had been monitoring every entrance into the country and locating their target. Kevin was well aware that it was more personal to her, but he was also aware of the reason and he wasn’t one to pry into another’s business. If Taryn wanted to talk about it, she would. In the meantime, he had his own shit to worry about.

“He’s not on U.S. soil, if that’s what you mean,” Taryn replied, picking up a pencil that had been left next to the packets of sugar and sticking it behind her ear and in her spikey blonde hair that fit her feisty personality so well. He could tell by the sparkle in her brown eyes that she was about to change the subject. “How’s Elle by the way?”

Fuck. Everyone on the team knew that Kevin had a thing for the raven-haired beauty whose lot in life seemed to be keeping him at arms length. This morning was a perfect example. What made him try and push her out of her comfort zone was beyond his rational thought process. Elle had made it perfectly clear that she thought of him nothing more than a friend. Hell, more of an acquaintance at this point.

“You suck, like all squids.” Kevin picked up his mug and ignored the chuckle that came from their resident former Navy intel specialist. Her nickname was just a way to rub it in, but considering her out and out laugh, she didn’t give a rat’s ass. “Think you could get back to work and maybe match up something to the file I left on your desk? Taggart gave me everything he had at breakfast this morning. We’re at another dead end.”

“I’ll run the info through its course,” Taryn said over the ding of the microwave. She pulled out her cup and then started back to her office. “I’ve connected with the database of the forensics lab that Taggart’s been using. I’ll let you know when any results are posted.”

Kevin watched her walk back to her workspace, which was located directly across from Crest’s office. All of Taryn’s equipment started taking up too much space in the cubicles, so it made sense that she had her own area. As for the
connected
shit she just referenced, Kevin was well aware that she’d hacked into the lab’s database and hoped like hell she was covering her tracks. Crest would have her ass strung up on a flagpole if she had federal charges brought against the agency.

“Did Ethan make the coffee?”

Kevin didn’t bother to stifle a groan of annoyance when Connor walked up behind him. He’d never get to his desk at this rate. All he wanted was a little solitude while he looked over his case notes one more time and entered the details of this morning onto his whiteboard. The sucker was overloaded with everything but who the actual killer was. That fucking spot still sat empty.

“No, he’s got the crud.” Everyone knew that when Ethan made the coffee that Jessie would end up making a Caribou run. Kevin walked to his cubicle, which he shared with Ethan. He spotted the Lysol can right away. Jessie was always on the ball. “I told him to stay home and not bring his ass in. The last thing we all need is to get sick.”

“I heard that you’re sending your case files to that profiler Crest has in his back pocket,” Connor said, his voice drifting over the partition. Kevin sat his mug on his desk while reaching for the can of disinfectant. Spraying mostly Ethan’s side of the cubicle, Kevin placed his arm over his mouth so he didn’t inhale the shit while Connor kept talking. “She seems good. Has a great reputation with the bureau.”

“We’ll see,” Kevin replied, finally satisfied that he’d covered every square inch of where Ethan might have touched. He slid out his chair and finally sank into the black beat up old leather. He ignored the creaks and rasps that came from the wheels below from his large frame. “It can’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes. The victim today wasn’t a working girl from our neck of the woods. Taggart’s following up on some leads now. Not sure where she came from, but she definitely got the same treatment as the others.”

Connor appeared in the opening with his worn Marines ball cap on backwards and a cup of steaming hot coffee in his right hand. His Cuban heritage shown through, giving him a healthy glow instead of the rest of them with their winter pale and pasty skins. Well, with the exception of Jessie. She was always tan. Connor raised his mug toward Kevin’s whiteboard.

“That information included on there?”

“No,” Kevin answered, tapping the folder on his desk. Maybe having Connor to blow ideas around with wasn’t such a bad idea. It might shake off his negative attitude about what happened with Elle this morning. Did she go back to bed or did she go against his wishes and visit the shelter anyway? He shook his head slightly, trying to get her off of his mind. “I was about to plug it in. This victim was staged in the same manner as the previous one. Her clothes were ripped to shreds, her hair matted as if she hadn’t been taken care of for days, and the bruising and cuts were similar although there appeared to be more this time around. Either this victim fought harder or the scumbag is continuing his escalation with each victim.”

“Well, it seems likely.” Connor leaned against the partition, studying the board. “Look at the timeline. First rape was in the beginning of March. Second rape three weeks later, yet more physical damage to the girl. By June, your perp murders the third target. Now you’ve got your fourth victim with substantial injuries to her body. God only knows what he’s going to do next.”

“The only thing any of them have in common was that they worked as hookers.” Kevin leaned back in his chair and studied the whiteboard as well. “Each had diverse features, such as hair and eye color. Their backgrounds are all different. There is nothing linking them together.”

“Bee?”

“Nah,” Kevin replied and then took a sip of his coffee. It reminded him of this morning with Elle. She hadn’t even bothered to offer him a cup. For some reason that irked him. He tried to focus on the written words in front of him. “Only one of the victims worked for Bee and she was the first rape victim. She remembers nothing. Zilch, which isn’t unheard of considering the emotional, mental, and physical trauma she went through. The second girl operated in St. Paul under Larry the Limey, but she was unconscious by the time the rape occurred. The first casualty, Daisy Scott, had just arrived in town. The bus ticket that had been on her person stated she’d gotten here the day before. Taggart spoke with her family and they informed him that she was a runaway, but had previously been in Chicago where she’d gotten into prostitution.”

“Are you thinking this morning’s victim was trying to set up shop here?”

“Yeah. Either that or she was visiting a friend.” Kevin thought back to early this morning when he’d spotted Hash standing with Clarisse and Rachel behind the yellow tape. Something about that just didn’t sit right with him. “Hash and two of Bee’s girls were at the scene this morning. I’ll take a stroll this evening and see if I can dig up any information.”

“And Elle? Does she know about the murder?”

Kevin didn’t answer right away, as hearing Elle’s name threw him off kilter. He stared down into his coffee as their first meeting well over a year ago seemed to materialize in the deep brown liquid.

“Miss? You dropped this,” Kevin said, picking up the black scarf that had fallen to the cold ground.

The tall woman with a glorious figure turned at the sound of his voice, her head tilting just so in question. Her black hair fell around her shoulders and seemed to cover most of her with the exception of her cleavage. The strands were as black as the leather corset she was wearing. The rest of her was just as beautiful and the black tights did nothing to hide her long legs beneath a short matching skirt. She had some type of jacket over her shoulders, but the waist seemed to stop right below her breasts. He had to wonder how she was walking around in this cold with hardly anything on.

“Are you talking to me?”

Her voice had a slight tremor to it and he had his answer on whether or not the weather affected her. She was downright freezing, but tried not to show it. It was obvious she worked the streets and that she was looking for her next john. The protective edge that was embedded within him roared to the forefront, taking him by surprise. Kevin had the urge to keep her warm, keep her safe, and he would damn well make sure that she never had to live this type of life again. It was that moment that started his downfall.

“Isn’t this yours?” Kevin asked with a small smile, holding up the scarf.

Her eyes left his face to look at the item in his hand. Nodding in answer and taking the soft fabric from his hands, she then wrapped it around her neck. Again, the color of the material and her hair blended together until he couldn’t tell which was which. It was her rich brown eyes that captivated him the most. Long lashes that seemed to never end framed them just right, yet something inside of them seemed locked up tighter than a pirate’s chest. What secrets or treasures were lying within?

“Yes, sorry.” The raven-haired beauty returned his smile. “I’m just not used to being called ‘Miss’.”

Kevin’s gut tightened upon hearing her matter-of-fact tone as if there was nothing wrong with her statement. He’d been raised by a mother who would have smacked the back of his head if he so much as forgot to open a door for her let alone address her properly. He knew that times were different, but his upbringing was so engrained in him that he always reverted back to his manners. He wanted her to know what it was to be treated like a woman.

What astounded Kevin the most was the fact that she didn’t have that weathered look women in her profession usually acquired over time. Her skin was flawless, her pearl white teeth were captivating, and her eyes still contained a little life that seemed to dim in the prostitutes he’d come to know.

“Elle, get back to work.”

The words were like explosions. Kevin shot Bee a sideways look to let him know he didn’t care for the man’s tone. It didn’t help that the low level pimp shooed her away as if she were some unwanted pest that had gotten too close. Kevin had to remind himself that this wasn’t the time or place. He had no right to interfere with Bee’s business or with Elle’s life.

Elle…the name suited her. Simple and unique. He sought out Elle’s gaze to see how she would react to Bee’s ignorant manner. Elle gave Kevin another puzzling look that made him realize she knew no different and he resisted the urge to wipe Bee’s existence off of the street in question. Unfortunately, this was their world and he had no part in it. That didn’t stop him from continuing their conversation.

“Elle? I’m Kevin Dreier.” He couldn’t resist keeping her there a moment longer. He held out his hand and patiently waited for her to take it. It took longer than a few seconds as her gaze went from his outstretched hand to his face, as if trying to find a reason for his politeness. Finally, her cold fingers slid into his. Her touch changed everything. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Connor said, his voice laced with wit as it cut through the memory.

“She’s got it in her head that she can ask questions with results that I can’t get,” Kevin said, irritated that he got caught reminiscing. He rubbed his right knee to ease the ache. He wished it were that easy to do with other parts of his body. Elle had no idea the wreckage she left with every conversation they had. “By the way, I borrowed Jax’s security key to gain entrance to her apartment. Just grab it out of my jacket.”