Skin (15 page)

“Who would you choose to be a potential killer?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet, but–”

“But what?”

“I’ve seen you talking to that Wyndham guy. I hate to tell you this, but he’s one of our suspects.”

Lilith started, and her heart skipped a beat. “Michael is not some crazy creep. He’s here making a documentary about girls who work at places like this for a living.”

“Yeah.
Maybe
that’s what he’s doing.” Gabe shrugged. “He’s got some dangerous connections, Lilith. I’m telling you, Pucinski has a file on him. Be careful is all I’m saying.”

Even though Lilith didn’t for a second believe Michael was guilty of killing those women, of taking her sister, Gabe’s accusation made her wonder if Michael could be hiding something criminal in his background. Not only did she not want to believe it, Gabe had just made her too uncomfortable to continue the discussion.

“Hey, I’d better get to the dressing room and get ready for work.”

“I’ll be here, at least for part of the night.”

Lilith hurried toward the backstage door. About to rev up her efforts to attract the bastard who had a thing for women who looked like Hannah, she was fighting nerves. She wasn’t Hannah, and she hated what she was about to do, but she would do anything to save her sister, even come on to the men the way Hannah had.

So when she got dressed, she forwent using the usual modesty tape that helped keep her breasts covered. She doubled her eye makeup and chose a bright red lipstick with some ingredient that made her lips look bee-stung.
Sprayed a little musk on the inside of her wrists and between her breasts.
And when she walked out into the club, it was with a smile that touched every man in her path.

They had no clue that her knees were shaking or that her chest felt like an elephant sat on top of it.

Male eyes turned from the dancer to her.

And when she took an order, she forced herself to imitate the other women who worked here. She made it seem like the man placing it was the only man in the room.

“I like good service,” one guy told her in appreciation.

He held out a hundred dollar bill, but when she tried to take it, he didn’t let go.

“Where do you want me to put it?” he asked.

Her stomach spiraled with nerves.
“Anywhere you want, honey.”

She kept her fake smile as he tucked the bill between her breasts, taking the opportunity to brush her flesh with the tips of his fingers. She fisted her own hands so she wouldn’t take those fingers and break them.

“There’s more where that came from,” he said.

“How much more?”

“Depends on what you’ll do for it.”

“Tsk-tsk-tsk!”
She shook her finger at him as if he’d been a bad boy, winked and moved to the next customer, while all the while her stomach roiled.

Surely she was drawing enough attention to herself
now
to get noticed.

oOo

MICHAEL THOUGHT TO stay away from the club tonight, but in the end, he changed his mind. Lilith drew him back.

And so when he came in and saw her letting some creep put a bill between her breasts, he stopped cold.

He hated this.
Hated Lilith letting men touch her like that.

It reminded him of his mother.

But Lilith wasn’t a stripper. She didn’t even belong here as a waitress.

One thing about his job, he was an expert researcher. And he’d spent half the day researching Lilith Mitchell. He knew she was a paralegal who worked for one of the top law firms in the city. He also knew why she was here, playing with fire, without her having to admit a thing. He knew, but, thinking he’d found the elusive narrative for his documentary, he wouldn’t tell her that he did.

He wanted her to open up to him.

He wanted to know how she felt about what she was doing... for someone else.

He wanted
her
.

She saw him sit at a table in back. He waved her over, but she ignored him. She kept up the act with the half-drunk men more than willing to pay her for a quick thrill.

How could she let them touch her like that?

She kept it up all night, going from man to man – avoiding him – until the club closed. She was the last waitress to leave the room.

Michael edged around to the rear of the club, and making sure no one saw him, slipped through the backstage door. Most of the dancers had already left. He waited off to the side for Lilith to come out of the dressing room. Only she didn’t.

Not hearing any more chatter, he wondered if the place was empty, if he’d missed her. He took his chances and opened the door. The lights were out except for where Lilith sat in front of the mirror. The only one in the room, she was removing her makeup. And she was wearing a red dress that left little to the imagination.

As if suddenly realizing she wasn’t alone, Lilith turned to face him. “Michael, what are you doing here?”

“Better question – what are you?”

“I just finished my shift; now I’m getting ready to leave.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

She rose and gathered things from the counter and threw them in her bag. “You’re being obtuse.”

“All right, then here’s direct. Why the hell were you letting those men put their hands on you?”

“It’s my job.”

“If I remember correctly, last night you said you served drinks, which didn’t give them the right to manhandle you.”

“So I changed my mind. I made a fortune in tips tonight.”

Michael pulled out a hundred dollar bill. “Here’s another tip.”

Her breasts were practically spilling out of the front of the red dress. He slipped the bill down in the middle of her left breast and didn’t miss the fact that her nipple grew instantly hard.

A choking sound parted her lips. Luscious full lips that he’d barely tasted the night before. With one hand cupping the flesh of her breast, he snaked the other around her waist and pulled her into him. And then he kissed her. Not the light brush of lips on lips, but a deep exploration that involved open mouths and thrusting tongues. At least he thrust his into her wet warmth the way he wanted to thrust his aching flesh into her body.

Lilith moaned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, scraped the back of his neck with her nails. The sensation pulled all the way down to his groin.

Mindless with desire, he tugged her nipple in the same rhythm his tongue flicked hers. He pressed her back against the counter and ground himself into her until she spread her thighs. She shifted, and he felt her hand on him, stroking his length through his jeans. If he didn’t stop right now, he was going to come right there.

Only he wasn’t going to be the one to call a halt to this.

“Hey, you two, take it outside!”

Lilith stiffened in his arms, and Michael stayed directly in front of her to protect her from the security guard’s view.

“Give us a minute, and we’ll be out of here,” Michael said.

“You got sixty seconds.”

And when he heard the guy step out of the room, Michael removed his hand, stepped back and cursed himself for pushing this.
Too fast.
Too soon.

Her expression odd, almost wounded, Lilith straightened her dress and grabbed her bag and refused to look at him.

“Come back to my place,” he said.

“You have to be kidding.”

“Or I can come to yours.”

She tried shoving by him, but Michael stepped in front of her. “We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“I do, starting with you need to quit this place.”

Her eyes widened as she finally looked at him. “What?”

“You made yourself a target tonight.”

“I didn’t do anything the others girls don’t.”

“I don’t care what
they
do,” he said. “I care that what you did was dangerous.”

“I can handle it.”

“I don’t think you understand.”

“I can’t quit.”

“Why not?”
He pushed to get her to admit the truth. “Why can’t you go back to your real life?”

“This
is
my real life.
For now.”

With that, she shoved by him. Michael didn’t try to stop her, merely followed her out the back door and watched her get into a familiar Jaguar before zooming away.

oOo

LILITH WAS HALFWAY home before suspecting she was being followed.

Her thoughts had been wrapped up in Michael.
In Gabe’s warning to be careful around him.
In that hot kiss in the dressing room, a prelude to having sex with him if not for the interruption.
She’d been so turned on that she would have done anything with him.
So turned on that she couldn’t stop thinking about Michael after driving off.

Thoughts that nearly caused an accident, not with another car, but with a bike that shot out of nowhere in the middle of the night.
She’d thrown on the brakes but had come inches from creaming the rider, who had given her the finger before riding off.

Lilith had been so shaken that she’d pulled over to the curb to regroup.

And had glanced in her rearview mirror to see another set of vehicle lights stop.
The other driver pulled over, as well.

Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel and, carefully watching the other car’s lights in the rearview mirror, she started off again.

The other vehicle slid away from the curb and stayed just far enough behind her that she couldn’t make out any details other than it was a dark-colored passenger car. Probably black.

She wanted to believe in coincidences. Wanted to think the other driver would turn off at the next light.

The other vehicle continued right behind her.

Her stomach knotted at the idea of someone following her. She had to be sure. She turned down a side street. And then another.
And then a third.
The lights stayed some distance back, but they were still there when she looped around to the arterial street.

Close to Hannah’s place now, she didn’t know what to do. If this was the killer, she would lead him straight to it. Then again, if this was the killer, he already knew the address.

If only she’d added Pucinski’s number to her cell, she could call him, but she couldn’t stop now to dig out the card and punch in the number.

At the intersection ahead, the light was about to change, and there were cars waiting to move on both sides of the cross street. She gunned the accelerator and made a run through the intersection. Brakes screeched and horns blared at her, but when she glanced up into the mirror, she was relieved that the other vehicle hadn’t been able to get through. She sped the rest of the way back to Hannah’s place. The Jaguar’s tires screamed as she rounded the corner.

A minute later, she left the car at the curb and ran for the front door.
Faster than dealing with the garage.
She got inside and engaged the dead bolt. Through windows cut into the wooden panel, she could see lights from another vehicle slowly approaching.

Her hands were shaking when she pulled out her cell phone and Pucinski’s card. She somehow managed to punch in the detective’s number. One ring... two... and then...

“Pucinski!”
He growled. “It’s nearly 4 a.m. This better be good.”

“It’s Lilith Mitchell. I’m at Hannah’s place. Someone followed me from the club.”

“You’re sure?”

“I tried to lose him. He’s out there now.” She could still see the car idling in front of the building...

“Make sure the doors and windows are locked. I’ll call it in to get a squad out there, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Lilith was already checking the locks before she turned off her cell.
Checking out the windows.
The lights sat out there, unmoving. Was the driver still inside the car? Or was he just outside looking for a way in to get her?

He was playing games with her, trying to break down her confidence and make her question her own capabilities. And he was doing a fine job on her. While she’d learned all the skills necessary to defend herself, she’d never had to use them. Now she wasn’t certain they would be enough.

The fear-filled seventeen-year-old girl who ran away to school and left behind her little sister was still inside her.

Lilith realized how truly afraid the killer had made her – a gut-deep, painful, churning, awful fear that made her chest tighten and put a lump in her throat.

What if her plan failed and Hannah died?

Waiting for Pucinski to show, Lilith faced some truths about herself.

She’d thought that by having a “normal” life, she could put her abuse behind her.
That while she sympathized with the women in dangerous situations, she didn’t understand why they didn’t do whatever they must to get out.
That she was angry with Hannah for putting herself in danger. And that she was angry with herself for doing what was easiest in the first place.

When her cell phone buzzed, she nearly dropped it. She checked the ID – Pucinski.

As she accepted the call, she saw flashing blue lights out the window.
“Detective?”
But the headlights that had followed her were nowhere to be seen. “The squad car is here but I think whoever followed me is gone.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. In the meantime, I’ll tell the officers in the squad

to
take a slow drive around the area, to look for anything suspicious. Did you see what the car looked like?

“Dark.
Full-sized, I think. That’s all I can tell you.”

True to his word, Pucinski arrived minutes later, his young partner and two uniformed officers directly behind him. Lilith forced herself to just breathe, to relieve the tension in her chest.

“Check the place out,” Pucinski told the officers. “Make sure no one tried to get in.” He glared at Lilith and shook his head.
“Time for you to get out of here.
Go back to your own life. Take care of yourself.”

A tempting idea.
Go back to where it was safe.
To where it was easiest.