Have You Seen Her? (34 page)

He collapsed against her, shuddering as he buried his face in the pillow. She held him, stroked his hair while his finely honed body jerked from the aftershocks. She’d heard it called afterglow, but after such an earth-shattering experience, aftershock seemed a more appropriate term. Finally he lifted his head and kissed her, making them both shiver anew.

“You came,” he murmured, as if unsure she would, and even after everything they’d just done together, Jenna found she could still blush.

“I did,” she returned, unsure if she ever really had before. Certainly not quite like she had tonight. And if her first real orgasm was on the night of the second anniversary of Adam’s death . . . She pushed the thought to the very back of her mind, resolving to deal with the guilt later.

He moved his lips down her neck and she stretched to one side to give him better access. “I’m glad,” he murmured against her skin and she smiled.

“Me, too.”

He lifted his head and kissed the side of her smiling mouth. “How do you feel about seconds?”

She ran her hands down his back, cupping the very taut cheeks of his ass. He had an incredible body. “I don’t know,” she said and almost laughed at the disappointment in his eyes.

“Okay,” he said although it was clear it was anything but.

“It’s just that I don’t know where we’ll find any more . . . you know . . . protection.”

His eyes gleamed and he reached out and grabbed a handful of foil packets and dumped them on her head. “I think we’ve got that covered, Jenna.”

“Then yes, please. Seconds would be very nice. But I suppose we have to leave room for dessert. You owe me after all.”

His brows snapped together. “How so?”

“You left my Rocky Road to melt all over the table.” His eyes crinkled at the edges. “I’ll buy you another pint.”

“Make it a gallon and we’ll talk thirds and fourths.” “Jenna, are we talking about ice cream?”

She smiled up at him. “We’re talking about anything you want.”

T
WENTY
-
FIVE

Sunday, October 9, 6:30
A.M.

T
HEY SNUCK INTO
S
TEVEN
’
S HOUSE THROUGH
the laundry room, holding hands like teenagers late for curfew. After the night they’d shared it was small wonder either of them could still walk. They’d made love twice more in the night, dozing until four
A.M.
or so. They planned to shower and get back to Steven’s house so Jenna could get Jim and Casey’s truck and be gone long before sunup.

Jenna squinted in the semidarkness. The sun had just started to come up. They were arriving home later than they’d planned, through no fault of her own. Steven had instigated the delay in the shower. She grinned to herself. She just helped. A lot. Her body still tingled from all the helping. She’d helped all night long. Altruism certainly had its benefits.

“What are you grinning at?” Steven murmured, looking down at her with a tender smile that made her heart do crazy things in her chest.

She lifted a brow and said nothing, which made him grin, too. “You’re a pervert, Dr. Marshall.”

She gave him her prim look. “And this is a problem how?” He laughed softly. “Who said anything about a problem? Come on, let’s find your dog and get you guys out of here before one of the boys discovers us. Or even worse, Helen.”

“You’re already trying to get rid of me,” she grumbled playfully, following him through the door into the kitchen where she abruptly ran into his back. Because he’d abruptly stopped. Jenna peeked around his shoulder and immediately saw why.

“Oh, little boy,” she murmured, experiencing a rush of something that felt suspiciously maternal. Nicky sat at the kitchen table, eyes closed, one freckled cheek plastered to the wood veneer, clutching something in his fist, next to his cheek. He was guarded by two hairy soldiers, Cindy Lou at his feet and Jim behind his chair. Jim lifted his head and Jenna swore the dog smiled.

Jenna took a tiptoed step closer to see what Nicky held in his hand and frowned. It was a rubber worm. A fishing lure. She turned around to find Steven looking stricken.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“Last Friday I promised I’d try to take him fishing this weekend,” Steven replied, his eyes glued to his little boy. He swallowed hard. “But I can’t. I have a staff meeting at eight.”

Jenna could practically touch the tension coming from him, and thought about all the responsibilities on his head. Three teenaged girls, two gone forever, one missing. A serial killer out there somewhere, still stalking his victims.

On the other hand, his own little boy was just starting to show sparks of life again after his own traumatic experience six months ago. His own little boy who he was going to have to disappoint. Feeling a bit like Solomon, Jenna put her arms around Steven’s neck and hugged him hard. “Go to your staff meeting, Steven. Do what you need to do to keep our girls safe. I’ll take Nicky fishing. When you’re done you can come and meet us at the lake.” She pulled back to find doubt written all over his face. “Don’t worry, I am a very capable fisherman.” She smiled up at him. “We might even catch something.”

He shook his head. “Of that I have no doubt. There isn’t much you can’t do, Jenna. But are you sure you want to take an active boy fishing? You don’t have to.”

Jenna looked back to where Nicky sat sleeping. “I know I don’t have to. I want to.” Then a disturbing thought seized her. “But if you don’t want me to, I’ll understand. I know you’re worried he’ll get attached too fast.”

Steven crooked his finger under her chin and pulled until she looked up at him and her disturbing line of thought was squashed by the look in his warm brown eyes. “He already is, Jen. So am I.” He covered her mouth with his, so gently, so...lovingly, her heart clenched. A wave of wanting hit her, so intense she felt paralyzed in her tracks. Not sexual wanting. He’d more than satisfied her in that way. This was more, this was a wanting of everything he represented. The man, the children, the instant family.

A family who would need her as much as she needed them. A family she could love. A real family of her very own. She wanted it, wanted it all so intensely she could only stand there, her heart pounding as he kissed her in his kitchen, as if she belonged there. When he lifted his head, his eyes narrowed slightly in concern. “Are you all right?”

Jenna drew a trembling breath, feeling the literal earth moving under her feet. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” She made herself smile at him. “Go get ready for work. I’ll make you breakfast.”

Sunday, October 9, 8:05
A.M.

He should have been exhausted, Steven thought, but he wasn’t. In fact, his skin still tingled from her good-bye kiss. There was certainly something to be said for the rejuvenating powers of sex. He felt like he hadn’t felt... ever. But playtime was over. His team had assembled themselves together early on a Sunday morning to find a murderer and hopefully to keep him from raising their tally of dead teens to three. Steven wasn’t sure how close they were to doing either. “Good morning,” he said and the murmuring quieted. “What do we know?”

Harry opened his notebook with a yawn. He’d been responsible for following Rudy all night. “Well, Rudy had quite an evening. Three parties, none of them keggers.” He looked up with a baleful glare. “I really wanted to arrest him for underage alcohol consumption.”

“That would have been too simple,” Steven said dryly.

Harry shot him an amused look. “He left the last party with a girl who looked a lot older than high school. They went to her place and Rudy didn’t come out until three
A.M.
Looking very rested I might add. The girl dropped him off at his house just before four
A.M.
and he didn’t leave again.”

Steven looked over at Davies who looked frustrated but said nothing. “He’s had Alev Rahrooh for two days now,” Steven said thoughtfully. “He kept both Lorraine and Samantha just under a week. I doubt Alev’s already dead, so he’ll have to go to her sooner or later. That’s still assuming Rudy’s our man. Sandra, how far did you get with the list of athletes with priors?”

Davies now looked both agitated and frustrated but still said nothing.

“About three-quarters of the way,” Sandra answered. “No obvious connections. But I did check the cheerleading schedules of each of the vics’ high schools. All three played Roosevelt High
at
Roosevelt within a week of each girl’s disappearance. That makes a pretty strong case for Lutz.”

Davies’s smile was just the tiniest bit smug. “It’s him. I know it.”

Steven pushed back from his chair and walked over to stare at the photos on the bulletin board feeling his own frustration grow. “Davies, any progress on the tattoo design?”

Davies’s smug smile faded. “No. I’ve asked every cop I know. But I know it’s him.”

Steven gritted his teeth. “We have a prime suspect and we can’t touch him. Dammit. I think we all need to take a break from the case,” he said. “I know there’s someplace I’d rather be today. See everybody tomorrow morning.” Everyone filed out, Davies bringing up the rear, fidgeting with the change in his pocket.

“I called Jenna this morning to make sure she was all right after last night,” Davies said.

Steven’s defenses went straight up. “What about last night?”

“You were pretty angry when you left the bar. I wanted to be sure she was all right. That nothing happened. But she wasn’t home.”

Steven felt a smug smile of his own curve his lips and watched Davies’s black eyes flash with fury. “Whatever did or didn’t happen is none of your business,” Steven said, “but if you must know, she’s not home because she took my boys fishing. Which is just where I’m planning to go myself.” He’d made it to the door when Davies spoke. Bitterly.

“Did she take her fiancé’s ring off while you did it?” Steven froze. She hadn’t. He’d noticed. He’d also told himself she’d take off Adam’s ring in her own time. Steven might be jealous of Davies, but he’d be pretty low to be jealous of a dead man. Making his feet move, he walked away without dignifying Davies with an answer.

He’d made it to the parking lot and was seconds from getting away when he heard someone clear his throat. He turned to find a holy man with a very worried expression on his face.

“Agent Thatcher? I’m Reverend Monsignor Brennan of the Raleigh Dioceses. I was wondering if you could take a few minutes to talk about Father Mike Leone.”

Steven sighed. He’d figured this would be coming sooner or later. “Of course, Monsignor Brennan. Let’s go up to my office.” He didn’t bother glancing at his watch. He figured it would be after noon before he got done clearing Mike’s name. Fishing would have to wait.

Sunday, October 9, 8:25
P.M.

Weary beyond measure, Steven entered his house only to have Helen, Matt, and Brad lift their respective fingers to their lips and shush him. The three stood around the bottom of the steps and Helen pointed upward. “Jenna’s putting Nicky to bed. Sshh.”

“But I’m not tired,” came Nicky’s whine from upstairs and Steven’s heart stuttered. Most parents hated that whining tone, but he hadn’t heard it out of Nicky since before his abduction. His baby had obeyed automatically for so long that a whine about bedtime sounded like an angel’s choir.

“Well, I am,” Jenna was laughing. “You kept me busy, taking all those fish off your hook.”

“I could have done it myself.” Nicky sounded highly amused. “I’m good at that part.”

“Well,
now
you tell me. Are you sure you want to sleep on that hard floor? It doesn’t look very comfortable.” There was a long pause and Steven met Helen’s eyes and realized they were both praying for a minor miracle—for Nicky to sleep in his own bed for the first time in six months. “Well, suit yourself,” Jenna said and Steven let out the breath he’d been holding. Rome wasn’t built in a day, he thought. They’d get there with Nicky. They would. “Can I at least cover you up?” Jenna asked. There was quiet and then Nicky’s voice.

“Could you sing?”

“Me?” Jenna’s horrified response made them all smile. “You want
me
to sing to
you
?”

“You don’t hafta.” Steven looked at Helen who smiled at Nicky’s dramatically mournful tone.

“Well, since I don’t hafta, I won’t,” Jenna replied and Matt snickered softly. “Besides,” she added, “we weren’t much for lullabies in my house. My dad had an old drinking song he would sing when my mother wasn’t around, but I suspect your dad might have a problem with that.”

“Yeah, he prob’ly would,” Nicky agreed thoughtfully. “But he’s not here right now,” he added in a bright voice and Steven choked back a laugh.

“Good night, Nicky,” Jenna said firmly.

“Will you be here when I wake up tomorrow?” Nicky asked, so softly they all had to strain to hear him and Steven swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed in his throat.

“No, sweetheart, I have to go home. I have school tomorrow and Jean-Luc will be missing Jim. I think I’ll see you in a few days. Now, go to sleep.”

Jenna appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in a pair of Steven’s old sweats, her feet bare and her wet hair hanging down her back in a single braid. Steven felt his soul settle at the sight of her, even as she started in surprise. “I didn’t know I had an audience,” she said in a low voice when she got to the bottom where they waited. “Now I’m doubly glad I didn’t sing.”

“So are we,” Matt said with a grin and she swatted him. “Go get a shower, Matt. You’re still covered in
yck
.” Steven took a look at his middle boy whose grin had become a scowl. Matt’s jeans were covered in black slime up to his mid-calf. “Yes, you are. What’d you fall into, Matthew?”

“You don’t want to know,” Jenna answered for him and it was Brad’s turn to snicker as Matt skulked up the stairs. “Don’t you start,” she said, turning to Brad. “Besides, I understand that you have some homework to catch up on.” She looked his oldest in the eye, silently issuing a challenge.

Brad met her gaze for a long minute in which everybody held their breaths, then he nodded. “I understand that there’s this really nice chemistry teacher who gives after-school tutoring.”

Jenna sucked in her cheeks, considering his request. “It’ll cost you. Standard tutoring fees.”

Brad shrugged. “It’s okay. My dad’s good for it.”

Jenna shook her head quickly. “Uh-uh. Cash comes from you or no deal.”

Brad’s eyes widened when he realized she was very serious. “Dad!”

Steven held up his hands. “I’m not involved in this negotiation. Plus, I agree with her.”

“You would,” Brad said in a disgusted tone. “I’ve got no cash.”

Jenna raised her brows. “Then you’d best get a job.” She looked at Helen. “Was there any pot roast left from dinner?”

Helen’s expression was serene. “I already made you a plate.”

Steven looked from one to the other. “Why didn’t you eat with the others?”

“You don’t want to know!” Matt yelled from up the stairs. Jenna chuckled. “No, you really don’t. Let’s just say I hope I left some hot water for Matt after getting all the
yck
cleaned off of me and Nicky.”

“I’m sorry I missed the fun,” Steven said, with a pang of regret.

Jenna patted his arm. “Next time you can come. We’ll just choose a different fishing hole.”