Blood Stains (17 page)

He stepped inside, not bothering to hide his pleased expression. He set down the pizza box, then began pulling pop cans from his jacket pockets.

“I got Pepsi from the machine down the hall.”

“You are one fine Boy Scout, aren’t you?” Maria said.

He laughed. The tacit reference to “being prepared” was not lost on him.

“I have my moments,” he said. “Where do you want to sit?”

She glanced around the room. There was one straight-back chair at the desk and one easy chair with an ottoman by the window.

“The bed?”

“Damn straight,” Bodie said, and toed off his boots one at a time, took a handful of napkins from the inner pocket of his jacket, tossed them on the bed and then laid his jacket over the back of a chair.

Maria eyed his gun and shoulder holster.

“Oh,” he said, and took the holster off and hung it by his jacket. “After you, ma’am,” he said, and gestured toward the bed.

Maria yanked the covers back up, then crawled onto the bedspread and curled her legs up under her like a child.

Bodie grabbed the pizza box, laid it open between them, handed her a cold Pepsi, then sat down at the foot of the mattress with his pop between his legs.

“As my Daddy used to say, ‘bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.’ Dig in.”

Maria grinned. She didn’t know which she appreciated most—his foolishness and company, or the pizza and pop. But she did as he asked and took the first slice of pizza.

The cheese was still hot and stringy, the meat warm and spicy. She plucked a mushroom off the end of her slice and popped it in her mouth, then took a big bite.

“Oh, my gosh…this is so good,” she said, licking her thumb.

Bodie nodded and took a huge bite of his own slice.

For a few minutes the conversation lulled. It wasn’t until he was about to begin his fourth slice that he paused.

“So it’s okay that I’m here? I mean…you don’t think it’s weird, me showing up like this?”

Maria glanced up. “Yes, it’s okay. No, I don’t think it’s weird.”

It wasn’t the declaration of adoration he would have liked to hear, but he would settle.

“Good.”

“But just out of curiosity, why
did
you come?” Maria asked.

He wondered what she would do if he told her the whole truth, then decided a fraction of it would have to suffice.

“I like you. I was concerned about you. I don’t like to eat alone. Feel free to choose any or all of those answers.”

A twinge of something unnamed tugged at Maria’s heart.

“I choose all,” she said softly, then quickly looked away.

“Good answer,” Bodie said, then took a deep breath and another bite of pizza to keep from following through on the notion of kissing her.

Twelve

B
odie swigged the last of his Pepsi, then eyed the lone piece of pizza growing cold in the box.

“You gonna eat that?” he asked.

“I’m stuffed. Knock yourself out,” Maria said.

“No need letting it go to waste,” he said, making sure he picked the remaining cheese off the paper to go with it.

“I need to wash my hands,” she said, and rolled off the bed and strode across the room to the bathroom.

Bodie eyed her walk and knew that he would never be able to flaunt a pair of sweats like that. They cupped her curves while accenting her long legs and slow stride. He thought it quite gentlemanly of himself that he’d managed to ignore the fact that she was wearing that tee without a bra, then sighed with admiration as he took out half the pizza slice in one bite.

She didn’t bother to close the door as she washed her face and hands at the sink, and didn’t think, until she was coming back into the room, how easy he was to be around.

At that moment he looked up and grinned at her. A surge of emotion shot through her, startling her with an unexpected longing. It shook her enough that she went straight to the window instead of sitting back down on the bed with him. To her surprise, when she looked out, she could see lightning in the distance.

“Hey! I just saw lightning. Do you think it’s going to storm?”

There was a tinge of panic in her voice as he reached for the remote.

“I don’t know, but we’ll soon find out,” he said, and turned on the TV, then flipped it to a local channel. “See that map of the state up in the corner?”

Maria forgot to be wary as she hurried back to where he was sitting and sat down on the edge of the mattress beside him.

“Yes, I see it. What county are we in?”

Bodie pointed to Tulsa County. “That’s us…right here. So if they change the color of the county from yellow to red, that means the county has gone from a storm warning to a tornado warning, okay?”

The concern was still in her voice when she said, “We don’t have tornadoes in Montana much.”

“Don’t be scared,” Bodie said. “The city will blow sirens if it gets really bad.”

“Then what?” she asked.

“Then you grab some shoes and get to the lowest level, which means the ground floor. Use the stairs, not the elevator. Sometimes the power goes off, and you don’t want to get stuck. They’ll show you where to go once you’re down in the lobby, but if you get confused, the best thing to do is get to an inner room, like a bathroom, and stay away from windows.”

“Lord,” Maria muttered.

“It’ll be okay,” Bodie said.

“You don’t know that,” she muttered.

He grinned, and without thinking, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug.

“You’re right. I don’t. But it sounded good, didn’t it?”

He’d made her laugh.

“You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you, Bodie Scott?”

It was the sound of her laughter that hooked him. His gaze locked on her lips, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to look away. He knew she was still talking, because her lips were moving, but he didn’t hear a word. All he could think about was kissing her. Then, before he knew it, he was leaning forward. When she didn’t move back, he captured those unheard words with a kiss.

Maria inhaled sharply, but she didn’t flinch. When his lips centered softly on hers, she responded by leaning into the kiss.

Time stood still up to the moment when the kiss began to morph into wanting more.

She shuddered.

He groaned.

At that point they both broke contact and pulled back.

The look that passed between them was one of shock and then discomfort. To Maria’s relief, Bodie took the initiative and smoothed over what could have been a very uncomfortable moment.

“Thanks for the dessert,” he said softly, then flipped his finger beneath her chin. “I’ve got an early day tomorrow, and you’ve had a hard day. I think we both need to get some sleep.”

She nodded.

“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked. “I mean…the weather and all?”

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Thank you again for thinking of me, and thank you for the food and company.” She put a hand on his arm. “It was very much appreciated.”

“Even the dessert?”

She poked a finger against his chest. “Don’t push your luck.”

He grinned. “I think that’s my exit line.”

He slid off the bed, stepped back into his boots, put on his shoulder holster, then his jacket. When he turned around, Maria was holding his hat.

He settled the Stetson on his head and gathered up the pizza box just as a huge crack of thunder rattled the windows.

“Just thunder,” he said.

Maria nodded. “I’m not scared of storms. Just unsure of tornadoes.”

“I could stay.”

She frowned. “I think we’d have more than tornadoes to deal with if that happened, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “Pretty crazy, right? Two days’ worth of acquaintance between us to this?”

Maria’s heart began to pound. “What’s ‘this’?”

“You tell me,” Bodie said.

“I don’t know you.” Her chin quivered slightly. “I don’t even know myself.”

“I get that. But I’m not the kind of man to hide what I’m thinking or how I feel.”

Their gazes locked.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Like I want more. I want to know you beyond this thing that’s connected us, and I’m afraid you’re going to disappear from my life before I can make that happen.”

“Wow,” Maria whispered.

“Too much too soon?” he asked.

“I’ll have to let you know,” she said.

“Fair enough,” Bodie said, then gathered up the trash and headed for the door. “Come lock it behind me.”

Maria followed him to the door.

When he turned around, she shook her head, but softened her refusal with a grin.

“No seconds.”

He laughed out loud. “Damn, woman. That’s scary. You just read my mind.”

“Drive safe,” she said, as another clap of thunder rocked the room.

“I’ll call you as soon as I get some info about the hypnotist,” he said, then pulled the door shut behind him. But when he didn’t hear her lock it again, he yelled, “Lock it!”

She turned the dead bolt.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Bodie said, and left.

Maria was smiling when she crawled back in bed. Later she fell back to sleep with the television playing, even though the storm had long since blown over.

Bodie’s morning began with a call from his partner, Dave.

He was climbing out of the shower when the phone began to ring.

“What’s up?” Bodie asked, as he wrapped the towel around his waist and sat down on the side of the bed.

“I’m on the way to Mini-Mall 31, just off 31st Street. Patrol car found two bodies this morning while making rounds.”

“I’ll be there in twenty,” Bodie said.

“See you,” Dave said, and hung up.

Bodie dressed quickly, grabbed his gun from the lockbox in his closet and headed for the door, stopping long enough to retrieve his hat and car keys from the hall table.

Early morning traffic was, as usual, bumper to bumper, so he drove hot all the way to the mall with lights and siren. As he pulled up, he saw that the crime scene crew and the M.E. were already on site.

“What have we got?” he asked, as Dave approached.

“Two males, both dead on the scene. One in a car, one on the ground beside it. Both shot. Both of them carrying. The guns are still on the bodies. Can’t tell for sure until forensics runs some ballistics and the autopsy results come in, but at first glance, looks like the one guy walked up to the guy in the car and opened fire. The guy in the car has two bullet wounds. One in the belly. One in the heart. The one outside the car has one bullet wound—in the head. If I had to guess, I’d say the dude who walked up fired the first shot. He either didn’t know the dude in the car was armed, or he expected the first shot to take him out. But it didn’t. Looks like the two guys fired almost simultaneously then.”

“Do we have IDs?” Bodie asked.

“Yeah. They’re both gangbangers. As my daddy would have said, ‘Two less-than-prime members of society just did the world a favor,’ but then, Daddy had a cold way of looking at the world.”

Bodie grinned, thinking Dave took after his daddy more than he knew, because that sounded like something Dave would have said, as well.

“I don’t suppose we have any witnesses?” he asked.

Dave pointed to a pole-mounted security camera a few yards away.

“As luck would have it…if it works.”

“I’ll go find mall security,” Bodie said.

And so the morning progressed. It was nearly noon before he had time to think, and when he did, his thoughts went straight to Maria. Her case wasn’t the only one they were working, by any means, but he had to admit, she was the draw that made it unique.

Bodie made a quick call to Rachel Stewart, the hypnotherapist, hoping to make an appointment for Maria, but struck out. According to her receptionist, Dr. Stewart was in Denver testifying as an expert witness in a trial and would not be back in the state until sometime next week. There were others in the area, but none he knew as well. He decided to get Lieutenant Carver’s feedback before he went any further.

Ed Underwood was back on the job. He’d already confirmed that Maria Slade was still in her room, so he’d chosen a spot in the hotel parking lot where he could see the front door if she left. It was just after nine in the morning when he got a phone call from Sheets. Surprised that he was already being pushed for answers, he felt a little like the fat-cat lawyer was calling just to check up on him, then wondered if he’d misjudged Sheets’ interest. Because he was on the defensive, his answer was a little abrupt.

“Yeah?”

Franklin frowned. This wasn’t the way he expected his phone calls to be answered, and he lit into Ed as if he was no more than a lowly law clerk.

“‘Yeah?’ What the hell kind of a way is that to answer a phone? ‘Yeah’ what? Were you just agreeing to what I wanted before you heard the request, or should I blame your mother for the way you were raised?”

Ed gritted his teeth. It was all he could do not to hang up the phone. But he wouldn’t apologize. Especially when Sheets was dissin’ his old lady. Sheets hadn’t hired him for his manners. He’d hired him for dirty work he didn’t want to do himself, and when the son of a bitch remembered that, then the phone call could progress.

Franklin had expected an immediate apology. When he got nothing but silence as a response, he realized he’d made Underwood mad. He didn’t care, but on the other hand, he needed him and chose to let it slide.

“What can you tell me about Maria Slade?”

“She’s good-looking,” Ed snapped.

Franklin sighed. He’d pushed too far.

“Let’s start all over here,” he said. “I know it’s early days, but what can you tell me about Maria Slade?”

“She’s from Missoula, Montana. I don’t know how she hooked up with Bodie Scott, but they went to Lake Eufaula yesterday, to a bait and beer shop owned by a man named Samuel Gene Vincent. After that, they drove back to Tulsa to the home of a woman named Rebecca ‘Becky’ Clemmons, a 911 dispatcher here in Tulsa. I’ve got pictures. Do you want them now? Do you want me to continue surveillance?”

Franklin’s heart was pounding. There was a Becky who’d been Sally’s babysitter. As for the owner of the beer and bait shop, he’d known him by another name. Tank. Sally Blake’s pimp. The downside of that was, Tank Vincent had also known
him
. If they were reopening the murder case, they would most likely begin running down as many of her johns as they could find, and Tank would be the one who might remember them.