Borderline (14 page)

Tanner bit his lip. “Like I said, I’m good at what I do, and it made my mom proud.”

“It made José cringe when he told his friends I became a policeman.” Mac chuckled. “He didn’t have a lot of trust in law enforcement. Maybe it came from the fact that he started a new life as an illegal. I think he crossed the border as a drug mule.”

“Might be true.” Tanner scrubbed his hand over his face for a moment, rearranging his thoughts to focus on the serial killer case. “Okay. Did you learn anything new from the people at the gyms?”

Mac got his briefcase from where he’d dropped it in the entryway when Tanner grabbed him. After setting it on the coffee table, he opened it and pulled out his notebook. Tanner watched him flip through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

“We talked to every person working at each gym. They all remembered the women, but they don’t remember any of them having problems with any other member. We got the names and addresses of the people who weren’t working today. We’ll be talking to them tomorrow.” Mac frowned.

“There was no sign of forced entrance at any of the houses?”

“None. What? Do you think he somehow got their keys and let himself into their houses?” Mac rolled his eyes. “That seems a little far-fetched, doesn’t it?”

“It does, but somehow he gets in their house.”

He stalked over to where the photos were scattered all over the table. He clenched his hands to keep from sweeping them onto the floor. Frustration rocketed through him.

“He’s out there stalking another one. He’s going to take her to some deserted warehouse and kill her slowly and as painfully as possible. Maybe she ignored him when he tried to talk to her. Maybe she flirted with him and he hates women who are forward like that.” Tanner closed his eyes, blocking out the horrific pictures of the dead women, but all he saw were their head shots, innocent and smiling before they crossed paths with the killer.

“They all colored their hair. Maybe he didn’t like women who tried to change what they truly looked like. Maybe that’s why he picks them up at the gym.” Mac joined him at the table.

Tanner wanted to say Mac’s suggestion was ridiculous, but he’d come across dumber reasons why people killed each other. If he could just figure out what connected them, why the killer chose them, he could help save another woman. Yet nothing about them matched. Two were blonde and one brunette. The other two were redheads. They were all different heights and weights. The only things they had in common were their sex and the fact that they went to the gym.

“He doesn’t like women,” Tanner muttered.

“What was your first clue? The way he slices and dices them? Or the fact he carves something into their left breast to defile them?”

“No. The carving isn’t meant to defile them. It’s his signature. Like any good artist, he signs his work. In a way, he sees them as paintings or sculptures. He carves the design for us to know it was his work.” Tanner opened his eyes and traced one of the wounds. “He’s done this before. I know there weren’t any unsolved murders with this MO, but I guarantee you, he didn’t just start killing four months ago.”

Mac grunted. “If he’s gotten away with killing before, why give us a chance to find the bodies now? Does he want to get caught?”

“That’s not his reason behind leaving them where they’d be found. He’s gotten arrogant. He believes he’s untouchable and smarter than the police. Each time he kills and we don’t gain any more clues, he begins to believe his own illusion of invincibility.” He paced around the room, swerving to avoid Mac each time he came near the table.

“He hates women, but I’m not sure it has anything to do with his childhood like most serial killers,” Tanner muttered.

“Killing women to kill their mothers over and over again like they couldn’t do as children.”

“Right. He’s intelligent, but I don’t think he’s college educated. He probably didn’t even graduate high school. In some way, he feels inferior to the women he kills. They’re all college educated and work at high-powered jobs.”

“Except for Marissa. She worked at a club as a server,” Mac pointed out.

“Yes, but that was just a recent job change. Before that she worked at the county courthouse, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe he started stalking her before she changed jobs. We don’t really know how long he stalks them before he takes them. He might have made a list and picked them all before he ever killed the first one.” Tanner grabbed a pen and his notebook from the table, scribbling the thought down. “I think it’s one of the reasons he takes them—because they’re smarter than him, or at least society would see them as more successful and important than he is, and he can’t take that.”

Mac tapped his fingers against his bottom lip and nodded. “You could be right. Add that to his profile, and I’ll make sure to let Billingsley know tomorrow. What kind of job do you think he has?”

“I’d usually say he probably had some blue-collar-type job, allowing him to spend time stalking the women without them noticing. Yet something’s telling me he doesn’t work anymore.”

“Maybe that’s what started him killing them. They’re still working while he’s out of a job.” Mac jotted it down in his notebook.

Tanner shrugged. “It might have been that.”

Mac bumped their hips together as he walked past. “I have to write up a short e-mail to the captain, letting him know what Sorensterm and I found out today. He’ll expect me to brief him face-to-face tomorrow, but he’ll also want something in writing.”

“Go do it, and I want to check my e-mail as well. I’m still waiting to hear back from some of those districts with those knife killings.”

“But all those were drug related, and we know none of our victims had anything to do with drugs.”

Tanner couldn’t explain why he wanted to see the crime scene photos from those drug executions. While he knew the women had nothing to do with drugs that they could find, he wasn’t as positive about the killer. A person with such an affinity for knives didn’t always fly under the radar. He could have been recruited at some point to work for the cartels as an enforcer.

What if one of the cartels let an enforcer go without taking him out permanently? It didn’t make sense, but Tanner had seen stranger things happen.

If it was cartel related, he had a source he could tap. Tanner didn’t want to use it if he didn’t have to. Any hint of contamination from that source and an investigation would be started. He didn’t want to endure strangers digging into his past.

He brought up his work e-mail and checked the new messages. There were several from the different police departments he’d contacted. They were all sending copies of the complete files for their unsolved murders. He’d get them tomorrow, but some photos were attached, and he opened them.

He cringed slightly when he saw the sheer brutality involved in the murders. One of the victims’ neck had been sliced so deeply his head was almost severed from his body. Blood covered everything in the vicinity, unlike the scenes in Tanner’s cases. If this was the same killer, had he gotten more sophisticated and fastidious about the blood? Or was his killing method simply evolving?

“Do you really think the guy who did this is the killer?” Mac spoke from right behind him.

Tanner jumped, not having heard Mac approach him. He relaxed into Mac’s hands as his lover rubbed his shoulders. Tension slowly seeped away, and he let his head drop forward.

Tanner shut down his computer. “Did you get your report typed up?”

“Yes.” Mac scrubbed his bristling chin across Tanner’s exposed neck. “I think we need to head to bed. There’s nothing more we can do tonight.”

Nodding, Tanner pushed to his feet and headed toward his bedroom. He waited until Mac stepped into the room before he shut the door and invaded the man’s personal space. Tanner reached out and threaded his fingers through Mac’s hair. He brought their lips together and licked along the seam of Mac’s mouth, begging for entrance. When Mac opened to him, he swept his tongue in to stroke along Mac’s. He moaned as the other man gripped his hips and pulled him closer. Tanner rocked into Mac, and they both groaned.

Mac leaned against the door and ran his hands over Tanner’s head as Tanner dropped to his knees, fumbling with Mac’s belt.

“I should be doing this for you. You need to relax more than I do,” Mac muttered as Tanner undid his pants and pushed them down.

“I think this will be mutually beneficial.” He winked up at the other man.

“Well, I wasn’t about to stop you.” Mac laughed.

Tanner let Mac brace his hand on his shoulder while he stepped out of his pants and underwear. He shoved them to the side and rocked back on his heels, eyeing the fat, hard cock standing proudly in front of him. He licked his lips as a drop of liquid welled up from the slit.

“Why don’t you put your tongue to better use?” Mac tossed him a condom he’d dug out of his pocket.

He looked up at Mac and raised an eyebrow as he rolled the rubber over Mac’s length. “Did you really just say that?”

“What? Too porno-y for you?” Mac tried to look innocent.

Tanner trailed his finger down the length of Mac’s cock while he thought. “Not really, just didn’t think I’d ever hear you say something like that.”

“Hey, I’ve watched plenty of porn in my time.” Mac’s smile was crooked. “Of course, I admit I didn’t watch them for the dialogue.”

“What did you watch them for, Detective Guzman?”

Before Mac could answer him, Tanner opened and swallowed Mac down to the base of his cock. He relaxed, and Mac bumped the back of his throat.

“Holy shit!” Mac’s head hit the door hard.

Tanner wanted to chuckle but resisted the need. He slid a little bit of Mac’s flesh out of his mouth and fisted it with his other hand. With everything where he wanted it, Tanner started giving Mac the best blowjob he could. He used his tongue, his hand, and his teeth a little, not wanting to hurt the man.

Mac gripped his head roughly, and Tanner moved his hands to Mac’s thighs. With a soft hum and a tap, he let Mac know it was okay to move. A grunt warned him of Mac’s intentions. He braced, and Mac began to move, stroking in and out with increasing speed. Trusting Mac not to knock him over, Tanner slid one of his hands from the man’s hip to inside his own sweats to pump his prick.

He matched Mac’s rhythm, gripping tight. His balls drew up to his body, and tingling pooled at the base of his spine. Tanner looked up at Mac, and as their eyes met, his climax shot through him. Wet heat coated his hand while Mac thrust deep before freezing and flooding the condom.

Tanner eased back slightly, leaving just the head of Mac’s dick in his mouth. He milked both of their cocks, getting every drop of cum from each. When Mac collapsed against the door, Tanner licked the softened flesh and slowly let it slide out of his mouth. He rested his forehead on Mac’s hip and tried to catch his breath.

“Oh wow,” Mac murmured, holding out his hand.

Tanner took it and let Mac pull him to his feet. They leaned on each other for a moment before Tanner stepped back and gestured toward the bathroom.

“Clean up and head to bed?”

Mac nodded, and they went to the bathroom. Tanner stripped and washed up while Mac took care of the rubber. After Tanner finished, Mac reached out to cup his face. He met Mac’s gaze with a questioning look of his own.

“Christ, I never thought I’d feel this way about anyone.” Mac grimaced as he spoke.

Tanner’s stomach dropped, and he nuzzled into Mac’s hand. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Mac snorted and shook his head. “Damned if I know, Tanner. Like I said, I never wanted someone like I want you. I can’t get through the day without thinking about you and getting hard. It’s a little embarrassing. Haven’t had that happen since I was a teenager and any swift breeze would give me an erection. It’s difficult to explain to the guys at work.”

“I guess that’s a good thing, and I want to let you know, you’re not alone in the hard-on department,” Tanner admitted.

“Good. I didn’t want to be the only one feeling this way.” Mac placed a light kiss on his lips. “Let’s get some sleep. Oh, and if you have a nightmare, wake me up. I could probably think of some way to help you get back to sleep.”

Tanner grinned as Mac leered at him. He took the other man’s hand and led him back to bed. They climbed under the blankets, and he wrapped his arms around Mac, pulling his lover’s body tight against him.

“Night,” he whispered into Mac’s hair.

Mac patted his hip and muttered something Tanner couldn’t make out. He closed his eyes and let the steady rhythm of Mac’s breathing ease him into sleep.

* * * *

“He asked you to remove the men I put on him?”

Perez nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Why?”

“I believe it has to do with the man he’s been seeing.” He ducked his head, not sure how his boss would react to the knowledge that Tanner was sleeping with someone. The fact that it was a man didn’t matter.

His boss stood and strolled over to the window, staring out into the dark garden. “Who is this man?”

“I think he’s a Texas Ranger, sir. Our men have seen him at Tanner’s house a few times in the last week, and he stays the night. They followed Tanner to the man’s apartment as well.” He shrugged. “I’ll do a background check on him.”

“Do so. We don’t want Tanner in trouble.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll do that and report back to you.” Perez bowed slightly and turned to leave the study.

“Wait.”

Perez paused and turned back, meeting the dark gaze of his boss. He searched for anger or any other emotion in the man’s eyes that he would need to deal with. Nothing was there but concern. The slender man stepped closer, his hands tucked firmly in his pockets, yet that cool gaze trailed over his body and he shivered.

“Is there something else, sir?”

“The flowers?”

“Lilies, sir. I arranged for new ones to be sent every day.” Perez pulled out his phone and scrolled through the calendar section. “Would you like a different flower?”

“No, lilies are fine.” Finally the man invaded his personal space and reached to cradle his face. “You’ll come to me?”