Cold Fear (19 page)

“My last girlfriend was—well, let’s just say she is
not
nice—but Helena is something special. I’m shocked she doesn’t already have a boyfriend.”

Her heartstrings snapped. Dear God.

“I hear you. My ex-wife was perfect on the outside, but all I had to do to piss her off was not notice she’d had her hair cut or a new manicure and she’d make my life miserable for a week. Life’s too short to deal with that crap.”

“No kidding,” Jesse replied. His voice had grown quieter. Was he remembering?

“Can you tell me what you did when you got to the party?”

“It was fun for a while, but then some of the girls started doing some fucked up shit. They decided to play one of those stupid games where they pulled a guy’s cell phone out of a basket and then they pick out a girl to give him a blowjob. But it was a set up to get the new guy in deep shit.”

“So the new guy wins a blow job? Who was the lucky female who got to do the honors?”

“Kit Campbell.”

Her eyes whipped to Frazer, but he ignored her. This was why he’d warned her to keep her mouth shut. She gritted her teeth on the urge to speak.

“Was Kit in on the joke?”

“Nah. The ‘popular’ girls don’t like her.” Jesse’s brow wrinkled. “Why do they call them popular when no one likes them?”

“It’s a phenomena unique to high school. What did Kit do?”

“She called their bluff and dragged the guy off to the pool with her.” Jesse blushed. “But I don’t know what happened there. Helena said Kit could handle herself.”

Izzy frowned. Helena had just let Kit walk away? Then she thought about her sister—you didn’t
let
Kit do anything. She just did it.

“What happened next?” Frazer’s smooth calm voice did something to her insides. Soothed her agitation. Eased her heart rate. Maybe he’d hypnotized her too—a terrifying thought.

“I wanted to get out of there. It got noisy. I wanted to watch the storm and I wanted to be alone with Helena. I asked her if she would like to go for a walk.” He stopped abruptly as if something had spooked him.

“You took her to the dunes?”

“I know we shouldn’t. Mr. Cromwell will kill us if he finds out and my dad will be next in line.” The words resonated around the room like a gunshot and Frazer met Izzy’s gaze for an instant. Could Helena’s father be involved in her murder? Izzy pushed the thought away. He’d been devastated, but she knew from experience that some people were sublime actors.

“It wasn’t Helena’s idea. It was all me.” The kid was taking responsibility for more than he knew. “I don’t want her to get into any trouble.”

“Did you kiss her?”

A blush crossed Jesse’s face. The chief’s knuckles turned white in his lap. He had to be aware that if Jesse killed Helena, his son would very likely incriminate himself in the next few moments, possibly destroying his life forever.

“I kissed her.”

“Did you have sex?” asked Frazer.

“No,” Jesse said the word firmly. “Helena’s not like that. She’s pretty sheltered. I don’t think she’d even been kissed before.”

Frazer didn’t go where she expected him to go with his next question—obviously she was a linear thinker. “How much cash were you carrying?”

Jesse frowned. “About fifty bucks. I wanted to have some money in case Helena was hungry and wanted to go somewhere to grab something to eat.”

“What else is in your wallet?”

“Emergency credit card parents gave me last year and told me never to use.” He laughed. “Student ID, driver’s license, some old receipts, a condom.”

The chief’s foot twitched.

“You carried a condom but weren’t expecting to have sex?”

Jesse shook his head. “Franky put it in my wallet when I was dating Jessica.”

Jesse and Jessica? Ugh.

“He said she’d had sex with her last boyfriend and he didn’t want me getting her pregnant or catching something the first time I ‘nailed a chick’. Franky’s expression, not mine.”

“Did you have sex with Jessica?”

Frazer was right. This wasn’t anyone’s business but Jesse’s.

The boy’s laugh came out embarrassed. “Jeez, this isn’t something I talk about but…” He gave a deep sigh, as if he harbored a terrible secret. “I’m saving myself for someone special. That’s why Jessica dumped me.”

“Because you wouldn’t have sex with her?”

Izzy felt Chief Tyson’s tension deflate. She caught his gaze. His eyes were brimming with tears and she gave his fisted hand a quick squeeze.

Jesse’s cheeks burned. “Sounds pretty dumb, right?”

Frazer sat quietly for a moment. “No, actually it seems smart. Sex screws up all sorts of things between people.”

That felt like a warning. She held herself perfectly still so he couldn’t analyze anything she did.

“You think people should be in love?” There was wistfulness in Jesse’s voice.

Frazer’s lips thinned. “I think people who have sex should be of legal age, sound mind, honest about what they want and how they want it. No one should feel coerced. Love is important to some people,” he conceded.

But not to him.

It made him more appealing rather than less. She understood him. It was difficult to fall in love when you never let anyone close. One day she hoped to find someone to connect with, to be herself with. But the idea of truly opening up was terrifying.

Frazer had obviously tried it once, hence the ex-wife.

She knew he was attracted to her, hard to ignore the way he watched her mouth sometimes, although she knew the mole on her lip was distracting. But it was impossible to misinterpret how he’d checked out her body last night. Was he always so standoffish with women he was attracted to? Or did he behave that way because he was a professional working a case?

“You think people should wait for marriage?” asked Jesse.

“I don’t think marriage is necessary for sex, but I think honesty is.” For a short moment his laser-sharp blue eyes met hers and a surge of electricity blasted through her nerves. Had she thought him cold? The guy was not cold. He was just able to control whatever he was feeling, whereas she seemed adrift in an unexpected sea of emotion.

“Who knew you carried a condom in your wallet?” asked Frazer.

“No one. Well, Franky, but I doubt he told anyone. Why would he? I didn’t tell my parents. Dad’s cool about most stuff, but Mom would freak. She still thinks I’m eleven.” Jesse grinned. He clearly didn’t realize that his dad was in the room right now. Izzy was shocked at how effectively Frazer’s hypnosis tricks were working.

Just when she’d thought she’d figured out all the things she had to be afraid of.

“Could anyone have seen it when you opened your wallet?”

“Sure. I keep it with the bills.” He grimaced. “Most of the guys in my grade carry one in their wallets even though most of them have zero chance of getting laid. I guess someone might have spotted it, but it’s not a crime, right?”

“No, it’s not. It’s actually a very smart thing to do. So you kissed Helena. Can you tell me what happened next?” asked Frazer.

The boy grew quiet. “There was a noise.” Jesse wet his lips and stared off into space.

Oh, God.
Izzy sat on her hands and braced herself. The chief squeezed her shoulder in reassurance—or maybe he was simply holding on. She wasn’t sure, but his grip was fierce.

“You’re safe, Jesse. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” Frazer’s voice was low and calm. “Tell me exactly what you heard.”

Jesse’s heart rate started to speed up on the monitor. Hers was already racing. “The wind was howling and the waves were huge, smashing into the beach with a massive roar. I was kissing Helena, but then there was this rush of sound, like someone running toward us. We broke apart and looked up.” Blood pressure was one-twenty over ninety, and rising. He shifted his legs in agitation as if he wanted to get out of bed, to run. “Some guy had a baseball bat or something, up over his head.” Izzy heard the gasp of shock in his voice as he remembered. “He hit me. Fuck! Kept hitting me. Why would he do that?”

The chief’s fingers tightened almost painfully on her shoulder.

Jesse’s heart rate continued to climb and Izzy touched the vial of sedative in her pocket.

“Helena screamed at him to stop, but he didn’t. Then she took off running. I tried, but couldn’t get up. I think I passed out.” He looked confused.

“Did you regain consciousness at all?”

Jesse started to shake his head and then hesitated. “I felt him pull me down the dune. The sand was gritty against my back. And he rifled through my pockets.”

“Can you remember anything about the man, at all? Scent? Sight?”

The teen shook his head, dark hair flopping over his brow. “Shadows. I saw shadows.” Jesse looked around the room now as if searching for answers. Tears streamed down his face. “Where’s Helena? Did she get away?” He started to raise himself into a sitting position, and Izzy climbed to her feet.

When no one answered, he grew more agitated. “She didn’t get away, did she? What did he do to her? Please tell me.” The boy’s voice was stronger now. “Where is she? Is she hurt?”

“You don’t remember anything at all after he dragged you through the sand?”

The boy paused for a long moment. “I heard something.”

A shiver crawled over Izzy’s skin.

“What did you hear?”

“It was like a grunting sound, like someone…doing it.” Horror stretched the boy’s eyes wide. “…Having sex. And he said something. ‘Can you see it?’ That’s what he said. I think. I must have passed out.”

Izzy tried to blink back the tears and wished she could find that professional place inside her where none of this touched her, but she was in too deep. She knew all the players. Knew what tragedy happened at the end of the story.

“Did you recognize his voice?” asked Frazer.

“No. No.” There was a long pause. “But…it was familiar somehow. Like I
should
have recognized him.”

Frazer murmured something for Jesse’s ears only and suddenly the young man was no longer hypnotized.

“Where’s Helena?” he asked, fiercely.

“Jesse,” his father warned, coming to his feet.

“Tell me, goddamn it!” Jesse yelled. His heart monitor raced, BP one-fifty over one-ten and he looked like he was on the verge of getting out of bed. Izzy was on her feet and at his side. Frazer looked pissed when she withdrew the syringe, but he nodded, pretending it was his decision and not hers.

“Son, the man who attacked you.” Chief Tyson cleared his throat repeatedly. “He murdered Helena.”

Tyson took his son’s hand, and she used the distraction to shoot the sedative into Jesse’s IV. Jesse started sobbing. “No. No. That can’t be true. I was right there! Oh, my God. He raped her, didn’t he?”

Izzy disposed of the needle and put a call into the anesthetist on stand-by, then stood hunched over the nearest counter, waiting until the drugs took Jesse into oblivion. He started to make a wailing keening sound that tore at Izzy’s soul and scattered it like bits of confetti. Everything he’d lost. Everything Helena had lost. It was all too much to bear.

After a few more seconds of grief the room went quiet, and Jesse’s heart beat calmed down to a strong regular sinus rhythm. His BP was normal, breathing regular.

ASAC Frazer came to stand beside her. “I’m sorry you had to hear that,” he said quietly.

“Don’t.” She held up her hand and wiped away tears she hadn’t been aware of crying. She glanced at Jesse but he was out cold and his vitals had returned to resting levels. “I wish he’d seen something useful, but I’m glad he was unconscious when the bastard…”

Frazer nodded and shrugged into his jacket, obviously off to the next part of the investigation.

“Don’t mention this to Kit.”

She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. Don’t mention she knew Kit had been auctioned off like a hooker to give a blowjob at a party she wasn’t even supposed to attend. Great. Some guardian Izzy was turning out to be. “Damien Ridgeway is eighteen. That might be what he was referring to earlier.”

“I have more important issues to worry about than teenagers having sex.”

Izzy flinched. Dammit. That was her responsibility.

Chief Tyson joined them. He looked wrung out.

“I want your office to put out a statement that you have a witness helping you with your inquiries.”

“Draw the perp out.” Tyson nodded. “What if he comes after Jesse? I can’t be here 24/7 to protect him.”

“I have some people I can contact. People I’ve used before under these sort of circumstances.”

The chief’s face was haggard. “Department can’t afford personal bodyguards. Budget is already tight.”

“The FBI can assist with cost.” Frazer stared hard at the man, as if willing him to say yes.

Tyson touched his brow. “Fine. If it’ll help catch this sonofabitch and keep my son safe, do it. I’ll mortgage my home if I have to.”

“You both need to keep quiet as to the extent of Jesse’s knowledge.”

“Or lack of it,” she said. “He’s bait.”

Frazer didn’t deny it. “It’s one of the few things we can use right now, and the sooner this person is caught the safer everyone will be.”

Izzy nodded. He was right. Of course he was right. But he was also a ruthless operator, prepared to use an injured, vulnerable young man. The killer was worse though. Izzy had to assume Frazer knew what he was doing.

“Thank you for coming in on your day off,” he said to her unexpectedly.

How could she have refused? A girl had been murdered. Not some random stranger, but a girl she’d fed, and who’d slept over dozens of times. Her chest felt tight like if she breathed in too deep, her lungs would crack.

“We can set up a time to hypnotize you about what you saw last night—”

“I don’t think so.” She took a step away from the FBI agent.

“Why not?” His eyes watched her like the proverbial hawk.

“I don’t want you inside my head,” she told him honestly.

“Scared of what I might discover?”

“Yes.” She didn’t let him comment. She walked away, wishing she could leave the islands and take Kit with her. Wishing she didn’t know things she shouldn’t about death and murder. At the door she glanced back. Jesse was asleep and Frazer was deep in conversation with the chief. Part of her wanted him gone from the islands, back to his cubicle in Virginia. Another piece of her knew she’d miss him when he was gone—miss the opportunity to get to know him better. He was complex enough to be interesting and handsome enough that a woman would have to be dead not to be intrigued.