Murder Stalks (10 page)

“
I don’t--”

“
Marissa, I am not going
to send you home in a cab. Give me five minutes and I’ll drive you
back to your car.”

“
Fine. I’ll just take a
look around.”

“
Don’t look too closely at
the kitchen or the bathrooms,” Tony added as he flipped his phone
open. “What’s up?”

“
Come by at three. I’ve
already contacted Rex.”

“
I’ll be
there.”

“
Why’d you hang up on me
earlier?”

Sekorski’s question caught Tony by surprise.
He was uncomfortable discussing his relationship problems with
anyone, and Sekorski was a work acquaintance, not a close
friend.

“
I’m with my wife.” Tony
watched as Marissa peeked around the corner into the kitchen. He
had warned her not to look.

“
Oh, I see,” Sekorski
said.

“
It’s not like that,” Tony
shot back. Marissa cocked her head towards him. Anger had gotten
him in trouble in the past. He blew out a slow breath,
concentrating on the floor at his feet.

“
Hey, you’re on lunch
break with your wife. What more needs to be said?”

Tony rolled his shoulders, releasing his
tension. “I’ll be there at three.”

“
See you then.”

Tony flipped his phone closed and pocketed
it. A shiver snaked up his spine, lifting the hairs on his neck.
Whipping around, Tony searched for a cause. He moved towards the
window, looking out onto the street, but saw nothing. Maybe it was
just having Marissa back in this house that had him off.

He turned, expecting to find her eyeing him
suspiciously, but she wasn’t there, the room was empty. Tony
searched for her down the hallway without success. Instinctively,
he knew where she would be. Ashley’s old room. He took the stairs
two at a time and found her with her head down, studying a photo
album that hadn’t been boxed up and put away.

His heart tugged in his chest. How had
Ashley died? Was their suspect playing him? Or was this guy giving
him clues to a death that had almost destroyed everything he held
dear? Putting up a few emotional shields, Tony moved towards
Marissa. He held his arms out and wrapped them around her, pulling
her close. “Baby, I miss her too. I miss her too.”

A sob shook Marissa’s shoulders. The pain of
their loss still cut through to the core of their relationship.
Tony took her chin in his hand and forced her to look him in the
eye.

“
I am not going to give up
on us. We were too good together, and we aren’t done
yet.”

“
Tony, I--”

“
Shhh, I need to work on a
few things, I know that.” Tony pulled her closer, kissing the top
of her hair. He breathed in deeply and savored her scent. When he
spoke next, his voice was thick with emotion. “You and I belong
together, and I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.
Come on, I’ll take you back to your car.”

“
Tony.”

“
Yes?” His heart fluttered
in his chest. Expectation filled his mind. If she came home they
could be sleeping together tonight in the same bed. Excitement
charged through him. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, to
hold her, to make love to her over and over again.

“
Give me two days before
you call me again.”

Her words were like a pinprick in a balloon.
The air went out of his lungs. The chance of reconciling this week
was gone. Marissa was leaving him again and there was nothing he
could do to stop her.

“
How about
tomorrow?”

“
I need some time to
think.”

“
Fine.” Tony’s voice came
out harsh. He cringed, knowing Marissa might take his tone as a
sign of belligerence. He followed up with calm words. “I’ll give
you two days to think about us. But while you’re thinking I want
you to remember that I love you, and I want you back in my
life.”

A single tear traced down her cheek, Marissa
jerked her hand to wipe it away before Tony could reach out to
smooth the dampness across her soft skin. His hands clenched into
fists at his sides. Wiping the tears from her eyes was his job. He
was supposed to be her hero, not her enemy.

A sinking sensation settled in his stomach,
bringing home the feeling he’d been cheated. It was up to him to
make this right.

****

The satisfaction was almost complete, but
something was lacking. The killer had watched Tony make an ass of
himself again. That was it. He should have brought a camcorder and
then he would have the full satisfaction of showing Tony what a
total ass he really was.

He would love to follow Detective Tony
Santos around, catching all of the horrible mistakes he made. Show
him how fake his life really was. Santos was the loser, and soon
enough, he would know.

Marissa had been upset. Tony might have
stripped her down to almost naked, but she was sad, very sad. He
would make it better. He had watched with awe through binoculars.
The skin on her ass was perfect, creamy and smooth with no dimples.
It made him want to bite her. He would rip her flesh from her
rump.

Longing pulsed through his body, making him
wish he were with her right now. After the truth came to her, she
would hardly be recognizable.

Tony had pawed her perfect flesh. A man like
Tony didn’t deserve a woman like Marissa. How could she have chosen
such a total loser? She could have done better.

His tongue twitched at the memory of her
breasts. He wanted to lick them and feel them rise to his touch. He
would play with her first, making her realize her mistake of
choosing Tony.

She would be like hot honey in his hands. He
could taste the sweetness of power on his tongue again. He wanted
her bad, but not yet.

Discipline was the key to his operation. And
if anyone could find fault with him it was for his extreme
discipline in this operation.

Tony needed to learn his lesson first. He
couldn’t be allowed to walk around thinking he was great. Detective
Tony Santos wasn’t great or even good. He was just a careless cop
who couldn’t even keep his wife satisfied.

The killer would satisfy Marissa and make
Tony understand.

Chapter 9

Acrid fumes of formaldehyde and blood hung
in the air at the city morgue. The cheeseburger and fries Tony had
downed in a rush sat heavy in his stomach.

Had he delayed telling Marissa about Kelsey
he could have enjoyed Manny’s famous fish tacos, but not telling
her wasn’t an option.

No food. No relaxing. No sex. Tony rolled
his shoulders as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Stress was a common side effect in police
work, but Juniper wasn’t a common town. It was quiet and quaint,
not a place where multiple murders occurred in one week. The quick
clip of shoes behind Tony brought him out of his self-pity. Turning
towards the noise, he found Rex smiling like a Cheshire cat.

“
I am seriously worried
about you Rex,” Tony said as his friend approached.

“
What? Ain’t no
big.”

“
This morning you were
guarded, didn’t show any emotions. This afternoon, you’re the total
opposite. What gives?”

“
Like I said, no
big.”

Rex buzzed past Tony, leaving a fresh shower
scent in his wake. The smell of Irish Spring soap was unmistakable.
Wariness wrapped its cold fingers around Tony’s chest. Why would
Rex shower in the middle of the day?

Gone were the days where life functioned on
an even keel. Marissa was the key. In the past when Rex was acting
strange, Marissa would solve the puzzle.

“
If it gets to be
something you want to talk about...”

“
I know. You’re
available.” Rex smiled his overly charming grin. That smile had
saved his hide on many occasions.

Frustration pulled at Tony. “Yeah, something
like that.”

Rex pushed through the door to Sekorski’s
office. Tony followed a few steps behind. He took one look at the
medical examiner’s face and knew this meeting wasn’t going to be a
revelation of good news.

“
Rex. Tony. Glad to see
you. You didn’t invite anybody else to this meeting?”

“
No, just us two,” Tony
replied, glancing over at Rex. A somber expression covered the zeal
that Tony had detected just a moment ago in the hall. A Chameleon
came to mind. Had Rex always been this changeable in the
past?

“
Good, I want this kept
between the three of us.”

“
Oh damn, Sekorski, don’t
tell me it’s bad.” Tony ran his hand down his face. Disappointment
over the case rose in his chest. They needed a break, not
trouble.

“
Santos, I’m not even sure
I want both of you here.”

“
What does that mean?”
Tony shot back, not liking the threat of being excluded.

“
Someone took a
fiber.”

“
What?” Tony
exploded.

“
I found one lousy fiber
on Angela Longfellow. A piece of carpet, or maybe some upholstery
from a car, I don’t know, but it was something.”

“
What’s wrong then?” Tony
asked.

“
It’s gone.”

“
Shit.” Rex slammed his
fist into his hand.

“
What do you mean gone?
Sekorski, evidence doesn’t just stand up and leave.” Tony’s voice
thundered.

Sekorski shrank back and moved over to a
tray on his desk. “Everything pertaining to the Longfellow case was
here, in my office, except for the brown liquid. I took an early
lunch break. An hour, maybe an hour and a half, and when I came
back the fiber was gone.”

“
Was that the only thing
missing?” Tony asked, his mind clicking into gear.

“
That was the only unique
piece of evidence we retrieved from her body. She was cleaner than
my mom’s kitchen. Somebody used bleach to scrub her down. Her teeth
had been brushed and flossed too.”

“
Strange. Why brush her
teeth and why bleach?” Rex asked.

“
Brushing the teeth, I
don’t know. I did find toothpaste residue and a small amount of
water in the back of her throat. If she’d been conscious, she would
have spit or swallowed. Flossing is easy to figure out. He wanted
to get rid of any skin she’d bitten during the crime. I found a
fiber from the floss stuck in one of her back teeth. Reach brand,
cinnamon, non-waxed.”

“
Those bruises on her
shoulder, could they be from forced oral sex?” Tony
asked.

“
Could be, that would
explain the need for him to floss her teeth. As for the bleach, it
doesn’t get rid of DNA trace evidence, but when you’re as good as
this guy you don’t leave much behind.”

“
Bleach? That’s strange.”
Rex turned away from Tony as he paced around the room.

“
Rex, what’s up?” Tony
asked.

“
It’s nothing.”

Rex was lying. Tony wanted to drag the truth
out of him and find out what he was holding back.

“
Sekorski, how did someone
get in here? We went through security, why not our
thief?”

“
Smoking.”

“
Excuse me?” Tony asked,
unsure he had heard Sekorski correctly.

“
Some of the employees go
out the back door for a smoke. They prop it open. Who’s going to be
messing around at the back of the city morgue? So after lunch, when
I found that a packet was missing, I went to check. Sure enough the
door had been propped open.”

“
Any cameras?” Rex
questioned.

“
No, not back there. Look
guys, I’m not sure about this, but who would know I had evidence
out today? Why today?”

“
Who’d you tell?” Tony
asked.

“
No one. But someone knew.
They have to be familiar with crime documentation and proceedings.
Someone who knows our timeline... Damn it, I can’t think that. I
can’t go down that path.”

“
Sekorski, are you trying
to say it was a cop?” Tony asked, his mind clicking through the
evidence and information gathered so far. Jackson said it was
probably a person in authority. If it were a cop, then even Tony
would be suspect. He glanced over to Rex, surprised to find him
studying the ground beneath his shoes. A chill tunneled up Tony’s
spine, rolling through his stomach. Queasiness settled over him and
threatened to spill out at any moment.

“
Rex, you have something
to say?”

“
What?” Rex looked up,
seeming momentarily caught off guard.

“
You’re hiding
something.”

“
I don’t--I can’t--It’s
nothing to do with this case.”

“
Then prove it. Tell me
what you’re hiding.” Tony slammed his fist down on the countertop,
Sekorski’s instruments jumped, clattering across the stainless
steel surface. “Talk, Hague. Now!”

“
It’s not anything to do
with this case. I didn’t take the evidence,” Rex shot back. His
face was red, and worry lines wrinkled his forehead. “Damn it,
Tony, you weren’t supposed to press me on this. I thought I could
hide it from you. I told her you wouldn’t find out.”

Tony gulped down air as fear raced through
him. Had Rex hooked up with Marissa? Sweat beads formed on Tony’s
brow. “You had better start talking now,” Tony spat the words out,
anger tingeing every syllable with a harshness that surprised
him.