Seal It With A Kiss (McClellan Trilogy) (3 page)

“Yes, it came out when you were in surgery and we didn’t know if you were going to make it. I kind of had a breakdown and Brock was my shoulder to cry on.”

“Well, that’s over now that I am fully recovered.” He said as he glared at Brock.

Brock held up his hands in his own defense. “I would never cross that line bro, you ought to know me well enough for that.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right. I should be thanking you for being there for Brooke when I couldn’t be. Sorry, how about a beer?”

“Yeah, I could sure use one.”

“Do you want to tell me about her?”

“Who?”

“Whoever has got you tied up in knots?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Where’s that damn beer?”

“I’ll get you that beer, but you
are
going to tell me who she is—Now come on in the house and I’ll give you the grand tour.”

“I don’t need a tour—I helped you move shit in here or did you forget?”

Brooke broke in and asked him, “Why don’t you join us for supper?”

“Sure, it’s not like I have anyone to go home to.” Brock mumbled.

Luke slapped him on the back and said, “Spill it—NOW!”

“Like I said earlier, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Fine, have it your way. Let’s talk about work then. What is the new case that you’re working on?”

“Can we just talk about something else? Let’s talk about how you are feeling, or how Brooke is doing with her pregnancy.”

“So, I take it the “her” is someone at work then?”

“Are you kidding me? Can you just let it go? Maybe I should just go.”

“Wait just a minute Brock, I will let it go for now, but you will talk to me about it sooner or later.”

“I prefer much later then.”

The next morning Brock arrived at work in a foul mood. He hadn’t slept much at all because every time he closed his eyes he saw Holly. It was making him frustrated because she just wasn’t his type at all, and the fact the she was the “ice queen” didn’t make any sense to him either. He kept telling himself that she was just “one of the guys” and he just needed to treat her as such. He walked into his office to find Holly already there and going through a file.

“Good morning Detective McClellan.”

“Cavanaugh.”

“I started on this file last night and I couldn’t sleep because there was just something that struck me about it. I don’t know why, but something in this file is off.”

“Couldn’t sleep huh? Does that bother Charlie?”

Laughing, “No, he sleeps right through just about anything.”

“So have you come up with anything yet this morning, since you had that feeling and all?”

“Not yet, but I will.

“You’re pretty confident about that.”

“I trust my hunch is all—there is definitely something in this file that is different from the other two that we went through yesterday. I just have to find it.”

Looking up at Brock, “You look like hell. Didn’t you get any sleep last night?”

“Thanks for noticing, and no—I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, just toss me a file.”

Holly picked up a file and walked it over to him. Brock closed his eyes as he inhaled a mixture of peaches and cream. Standing in front of him, Holly cleared her throat. Brock opened his eyes to see Holly staring at him holding a folder for him to take. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair before reaching for the folder and saying, “Um—thank you.”

“No problem.” She said as she turned to sit back down smiling to herself. Mental note to self—Brock just got uncomfortable with me being close to him.

Brock watched every step she took and quickly glanced down at the unopened file on his desk as she looked up at him. What the hell was happening to him? A woman never had this effect on him. Furthermore, she wasn’t available—she lived with a Charlie. Maybe that was the problem—the fact that she wasn’t available. Hell—that couldn’t be it, he thought as he was still trying to convince himself that she just wasn’t his type. This one thought sparked something else in him—something he remembered Luke telling him. Luke had mentioned that Brooke wasn’t his type either and
he
ended up marrying her! “That’s just not right.”

“Did you find something?” Holly asked.

Brock swore to himself,
‘Shit, shit, shit’
“I’m not sure.” He improvised.

“Well, you just said ‘that’s just not right’, and it sounded like you may have found something.”

“I spoke out loud—I didn’t mean to.”

By the end of the day, Holly and Brock had combed through a total of four more files. Making notes and comparing and not turning up anything new. “Go ahead and get out of here, tomorrow we will get back at it.” Brock suggested.

“That sounds good to me—it sounds crazy, but my body aches from all of this sitting. I could use a soak in the tub.”

Brock groaned to himself from that visual and just couldn’t get words to form as he heard her say “See you tomorrow.” as she was walking out the door.

Holly smiled to herself as she was walking to her car. In her police training, she scored at the top of her class when reading other people and she sensed that Brock was nervous around her. She supposed that it was kind of mean of her to have given him that final visual, but she was sure going to enjoy toying with him!

Brock grabbed his jacket and car keys and headed to his car. He found himself following Holly’s car but staying a couple of car lengths back. She pulled into a driveway as the garage door opened and then her car disappeared inside. Brock sat in his car across the street as he watched and waited. After a couple of lights turned on, he came to the realization that he was trying to get a look at Charlie so that he could compare himself to him; to try to see what her type of guy was, and if he would measure up. “I have to fucking get out of here—this is insane.” He said as he started his car and drove home.

CHAPTER THREE

After another sleepless night, Brock groaned as he looked at himself in the mirror while he shaved. What the hell was he thinking last night following Holly to her home? Looking at his reflection he said, “You need to figure this shit out. She’s not interested in you—she has Charlie. What you need is to go clubbing tonight.” Yeah—he thought, I need to give Sam a call.

“Sam, what do you say we go to the Double Deuce tonight and pick up some chicks?”

“I’m game—you know me!”

“Great—I’ll meet you there at seven.”

Brock walked in to find Holly already looking through the files. “Cavanaugh.”

“Good morning Detective McClellan.”

“I’d really prefer you call me Brock.”

“No thank you—too personal.”

Brock shook his head and pulled up a chair next to Holly. “See anything of interest this morning?”

“As a matter of fact, yes—take a look at this picture and tell me what you see.” Holly encouraged.

Brock leaned in closer to look at the picture, but when he caught a whiff of peaches and cream, he lost all concentration.

“Well? Do you see it?”

“I’m not sure. What exactly is it that I am looking at?”

“This is a picture taken at victim number three’s apartment. This is the area where she put up a struggle before he overpowered her and took her into the bedroom. This was the file that I had started the other night and I had this feeling that there was something there. Well, last night I couldn’t sleep again—I kept thinking about this file—this picture. So, when I got in this morning I just had to look at it again.”

“Didn’t sleep again last night, huh?”

“That’s all you got out of that conversation?”

“Uh, no—I just thought that you look pretty good for not sleeping two nights in a row.”

“Thanks—I think. So, what do you notice about that picture?”

“I guess my eyes aren’t too focused this morning. Why don’t you tell me?”

“Right there,” she pointed out. “See that over in the corner?”

“What is it?” Brock asked.

“It looks like a book of matches.” Holly declared.

“So? Why is that significant?”

“Well for one, victim number three doesn’t smoke, and secondly it is in the report that the perp smelled of cigarettes and alcohol.”

“Is there a book of matches listed on the evidence log?”

“Unfortunately—no.”

“Then we need to interview victim number three right away. Nice job Cavanaugh!”

Not realizing how close Brock was to her, Holly stood up and bumped right into him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…”

“No, don’t worry—I was too close. Let’s head over to victim number three’s apartment and see if we get lucky.”

“Get lucky?”

“I didn’t mean it like that! I only meant…”

Laughing, “I know what you meant—it’s just fun getting a reaction out of you, and you seemed grumpy when you got in this morning.”

“Not funny Cavanaugh. Let’s go.”

Brock knocked on the door of the apartment with Holly at his side as the door opened a crack. “Can I help you?”

“Detectives McClellan and Cavanaugh, ma’am—we are here to ask you a few questions regarding your case.”

“I already spoke with the police and I told them everything I know—it should be in the report.”

“Yes ma’am, we have read the report and we really need to discuss this inside if you don’t mind.”

“Can I see some I.D.?”

“If you would open the door, I would be happy to show you.”

“Can you hand it to me?”

Brock handed his badge through the crack in the door. Moments later, the door opened the rest of the way to reveal a woman in her early twenties, her eyes were hollow and she nervously rubbed her arms.

“We won’t take up much of your time, but we were recently assigned your case and while Detective Cavanaugh was going through your file she noticed something in a photo of where you struggled with the rapist.” Brock said as he handed the photo to her.

“What am I looking for?” She asked.

Brock stepped forward to point out the book of matches and she almost jumped out of her skin. “Cavanaugh, perhaps you can point it out?”

“I’m sorry—I just react without even realizing it when a man approaches me. That monster has ruined me—I can’t even be in public anymore. I am a prisoner of my own house while he is still out there doing this to other women.”

“I’m really sorry ma’am, and I can promise you that we won’t rest until we catch him.” Brock stated.

Detective Cavanaugh pointed to the picture “Right there in the corner, it appears to us that it is a matchbook. Do you smoke?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Do you remember having anyone over to your apartment the day of or a few days prior to your rape who was a smoker?”

“No, no one.”

“Do you remember seeing it? If you did, what might you have done with it?”

“After I was released from the hospital, I went to live with my sister for a couple of weeks—I just couldn’t come back here right away. After the police released my apartment, my sister came over and cleaned it for me. You will have to contact her—she may be able to remember it.”

“We will definitely contact her.” Handing her a notepad and pen, Detective Cavanaugh asked that she write down her contact information. They thanked her for her time and headed back to the precinct.

Holly called the number from her notepad and left a message. “I sure hope she calls back soon, this is the only lead we have at the moment.”

“Until then, we will continue to comb through the other files—who knows, maybe there is more to find.”

Brock looked at his watch at 5:15 and said, “Time to wrap it up for the weekend Cavanaugh.”

Holly noticed that Brock had checked his watch about every 10 minutes for the last hour. “Sure, no problem. You must have a date.” She declared.

“If you want to call it that.” Brock noticed a slight frown on Holly’s face, but it was so quick that he thought he was seeing things. “How about you? You and Charlie going to do anything special this weekend?”

“I don’t know—maybe we will go for a walk or rent a movie. He doesn’t like to socialize much.”

“Well, I gotta run—see you on Monday Cavanaugh.”

Brock arrived at the Double Deuce to find that Sam had already gotten them a table. He stopped at the bar and ordered a couple of beers before pulling up a chair and handing one to Sam.

“I am so glad you suggested this Brock—it has been a while since we have been here.”

“Yeah, and the last time wasn’t a good memory—it was the night Brooke was kidnapped.”

Scratching his chin Sam added, “I guess that’s right—maybe we should have gone somewhere else.”

“We’ll just have to make some new memories then I guess. Have you had a chance to check out the scenery yet?”

“I just got here myself and grabbed the table, so no.”

Sam barely got the word ‘no’ out when a blonde and a brunette walked up to their table. “Excuse us, but you two look like you could use some company. Do you mind if we sit down?”

Sam and Brock glanced at each other before Sam stood up and pulled out two chairs. “Here, have a seat.” He offered.

“Can we buy you a drink?” Brock offered.

“Sure, I guess you can buy us a beer. What is your name cowboy?” She asked looking at Sam.

“You can call me Sam, and this here is my brother Brock. What would your name be?” He asked looking at the blonde.

“Do you like sweets Sam? Because my name is Candy and I can be really sweet.”

Brock wanted to take back the offer because he just about threw up in his mouth on that comment. He hated to ask, but went ahead anyway, “And your name would be?” looking towards the brunette.

“My name is Bridget and I just know that we can go all night trying to build a bridge if you think that you have that much stamina.”

Brock had had enough, he pulled out his badge and informed the ladies that they needed to take a walk.

“What the hell bro?” Sam shouted.

“They acted like a pair of hookers—we don’t need that shit.”

“Why the hell did you suggest this if all you are going to do is scare the women away?”

“I needed to get out—I thought you did too.”

“Well as wired as you are bro, you need to go over and apologize to Bridget so that you can get laid, because you sure as hell need to let off some of that steam you got going on.”