Where You Can Find Me by Fiona Cole
6
Ten minutes later,we pulled into the parking lot of a pub. The small of my back tingled where he rested his hand as we walked through the entrance at the front corner of the bar. There was a small, hardwood dance floor and booths lining the walls on opposite sides of the pub, with the bar in the back. The music was loud enough to dance to but quiet enough to hold a conversation. The only lighting came from the brightly lit, mirrored wall behind the bar.
After looking around the room, Jack seemed to find who he was looking for and led me to a booth. He gestured for me to slide in first, and I casually took in the solid, mountain of a man who sat on the opposite side of the table. He looked to be about the same age as Jack and wore a black T-shirt that stretched across all of him: shoulders, chest, and arms. His eyes were an icy clear blue, a stark contrast to the friendly warmth I could see within them. It was hard to tell how dark his hair would be since it was buzzed so close to his head, but it seemed to be just a little bit longer than the five o’clock shadow grazing his jaw.
Jack reached across the table and gave a manly handshake.” Hey, Daniels, good to see you, man. I hope you don’t mind that I brought along my friend here, Luella King. You interrupted our date.” He turned his smiling face to me and introduced me to the mountain. “Luella, this is Shane Daniels.”
“Hi, Shane.” Raising my hand, I gave a weird finger wave and completed it with an awkward smile.
“Not really. As long as I can get your word that she won’t be spreading our conversation far and wide.” Shane’s friendly gaze turned dark, the conversation taking a serious turn. He gave me a pointed look that intimidated the shit out of me. The threatening look chilled his eyes and made him look even more large and imposing. His voice vibrated around me with the severity of the situation.
“Of course not. I hear you loud and clear. Top secret. Lips are sealed.” I delivered the lines with a wink and an okay hand gesture, followed up with zipping my lips closed.
The detective raised an eyebrow and looked at me like I was a little crazy. When heat crept into my cheeks, I turned to Jack to see his smile as though he found my awkward hand gestures endearing. Thank goodness someone did.
A waitress interrupted us before Shane continued, but I ordered only water, not wanting to overindulge. I didn’t have a problem with drinking anymore, but after the previous weekend, I needed to slow down my alcohol consumption.
“This is a bit of a touchy case, and I know talking to you wouldn’t necessarily be approved, but I’m struggling. I know you don’t have your hands tied quite as tight as mine, and I’m hoping some contacts you have may also be an added bonus.” Pausing, he ran his hand down his face before moving on. “I’m sure you’ve heard on the news about that one college student going missing and coming up dead.” Jack nodded. “Well, here’s the thing: the news is merely speculating and only linking together a few college students from the last several months, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’re not one hundred percent sure they are all connected, but we have had missing persons show up dead with repeated patterns of torture for a while now.”
“Define ‘a while.’” Leaning forward, Jack rested his elbows on the table, bringing his thumb to rub across his lips in thought.
“A few years.”
“Jesus Christ.” Falling back against the booth, his voice rang with shock. “Why is this case still open? And what do you mean you’re not one hundred percent sure they are connected?”
I tried to zone out and give them their space to talk, but it was almost impossible to not pay attention.
“These cases have been spread out for the most part—nothing to even make us form a connection between all of them. But recently, they have been happening more and more frequently. Finally, one of the cops at the station made a leap that they all might be connected.”
“What was the connecting factor?”
“Officer Bennet remembers a couple of cases from his first year on the force. He said they stuck with him because of how gruesome they were. I mean, Cincinnati isn’t the nicest place, but we don’t have too many murders that look like this.” Shane stopped and took a drink of his beer. “The victims were in severe condition when they were found. One guy was only recognizable by a tattoo on his leg.”
At that point, I put some serious effort into zoning the conversation out before I heard enough to have nightmares. I loved my city, but this shit was scary. I think Jack noticed my unease because he reached under the table and put his hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze.
“He just happened to link these up?” Skepticism laced heavily in Jack’s words. “Why haven’t these cases been made public?”
“C’mon, Jack, you know how it goes. We try to run a tight ship when we have these types of cases. People go nuts and start making crazy speculations, and all of a sudden, we lose evidence and credibility because everyone thinks they can be the next person from a crime show to solve a murder. They were so far and wide that we didn’t make a big deal out of them and thought maybe someone pissed off the wrong person. Maybe some mafia hit job, maybe a pimp. It’s unfortunate but true.”
As much as I wanted to not eavesdrop, my curiosity refused to obey, and I remained focused on the words being exchanged. Bring on the nightmares.
“What makes it a problem now?” Jack ran his free hand through his hair. I began to notice he did that when he was trying to process a situation.
“They have recently started picking up. Maybe one a month.” He paused, looking off for a minute before turning back. “Sometimes two.”
“Jesus, man. How long?”
“About a year ago. We made the connection close to three months ago. Since then, five victims. We try to keep it calm before people start throwing around the words, serial killer. Most of the murder victims are out of the news, but college students often have family and friends that stand and speak up louder than others who live a secluded life. Which is good, don’t get me wrong, but usually, by the time they ask the public for help, it’s too little too late.”
There was a heavy pause while we let that settle between us. People laughed and danced on the open floor. A couple of guys bought drinks for girls at the bar, probably hoping to take them home later. They were all so happy, ignorant of the horror being discussed at this table. No real details had been shared, but my imagination was gruesomely creative, and I started to feel nauseated. Was someone in this bar dangerous? Was the person they were looking for here, now?
I shut down that train of thought immediately. I couldn’t be irrational; I could only be safe.
Shane broke the silence first. “The thing is, other than the torture, this guy has no MO. There is nothing that connects these murders to one another. There are both male and female victims. They’re all ages ranging from eighteen to forty-five. How do we track this? It pains me to say that some rookie was able to make this connection. That maybe I’ve been overlooking this for too long. We’ve handed the files over to a psychologist so they could maybe get a better understanding of our killer. She thinks something happened to make the killer increase activity. She’s mentioned a possibility of psychosis since they have no connection, and maybe he is doing it…” He trailed off and drained the rest of his beer. “Maybe he is doing it for fun. She thinks he wants to be noticed. Possibly even be found. Or famous?”
“That wouldn’t be the first time I’ve heard that scenario.” Jack removed his hand from my knee and rested both hands around his water glass. I missed the comfort of his touch. “So who is this, Bennet? What made him start looking?”
“He’s just a beat cop. He said he was filing some paperwork and started poking around when he was in the filing room. He probably shouldn’t have been, but he’s a little weird. He says he wants to be a homicide detective one day, so he looks through the files.”
“That’s … odd. But I guess everyone has to start somewhere.”
“Yeah, he was a little excited when he shared with me.” Shane looked a little weirded out about the whole situation.
“Do you think he is trustworthy? Do you have any concerns about him?”
“What? Like he has some sort of connection to it all?”
“I don’t know. You know the saying: whoever smelt it dealt it.”
Shane chuckled at the old saying. “I’m not sure that applies to murder cases. Especially cops. They have to smell out all the bad stuff.”
“Either way, you mind if I check him out?”
“No, not at all. Mainly, I was hoping you could help me eliminate or make a connection to the mafia or anyone trying to start a business up in the area. We’ve had some prostitution rings that have been snuffed out in the last few years. Maybe someone is trying to make a name for themselves? It would explain the wanting to be seen.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Also, try keeping it to yourself. I know you have your partner and others that work for you, but let’s keep this between you and me.” He turned to look at me. “And you, too.”
I redid zipping up my lips. I even added in a gesture of locking them shut and throwing away the key. He squinted his eyes at me like he was trying to decide if he made a huge mistake sharing this in front of me.
After they both stood, Shane reached his hand to Jack to give it a shake. “You know I trust you, man. If you say she’s good, I believe you. If not, I will lock you both up.”
My eyes went wide at the comment, but Jack just laughed like it was no big deal. Ooookay …
Shane gave me a simple head nod, and we all said goodbye, making our way outside.
Jack opened my door and helped me in the truck. I didn’t really need it, but it felt nice having his hand on my back.
“Sorry I took you there. I didn’t know it would be like that.”
“It’s not a big deal. As horrifying as it was, I’m glad I got to see more of you.”
He gave a soft laugh, responding, “Well, I guess that put a sour note to end the evening. What a first date.”
“I guess you’re an adventurous man, Jack.”
“I guess I am.”
We finished the drive in silence until we pulled into my driveway.
“You don’t have to walk me to my door.”
He turned to look at me like I was nuts. “Of course, I do. What kind of Texas gentleman would I be if I didn’t walk a lady to her door?”
Once I unlocked my front door, I left it closed and turned to look up at him from under my eyelashes. I hoped I was pulling off the sexy look.
He reached up and used his thumb to remove my bottom lip from my teeth, eyes on my mouth the whole time. “There you go again, biting that bottom lip.” I released my lip, and he reached up to brush his thumb along it. “I know I’m not coming in; it’s late, but I am going to kiss you right now.”
My heart rate spiked as he leaned down, and I was barely able to nod my head shakily before his lips touched mine. It was soft, didn’t have any reluctance, but more like he was testing the waters. His hand moved to cup the side of my face, and he pushed his fingers into my hair. I let out a soft moan as he pulled me tighter to him. I raised up on my toes to wrap my arms around his neck.
Apparently, that was all he needed because he pressed me against my front door and pushed his tongue into my mouth. His drink still lingered on his tongue, and I wanted to drown in the taste. I pushed my pelvis into his causing him to groan in response.
The force of the kiss made me question my resolve to not give in so easily, tempting me to reach back and open the door to let him inside. But I didn’t want to rush this again. I still wanted a fresh start for us. So with that thought, I pulled back, nibbling on his bottom lip and soothing it with a flick of my tongue.
“You must have a thing for biting bottom lips. I can’t say I’m complaining,” he murmured against my lips. After one last quick kiss, he pulled away, and I immediately missed his warmth. My heart trembled as my lids lazily slid open. “Let me see you again.”
I liked the way he told me. Yes, I was a woman, and hear me roar, but sometimes, I liked to be bossed around in the right way. And Jack hit all my buttons with his bossiness.
I jerkily nodded my head. “Give me your phone.” I could give orders too. I sent myself a text from his phone. “Now you can get a hold of me to make plans.”
“Sounds perfect.”
After a soft kiss to my cheek, he stepped back, and I opened my door. He watched me intently until the door clicked closed behind me.
I leaned against the closed door and felt a huge smile spread across my face and a breathless joy start to spread throughout my body. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and placed my hand to my chest, trying to hold the happiness close to me.
I was ready for this.
I deserved this.