Heath had gathered the family together in Simone’s mother and father’s home. Her uncle Ernest and aunt Fallon’s and Simone’s parents’ homes shared a common backyard with a large pool, pool house and tennis courts.
Although her aunt and uncle’s place was exquisitely decorated in a French provincial style, it was somehow colder...less inviting than Alfred and Farrah’s warm, Tuscan-feel home. Therefore, this was the place always chosen for family gatherings. Besides, with a mother-in-law suite attached, it made it easy for Grandma Colton, who lived in the suite, to be included in all the gatherings.
They were all seated on the overstuffed sofas and on chairs brought in so everyone had a place to sit. Simone was grateful to sit on the sofa next to her mother.
Her aunt Fallon and her mother were twins. The main way people told them apart was that Farrah’s dark brown hair was worn short and curly and Fallon’s hair was longer. Simone’s mother had always been the louder of the two. She was wonderfully loving and was the creative force in Gemini Designs, an interior design company she had started and now operated with her twin sister.
Since the murder, the spark in her mother was gone and her beautiful green eyes often held the same sadness, the same grief that Simone felt. It hurt Simone to see both her mother and her aunt trying to deal with the unexpected deaths of their husbands.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I got you together this evening,” Heath said and stood from his chair. Her cousin’s dark blond hair was shaggier than usual and it was obvious he’d forgotten about shaving again.
Heath had stepped in as the president of Colton Connections, the company started by Ernest and Alfred and that was now valued at over sixty million dollars. The two men had created a series of innovative inventions and owned numerous patents.
“I’m sure wondering why we’re all here,” Grandma Colton replied.
Everyone looked at Heath expectantly. He drew in a deep breath. “Uh, something unexpected has come up concerning Colton Connections.”
What now? Simone reached out and took her mother’s hand in hers. Her mother squeezed her hand tightly, as if expecting bad news.
“My office has received a letter saying that half of Colton Connections’s holdings rightfully belong to two other men. They are twins Erik and Axel Colton and they are claiming to be the illegitimate children of Dean Colton.”
Gasps of surprise filled the room, along with exclamations of disbelief. Simone’s stomach sank. Illegitimate children of her grandfather? Was this somehow true? Or were these two men simply vultures who were trying to capitalize on a double murder? As if they all didn’t have enough to deal with already, and now this?
Heath raised his hands to quiet everyone. “They claim to be rightful heirs because of a special codicil Grandpa Dean drew up and they are therefore due the same amount of money that went to my dad and Uncle Alfred.”
“I certainly never heard Alfred talk about having two illegitimate brothers,” Simone’s mother said.
“Same with me,” Aunt Fallon added. “Ernest never mentioned having other brothers and I can’t imagine Dean having an affair. But then before six months ago I wouldn’t have imagined that my husband and his twin brother would be murdered.”
There was a long moment of silence. “So, how serious are we taking this?” Simone’s youngest sister, January, asked, breaking the hushed quiet that had momentarily overtaken everyone. January was a social worker for the county and volunteered for multiple organizations.
“Serious enough that I’ve gotten our lawyers involved. I just wanted to let you all know what was going on,” Heath said. “And I’ll continue to keep you all up to date as this whole thing unfolds.”
A half an hour later Simone and her sisters left the house. “Oh, by the way, tomorrow I’m going to watch the files of the interviews of Jared Garner with Agent Howard,” she told Tatum.
“You actually got him to agree with that?” Tatum asked in surprise.
“Wait...what’s going on?” January asked. At twenty-seven years old, she was five years younger than Simone. January looked even younger than her age and was model pretty, so she was often not taken seriously, but Simone knew her baby sister was smart as a whip.
She quickly explained to January what she was doing the next day, and when she was finished, concern shone from January’s green eyes. “Oh, Simone, I wish you would leave this all alone and let law enforcement do their jobs.”
“That’s exactly what I told her earlier today when we had lunch,” Tatum said.
“I am letting them do their jobs,” Simone protested. “I’m just hoping to help a little bit. I need to do this.”
“I know how badly you’re hurting, Simone. We’re all hurting, but I don’t want you anywhere near Jared Garner. Have you forgotten that Leo Styler is still on the loose? I don’t want you getting any attention that might put you at risk,” January exclaimed.
“My feelings exactly,” Tatum chimed in.
“Don’t worry. I’m just going to be in a little office with Brad Howard and nobody will even know I’m there. Trust me, I’ll be fine.” Simone hugged January and then Tatum.
“What do you think about what we just heard from Heath?” Tatum asked.
“I find it darned suspicious that after all these years and only after Dad and Uncle Ernest are gone, these twins magically appear out of the blue,” January said.
“I agree, but I also trust Heath and the attorneys to sort it all out,” Simone replied. “And on that note, I’m heading home.” She hugged each of her sisters once again and then got into her car and headed back to her condo.
Once there she found it impossible to think about what had just happened when her head was so full of what she hoped would happen the next day. She desperately hoped she’d see something on the file that could be used to break Jared into confessing to the murders.
She changed out of her clothes and into a sleeveless summer nightgown. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she finally climbed into her king-size bed. She’d bought the bed when she’d thought she was going to have a future with Dr. Wayne. He’d lived in a cramped apartment and so they had spent most of their time together here in her place.
But she had refused to let him move in with her and she also didn’t like him spending the night with her. In her mind that was something engaged or married couples did.
She’d finally kicked out the doctor but had kept the bed. There were times she felt very lonely. At thirty-two years old she had the career of her dreams, but she was missing the dream man in her life.
Eventually she wanted a big family and she’d begun to hear the faint tick of her biological clock. Still, she wanted to be married only once and so it was important she get it right the first time.
She fell asleep almost immediately and into the dream that far too often haunted her nightscapes. She was in a graveyard and walking along a dark path between the headstones. The moonlight was full and cast down a haunting silvery light. Her heart clenched as she came to the headstone where her father’s name was written.
In her dream she sank down to her knees before it, tears half blinding her. “Daddy, I miss you so much. You’ve always been my hero and now I’m absolutely lost without you.”
A mist began to form across the front of the headstone, a mist that came together and became her father’s beloved face. “Help me, Simone. I need your help, baby girl. I’m stuck and I can’t move on unless you help me.”
“Anything, Dad. Just tell me what you need me to do,” she said fervently.
“Get the killers, Simone. See that they spend the rest of their lives in jail. If you don’t, I’ll never be at peace. Do you hear me? I’ll never be at peace.” His voice became a roar and his face twisted with rage.
“Save me, Simone.” Skeletal hands reached out toward her. She gasped and scooted back away from the headstone, but the hands kept coming and wrapped around her neck. Cold ghostly fingers squeezed tight, making it difficult for her to scream out her terror.
She awoke and jerked up with a deep gasp. Her breathing came in rapid pants and the horror of the dream still raced through her. Tears burned at her eyes as she thought of the beginning of the dream, when her father’s pleas to her had been so heartbreaking. She didn’t want to even think about the end of the dream. That man, that angry monster who had tried to strangle her, wasn’t her loving father.
Still, the nightmare reminded her that she needed to do whatever she could to help find Leo Styler and she believed the answers to so many things were in Jared Garner.
And today she would get access to his interviews. At that thought a burst of adrenaline raced through her and she jumped out of bed.
An hour later she had showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and a coral-colored sleeveless blouse. She sat at the table with a cup of coffee and a toasted bagel in front of her, counting down the minutes to the meeting with Brad Howard.
As she ate, she thought about what her sister had said the day before about sensing some kind of attraction between her and Brad. Of course, the idea was utterly ridiculous.
He was just a very hot-looking FBI agent in town to do a job. All she really wanted from Agent Howard was answers that would lead to both of the teenagers in jail and eventually convicted for their crimes. It was the only way her father would find peace. It was the only way she would find some semblance of peace. And hopefully when that all happened, the nightmares would stop.
At nine thirty she left her condo. She carried with her a legal pad so she could take notes and her purse. At precisely ten she walked into the police station and asked for Brad.
When he came out to greet her and lead her back to his office, she couldn’t help but notice how his black pants fit his slim waist and long legs and how his gray dress shirt emphasized his broad shoulders.
He carried himself with the confidence of a man sure of himself. She’d always found a confident man attractive, but only if that self-assurance didn’t border on arrogance. In Agent Howard’s case, she didn’t know enough about him to know if he was an arrogant man or not. In any case, she shouldn’t care. He was simply the man in charge of a criminal case, a case where her father and uncle had been murdered.
When they reached the small space he worked from, there were two chairs on one side of the desk and the computer screen was turned toward the chairs.
Simone took the chair closer to the wall. Brad closed the office door and then sat next to her. Simone was instantly aware of his nearness, not as the FBI agent who might help her, but as a handsome man whose cologne tantalized her. It was a scent of something spicy and slightly mysterious.
“I have to confess I wrestled with myself all night long about having you here today,” he said. His eyes were a golden green today and he held her gaze steadily.
She leaned forward and placed the legal pad on the desk in front of her. “Why would you have any doubts? I’m hoping I’ll be able to give you some insight that will further the investigation.”
“Ultimately that’s why I didn’t call you to cancel this viewing,” he replied. “However, I want you to understand that this access to these files is highly unusual and I need to have your promise that you won’t take what you see or hear on them outside of this room.”
“I can promise that,” she replied. He held her gaze for several long moments, as if gauging if he could trust her or not. He must have been satisfied with what he saw in her for he turned to the computer.
“I figured I’d start with the first interview with Jared and his parents.” He pushed several buttons on the computer and then an image of Jared, his parents and Brad in a large interview room came into view. Jared’s lawyer sat in the background.
Simone leaned forward once again and grabbed her legal pad. She then withdrew a pen from her purse as she waited for the video to begin.
And then it was playing. Simone intently watched the interplay between all the people. She wrote down her impressions and thoughts as it played.
Simone had a good understanding of the human mind. She was also good at picking up cues and tells in behavior, behavior that often occurred in people in an effort to hide real emotions.
She knew that Jared’s parents, Rob and Marilyn, owned a furniture store and that Jared had a grandmother who lived overseas. She also knew Jared’s parents had been desperately making arrangements to send him overseas to escape the charges against him. Fortunately, he had been arrested before that could actually happen.
The interview lasted about an hour. “Thoughts?” Brad immediately asked when it was finished. “Opinions?”
She frowned. It had been a bit difficult to stay completely focused on the tape as she had found Brad’s closeness to her a bit distracting. His body heat had radiated toward her and a couple of times his arm had brushed against hers, shocking her as pleasant tingles had rushed through her.
“I’d like to see more before I tell you what I’m thinking. Do you have additional video of Jared and his parents being interviewed?” she asked.
He nodded and pulled up a new file and opened a new video of the same five people. Once again, she did her best to focus on not only what was being said, but what was not said, which could be equally as revealing.
The video was a little over an hour and a half long, and by the time they were finished, it was nearing one thirty. “You want to take a break and let me treat you to lunch?” he surprised her by asking. “There’s a little deli around the corner that serves great sandwiches, and to be perfectly honest, I skipped dinner last night and so I’m starving.”
“You don’t have to take me to lunch,” she protested.
“Really, Simone, I’d like to.”
It was the first time he’d called her by her first name and she was surprised by how much she liked her name on his lips. “I only had a bagel for breakfast, so lunch sounds good.”
“Then let’s get out of here.” They didn’t speak again until they stepped outside of the building.
“Ah, fresh air,” he said. “I love spring and early summer. What about you?” They fell into step side by side in a leisurely pace down the sidewalk.
“I prefer summer and winter,” she replied.
“Ah, a woman of extremes,” he said.
“Not really. There are just so many storms in the spring and fall, and I’m definitely a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to thunder and lightning.”
A touch of emotion rose up in her chest. “I can’t tell you how many times when I was little that my dad would hold me and rock me in a rocking chair I had next to my bed until the storm outside passed.”
To her surprise, Brad reached out and touched the back of her hand. It was brief, but she knew his intent was to comfort. “I’m so sorry, Simone. I’m so damned sorry about what happened to your father and your uncle.”
“Thanks. I’m just hoping we can get these two killers in prison where they belong. Just imagine how many more people they would have killed if they hadn’t been found out. Just imagine if Leo is still out there killing people.”
“Now, that’s the stuff of my nightmares,” he said ruefully.
Their talk stopped as he led the way into the little restaurant. It was a typical deli with a long counter and different kinds of meats and cheeses in a refrigerated display case. Small tables were scattered around the space and a huge handwritten menu blackboard offered a variety of sandwiches and a special of the day. Today the special was a cup of tomato basil soup and a turkey-avocado sandwich. Since it was late for lunch and too early for dinner, only a few of the tables were occupied.
“I’m sure this isn’t exactly the kind of place you usually eat at,” Brad said. “But over the last couple of months I’ve tried pretty much everything on the menu here and I can tell you it’s all good.”
She looked at him curiously. “What makes you think this kind of place is out of my wheelhouse? There are many days when I eat in the college cafeteria or I grab a sandwich at a deli near the campus.”
“I just figured with your family background you were accustomed to a finer dining experience,” he replied.
She laughed. “It’s obvious you don’t know me at all. I’m really just a nerdy professor.”
He smiled. “Then maybe I’ll get to know you better over lunch.”
For some reason his words caused a pleasant rivulet of warmth to rush through her. She quickly broke eye contact with him and instead looked up at the menu.
Minutes later they were seated at a table in the back with their lunch before them. Simone had ordered a turkey-and-cheese sandwich and Brad had ordered a ham and swiss. They both had chips and sodas.
“You want to talk about what you’ve seen so far on the videos?” he asked.
She frowned thoughtfully. “Not yet. You said you have more video of Jared being interviewed with his parents?”
“I have two more, but unfortunately I’m not going to be able to show them to you today. I have some meetings later this afternoon that I need to attend.”
“Would I be able to view those tomorrow?” she asked.
“I can set you up to see them tomorrow at the same time as today. Does that work for you?”
“That definitely works for me,” she agreed. This close to him, she noticed that his eyelashes were sinfully long. He had an intense way of gazing at her, as if he were trying to delve into her very soul. If she was a criminal with something to hide, she would find his gaze quite daunting. “Thankfully I finished the last of my daytime classes and I’m not working through the summer,” she added.
“Do you enjoy teaching psychology classes?” he asked.
“I love it, although for the last couple of years my schedule has become pretty heavy. Everyone likes to take classes in psychology and then three years ago I added courses in deviant behaviors and the criminal mind. What I didn’t expect was for those classes to become so popular. I’m just grateful I only have a couple of night classes left to finish up and then I have two months free.”
When she got nervous, she tended to talk too much and she flushed as she realized that was what she was doing. “I’m sorry. I’m doing all the talking here. So, what about you? Do you like what you do?”
“I feel like I was destined to hunt down killers.” He looked at her for a moment and then stared at someplace just over her head. “When I was twelve, my mother was killed by a serial killer.”
Simone gasped. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you, but it was a long time ago. But it set me on the course of what I wanted to do with my life.”
“Did the authorities catch the person who killed your mother?” The fact that at one time in his life he’d probably felt the same emotions, the same pain that she felt somehow made her feel a strange connection with him.
“No, they didn’t. He raped and killed six women in six days and then stopped the killing spree. He left few clues behind and the authorities were unable to arrest anyone for the crimes. It has remained a cold case. I’m just glad we were able to give you some answers about who killed your father, although it was no thanks to the profile I worked on.”
“What do you mean?” She picked up a chip and popped it into her mouth.
“I spent so much time trying to tie your father and your uncle to the other two victims. I was convinced there had to be some connection between them and I spun my wheels trying to find it.”
She smiled at him. “Don’t beat yourself up. I did the same thing. I worked for hours trying to profile the killer but never guessed that it was two teenagers killing random victims.”
She didn’t want to talk murder anymore. She’d been immersed in it for the past six months. Now she found herself interested in the man seated across from her.
“So, tell me more about you. I know you live in Washington, DC. Do you have a family there? A wife and children?”
“No, it’s just me.”
“So, you aren’t married?” She wasn’t sure how old he was, but he appeared to be in his midthirties or so.
“No. Got close once, but it fell apart before we could get to the altar. She thought I was already married to my job and she refused to marry a man she didn’t believe would make her a priority. What about you? Have you ever been married?” Once again, his eyes held an intensity that threatened to half steal her breath away.
“No. My last relationship broke up a little over a year ago and I haven’t really dated anyone since then.” She smiled at him. “I, too, have been accused of being married to my job.”
For the next few minutes, they ate and small talked about the weather and life in Chicago. She told him about the sudden appearance of two mystery heirs attempting to claim part of the family business and he asked questions about Colton Connections.
She was surprised by how easy he was to talk to. He’d always appeared stiff and professional when he’d met with the family about the murder. But today he was a bit softer and far more approachable than she would have thought. She could have sat and talked to him forever, but she was also aware that he needed to get back to his very important work.
When the meal was finished, they stepped outside into the bright sunshine. “Thank you, Agent Howard, for allowing me the opportunity to view the tapes, and thank you so much for lunch,” she replied.
“No problem, and please call me Brad.”
Once again, he’d surprised her. “How about I call you Brad only when the two of us are alone?”
He smiled at her, a wide smile that slightly crinkled the outward corners of his eyes and filled his features with a heart-stopping warmth. “That works. And I’ll see you again tomorrow morning at ten.”
“You can count on it,” she said with a smile of her own.
A few minutes later Simone was heading home with thoughts of the attractive FBI man in her mind. She should be thinking about the taped evidence she’d seen, but thoughts of Brad intruded.
Today she’d seen pieces of the man and not the agent in charge of her father’s murder. And she’d liked what she’d seen. She tried to tell herself she was eager to go into the station the next day to see more video, and she was. But the truth of the matter was she was also eager to spend more time with Brad.
She needed to get her head in a better space and focus on the fact that it didn’t matter how attracted she was to him. Ultimately he was doing a job, and when the job was finished, he’d go back to his life in Washington, DC. Besides, what would a very hot FBI agent find attractive about a nerdy professor who was scared of storms?
Brad left the deli and Simone, and then headed back to headquarters. He shouldn’t have had lunch with her, and he definitely shouldn’t have gone into any details about his personal life. The fact that he’d been reluctant for the lunch to end was definitely problematic.
In all his years of working as a homicide detective, he’d always managed to keep professional and personal very separate. There was just something about Simone Colton...
Maybe it was because her bright blue eyes emanated not only strength and intelligence, but also a soft vulnerability that somehow drew him in. Or perhaps it was because her hair looked so shiny and soft and touchable and her lips had a small pout that looked extremely kissable.
Jeez, what was wrong with him? It was definitely time he wound up this case and got back to his life in DC—his very lonely life in DC.
He shoved this thought away. He knew part of the flaw he suffered from was most of the time he preferred to spend time in the minds of killers rather than in the minds of ordinary people.
At thirty-six years old he’d pretty much written off love and marriage for himself. It had also become more difficult to have a group of buddies to hang out with.
Most of his friends were now married with families of their own and Brad no longer felt comfortable being a third wheel in their lives. The exception to that was his partner, Russ, and his wife, Janie, who always invited him to dinner or to spend special occasions with them.
The single men who worked with him tended to be bitter, burned-out cops who drank too much and talked about their ex-wives and taking early retirement.
He had no idea what he found so appealing about Simone, but it was an attraction he certainly didn’t intend to explore. In fact, as he settled back down in his office, he consciously shoved all thoughts of her out of his mind.
As soon as he settled back in, he made a series of phone calls to check with the men who were out on the streets looking for Leo Styler. The kid had to be somewhere, but so far they hadn’t been able to find his location.
He pulled up a photo from a social media profile. Styler looked like a punk wannabe. He was fond of camo pants and black T-shirts. A heavy gold chain and lock that could be used as a weapon hung around his neck, but Brad sensed they were used just to intimidate others.
In talking to some of Leo’s peers, Brad had gotten a picture of a kid who wanted to connect with members of the opposite sex, but his antisocial behavior was a big turnoff.
Neither of the boys were big in academics, which was why they were attending a community college rather than the kind of colleges their parents could afford. However, the two boys were into the sport of mag-fed paintball gaming.
Brad had needed to educate himself in the sport when he heard about it. He’d learned that mag-fed meant magazine-fed paint guns, giving the player the experience of loading and shooting guns that were similar to the real thing. There were two such clubs in Chicago and Brad had men undercover and hanging around them in the hopes that Leo might show up at one of them. But so far the kid had been a no-show.
Brad didn’t believe that Leo’s parents had managed to get Leo out of the states and now his name was flagged, so it would be difficult for him to even get a bus ticket out of town. James and Miranda Styler professed they didn’t know where their son was, but Brad was betting they were somehow keeping him funded so he had a motel or someplace to crash in and food to eat.
He had men sitting on the Styler home to see if the kid tried to sneak back home. Brad felt as if he had covered all the bases and it was just a matter of time before they got Leo behind bars.
The day was long with the task force meeting to update each other. Brad was the liaison between the two FBI agents who had come with him from DC and the three Chicago detectives who had been lent to him during the investigation.
Unfortunately, there was no news. He had another interview scheduled with Jared and his parents the next day. He was hoping to get a confession out of Jared so that when they found Leo they could book him on murder charges.
It was almost dark when he left the police station and headed back to the hotel that he’d called home for the past two months. He stopped in the deli and grabbed a sandwich to take with him and then walked on.
Minutes later he was in his hotel room. The room was nothing fancy, but it had a good king-size bed, a small round table with chairs, a television with cable and a mini fridge.
He made himself a cup of coffee in the one-cup coffee maker and then sank down at the table and opened the sack containing his sandwich.
As he ate, all the events of the murders rushed through his head. For months the officials had worked the case believing that the killer was perhaps a family member, a disgruntled worker at the family business or a business enemy.
With Colton Connections having fifty full-time employees, it had been a time-consuming process for the Chicago PD to interview each and every one of them.
Then Larry Kidwell and Jonathon Paxton had been shot, using the same MO as in the Colton case. The two businessmen had been killed in the parking lot outside their business warehouse, just like the Colton men. At that point the FBI had been called in. Nobody had anticipated that the killers were a couple of kids.
Brad had just finished with his sandwich when a knock fell on his door. Even though he suspected who it was, he still grabbed his gun before opening the door.
FBI agent Russ Dodd grinned at him and held up a six-pack of beer. “Feel like a cold brew before bedtime?”
“Sounds good to me.” He ushered Russ in and to the table. Russ was also from DC and had worked with Brad for the last six years. The two men had both a good professional relationship and a strong friendship. Russ now slid one of the cold brews across the table to Brad. They both opened their beers and then settled back in their chairs.
Russ took a deep drink and then released a deep sigh. “Well, another night ends without that little punk Leo in jail,” he said.
“Yeah, and no confession from Jared.”
Russ snorted. “You’ll never get a confession from him as long as his parents are hovering around, answering questions for him and telling him to keep his mouth shut.”
“Don’t remind me,” Brad replied. “How’s your family doing?”
Russ grinned, causing the freckles on his face to dance with the gesture. “They’re doing okay. They miss me, but I FaceTime once a day with the two kids and then I FaceTime Janie right before I go to bed.”
“You’re a damned lucky man that you found a woman who supports your work,” Brad replied.
“Trust me, I know how lucky I am.” He released a small laugh. “And if I threaten to forget it, Janie reminds me just how lucky I am.” Russ took another drink, and when he finished, he eyed Brad curiously. “Speaking of women, I couldn’t help but notice you had Simone Colton in your office for a long time today. What’s up with that?”
“You know she’s a psychologist and she’s studied extensively in the area of deviant human behavior.”
“And?” Russ raised one of his light red eyebrows.
“And I’m allowing her to view the taped interviews we’ve conducted with Jared so far. What I’m hoping is that she’ll pick up on something that I’ve missed, something that might help me crack Jared.”
“Interesting,” Russ replied with a grin. “And it doesn’t hurt that she’s very attractive.”
Brad felt himself flush with a sudden heat that fired through him. “That has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to allow her to watch the interviews. I’m just looking for a way to break this case. If we could get Jared to talk, then he might be able to lead us to where Leo is hiding out.”
“Right now, his parents are alibiing Jared for the night of the murder,” Russ replied. “There’s no way you’re going to get through them to get Jared to confess to anything. Hell, he’s now saying that he won’t even talk to you at all without them in the interrogation room. You’re never going to break that kid.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Brad replied drily.
“Hey, I hope Simone Colton can see something we’ve missed. Jared and Leo definitely need to be taken off the streets for a very long time. Even though they’re both young, they are also cold-blooded murderers.”
For the next few minutes, the two kicked around theories of where Leo might be hiding out. When their beer cans were empty, Russ stood. “I’ll get out of here so you can get some sleep. Besides, I need to call Janie before it gets too late.”
Russ grabbed the four remaining beers and then Brad walked him to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Russ.”
“Yeah, and maybe it will be a good day and we’ll get Styler under arrest.”
“That would definitely be a stellar day,” Brad replied.
An hour later Brad had showered and gotten into bed. The lights from outside the hotel room drifted in through a crack in his curtains and he stared up at the ceiling where shadows formed an intricate pattern.
His mind suddenly formed a picture of Simone. Surely his interest in her was only because he hoped she might be able to move the investigation forward and nothing more.
He’d been far too open with her today. It was just that she’d been so easy to talk to. He’d definitely felt a spark with her, a spark he hadn’t felt for a very long time and one he needed to douse as soon as possible.
Tomorrow he’d make sure he was more professional when he was with her. He wouldn’t invite conversation unless it had something to do with the case. He needed to keep clear boundaries where she was concerned.
As beautiful as he found Simone, as drawn to her as he found himself, ultimately he was here to catch a killer and nothing more.