“Uh, babe? Contrary to popular belief, men do not like to hear another man’s name in bed.” A tiny grin creased Stone’s face.
“No. I saw Matt out there.” She pointed at the window. “He found me and carried me to safety.”
Stone was no longer grinning. “No, hon, that was just a hallucination, a side effect of the hypothermia.”
“Then who?”
He stared at her without speaking.
“That was you?”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” he said, quietly.
“Don’t be silly.” She leaned down and gave him a peck on the lips. “What I meant was I could only see the man’s eyes and I could have sworn they belonged to Matt.”
“So you think Matt’s ghost appeared in the middle of a blizzard and carried you to where I could find you?”
“You don’t believe in ghosts?”
“Actually, I do, but you’ve got to admit that’s a bit farfetched. I found you lying in the snow, curled into a ball. I snatched you up and rushed inside.”
She thought about it. “You’re probably right, it was my mind playing tricks on me. It was so real.” She lay back down and snuggled into the crook of his arm. “Were you able to get a handle on our peeping Tom?”
“He disappeared into the storm.” He stroked her hand resting on his chest. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”
“I was gazing into the fire while I ate when I got that niggling sensation that someone was watching me. I’ve had it a lot lately.”
His hand stayed its motion. “Someone’s been stalking you and you failed to mention it?”
“It’s not like I have proof or anything, it’s just a feeling,” she said in her defense.
“Annie, we have a homicidal maniac out there kidnapping, torturing and murdering women. You never thought once it could be our killer? He may have set his sights on you, a woman living out in the wilderness. Alone. Talk about an easy target,” he ground out.
“I can take care of myself. Remember my mad fighting skills? I can make a grown man cry.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Bully for you, but what if he has a gun?”
She sat up to confront him. “I’ve been known to disarm men before. Besides, this started long before the murders. It’s been going on for months.”
“That’s actually worse! You of all people know that. This man is obviously following you or he wouldn’t have shown up here tonight. Until we find out who it is, I think you should stay with me.”
She dropped back on the bed. “Now you’re just being paranoid,” she said without her previous bluster.
“Okay, what would you tell a woman who came to you with the same story?”
Annie thought about that a moment and realized he was right. “You win.”
“Thank you.” He stroked her hair. “Now what can you tell me about this shadow man?” he said, calmly.
She stared at the ceiling as she conjured up his image. “Around six feet, medium build, about a hundred and eighty, maybe ninety pounds.”
“Any special features?” Stone asked.
“I couldn’t tell. He was looking in the window and when I turned, he ran. It was like a flash, one second he was there, the next gone.”
“What about his gait? Did he have a limp? Hunch over? Walk like he had a stick up his ass?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I only saw him for a millisecond, he was a dark outline. Shadow man about sums it up.”
“And you’re sure you saw someone?”
She sat up on her elbow and glared at him. “Are you kidding me?”
“Hey, I had to ask. Are you sure it wasn’t your ghost?”
“Now you’re just making fun of me.” She grabbed a handful of hair and yanked.
“Ouch,” he said, overdramatically.
“Oh, please.” Her head flopped back on his chest.
He moved her onto the pillow, rose up on his elbow and put his head in his hand. “I’m serious about you staying here. I’d move into your place if it wasn’t so far from town, but I need to be here where I’m close to the station.”
She placed her palm on his cheek. “I know, but what if there was no one out at the cabin and the man here was just a coincidence?”
“I trust your instincts. If you felt like you were being watched, I’m sure you were. Other than that, do you really believe in coincidence?”
“Well…” She looked away, then back.
“Exactly. So it’s settled. You’re moving in with me. Once the weather clears, we’ll go grab your things from the cabin.”
“If you insist.” She grinned to lighten the mood.
He kissed her. “I do.”
Annie and Stone awoke the following morning to someone banging on the front door. Stone slid out of bed and slipped into his jeans; he was buttoning the fly as he left the bedroom. Annie helped herself to one of his flannel shirts. It went down past her knees like a dress. She could hear men’s voices in the other room, but not what they were saying so she opened the bedroom door and stuck her head out.
Dave glanced her way and smiled. “Morning, Annie.”
Stone stared at her, his expression was not happy.
“Morning, Dave. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“That would be nice. Thanks.”
Stone stood. “He was just leaving.”
Dave followed him to his feet. “Oh, right. Maybe another time.”
“Sure.” She walked past them on her way to the kitchen.
She heard the front door slam. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Stone yelled.
She was up on her tiptoes reaching into the cupboard for a mug when she turned toward his voice. “What do you mean?”
He entered the kitchen, his hands had fisted at his sides. “Jesus. Ever heard the saying small town, small minds?”
“No.” She planted her feet.
“Let’s put it this way. Within ten minutes, everyone in the precinct will know you spent the night here. By lunch, it will be half the town. By sundown, it will be the rest.” His eyes were on fire.
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I don’t think I am.” The veins in his neck throbbed.
Her hands flew to her hips. “Are you embarrassed of me?”
“Of course not.”
She was starting to get worried. “Do you regret last night?” Her voice came out just above a whisper.
“No.” He said through clenched teeth.
Then a horrifying thought came to mind. “Was this just a one night stand?”
“Not for me.” It came out clipped.
She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Then what’s the problem?”
“Your good name is at stake here. Your honor.”
A giggle escaped and she covered her mouth. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, that’s a real nice turn of phrase.”
She mimicked him. “You weren’t worried about my honor last night.”
His face was so red she feared he’d have a stroke. She closed the gap between them and placed her hands on his naked chest. He dropped his arms and relaxed his stance.
“You don’t need to worry about me, I’m a big girl.”
“You don’t understand.” He closed his eyes as he shook his head. “The entire city will have us engaged and married before the end of the month. You’re still in mourning. I don’t want you to have to–”
She put a finger to his lips. “I think my mourning ended the moment I met you.”
His face softened. “Are you sure? This could be just a rebound kind of thing.”
The vulnerability she heard in his voice melted her heart.
“Not for me,” she said gently. “Is this a rebound kind of thing for you?”
“Of course not.” He covered her hands with his. “But what about the Locklears?”
“I think they would be pleased. Sissy and Dawn have been trying to get me to move on with my life for a while now.”
His head tilted to the left. “People will talk.”
“Let them.” She rose up on tiptoes and pecked him on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. She felt his excitement. “Look who’s up.”
He lifted her under the arms and she wrapped her legs around his waist. She slid her arms around his neck while he walked them back to the bedroom.
“Oh, boy, are we going to have wild monkey sex?”
“You bet.” He kissed her nose.
“Goody.”
After Annie jumped into the shower, Stone went to the living room to retrieve his phone. Dave had come over to tell him that Patsy had been trying to reach him and was panicked. The electricity was back on, so he made a pot of coffee.
He gazed out the window at a beautiful day while he listened to his messages. The snow had stopped falling sometime in the night. The ground had about a foot of fresh powder.
The first message was from Walt. He couldn’t get back to Anchorage last night, so the autopsy would be postponed. The next one was from Patsy asking that he return her call. The message was left at six that morning, before she’d gone into work. There was an edge to her voice, something was wrong.
The next message was from an unfamiliar voice. “Detective Wooshkeetaan, my name is Bart Belkin, I work homicide here in Anchorage. I think we may be working the same case. Please give me a call at your earliest convenience. Thanks.”
Stone hit the call back button at the same time Annie entered the room wearing nothing but a towel and combing her wet hair. “Your turn.” Her brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“I just got a message from a homicide detective in Anchorage. He thinks we’re working the same case.”
“Seriously? Have you talked to him yet?”
“I’m calling now.”
She leaned back against the counter, a grave expression on her face.
The ringing stopped. “Go for Belkin.”
“Detective, this is Stone Wooshkeetaan in Wasilla. You called?”
“Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.”
“I’m going to put you on speaker. I have Special Agent Annie Thomas here. She’s aiding us in our investigation.”
“Sure thing.”
Stone hit the speaker button and set the phone on the counter. “Okay, go ahead.”
“Well, as I said in my message, I think we’re investigating the same case. The day after Thanksgiving, we found a frozen cadaver in the Eagle River.”
Stone turned to Annie. “Remember we had our first big storm that week?” She nodded. “Sorry, Belkin, continue.”
“You’re right, it was just after the storm. At first we thought it was an accident, despite the fact that the victim was naked. But after the autopsy, we learned she was dead before being dumped in the river, and she’d been raped postmortem.”
“Why the hell didn’t Walt mention this before?” Stone grumbled.
“He may not have known. Dr. Palmer was on vacation at the time, so he wasn’t on site when the autopsy was done.”
“But as Chief Medical Examiner, he’s supposed to review all the cases done in his absence.” Never before would Stone have accused Walt for being inept, but something was not right here.
“True,” Belkin exclaimed. “But you need to cut him some slack. He returned to work the day of that cruise ship fire, a hundred dead. The morgue was bogged down and pathologists all over the state were volunteering their time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was still playing catch up, that was just a few weeks ago.”
“You’re right.” Stone made a face at Annie who smiled.
“Anyway, the reason I’m calling today is we found another victim early this morning on the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet,” Belkin continued.
“We had a vic on the Knik River close to Palmer yesterday. That’s a pretty good stretch,” Stone added.
Annie touched his arm. “Remember, the bodies didn’t necessarily get dumped the same day, that’s just when they were discovered. That fact could just be a happy coincidence for the UNSUB.”
“You’re right, I haven’t had my coffee yet. Brains not firing on all cylinders,” Stone said.
“No, Stone, you actually brought up a good point. As I was searching missing persons in an effort to ID the vic, I came across a Glenna Lake? Her parents live in Palmer. The report mentioned she went missing Christmas night on her way to Anchorage from there.”
“Oh, shit,” Stone whispered.
Annie looked at him. “What?”
“Patsy’s granddaughter.”
“Oh, no.” She covered her mouth with her hand.
“I’d say there’s a good possibility that when you ID your victim that she may be from my jurisdiction,” Belkin continued his thought. Stone didn’t know whether it was because he didn’t hear their whispered comments, or he was ignoring them.
“Anyway, Walt returned to the morgue early this morning, just as his assistant, Dooley, was entering with our cadaver. Walt obviously knew about your case and called me immediately.
“I left you that message the second I’d hung up with him. While I awaited your call, I spoke with Glenna Lake’s father and he supplied me with her dentist’s information. I was wondering if you could do me a favor and have someone head over to their residence to pickup a DNA sample?”
“I’ll go myself,” Stone said.
“I’m sure you’re too busy. Don’t you have a uniform you trust to do it?”
“Yes, but the girl’s grandmother works for the department, she’s one of us. I’ll head on out there the minute we hang up.”
“I appreciate it,” Belkin said. “Walt informed me you have three victims and the FBI helping as well. You mind collaborating?”
“Not at all. I’ll have someone fax you the files.”
“Thanks,” Belkin said. “I’ll do the same.”
“Listen, I have to go. I’ll give you a call if I have any questions,” Stone added.
“Thanks again,” Belkin said.
“No problem.”
Stone ended the call and stared at Annie. “Patsy has been trying to reach me. That’s why Dave showed up, she was in total panic mode. I thought it stemmed from a failure to reach me, but now I know it’s because of her granddaughter.”
She rubbed his arm. “This won’t be easy for either one of you.”
“No, it won’t. Cross your fingers it’s not Glenna.”
Stone went to the station first in an effort to calm Patsy down, but she wasn’t there. She’d taken a personal day to be with her daughter. He couldn’t blame her; he was certain they were all worried sick.
He and Annie arrived at the Lakes’ home thirty minutes later. Smoke billowed out of the chimney and the Christmas lights were still lit. Even though daytime, Alaska didn’t get a whole heck of a lot of sunlight this time of year.
In fact, Wasilla averaged almost six hours a day in December dipping about thirty minutes lower in January before the days started to lengthen again in February.
Stone rang the bell while Annie rubbed her hand up and down his back. “It’ll be okay.”
“Thanks. I’ve never had to do this for a friend. Not sure which is worse, the death notification, or–” The door opened cutting off Stone’s sentence. “Hey, Mike. Real sorry about this, but I’m here for the DNA sample.”
The man nodded solemnly and stepped back. “Come on in, Stone.”
“This is Special Agent Annie Thomas, she’s been aiding me in my investigation.”
“Hi.” Mike quickly turned away presumably to hide the fact he was crying. Over his shoulder he said, “The women are in the kitchen.”
“Thanks.” Stone let Annie lead through the house until they found Patsy and her daughter, Leanne, sitting in silence at a table, their hands wrapped around mugs.
The second she noticed him, Patsy jumped into his arms. “Oh, Stone. They think our baby is dead.”
He hugged her close. “I know, Patsy, but nothing is certain at this time. That’s why we need the DNA sample.”
Leanne stood. “I’ll get that.”
“I’ll go with you,” Annie said.
While still embracing Patsy with his left arm, Stone pulled the evidence bags out of his jacket pocket with his right hand and held them out for Annie before she followed Leanne up the stairs.
He released Patsy and dried her tear-stained cheeks with his thumbs. “I know this is hard, but you’ve got to be strong for Leanne and Mike. Remember, whatever you’re feeling is ten times worse for them.”
She nodded and grabbed a tissue. “You’re right.” She dabbed at her eyes. “Want some coffee?”
“No, thanks. I need to get the sample to Anchorage ASAP.”
“Of course.” Patsy sat back down and clutched her coffee cup again.
Annie returned by herself carrying two evidence bags. She didn’t say a word. He could tell by her expression things didn’t go well upstairs.
Stone patted Patsy on the shoulder. “Stay strong.” He kissed her on the top of her head before they left.