a thread.
“May I?” He motioned for permission to enter.
Her gaze narrowed, but then she nodded and turned her back to him. She spoke directly into the phone. “I’m okay. No. I promise. You don’t need to come over right now. I’ll see you when you get off work.”
Was she talking to her boyfriend? The last word stuck. Tasted bitter as hell, too.
One step inside and he almost lost his footing. A wave of nostalgia slammed into him. The furniture was in exactly the same spot as when he’d left. The coffee-colored leather sofa against the wall to his right. The flat-screen directly across from it mounted on the wall to his left. He could see all the way to the back door from where he stood. Same black pedestal dining table with avocado-green chairs tucked around it. The place looked completely untouched, except all the pictures of the two of them had been removed. She’d probably enjoyed stomping on the frames.
The town house might’ve looked the same, but it had a different air. Funny how out of place he felt in what used to be his own home.
He folded his arms, parted his feet in an athletic stance and stood next to the door. He wasn’t there for a reunion. This was business. And no matter how much Julie looked as if she’d rather crawl out of her skin than be in the same room with him, he had a job to do.
She closed the call and whirled around on him, still wearing her angry expression. There was something else in her eyes there, too. Hurt? “Why did they send you?”
“I’ve been tracking this guy for the past two years. He’s my case.” He intentionally withheld the part about Ravishing Rob being the most ruthless killer Luke had come across so far in his FBI career.
Her eyes narrowed to such slits he couldn’t figure out if she could see him anymore. Then again, she probably wanted to block him out altogether, and he couldn’t blame her. She’d pleaded with him to stay, but he couldn’t stand watching her pain when he had no way to heal either one of them.
With all the daggers shooting from her eyes, he couldn’t tell if she was using anger to mask other emotions. Hurt? Fear? Regret?
“There’s no one else they could’ve sent?” The hollow sound in her voice practically echoed.
“I’m afraid not.”
“So the note’s from him? You’re sure?”
“I need to get a little more information from you to help me decide.” Even though she’d already given her account to police and he’d read the jacket, he needed to hear her words. He needed to know what she thought she saw. Maybe she’d remember something that could help put this monster away or help Luke figure out if it was a copycat. “Tell me what happened when you arrived at the scene of the murder this morning.”
She shivered, looked lost and alone. “My client Annie Martin wanted to meet with me to discuss landscaping after her new pool was installed. I brought a rendering with me and planned to give my presentation. It was a big project that would start in the spring, so I broke all the planting down into zones.” She glanced up at him curiously as if she realized he didn’t know the first thing about plants or landscaping, or care. “Sorry, I’m babbling. I’m sure you didn’t come here to talk about the details of my business.”
“I did,” he said quickly. He covered a crime scene the same way, broke it down on a grid. “I want to hear everything even if you don’t think it’s important. You never know what might spark a memory. Something you didn’t think of before when you talked to the police.” His hopes she’d be more comfortable talking to him had diminished the second he saw her. He wanted to ask her how she was doing, but decided not to, even though he found he still really wanted to know, needed to know. He’d left things broken between them, and thoughts of the sadness in her eyes every time she’d looked at him still haunted him. Outside of this case, he had no right to know anything about her. Why was he already reminding himself of the fact?
“As soon as I pulled up to her house, I heard a noise. Like a muffled cry or something. I couldn’t make it out for sure. She’d asked me to come around back in case she was with contractors for the pool, so I ran to make sure she was okay. I thought maybe she tripped or was hurt. But there was no one out there. She screamed again and I ran to the front door. Someone bolted from around the side of the house about the same time. He killed her, didn’t he?”
He locked gazes with her and wished like anything he could protect her from the truth. He felt pained that she’d had to witness this and his heart went out to her. “Yes. You get a good look at him?”
“No.” She hugged her arms to her body. “I didn’t see anything. By then I heard an awful sound coming from inside. Sounded like an animal dying.” She shivered.
He pulled out a pad and scribbled notes. Not that he needed a piece of paper to remember the details of their conversation. His memory was sharper than a switchblade. He needed something to look at besides her fearful eyes. Old instinct kicked in and he wanted to maim the person who’d made her feel that way, offer comfort she would certainly reject. “What happened next?”
“You want to sit down?” She moved to the couch and sat on the edge. She clasped her hands together and rocked back and forth. “It was bad, Luke.”
The sound of his name rolling off her tongue was a bitter reminder of the comfort and connection he hadn’t felt in a long time. He took a seat next to her but not too close.
Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t want to think about it again, let alone say the words out loud.”
“I know how hard this is.” Every muscle in his body tightened from wanting to reach out and comfort her. He didn’t want to press further, but the information he gained could mean saving her life. “It’s important you tell me everything. Do you want a cup of tea or something?” He made a move to stand.
“No. I’m fine.” The uncertainty in her words made him freeze.
“Anything else you can give me might save another woman from going through this.”
“We both know he’s going to come after me next.” Her voice shook with terror.
“I’m not certain it’s him yet. Besides, I’ll catch him first.”
The suggestion of depending on him for anything after the way he’d hurt her set her eyes to infernos. “I didn’t ask you to come.”
“This is my territory. My guy. I know him better than anyone else.”
“I didn’t even know you were FBI.” The exasperation in her voice made him clench his fists involuntarily.
“I didn’t think it was appropriate to send you Christmas cards after your lawyer sent me papers.” It was a low blow and he regretted saying the words as soon as they passed his lips. After all, he’d been the one to leave and force the divorce issue.
She looked straight through him. “I lost track of you after...”
This wasn’t the time to talk about their past. It complicated the situation. He was professional enough to look beyond shared history and concentrate on doing his job. He focused his gaze on the opened laptop on the coffee table. There was a picture of Julie at the crime scene beneath the banner Breaking News. Damn. Another reminder that she’d been placed right there
