Buch lesen: «Scene of the Crime: Black Creek»

Chapter One

Cassie Miller’s low-heeled pumps clicked rhythmically against the tile floor of the hallway that led to her boss’s office. For a special agent with the FBI, a summons to Director Forbes’s office usually brought with it both an edge of excitement and a faint flutter of dread.

Cassie’s excitement far outweighed any dread, for she couldn’t imagine anything she’d done that might have gotten her in trouble. In fact, for the nearly year she’d been assigned to the Kansas City, Missouri, field office she’d never come close to being reprimanded. Cassie made it a point to play by the rules.

She was more than ready for a new assignment. It had been months since she’d done anything more than push papers and read through cold case files for a fresh perspective. She was definitely chomping at the bit for some action.

She paused and straightened her white blouse collar beneath the lightweight navy blue jacket, then self-consciously ran a hand down her pencil-thin navy skirt to make sure it was wrinkle-free. She liked to put her best foot forward when going in front of her boss.

As she began to walk again, her steps faltered slightly. She saw the man approaching the office from the opposite direction. He was clad in tight blue jeans and a navy T-shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders. He carried himself with a loose-hipped gait that instantly spoke of self-confidence and perhaps a touch of arrogance.

There were three things in Cassie’s life that she disliked: chaos, spontaneity and the slamming-hot man approaching in her direction, Special Agent Mick McCane.

As he cast her the lazy, sexy grin that danced lightly in the depths of his green eyes and had over half the women in the building in complete lust with him, her stomach muscles kinked into a tight knot.

Please don’t be going where I’m going, she thought.

She had spent the past six months of her life trying to avoid being anywhere near Mick. She’d spent the past six months trying to forget the one night when control had slipped away from her and she’d allowed spontaneity a night of freedom.

Her heart clunked to her feet as Mick pulled open the door that led to the director’s office. “Afternoon, Cassie.” He said her name like it was something exceedingly pleasant on his lips.

“Agent McCane,” she replied stiffly. She swept through the door, acutely aware of him following right behind her.

Adrianne Warsaw, the secretary to the director, looked up and smiled. “Ah, good, you’re both here. He’s waiting for you.” She gestured toward the closed door that led to the inner sanctum.

Once again it was Mick who opened the door to usher Cassie inside. She gritted her teeth, smelling his familiar cologne, a spice scent that whispered of something slightly wild and wonderful.

“Agent Miller, Agent McCane.” Director Forbes gestured them into the two chairs in front of his massive mahogany desk. “Black Creek, Arkansas,” he said when both of them were seated.

Cassie frowned, trying to keep her focus solely on the steel-gray-haired man in front of her instead of the sexy dark-haired man seated far too close to her. “Never heard of it,” she replied.

“It’s west of Hot Springs, Arkansas, in the Ouachita Mountains. Five years ago it wasn’t even a dot on the map, now the mayor is working to have it renamed Honeymoon Haven, the honeymoon capital of this region.” Director Forbes leaned forward. “Over the last couple of years the town has exploded with cute little cabins and bed-and-breakfast places, restaurants and shops that cater to the newly wed. It’s become a fairly profitable tourist town, and the mayor wants to keep it that way.”

“So, what’s the problem?” Mick asked. He leaned back in his chair, looking as relaxed as if he were sunning himself on the beach.

“Two honeymooning couples murdered in the last month.” Forbes leaned back in his chair, his frown cutting a vertical slash in the center of his broad forehead. “We’ve been contacted by the local sheriff, Edward Lambert, along with Mayor John Jamison, requesting help with the situation.”

A ripple of relief swept through Cassie. It was always easier to work a case when you had the blessings of the locals. Although she didn’t want to believe that she’d be working this case with Mick, there was nothing else for her to think with him sitting right next to her and hearing the same information that she was hearing.

“They’ve managed to keep the murders quiet for the time being, but there’s no question that if word of this gets into the media their main source of income from the tourism trade will dry up. Naturally they’re both concerned about the murders as well and don’t want any more taking place, but because of the similarities of the crime scenes, they don’t believe the unsub is finished there.”

“Couples murdered…does that mean we’re looking at a team of killers?” Mick asked as he sat up straighter in his chair.

“Sheriff Lambert is sure that both couples were murdered by the same person or persons. But at this point it’s unclear if we’re looking at one or more than one person committing the crimes.”

Forbes patted two manila folders in the center of his desk. “I have all of the reports and crime-scene photos here, a copy for each of you. The sheriff faxed me over everything he had on the two cases.”

Cassie tried not to think about the victims. Honeymooners, just beginning their lives together. If she allowed herself to think about them in that way then emotions would emerge, and she preferred to remain as objective as possible when working a case. She’d long ago mastered the art of compartmentalization, and it was that skill that made her an efficient and productive agent.

“This killer or killers are particularly nasty pieces of work,” Forbes continued. “Each of the couples was killed between eight and midnight while in their cabins. In both cases the men were shot execution style in the back of their heads and the women were gagged and bound on the bed and stabbed to death.”

“Sexual assault?” Mick asked, no hint now of his legendary charm in his deep voice.

“Negative,” Forbes replied. “Neither woman was sexually assaulted. The coroner report indicates he believes that the men died first and the woman died minutes after, but he admits the timing is so close it could be the other way around.”

She felt Mick’s gaze on her. Despite her effort to the contrary, Cassie’s heart cringed for the victims although she kept her features carefully schooled to show no emotion.

It was obvious she would be working with Mick, and that in and of itself would be a hair-pulling study in frustration, but she would work with the devil himself if it meant stopping a killer.

“Were they killed in the same establishment?” Mick asked.

“No. The first couple was killed at a place called the Wedding Tree Motel. They were staying in unit seven, a secluded little cabin that caters to the needs of a honeymooning couple. They were killed on their fourth night. The second couple had rented a cabin for two weeks at the Bridal Bouquet Honeymoon Cabins. They were murdered on their seventh night there.”

“Different time schedules and different locations. Probably a local.” Mick frowned thoughtfully as Cassie pulled a small notepad and pen from her pocket.

Mick never took notes. It was one of the things that drove her crazy about him. Within hours of him getting any file of material it would be coffee-stained, probably have pizza sauce dripped on it and the pages would be tossed out of order. Mick McCane was chaos on two long, lean legs.

As Director Forbes shared with them some of the other particulars of the crimes, Cassie took copious notes in the spiral notebook that was as much a part of her wardrobe as her sensible cotton underwear.

On the last case they’d worked together Cassie had asked Mick why he didn’t take notes and he’d tapped his temple and stated that all the pertinent information that was needed was carefully stored in his brain. The aggravating part was that he was right. He seemed to have the memory of a computer.

“When do we leave?” Cassie asked, always eager to get away from the quiet, neat apartment where she lived and into the action of a hunt for a killer.

“Tomorrow morning,” Daniel Forbes replied. “It’s been two weeks since the killer struck, so Sheriff Lambert feels another murder is imminent.”

“I’ll bet we can find us some amazing moonshine in that part of the country,” Mick said. “How does a little firewater sound, Cassie?” Forbes shot him a look of indulgent patience while Cassie gave him a cold, caustic stare.

It hadn’t been moonshine that had caused her to completely lose her mind and self-control six months ago. It had been a bottle of Dom Perignon that had made her crazy for Mick, and she’d never forgive herself for that lapse in judgment.

Because she’d liked it.

She’d liked the wild abandon she’d found in his arms, but he was the last man on earth she’d ever want to be with in any kind of a real relationship. She had a feeling that within a month of spending time with him she’d want to take out her service revolver and shoot him or shoot herself.

“So, I’m assuming the plan is to meet with Sheriff Lambert the minute we hit town,” Mick said.

“Actually, Sheriff Lambert and I have agreed to approach this in another way,” Forbes replied. “You are to meet the sheriff in a small town called Cobb’s Corners about thirty miles outside of Black Creek.”

Cassie frowned. “I don’t understand.” Normally they went in with guns on hips, flashing badges, and dug straight into the investigation.

“Approach things in a different way how?” Mick asked, voicing Cassie’s next question.

Director Forbes leaned forward once again, his gaze lingering long and hard on Mick, and then he turned to stare at Cassie. “You two worked quite well together on the Samuel case,” he said.

Cassie compressed her lips together to hold back the protest she wanted to voice. No, they hadn’t worked well together. Mick had driven her crazy with his laid-back ways, outrageous flirting and disregard for schedules.

Still, she had to admit that when it came to the actual work process their two different styles had melded together well for success.

“In both of these cases,” Forbes continued, “the victims appear to be a specific physical type. The men were dark-haired, in good shape, and the women were small in stature and blonde.”

Cassie felt a sinking sensation in the middle of her stomach. Surely she was misunderstanding what Forbes had in mind.

“Exactly what is our assignment?” she asked.

“Bait,” Forbes replied.

“Bait?” Cassie parroted and slowly turned to look at Mick.

The corners of his sensual lips turned upward as he gazed at her. “Looks like we’re going to be newlyweds.”

* * *

MICK WATCHED THE COLOR BLANCH from Cassie’s cheeks, although her pale face remained completely emotionless. She wouldn’t show her displeasure at the idea in front of Daniel Forbes. She was too much a professional for that.

Having grown up with three older sisters, Mick had always believed he had a pretty good handle on women, but Cassie Miller had been a mystery from the moment he’d met her seven months before.

She’d come to the Kansas City field office straight from Quantico a year ago and had quickly built a reputation for being intelligent, hard working and a loner.

In the month that Mick had worked with her, he’d found her to be irritatingly obsessive-compulsive, rigid and for some strange reason hotter than hell.

She mystified him like no other woman ever had, and on that night when he’d encouraged her to share a bottle of champagne and they’d wound up in bed, she’d released a passionate wildness that had made him unable to completely forget that night no matter how hard he’d tried.

He refocused his attention on his boss, listening to the plans for the next day. “You will be checking into the Sweetheart Suites tomorrow night as newlyweds Cassie and Mick Crawford. Your new identification and background information is also in the folders. But before that, you are to meet Sheriff Lambert at the Dew Drop Café in Cobb’s Corner at two. He’ll tell you the rest of the arrangements that have been made for the two of you. This isn’t about how well you can investigate the murder. Leave that to the local law enforcement and the other agents I’m sending in. Your job is to strictly play to the victimology of the killer and nothing more. Be a couple of happy honeymooners and let the killer come to you.”

Mick hazarded a glance at Cassie, who still looked slightly shell-shocked. He had worked undercover many times, but he was relatively certain that Cassie never had before. There were hazards and tricks she would have to learn, and he wasn’t sure she would be a willing student or a quick study. Time would tell.

He once again focused his attention on Forbes, who was finishing up the details of the assignment. “By the time you check in tomorrow afternoon we’ll have a surveillance team in place in the cabin next to yours. We’re not about to throw the two of you in the path of a killer without a little backup.”

“And that’s what I like about you,” Mick said with his usual humor. Cassie didn’t crack a smile. Mick sighed inwardly. He had a feeling this was going to be a brief but difficult marriage.

Once the meeting was finished, he and Cassie stepped out of the office. “This should be interesting,” he said.

“I just want you to know that I’m not happy to be working with you again,” she said, her bright blue eyes flashing a cold ire. “Working the Samuel case with you was an unpleasant experience I’d rather forget.”

“There were moments of it that I’ll never forget.” He knew they were the wrong words to say the instant they left his mouth.

Her cheeks flushed a bright pink and her blue eyes narrowed slightly. “A momentary lapse of judgment on my part that will never happen again. I’m going home to pack and get ready for this charade. I’ll meet you here at seven in the morning.”

She didn’t give him an opportunity to reply, but rather spun on her heels and hurried down the hallway away from him. He watched her go, his head filled with myriad thoughts. At least she hadn’t pretended she didn’t remember that night with him.

Of course, it would have been hard to forget the morning after, when she’d shoved him from the bed to the floor and told him to get out of her apartment. “Forget this happened,” she’d said. “Forget my address. In fact, forget my name.” She’d chased him from the bedroom to the door in a state of barely contained rage.

“Don’t forget to pack your bathing suit,” he now called after her. Her only response was a visible stiffening of her slender shoulders as she continued on her way.

When she disappeared from the hallway, Mick shook his head ruefully. It was definitely the first time he’d had a reaction like that from a woman he’d had sex with, a woman he’d spent the night with.

Minutes later as he left the field office and drove north toward the house he’d bought a year ago with the intention of renovating, he turned his thoughts to everything that would need to be done before taking off in the morning.

It was already after four. He’d go home, throw some clothing in a duffel bag and then spend the rest of the evening studying the files he’d been given.

There was nothing Mick liked better than hunting killers, and he was good at what he did. Unfortunately, this time he wouldn’t be the hunter, and if all things went the way they were supposed to, he and Cassie would be the hunted.

The whole operation was risky. It was possible the killer wouldn’t take them as bait, possible that another couple would wind up dead in their place.

The drive to his home took twenty minutes, and by the time he pulled into his driveway he couldn’t wait to study the particulars of the crime.

He stifled a mental groan as he pulled up in his driveway alongside his eldest sister’s car. At forty-two years old, Lynnette had lost her husband a year ago in a tragic car accident. The two had never had children, and once the initial grieving stage had passed she’d taken to nurturing Mick like she had when they’d been kids.

“Something smells good,” he said as he walked through the front door. He headed directly to the kitchen, where he knew he’d find Lynnette.

“Some of my baked ziti and garlic bread.” Lynnette turned from the oven and smiled at him. “I fixed too much yesterday and thought I’d bring some of the leftover to you.”

He set the folder on the table and sat as she motioned him down in the chair. “Let’s see, two days ago you made too much meat loaf. Before that I seem to remember some beef stew magically appearing in my refrigerator.”

“What can I say? I like to cook and I always cook too much.” She placed a plate in front of him, the scent of her homemade tangy tomato sauce creating a rumble in the pit of his stomach.

“You do realize I’m thirty-four and pretty well grown. You don’t have to cook for me,” he said, picking up his fork and digging into the tasty pasta dish.

She flashed him her beautiful smile as she sat across from him at the table. “To me you’ll always be that five-year-old little charmer that Patsy, Eileen and I worked so hard on to curl your hair and paint your fingernails in an effort to make you our fourth sister.”

Mick shot her a mock scathing look and reached for a piece of garlic bread. “You know that experience scarred me for life and was the reason I decided to get one of the most macho jobs on the planet.”

Lynnette laughed. “But you did make a really pretty sister.” She sobered slightly. “Of course what we’d really like is for you to get married and give us a lovely sister-in-law.”

Mick shook his head. “I’ve told you all that’s not in my plans. I have no interest in ever pursuing love and marriage.”

Lynnette leaned back in her chair, her pretty features filled with sadness. “You don’t know what you’re missing,” she said softly.

Mick set down his fork and reached across the table to cover one of her hands with his. “I’m so sorry,” he said. They were meaningless words that had been spoken often to Lynnette in the past year.

She nodded. “You can’t let one bad experience close off your heart.”

He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand and tried not to think about how devastating he’d found his one real foray into love. “If you had it to do all over again, knowing the outcome, would you still have married Albert?” he asked as he pulled his hand back from hers.

“Absolutely,” she replied without hesitation. “A cruel blow of fate took Al away from me far too soon, but nobody can take away my memories of loving and being loved.” She cleared her throat and got up from the table. “Now eat before it gets cold,” she commanded.

Lynnette hung around long enough to feed Mick and clean up the dishes. “I’m going to be out of town for a little while starting tomorrow morning,” Mick said as he walked her to the front door.

“Where are you headed?” she asked.

He smiled teasingly. “Now, you know if I tell you that I’ll have to kill you.”

“So, it’s a new assignment. You will take care of yourself,” Lynnette said with concern. “You know the three of us worry about you every time you have to disappear for work.”

“And you know what I always tell you, I’m the invincible man with the unbreakable heart,” he replied. He kissed her on the cheek and shooed her out the door. “Don’t worry, and I’ll call you all when I get back in town.”

Minutes later, after throwing what clothes he thought he’d need for a “honeymoon,” into a large duffel bag, he hunkered down at the kitchen table and began to read through the files that had been prepared for him.

It took him only minutes to become completely immersed in the dark world of murder. The evening hours were eaten up as he studied crime-scene photos and read reports.

One thing he would say about the Arkansas sheriff’s department, they’d done a professional job in collecting and processing evidence. The crime-scene photos were clear and captured the horror of the crime. The interviews that had been conducted following each kill appeared to be appropriate.

Midnight came and went, and finally he felt as if he had all the details he needed to walk into the situation. All he had to do to feel confident in this assignment was learn the final elements of the crimes and his and Cassie’s role undercover from Sheriff Lambert the next day.

What he wasn’t sure of was how prepared Cassie would be to play her part in the charade. There was no question that a part of him anticipated working with her again, that she’d been one of only two women in his life that had been difficult to get out of his mind.

The first woman had professed to love him and then had committed what he considered an unforgivable sin. He would never give a woman that kind of power in his life again.

Unfortunately, he was preparing to go into battle with a woman who he believed wasn’t ready for the task ahead, and in this case he wasn’t putting his heart on the line, but rather his very life.