Deadly Double (25 page)

Now, the place was just...cold.

Josie closed the door and moved deeper into the house. The place was still reasonably clean, but that all changed when she climbed the spiral staircase and visited each bedroom.

Michelle had ransacked the place. The worst room was Josephine’s old room. In no time at all, Josie had deduced how Michelle had gotten her hands on everything from financial information to Josie’s social security number.

“She left no stone unturned.” Josie stepped over a pile of boxes to open her old closet. It was just all stuffnothing that meant anything.

The saddest thing in all of this, she thought, was how she would have gladly shared it all with Michelle. They were all material things anyway. All Josie wanted was a family, to be a part of something. To just belong.

Josie moved away from the closet and walked over to her old vanity. Melancholy, she picked up a few crystal bottles and sprayed their fragrances into the air. However, her mood worsened, and she fell the steady pulse of a new migraine.

Heaving an exhausted breath, she headed to the adjoining bathroom to see if she still had a bottle of Excedrin in the medicine cabinet.

#

William whizzed through his patent schedule. If it was all possible, he wanted to get out of there early, but Hines wasn’t kidding when he said that he was dealing with a diminishing and nervous staff. Everywhere he turned he was interrupting someone with the latest gossip about what had happened with Dr. Bancroft and Dr. Turner. The most popular story he’d heard was that their missing patient, Michelle Andrews, was knocking off the doctors to extract revenge on how she was treated while she was at Keystone.

After two hours of tolerating the low whispers, William’s nerves had sharpened to a fine point. To get through his day, he kept reminding himself that this would be over soon and everyone would know the truth. Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure what that meant for him. Would he lose his job, or worse, his license?

“Oh, Dr. Hayes.”

William turned and saw Dr. Coleman racing toward him. “Can’t talk now, Rae. I’ll catch up with you later.” He stepped onto the elevator and was grateful when the doors closed before Rae reached them.

Hishoulders slumped with relief. If Dr. Coleman had managed to corner him, heaven only knows when he would be able to escape. The elevator slowed to a stop; but when the doors slid open, William came face to face with Michelle Andrews.

Chapter 32

Ming entered Marcus Hines’s office and extended a hand. “I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your assistance in this matter.”

Hines cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly at her as he accepted her hand. “I’m happy to do whatever I can to help the authorities.”

Ming held little doubt that Josephine Ferrell had met the same fate as the others who stood in the way. “We’re still looking,” she said. “We’re still looking.”

“Perfect.” She glanced at the panel and punched for the lobby. When her eyes darted back over to William, she turned flirtatious and sauntered toward him. “What is your name again?”

“William,” he answered. “Dr. William Hayes.”

She winked. “You know, I’ve always had a thing for doctors.”

“Really?”
How ironic.

“Uh, huh.” She backed him into a corner and was bold enough to run a finger down the center of his chest. “You know, I’ll be leaving town soon and I’d hate to miss the opportunity to play
doctor
with such a handsome one like you.”

It was odd for him to watch a replica of the face he’d loved so dearly be possessed with such a crazed malevolence. “I’ll have to pass.”

The doors slid open, and Dr. Coleman stopped in the doorway. Her gaze zeroed in on the cozy scene in the corner, and her mouth gaped open in shock.

Michelle winked, turned, and glided past the stunned doctor.

William drew a shaky breath, but he wasn’t foolish enough to stick around to hear a lecture from the queen of gab. He stepped forward to exit the elevator, but was completely thrown off guard when Rae pushed him back into the corner, pressed a floor, and then turned on him.

Annoyance crept along his spine, but he was careful not to let the emotion show. “Rae, thanks for the advice, but nothing happened.”

Once again, the elevator slowed to a stop, and William was spared more of his nosey colleagues’ comments when a group of formidable men and an uncharacteristically tall Asian woman stepped inside.

William sighed and slacked his shoulders in relief. “Close call,” he mumbled, and then darted a gaze to the other five persons occupying the small box. The only one who met his gaze was the attractive woman, but her expressionless features quickly turned toward the door when the elevator returned to the lobby.

The lady and the four suits filed out and gave William the impression they were the Secret Service running late to protect the president.

“Humph. I wonder what all that was about.”

#

Josie searched high and low through her old medicine cabinet for a bottle of Excedrin, but finally found it in the back of a cosmetic drawer. What time was it, she wondered, and how long would she have to wait until Michelle returned?

She walked back into the bedroom and, once again, stepped over a stack of boxes in the center of the floor. From the corner of her eyes, she recognized a pink storage container beneath one of the boxes. Turning toward it, Josie felt a warmth spread throughout her body.

She knelt and removed everything on top of the container and then popped it open. Piles of letters and pictures assaulted her memory and wrenched out her heart. “Summer of ’88,” she read the storage label.

Josie had forgotten she’d stored these things at her father’s home. She reached inside and withdrew a poem that William had left on her pillow one morning. “The taste of you.”

A smile fluttered across her lips while the poem evoked the same emotions as it had sixteen years earlier. She reached for another envelope, but this time a small stack of pictures spilled out onto the floor.

She picked up a photo and blushed at the memory of her slinking across a grand piano in a red-sequined dress.

“We really had a lot of fun together,” she whispered. “We were perfect together.” Her vision blurred beneath a thin sheen of tears.

Josie laid the picture against her chest and thought back to the first time she’d
ever
made love...

“There’s no need for you to be shy,” William whispered against her ear. “You’re beautiful.”

After weeks of dating, it was the first time that Josie had mustered up the nerve to invite him into her bedroom. It was the first time she’d invited any man in there, and now that they were there, she couldn’t stop trembling.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he said.

“No.” She placed his hand across her heart so he could feel how hard it was beating. “I want to do this. I
want
to make love to you.” As always, she melted at the sight of his dimpled-cheeks and the gleam of his bright smile.

“I want to make love to you, too,” he said. He looked into her eyes and tilted her face so her mouth could receive him.

It was the sweetest kiss ever and it melted all thoughts of Etienne from her mind.

Though the knots in her stomach unraveled, her heart hammered with anticipation. This was a big step, and there was no doubt in her mind she wanted to do it.

William’s warm lips slid lovingly from her mouth and settled along the crook of her neck. As if he’d activated a switch, Josie’s eyes rolled while her head dipped back.

Her breath thinned as he peeled down the straps of her dress. Shortly after, her knees knocked at the sound of him unzipping her dress.

There was something about the calm blue of his eyes and the silkiness of his voice that assuaged her nervousness. Before she knew it, she was melting all over again.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered, and glided her arms around his neck. “Don’t ever stop.”

His smile was a mischievous one and when his strong hands cupped her full breasts, she was eternally branded as his. She gently pulled his head down, and within seconds she was intoxicated by the simple taste of his kiss.

When William unhooked her bra, Josie was breathless. He turned his head to pepper kisses along the curve of her shoulder. Desire surged in impatient waves while his hands skimmed down the curves of her body and looped inside the lace of her panties.

Something new was happening and she couldn’t extinguish the persisting throb between her legs. She leaned back and allowed his breath to caress her skin and her Victoria’s Secret to join the rest of her clothing on the floor.

“It’s your turn,” he said in a ragged whisper.

It was the first hint of the power she possessed over him, and she was emboldened by it. Taking her time, she unbuttoned his shirt, and then peeled the material from his broad shoulders.

Josie drew in a breath and lightly ran her fingers through the fine hairs on his chest. He was a beautiful specimen of a man. She couldn’t believe he belonged to her.

In no time, the lovers stood naked before one another. Both assessed, memorized, and loved what they saw.

He moved toward her. His sex brushed against her leg, sending sparks of desire clear to her toes.

Their lips met again. Each gave as much as they took and as a result created a delicious haze of pleasure. Everything tingled within her. Everything was so new.

Impatient, William swept her into his arms and carried her to the bed. Laying her against the silk sheets, he lowered himself onto her. Their lips melded while his hands danced over the rise of her breasts, the flat of her belly, and the triangular nest of curls between her legs.

Josie quivered at his fingers’ gentle invasion; but when they massaged her flower’s aching bud, she unraveled at the seams. She moaned in wild bursts and writhed shakily beneath him. The more she moved, the faster his tempo, and something fantastic built inside of her.

All at once, everything exploded. An array of multicolored fireworks burst behind closed lids. While her body struggled to extinguish the brush fires he’d ignited, a second orgasm hit and acted as an accelerant. In no time at all, she was dealing with a full rage inferno.

However, the biggest surprise were the things William could do with his mouth: soft kneading across her dark nipples, gentle kisses peppered down the center of her body, and a cool tongue that eased her body’s flames to mere ciders.

Through it all, her body still ached for completion, and she found herself begging that he give her the one thing she needed. In answer, he deserted the bed, and then returned with golden-wrapped condoms.

Her body was still quivering while he sheathed his erection. When he lowered to her, she lovingly slid her arms around his neck. She thought she was prepared for what came next; but when his thick shaft broke through the barrier of her maidenhood, she gasped at the initial pain.

William held her and waited patiently for her body to adjust to his invasion. He ground his teeth and fought for control at the way her body pulsed around his snug fit.

She wanted to respond, but couldn’t. Nothing in her life could’ve ever prepared her for this and she was more certain than ever that she’d chosen the right man to give her most precious gift.

Steadily, their tempo increased. Possessed by dual demons of pleasure and passion, William hiked her legs from his waist and settled them above his shoulders. His deep plunging drove her closer and closer to her peak.