No Chance in Hell (5 page)

“When you go to the animal shelter, I’ll follow,” Marcus said. “We’ll pretend we’ve met and that I’m looking for a bunk mate for Diablo.” Marcus glanced at Nate, and they both turned their gazes on her. Was she supposed to comment?

“I sure don’t have a better plan,” she admitted.

“Just know that we’ll be close.” Nate stood, moving around the room. “And now that we’ve made contact with the Plano PD, I’ll contact Dallas PD. Everybody will know that we’re working for you.”

“Won’t they push back? Tell you to butt out?” Chris had dealt with the
North Riverview
police during Chelsea’s murder investigation. After moving, Chris had complained to the Dallas cops about her stalker. They’d been polite but hadn’t been much help. She wondered just how DPD would react to her hiring someone to find the killer.

“They won’t mind that we’re looking into a cold case. Plus, we’ve got a decent relationship with them. Two detectives in particular are good resources.” Marcus seemed to notice her reluctance. “They put in a few hours for us from time to time. It’s better off-duty work than walking the mall on a Sunday afternoon.”

“Have you considered using me as bait?”

“No. We don’t dangle our clients out like a carrot.” Marcus rolled up the sleeves on his white shirt. “We’ll force this bastard out into the open using other methods.”
 

“In the meantime, we’ll try not to draw attention,” Nate commented. “It’s important that you carry on as if nothing has changed.”

 
“He’s right,” Marcus agreed. “In fact, you should call the facility manager and tell him you’re having the alarm system tightened. If he asks why, just act casual. Tell him you like to feel safe. Let him open your town house for the installation while you’re at the shelter.”

“I’ll do that right away. What’s next?”

“If you’d rather not stay here, we can move you and call off the alarm upgrade.” Marcus glanced at Nate.
 

“I don’t want to hide. It’s me he’s after. If I disappear, he will, too.” Chris rubbed her eyes, wondering why she was suddenly tired.
 

“We’d like to get back to the office and gather information,” Marcus said. “And you shouldn’t be alone. In fact, somebody will be nearby for the duration.”

“I need to stop by child services. You don’t think I’m in danger while out in
broad daylight.”
 

“It’s best not to take chances,” Marcus said. “We’ll figure something out. For now, you’re with us.”

She followed Nate and Marcus out the door, set her alarm, and locked the door. She’d felt safe inside her town house until last night. Now, she didn’t care if she ever walked inside it again.
 

Nate walked next to her with Marcus on the other side. Under different circumstances, having two giant bodyguards might have been funny. Marcus held open the car door for her. He glanced down at her purse.

“You know how to use that gun?”

“Damn right.”

If he’d gone through drawers or checked under furniture cushions while inside her town house, he’d have found weapons stashed all over the place. Getting caught at Chelsea’s without a means of self-defense had taught her a valuable lesson. Granted, her previous classes in karate had saved her life, but she felt safer with added protection.

****

Marcus opened the door to the Lost and Found office, allowing Nate and Chris to step inside.

“Honey, we’re home,” Nate called out with a laugh.

Kay jumped out of her chair and rushed toward her husband. A smile the size of the Rio Grande River was spread across her face. Diablo got up, stretched, and trotted to Marcus. His tail worked overtime as Marcus scratched his ears.

“We’ll work out of the conference room,” he told Chris, starting back and leaving the two lovebirds to do husband and wife stuff.

“Wait.” Kay grabbed him by the arm. “I have good news. No, outstanding news.”

Nate’s eyebrows rose in question. “Well, share it with us.”

Kay grabbed Chris by the hand. “I’m sorry to talk about people you don’t know, but I have to tell these guys or I’ll pop.”

“Please, don’t worry about me.” Obviously uncomfortable, Chris pulled away. “I’ll wait for you in the conference room.”

“That’s not necessary,” Kay said.

The warmth in Chris’s expression as she waved off Kay hinted at sincerity. But Marcus remembered Chris’s earlier comment about not having friends. He’d never have survived without his friends.
 

“Jake is being released soon.” The words tumbled from Kay’s mouth at lightning speed.

Her energy lifted to celebration level. Jake Donovan had been the youngest of Wolfe’s Pack. He’d been tough as nails on the football field, but had always morphed into a big-hearted kid the minute he took off the uniform. To hear the girls tell it, Jake was a hunk. Marcus had learned early on not to argue with women.
 

He worried that Jake was being released too soon after surgery. The tumor pressing against his brain had explained his erratic behavior. Thinking the doctors were trying to kill him, he’d escaped the military hospital. The pressure had caused memory loss, and they had found Jake working for a human-trafficking ring.

The surgery to remove it had been almost as life threatening as leaving the damn thing alone. But he’d survived and had gone through intense therapy. Jake had been involved in some nasty shit, including damn near getting Kay and her best friend, Holly Hoffman, killed. Marcus would reserve his judgment for a while.

“All your trips to spend time with him must’ve worked. Congratulations.” Nate gathered Kay to his chest. Beaming down at her, he dropped a kiss on her lips.

They were opposite sides of the same coin, completing each other’s personalities. A zing of something like loneliness passed through Marcus, which he quickly shoved away. He’d put the past behind him. Trouble was, his memory hadn’t received the memo.

“Enough. I’ll have that image burned into my retinas.” Marcus mockingly rubbed his eyes, pretending to wipe the sight from his mind. They’d known this day was coming, had waited eagerly for a date. “Give us facts. When? I take it they accepted you as a sponsor.”

“They did,” Kay responded with a proud smile. The pink that had rushed up her cheeks receded. “No exact date yet. And he’ll be required to attend regular sessions with a psychiatrist until he can deal with his actions. And we guaranteed he’d have a job here at Lost and Found, Inc.”

“What did they say about his memory?” Marcus asked.

“Most of the past returned. He doesn’t remember the last few months before surgery. But he knows what he did. He heard it all at his hearing.”

“It’s best that he’s here with us.” Nate walked to Ty’s old desk and gave the chair a spin. “We’ll find work around here for him.” He glanced at his wife. “When he’s strong enough, maybe the two of you can get out in the field. You’ve been itching to get more involved.”

“You got that right.” Kay wrapped her arms around her husband and hugged him. “I was just about to remind you that I didn’t sign on to be a secretary. I hate being cooped up in this office.”

Marcus could only nod his support. More than once, she’d reminded him and Nate that her experience as a detective for Child Protective Services more than qualified her for a spot on the team.

“I know. It’s hard for me to willingly put you in the field,” Nate confessed. “But I will.”

“Okay, then. Let’s get to work.” She marched them into the conference room and then passed out a stack of folders. “I made copies of the information Chris brought us, and then I added the stuff Dalton sent. You’ll want to sit before you dig in. The pictures are graphic.”

Marcus stopped them both. “Chris needs to stop by the Big Sisters office. Why don’t we let Kay escort her?”

“My first assignment outside this office.”

“I’m not sure I like that,” Nate said.

Kay straightened her shoulders and scowled back at her frowning husband. “You think I can’t protect Chris? I’m as good a shot as either of you.”

Nate huffed out a breath. “Fine. Let’s take a look at the intel you’ve collected first.”

Marcus settled in the chair next to Chris. Diablo dropped at his feet. The first few pages were standard documents. Proof she’d been to the police a number of times. Her complaints hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. The cops just hadn’t found evidence to track back to who had sent the flowers. A throwaway phone and a prepaid credit card were impossible to trace.
 

“Holy shit,” Marcus muttered, turning to Chris. “You don’t have to see these pictures or hear the discussion we’re going to have. Kay’s going to drive you to your Big Sisters meeting. It might be best for you two to leave now.”

“No. I can do this. I’ve seen the pictures, but was never given copies. Please. Do what you need to.”

Marcus took a deep breath and read for a few minutes before speaking. “The medical examiner’s report says Chelsea Holland had been tortured for hours prior to having her throat cut. Multiple stab wounds covered her body, gashes deep enough to hurt and make her bleed but not lethal. The body appeared to have been posed. Why would you pose a dead body? Shock value? A message to the cops?”

“Fuck,” Nate growled. “Baby, you didn’t look at these, did you?”

“I did. You can’t shield me from these things. Not if I’m going to work cases with you.”

“Marcus,” Nate said. “You get to the pictures?”

“Yeah.” Marcus slid the glossies from the folder onto his desk. He stared into the face of a thinner, washed-out version of Chris. Stale coffee shot up his esophagus and flooded the back of his throat. “This is one sick bastard.”

The pictures confirmed the medical examiner’s report. Chelsea Holland’s naked, bloody body had been posed. Anger rolled into a knot in Marcus’s gut. Even in death, a human being deserved respect, but she’d received just the opposite. Her legs had been spread open, leaving nothing to the imagination. One hand rested on her stomach. Blood had run down her body from the knife wounds into puddles on the floor. Some had pooled between her legs.

He turned the pictures facedown. “Killer took his time.”

“He wanted to humiliate her,” Kay said. Her tone dripped with disgust.

“Yeah,” Nate commented. “The question is why?”

“Track marks on her arms are obvious and multiple.” Marcus felt a stab of sympathy for Chris. Discovering her sister in this condition had to have devastated her.

“Chelsea was still using,” Chris said, speaking for the first time in minutes.

“You thinking the murder was drug-related?” Nate asked Marcus, turning his copies facedown, too.
 

“No. It took her a long time to die. This bastard had her death planned out. He stuck around and watched. Probably got off on the suffering he was inflicting. He made a statement. Now we figure out what’s he saying and who he’s talking to.” Marcus feared that they’d just scratched the surface of this case.

“Statement, my ass.” Kay stopped pacing and fisted her hands on her hips. She’d copied and put the files together. Marcus had no doubt that she’d read them. “He’s screaming. He’s a thrill killer, or he hated this woman a lot.”

“I don’t disagree. Which is why I think he’ll kill again. If he hasn’t already.” Marcus reread the police report on the murder. “No semen was found at the scene or on the body.”

“Read on,” Chris said. “The medical examiner’s statement says there was no evidence of rape.”

Nate scowled. Deep concern was written all over his face. “I don’t like exposing you or my wife to this crap. You’ve both been through enough.”

Kay’s expression softened. “I love you, too. But you’re not shutting me out of this case.” She turned to face Chris. “We’re going to catch this bastard.”

Nate opened his mouth, but Marcus waved him off. “Maybe you and Chris should head downtown before you get caught in rush-hour traffic.”

“I’ll be right back.” Kay stood and left the room. She hurried back, wearing a jacket and, no doubt, her pistol.

“I’ll call Tomas and Wayne,” Marcus said. “They usually appreciate getting the extra work.”

“Tomas volunteers so he can be close to her.” Nate winked at Chris and held his hand out to Kay. “But I agree. We can’t protect Chris twenty-four/seven and work the case,” Nate said.

Marcus nodded. The Lost and Found team had gotten off to a shaky start with DPD homicide detectives Tomas Mendez and Wayne Kerns. After Kay’s rescue, they’d been pissed as hell that Nate had kept his plans to himself. Truth be told, it was Dalton who’d smoothed things over. Since then, both Tomas and Wayne had become part-time members of Lost and Found’s team. Marcus welcomed their help on this job.

“One more thing,” Marcus added while he had everyone together. “Since Dalton’s agreed to help, I want him to run the murder through the national database. See if there are any other homicides with these same markers.”

Chris stood and joined Kay. “I don’t know what to say, except thank you.”

Chapter 4

DaVinci clenched his fists, ignoring the urge to throw his laptop across the room. Drawing his assistant’s attention would pique her curiosity. The poor soul fancied herself an expert in the art world. Her promotion had been a wise choice on his part. She was devoted to him and the gallery, allowing him to concentrate on Chelsea and now Christine.