SPIRIT OF CONSEQUENCE (A Spirit Walking Mystery Book 1) (14 page)

“I know, Curt. But the task force is on its way.” He glanced at his watch. “In fact they should be here in a few minutes.”

The other man huffed under his breath. “Just what we need, a task force running around our city.”

The mayor stared at the man standing next to him and then turned his back to the man at the desk. He lowered his head and voice, “Think about this logically, Sheriff. If they find the killer and you’ve helped, it’s great publicity for us and for the safety of our city. If they don’t, we blame it on the ineptness of the task force. It’s a win-win situation.”

The sheriff smiled. “Great idea.”

Politics – don’t you just love it? It’s not about finding the killer; it’s about saving the face of the city. I guess that’s important to a city that relies on the tourist trade as heavily as Vegas. I went over and sat down on one of the couches in the lobby. I would see Dodge come in and then figure out how to talk to him. He would be mad about the way I left.

I leaned back, put my feet up on the coffee table, and waited. My stomach was in a knot that was being twisted tighter and tighter. Within twenty minutes a crowd of people stormed into the lobby. A few seconds later, Dodge strolled in, dressed in blue jeans and a rumpled blue t-shirt covered by his leather bomber jacket. It felt like a lightening bolt struck my insides and that knot exploded, sending a shock wave through the rest of my body.

Dexter in his usual patriotic attire and Marge dressed all in Gucci, from her sunglasses to her shoes, followed a few feet behind him. Then they all huddled together with the sheriff, mayor, and the man at the desk. Then they split up. Three of them went with the Mayor, Dodge and another man went with the sheriff, and Dexter and Marge stayed at the desk.

I walked over toward the front desk because if I wanted real information about Dodge I would get it from his partners. Just as I got there, the man behind the desk left.

Marge leaned over to Dexter. “Our boy looks like shit.”

Dexter nodded.

“Has he even slept in the last month?”

Dexter shook his head.

“What the hell is going on with him? He looked so good when we started this.”

Dexter shrugged.

Marge slugged him on the arm. “Stop playing the deaf mute and talk to me. What’s going on?”

He rubbed his arm with his other hand. “It’s just the case.”

“Bull! It’s more than that and you know it. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

She glared at him, but lowered her voice. “You told me he was past his death wish. I wouldn’t have joined this little team if I thought he was still suicidal. I like the guy, but I’m not going to stand around and watch him self-destruct and take me with him.”

“He’d never do anything to jeopardize your safety, Marge. You know that.”

“I noticed you totally avoided the issue of his own safety.”

Dexter shook his head. “I don’t know, Marge. I thought he was over all of that. He had a new girlfriend, he looked happy, and it seemed like he had moved on.”

“What happened to that girl, anyway?”

Dexter shrugged.

Marge hit him again.

“Okay, okay,” he rubbed his arm. “I don’t know what happened. I asked him one day about her and he told me to shut up.”

If Dodge was suicidal again, was it my fault? If something happened to him and it was because of me, I couldn’t spend eternity knowing that. I turned and walked in the direction I had seen Dodge and the other man go. A patrolman stood at the elevator, so I went over and stood by him. How was I going to find out which floor they went to?

A few minutes later a man carrying a camera came up to him. “What about an interview, Jeff?”

The patrolman frowned. “Get out of here, Dan. If the sheriff or mayor sees you, they’re going to have you thrown out.”

“The Circus is my hotel. I’m assigned to take pictures here, they can’t throw me out.”

“You’re here to take pictures of guests and celebrities, not cops.”

Dan leaned closer to the officer. “I hear she’s in one of the premier suites.”

Jeff looked around, and then whispered, “Yeah, top floor.”

“Which suite?”

“You can’t go up there,” Jeff said

“I know, so you can tell me which one, right?”

Jeff shrugged.

“Tell me which one and I’ll leave a couple of tickets for the show tomorrow.”

Jeff looked around. “Okay, she’s in Suite C.”

Dan patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks. You can pick up your tickets at the will call desk.”

Jeff nodded, Dan left, and I walked into the elevator. I pushed the button for the top floor. It was nice that I could actually touch the buttons now. Before, I had to wait for someone to come in and do it for me.

When the elevator doors opened, I saw the man who had come up with Dodge standing outside a door with two patrolmen.

I remembered what Marge had said about how Dodge liked to work: by himself after everything had been photographed and tagged. I took a deep breath. Was I ready for this?

No stopping now. I slid past the men into the living area of a beautiful suite. There were floor-to-ceiling windows on one wall with a beautiful view of the Strip. The only hint of a circus theme was the three small clown statues that sat in the middle of the oak dining table. I passed through the living area and through a set of double doors.

Dodge leaned over the body. She was positioned like the other photos I had seen. He lifted the medallion around her neck and turned it over, then pushed her long blonde hair from her face.

He shook his head. “You were a beautiful woman, Tami. You didn’t deserve this. I’ll find the bastard.”

My heart leapt at the sound of his voice, my pulse accelerated, and that warmth spread through.

He stepped away from the body and I stepped back toward the doors. Maybe I should just get out of here. This probably wasn’t a good idea. He took out a notebook from his pocket and flipped it open. Then he started patting the pockets of his jacket.

“Damn,” he said. “What did I do with that pen?”

I reached over to the desk and picked up the gold hotel pen. Then I walked over to him and held the pen up, “Try this one.”

He stopped looking for his pen, his body tensed, and he slowly turned his head.

Chapter 14

Marge was right. He looked like crap. His face looked pale, he had dropped some weight and his eyes had lost some of their sparkle. I wanted to cry.

He reached over and took the pen from my hand. “Thanks,” then turned back to the body and wrote in his notebook.

I backed up, leaned against the wall, and watched him work. He scanned every inch of the room, writing in his notebook, and never acknowledged that I was in the room. Just did his job. I didn’t say anything and neither did he.

The room was totally undisturbed – Tami certainly didn’t struggle with her attacker. That was one thing that was strange. All of the crime scene photos were like this. There either wasn’t a struggle or the killer cleaned and straightened up before he left the room.

There was a knock at the door.

“Yeah?” Dodge said without stopping his notes.

Marge stuck her head in. “Are you done in here? Dexter and I want to come in and check it out.”

“Give me a few more minutes and then you two can have your turn.”

“Okay.” She closed the door slowly.

A few more minutes went by and Dodge closed his notebook. He turned and looked at me.

We stared at each other for several seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I didn’t know what to say.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he put his hand up. Then he held up the pen. “Figured this out, did you?”

I smiled. “Yes.”

“Where have you been?”

“Seattle and Dallas.” I said truthfully.

He shook his head. “I figured that.”

“You figured what?”

“At first I was sad, but happy with the thought that maybe you’d actually moved on, gone to heaven, or wherever people go when they die.”

“At first?”

“Yeah, then I got to thinking about the last moment I saw you.” He tilted his head and his eyes narrowed.

“When you dropped me off to walk back to your apartment?”

“Yeah, you said ‘goodbye’ to me and I just didn’t realize at that moment that you were actually leaving. That was really lousy of you. It pissed me off!”

“Dodge…” I started to explain, but Marge stuck her head in again and looked around. She must have heard our conversation and wondered who Dodge was talking to. “Done yet?”

“Just another few minutes,” he said.

She looked around the room again and then closed the door.

Another few moments of silence. Then he said, “Follow me,” he opened the door between the bedroom and the rest of the suite.

Dexter and Marge sat on the couch with the man I had seen Dodge walk away with. They both stood.

“Where are we working this case?” Dodge asked the man on the couch.

“The nearest Las Vegas Police Department substation is too far from here, so I asked the hotel to let us use one of their conference rooms.”

“And us?” Dodge asked.

“We’ve got rooms here.”

Dodge turned to Dexter and Marge, “I’m going to my room for a while. I’ll meet you in the conference room in an hour.”

Marge and Dexter’s eyes widened in unison. Dexter stepped forward and put his hand on Dodge’s arm. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just need some downtime so I can digest this crime scene.” Dexter didn’t let go. Dodge patted his hand. “It’s okay.”

Marge stepped forward. “Are you sure?”

Dodge looked at her. “We’ve been going at warp speed for over a month. I need a little rest, that’s all.”

I saw the muscles in Dexter’s arm tense. He held onto his friend, afraid that he would leave and kill himself because this crime scene was one too many for Dodge.

I hadn’t tried to touch anyone before, but Dexter was terrified to let his friend go. I slipped my hand between Dexter’s hand and Dodge’s arm and whispered, “It’s okay, Dexter. I’ll go with him.”

Dexter’s muscles eased and he took his hand off of Dodge’s arm. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

“You will.” Dodge nodded and left the room.

I followed Dodge out. The man from the front desk stood in the hallway. He stepped forward. “Have you figured it out yet?”

“It takes time, Mr. Summerset. One of the members of the task force said you’ve assigned us some rooms.”

“Yes.”

“Which one is mine? I want to get settled before I go down to the conference room and get to work.”

The man took his phone out of his pocket and made a call. “Can you tell me which room we’ve assigned to Inspector Benson?”

“512, thanks,” he turned and handed Dodge a card. “This is a master keycard. It will get you into your room. If you’ll stop by at the desk later, I’ll exchange it for your room key.”

“Thanks.” Dodge took the key and walked toward the elevator.

I followed.

We took the elevator down to the fifth floor. Dodge’s room was three doors from the elevator. He inserted the cardkey, stepped aside for me to enter, and I walked in. This room had more of a circus theme than the premier suite. Two clown pictures, several gaudy clown statues scattered around the room, and a bright red bedspread.

Dodge closed the door and leaned against it.

I looked at him. He stared at me. “What?”

“I’m so mad at you, Samantha,” Dodge said, but there was more anguish in his voice than anger.

My heart felt like it was being ripped into a million pieces. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” he shook his head. “That isn’t good enough. You just walked out on me. No real goodbye. You ran away just like you always do.”

I stepped toward him. “I wasn’t good for you. A ghost and a man? What kind of relationship was that?”

“You told me you loved me and then you left.”

I stepped back. I hadn’t realized he was awake when I said that. It was the truth, but where did that leave us? His face was so sad, so hurt, and in so much pain. Then I stepped forward again. “I do love you, but it still isn’t going to work.”

He moved toward me. “I felt your hand on my arm.”

I took another step. “It was the first time I tried to actually touch someone.”

“Dexter is afraid I’m going to kill myself.”

“Yes. He’s your friend.”

Dodge took another step toward me. His sexy grin caused an immediate surge of adrenaline in my body. “How good is your ability to touch and feel touched?”

My insides turned to jelly. Was it elation that it might work or fear that it wouldn’t? I answered truthfully. “I don’t know. I haven’t tried it out.”

Dodge walked over to the window and pulled the drapes. It was pitch black in the room. I looked around but didn’t see him.

Then I felt his breath on my neck. “Let’s try it out,” he whispered.

My knees buckled as a shiver ran up my spine. I felt his hands run down my arms.

“Oh, Dodge,” I moaned.

“That seems to work.”

“Oh, yeah. That works just fine.” I changed into a long red silky negligee.

When his hands got to my hips, he moaned as they slid over the silk. “Ah, you changed for me. Is it red?”

“Of course.”

I slowly brought my hands up toward his face and stopped. What if it didn’t work? He slid his hands around the middle of my back and pulled me close to him. I could feel every inch of him against my body. It felt so wonderful. I touched his face. He hadn’t shaved for a day and I could feel the bristly hair of his beard starting to grow. I laughed.

“Oh, sorry. If I’d known I would see you, I’d have shaved.”

“No, it’s wonderful. I’ve never felt anything so wonderful.” I reached around his head and brought his lips to mine.

To say that it was the most fabulous kiss I had ever experienced in my life wouldn’t be giving it enough credit. Dodge was a great kisser, but it was more than that. It was feeling and being felt that made it all so amazing.

Dodge reached down under my knees and picked me up. As he walked toward the bed I started to unbutton his shirt.

“How long did you say we had?” I whispered into his ear.

“An eternity,” he replied and set me on the bed.

I heard his clothing and shoulder holster hit the floor. Then I felt him slide onto the bed next to me. I reached over and ran my hands up his arms. God, it felt so good to touch someone. Without any lights, it was like we were the same person. I couldn’t tell the difference between feeling him, the bed, or my own body.

He picked up my hand and kissed my fingers and slowly worked his way up my arm to my neck. By the time he got to my lips, I could barely breathe. Then he started kissing the rest of my body. After a few minutes, I couldn’t take any more so I pushed him onto his back and did the same thing to him.

He reached down under my arms and brought me up so our faces were inches apart. “I love you, Samantha.”

I smiled. “I love you too, Dodge.”

“Don’t ever leave me again.”

“I won’t.”

Then I slid him inside me. We rocked together and the world exploded as we both rode the wave of ecstasy.

Afterwards, we lay on the bed intertwined, my legs tightly wrapped around his body. I was afraid to let go, afraid this was a one time thing.

He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

I kissed his neck and he groaned. “Do you have to go?”

“Got a killer to catch.”

“How’s that going?”

He shook his head. “Not that well.”

“Do you have a suspect?”

“Nope.”

“Have you learned anything new about the victims?”

“They all came from homes where their parents went to church every week.”

“And they all stopped going?”

“Yes.”

“He’s punishing them for not going to church?”

“I think he thinks they’ve fallen from grace.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the profiler thinks the tattoos are rocks.”

“As in stoning them?”

He kissed me on the nose. “You’re a very smart woman, Samantha.”

I leaned closer to him and slid my hands up his back. It felt so good to be connected to someone, both physically and emotionally. Maybe catching the killer could wait a few more minutes.

There was a knock at the door.

Dodge and I looked at each other.

The knocking became louder.