Temperature Rising (7 page)

“Come on, Laken. Open up, it’s Mac. I need to talk to you, it’s important. Laken!” He raised his voice just as the door across the hall opened. An old woman with tightly curled, orange hair peered in the hallway.

“Excuse me, ma’am, I’m sorry if I interrupted you.”

The woman looked him up and down then opened the door wider. “She’s not home. She’s on a date.”

“A date?” Mac felt the shock hit him like a fist in the stomach.

“Oh yes, they made a splendid looking couple. I knew they would be perfect together.”

“Pardon me, but I’m Detective MacDaniels. I really need to talk to Ms. Williams. Do you have any idea when she’ll be back?”

“Oh, I expect quite late. You being a young man yourself, you can understand that.” Mac couldn’t believe the woman actually gave him a conspiratorial wink. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“I’m afraid not. Ms. Williams is involved in a case I’m working on.”

“Oh really, what kind of case?”

“I’m a homicide detective.” The woman looked shocked to near apoplexy. “If you happen to see her, could you have Ms. Williams call me when she gets in?”

“Of course.”

Mac hated to leave but knew there was no reason to stay. It was unlikely that Laken would have anything to do with him. Not giving the woman a chance to say anything else, he headed for the stairs. Since there was no way he was going to get his home cooked meal, he decided to head back to the station to pull a late night going over the surveillance video with the lab people.

It was late when he got home. Not that it mattered. There was no one there waiting for him. Mac stretched out on the bed, thinking of the woman who hadn’t left his thoughts. He would never in his life forget how broken she looked when she had left the conference room. It would burn in his soul the rest of his life. He wished there was a way he could make it better, but she wouldn’t even answer her phone to let him try. The thought of her on a date with another man ate at him.

She’d said she wasn’t dating anyone. He replayed the conversation with her neighbor over in his mind. It sounded like they hadn’t been dating long. The woman had said what — that they made a splendid looking couple. That she’d known they would. Had she set them up on the date or was it wishful thinking on his part? Mac wanted to bang his head against the wall in frustration. Laken should have been out with him.

Well, now he had the proof that at least part of what she told them was the truth. He had the record that the victim had been in the pharmacy, and the video that showed them both. Unfortunately, there were only brief glimpses of the man in the raincoat, not clear enough to pull a description from, but he appeared just as Laken said. The question was how to prove the other part. There didn’t seem any way to do that.

Hypnosis. The thought hit him so strong he sat up in bed. What would happen if they hypnotized Laken? Then if she had seen it some way it would come out or if someone told her, they could learn that too. The question was, after what happened earlier today, whether she would agree to do it. Well, for that he had a trump card. Laken’s conscience would have her do anything to help them stop the killer before he struck again.

****

Laken stepped to her door in relief. Her hand was already locked on her keys. The evening had been pretty much how she’d feared. Howard was decent looking, a little over six feet tall, but there was a nerdy, mama’s boy-look about him that irritated her from the beginning. That, and the way he kept eyeing her like she was a new toy. And, if he looked down at her bust one more time, she would smack him.

She’d purposely dressed conservatively, with a high-neck sweater that didn’t hug her body and a long skirt with her boots. She was literally covered head to toe, but it didn’t seem to shield her from Howard’s roaming eyes.

Conversation had been just as bad. He’d talked incessantly about himself. His accomplishments in his job and superiority over all the fools and idiots that he was forced to work with. Laken wondered if she was supposed to gush over his brilliance, but he seemed too busy doing it himself to notice she wasn’t.

She unlocked the door and turned back to him. “Well, thank you for the nice evening.”

He stepped close and started to lean over her. Laken put up a hand to hold him off. He looked almost comically confused. “I thought that I’d come in for a while.”

“I’m sorry, Howard. I’m very of tired and want to go straight to bed.”

“That’s fine with me.” He sent her a leer.

Laken was shocked, and felt her ire rising. “That was not an invitation.”

This time the man looked taken back. “What is this? We went out to dinner and to that little club for music.”

“Yes and that is all that is happening.”

“What’s going on? Aunt Ardith said you don’t date much.”

“Not a lot. What does that have to do with you coming in?” Her anger stepped up a notch.

“Well, you should be happy to get a little.”

“A little? As in you going to bed with me? No!” She really couldn’t believe he was serious, but there was no doubt he was.

“What do you mean ‘no’? I bought you dinner.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you bought
me
!”

“I thought—”

“You thought wrong. Here.” She pulled the money she kept in her pocket in case of emergency during a date out and shoved it at him. “That should cover my dinner.”

“That’s not half.”

“But it’s more than enough for my dinner, and I’m not going to pay for all the wine you drank and I didn’t. Good-bye, Howard.” She stepped through the door and closed it in his face. Barely catching his remark, “No wonder she doesn’t date, tight—”

Laken sank back against the door. What a miserable night. Correction — miserable day. Could her life get any worse?

Chapter Five

Laken forced herself to concentrate on the wall section she was moving to make room for the change in the ventilation system the owner had opted for. Usually, details like that really didn’t bother her too much. It just seemed silly that it wasn’t decided in the first place, but today, she could just scream with frustration. Today, she could scream about a lot, mainly deceitful men and underhanded bosses, which were one and the same in her book.

“Miss Williams.” The voice from one of the people on her annoyance list called her name.

She turned, not bothering to hold back completely the glare at her boss. “Yes, Mr. Hoster.”

The man looked decisively unfriendly, which was okay, because she was still not very happy with him. “I heard that the police were here questioning you yesterday. I want to know what that was about.”

Great! That was all she needed. She groaned under her breath. “It was nothing, sir.” She hated that he expected the title, unless of course, you were one of his golfing buddies.

“I heard they stayed quite some time and that you were quite upset when they left.” He stared down at her in his patented disapproving look, that she didn’t realize until then really annoyed her.

“There’s a case they are working on that I have some information about. They came to go back over my statement and to see if I remembered any other details.” She figured that was pretty much the truth.

“What kind of a case?”

“I don’t think I’m allowed to talk about it. It’s still under investigation, and they’re keeping information back for the time being.” She could tell Hoster was not happy with her answer, though he couldn’t say anything to object. Laken found herself taking pleasure in that fact. It wasn’t like her to be ornery, but between the lack of sleep, nightmares plaguing what sleep she did get, and the way she’d been treated, she had had just a little too much frustration in the last couple days to feel guilty.

“Miss Williams, if you are involved in anything illegal, I will be forced to let you go.” The man huffed at her.

“What?” She couldn’t believe what he said. “Mr. Hoster, I witnessed something. Surely you can’t hold that against me.”

“If it affects your job or the image of this firm, it can’t be tolerated.”

Laken couldn’t believe him. Then it hit her. He was looking for any excuse to fire her, but why? She did good work. She carried more than her fair share of the workload assigned in the drafting group. “Mr. Hoster, it is not affecting the performance of my job, and I have put in plenty of extra time to cover the time that I talked to them. I have a strong work ethic. I am meticulous in my job. I feel I work hard for the company. I had some information on a crime, so I went to the police about it. I felt it was my duty. That is it. This will not affect my work.”

“See that it doesn’t.” The intercom sounded, ruining his snide comment. Laken ignored it to return his gaze until it sounded again. She reached over and pushed the button. “Laken, there is a Detective MacDaniels on line three, says he’s been trying to get hold of you, that it’s important.” Laken was tempted to tell Kathy to disconnect it but couldn’t with Hoster present.

“Was there anything else?” She hoped the man would move away but no such luck. Laken grabbed the phone, giving her normal greeting.

“Don’t hang up.” Mac voice rushed out at her, and she might have slammed down the phone except Hoster was still staring down at her.

“What may I do for you, detective?” She enunciated every syllable, forcing herself to sound civil.

“Please, listen, I’m sorry. I couldn’t get involved in the interview. But I do believe you. I’ve checked out the pharmacy. The clerk remembered all of you, and I have the video. Unfortunately, there are no clear shots of the guy.” He rushed the words out, as if he was afraid she’d hang up on him, but he’d had her right after
I believe you
. “I think I’ve come up with an idea to help convince the other detectives to take you seriously. Would you be willing to be hypnotized? I think it might help, and you might be able to remember more details.” He finally stopped talking, letting the words hang.

Laken was too shocked to answer. He had checked out the pharmacy. Hypnotized? She could only stare at her boss’s disapproving frown.

“Laken?” Mac called her over the phone. “Are you still there?”

“Yes.”

“I have an appointment with the force psychologist at four-thirty. Can you make that?” The hope in his voice was clear to her.

“Yes.” She let the word out slowly.

“Good, I’ll be there to get you just after four.”

“No,” Laken shot back, feeling a stab of pain. Even if he did believe her, she wasn’t ready to give into him that far yet. “I’ll get there on my own. What’s the address?” She turned her back on her boss to write it down.

When she looked back, Hoster glared at her and then turned away without further comment.

****

Laken’s stomach clenched again as she stepped off the elevator. What she couldn’t tell was if it was fear of being hypnotized or apprehension at seeing Mac again that was making her nervous. She didn’t get a chance to decide before he was there in front of her.

“Laken.” He said her name like a starving man savoring a feast.

She wanted to turn away but was frozen in place, drinking up the sight of him. Pain rose again. Her hand came up to hold back the sob that came with it. Before it could escape, Mac crossed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest.

“I’m so sorry.” There was a tremor to his words. His lips brushed her temple as he buried his face into her hair. “Please, forgive me?”

Unable to stop herself, Laken slipped her arms around him, amazed at how right the action felt. She breathed in the clean musky smell that was Mac. Behind them someone cleared their voice. “Detective MacDaniels, Dr. Shannon is ready for you now.”

Mac leaned back and framed her face with his hands. “Are you okay with this?”

Laken was comforted by the concern in his eyes. “Yes,” she managed to squeeze out, her throat suddenly dry. “Will you be with me?”

“Right by you,” he promised, bringing her hand to his lips, kissing her fingers before interlocking them with his to lead her into the room.

A small, compact woman, who Laken guessed to be in her mid-fifties, stood as they entered the room. “Mac,” the woman greeted him then turned to her. “You must be Miss Williams.”

“Call me Laken, please.” Laken extended her hand to shake the woman’s.

“Thank you, I’m Laura. I like being on a first name basis. It tends to make people feel more comfortable. Won’t you sit down?” She directed them to a small sitting area to one side of the room with a tan leather couch, two wing-back chairs, and a coffee table. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Could I have some water please?”

“Of course. Please, I need you relaxed if I’m going to hypnotize you. You are willing?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” The woman poured a couple of glasses of water from a crystal pitcher on the coffee table then settled down in a chair while Laken sat beside Mac on the couch. “Mac has told me a little about what happened with you. I have to admit, I’m quite fascinated. There is much to be learned about the dream state.”

Laken glanced up at Mac then back to her. “You believe me then?”

“Oh, yes. Though I’ve never dealt with anything quite like what you experienced. I’ve been trying to decide the best way to go about this. If I should have you tell me about the dream first or just go into it with you under hypnosis. I’ve decided to have you tell me all you can remember, so I can know better what to ask. Is that okay with you?”

“Yes.”

“Good, before we start, Mac asked if it was okay if we record the sessions.”

Laken cleared her throat. “It’s fine.”

“All right, why don’t you tell me about that night?”

By now, Laken had gone over it so many times it no longer threatened to overwhelm her. Eventually they switched to just talking.

****

Mac held both her hands in one of his and kept his other moving up and down Laken’s arm in what he hoped was a soothing fashion. He hated to see her forced to bring up the terrible images again. He was proud of the way she handled it, and realized how strong she was. Even facing certain disbelief, she had come forward to help. His heart swelled as he looked down at her fingers still interlocked with his.