Paula Graves - Forbidden Temptation

“Let’s get that to the station before we jump to any conclusions,” Frank said quietly. “We need to see what’s inside. And I have questions for you, too.”

Rose glanced at Daniel. He gazed back at her, his expression a mixture of consolation and regret.

“I’ll go get dressed,” she said.

“NO OBVIOUS PRINTS or fibers,” Frank Carter told Daniel and Rose when he returned to the detectives’ office where they’d been waiting for over an hour. “We’re running more tests to see if we can pull some prints from the paper, but it’s iffy.” He handed Rose a sheet of paper. “This is what we found inside.”

Rose looked at the photocopy of the notepaper. Centered in the middle were the words, “Sorry about your friend.”

Her veins filled with ice water.

“Same paper as last time. Standard word processing instead of block printing this time,” Frank continued. “Times New Roman, twelve-point type. No obvious printer inconsistencies, but if we could find the printer we could probably match them up. Our evidence technicians will take a closer look at that, as well.”

Daniel placed his hand at the center of Rose’s back, his steadying touch welcome. She leaned closer, taking strength from his warmth. “Why has he targeted me?” she asked Frank.

“I’m not sure,” Frank admitted. “You were mentioned in the write-up of the neighborhood meeting. Maybe he thinks you’re interfering with his business.”

Rose wasn’t so sure. There seemed to be something personal about his interest, as if he could sense her connection to him.

What would he do if he ever learned that she could foresee his vicious acts?

The phone on Frank’s desk rang. He grabbed it. “Carter.”

Daniel’s hand moved in a gentle circle over Rose’s spine, radiating warmth through her shaky limbs. “You holding up?” he murmured for her ears only.

She nodded.

“Okay, will do,” Frank said into the phone. He hung up and looked at Daniel. “That was my captain, Sheila Green. She wants to see you in her office to discuss what you can contribute to our investigation.”

“Right now?”

Frank nodded. “Down the hall to the right. I’ll keep Ms. Browning company while you’re in there.”

Daniel dropped his hand away from Rose’s back and stood, giving her a quick, reassuring look before heading for the exit.

“How are you holding up?” Frank asked Rose, dragging her attention away from Daniel’s retreating back.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Tired of losing my friends.”

Frank nodded, his expression sympathetic. “It’s never just the victim who suffers.”

He was right. It wasn’t. It was family, friends, whole neighborhoods. In the last week, she’d seen security-company vans in front of three different houses in her neighborhood. She was trying to figure out how to pay for an alarm system for her own home.

All because of one man’s brutal violence.

“It’s convenient you’re here,” Frank added. “I need to discuss Melissa Bannerman’s murder with you.”

Rose willed herself not to panic. She had nothing to hide-nothing that could affect the investigation, anyway. She lifted her chin. “I’ll help however I can.”

“We interviewed Mark Phagan this morning. He said you and Ms. Bannerman had a recent falling out.”

Rose’s heart flip-flopped. “We had a disagreement and agreed to part company,” she admitted carefully.

“A disagreement.” Frank’s eyes glimmered with a mixture of curiosity, bemusement and doubt.

He knew.

She sighed. “I suppose Mark told you what it was about.”

“He did.” Frank picked up a scuffed baseball from his desk and rolled it between his hands, the leather making a dry swishing sound against his palms. He remained silent, watching her through narrowed eyes.

She held her silence, as well, refusing to be intimidated. If he wanted to know about the death veils, he could ask her.

“Does Daniel know about your claims?” Frank asked finally.

The question surprised her. “Yes.”

“But he’s a scientist.”

“I didn’t say he believed me,” she responded.

Frank’s lips curved without quite making it to a smile. “I suppose there are other reasons he might want to stick around.”

Rose frowned, not liking his tone, then realized her reaction was exactly what the detective was looking for. She cleared her expression, not willing to give anything more away about her complicated relationship with Daniel.

“I mean, you’re his type.” Frank cocked his head, his gaze moving over her in a slow sweep that was just short of invasive. “Small, pretty, fragile…”

Rose’s only outward reaction was to sit a little straighter, but inside she was growing angry. Fragile? She was a lot of things, but fragile wasn’t one of them.

“You kind of look like her, too.” Frank’s voice softened. His eyes lowered, as if he were lost in memory.

Rose couldn’t stop herself from responding. “Her?”

Frank’s gaze swung back to hers, fierce and intense. “Tina. My sister. Daniel’s fiancée.”

Rose held still, though Daniel’s response when she’d asked him about being in the market for a wedding flashed through her head. Almost been there, almost done that.

“They didn’t make it to the altar,” Frank added.

Rose bit her tongue to keep from blurting the question the detective obviously wanted her to ask.

“I suppose he’s told you about her, though.”

“What does this have to do with Melissa?”

Frank set the ball on his desk. His gaze narrowed. “Where were you last night after midnight?”

“Home.”

“Alone?”

She pressed her lips together. “Daniel was with me.”

He didn’t look surprised. “He went looking for Melissa last night after she left him a message. Did you go with him?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you and Melissa weren’t on good terms.”

“I was worried about her.”

“Because of the-what did Mr. Phagan say you called it? Death veil?” Frank seemed to take pleasure in her discomfiture, feeding it with his knowing looks and deliberate jabs. Daniel’s friend was good at playing bad cop when he wanted to. No doubt it served him well in interrogations.

But she wouldn’t play that game. “Yes, because of the death veil,” she responded firmly. “I was right to be worried.”

“Can’t argue with that.” Frank’s expression softened. “Did Ms. Bannerman ever mention receiving threats, or maybe noticing someone following her around? Did she change her behavior in any way over the past few days that would make you think she was worried about her personal safety?”

Rose shook her head. “She had a security system put in recently, but I think she saw it as a precaution, not a reaction to any specific threats against her.”

“Do you know what company?”

“Mark can probably tell you more. Oh, wait,” she added, remembering the card that the security technician had given her at the neighborhood meeting. She found the card in her purse and handed it to him. “The installer was Jesse Phillips, with Professional Security Services. Melissa introduced us. She thought I might be interested in a security system of my own.”

Frank looked at the card, his brow creasing. He jotted down the information from the card before handing it back to her. “Did you know Alice Donovan also had a Professional Security Systems alarm system at her apartment?”

“I think Alice referred them to Melissa.” Uneasiness settled in the pit of Rose’s stomach. Had Jesse Phillips installed Alice Donovan’s system, as well?

She could still remember the way he’d looked at her at the neighborhood meeting, his gaze wandering, taking in her breasts and legs. He hadn’t really tried to hide his interest, had he?