Paula Graves - Forbidden Temptation

Had he been toying with her, even then? He could have found out where she lived easily enough. No big effort from there to leave a cryptic note thanking her for setting up the neighborhood meeting-or giving her his condolences for a death he’d caused.

Was it possible?

She told Frank about meeting Jesse Phillips at the neighborhood meeting. “It could be a coincidence, but-”

“But you received the first note the next day,” Frank finished with a nod. “We’ll look into it.”

Rose glanced toward the doorway, wishing Daniel would come back. She wanted to see if he thought her theory was plausible.

It could be the break in the case they’d been hoping for.

CAPTAIN SHEILA GREEN was a tall, thin woman who was probably in her early fifties but looked at least a decade younger. Her café-au-lait skin was wrinkle-free and unblemished, her short black Afro only lightly flecked with gray. She greeted Daniel with a brief smile and waved him into the chair in front of her desk. “Pleased to meet you, Dr. Hartman. I’ve followed your work for years.”

“Thank you. Appreciate your meeting with me.”

She steepled her hands in front of her, looking at him over the top of her half-glasses. “How did you learn of this case?”

“I’ve been tracking murder cases all over the Midwest and southeast that feature certain similarities,” Daniel answered. He outlined the work he’d been doing for the past few years since leaving the FBI for the private sector. “I believe this man has killed over twenty women in the past seven years. Perhaps, more, since I can’t be sure I’ve discovered them all.”

Captain Green’s eyes narrowed slightly. She pushed a button on her phone. “Sharon? Has Agent Brody arrived yet?”

Brody? Daniel’s muscles bunched.

The secretary answered an affirmative.

Captain Green’s smile looked distinctly predatory. “Please send him in.”

A moment later the office door opened and Special Agent Cal Brody of the FBI swaggered in, meeting Daniel’s stony gaze with a grin. “Hello, Doc. Long time, no see.”

Not long enough, Daniel thought. “Thought you retired.”

Brody laughed. “I hear you want in on this case. We’ve already got a profiler from Quantico working on it.”

“Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

Brody dropped into the empty chair next to Daniel and laid a thick file folder on the edge of the desk in front of him. He turned a bright smile toward Captain Green. “Hi, Sheila. Thanks for calling me in on this meeting.”

Daniel glanced at the captain. A slight smile curved her lips and she lifted one perfectly arched eyebrow.

“I don’t have any real objection to your coming in on this thing,” Brody continued, calling Daniel’s attention back to him. “Like you say, another pair of eyes won’t hurt a thing.”

“But?”

“But we’re a little concerned about your relationship to a material witness in the case.”

Rose, of course. “Concerned how?”

“When she first showed up on our radar as a peripheral witness in the investigation of Alice Donovan’s murder, the name rang a bell with me.” Brody picked up the file folder from the edge of Captain Green’s desk and flipped through until he found a sheet of paper. He handed the sheet to Daniel.

It was a photocopy of a newspaper article about a case that had been big news a little over a year ago-a politically motivated kidnapping that had led to murder and a huge scandal. A black-and-white photo of a man and a woman speaking to each other, heads close, took up the right side of the article.

Daniel read the caption. “Lieutenant J. McBride of the Borland Police Department confers with elementary schoolteacher Lily Browning, who allegedly claims to have seen visions of Abby Walters, missing since her mother’s murder.”

Lily Browning.

Rose’s sister.

Brody and the captain looked expectantly at Daniel. He remained silent, preferring to see what direction they were going with the information about Rose’s sister.

“You can understand our concerns,” Captain Green said when it became clear he had no response.

“Especially considering our conversation this morning with Mark Phagan,” Brody added. “Ms. Bannerman recently fired Ms. Browning over some rather interesting claims-”

“I know what the split was about.” Daniel tried to ignore the queasy heat churning in the pit of his stomach.

Brody looked surprised. “So you know what she’s claiming. And you don’t find that…alarming?”

Daniel met the FBI agent’s narrowed gaze. “She’s not a danger to herself or anyone else.”

“You sound like McBride.”

Daniel looked at the newspaper photo. McBride looked like television’s idea of a typical cop-muscular and solid, with short-cropped hair and strong, craggy features. No-nonsense written all over him. “So McBride listened to Lily Browning?”

“Listened to her? Hell, he married her.” Brody slanted Daniel a look. “He didn’t seem the gullible type, either.”

“Never said I believed her, just that she’s not dangerous.”

“She says she sees visions of people about to die.” Captain Green shook her head. “She’s either lying or insane.”

Daniel didn’t argue. He couldn’t defend Rose when he wasn’t yet sure what he thought about her claims. “Let’s get to the point, okay? Am I in on the case or not?”

Captain Green’s eyes narrowed, but she picked up a folder from her desk and handed it to him. “Copies of everything we have on the murders. Crime-scene photos, lab reports, witness interviews, the whole she-bang. I’m trusting you with these because of your reputation and on the recommendation of people you’ve worked with before. And, yes, I did check.”

“Of course.” Daniel kept his expression neutral, but excitement was already building in the pit of his belly. The information inside the file he held was a gold mine to a profiler. All he needed was one piece of data he didn’t already have. One bit of evidence that could make or break the case.

Captain Green’s voice grew stern. “If anything in that file shows up in the media without our express permission, there will be dire consequences. Understood?”

“Understood. Thank you, ma’am.” Daniel headed for the exit, sparing a look at Agent Brody, who looked dyspeptic. Feds talked a good game about interagency cooperation, but most thought the locals were rubes and outside “experts” were shills.

He suspected Brody’s opinion of former FBI profilers wasn’t much better. Especially profilers who consorted with the likes of Rose Browning or her flaky sisters.

DANIEL WAS QUIET on the drive back to her house. Rose darted a glance at him. “I think Jesse Phillips is a good lead,” she said.

“Probably,” he agreed absently.

“Maybe whoever did the background check on him at the security company missed something important.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

His unresponsiveness was beginning to get on her nerves. “I think Detective Carter was interrogating me.”

That earned her a quick glance.

“He knows about the death veils.”

“I know.” Daniel didn’t sound happy about it.

She nibbled her lip. “He asked a lot of questions about my relationship with Melissa.” She told him what Frank had asked, about the suspicion he hadn’t been able to hide. She considered mentioning the detective’s out-of-the-blue comment of his sister, but decided against it. Just because the detective had been fishing for information about her relationship with Daniel didn’t mean she was about to do the same. If Daniel wanted to tell her about Tina, he would.

“Once I mentioned Jesse Phillips, he changed his focus,” she added. “But he didn’t act like he considered Mark Phagan a suspect at all.”