Lorie O - Strong, Sleek and Sinful

Like always, any time either of them got knee-deep in bullshit, talking it out with each other usually helped. It did for Perry at least. He knew his friend couldn’t always discuss cases in depth when he was buried up to his balls in them. But there had been a time or two over the years when he’d unloaded probably more than he should have on Perry.

“Several teenage girls have come up missing. We had one the other day who appeared out of nowhere, raped and beaten damn near beyond recognition. She made it to the back of the grocery store before collapsing and dying. One of the employees there found her.”

“Shit. You got leads?”

“I got voice mail right before calling you back. They can’t find anything on her hard drive. Another girl who snuck out of her parents’ house to meet a guy and got intercepted by her father had been chatting with someone named Peter. I think he’s an online sexual predator right here in town. There’s a Web site that I found that had the girl we found today’s picture on it.”

“One of the porn sites you mentioned?” Noah was all business now. “You wanted me to help you figure out how to locate where the Web sites originate, right?”

“Yup. I got put on Kathleen Long’s case today, the girl we found behind the store. So hopefully I’ll get a bit more cooperation out of the department now.”

“What’s the Web site that had her picture on it?”

“Are you online now?” Perry moved his mouse, and his screen glowed to life in the dark den. Gulping down more beer, he quickly logged into his chat program and pulled up the Web site.

“I’m logging in now,” Noah told him.

Perry waited until he saw Noah appear on his buddy list and then sent the link to the Web site. At the same time, the site opened on the screen. The pictures were different than they’d been the last time Perry looked.

“Damn it, she’s not there anymore.”

“Big surprise, huh.”

“No shit. But I saved the page. Hold on.” Perry went to the saved file and then sent it to Noah. “Two girls have disappeared over the past six months. Another would have disappeared if her father hadn’t followed her and prevented it. We know all of them were talking to a boy who went by ‘Peter.’ He claims to be their age, but always says he lives in a town nearby. He lures them out of the house and that’s the last we hear of them. I can’t prove yet Kathleen Long, or this Web site, is connected to the other two girls. But my hunch is that they are.”

“Could be,” Noah said, sounding distracted. More than likely he was checking out the Web site. “What else do you got?”

“Not much. My nieces have been talking to a woman who is working on a thesis,” he began.

“Okay, and?” It didn’t take much for Noah to catch onto a vague line and know there was more to it.

“I’ve spent a bit of time with her.” He wasn’t sure why he said that, and paused, regrouping. He didn’t know how to explain Kylie. “She’s interviewing teenagers so she can write this college paper, but she won’t show me the paper and then last night I caught her trying to meet someone in a dark parking lot.”

“No shit?”

“I intervened and the guy took off, but then she took off, too. She’s got all this surveillance equipment rigged up around her house, and a room that she has locked and won’t let me in to see what is in there.”

“You think she is Peter?”

“No. Oh, hell no. But I think she’s a cop chaser and she’s going to get her ass hurt if she tries playing detective, especially with a case like this.”

Noah didn’t say anything. Perry worked around his thoughts, trying to put into words his gut reaction toward her.

“Dani loves her to the point she even talked to Megan about her. And Dani doesn’t open up about her life to any of us.”

“Dani is your niece, right?” Noah had met the girls briefly a few years ago, but Perry didn’t blame him for not being able to keep names straight.

“Yeah. No student wires her home like Kylie has. The security system she’s installed is more sophisticated than most people can afford.”

“Kylie Dover?” Noah asked.

“Yeah. Why? Do you know her?” It never crossed Perry’s mind that Kylie could possibly be more than a novice detective out to get herself off on some warped obsession with chasing bad guys. Now that he thought about it, if she was connected with some agency it would explain a hell of a lot, except for the part about her intense secretiveness.

“No. Not a Kylie Dover,” Noah said, sounding sincere enough to believe. “If she were an agent there would be no reason why she wouldn’t tell you.”

“True.” He stared at his beer bottle and then shifted his attention to his computer screen. “So what can you tell me about this Web site?”

“Rain is checking it out now. I don’t think she wants me drooling over all of the pictures.”

A wounded female voice in the background made Perry smile, although he wasn’t amused. Kylie would tell him if she was FBI or a private detective. There wouldn’t be any reason why she wouldn’t. Noah was right.

There was another reason she was protecting herself so thoroughly. Which meant that either she was a novice detective or whatever was in that bedroom had nothing to do with the case and she had another secret. It was becoming quite apparent he wasn’t going to let it drop until he knew the truth, which meant he needed to push the hot little blonde even harder. Fucking her harder sounded damn good as well.

“Perry, it looks as if you’ve got quite a scene going on down there. I’ll do some checking and should be able to get you a physical address on this Web site’s ISP tomorrow. You’re right about it being based in Kansas City.”

“I knew it. Send me the proof as soon as you’ve got it.”

“Will do. And keep me posted on your new conquest.”

“Conquest?”

“Whatever, man. I haven’t been FBI all these years to not recognize the tone in your voice. If you haven’t fucked her already, you’re planning on doing it soon.”

“Either way is none of your business.”

“Okay, so you already have.” Noah laughed in Perry’s ear, undaunted by Perry biting his head off.

Which was a mistake. Perry should know better after all these years. Chewing Noah’s ass got him going, and he was ready to spar. Perry leaned back in his chair, growling into the phone. Noah was one hell of a detective and always had been. The only way to keep information from him was to keep your mouth shut.

Another thing about Noah, though: he was loyal to a fault.

“If she were FBI, could you tell me?”

“Sure. As long as she wasn’t working undercover.”

Kylie got out of her car at the library when her phone rang. Glancing at the number, she groaned. There wasn’t any avoiding the call, but she sure didn’t want to take it. Placing her laptop case on top of her car, she took in the cars in the parking lot and who was walking on the sidewalks and coming and going from the library as she answered.

“This is Donovan,” she said officially.

“Donovan, I’m going to kick your ass,” John Athey yelled into the phone.

“Take a number,” she said, and rolled her eyes. She really didn’t have time for this crap. “The cameras are on and running properly. I’m headed into the library to meet with some kids and learn if and who might be talking to Peter. Anything else you needed, Chief?”

“Don’t fucking patronize me,” he hissed, sounding as though his blood pressure would go through the roof any minute. “I’ve gone through your file. Your level of insubordination won’t fly in this town, missy.”

“Look through the file again. You’ll get your man. I always deliver.”