Suzanne Brockmann - Tall, Dark and Deadly - Get Lucky

After what seemed like forever, she sensed more than saw Luke straighten up, heard him draw in one last deep breath and blow it out in a burst.

“Thanks,” he said.

Syd finally risked a glance at him. Most of the color had returned to his face. He reached for her hand, loosely lacing her fingers with his as he gave her a rueful smile. “That would’ve been really embarrassing if I’d fainted.”

“Oh,” she said innocently, “were you feeling faint, too? I know I’m not taking enough time to eat right these days, and that plus the lack of sleep….”

He gently squeezed her hand. “And thanks, also, for not rubbing in the fact that right now I’m the one slowing you down.”

“Well, now that you mention it….”

Luke laughed. God, he was good-looking when he laughed. Syd felt her hands start to sweat. If she hadn’t been light-headed before, she sure as hell was now.

“Let’s go inside,” Luke said. “Find out if this guy left a calling card this time.”

Syd gently pulled her hand free as she stood up. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“MARY BETH HOLLIS…” Detective Lucy McCoy told Syd over the phone “…is twenty-nine years old. She works in San Diego as an administrative assistant to a bank president.”

Syd was sitting in the airless office at the naval base, entering the information about the latest victim into the computer. “Single?” she asked.

“Recently married.”

Syd crossed her fingers. “Please tell me her husband works here at the base…” She had a theory about the victims, and she was hoping she was right.

But Lucy made the sound of the loser button. “Sorry,” she said. “He works in legal services at the same bank.”

“Her father?”

“Deceased. Her mother owns her own flower shop in Coronado.”

Syd didn’t give up. “Brothers?”

“She’s an only child.”

“How about her husband. Did he have any brothers or sisters in the Navy?”

Lucy knew where she was going. “I’m sorry, Syd, Mary Beth has no family ties to the base.”

Syd swore. That made her theory a lot less viable.

“But…” Lucy said.

Syd sat up. “What? You’ve got something?”

“Don’t get too excited. You know the official police and FInCOM position—”

“That the fact that eight out of twelve victims are connected to the base is mere coincidence?” Syd said a most indelicate word. “Where’s the connection with Mary Beth?”

“It’s a stretch,” Lucy admitted.

“Tell me.”

“Former boyfriend. And I mean former. As in nearly ancient history. Although Mary Beth just got married, she’s been living with her lawyer for close to four years. Way before that, she was hot and heavy with a captain who still works as a doctor at the military hospital. Captain Steven Horowitz.”

Syd sighed. Four years ago. That was a stretch.

“Still think there’s a connection?” Lucy asked.

“Yes.”

Lucky poked his head in the door. “Ready to go?”

Like Syd, he’d been working nonstop since last night’s late-night phone call about the most recent attack. But unlike Syd, he still looked crisp and fresh, as if he’d spent the afternoon napping rather than sifting through the remaining personnel files of the men on the naval base.

“I gotta run,” Syd told Lucy. “I’m going back to the hypnotist, see if I noticed any strange cars parked in front of my house on the night Gina was attacked. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” Lucy said. “If you could remember the license-plate number, I’d be most appreciative.”

“Yeah, what are the odds of that? I don’t even know my own plate number. Later, Lucy.” Syd hung up the phone, saved her computer file and stood, trying to stretch the kinks out of her back.

“Anything new turn up?” Lucky asked as they started down the hall.

“Four years ago, Mary Beth Hollis—victim twelve—used to date a Captain Horowitz.”

“Used to date,” he repeated. He gave her a sidelong glance. “You’re working hard to keep your theory alive, eh?”

“Don’t even think of teasing me about this,” Syd countered. “Considering all the women who lived in San Felipe and Coronado, it couldn’t be coincidence that nine out of twelve victims were related to someone who worked at the base. There’s a connection between these women and the base, I’m sure of it. However, what that connection is…” She shook her head in frustration. “It’s there—I just can’t see it. Yet,” she added. “I know I’m close. I have this feeling in my…” She broke off, realizing how ridiculous she sounded. She had a feeling… .

“In your gut?” he finished for her.

“Okay.” She was resigned. “Go ahead. Laugh at me. I know. It’s just a crazy hunch.”

“Why should I laugh at you,” Luke said, “when I believe that you’re probably on to something?” He snorted. “Hell, I’d trust your hunches over FInCOM’s any day.”

He wasn’t laughing. He actually believed her.

As Syd followed Lieutenant Lucky O’Donlon out into the brilliant afternoon, she realized that over the past few days, something most unlikely had occurred.

She and Navy Ken had actually started to become friends.

SYD OPENED HER EYES and found herself gazing up at an unfamiliar ceiling in a darkened room. She was lying on her back on a couch and…

She turned her head and saw Dr. Lana Quinn’s gentle smile.

“How’d I do?” she asked.

Lana made a slight face and shook her head. “A ‘dark, old-model sedan’ was the best you could come up with. When I asked you what make or model, you said ugly . You didn’t see the plates—not that anyone expected you to—but I have to confess I’d hoped.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Syd tiredly pulled herself up into a sitting position. “I’m not a car person. I’m sorry—” She looked around. “Where’s Luke?”

“Waiting room,” Lana said as she pulled open the curtains, brightening up the room. “He fell asleep while he was out there—while I was putting you under. He looked so completely wiped out, I couldn’t bring myself to wake him.”

“It’s been a tough couple of days,” Syd told the doctor.

“I heard another woman was attacked last night.”

“It’s been frustrating,” Syd admitted. “Particularly for Luke. We haven’t had a whole lot of clues to go on. There’s not much to do besides wait for this guy to screw up. I think if Luke had the manpower, he’d put every woman in both of these cities in protective custody. I keep expecting him to start driving around with a bullhorn warning women to leave town.”

“Quinn’s in DC this week,” Lana said. “He’s worried, too. He actually asked Wes Skelly to check up on me. I left for work earlier than usual this morning, and Wes was sitting in his truck in front of my house. It’s crazy.”

“Luke keeps trying to get me to stay overnight at the base,” Syd told her, “and for the first time in his life, it’s for platonic reasons.”

Lana laughed as she opened the door to the waiting room. “I’m sorry to have to kick you out so soon, but I’ve got another patient.”

“No problem. Dark, old-model sedan,” Syd repeated. “Thanks again.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

Syd went into the waiting room, where a painfully thin woman sat as far away as possible from Luke, who lay sprawled on the couch, still fast asleep.

He was adorable when he slept—completely, utterly, disgustingly adorable.

The skinny woman went into Lana’s office, closing the door tightly behind her as Syd approached Luke.

“Time to go,” she announced briskly.