16
Forbidden Lust
Their investigation continued as did Lucas’s nocturnal visits to Annabelle. A suspect list had been drafted with Annabelle listed much to his irritation. There was no way the sweet wildcat he shared a bed with was capable of murder. He also could not share with Cooper why he felt this way. Many times, Lucas had tried to shift the focus from Annabelle and onto other more viable candidates but before long Cooper became suspicious so she stayed on the list.
The vulnerable girl who shared her heartache over her brother with tear-stained cheeks surely wasn’t responsible for shooting these men, regardless of how much she wished the dealer responsible should be punished. He’d even trusted her with his despair and unloaded the story of his parent’s death. The first person he’d ever confided the whole story in besides his partner. Her compassionate eyes and comforting hands helped him to offload his repressed sorrow. They understood each other. Both caught in a grief they would never escape.
Through all this they still maintained casualness to their relationship even if he spent most nights in her bed. They didn’t venture out together or do things couples did, simply shared their burdens and satisfied each other. The sex was fantastic and Lucas was glad he didn’t have to go looking for casual flings. He didn’t have to do any groundwork and there were no strings. Just the way he wanted it. Now all they had to do was find the real killer so he wouldn’t have to avert his eyes from Cooper when they discussed the case.
Two nights after the first night with Annabelle, Nathan called Lucas on route to the hospital, Carrie was in labour. Lucas paced the waiting room anxiously until Nathan appeared bringing proud and happy news, the birth of a son. Thomas, Tommy, had a head full of dark hair and Lucas immediately saw his resemblance to the Hudson side. He sat with Carrie and Tommy for a long time that evening.
Three blissful new nephew days and Annabelle filled nights passed quickly. The case was no closer to being solved and there were no further shootings. It looked set to go cold.
As Lucas strolled into the station three weeks to the day after he began his liaison with Annabelle he felt lighter in his heart. He had to admit that having her fill the lonely nights was ... nice. The fact that he actually liked her and considered evolving their relationship astounded him. Perhaps taking a chance on a relationship would do more good than harm. They’d both experienced loss in a devastating way and filled an empty void in each other’s life. Was he falling in love? It certainly felt great to spend time with her.
No, his mind warned his passionate heart, love is not on the agenda. The nights he didn’t see her he missed her and the thought of something happening to her made him uneasy. If he fell in love with her it would be much worse. As nice as the idea of loving her sounded, it was a bad one. He would need to exercise more caution, guard himself a little better. These whimsical notions needed to stop.
Cooper was already sitting at his desk when Lucas took his seat across from his partner. He glanced up at Lucas and studied him for several moments before returning his eyes to the file in front of him. Lucas pulled the file he’d been reading the previous day containing their interviews with their suspects. He needed to find something, anything which could lead them to the killer and away from Annabelle. Coopers prying eyes were disconcerting. It was as though he could read Lucas’s thoughts.
“You’ve had a spring in your step lately, Kiddo. It’s good to see you happy.” He paused, Lucas lifted his gaze to his partner and put on his shielded expression. Cooper’s eyes met his for a second before returning to the file. “Special lady perhaps?”
Lucas contemplated what to reveal. No reason he couldn’t say there was, he didn’t have to elaborate.
“Yeah, though it isn’t serious, just having some fun, you know?” His attempt at casual wasn’t good enough, Cooper persisted.
“Are you sure about that? You have all the classic signs.”
“Of what?”
Those kind brown eyes lifted to study him again and it took all his control not to squirm in the seat like a chastised child. Cooper didn’t need to say what was on his mind; it all came through in his eyes. He knew something was amiss.
“Being in love,” he finally said and offered an amused grin.
“Ah no, definitely not love, just great sex.”
“If you say so.” He smirked again but the suspicion didn’t leave his eyes.
“Anyway, do you think we need to get heavy on a couple of these suspects? There are a couple who have flimsy alibis.” Lucas changed the subject. His partner would see through him if he didn’t.
“It wouldn’t hurt to re-interview some of the suspects we interviewed first. We never spoke with Annabelle Richardson again. I still like her for this. She was mighty jumpy when we were there.”
“I’m leaning towards David Harrison.”
“Several people witnessed him being present at a function at the time of the first murder.” Cooper persisted.
The crease Cooper got across his forehead when he contemplated had appeared.
“Yes but no-one can verify exactly what time he left. For the other two murders he has no alibi, said he was driving home from work. Both times he left his office as usual at five but didn’t arrive home until well after six.”
“Yeah I know it’s thin but he could have called into the shop on the way home, as he said. The girl has no alibi at all or not one she could recall. I say we talk to her and make her recall.”
“I guess we should talk to them both.”
This was not the way Lucas planned for the conversation to go but if he protested too much then his partner would definitely smell a rat. However, inside Lucas felt relief, Annabelle was working today and wouldn’t be available to interview. How much longer could he dodge the interview? Would she be able to hide their affair from his partner? Keep her face and body language impassive? Could he?
Cooper had started dialling as Lucas’s thoughts drifted and he held his breath as the phone rang out. He racked his brain to see if she divulged during their interview where she worked. The problem here, Lucas knew. She worked at Starbucks and Lucas would have to keep this information from his partner. This bothered him, big time. Not doing his job properly and keeping information from his partner weighed heavy on his shoulders.
“No answer,” he said as he hung up. “Pity we don’t know where she works.”
“Yeah.” Lucas cleared his throat. “So, Mr Harrison then?”
“Yeah, we’ll go and pay him a visit at work and Mr Davis too. We haven’t spoken with him since either. We could try the girl again after. She did mention she finishes work at three so we might be lucky and find her home.”
Fate intervened on Lucas’s behalf that afternoon. After visiting with both men and obtaining little information helpful to the case, they drove towards Annabelle’s. Cooper’s phone rang as they neared her house. A brief conversation ensued and from the one-sided conversation Lucas knew a body must have been found.
“We’ve got another shooting,” he said after he hung up and gave Lucas the address.
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. That was a close one. It couldn’t be her. She was at work. He’d been right about her. Hopefully they would find something new at the scene that would lead them away from Annabelle.