Chapter 7
Alex woke up early the next morning, feeling like she hadn’t had any sleep at all. Her dreams were filled with break-ins and bodies with throats slashed. A life filled with carcasses.
Still groggy she stepped into the shower and turned on the water cooler than normal. She needed something to blast her back into reality. As she stepped out to dry off, she could hear her phone ring. Swearing, she raced into the bedroom, grabbed her cell phone, and said, “Hello.”
“How about we meet for breakfast?”
Macklin’s voice was quiet in her ear. She turned to stare at the mirror, seeing her dripping hair, the damp towel barely hiding the lean body she had been complaining about since she was a child. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I think it’s a great idea. Maybe the more you get to know me, the more you’ll realize I had nothing to do with this.”
“You are still a suspect in a murder inquiry. Getting friendly is not cool.”
“Find a way to knock me off the list so I’m no longer a suspect. I don’t know what you need to do that. But surely we need to do another interview over breakfast,” he said in a warm, persuasive voice.
She smiled despite herself. “I could question you anywhere. A restaurant in full public view is hardly the best location.” But she could feel herself giving in.
“Well, I want to talk over some ideas I’ve had since you told me about those photographs.”
“That’s a different story.”
“Exactly.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not that easy to manipulate.”
“Sure you are,” he said with a big smile in his voice. “Pick the place. Meet you there in fifteen.”
“And if I can’t make it in fifteen?”
“Then I’ll meet you there in twenty.”
She chose a restaurant between the two of them for a convenient location. “And I’ll try for fifteen but no guarantees.” She tossed the phone back on the bed and got to work. Her hair was soaking wet; she braided it to stop most of the dripping. She didn’t have time to use her hair dryer. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a clean white T-shirt. Once dressed, she picked up her weapon, wallet, purse, and keys. She walked outside into the heat and took several long deep breaths. It was probably the coolest it would be all day. Plus the air had a freshness to it this morning that she hadn’t noticed last night. She got into her vehicle and drove to the appointed spot. She checked her watch as she walked in the front door. She was exactly three minutes late. She stood in the center of the restaurant and looked around and then grinned when there was no sign of him. Had she beaten him?
A waitress asked how many for her table.
“Two please. I’m meeting someone here.”
“Macklin? He’s expecting you.”
“He is?” Her grin fell away. “He’s here already?”
The waitress nodded. “Follow me.”
She followed the waitress to the back of the restaurant where the private rooms were. Macklin was inside with his laptop on the table, a cup of coffee beside him.
He looked up and smiled. “I figured, if this was a working breakfast, we should work.”
“Don’t you have a job to go to yourself?”
“A conference. I return to active duty in a week.” He lifted his cup and had a sip, twisting to study her face. “That’s why the early morning call.”
“I like early mornings,” she admitted. “But I prefer them after a good night’s sleep.”
“Hard to sleep with everything going on.”
“True enough but last night it was calm.” She understood what he was asking, even if he didn’t come out and say anything. She noted the look of relief on his face. “So, did you get some sleep?”
“I bunked in with a friend last night. I wanted to make sure if something happened, I had an alibi.”
She sat down slowly, her gaze focused on his features. “That’s very smart of you. Unless, of course, he’s such a good friend he’d lie for you.”
His eyebrows rose to his hairline. “He’s a good friend, but honor is very strong among us. He would never lie for me.”
“I didn’t think so, but you never know.”
“Isn’t that something husbands and wives do for each other? Parents and siblings? Do buddies do that?”
“More often than you think,” she said shortly.
He slipped a piece of paper across the table to her.
“What’s this?”
“When I was walking the Silver Strand neighborhood, I parked a couple blocks away behind a small truck. It may be nothing, but I thought I’d share that info with you.”
She nodded, looked it over, then folded it, and placed it in her purse. “I would like any theories you and your team might have. Otherwise, butt out of my investigation.”
But she had said it with a smile.
The waitress arrived just then. She brought not only a fresh cup of coffee for Alex but also a pot she put on the sideboard heater.
After she left, Alex looked at the pot and said, “I never thought to arrange a backroom meeting like this. It’s a good idea.”
“If we’re going to talk business, we need privacy,” he explained. “There’s an awful lot we need to discuss.”
“Unless you have anything new, there’s nothing I can add,” she said smoothly.
“An IT friend of mine looked closely into Marsha’s background, specifically for friends, since you keep asking me about that element. Even given the current social media climate, she found very little. But the same individual kept coming up as a contact person, both for Marsha’s rental agreements as well as her medical insurance records. A cousin.”
Alex tilted her head. “I already have that name and spoke to her. They are not close.”
“Seems to be the pattern with Marsha.” He leaned back and smiled. “So have you found the intruder?”
She just raised an eyebrow. “You know we haven’t.”
Macklin nodded. “You haven’t. Have you considered maybe it was a woman?”
Alex felt the color drain from her face. She leaned forward, her gaze locking on his, and said, “No. I hadn’t. Why?”
“Tall, lean. Dressed in a way to not define the sex of the intruder. Plus, he did not rape the last woman, even though she was unconscious.”
Alex tapped her pencil on the tabletop as she processed the suggestion. Even those who saw the intruder had said it was male. “If she was very tall, she might have passed as male,” she said slowly, still thinking about it. “Yes, it does help explain the reason why the last woman wasn’t raped. Not all intruders are rapists, however.”
“No, that’s very true. But it might also give you another connection to the four women. … What if Marsha knew them?”
“Well, that’s a possibility I hadn’t considered. We have no forensic evidence, no fingerprints or DNA to say either way.” She turned her head to stare off in the far corner. Even the neighbor had said it was a male. Tall, slim, white skin, but he could only see so much in the gloom. No way to tell male versus female. “If she didn’t have a curvy build and was wearing a jacket …” She slumped back in her chair and thought about it. “No reason it couldn’t have been a female, let’s put it that way.”
“But there are a lot of reasons for it to be a female. She might very well have known all four women.”
“Possibly, but it could be a male for the same reason. One of the women’s boyfriends did have a fight with the intruder. I’ll have to contact him and see if he felt it could be a woman.”
“Particularly because she took off. If it was a physically fit male, it would have been an equal fight, and he might have stayed to pound the guy into the ground a little farther. But instead the person ran away. Correct?”
“Correct,” she said. She pulled out her notepad and jotted down a note. It was an interesting concept.
“Was Marsha a lesbian?” Alex asked.
“If you mean, did we have sex? The answer is yes.”
Alex nodded. “But that doesn’t mean she didn’t have sexual relations with women in her life too.”
The waitress returned a few moments later. She carried two plates heaped high with waffles.
Alex stared down at them. “I didn’t order these.”
“I ordered them,” Macklin said with relish. He rubbed his hands together. “No problem if you can’t eat all of yours. I’ll finish those too.”
She stared at the size of them and at the number of them on each plate. “These are big, even for you.”
“Like hell,” he said naturally. He shoved the paperwork to the side and moved his plate in front of him. He attacked it with a vengeance.
“Hungry by any chance?”
“Yep. By the time we got back to my friend’s place, and I settled on the couch for the rest of the night, it was the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t sleep well because I wasn’t in my bed.”
She nodded. “Still, it’s a smart idea to have somebody with you right now.”
“Yep. Safety in numbers.” He took another bite, and she watched love wash over his face. He settled back with a happy sigh and chewed.
She couldn’t even look at her own plate because she was too busy watching his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody enjoy food quite the same as you are now.”
When he could, he chuckled. “I do like my groceries.” He cut another piece, forked it up, and chewed it slowly.
She surveyed the plate in front of her: three big waffles covered in fresh strawberries and whipping cream all over the top. Her stomach was growling already, but she couldn’t imagine putting all of this down, even if she was famished. She had gotten into the habit of not eating enough, and what she did eat was crappy when it came to nutrition. She cut her first bite and tasted it. The waffles were fresh, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and incredibly flavorful. Often waffles themselves were just a carrier for the fruit and whipping cream. But these had a hint of cinnamon and a little bit of vanilla in them. She swallowed and said, “These are delicious.”
Macklin nodded, but he didn’t waste any energy talking.
She grinned at his focus and singular determination to enjoy his meal. It was a pleasure to watch him. He was the kind of guy her mother would have loved cooking for. Her mom hadn’t done any cooking in a long time, but, back in the day, when Alex was young, her mom had enjoyed cooking and taking food to the office.
By the time she was halfway through her waffles, she slowed down. After a few more bites, she put down her fork and moved her plate aside. One full waffle and one-third of another were left. But the strawberries and whipping cream were long gone. She reached for her coffee and realized her cup was empty. Pushing back her chair, she walked to the sideboard and filled her cup. “Do you want a refill?”
“Yes, please.”
She brought the pot over and saw his plate was empty. “Do you want the rest of mine?”
He looked at her plate and smiled. “Oh, yeah. Thank you.”
“Sorry about the lack of cream and berries.”
“Not a problem.” He finished her plate off in what seemed like four or five bites.
When he stacked the empty plates out of the way and rubbed his tummy, she had to laugh. “I guess it takes lot of food to feed somebody your size.”
“It does. Lots of it and often.” He looked at the rest of the paperwork as he dragged it toward him. “Is there anything else here we need to discuss?”
“There’s nothing we need to discuss. This is my investigation,” she said, adding a cool note to her tone. It wouldn’t do him any good to think he was involved in this investigation. “I need you to stay clear of trouble while I get to the bottom of it.”
“Okay. I’ll continue doing what I can on my side, and you do what you do officially.” He lifted his gaze and gave her a hard smile. “Just don’t tell me to back off.”
She sat back in her chair. “You’re going to be difficult, aren’t you?”
“It’s my life. Wouldn’t you want to consider the aspects of a murder investigation if somebody was trying to pin it on you?”
She frowned and mentally gave him a point for that one. “If you don’t interfere with my investigation, it’s fine.”
“I have no problem with that. I spoke to Bill this morning.”
She growled. “He was on my list to call.”
“Well, now he’s expecting your call.”
She shook her head. “And that’s interfering with my investigation.”
*
Macklin looked at her. He’d hoped she’d ease up on him if he had arranged breakfast. And it seemed to work, at least for a while. He leaned forward. “Come on. Bill is a friend. Once he understood what the problem was, he had no hesitation talking to you. I needed to know for myself if he thought someone was against me when we were in BUD/S training. He was the logical person to ask.” He added in a low voice, “So don’t get mad at me. I need to know if anybody might have had a reason to do this to me. He was just one of the people I contacted to look for information.”
He watched as she calmed down slightly. She was fun to get riled up, but, at the same time, she could turn snippy. He liked that about her. He also liked the fact she was pushing back inside her investigation. He liked women with backbone. Of course she couldn’t be easygoing and deal with criminals all day.
“Would you like to go out for a drink one night?” He froze. He hadn’t expected that to come out. But it looked like she was even more shocked than he was.
She narrowed her gaze as if accessing if there was a true sense of attraction or if he was trying to be manipulative.
He settled back and grinned. “I didn’t expect that to come out,” he admitted. “But it’s a great idea.”
She continued to stare at him. “Remember the part where we shouldn’t be spending time together while you’re a suspect?”
“Remember that part about clearing me so I’m no longer a suspect?” he countered.
She chuckled. The sound was joyous as it rebounded around the room. “Yes, I do remember. You’re certainly sliding down the list, but you’re not off it completely.”
“The only time it’s a good thing not to be at the top of the class,” he said, laughing.
“What else did Bill have to say?”
“He said some of the guys who didn’t make the cut were angry. They felt my size gave me an advantage in some of the endurance tasks.”
She chuckled. “Everybody will always have an excuse as to why they haven’t done as well as somebody else. They just need to look to themselves first and foremost instead of looking for excuses.”
“I agree with you,” Macklin said. “Too often people look for outside reasons, not inside reasons. BUD/S training was more than about size and fitness. It was all about internal strength. That I’ve got in spades.” He watched as she picked up her coffee cup and took a sip, her gaze never leaving his face. He liked that about her. “I like you,” he said, surprise following his words. “I hadn’t expected to.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“After Marsha, I didn’t like very many women,” he admitted. “But you’re different.”
That tumbled a laugh out of her. “In what way?”
“Intelligent. Driven. You don’t take flak from anyone. And of course that spark of chemistry is there.”
She didn’t say anything for a long moment.
But he’d been around enough women, had had enough relationships to know what he felt. He also knew it was reciprocated. Whether she wanted to admit it or not.
But how she reacted would tell him a lot about who she was.
She gave him a small nod and said, “Yes, I feel it. That doesn’t mean I’ll do anything about it.”
He leaned back and said, “And that’s why I like you again. You’ve got enough self-confidence to step up and say, Yes, there is that same attraction, but it’s not the time or the place. Not that I agree with you,” he said with a smirk. “But I understand your reasons.”
“Then don’t push me,” she said quietly. “Please.”
He gave her a quick nod. “Only until the investigation is over.”
“Talk about being focused and dedicated,” she said. “I should take lessons from you.”
“Nope. But, when I really like something—someone,” he said, “I go after it.”
And damn if he didn’t watch color come up her face to match the heat she felt there. She glanced at her notes and asked, “Don’t you have somewhere to go by now? It’s almost nine.”
“Shit.” He stacked his notes and said, “You’re too much of a distraction.”
“Another reason we shouldn’t meet like this,” she said smoothly.
He rolled his eyes at her. “Nice try.” But he was grinning.