Into the Fury (BOSS, Inc. #1)(45)

Room service. Staying in the suite would mean spending more time alone with him. More time for her mind to remember the feel of his mouth moving hotly over hers, the way he had taken possession, the hard muscles bunching beneath his T-shirt.

More time for temptation.

“I’ll get dressed and go downstairs. I’ll call Meg. She must have heard the news by now. I’ll see if she wants to meet me.”

Ethan nodded. She could feel his reserve, firmly back in place. He was once more in control. He intended to stay that way.

If she wanted more from Ethan Brodie, it would be up to her.

Val told herself it had only been a moment of weakness.

But she had never been much good at lying to herself.





Chapter Seventeen



Ethan drove his rented Buick out to the theater, following the limo bus. He would need transportation later, when he met Heath Ford at the crime scene.

All morning he worked with his team, going over possible problems inside the theater, security precautions they would need to take for the show on Friday night. He didn’t get the call from Heath until two in the afternoon.

“CSIs are finished,” Heath said. “I’ll meet you out there.”

With Dirk and a busload of security people at the rehearsal hall to cover the women, Ethan drove his rental car out the North Stemmons Freeway toward the Tiger’s Eye Lounge, a fifteen-minute trip out of Dallas. The address Heath had given him for Mandy Gee’s house was only five minutes from where she worked.

The July afternoon heat was stifling, at least a hundred degrees. There’d been a time when he’d been used to the scorching weather, but not anymore. Ethan slid his wraparound sunglasses over his eyes, turned the air-conditioning up full blast, and tried not to think of the deep green forests of Seattle.

It didn’t take long to reach his destination. Parking the Buick behind Heath’s unmarked white sedan, he headed up the walk. Mandy Gee’s small, gray-stucco, single-story, hip-roof house needed a paint job. The lawn was mostly dirt. What little grass grew in the yard badly needed mowing.

As he got closer, Heath walked out of the house and stood waiting for him on the porch. Yellow crime-scene tape stretched over the front door.

“They’re finished and gone,” Heath said. “Come on in.”

Ethan removed his shades and hooked the earpieces into the top of his T-shirt. Walking in behind Heath, he paused in the living room to look around.

“Lots of blood, so be careful,” Heath said. “The guy was a real crazy.”

The place was a shambles. Broken lamp shades on the dingy brown carpet was soaked with the victim’s blood. The worn sofa was bloodstained. Scarlet drops splattered one of the walls. Mandy and her roommate were lousy housekeepers, but the place was so torn up Ethan barely noticed.

“Body was sprawled on the floor in front of the couch,” Heath said. “Way it looks, he threatened her with a knife, cut her pretty bad a couple of times as she fought him.” He pointed to a blood smear on the edge of the coffee table. “Fell and hit her head. Fall knocked her unconscious. Killer raped her, then strangled her.”

Ethan started shaking his head. “Not our guy,” he said. “Not even close.”

Heath’s dark brown eyebrows went up. “One look and you’re that sure?”

“Your perp got off on the violence, wanted to draw it out. He wasn’t careful. Blood everywhere. Likely left fingerprints.” He looked up. “I’m guessing you got DNA?”

Heath nodded. “Got semen. Hair follicles. Fingerprints. Blood beneath the victim’s nails.”

“And?”

Heath shook his head. “That’s the bad news. Nothing in AFIS. Nothing anywhere that we’ve turned up so far. We’re hoping for a DNA match, but—”

“But if he isn’t in the system, he isn’t in the system. You’re probably not going to find a DNA match either.”

“You could be right.”

“Maybe that’s the reason he didn’t care what evidence he left behind. Maybe he isn’t quite as crazy as he seems. Maybe he knew he didn’t have to worry about you finding him. At least not through the system.”

Ethan wandered slowly through the living room, careful not to step in any blood, then moved into the bedroom. The bed hadn’t been made, but it didn’t look recently slept in.

“What was she wearing?”

“G-string and pasties under a red silk robe.”

“So she hadn’t had time to change after she got home. Wonder why she didn’t change at the club.”

“House is just blocks away. I’ll ask, but it’s probably just her normal routine.”

Ethan’s gaze went to the bedroom window. It was open, the screen pulled off. “Guy went into the backyard, came in through the window.”

He walked over to the closet. The sliding doors were open. He could see where the clothes had been pushed aside. “Hid in the closet till she was in the house, then went after her. The neighbors hear anything?”

“If they did, they aren’t talking. Good chance he caught her by surprise. No time to scream, sound any kind of alarm.”

That was Ethan’s thinking. “Where was the note?”

“On the coffee table, next to the body.”