Possession (17 page)

“He can’t,” J quickly replied. “Entities can’t travel outside their realm.”

Sam chuckled softly. “English, please.”

She cocked her head at him. “It’s simple. The Shredder has been able to travel between this complex and where the other bodies were found because he’d had a direct earthly tie to them. Sometime during his life, he had been to all those places. Probably had a business dealing at each place, too. But now that he’s dead, his bus won’t take him any place he’s never been. If Mr. Jaynes is lucky, he’ll go somewhere Conader’s never visited.”

“But Conader had a direct tie to Jaynes,” Sam pointed out.

“True. He can still haunt Jaynes through the man’s subconscious, but he physically can’t touch him if the guy is out of his realm.”

“So, what you’re saying is that Conader could conceivably haunt Jaynes for the rest of his life if he can’t manage to get his hands on him.”

“It’s not unheard of.”

Sam quickly refolded the paper and tucked it back inside his jacket pocket. “What kind of vibes are you getting from here, J? Is it safe to let the guys inside to do their usual?”

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Kiel?”

“Same here. We’re gonna need to put out an APB on Jaynes.”

“I still want to check out the apartment,” J said.

Kiel took her hand. “Okay. Sam, I’ll take her over there if you want to go downstairs and give the all clear.”

“Can do. 402?” He glanced over his shoulder to see they had been standing less than a dozen feet away from the front door to the apartment in question. Without waiting for an answer, Sam took the stairwell to head back to the first floor.

Kiel glanced down to see J giving him a small smile.

“It’s okay,” she whispered as he took her hand. “Conader’s not here.”

“Maybe not now, but as long as there’s still one of his big dogs loose, he could come back here. Come on, J. Let’s do our thing and get out of here as quickly as possible.”

Friday

“What time is it?”

“I have no idea. I stopped wearing a watch after I died.”

Kiel felt her laughter as she rolled away from him. Wearily, he turned his head to see what she was doing. There was a nightstand on the other side of the bed. J appeared to be messing with something on it. A moment later, she rolled back toward him and snuggled under his chin
.

“It’s almost half past two.” She sighed loudly. “At least I don’t have to worry whether it’s morning or night.”

“Huh?”

J giggled. “Never mind.” She shifted more tightly against him, and the velvet feel of her skin sliding across his reignited the burning in his blood.

Slowly, he turned onto his side and moved his hand over her hip, up over her ribs, then to the swell of her breast. His thumb circled her rising nipple. With his nail, he lightly outlined the pale areola, scratching the pebbly tip just enough to make her catch her breath. Beneath his palm, he could feel her skin growing warmer.

“Kiel.”

“What, baby?”

“I’m cold.”

Grinning, he lifted himself off the sheets and carefully lowered his body onto hers. Her thighs were already spread, waiting for him as her arms wrapped around his neck. The kiss that followed was tender.

He could feel his erection lying on top of her lower belly, cradled in her soft nest. Moving his hips over it was like rubbing over rough silk. He didn’t expect his body to flare almost instantly in response.

Burying his face beside her cheek, he groaned softly as she reached down to grab him and guide him to her entrance. The moment the sensitive tip felt her heat and wetness, Kiel gently eased into her. J gasped as her body rose unconsciously to accept him, and he filled one hand with her breast.

Her juices were heady and rich, coating her with a scent that spoke to his carnal side. Her channel undulated, the inner muscles gripping, releasing, gripping, releasing him in perfect rhythm.

He never stopped being amazed at how exquisite it felt to make love to her. Even more, Kiel realized how lacking all of his past sexual exploits had been. None of them could compare with the feelings permeating his spirit whenever he touched her, whenever she touched him. Or the rapture that detonated inside him as she climaxed, nearly strangling his pulsing hard-on as he continued to ram it inside her incredible tightness.

Once he felt her sinking in the afterglow, he kissed her sweaty neck and shoulder, but kept his hand on her breast. It trembled with her heartbeat, keeping him as grounded as if he were tucked beneath it.

The room quieted until all he could hear was her breathing slowing into sleep. He was about to roll away from her when a hand touched his arm.

“No. Stay.”

“I was going to,” he whispered.

“I meant on top. You feel perfect.”

Rather than answer her, Kiel remained in place, stretched over her and between her thighs, and partly inside her. For the umpteenth time he wondered how he was able to do what he did, how he could make love to her without a real body, and how his ethereal self could react as if it was still mortal.

“What happens now?”

Her question took him by surprise. Lightly kissing her shoulder, he raised up enough to where he could see her face. It was pitch black in the bedroom, yet she was as clear to him as if he was looking at her in daylight.

“Now?”

Worry crossed her brow. “I meant next.”

“I’m sorry, J. I’m not following you.” He was still too consumed by their lovemaking to understand what she was talking about.

She ran her fingers through his hair. Again, the sensation soothed and surprised him.

“Today, when you and Sam were talking about the Shredder, and you said there was only one more guy left on the list. Jaynes. What happens if the Shredder kills him? Do you really think the Shredder will go away after that?”

“You know as much as I do, J.”

She adjusted her body slightly to ease a cramp, then sighed. Her hand continued to touch him, trailing her fingertips over his ear and down his jaw.

“No stubble.”

“Huh?”

“It’s probably the only flaw in your disguise, Kiel. I made a note of it this afternoon while you were helping with the investigation.”

That’s right.
He should have been sporting a shadow as the investigation continued into the early evening. Although he was blond, his beard had a tendency to be reddish-gold.

They had spent a long time at the apartment complex as they tried to figure out the connection with 402. When the call eventually came that the bodies were discovered in an overgrown, abandoned field not six blocks from the chop shop, he and Sam had taken J over there to see if she could get anything from the victims’ remains. By the time they were ready to call it a day, it was late, and Sam and J were starving.

“Thanks. I’ll remember to adjust.”

“Kiel? What if…what if the Shredder doesn’t find Jaynes?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think there’s a, I don’t know, a holding pattern for vengeful spirits? Kind of like an eternal waiting room? On the off chance that Jaynes could mistakenly end up back in the Shredder’s territory?”

“Hell, at this point, I could believe anything’s possible.”

“And you honestly think you won’t disappear until you find your body?”

“Yeah. That’s what Sam and I think. Whether or not Conader kills Jaynes, I believe the outcome of what’s happening with the Shredder won’t affect my circumstance. My dealings with him are over.” He have a humorless little chuckle and nuzzled her cheek. “Jennifer. Jessica. Joan. Joanna. Jill. No! Jillian!”

J let out a cry, which ended in a fit of giggles. She playfully slapped him on the buttocks. “Stop it! What did you do? Memorize a name dictionary?

“I’m persistent. What can I say?” He started to ground himself against her again. “Let’s stop talking about the job. There are more pleasurable things we could be doing.”

“I thought we already did it,” J said with a smile still in her voice.

“Wanna go for round three?” He started to lift his head so he could look down at her again, when a familiar sound went off on the other side of the bed.

J gave him a shove to get him to move off of her. “I need to answer that.”

He started to ask who would be calling her at this time of the night, when the answer came to him the same moment she answered the phone.

“Yeah. Hold on.” She picked up the set from where it normally stayed on the floor, and placed it on the sheets as she handed him the receiver. Kiel accepted it from her.

“Yes?”

“Lawrence Jaynes has been captured,” Sam said.

“When? Where?”

“His folks had a summer place over on Dover Lake. Neighbors had seen the bulletin on television, and called the local sheriff. Captain’s already sent over two officers to pick him up and bring him back here.”

“Why this time of night? Why not wait until morning?”

“Because he believed us when we told him that Jaynes was the last living target on the Shredder’s list. He’s probably hoping that, by having Jaynes here under his jurisdiction, he can protect the man long enough to go to trial.”

“But having Jaynes back in town will put him back within Conader’s reach,” Kiel argued. He heard his brother sigh, and knew why. “We gotta convince the captain—”

“Captain’s going to believe what he wants to believe.”

Kiel glance at J, who had a puzzled but patient expression on her beautiful face. “What if J tells him?”

There was a moment of silence. “It couldn’t hurt,” Sam finally admitted, then yawned loudly. “I’ll be on my way over as soon as I throw on a pair of pants. Sorry to be interrupting you two.”

“We’ll be waiting.” He hung up the phone and reluctantly lifted himself off of J’s sweet body.

“They found Jaynes?” She rolled out of bed and made her way to her closet as Kiel morphed himself into jeans and a shirt.

“He’s being brought back to town.”

“That’s not a wise decision,” J said, slipping one of those shapeless shifts over her head and pulling it down to where it stopped at her knees. With a flush of heat, Kiel realized she was getting ready to leave without any underwear. Which meant he would be uncomfortably aware of her nipples when they poked out the fabric. He’d be watching for them. Or maybe keeping a close eye on the sleek curve of her butt cheeks when she walked. And if he could see them, then that meant others could, too.

“That’s what
I
said,” he said. Then added, “No panties?”

“I thought we were in a hurry?”

“Sam’s on his way. We have time. Put on some panties. Now. Please.”

J grabbed a pair of white cotton panties from her chest of drawers and pulled them on. She heard Kiel when he made a disparaging sound, and whirled around to face him.

“
Now
what?”

“Why do you wear those granny panties?”

“What are granny panties? Good grief, Kiel. One moment you cut down the way I dress, but in your next breath, you tell me to keep wearing them. Now my
underwear
isn’t good enough?”

He could hear her exasperation, and knew she was growing irritated. Not so much because of him, but because she was tired. And because this case was sorely testing her sanity. If he kept pushing, it might lead to tears, and he didn’t want that.

Kiel took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I’m sorry, J. I may be dead, but I’m still all male. I want to see you in clothes that turn me on. But at the same time, I don’t want other men to see how beautiful you are.”

It was an explanation she could live with. “You only think I’m beautiful because you love me.”

“Hey, you think I’m beautiful, and you’re blind.”

This time, she couldn’t help but laugh, and she was still giggling when they descended the stairs and exited the house where they would wait on the front porch for Sam’s arrival.

“Where are we going?”

“Back to the station house.”

“Where they’re bringing in Mr. Jaynes?”

“That. Actually, I was hoping you could talk some sense into the captain. Make him change his mind.”

“You mean, convince him to put Jaynes in a cell in some other town where the Shredder can’t reach him?”

“Exactly. Think you can do that?”

She faced the street. “All I can do is tell him what I know. I have no ability to mentally manipulate him. I’ll try, Kiel, but I can’t promise I’ll be successful. I mean, if it gets down to the nitty gritty, and I have to explain about the Shredder being dead, how do you think he’s going to take that?”

“Just do what you can.” He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. J leaned back against him, and he closed his eyes to savor the embrace. Giving her a small squeeze, he kissed her hair. The feel of her in his arms was only surpassed by the feel of her around him when he was making love to her.

“Kiel?”

“Yeah?”

“What if you never find your body? Will that mean you’ll continue to exist like you are now for eternity?”

He adjusted his hold on her, and she snuggled closer. “I don’t think it works that way, J. I think, now, mind you, this is all theory and hunch on my part, but I think I only have a limited amount of time to find it.”

“What happens if you don’t?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I fade into some kind of limbo.”

“But if you do, if you do manage to find your body, you’ll fade into limbo, too, won’t you?” Slowly, J turned around and pressed her cheek against his chest. “Either way, I’m going to lose you, won’t I?”

“J.”

“I love you, Kiel. I’ll never forget you.” She was fighting the tears as she pushed her forehead into his jacket’s lapel. “I want you to know that. I want you to take that with you.”

Maybe it was a good thing he couldn’t cry. Her confession was tearing him apart. “I know, J. I know. Listen. Believe me when I say this. You are the only reason I’m able to see this to the end. You’ve given me something to hold on to, and I don’t just mean figuratively.” He grinned and gave her a quick hug. J laughed softly. “I was going crazy. There were days I wanted to give up. And Sam, poor Sam, every morning he wakes up wondering if I’m still around. I can’t imagine how he’s able to cope.” Taking a deep breath, he broached the subject that had been unspoken between them for too long. “J, I asked Sam to watch over you once I was gone. I hope you don’t mind me doing that.”

She answered with a shake of her head. She couldn’t speak.

He felt something warm and wet soak through his shirt, to cool on his skin.

Headlights turned the corner. Kiel straightened up. “Sam’s here.”

They headed for the station house. No one spoke during the trip. Kiel chanced a glance at J, who was sitting next to him in the backseat, but her face was pensive. He had yet to tell the difference between when she was deep in thought, and when she was distracted by her visions.
And chances are, I won’t be around long enough to find out.

“Delta Echo Six Five, report.”

Sam picked up the mic. “Six Five, copy.”

“Delta Echo Six Five, request you move to channel eight.”

Kiel immediately caught Sam’s surprised look back at him via the rearview mirror. Eight was the interdepartmental channel reserved for when the police worked in cooperation with the fire department and any other law enforcement agency called in to help with a current or specific case. In this instance, Sam and Kiel had no doubt what case they were all involved with.