Red Tide (Siren Publishing Classic) (13 page)

Father and son had both been sentenced in separate trials to over thirty years in the state prison at Starke.

“Do you think you ought to go talk to someone?” George suggested.

“I don’t know. I think it’s just the stress getting to me. I’ll be okay.” He went back to his papers. “I know I can find this guy.”

George waited a moment longer before standing to return to his own desk. “I’ll talk to you later then. You want to have lunch?”

Kenny nodded. “Sure.”

Kenny waited until George left to lean back in his chair again and stare out the window. He missed Jenny like hell. After all the years, the guilt still hadn’t passed. He wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger, but he felt he might as well have been. Because he was a cop, she got killed. It was something that normally happened only in the fantasyland of fiction. Then again, Miami
was
a fantasyland of sorts.

He had a gut feeling Romeo lived in or near Tampa since he found himself more than one victim in the same area. Romeo wasn’t about to quit, not now, not since he’d gotten away with it so easily. Kenny had a feeling that once they did catch the killer, they’d discover that not only had he killed the women they’d found so far, but probably many, many others.

Another Ted Bundy.

Kenny flipped through the file until he located the map of the state. In red ink he’d drawn dots and written in the dates of the various killings. Miami, Tallahassee, Palm Beach, Naples, Tampa, Tampa, Tampa.

The earliest victim he could comfortably attribute to Romeo was Jennifer Robbins, twenty-six, also a prostitute, from Hollywood. Her body was found in Miami, out near Miami International. That was June 28, four years earlier. A gap of two years passed until the next one that could clearly be attributed to Romeo, Tracy Golez on March 10 two years prior, in Tallahassee. Then Angela Jones on April 6 in Naples, followed by Mary Davis in Palm Beach on November 23 last year.

This year’s body count was Paula Jenkins on June 10, Karen Myers on August 2, and now Denise Stanley, all from Tampa. Kenny shuddered to think about the victims as of yet unaccounted for.

Kenny knew that if he started to go through all the missing-persons cases, he would probably find several more names to add to the growing list. Letting his mind slip a notch further down into the case brought the hunch that there were probably twice as many close calls as there were actual victims, times when he intended to kill but someone or something blew the opportunity for him.

Kenny started catching up on paperwork with thoughts of Romeo circling in his mind.

* * * *

Jenna looked at the laptop he set up on the kitchen counter. “Boy, this is a nice one. Mine isn’t nearly this powerful.”

John smiled. “Nothing but the best, I always say.” He checked his e-mail. “A few years ago, I was computer illiterate. My wife got a computer and got me into it. Now, I’m a regular computer junkie. Everything’s on my computer.”

She watched his nimble fingers and a shiver of pleasure ran down her spine as she recalled what those very same hands did to her just mere hours earlier. “Would you like to come over to my place tonight?”

He smiled. “I would love to, but I need to go in early tomorrow to catch up on today’s work.” He looked up and saw disappointment flash across her face before he added, “How about I take you out tonight and you can stay here again? I’ll just leave in the morning and you can go when you like. I’ll be back in the evening.”

Her face brightened. “That would be wonderful.”

It was so easy once you knew which buttons to push.

* * * *

Mitch had to look up the number to his office. It had been so long since she’d last called him that she couldn’t remember it. She didn’t have his new cell number.

She didn’t want it.

She waited until his secretary came on the line.

“Gulf Coast Images,” she answered.

“Yes, good morning, Donna. This is Mitch. Is John in?”

There was an audible pause as Donna had to think for a moment who Mitch was. Once recognition set in, a new warmth filled the secretary’s voice. Donna and Mitch had always gotten along well. “Mitch! Hi, I’m sorry. I haven’t talked to you in so long, it took me a minute. How are you doing?”

Donna was a plump, cheerful grandmother who could charm the pants off the Devil himself if she had to. “I’m fine, Donna. I need to talk to John today, if possible. Is he in?”

* * * *

“I’m sorry, Mitch, but he called in and left a message that he’s not coming in today. He didn’t say where he was.”

Donna wasn’t sure exactly what had transpired between her boss and his wife, but she had a gut instinct that Mitch literally caught him with his pants down. She knew very little about her employer’s actual business dealings other than through the phone messages she took and the few letters he had her type, but she knew he couldn’t keep his fly zipped. Donna was little more than a figurehead for him. John Tyne paid her to open and close the office Monday through Friday, screen phone calls when he was in, take messages when he wasn’t, and perform basic errands and computer entry. Other than that, he did it all.

Her intuition also told her that his business probably took in a lot more money than he actually claimed, but she wasn’t paid to know those things. She was smart enough to not make any comments about her beliefs regarding the real reasons for all his trips to Grand Cayman, just like she knew she was deliberately being overpaid to basically do nothing for most of the week. That suited her just fine.

“Is he supposed to be in tomorrow?” Mitch asked.

“He said he would, but you know how he is.”

Donna heard Mitch sigh. “Yes. He hasn’t changed a bit. Would you please leave him a message that I would like to come in and see him? He doesn’t have to call me back himself. If he could give you a day and time and you could call me? I’d like to do it in the next day or two if at all possible.”

“Sure. No problem.” Donna wrote the message down. “He usually calls in around two on the days he’s out, so I’ll tell him.”

“Okay. Thank you, Donna. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” Donna paused, wanting to say more, but not quite sure how to phrase it. “Listen, Mitch, I don’t know what happened between you two, but I’m really sorry. You’re a good woman and you deserve better.”

* * * *

Mitch wasn’t expecting that, but it moved her more than she thought it would. “Thank you, Donna. Really, I mean it. I’m okay. I’ve been okay for a long time now. It took me a while to get over it, but I’m moving on. I’m going to go ahead and file for divorce, but please don’t tell him that. That’s why I want to talk to him.”

“Ahhh. I see. I won’t say a word.” The secretary giggled. “Personally, and I know this is a really evil thing for me to say, but I hope you soak him good, dear.”

Mitch burst out laughing so hard it brought tears to her eyes. The women laughed together for a minute before Mitch finally regained control of herself. “Oh, Donna, that’s funny.” She giggled. “Thank you, but I’m not after his money. I wouldn’t want to put you out of a job.”

They said good-bye, and when Mitch hung up, she felt better than she had since finding Barres’s body. She stood and stretched, feeling the urge to go jogging despite the heat rapidly invading the morning. She quickly changed and collected Pete and set off toward the spring again.

She didn’t even get all the way to 595 before sweat poured down her face. With the air-conditioning on in the house, she’d misjudged the humidity level. She felt like she was trying to breathe through a warm, wet, woolen blanket. It felt better once she turned onto the shaded dirt road leading down to the spring. When she reached it, on a whim she jumped in, Pete splashing in next to her. They spent several minutes enjoying the cool water before slowly loping back to the house. Pete was already dry. She took a cool shower to wash the sweat and dust off of her.

She changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top and went into the kitchen to fix a glass of iced tea and check the messages. There was one from Ed, one from a customer requesting a charter, and Ron telling her he had her divorce papers ready. She called the customer back to arrange the charter, then spent about an hour working on paperwork. It was noon when she headed out to the marina with lunch for her and Ed in a small cooler on the floor of the front seat of the Bronco.

Ed was doing some chores they always needed to finish but never got around to. He poked his head up out of the engine compartment and smiled when he saw her pull into the parking lot.

She unloaded and walked down to the boat. “Hey, you look like you’re in a chipper mood today,” he said.

“I am.” She told him about the conversation with Donna. They both laughed about it as they unwrapped their sandwiches and started eating. “I feel like a weight’s being lifted off my shoulders. It’s not gone yet, but it’s getting lighter every day.”

He nodded in agreement. “Once Faith told me she wanted out of our marriage, I felt the same way. I guess I knew we weren’t going to last, but I didn’t want to give up and think I didn’t try. But once I knew it was over, it was a relief to get it done.”

Mitch studied his face for a long moment before speaking. They had never really discussed in-depth the circumstances leading up to his divorce before. “How did you feel when she broke the news to you?”

He thought about it for a while before answering. “It hurt, but I felt relieved at the same time. It was a mistake for the two of us to get married in the first place. We were way too different in the ways that mattered. We didn’t have the kind of relationship we needed. Not like we—” he stopped suddenly, glancing at Mitch for a moment before quickly looking away, a deep crimson blush filling his tan face. “Let’s get this done so we can enjoy tonight,” he quickly said before she could ask him what he meant.

Her heart raced as she watched him crawl back into the engine compartment. She wanted to believe with all her heart that he was going to say, “not like we do,” the
we
meaning him and her. Ron’s words haunted her again, and she thought about it for the rest of the afternoon as they finished their chores.

* * * *

Ed tried to keep his hands from trembling as he finished the wiring. Eventually his heart stopped pounding in his chest and he felt the blood drain from his face. It was getting harder for him to deny the feelings he felt for Mitch, but fear still overrode the desire to tell her. They fueled the boat at the gas dock before leaving the marina late that afternoon. He went with her to the Winn-Dixie to get groceries for the charter the next day, and they had dinner at his place that evening.

When he finally went to sleep that night he thought about how nice it would be to have her sleeping next to him.

* * * *

John took Jenna back to her apartment so she could change clothes and get her laptop. Her apartment impressed him. It wasn’t as expensive as his condo by any means, but she’d elegantly and tastefully decorated it, and kept it extremely neat and tidy.

He wandered around the living room while she was in the bedroom and not for the first time examined the pictures on the end tables and hung on the walls. Some of her when she was younger with what appeared to be siblings. There only appeared to be one, however, of her and her ex, taken on their wedding day with her family standing around them.

John picked the frame up and examined the picture. Her ex, John closed his eyes and recalled his name was Bob, wasn’t at all as John had pictured him. Tall and thin, a basketball coach’s dream. He didn’t look the part of a sharkish lawyer.

A wry smile creased the corners of John’s mouth.
Then again, I don’t look like a lady killer.

He replaced the picture when he heard Jenna’s approach. “Well, I’m ready.” She carried a small overnight bag slung over her shoulder and the laptop case in her hand. She worked as a computer analyst for a telecom firm in Orlando.

He held out his hand for her bags and noted the pleasantly surprised look on her face as she handed them over. He carried them down to his car and put them in the backseat of the sports car for her. He stood by the passenger door and held it open, brushing her lips with a gentle kiss as she passed him.

She smiled, her eyes dancing with humor. “You really spoil me rotten.”

He knew she watched him through the windshield as he walked around to the other side of his Porsche. He smiled to himself.

Sometimes, it’s almost too easy.

He carried her bags up to his condo when they arrived. Once the door shut behind them, he set them on the floor and took her hand in his. He felt her tremble as he kissed it, stroking the back of it with his other hand. “What would you like to do?” He smiled.

She smiled in return. “Need you ask?” She laughed and stepped into his arms.

* * * *

John called in for his messages around three. Donna’s cheerful voice answered. “Gulf Coast Images.”

“Hi, Donna. It’s me. Any messages?” He wrote as she talked. “Okay. Tell her I’ll be in the rest of the week. I don’t have any appointments scheduled, do I? Okay. Just tell her to call the morning she wants to come in to make sure I’m there. Fine, see you in the morning.”