The Rogue Reviewer (Primrose, Minnesota Book 3) (13 page)

Maybe he could go about it a different
way.

With renewed confidence, he opened the
leather case attached to his belt, removed his cell phone, and
dialed. He almost slid from the chair when the soft, sultry voice
tickled his ear.

“Hello?”

Just the thought of her lips wrapped around
those five letters made him want to press his lips against hers –
again and again. “Hello, Dara.”

“Nice to hear from you, Detective Turner.
Have you called with news about the case?”

“No, actually this is a personal call.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. Are you locked inside your condo with
the alarm set?”

“You ordered me to do that,” she reminded
him.

“So did you?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“You rarely follow my instructions.”

“Because you
tell
me rather than
ask
me.”

“I’ll work on that.”

The full two-second pause told him that his
comment took her by surprise and he didn’t have any trouble
visualizing her beautiful green eyes narrowed in suspicion as she
spoke. “Are you drinking?”

“No, I’m on duty at the station.”

“Why did you call me again?”

“To check on you. There’s still a killer out
there, remember?”

“Thanks for that reminder.”

“I’m sorry. You’re just so difficult some
times.”

“That keeps things interesting between
us.”

“Interesting isn’t quite the adjective I had
in mind,” he mumbled.
More like stimulating.
And as if she
knew what he thought, her soft giggle traveled over the line and
taunted his libido.

“I’m fine.”

“What about Marnie?”

“She’s back to her old self. The trauma seems
to have worn off.”

“Did your DRAMA group meet this week?”

“Yes, DRAMA met on Thursday, as usual. No, I
will not elaborate. Nice try.”

“I’m just curious if you’ve heard anything
more about Evelyn.”

“Nope, not a word.”

He paused and decided to travel a different
route. “You know, there is one way I could get you to talk.”

“How?”

“I could talk dirty to you.”

He caught her slight, quick intake of breath.
“Do you use that technique on many witnesses?”

“None.”

“Then what makes you think I would fall for
it?”

“Because I’ve kissed you.”

Silence vibrated the line and suddenly he
wondered if he hadn’t made a dire mistake. If her memory was
anything compared to his, this conversation would get down and
dirty at light speed. Would she cave? Or would she politely tell
him to shove off?

“Yes, you have,” she answered finally. “And
it was amazing.”

“Amazing?”

“Totally. I enjoyed it very much.”

He hoped his desire to hear her tease him
wasn’t too evident. “Tell me how much.”

“So much that when your lips took mine, I
couldn’t get enough. I wanted you to devour me.”

His cock throbbed. Their kiss had caused the
same reaction in him. Once he tasted her soft, sweet lips, his
incredible arousal pushed him to move his mouth from hers and glide
his tongue along the smooth surface of her neck until he nipped the
top of her collarbone. “What else?”

“When you gripped my hips, I fought the
desire to swivel so that your fingers would slide down until they
held my thighs.” She didn’t give him time to respond before she
continued. “And when I felt you harden against my midsection, I
wanted to reach down and tuck you into the scalding hot vee of my
legs.”

“I wanted to do all of that.” His admission
shot from his mouth without warning.

“If I would’ve lifted one leg and braced it
against your weapon, your access would’ve been free of
obstacles.”

Bound tight by his lustful stupor, it took a
minute for him to realize the weapon she referenced was the gun on
his hip. He swallowed hard. She was good.
Real
good.

“Your fingers would’ve been free to play
beneath my skirt,” she continued.

He reached between his legs and squeezed his
aching dick, now cursing to be released. The erotic images she
painted in his mind made concentration on anything other than her
delectable body totally impossible. He’d play under her skirt
alright, play her soft, wet flesh like a violin until she screamed
for relief.

Wait a minute
.

Her light giggle only made things harder –
literally. “Cat got your tongue, Detective?”

“I had other plans for this
conversation.”

“I know.”

“You have to stop.”

“Oh? We haven’t even discussed what I
could’ve done on my knees.”

His cock gave a painful jump and he groaned.
“As much as I would thoroughly enjoy hearing about that particular
talent, I can’t take it right now.”

“Okay, if you insist.” She released a soft
sigh. “Are you done interrogating me?”

“C’mon Dara, toss me a bone.”

“You, Detective Turner, are way too
transparent. I know you have more than enough information to
continue your investigation.”

“But you claim to have evidence I don’t.”

“I didn’t confess to having evidence. I only
suggested I could help with your investigation.”

“I get the feeling you have additional
information.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Instinct.”

“The only way to know for sure is to let me
in.”

He paused, sorely tempted to give in. Even if
she didn’t have anything useful, at least he could prove to her
just how difficult crime investigation could be. Then again, if she
did have knowledge, she’d expect him to include her – a move that
could be detrimental to both of them. “No, Dara.”

“Someday your stubbornness will get the best
of you.” Her soft yawn crossed the line and he could’ve sworn he
heard the rustling of sheets.

“Are you in bed?”

“Actually, yes,” she answered.

“What are you wearing?”

She released another of those cock-strangling
giggles. “Goodnight, Detective.”

Leaning his elbows on the squad room table,
Mace rubbed the edge of his jaw with one hand and fanned the stack
of reports he’d read a thousand times like an accordion with the
other. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn’t entirely focused
on homicide; his thoughts wandered back to Dara and their
tantalizing phone call last night. The conversation had left him
partly pissed off at his failure to collect information and mostly
hard as a rock. He chuckled under his breath. Her research had paid
off – the little spitfire definitely knew how to manipulate
conversation to her advantage. The soft, breathy tone of her voice
alone made him hard. His cock stretched at the memory.

“Turner!”

He shook the fog of arousal from his brain at
the sound of Jackson’s voice and slowly glanced up to see three
sets of eyes focused on him like a laser.
Hell.
Jake and
Ryker stood, arms folded over their chests, silent with eyebrows
raised in curiosity.

Jackson, however, didn’t hesitate to grab the
chair next to him, toss a pile of paper to the table, and voice his
observation. “Must’ve been a helluva daydream.”

He shifted in his seat in an attempt to move
his hard-on to a halfway comfortable position. No way could he deny
his partner’s accusation – better to ignore it. “You guys find
anything new?”

“Forensic locksmith report.” Jake nodded at
the pages in front of Jackson as he and Ryker both sat in empty
chairs across the table.

“About time. Anything substantial?”

“Don’t know. Hot off the press.”

Mace slid the stack in front of him and read.
“The lock was properly disassembled. It’s a regular key-in-knob,
low security pin-tumbler type lock. Each component was examined. No
modifications were made to the mechanism since installation.
However, several minute scratches were found, indicating that a
lock picking tool was used to disengage the lock instead of a key.
Such a low security lock could have been compromised with very
little noise and in a matter of seconds by someone skilled in lock
picking.”

“I believe it,” Ryker agreed. “Most housing
organizations don’t spend a lot of money on high-tech security. The
lock probably wasn’t too hard to pick.”

His heartbeat quickened. “Now we’ve got
something to go on. Our perp has B&E skills.”

Jake nodded. “Does that fit anyone we’ve
checked out?”

Jackson shook his head. “I don’t remember
anyone with that particular set of skills, but I highly doubt
anyone would volunteer that information. The only way to know for
sure is to check arrest records and we have.”

Mace stood to pace, a nagging suspicion that
they’d overlooked someone poking his brain. “What about newspaper
employees?”

“We ran all of them,” Jake answered, “and
paid close attention to anyone who had any reason to associate with
the victim.”

“We need to run everyone again – authors,
newspaper employees, tenants and housing association employees.”
Mace squeezed the back of his chair. “Especially Owens. See if he
or anyone else is connected to a locksmith or criminals busted for
breaking and entering.”

Jackson leaned back in his chair and buckled
his hands behind his head. “You really don’t like him, do you?”

“Who?”

“The super.”

“I don’t like or dislike him. He’s a suspect
like anyone else until I can clear him.”

Ryker took the super’s picture from the
stack. “He might have a lot more access to the housing units than
we thought.”

“His background is clean so far.” Jake
shrugged. “The tenants I interviewed all confirmed his role. No one
seems to know a whole lot about him.”

“I’ll dig deeper.” Ryker tossed a grin at
Mace. “And while I’m at it, I’ll warn him to stay away from your
girl.”

He opened his mouth to dispute Ryker’s
accusation and then abruptly closed it.
His girl. Damn
if he
didn’t like the taste of that on his lips.

“Oh, man.” Jake shook his head. “You’ve got
it bad.”

“And you don’t?” he fired back.

“I do and I am not ashamed.”

“Speaking of female influence,” he said,
taking the opportunity to move the conversation back to the case,
“I have a feeling
your
girl and
my
girl have
information it wouldn’t hurt us to have.”

“Bri hasn’t mentioned anything.”

“Of course not.” Mace grinned and raised an
eyebrow. “Surely you’re not that naïve, Jake.”

“What makes you think they know
something?”

“Intuition. Bri and Dara are psychiatrists –
they analyze everything.”

“Including both of you,” Ryker said without
hesitation.

Mace glared. “Beside the point.” He glanced
back at Jake. “Any suggestions?”

“I’ll ask but you know as well as I do, I
can’t make her talk. Any headway with Dara?”

“No,” Jackson answered for him.

Although his partner spouted the truth, he
felt compelled to attempt to redeem himself. “I’m working on it.
I’ll drop by to see her as soon as we’re finished here.”

Ryker pulled a photograph of the housing
complex from the stack and tapped it with his index finger. “This
place is extremely well-kept. What about the landscaper?”

“Outside company.” Jackson rifled through
several more pages. “Eddie’s.”

“Who is Eddie?”

“Older guy, employed by contract for the last
three years.”

“Any connection to Dara?”

Jackson shook his head in the negative.
“Didn’t even recognize her name.”

“What about Owens?”

“Said he’s seen him around but has only
spoken to him a handful of times.”

“Was he there the day of the murder?”

“No.”

Mace ran a hand across his forehead. “This is
crazy. Someone should’ve seen something. Our suspect not only lured
the victim to the condo, he murdered her inside.”

“Back up.” Ryder braided his fingers. “He
lured her to the crime scene?”

“We’re assuming there was a valid reason for
her to be there – unless she planned foul play as well.”

“No reason for a social call?”

“Most likely not. If I were Evelyn Wallace, I
would’ve kept my distance from any of the authors she
reviewed.”

Ryker sighed hard. “Did anyone have a
positive relationship with this broad?”

“Believe it or not, she had a few admirers in
the industry. A few, mind you, and all only interested in sales
figures.”

“Married? Children?”

“Divorced, no children, no significant others
as far as we can tell.”

The other man frowned. “Who paid for the
funeral?”

“The victim had a pre-paid policy.”

“Past relationships?”

Jackson shook his head. “Nothing significant
on record.”

“Nothing that we can find anyway,” Mace
grumbled.

Ryker cocked his head to one side. “You
really believe Dara has additional information?”

“Hell, I don’t know.”

“If she does, why won’t she share?”

“She wants to help investigate.”

The conversation stilled while Ryker gave him
a stare he interpreted as skeptical.

“No way,” the other man said finally.

“Yes, way. And honestly, keeping her out of
it is really starting to chafe my ass.”

“You’ve got to get her to talk, Turner. She
realizes what withholding will get her, doesn’t she?”

“No doubt in my mind, but believe me when I
say she’ll find a way around it.”

Ryker whistled a long tone. “You need
back-up?”

Despite his desperation, Mace smirked. “No
thanks. I have it all under control.”

***

He stood in the early evening shadows and
balanced his package on his hip while he glanced at her empty
parking space, concerned that she hadn’t yet returned home. He only
hoped that she was detained by something other than the nosey
detectives. He moved his gaze around the area to assure he was
still alone and then quickly walked to her front porch. He lifted
the massive bouquet to his nose and inhaled the sweet smell. Ahhh.
Intoxicating, just like her scent.