“Time to go for a float.” I flipped her over my shoulder, and she cried out at the impact as I tossed her inside the boat. With a look over my shoulder, I pushed it out into the water and let the current do its thing.
The snap of the tree branch echoed across the water, but I wasted no time as I madly scribbled lines into the sand to hide our footprints.
I scooped up her shoes that had fallen off, tossed her bag into the black water, and hurried to join the walking trail before anyone saw me.
Chapter Ten
Blake
It had been five days since I’d seen Spencer, and I found myself thinking about her often. Ever since I found out she was the sergeant’s niece and not his wife, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Turned out she lived only two streets down from me, but I didn’t offer that information to her at the time. Mainly because it was ingrained in me not to. There was a huge part of me that found it entertaining that when she caught my confusion in the car the other day she kept going with the fib. She was a pretty cool chick. But with my lust came a heaviness. The sergeant had shared a little of her story with me, and it hurt me to know her parents’ murder was still a cold case. It was hard enough losing a loved one, but even harder when you didn’t get the closure you needed to move on. I shook my head and tried to focus on the job at hand.
I pushed the couch back and eyed my handiwork on the living room wall. At the top was the victim’s pre-death photo, and underneath it was her body at the crime scene. Her personality and habits were written on the left-hand side, and two possible suspects were on the right. My gut told me neither of them was the killer. I opened a file and went to work. I lined up the timelines, their outfits, the items they had on them, what time of day it was, anything that might be similar to the other. I only needed one thread to show itself, and a direction would appear.
Spencer: I have some theories.
I eased onto the couch.
Blake: Oh, you surfaced out of your notebook?
Spencer: Open your door. Your coffee is getting cold.
I whirled around to see her outside my window.
What the hell? I unlocked the door and held it open for her.
“How do you know where I live?” I took the coffee she offered me.
“I’m just better at this job than you, remember?” She grinned and handed me a muffin. “Besides, having my uncle as the boss does have its perks.”
“Mmm,” I grunted but felt my interest for her grow. Her tight jeans and black long-sleeve shirt that dipped a little low in the front were hard to peel my gaze from.
“You know I’m really good at payback?” I bit into the warm coconut and chocolate muffin. “Jesus, where did you get this, and who do I have to kill for the recipe?”
She had her back turned to me, studying my wall of crime. “You’d kill the sergeant’s wife?” she said teasingly.
I came up behind her and drank in her scent. “So, you lie and make muffins. I have so much to learn about you.” I ducked when she went to swat me, and I grabbed her arms playfully.
“You tell me you can fight.” I grinned.
“I know I can.”
Okay.
“You were walking home, it’s raining, your sense of sound is hindered, you take the wrong turn, and suddenly someone grabs you from behind.” Her breathing became uneven but not with fear, with excitement, and her cheeks pinkened as I grew closer. “What do you do?”
“That’s a bit unfair.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not scared.” Her hands flexed underneath mine, and I felt her squirm with interest.
“You should be, Spencer,” I growled from somewhere deep down inside my throat. She scared me because I knew I could lose my self-control around her. I wasn’t happy about the way she consumed my attention.
“You warn me like I should stay away from you.”
It took everything I had not to kiss her, so I loosened my grip, but not completely.
“If I was?” I challenged to see the fire brew inside her.
“Then I’d be disappointed.”
“I’m using a tenth of my strength, Spencer. You might be feisty, but you’re small, and I could easily toss you up against the wall and do what I want to you.” I dropped my tone a little as my cheek stroked hers.
Her chest was stuck out by the angle I held her, which forced her neck to stretch and her head to lean back.
“Don’t underestimate a man with a need.” Her chin lowered as she turned into me.
I wouldn’t normally manhandle a woman—and, really, I wasn’t—but Spencer seemed to enjoy it, judging by the way her tongue moistened her lower lip and her chest heaved, and a tiny moan escaped her throat.
She let out a huff, and again, it took everything inside of me not to grab her face and taste her.
I let her go and went for my coffee for something to do. It had been far too long since I was with a woman, but my ex was crazy, and I promised myself I would take it slow if I ever met someone else. Spencer was a different breed of woman, though. You always heard that some women were easygoing, but up until now, I never believed it.
Her phone rang, and she pulled it from her bag, but not before I saw her shake off whatever it was she felt.
“Hey, G,” she answered cheerfully, not like I had just had her pinned to me. She cleared her throat as she rubbed her head. “I don’t care what happens to him.” She paused. “No, you and Lisa are all I have left. Hey.” She must have cut him off. “I’m not going.” She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them and tossed her head back, annoyed. “Well, he should have thought about that years ago.” Suddenly, she went still, and I could feel the anger radiating off her. “He has no right to do that. He’s not blood.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Don’t give me that shit about the court just wants money. No! Where are you holding him, G?” She grabbed her bag. “I’m on the way.” She hung up, and I blocked her path.
“What happened?”
“Just family drama.”
My phone went off, and I saw it was the sergeant. I quickly answered it. “Hi, Sarge.”
“Is she with you?”
“Yes.” I eyed her to tell her to stay put.
“Don’t let her come to the station. That’s an order.” The line went dead.
When I looked over at her, she had her arms crossed and her hip stuck out.
“He doesn’t have the right to stop me from interfering.”
“Maybe not,” I shrugged, “but I was given an order.”
Her cheeks went red. “You can’t stop me.”
I laughed inside. “Watch me.”
Her tongue brushed along her bottom lip, which drew my attention there for the second time today.
It was a standoff, but it was hard not to smile because she looked amazing when she was pissed off. Finally, she let out a long breath and closed her eyes to calm herself.
“How would you describe the victim that this killer is going after? Assuming, of course, other victims will surface.”
What? She always tossed questions at me at the oddest times. However, if this was what it took for her to stay put and for me to keep my command, so be it.