She laughed at his all-American upbringing in a small town. He tried to understand her city savvy, knowing that even as long as he'd lived in Chicago, he didn't have the same attitude as born city-dwellers. Mostly, he grinned so much, the curve of his mouth felt permanent. Now that the sexual tension was acknowledged, he could relax in her presence for the first time in months.
“Your turn.” Jessie sat on the chair, her legs drawn up and crossed. A big bowl of popcorn rested in her lap.
Mark shook his head. “Oh no. It was your idea to bring up our most embarrassing moments. You have to go first.”
Jessie tilted her head, gazed at the ceiling and then laughed. “Okay, I got one. I had a fancy dinner to attend at some hoity-toity restaurant. I don’t normally get invited to those kinds of things and I was so excited!” She reached into the bowl and tossed a few kernels in her mouth. “It was snowing and I didn’t want to ruin my new shoes. I had splurged and bought a pair of designer pumps and you know how hard those heels are to walk in.”
Mark had no idea but nodded to encourage her to continue.
“I grabbed my boots, and reached in my closet and snagged the shoes out, thinking about how clever I was to wear the boots in the car and then switch to the heels when I arrived.
“Uh-huh.” He didn't care a whit about the shoes, but the sparkle in her eyes as she told her tale had him hooked. “Smart thinking.”
“Well, it would have been if I hadn’t grabbed two different style pumps, both for the left foot!
Snorting with laughter, Mark leaned over and helped himself to the popcorn. He held it with his hand shelved against his belly. There would probably be a big grease stain from the ton of butter she had doused it with, but he didn’t care. “So what did you do?”
“I did what any lowly cop would do in that situation. I drove around looking for a Cheap Feet shoe store. Unfortunately, the whole town was filthy rich and didn’t have one, so I did the next best thing.” She ate some more popcorn.
“And what would that be?”
“I jammed my right foot into the left shoe. That wasn’t even the hard part.” Her eyes danced. “The hard part came when I realized that the heels were different heights.”
Mark laughed, picturing Jessie hobbling around in the shoes. He continued to snicker as he stretched back on the couch. His shoulder was beginning to ache from being unsupported all day, but he didn’t want to break the spell.
“Okay.”
“Okay…what?” He rubbed the sore joint and hoped he could distract her from what he knew she wanted.
She tossed a few kernels of popcorn at him. “You gotta tell your most embarrassing moment.”
Mark scratched his head. “I’m not sure I can narrow it down to just one.” He slanted a look at her. “Well, actually, I think my most embarrassing moment occurred just a few hours ago.”
Jessie blushed. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, someone knocked on the door. She jumped up, popcorn flying as the bowl toppled to the floor.
Mark swung around to a sitting position, cursing his lack of sling as his arm felt like a heavy dead weight. If someone burst in, he'd be at an even greater disadvantage with his arm unsupported.
Jessie had her gun in hand as she crossed to the door. 'Who is it?'
'Chicago P. D, ma'am.'
She cracked the door and then holstered her weapon. She stepped halfway into the hall and said something to the cop. A minute later, she came back in and shut the door.
Disappointment washed over Mark. He could see by her look that she was leaving. There was no reason for her stay with the patrol outside his building all night.
As though reading his mind, she turned to face him. 'Guess I can get home now.'
At least she sounded a little disappointed too. He nodded.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jim pushed the off button of his cell phone, feeling the pressure of Mark's scrutiny from the other side of the breakfast bar. He wished he had better news to tell him, but at least they'd located Kern's group. 'That was Jessica. There's good news and bad news. Good news is, they found where the cult is staying.'
Mark's eyes widened. 'Where are they?'
'An apartment building on the southwest side. 5000 block of West Jackson. Not a nice neighborhood, apparently.'
'So, they can arrest them and this nightmare will be over?' The hope in his voice was palpable.
Jim sighed. 'I wish they could, but by your own admission, you couldn't see the faces of anyone but Judy Medea and Adrian Kern. Neither were on the premises when CPD investigated. All they were able to do was some questioning as to their whereabouts.'
'You're kidding.' Mark wandered out of the kitchen and over to the sofa. As if his legs had turned to water, he sank onto it.
Jim picked up his mug of coffee and moved out to the living room area. 'Listen, Mark. We'll find him. Plenty of people are working on this. Not only because of what happened to you, but because of the similarities between what happened to Judy Medea and the other young woman who was killed before she could testify. He's created a pattern, and now we can get him.'
'Here's the good news. A tip came in from an informant in Mexico who says he talked to Kern, or at least a guy claiming credit for what happened to you. He reported that Kern was trying to arrange a shipping pipeline of drugs to finance his cult's activities. He thinks everything is arranged, but the informant says that his bosses want nothing to do with him. It seems that despite their violence, they are religious folks.'
Mark raised an eyebrow and gave a snort of disbelief.
Jim chuckled. 'Yes, I realize the irony of that. Despite their violent ways, they go to church on Sundays.'
He set his mug on the coffee table, sat on the chair, and began ticking off the rest of the information. 'From Mexico, we know he stayed with a woman in El Paso. Her name turned up in an old file. We sent a man to the house, but it turns out we just missed him. We are getting closer, Mark. Not only that, but Medea might still be around here and just wasn't home. CPD will be keeping an eye on the apartment and if she shows up, she'll be arrested.'
'And in the meantime? What if they don't show up for months? Do I live my life watching over my shoulder?'
Jim had no answer as he sat in the chair beside the couch. Kern's history had shown that he was never in a hurry to exact revenge. He'd never even been tied to any of the deaths of witnesses. It was only now that everything was being scrutinized that the grand puzzle of Kern's scheme was coming into focus. He sipped the coffee, trying to delay the worst part, that he hadn't even passed on the bad news yet. 'There's more. According to the police, the cult has swelled to triple its previous size.'
That got Mark's attention. His eyes snapped to Jim's. 'Because of all the media?'
Jim nodded. 'I'm afraid so. The publicity has flushed all the weirdos, zealots and sickos out from under the rocks they live under when they aren't acting like crazy fools.'
Mark's mouth set in a hard line. He stood and for a few seconds, he remained motionless. Finally, he turned to Jim and said, 'You know what? I'm not going to spend my life hiding in here.' He swept his arm in an arc to encompass the loft. 'If Kern's going to get me, I might as well meet him halfway.' With that he crossed to the other end of the loft and grabbed his camera off his night table. He opened the drawer and pulled out a roll of film.
Jim rose and stepped in front of Mark as the other man approached the door. It was going to be hell trying to protect a moving target, but he couldn't officially keep Mark confined to his home. 'Hold up. Where are you
