Evil Without a Face

Before her friend explained, Jess groused, “What the hell kind of good news is that? The man wants to book me a one-way stay at the gray bar hotel, doing life with no chance of parole.”

She heard the smile in Sam’s voice when she replied, “He only wants to wrap up your part in his investigation into the death of Lucas Baker. The good news is that you’re no longer a suspect.”

“Generous of him. Did Seth come through on my alibi? How hard did you have to sweet-talk Garza before he gave in?” Before Sam answered her questions, Jess teased, “As I recall, Detective Ray was more than a little easy on the eyes, girlfriend. You should get you some of that.”

“Ray? What are you talking about? You’re crazy. I work with the man, for cryin’ out loud.”

Sam had leapt to her protest far too fast. Jess knew she had hit the bull’s-eye on the attraction her friend had for the ruthless detective with the sexy eyes.

“Speaking of Seth,” Sam changed the subject deftly, “I went to check on him, like you asked.”

Harper hadn’t answered his cell phone for the last several days. At first Jess took it in stride. She’d gotten used to the guy’s mysterious ways. But finally his disappearing act got to her. She asked Sam to check on him at the Peninsula Hotel.

“Did he freak when a cop showed up at his hotel door?” She joked, but her heart wasn’t in it. Jess wanted to hear Harper’s voice. But most of all, she wanted to thank him for his part in bringing Nikki home. None of this would have happened without him. None of it.

Sad-eyed Seth Harper had been the real hero.

“He wasn’t at the hotel, Jess. And get this—no one there had ever heard of him. And when I described him and told them which suite he’d been staying, they said that room hadn’t been booked in the last two weeks. What do you make of that?” Sam asked.

Jess felt a sudden disconnect from Seth, as if meeting him had only been a strange dream, like none of it had been real. She flashed on the last time she’d seen him. The tall lanky kid didn’t look as if he’d slept in a while. And she recalled how he’d dismissed her concern by saying, “Not everything is rosy in Harperworld twenty-four/seven… but I’ll figure it out soon. No worries.”

Well, now she was worried. Why hadn’t she pressed him more…to find out what was going on with him? She vowed, when she got back to town, to look for him in earnest. After all, she still had the blue monster, his butt ugly van. When she found Seth, she’d uncover the truth even if it had to be at gunpoint. She hoped the kid would contact her, as he’d done before, but she wouldn’t wait for that.

Maybe he would need saving. And she wanted to be there, holding his lifeline.

With bittersweet memories of Harper on her mind, and a swell of darker recollections scratching beneath the surface of her skin, Jess discovered that she’d wandered into the rain. And oddly enough, she didn’t mind it. She had learned to appreciate the healing properties infused into each precious drop. Payton Archer had taught her that.

As if on cue, the man himself joined her, naked and under wraps the same as she was. Without hesitation, he joined her in the rain as if he did it every morning.

“Hey lady, this town might be small, but we do have a dress code.”

“Then it’s a good thing you live in the boonies, Archer, where people can run butt naked if they want.” She threw open her blanket and flashed him, long enough for him to pull her into his embrace, skin-to-skin.

After all they had been through together, she still didn’t know much about him—except for what really mattered in a man’s character. She hoped she’d have time to “discover” him, but out of the blue she asked Payton a strange question she’d been wondering about since meeting him. And being naked with him—standing outdoors in the rain—seemed the perfect time and place to chat.

“You ever wish you had your glory days back, Payton? I mean your time in the NFL? If you could do it all over, what would you change?”

“Looking back only stalls out your life. Living in the past is not really living at all,” he said, nuzzling her in a monster hug. “I know that now, more than ever. And I don’t wish for my time back with the pros, not half as much as I wish my parents’ plane hadn’t crashed. Or that this vile thing had never happened to Nikki. Football and all the money in the world doesn’t even take a close second to family…and the people we love. That’s what matters most to me, Jess.”

She pulled him closer and pressed a cheek to his bare chest. She liked a man who had his priorities straight. Two nights ago they had made love for the first time in his cabin in front of a cozy fire. In the light, her scars were clearly visible, but nothing felt more natural than making unabashed sweet love to Payton Archer.

That first night in his hotel room, she realized that her nervousness hadn’t been about sex or breaking in a first-time lover. It had been about letting him under her skin, letting him get to know her, scars and all. But Payton had burrowed into her heart when he gave her a front row seat to watch the rain. So when it came time for the physical part of their relationship—well, that came easy, so to speak.

“Joe Tanu has invited us over for breakfast. He just called.” Payton’s low voice rumbled through his chest and into her ear, sounding muffled and sweet. “You feel like going? If you don’t, I’m sure he’ll understand. Joe is a very patient man.”

“Patience runs in your family. I can see that.” She grinned and rubbed her hands along his muscled back. “Sure, I’d love to eat Joe’s cooking.”

“Yeah, the man owes me a couple of eggs anyway. I’ve cut him enough slack.”

When she looked up at him, she could tell there was a story behind Joe and those eggs. And from the quirky expression on Payton’s handsome face, Jess firmly believed everyone should have an egg story buried in the closet, suitable for sharing…between good friends.

With his arm around her, Jess walked back toward the warmth of his cabin, never feeling so alive. She might have resembled a drowned rodent at the moment, but later on maybe her changed luck would kick in and she’d have a good hair day. A girl could only hope.

“I promised to troll the main street of this little burg later today with Nikki,” she said. “She and Susannah are taking me shopping, apparently. For what, I don’t know. I’m not much of a girly girl, but I’d do just about anything with your niece. And I’m looking forward to getting to know Susannah.”

“Nikki hasn’t wanted out of the house since we’ve brought her home. I’m glad she and Susannah are taking that first step…with you.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Until now, Jess didn’t know much about first steps. But with Payton Archer, she’d be willing to learn.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I used to live in Anchorage, Alaska (ten years), and I love that Evil Without a Face weaves in and out of that setting. Alaska will always hold a special place in my heart. And as is usually the case, the plot was influenced by a real crime that happened 2004 in Florida. This is my take on it. I’m particularly fond of the main character in this book, my Fugitive Recovery Agent Jessica Beckett. She’s scarred both physically and mentally by her past, yet her inner strength is resilient. Her scars are the imperfections in us all. But one of her most endearing traits is that she’s a real smart-ass. Normally, I fall in love with my male characters, but this woman has stolen my heart on many levels. I hope you take her under your wing and show her some love.

And if my whiz kid Seth Harper had to rely on me for his computer savvy, he would have been assigned to a remedial class. But thanks to the Mystery Writers of America loop and Patrick Murray, Harper could fake it. And special thanks go to a real computer genius, Tom Radcliffe, who had the good sense to marry well.

For me, living in Alaska was the adventure of a lifetime. I’ve been to the charming town of Talkeetna many times for softball games, Moose Dropping Festivals (to honor the many uses of moose poop) and winter cross- country skiing. And Talkeetna’s Roadhouse is a special place to hang out and grab a great bite to eat. But two wonderful friends from Anchorage helped remind me that when you get out of your car in Alaska, you are fair game—just another part of the food chain. Special thanks to Alaskan residents David Boelens and Janet Rodgers for sharing their logistical expertise and sick humor. And for the fictional purposes of this book, I ignored the fact that the St. Lawrence Island has no trees and blessed it with evergreens near the NE Cape.