“I came up with the theory,” she pointed out, then teased, “I have to do everything?” Taking a breath and becoming more serious, she went on. “I was thinking if we could just tie one of the victims to the Auroras, we’d have something to work with. Leverage, if you will. I can do a lot with leverage.”
“So you think it is one of the Auroras behind this little hotel of horrors?” Jackson asked, warming to what she was laying out.
“Some way, somehow, yes,” she answered.
Jackson did a quick review of the sum of the crimes. “We’ve got old bodies and bodies that, according to the ME, were murdered in the last year or so.” He pointed out the obvious. “Identifying the old ones might present us with a real challenge, but the newer ones—those might be easier to put names to.”
He leaned over her shoulder to look at the notes she’d made. Her hair smelled of some sort of floral shampoo. He could feel his gut tightening, stirring. He forced himself to think.
“Why don’t we pull up all the missing-persons reports that were filed in California in the last, say, two, three years. Maybe Nevada, too,” Jackson suggested.
Brianna nodded. It was coming together, she thought, excitement building within her. They were going to get to the bottom of this, she could feel it.
Turning to look up at him, she smiled approvingly at the man who had so recently set her world on fire. “I guess you’re not just another pretty face after all.”
“Maybe,” he said, his voice lowering, “I just need to be inspired.” Taking her hand, he raised her up to her feet. “You know,” he pointed out, “it’s still too early to go in.”
“Computers never sleep,” Brianna reminded him, although not too forcefully. She was excited about the idea they were postulating but more excited about the man she was working with.
“But, if memory serves, your cousin Valri does. And it is Sunday. She might like sleeping in.”
“She won’t mind if we wake her up. Neither will Kristin—the head ME,” she prompted, in case he’d forgotten the medical examiner’s name.
His eyes were already making love to her. The very thought was exciting him. “I know who Kristin is. I had a crash course in Cavanaughs yesterday, remember?”
Brianna’s look of surprise was only half-feigned. “You were paying attention?”
“I always pay attention,” he assured her with feeling. “I’m just not always open about it.”
“Always?” Brianna repeated with an incredulous laugh. “Try never.”
“Hey, it works for me,” he told her.
The bottom line had always been to use the tools that were available and that got the desired results. What he did kept the people he was up against off balance, allowing him to do what he needed to do.
Brianna slipped her arms comfortably around his waist and smiled up at his face. “Can’t argue with that,” she told him.
“Sure you can,” Jackson countered. “You could argue with anybody, anytime.” He brushed the hair back from her cheek. “I guess that’s what works for you.” His eyes were all but devouring her. How could a few hours make such a difference in his life, Jackson couldn’t help wondering. “So, looks like we’ve got some time to kill before we can get started. Want some breakfast?” he offered. “There’s a twenty-four-hour diner not too far from here, looks like it came straight out of the ’70s. My treat.”
Brianna shook her head from side to side. “Maybe later.”
“What should we do now?” Jackson asked, a hint of amusement rising within him. He could feel himself smiling. She made him feel like smiling. It was a really strange feeling to come to grips with.
“Guess.”
Brianna was standing so close to him, Jackson could feel the word on his lips as she said it.
His eyes held hers. The feeling just being with her like this created grew exponentially.
“What do I get if I guess right?” he asked, his voice low, seductive.
“Me.”
* * *
It was really, really hard for her leaving his bed and the haven they recreated. But even during their lovemaking, which was passionate and boundless, there was a feeling of urgency hovering over them, something that made them each feel that they were running out of time. Not for themselves, but for the victims who were no longer able to speak for themselves.
Brianna couldn’t really express why she felt as if they were up against the clock, but she did. Stopping only long enough to get a change of clothing from her place, they went to the police station. As they drove to the precinct, she reluctantly shared her feelings with Jackson, afraid that he would think she was getting too carried away with this macabre mystery.
“Yeah, I’ve got the same feeling.”
“Really?” she cried. It was more of an expression of joy than an actual question, accompanied by a flood of relief washing through her.
Jackson nodded. “Yeah. Like if we don’t put all the pieces together soon, whoever’s responsible for this last wave of murder victims is going to get away. Not just with the crimes, but vanish completely. The Aurora family is richer than God. They can pay people off, hide the responsible party’s tracks in any number of ways. Those people are rabidly protective when it comes to their family’s good name,” he stressed. “The public is easily impressed by a famous name, but the public also likes to tear down the very same people they’d previously built up. If our second killer winds up being Damien, the public is going to have a field day.”
Brianna laughed, shaking her head. “You really are very cynical. You know that, don’t you?”
He didn’t even bother to argue. “I know.”
“You know the best way to counteract that?” Brianna asked him.
When he glanced at her, he saw that her eyes were filled with laughter. He knew what she was saying and, heaven help him, he
