Strong, Sleek and Sinful

“Let’s hear what it says,” John said, sitting across from her. “As long as it picked up what the two of you said to each other, we’re fine.”

He scowled at the handheld recorder Kylie had owned for a couple years now. She used it any time she wanted to record an interview and never had problems with it. But with her headache, not enough sleep, and feeling grouchier no matter how much coffee she downed, she didn’t feel like arguing with them.

Reaching for the recorder, she pushed “play,” turned up the volume, and reclined in her chair. Static popped for a moment but then stopped. Kylie relaxed her elbows against the armrests and held her cup with both hands, watching the steam twist and evaporate above her fresh cup.

The recording began, Kylie’s voice sounding tinny but audible.

“This is a recorded interview conducted by Kylie Dover,” she said through the small speaker, using her undercover name and the front that she was recording this in an effort to show the reaction of a teenager to a traumatic, terrifying, event.

Dani stated her full name and age; then Kylie announced the date and time. After the usual formality of asking Dani if she would willingly participate in the interview and consent to it being recorded, the questions began.

Kylie had listened to the tape several times already but knew her presence was advantageous while playing it back for John. Paul was present for two reasons. One, he was very good at deductive reasoning and two, because Kylie knew if she was left alone for too long with John, she’d kick his ass. The man just rubbed her wrong every time she was around him.

And this morning wasn’t a good time to be around anyone. After showing up at the crime scene last night, keeping her distance, and observing, she immediately wished she’d stayed home and in bed. More than once she had stopped herself from marching across the parking lot and throwing that little runt of a cop as far away from Perry as she could.

It had been impossible to fall asleep after that. She’d even gotten dressed and gone over to his house, hell- bent and determined to give him more than a piece of her mind. Driving across town to his house didn’t calm her down, but she did manage to stop herself from barging into his home when it was mere hours before dawn. It would be better to take him on after a good night’s sleep. Except she didn’t get one.

It was bad enough that she tossed and turned once she finally crawled back into her bed, but she woke up with a headache. And it appeared to have no intention of going away.

“After walking out of your house, you text-messaged Petrie, your online boyfriend whom you hadn’t met yet, and told him you’d fought with your mother and left home?”

“You make it sound really bad,” Dani said, but then cleared her voice. She mumbled something inaudible. Kylie ignored John’s and Paul’s inquiring looks. Dani had mumbled under her breath, begging Kylie not to make her out to look like a fool. Kylie remembered Dani later admitting she felt like an ass for committing the most stupid stunt of her life, and hugging Kylie and thanking her for saving her life. That wasn’t information John, or Paul, needed to know, though. Dani continued, “But yes, I texted Petrie. He told me it wasn’t safe walking around alone at night and that he would pick me up. He offered to take me to get a pizza.”

“Where did he tell you he would meet you?”

“At the bowling alley.”

“Do you know why he suggested the bowling alley?”

There was silence for a moment. “Probably because he knows I hang out there with my friends a lot. He wanted a place where I would be comfortable.” Dani’s voice cracked and she coughed, trying to cover up emotions over a boy who had turned out to not be who she thought he was. “Or at least that is what I thought.”

“Okay, so you go to the bowling alley. Did he tell you what car he would be in, or how to find him?”

“He said he would meet me there. I figured he meant inside.”

“What happened when you got to the bowling alley?”

“I never made it inside. I was walking across the parking lot when this big black car showed up. He pulled up so quickly behind me I thought he would hit me, but then his driver’s-side door opened and he tried grabbing me.”

There were shuffling sounds and murmurs that Kylie remembered being Dani crying. Kylie slouched in her chair, stroking her coffee cup with her finger, while the tape continued playing. Dani had endured so much, and Kylie worried for her life, especially now that she had successfully escaped the grip of a killer. After the murder last night, it possibly being the fifth life Peter had taken, his craving for blood, for death, would grow. It was stereotypical of a serial killer. Kylie’s thoughts went also to the other girl whose father had followed her and prevented her from meeting the boy online. Sally Wright’s father had reported there was no boy at the meeting site but a man. Would Peter go after Sally and Dani again?

“Did he ever talk to you?”

“He said, ‘Dani, get in the car.’ But it wasn’t Petrie. It was a man. He wore a baseball cap, but I would know him again in a second if I saw him. He had really blue eyes and dark hair and he was white.”

“Arrange a lineup for her,” John suggested. “I’m skeptical that her memory is as strong as she suggests, but we can do a lineup of the police officers downtown.”

“Do you really think that would work?” Kylie raised her gaze to him lazily. She needed to get out of here, although if she did, the first thing she would do was track down Perry, and that wouldn’t be pretty. “Dani knows most of the officers who work with her uncle.”

“How do you know that?” John challenged. “Has she told you that? Or has Flynn informed you his niece is well acquainted with everyone he works with?”

“No to both,” Kylie snapped, the throbbing in her temple intensifying. She slid her chair back, deciding maybe a search for aspirin would help. “Her uncle has been on the force for seven years. It goes without saying, since he is so involved in her life, that she would know at least a handful of police officers in this town. Not to mention she is a sixteen-year-old who was born and raised here. That alone would make many of the faces familiar to her.”

“I have to agree with Kylie on that one,” Paul interjected. “I also think this kid needs some serious protection, possibly more than her uncle can provide, just being a cop.”

Kylie leaned forward and paused the tape. “We know Peter drives a black Suburban, late model.”

“With forged tags that can’t be traced,” John interrupted. “Honestly, Kylie, you don’t have shit to nail this guy.”

She stared at him, her head pulsing all over. If it didn’t hurt so badly, she would give John a piece of her mind. Bringing up Perry, arguing that the two of them could nail this guy if just given a little more time, would start a full-fledged fight that any other time she would welcome. In spite of no sleep, she still felt like she had energy to burn.

“I’m a hell of a lot closer than I was a week ago,” she said, biting her lip to prevent from saying more.

She would save her energy, and her head from exploding, for a battle she actually wanted to fight. When she found Perry, there would be words. Maybe they hadn’t voiced out loud where their relationship stood, but he’d made it damn clear he wanted something between them. For him to say that and then flirt with another woman, and at a crime scene no less, was beyond unacceptable. Kylie couldn’t wait to kick his ass to kingdom come. Attack first and listen to explanations later. That is if she decided to hang around to hear any lame excuse he might have. She knew what she saw. She might look young, but she wasn’t born yesterday.

John slapped the table, standing when Kylie did. “There’s only one solution.” He leaned forward and popped the tape out of the cassette player, then fingered it as he walked toward the door. “You’re going to set up another meeting with this Peter guy. But this time, you’re going to go with him. The only way we’re going to nail this guy is to catch him in the act. Even if all we bring him in for is assaulting you, we’ll get the confession out of him for the others.”

John walked out the door and Kylie slumped back into her chair.

“Nothing better than finding out you get to be assaulted first thing in the morning.” Paul tried to make light of it, but there was compassion in his eyes when he looked down at her.

“I’ve endured worse.” She sipped her coffee, willing herself to get back up out of the chair. “I didn’t get a lot