The Perfect Murder

Twenty

With long dark hair and clear brown eyes, Kate was almost as pretty as her mother. Sebastian couldn’t help smiling as she looked up at him, her expression tinged with surprise when she realized he wasn’t just a friendly stranger.

Jane seemed less pleased to see him. Sebastian noted the way she stiffened, and understood that she preferred not to allow home and work to mix.

“Go on in, honey,” she said to Kate as soon as he reached them. “I’ll be right there.”

Too curious to do what she’d been told, Kate hovered at her mother’s side. “Can’t I wait for you?”

“I have some business to take care of,” Jane insisted. “Give us a minute.”

Kate’s narrow shoulders slumped in disappointment. “O-kay,” she said and, with an exaggerated sigh, started past him, but Sebastian stuck out his hand.

“You must be Kate.”

Her face brightened. “Yes.”

“I’m Sebastian Costas, a friend of your mother’s.”

“A work associate,” Jane clarified.

Kate placed her small hand in his. “Are you part of The Last Stand?”

“More or less. For the time being,” he hedged.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Impressed by the sweetness she put into a saying that’d become so trite, he winked at her. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” He’d been curious about this part of Jane’s life, the part that meant more to her than anything else. “I can already tell you’re going to be a beauty, like your mother.”

Ducking her head, Kate blushed and mumbled a shy “Thank you.”

“Go on now,” Jane prompted.

Her feet dragging, Kate headed to the condo but threw one last glance over her shoulder.

The caution that lurked in Jane’s eyes eased once her daughter was out of earshot.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked.

“I never said it would be bad. It was just…pointless.”

He folded his arms. “I’ll try not to be offended by that.”

“I don’t want her to know we…we’re anything but what I told her.”

“Work associates.”

“That’s right.”

“Why?” he demanded.

“I told you, I haven’t even been on a date since her father was killed. She might find it-I don’t know-threatening. Frightening.”

The man who’d found Marcie’s body was out walking his dog. Hoping the sight of Jane wouldn’t draw him over, he lowered his voice. “Unless you plan to spend the rest of your life alone, you’ve got to start somewhere.”

“Yeah, well, jumping into bed with someone I barely know isn’t the way to do it,” she said. “I think we’re both conscious of that.”

It was true. Under the circumstances, they had no business getting so intimately involved. So why had he wanted to see her again this soon? “Every relationship begins in a different place,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter where we began. We both know where this will end.”

He scowled. “We don’t know anything. Life isn’t something you can script, Jane. It’s full of surprises, and those surprises can change everything.” Look at what had happened to him. Never in a million years would he have guessed he’d walk away from his lucrative and rewarding career to chase down Emily’s husband for killing her and Colton. Never had he thought he’d crave another child, especially with a woman he hardly knew. “Speaking of surprises that can change everything…would you like me to pick up one of those pregnancy tests?”

“No. I-I’ll deal with it when I’m ready.”

“It might be better to know.”

“And it might not. If I miss my period, then we’ll worry.”

He nodded. “Okay, but I didn’t actually come to talk about pregnancy tests. And, much as I liked getting to see Kate, I didn’t come to meet her, either. I came because the two of you can’t stay here, not by yourselves.”

She shifted her briefcase to her other hand. “What are you talking about? I live here.”

“Malcolm associates this place with me. He’ll come back. And if he thinks I care about you, he’ll…” He didn’t finish. There was no need to spell it out. She knew what Malcolm was capable of. She’d witnessed it this morning.

“He’d be crazy to come back,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because he could get caught!”

“You don’t understand. He’ll take those risks. This thing between him and me-” he shoved a hand through his hair “-it’s become very personal. He’ll do whatever he can to get back at me.”

“And that includes killing me.”

“I’m not positive he even knows about you. You weren’t in the car with me when I came here. But he’ll watch this place, search for whatever he can find that might lead him to me.”

“Why isn’t he scared? Why doesn’t he run, get out of here before he’s arrested?”

She didn’t know Malcolm the way he did. “He beat the system once. I’m sure he believes he can do it again.”

“And you’re relieved instead of worried.”

“Like I said, I want to end this.”

She glanced around the parking lot as if their surroundings had somehow changed, but she’d felt safe here and didn’t want to let go of that. “How can you be so positive that’s what he wants?”

With a sigh, Sebastian pulled out the e-mail message he’d printed an hour ago and handed it to her.

Jane set her briefcase on the pavement and unfolded the paper. “It’s from M.T.”

He nodded. “Malcolm Turner.”

“‘It’s you or me, prick,’” she read, then glanced up at him. “He’s calling you out?”

“He’s telling me this won’t be over until one of us is dead.”

“Where did this come from? Can we have David trace it?”

“It would be a waste of time. I’ve already had the ones he sent to Mary traced. He’s using a remote server.”

She gave the paper back to him. “How is Mary?”

“Pretty shaken up, but I was able to convince her to take the boys and go to Phoenix for a week or two. They’re staying with her aunt.”

“He won’t try to follow her there…”

“Not if I draw his fire, make myself an easier target.”

“Target?” The blood drained from her face. “You don’t have to do that, Sebastian. The police will handle this.”

“Like they handled it before?” he asked.

“We’re talking about David this time. He’ll listen to us. As a matter of fact, I just talked to him. Someone else is going to finish the case that’s been taking up so much of his time. This is now his only priority. Forensic technicians are already processing your car. And Marcie’s body is scheduled to be autopsied tomorrow. Maybe they’ll find some sort of evidence.”

“They won’t find anything. He was a cop, Jane. He knows what they’ll be looking for.” He scratched his face. “Besides, this will come to a head long before any of that can help.”

She hugged herself against the cold. “So what do we do?”

“Tonight? Get some sleep. I think we might need it.”

“Where?” she asked.

“At my motel. Unless you want me to stay here. I’m not leaving you alone.”

Bowing her head, she nodded. “What do I tell her?”

“That I’m a coworker who’s down on his luck and needs a place to stay.”

“Just for tonight?”

“Until I feel comfortable that you’re safe on your own.”

“That could be a week or more!”

He grinned at her. “What’s the matter? Afraid you won’t be able to resist me for that long?” He was teasing, trying to cheer her up, but when she answered, he could tell she was absolutely serious.

“Yes.”

Why hadn’t he responded? Malcolm knew Sebastian had to have checked his e-mail, had to have received the message. He’d gone to the trouble of taking Latisha to that Internet café. The least Sebastian could do was acknowledge receipt. Malcolm wanted to know how it had affected him, what he’d felt when he found Marcie murdered in his backseat. The silence, not knowing, was driving him mad. He was tempted to cruise past Mary’s house or Sebastian’s condominium complex to see what was going on. But he couldn’t; he had to lie low, until he could devise a way to get close without getting caught.

He glanced at the clock on his computer. It was after midnight, but he couldn’t sleep. Not with his mind whirring away like this, and not after spending most of the day in bed, catching up on the sleep he’d missed last night.

Where was Sebastian? Did he live alone in that condo? How long had he been in Sacramento?

Malcolm had called Constance’s office. She was still in New York. So did that mean Sebastian was now with Mary? Was he making love to her this very minute?

The thought of them together made Malcolm clench his jaw. It was one thing to turn Mary against him, another to do it so completely that she became Sebastian’s lover. After what he’d done to her in high school-once a cheater, always a cheater-she probably saw it as the ultimate irony to take this sort of revenge. But he didn’t find it the least amusing.

Using a prepaid cell phone he’d picked up a few hours ago, he called Constance. It was three hours later in New York, which made it almost 3:25 a.m. She didn’t answer, but he left a message. “Your lover boy is sleeping with my old girlfriend. Just thought you might like to know,” he said and hung up. He enjoyed thinking that might hurt her, or get Sebastian in trouble if they were still together, but it wasn’t enough. A few seconds later, he considered calling Sebastian directly. Chances were Sebastian hadn’t changed his number. Why would he?

“Is something wrong?”

Latisha had come up behind him. He was allowing her as much freedom as possible tonight, partly to make up for what he’d done to her sister and partly to convince her how good it could be between them if he could trust her. Today he’d taken her to the mall, and bought her some clothes that actually fit and a ring. It wasn’t an expensive ring, but she kept staring at the little diamond as if it was the most beautiful gift she’d ever received.

He’d told her that he hoped to marry her someday. Women loved that shit. If he could get her to care about him, even a little bit, he wouldn’t have to worry about her trying to get away every second his back was turned. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “I just have a lot of nervous energy.”

“Do you want me to make you something to eat?”

He pulled her onto his knee so he could fondle her breast. “I’m not hungry.” He grinned at her. “Why don’t we get some cooking oil and go back to the bedroom?”

“Cooking oil?” she echoed.

“I think it’s time I gave you a massage.”

“I’ve never had a massage.”

“Then you’re in for a treat.”

She gazed at her ring. “Did you mean what you said earlier?”

“When I told you how I feel about you?”

She nodded.

“Of course.” Letting go of her breast, he took her hand instead. “I know what I did was wrong, Latisha. I know I shouldn’t have forced you and Marcie to come back here with me. And I’m sorry I didn’t treat you right once I got you out here.”

“So why’d you do it?” she murmured.

“I was lonely. Sometimes I get so…angry at the world. If you knew what’d happened to me, you’d understand.” He bowed his head as if the weight of the past was too heavy to bear.

“Tell me,” she said.

To give her the impression he could barely stand to talk about it, he pretended to choke up. “Someone killed my wife and kid when I was living back east.”

Sympathy brought her eyebrows together as she bent her head to see into his face. “How?”

“It was a guy I put in prison, a guy named Sebastian Costas. When he got out, he came for revenge. I’ve been hunting him ever since.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He rested his forehead on her shoulder. “So am I.”

“Then you’re not on the force anymore?”

“That’s why I quit-to chase him down.” He kissed the back of her hand. “And when I saw you and Marcie in that car, I guess I just…snapped. Other people are out there living normal lives, but here I am without the two people I loved more than anything. I decided to change my situation, to force it to be more like what I wanted.”

“You can’t force it,” she said, but her words were more earnest than judgmental.

“I know, and I would’ve realized it if I hadn’t been working on so little sleep. I’d been up all night, following another false lead and wasn’t thinking straight. Then, after I’d taken you, I couldn’t see how I could let you go without winding up in prison myself.” He paused for impact before continuing. “It didn’t seem fair, you know? That I could’ve made my life worse by trying to make it better.” He shook his head. “Until recently, I was so depressed and angry at myself nothing else seemed to matter. I was actually thinking of killing us all. That’s what I had in mind when I came to your room with that gun. But then-” he cupped the right side of her face with one hand “-then there was you.”

“Me?”

“You brought me fresh hope, made me want to live a good life again.”

She seemed confused. “But what about Marcie?”

“That’s why I let her go, babe. I realized I had to do it, no matter what happened to me. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything else, mostly because it would hurt you.”

She stared at his fingers as he drew designs on her forearm. “Why didn’t you let me go, too?”

“Because it would break my heart to lose you. You’re the first person I’ve cared about since my wife.”

She turned the ring he’d given her around and around on her slim finger. “Does that mean I can go-if I want to?”

This was a test. Malcolm recognized that immediately and dropped his hand so she’d feel no restraint. “I was hoping you’d stay long enough to let me prove what I’m really like. But if you want to go, I won’t stop you.”

She stood and glanced at the door.

Don’t do it, he chanted in his head. If she did, he’d have to drag her back and force her to resume the way they’d been-or kill her. He preferred the more pleasant version of the life he’d begun to envision.

“You want me to stay?” she asked, fiddling with the hem of her T-shirt.

“You’re my hope for the future. Once I catch the bastard who killed my family, I can provide everything a cop’s wife deserves-a nice house, babies, anything you want. Give me two weeks. That’s all I ask.”

“Can I call home?”

“No. You know what Marcie would do. She hates me. She’d tell you to leave me. She’d try to get me in trouble.”

“I just want to let my other sister know I’m okay.”

He searched for an excuse and came up with a solution instead. “Does she have a computer?”

“It’s an old hand-me-down her boss gave her, but she can do e-mail.”

“Perfect.” He slid his laptop over to her and watched as she logged in to an e-mail program and typed a brief message.

Gloria-

Don’t worry about me. I’m safe. I’ll be fine and will be in touch in two weeks. Until then, take care of yourself and be happy.

I love you-

Latisha

The tormented expression on her face made Malcolm fear she might change her mind. She was missing her sister, missing home.

“Just two weeks?” she said.

“Just two weeks,” he promised. “That’s nothing, right?”

She drew a deep breath. “Okay.”

He squeezed her affectionately and nuzzled her neck. “And now it’s time for that massage I promised you.” Determined to win her over, he carried her into the bedroom.

While Jane was trying to convince her daughter to get ready for bed, Kate kept disappearing into the living room to take another peek at Sebastian. She loved the excitement of having male company and kept asking if Jane thought he was handsome.

Jane did her best to act indifferent, but she was even more aware of the man watching TV on her couch than Kate was.

When she finally managed to get her daughter into bed, she carried out some blankets and a pillow for Sebastian and piled them on a side chair.

He muted the television. “How’re you holding up?”

“I’m fine.” He had his computer on his lap. She waved toward it. “Any word from Mary?”

“Not yet. She’s probably getting settled in Phoenix. I doubt she’ll write or call me until tomorrow.”

“Are you worried about her?”

“I feel bad for disrupting her life by getting her involved in all this, but…I think she’ll be okay.”

“I wish I could have that kind of confidence when it comes to Latisha.”

Looking more tired than she’d seen him, he covered a yawn. “Have you talked to Gloria?”

“Not since I was over there.” Jane felt she should call, but she didn’t know what else she could say. Taking a deep breath, she patted the blankets. “Here’s what you’ll need for the night.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Their eyes met and the intimacy they’d already shared seemed to draw them together again. For a second, Jane wished Kate was still at her in-laws’. Sebastian felt like the best thing ever to have happened to her. She craved his taste, his smell, his touch-craved him. But Kate wasn’t at the Burkes’. She was just down the hall.

“Okay. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.

“Yeah. See you then.” The volume went back up a little as he returned his attention to the TV.

Clenching her hands in determined fists, Jane marched over to her bedroom, closed the door and got into bed, where she lay wide awake for what seemed like hours.

Although Sebastian had dozed off, he’d done it without the blankets Jane had left him. He hadn’t even put away his computer. He was still sitting there with the TV on when he woke up at two.

He made himself a bed but couldn’t go back to sleep. The macabre images of the day kept intruding-countered only by the more positive knowledge that Jane was just a room away.

He considered going to her. He wanted to lose himself in her warmth, feel her melt against him the way she had last night. Kate was asleep; she’d never know… But Jane had made her wishes clear.

He hoped a shower might relax him, so he got up and went to take one.

Leaving the light off, he stripped, turned the water to hot and stood beneath the pulsing spray. He was trying to blank his mind, to force Emily, Colton, Mary, Malcolm and Jane-especially Jane-out of his thoughts. He was pretty sure it was working, until he heard the door open.

He could smell Jane’s perfume. He hadn’t locked the door. That had been a conscious decision, one he’d made with exactly this hope in mind. But when the door closed again, a click told him it was locked now.