Page 14 of Killer Knows Best

Rush closes his eyes a moment too long. “A woman named Kiki. I don’t know where you can find her. Everything we do stays here.” He wags his phone.

“Do you pay her the funds?” I ask. Because, let’s face it, at the end of the day, he was patronizing a business. A mobile one, and one most likely littered with women who feel trapped into it, but a business no less.

“Everything is done electronically. I have a slush fund where I take care of things like this. I don’t know where the money ends up or what Kiki has to do with it.”

“Where can we find Kiki?” I ask just as Buddy lets out a soft woof as if he wanted to know as well. He’s such a boy.

“I don’t know.” Rush jerks in his seat as if he were briefly electrocuted. “Look, all I have is her number. I’ve never met the woman. Some slimeball I met at a gig eons ago hooked me up with her.” He fiddles with his phone and flashes her number at us and Jack takes a picture of it.

“Well?” Rush barks as if we’ve bypassed our welcome.

Jack and I exchange a brief nod.

“Don’t think of leaving Colorado,” Jack says as we rise to our feet.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Rush eyes the exit with a forlorn look as if he were busy formulating other plans.

I reach into my purse and land my card on the counter. “If you remember anything else, give me a call.”

“You haven’t seen the last of us,” Jack says as we make our way to the door with Buddy bouncing by our side.

“Let’s head to the morgue,” I suggest. “I want to know exactlyhow many women had that infinity symbol carved into their flesh before they were kicked off the planet.”

“You know how to have a good time,” Jack says just as my phone goes off and so does his.

It’s a text from Nikki.

Get to the field office when you can. I’ve got all the intel on our two dead divas.

Change of plans.

10

SPECIAL AGENT FALLON BAXTER

The FBI field office just outside of Denver holds all of the charm of a government correctional facility, and considering the nature of the beast, rightly so.

Jack, Buddy, and I fly up to the cyber analysis hub that sits one floor above the situation room and find Nikki looking as if she’s about to crash her head through the monitor in front of her.

The room is spacious, large enough to hold a tailgating party for the Denver Broncos. It’s relatively devoid of natural light and has enough computers and monitors to satisfy a space launch. The screens not in use are set to a red screensaver with the department’s logo over it and it gives this place a hellish appeal.

Nikki spins in her seat, revealing her countenance and clothes washed in the same crimson hue.

“Hey, baby,” she says as Buddy all but tackles her. “Who’s my little baby?” She lands a kiss on the tip of his nose before fishing out a handful of biscuits and dropping them to the floor. “Do I know how to take care of my men or what?”

“I’ve heard rumors,” Jack says as we each drop into an office chair on casters and glide in Nikki’s direction. The chairsprovided are minimally padded with mesh backs, very little rocking action, and all of the above has always made me feel as if the department doesn’t want its agents lingering in them for too long.

“Oh honey, reality outshines every one of those rumors,” Nikki laughs as Buddy bounces her way once again and licks her face silly.

Thankfully, Nikki doesn’t mind. And thankfully, Buddy doesn’t make it a habit of licking just anyone silly. Personally, I prefer our nightly snuggling sessions to slobber.

“All right, you two,” Jack grumbles as he pulls out his laptop and I do the same while getting settled at the stainless counter that lines the wall of monitors skirting around the room. “It’s starting to feel like weeks since I’ve last been kissed like that.” He flashes a short-lived grin my way, but those bedroom eyes of his prove impossible to lose.

“Kissing me is a privilege, not a right,” I say, flashing my own short-lived grin, which I’m positive came out more of a frown at this point. I’m exhausted, and part of me meant to frown because of it.

“What?” Nikki gasps and bucks as if she’s just been shot. “Are you kidding me?” Her eyes do a frenetic dance between the two of us. “Oh my word! When did this happen?” she squawks and looks alarmingly happy about it, too.

“Last night. It’s new,” Jack says nonchalantly while scrolling through something on his screen. “What did you get on the victims?”

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