Page 70 of Ace of Spades
“Good for you. Someone needed to.” He walked over and slung an arm around her. “He’s a stubborn one. Don’t give up on him.”
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, Alex. Where are Madison and Lauren?”
Alex lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “Pretty sure she does have a clue.” He turned eyes so much like Nate’s on her. “Give him a hard time, Taylor. Madison did that, and it brought me to my knees. I found, much to my surprise, that I liked that position where she was concerned.” He stilled. “That didn’t sound right, did it?”
She rolled her eyes. “You Gentry boys have a knack for saying things you later decide doesn’t sound right.”
“Uh-oh,” he said, chuckling. “Want to share?”
“Nope. Where’s Court?”
“He’s in his James Bond room. Come with me.”
He put his hand at her back, giving her a slight push. His palm on her spine didn’t have the same effect as when Nate did that.
“To answer your second question, Madison and Lauren are sitting on the balcony, having a predinner glass of wine. As soon as we’re done, we’re heading to the bar. The girls ordered a pizza and want you to join them.”
“Sure. That would be nice.”
“Great.” She followed him into the room, coming to a stop at seeing a wall full of weapons. “Good heavens.” She turned in a circle, taking in the banks of monitors, the shelves filled with bottled water and other supplies. “Is this your doomsday room?” she asked Court.
He spun his chair around. “It’s a safe room. We each have one.”
“Not fair. I want one, too.” She’d been in Nate’s condo numerous times, but he’d never shown her his room.
“I’m sure Nate will let you borrow his anytime you want,” Alex said.
She glanced at Nate, who was shooting daggers at his younger brother. He shifted his gaze to her. “Before we hear what Court has to say, fill us in on your interview with Delaney Gains.”
“Sure.” It was time to get down to business. She put her aching heart and all thoughts of Nate in a box and closed the lid. “One big difference between Delaney and the others is that she has bruises all over her body, not just her neck. The other women only have strangle marks. You’ll understand why in a minute. So, our unsub first approached her a week ago. He asked what she charged, and when she told him, he offered her triple that if she’d stay the night with him. She took him to the Corner Motel, her usual place to book a room.”
“I’ve seen that place,” Alex said. “It’s pretty nasty.”
Court nodded. “And, unfortunately, not the kind of place that will have security cameras.”
“The girls would avoid any motel with cameras,” she said. “Anyway, when they got to the room, he told her to keep her clothes on. All he wanted was to talk. At first, she thought he was a cop and it was a sting. He finally convinced her that he wasn’t the police, so she decided getting paid triple and not having to”—she made air quotes—“‘fuck’ to earn it was a nice change.”
“What did he want to talk about?” Court asked.
“Saving her.” That got their attention. “He told her that what she was doing was a sin and that he could take her away from her miserable life. At some point, she fell asleep while he was talking. When she woke up, he was gone. Two nights later, he showed up on her corner again, offering her the same deal. She decided he was a harmless kook, and since she liked the extra money for doing nothing, she took him back to the motel. The same thing happened. She said, ‘He talked the same shit,’ and she fell asleep again. He was gone when she woke up.”
“He’s definitely our man,” Alex said.
Nate hadn’t said a word since she’d started recapping her conversation with Delaney. Her eyes kept straying to him even though she didn’t want them to. He was perched on the edge of Court’s desk, his expression still unreadable. She’d give anything to know what he was thinking.
Nate didn’t know what to do with the ache in his chest that had taken up residence when Taylor had told him she wanted to go back to just being friends. He’d never felt anything like this before because of a woman. Friendsonlywas for the best, so why did he want to throw her over his shoulder, take her to his bedroom, and make love to her until she admitted they were more than friends?
What was wrong with him? He didn’t make love. He fucked.Admit it, dude. It’s not like that with her. She means more to you than wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.So what if she did? It didn’t change anything. He’d still never marry, so he had nothing to offer.
“This afternoon, he showed up with a shopping bag in his hand.”
Nate tuned back in to what Taylor was saying.
“He made the same offer, along with telling her that he’d brought her a present. When they got to the room, he took a white dress out of the bag, saying, ‘Marry me, Delaney, and I’ll take you away from this life. You’re going to be a beautiful angel.’ Delaney didn’t like the way his eyes glowed. ‘His eyes were wild, like some of those crazy preachers I watch on TV,’ she said. So she told him that she wasn’t putting on the dress, and then she tried to leave. He grabbed her, and they fought. She was smart enough to knee him where it would hurt the most. When he doubled over in pain, she was able to get away. She ran to the office, and the night clerk called the police.”
“Maybe that answers why she has bruises and the others didn’t,” Nate said. “If they agreed to put on the dress before he killed them without fighting him.”
Taylor turned to him, but instead of meeting his eyes, her gaze was on his left shoulder. “Or he could have put the dresses on the others after he killed them.”
