“I’ll put out some feelers for you,” he offered.
“Thanks.”
“Phillips did some of his business at the downtown bowling alley,” Hartman suggested, shrugging. “He’s out of the action now, but if there was someone picking up where he left off, they might be trying to slip into his shoes. I can sniff around if you like.”
“Anything would help,” she admitted.
Ash remembered Danny telling her Mindy Simpson bowled on a league, which was how they’d met. From what she’d gathered on the other two victims, though, they never bowled. It was a weak connection but more than anything else she had right now.
She reached her car and flipped through her notebook where she’d jotted down notes from her interviews with bartenders and waitresses who worked at the three clubs. Ash pulled the reports filed by the officers who worked the first crime scene and compared notes from what the employees had said then to what she’d been told today.
Daphne Sullivan was killed at Aaron’s Bar and Grill, a sports bar in a nice part of town. It was the only murder not anywhere near the college scene, although Daphne was a third-year student, working on her bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She was majoring in dance, and according to her parents, she had a scholarship lined up for the following year. Her parents paid her room and board. A free ride with a bright future. Now all of it was gone.
Mary Harcourt and Mindy Simpson were about the same age as Daphne, all of them in their early twenties. Mary and Mindy weren’t in college, though. Mary worked in a factory as a secretary, made decent money, and her coworkers said she’d been saving to buy a home. Mindy worked in a grocery store and lived with two roommates in an apartment.
“Young, single, paid their bills,” Ash mused, heading out of the parking lot. Mindy’s roommates had little to offer and neither knew about a bracelet. She barely remembered her drive home as she pulled into her garage, hitting the button to raise her garage door. “Nothing unique about them other than the rope bracelets they wore. That’s got to be a clue, but what does it mean?”
It was six-thirty when she stood in her bedroom, naked and ready for a shower. She wouldn’t make it anywhere by seven, which was a damned shame. The case occupied her thoughts and she needed to keep brainstorming until some other connection became clear. Standing in front of her dresser, she stared at her jewelry box, thinking about the bracelets the girls wore.
Her jewelry was a hodgepodge collection at best. Ash fingered a locket Danny gave her years ago, before they’d married. It hung on a hook next to her jewelry box along with the few other necklaces she owned. Flipping open her jewelry box, she stared at the earrings she owned. There was the small velvet box that held the diamond earrings her grandmother gave her and that reminded her of the earrings Mary Harcourt wore.
“What?” she whispered, as she flipped the box open and her jaw dropped. The earrings were gone.
CHAPTER 4
CHASE AIMED HIS remote at his TV, all too aware of the time and fighting to stay put when he ached to jump up and pace. It was almost eight and not a word from Ashley. He almost lunged at his cell phone when it started vibrating and then chirping on his coffee table.
“Reed here,” he growled, after glaring at the words “unknown caller” on his phone.
“How would you like to take me bowling?” Ashley’s soft purr in his ear sent his heart racing in his chest.
Jumping off the couch, he forced himself to take a slow breath and then stretched, scratching his bare chest. “Why did you block your number?” he demanded.
Her alluring tone didn’t change. “You blocked your number when you called me.”
“My number is always blocked, company policy,” he explained.
“Would you like to take me bowling?” she repeated.
“Why do you want to go bowling?” He’d take her anywhere she wanted to go, and realized that as he bounded through to his bedroom, ready to change clothes.
“It’s a weak hunch at best.”
“I’m listening.” He put the phone on speaker and set it next to his computer in his bedroom as he searched for a shirt.
“I spoke with one of our narcotic cops today,” she began. “I need to know where someone could buy ISIS.”
He opened his mouth to ask why she hadn’t come to him asking for help with that. Ashley sounded pumped up when she continued talking, her voice animated. Chase didn’t want to interrupt her; just listening to her soft, sultry tone did a mean number to his equilibrium. He was getting semihard in spite of the despicable subject matter she was discussing.
“He couldn’t really help me,” she added.
He could have told her that. ISIS wasn’t sold by the average street drug dealer. It was hard-core stuff, moved in circles that went beyond what most city cops dealt with.
“He told me the last really big dealer he took down, less than a year ago, did some of his work out of the bowling alley.”
“Now, Mindy Simpson was on a league,” she added. “My ex was spending some time with her and told me that’s how they met.”
Chase pulled a shirt over his head and stopped, facing the phone, his interest piqued. If Ashley’s ex was dating Mindy, that made him suspect.
“There’s something else, and it’s nothing. Seriously nothing. I shouldn’t even mention it because I know it’s just coincidence.”
“What?” he asked, grabbing the phone and taking it off speaker.
“When you first mentioned the jewelry each victim wore, I remembered Mary Harcourt wore a pair of diamond earrings. I specifically remembered them because they reminded me of the diamond earrings my grandmother gave me when I turned sixteen. They are an old family heirloom and have been passed down from daughter to daughter in my family for several generations.”
“Why did your grandmother give them to you and not your mother?” Chase doubted it had anything to do with their case, but he wanted to know everything about Ashley. She’d been under his skin since he first watched her go over the crime scene at Club Toro. After kissing her at her house, she’d singed his system, leaving him hot and hard. Anything about her mattered to him.
“My grandmother and mother didn’t get along with each other very well,” she said quietly, without elaborating. “But Chase, when I got home tonight I was looking through my jewelry, and my diamond earrings are gone.”
“When’s the last time you wore them?” He headed into his bathroom, glancing at his reflection in the mirror as he applied deodorant and opted for a small amount of a cologne he couldn’t remember when he’d last applied.
“Yes, I would have asked someone that question, too. I told you it was a weak hunch. The fact is, I’ve never worn them. I didn’t appreciate my grandmother giving them to me and skipping my mother. It really hurt my mother and my wearing them would have hurt her, too. They’ve always been right here in my jewelry box. More than once I’ve thought about giving them to my mother now that my grandmother is dead. She wears jewelry like that more than I do.”
“So do you look at them often?” He headed back to his room, grabbing socks out of his top drawer and then reaching for his boots.
“No. I don’t have a clue how long they’ve been missing,” she snapped.
Chase smiled. She was right. It was a weak hunch. He wanted to see her and wanted to talk about this more with her in person. It was a hell of a case, and one he’d jump on the opportunity to work, because there were no clues. Chase wasn’t a glory seeker, though. Hell, if he were, he wouldn’t have fallen knee deep in shit with the FBI. He knew how to be a ghost, though. He didn’t have a problem helping Ash with the case and allowing her to take all the credit for solving it.
“I’ll be over there in thirty minutes and we’ll head to the bowling alley,” he told her.
“I’ll meet you there,” she said without hesitating.
“Why do you want me to go with you?”
There was silence for a moment but when she spoke it was with confidence. “It w
ould look less obvious if I show up there with someone,” she explained. “I’m pretty sure it’s league night and if my ex is there he won’t be suspicious if I’m not alone.”
“Exactly.” He didn’t miss a beat. “And if you’ve got a date it’s only right that he brings you to the bowling alley. Guys check that sort of thing out. Your ex will see what I’m driving when we leave. Mark my word.”
She sighed, and again he smiled, knowing she couldn’t argue against riding with him. “Fine,” she grunted. “Be here in an hour. I need time to get ready.”
“Take all the time you need, darling,” he growled.
Ash snorted, but didn’t argue. “See you in an hour.”
He doubted she’d needed an hour when he picked her up an hour later. Her hair wasn’t wet, and although she looked hot as hell in hip-hugging blue jeans and a tube top that showed off her firm, flat belly, something told him she had put him off an hour simply to try and maintain the upper hand. She wasn’t wearing makeup but her dark, forest-green eyes were bright and attentive when she greeted him at the door and then closed it behind her, turning the knob to insure it was locked.
She slung a sweater over her shoulder. “I haven’t been to the bowling alley in ages, so if we’re asked, you like bowling.”
“Can you bowl?” he asked, opening his passenger door for her and managing not to touch her when she slid into his SUV.
Her blond hair looked exceptionally soft and wavy tonight. “I used to be able to, but it’s been over four years since I’ve bowled.”
“Since your divorce?”
She shot him a pensive look. “Yes,” she said, and then reached to close her door.
The bowling alley was crowded and noisy, not too different from how he remembered it when he used to come here in his early twenties. Slipping his arm around Ashley’s bare shoulders, he paused just inside the entrance, noting immediately there weren’t any free lanes.
Ashley stiffened when he pulled her against him. Chase lowered his mouth to her ear, breathing in the soft smell of lavender. “You want to make it look like we’re together, darling,” he reminded her.
She looked at him, her face inches from his and her eyes dark as she blinked and continued watching him through thick, long lashes. “What would you tell someone you do for a living?” she whispered, her lips moist and full as she searched his face.
“Keep a very close eye on you,” he growled, and enjoyed the hell out of her surprised expression.
“Do you date often?” he asked.
“Not at all.”
“So your ex isn’t accustomed to seeing you with another man.” He didn’t make it a question, wondering how possessive her ex-husband might be.
“No. We were together since high school.”
“Why did you divorce?”
“He didn’t want a career wife,” she said matter-of-factly, not giving him any indication she regretted the fact that she was one.
“His loss,” he muttered, continuing to whisper so those around them wouldn’t overhear their conversation. But he was overly aware that people moved around them as they stood several feet from the door in the main walkway behind the lanes.
“Men want a woman waiting at home for them when they come home.”
“Some men enjoy their woman at their side when trying to nail a killer.” It didn’t bother him when her mouth parted, surprised that he might consider pursuing her for more than she probably thought he wanted from her.
Before she could think of a response, he took advantage of her being off guard and pulled her closer to him. Then gripping her neck with his free hand, he tipped her head back slightly by pushing his thumb under her chin. When he kissed her, she didn’t fight him. If anything, as she sighed into his mouth, and touched his arm with her warm hand, it was all he could do not to devour her right there in front of everyone.
Chase ran his hand down her back, loving how smooth and warm her skin was. She was trim, with perfect angles and curves. He gripped her ass, pushing her into him and then moved his other hand through her soft, silky hair.
“Are you ready to look around?” he asked, his voice rough as he gazed down at her.
Ashley’s lashes fluttered over her eyes when she licked her full, wet lips. “Yes,” she whispered.
He didn’t want to let her go. Sliding his arm around her waist, he inserted his thumb in her back pocket, keeping her next to him as he took in the people around them. More than one man focused on Ashley and then gave him a wary look, but for the most part everyone milled around them without paying any attention to them. There were families, kids, and couples; the bowling alley hadn’t changed much over the years.
“Do you see your ex?” he asked, after handing her a beer and taking his.
“No, but I’d think he’d be here. It’s definitely league night.”
“Keep an eye out for any rope bracelets,” he told her, and she looked up at him quickly, holding her beer in midair, her surprise at his comment obvious.
“Do you think whoever is giving the girls those bracelets would be here?”
“I think it’s too early to rule out any possibilities.”
Ashley nodded and then sipped from her beer. It wasn’t the best beer Chase had ever had. It was barely cold and slightly flat. He didn’t remember the beer being this lame years back. Apparently his taste was a bit pickier now than when he was younger.
Not that he didn’t already know that to be the truth. As much as he noticed the guys checking out Ashley as they worked their way through the mingling crowd above the lanes, he didn’t miss the ladies who gave him the once-over. None of them held a flame to Ashley.
She moved with a calm confidence next to him, her ass swaying perfectly as he rested his finger in her rear jeans pocket. He shifted his attention to one of the lanes when several people looked their way and then waved.
“Old friends,” she offered, but didn’t elaborate. She turned and descended the several steps to the lane where a group of people now looked their way expectantly.
“Ash!” A stocky man moved around the grinning girls, arms extended, and ignored Chase when he pulled her into a bear hug. “Why aren’t you out saving the world?” he asked, his deep barrel laugh causing the ladies around him to giggle.
Ashley hugged him but then let him go, returning to Chase’s side. He draped his arm around her protectively, all too aware of the curious stares from the group as they checked him out.
“Hey, Davie, Chris, Angie,” she said, sounding cheerful and more energetic than she usually sounded. “Everyone, this is Chase. Chase, this is everyone,” she offered, laughing.
The group laughed along with her. The stocky man, apparently Davie, held his hand out. “It’s good to see someone could get Ash out of that uniform long enough to take her out,” he bellowed, his tone sounding a bit forced. “I started worrying my brother had ruined your ability to get out and date again.”
“Hardly,” she offered easily. “Is Danny here?”
“Nope. Don’t know where he is.” Davie’s baritone grew quieter. “I hear he’s pretty messed up after Mindy got killed. You find the guy who did that to her, yet?”
All faces sobered and looked at Ashley expectantly.
“I’ve got some really strong leads,” she answered, lowering her voice to almost a whisper, which caused the group to sober further and lean closer to hear anything she might say. Ashley pointed at one of the girls, who stood next to Davie. “Chris, where did you get that bracelet?”
Chase tried not to look too interested as he glanced at the thin rope bracelet around Chris’s wrist. She held out her wrist and blushed, although when she lowered her head, thin, long blond strands covered her face.
“There’s a lady down at the Crossing who makes them,” Chris explained, shooting Chase a furtive look with pale blue, watery eyes. Maybe she was pretty, but her baggy clothes did a good job of hiding any figure she might have. Black eyeliner and dark lipstick distracted anyone from se
eing what she really looked like.
Ashley fingered the thin rope wrapped around Chris’s wrist. “What do the knots mean?”
“It’s kind of personal,” Chris whispered, blushing even further.
“It means how many times she’s had sex,” said the lady next to her, a chubby, dark-haired woman who had dimples when she chuckled. She nudged Chris, apparently indifferent to how furiously Chris blushed. “Come on, you two, join us for a beer,” she said, grabbing Ashley’s arm.
“We already were commenting there wasn’t room to bowl,” Ashley said, trying to back out of the invitation.
Chase was curious about the bracelet, and didn’t have any problem hanging out with these people in an effort to learn more about Chris, as well as hear any comments about Mindy, who at least the brother of Ashley’s ex seemed to know.
“We can stay for a beer,” Chase said, grabbing Davie’s attention when he spoke. The stocky man gave him a shrewd once-over, possibly feeling a bit protective of his ex-sister-inlaw. “Ash wanted to bowl but I told her league night would make it iffy.”
“Bring her down tomorrow night,” Davie told him, his jovial smile disappearing as his tone turned serious. “I’m sure my brother will want to meet you anyway.”
“Do I need his consent to take out his ex?” Chase asked.
The women sobered and he ignored the glare Ashley shot at him.
“Of course not,” Davie said, never looking away from Chase. “It’s just Ash here hasn’t dated in the four years since she and Danny split up. We want to make sure she’s being taken care of.”
“You have my word,” Chase told him, again draping his arm around Ashley. He grinned into her dark, stormy green eyes. “One beer and then we’ll head out,” he said so only she could hear.
“Behave,” she mouthed, pinching his waist hard enough to make it hurt.
Chase lowered his mouth to her ear, holding her firmly against him. Ashley placed her hand against his chest, but didn’t push him away when he nibbled her ear.
“Learn more about that bracelet,” he instructed her, whispering in her ear.