Before the Dawn--A Novel of Romantic Suspense

  Jinx was under that sheet?

  Dawn stilled.

  Julia pulled off her gloves, tossed them into the trash and then hurried toward Dawn. “You don’t want to be here,” she said again.

  Dawn couldn’t pull her gaze off the sheet.

  Julia touched her arm. Dawn flinched.

  “Let’s go outside,” Julia said quickly. “We can talk out there—”

  “She suffered.” The words were out before she could even think. “I saw—when I opened the freezer...he’d cut her.” Marks that matched Dawn’s. Or at least, that was what she’d thought at the time. “Were the marks...the same?”

  Macey had come up behind Julia. Like the coroner, she was wearing a white lab coat and gloves. She took off her gloves and Dawn saw her gaze jump to Bowen.

  “They were the same.” Julia’s face showed her sorrow. “I’m sorry.”

  “She worked so hard to cover up my scars.” Her heart squeezed in her chest. “And he just marked her to match me.” Why? “Did you hear...the FBI has a partial DNA match? They think the killer is someone related to Jason Frost.”

  Julia licked her lips. “I...heard that.”

  “Have you found any evidence to back that up?” Or, more important, any evidence to discredit that idea?

  “I recovered skin cells,” Julia murmured. “Just a few moments ago. From beneath Jinx’s fingernails. Even though she was bound, she fought her attacker.”

  Jinx had always been a fighter. Once more, Dawn’s gaze went helplessly to that white sheet.

  Jinx is here. Heather is here. Red is here. And even that kid—Rowan—he’s dead, too. So many dead.

  “Macey, can we talk outside?” Bowen’s deep voice asked.

  Macey gave a quick nod, and they walked away. The lab doors swung shut behind them. Dawn’s shoulders sagged a bit. Now, alone with Julia, she could lower her guard. “I hate this so much,” Dawn whispered.

  Julia nodded, swallowing.

  “I need something to help me find this bastard. He’s out there, hunting, and the cops took Tucker in for questioning.” Her chin lifted. “He didn’t do this. I know it.”

  “Sometimes, we don’t know people as well as we think.”

  “I know him.” She wouldn’t let fear control her again. She’d just found her way back to Tucker. She wouldn’t lose him again. “Those cells you found—they are going to prove his innocence.”

  Julia bit her lip, but didn’t speak.

  “The killer is someone that Jinx was seeing, romantically. Malone told me that she had a boyfriend—this was the guy. Tucker couldn’t have been down here seeing Jinx. He was working cases with the FBI.”

  “Maybe he slipped away...”

  “No.” She was adamant. “It didn’t happen.” She was certain of this. “Jinx knew how I felt about Tucker.” Because one drunken night she’d told her. Why was it that too much wine could always make secrets come out? “There are some lines that friends would never cross.”

  Julia glanced back toward the covered sheet. “You’re so sure her lover and her killer are one and the same?”

  No, she wasn’t. Damn it. “Have you done Red’s autopsy?”

  Julia shook her head. “Not yet. It took so long to carefully thaw Jinx that—” She broke off. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “The killer attacked Red quickly. He didn’t use the Iceman’s MO. It was all about a fast kill with him. Since it was so fast, maybe he made a mistake. Left more evidence. I mean, if skin cells were found on Jinx, there has to be evidence on Red.”

  Julia paced toward her desk. “I’ll check him, Dawn. I’ll be as thorough as possible. You know how seriously I take my job.”

  Yes, she did. Julia was the best there was. If evidence was on him, she’d find it.

  “I do know...” Julia tapped a manila file that sat on the edge of her desk. “Based just on a visual look at the wounds, I think that Red’s killer was left-handed.”

  Dawn’s eyes widened. “Jason was right-handed. Tucker is right-handed.”

  “I have to do a more thorough exam. This was just a superficial survey while I was waiting on...on Jinx.” She stumbled a bit over those words. “But the wound in his neck is deepest on the right-hand side, and it becomes shallower as it slices to the left. That’s the typical strike pattern of a left-handed attacker. It was a frontal attack, judging by the blood spatter at the scene, and in a front attack from a right-handed perp, the deepest wound on the neck should have originated on the left-hand side.” She lifted her hands toward her own throat, indicating the pattern of the attack. “The killer would have been covered in blood...”

  * * *

  “YES,” TUCKER SAID CAREFULLY. “I found Red. I had his blood on me—I was trying to save the guy’s life! I wasn’t the one who attacked him. The killer beat me to his location. I wish that I had arrived sooner. I could have stopped the perp. I could have saved Red.”

  Silence. Still too much suspicion in the eyes of Hatch and Anthony. As for Samantha, he couldn’t read her expression at all.

  “Were you intimately involved with Jinx?” Anthony asked.

  “No. I never even met the woman. I’ve been in DC, working cases.” He gestured toward Samantha. “She can tell you I haven’t had any time off recently to run down here.”

  “So it’s been a long time since you came down here to spy on Dawn Alexander.” Anthony looked oddly satisfied, as if the guy had just caught Tucker in a lie.

  He’d caught nothing. “You can check my travel records—actually, I think you already have. The last time I was down here...it was right after we finished up the Sorority Slasher case. I made sure Dawn was doing well, and I left the city. End of story.”

  “But it’s not the end,” Anthony said. “You’re here now...and the bodies are piling up.”

  * * *

  “SUSPICION IS HITTING Tucker hard,” Bowen said as he paced outside the coroner’s office. Macey didn’t pace. She just stood still, her unusual eyes following him. “Someone is setting him up, I’m sure of it. For Heather to say an FBI agent named Tuck was her lover...” He gave a low whistle. “This killer has been steps ahead of us all along. He wants Tucker to look guilty—”

  “He’s discrediting him.” Macey pursed her lips as she seemed to consider all of the options. “There won’t be enough evidence to prove Tucker’s guilt. He’s been in DC with us all for the last few months...he hasn’t been down here checking on the body he had in a warehouse.”

  Bowen stopped pacing.

  “We originally thought Dawn was the killer’s end goal,” she mused. “Maybe it’s more about Tucker. Hurting him. Destroying what he values.”

  He loved that woman’s mind. So deep and twisting. “Tucker values his job.”

  “And if suspicion is thrown on him...the first step will be his removal from the case and our team.”

  He nodded. “He’s being questioned by the PD now. They were saying we were trying to cover for one of our own. Detective Deveraux demanded to be in the interrogation. After the way Tucker went after his partner, the guy was obviously wanting some payback.”

  “I don’t think he’s the only one.” Her gaze cut to the closed lab doors. “Tucker doesn’t have close ties to many folks. The only person that I think he truly cares about? She’s in there.”

  He’d gotten that the first time he’d seen Dawn’s picture.

  “The killer knows that, too. Hurting Dawn is just another way of hurting Tucker.”

  She’d just said exactly what he thought. “The perp is going to try to kill her. Soon.”

  “Yes. And with all this focus on Tucker...” She shook her head. “Samantha won’t have a choice. She’ll have to remove him from duty. He won’t be the one guarding Dawn any longer.”

  It w
ould be them. “If anything happens to her...”

  Tucker will lose it.

  “We have to make sure nothing happens,” Macey said. “We have to make certain that woman remains a survivor.”

  * * *

  “EVERY WITNESS IN this case keeps winding up dead.” Dawn couldn’t rub the chill from her arms. “Red, Rowan...”

  Julia had sat down behind her desk. “My father is blaming himself for Red and Rowan. He thinks he should have kept Rowan at his restaurant, and then called the cops.”

  “None of this is on Jones.”

  “You know how he is.” Julia’s lips tilted at the corners. “He wants to save the world.”

  “Reminds me of someone else I know.”

  The faint smile vanished from Julia’s mouth. “You’re not going to wind up on my table.” She rose, and the wheels of her chair squeaked as she paced toward Dawn. “That’s not going to happen.”

  A lump was in her throat. One that was very hard to swallow. “Trust me, that’s not on my to-do list.”

  No humor lightened Julia’s eyes. “I look at Jinx, and I see you.”

  Because Jinx had been so close to her. She knew me so well, but I didn’t realize she was keeping secrets. We all keep them, don’t we? And they don’t do anything but eat us up on the inside.

  But maybe...maybe Jinx and her secrets could be the key to the crimes. “I need to go back to her place.” To my place. I’ve got the all clear now. The crime scene techs are done. I can head over and take a look around. Maybe she’d see something that the cops had missed.

  Once more, her gaze turned to the sheet-covered body. I’ll find him, Jinx. I’ll stop him. She hurried forward and gave Julia a quick hug. “Thanks for your help. The next time I’m here, I’ll bring you a po’boy.” She turned for the doors.

  “I meant what I said, Dawn.” Julia’s voice trembled. “Don’t wind up on my table.”

  Dawn looked back at her. “I won’t. I promise.” She shoved open the doors and found Macey and Bowen huddled together in the hallway. They both looked up at her, their expressions guarded.

  “I’m going home.” She kept her voice calm. “Tucker told me last night the police finished their investigation there.”

  Macey nodded. “They did, but...are you sure that’s the place you want to be?”

  It was exactly where she wanted to be.

  Macey stepped closer. Dawn could see the worry in her eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Macey pressed.

  No, she wasn’t okay. “A killer is hunting me. Just how okay could I possibly be?” She was scared and she was pissed and she needed to do something before there was more violence and death.

  Sympathy flashed on Macey’s face.

  Dawn studied her and Bowen. “How do you feel about Tucker?”

  And again, that guarded look came back to both of their faces.

  “Do you think he could be involved?”

  She was hoping for immediate denials. She got hesitations.

  “I think...” Bowen spoke slowly. “I think Tucker Frost is a man with many layers. And secrets that he likes to keep.”

  She knew all about his secrets, now.

  “But do I think he’d torture women? Lock them in freezers and let them die?” He shook his head. “No. No, I have a real hard time believing the man I know would do that. But then...that’s why I’m not in the interrogation with him right now. I can’t be impartial.” He inclined his head toward Dawn. “And I don’t think you can be, either.”

  “No, I can’t be.” That was part of the problem.

  “Bowen’s about to collapse,” Macey said, pointing toward the other man. “He’s been working this case all night. He’s going to crash—”

  Bowen frowned at her. “Dammit, Mace, stop worrying. I told you, I’m fine.”

  “He’s going to crash,” Macey continued doggedly, ignoring his words. “So I’ll accompany you back to your place.” Then she glanced at Bowen. “We’re going to need you later. Rest now, all right?”

  His face seemed to soften as he looked at her. “All right.” But when he focused on Dawn, all that softening was gone. “Watch your ass.”

  “I intend to.”

  * * *

  “ARE WE DONE?” Tucker asked as he glanced between Hatch and Anthony. He kept his voice mild, with an effort. He’d answered every question they had, again and again. He’d played the game the right way.

  Hatch nodded grimly. “For now.”

  Tucker rose. “It’s been real, gentleman.” A real pain in his ass. Someone is setting me up. He followed Samantha out of the interrogation room. They’d only taken a few steps down that hallway when he spotted Detective Torez. Torez was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and his face was locked in hard, tight lines.

  When he saw Tucker, Torez straightened. “Not so fun, is it?”

  “No, it’s not.” Tucker’s gaze swept Torez. “But you learned that last night.”

  Torez lifted his chin. “I’m not the killer. I made a mistake, but I would have never hurt Jinx.”

  “And I didn’t do it, either. That means the son of a bitch who did is still out there.”

  Some of the fury left Torez’s eyes. “Jinx was a kind woman. Smart, with a heart that was too soft.” Emotion thickened his voice. “She looked for the good in people. That was her fault. She always thought there was good inside. But sometimes, there isn’t. Sometimes, people are just rotten straight to their core.”

  Samantha touched Tucker’s shoulder. “We need to talk in my office.”

  Her office. Right. The NOPD had given her team work space. Tucker turned away from Torez and followed Samantha inside the little room to the right. As soon as the door shut behind them...

  “Thanks for having my back,” he said.

  One dark brow rose. “Is that what you think happened in there? That I had your back?”

  She hadn’t been grilling him. She’d been silent, watchful, the entire time.

  Now he studied her with a more careful gaze. “You think I’m guilty?”

  She sat behind the desk. Her head tilted as she looked up at him. “Secrets are dangerous. The longer you keep them, the more power they have to hurt you. Or the ones you care about.”

  He stepped closer to her.

  She never changed expression as she continued, “I had a very good friend who kept terrible secrets. He liked to hurt women. Liked to torture them and see how they reacted to the pain.”

  He knew she was talking about Dr. Cameron Latham. Her former lover. The man who’d been revealed to be the infamous Sorority Slasher.

  “I didn’t see him for what he was. For too long, I looked at Cameron, and I saw what I needed him to be. Because I missed the truth about him, I started to doubt myself. My beliefs about people, my judgments about their character. Trust...” Her lips twisted. “Trust is very hard for me even on good days.”

  “You don’t trust me. You think I could be involved—”

  “I think...” She sighed. “Because of my past—because of yours—we are under a special microscope here. The brass at the FBI is watching, and sometimes I wonder if they’re waiting for us to fail.”

  He didn’t know what to say.

  “I have to remove you from this case now. You realize that. I know you do.”

  Fuck, yes, he’d known this was coming but that didn’t mean—

  “And I need you to stay away from Dawn Alexander.”

  “No.” An immediate denial. When it came to Dawn, he knew exactly what to say.

  Samantha held up her hand. “We’re going to continue giving Dawn protection. Her safety isn’t an issue.”

  “Samantha, this is bullshit. You originally wanted me on this case because of my personal involvement.
”

  But she shook her head. “I wanted you on the case because I knew that you understood Jason Frost. Your tie to him would allow you to see if this killer was truly emulating the Iceman’s crimes or not. It would allow us to potentially predict the killer’s movements, but...this case isn’t going the way I intended.”

  No, it wasn’t going the way anyone had intended.

  “A partial DNA match.” She pressed her lips together. “I can’t overlook that. The evidence we have points to the fact that one of your family members is the killer.”

  “I don’t have any family—”

  “Maybe you don’t know about this person. Maybe your dad had an affair. Maybe it’s a cousin you didn’t know... But this killer is family, and I’ll be damned if I keep you around and wind up causing you to have to kill another blood relation.”

  His eyes widened.

  “You think I don’t see the guilt you carry? I do. You had to make a choice. Your brother or the woman you loved.”

  The woman you loved. His shoulders stiffened. “I would make the same choice today.”

  “I know you would. That’s why I want you away from here. You shouldn’t have to make that choice.”

  There wasn’t a choice for him. “This guy is pulling me in. He’s deliberately trying to incriminate me. He gave Heather my name. Hell, he let her believe that he was me.” His hands were fisted at his sides. “He’s trying to make me look guilty, destroy all credibility I have. And you think I can just walk away from this? Get on a plane and head back to DC?”

  “I think it’s what you should do. Distancing yourself would undermine this perp’s plan, and it’s quite obvious to me that he’s had a plan in place for some time.”

  “Because he’s a cold, methodical killer.” Tucker raked his hand over his face. “Only I didn’t fully understand his motivation before. I thought it was about finishing what the Iceman had started. It’s not... It’s about...me. Me and Dawn.”

  “Your supposed connection to Heather Hartley will find its way to the media outlets. It’s only a matter of time. Her roommate will talk... We’re lucky Bowen got to her first. As soon as the press discovers her story, you’re going to find yourself plagued by reporters. That much intensity will do nothing but hamper the investigation. I need you to back away from the case.” Her face was solemn. “If I had my way, I’d send you back to DC on the next flight, but the NOPD has requested that you stay in town...because you’re a person of interest for them.”