LITMIR.BIZ

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made a U-turn and parked in front of the condo complex while Elise rolled into the parking garage. He popped the trunk and gathered Elise’s two bags over one shoulder and settled her suitcase on its wheels.

      “I can take one of those.” Elise had appeared on a walkway next to the driveway.

      “I got ’em. Lead the way.” He followed her up the marble tile steps, and she used her friend’s key to open the front door. “Is your friend going to be home?”

      “I have no idea.”

      They went to the second floor and Elise stopped at one of just three doors on the hallway. She knocked first, listened and then unlocked the door.

      The decor of the condo almost blinded him—modern, tasteful and white. He preferred Elise’s jumble of colorful styles.

      She called out, “Courtney?”

      There was an upstairs as well, and Elise stood at the foot of the staircase, her hand resting on the chrome banister.

      “I guess she’s not home yet.”

      Sean parked her suitcase in a corner and piled her other two bags on top of it. “I’ll stick around until she gets here.”

      Elise spun around and plopped down on the second step of the staircase. “Did you find out anything about the woman on my phone?”

      “Her name’s Katie Duncan, twenty-five years old.”

      “Duncan? That’s weird.”

      “Do you know the name?”

      “Duncan, Duran—maybe he’s going through the phone book.” She snapped her fingers. “What was the name of the other woman? The one found at the Presidio?”

      “Carlson.”

      Her eyes popped. “C, D.”

      “Are you in the phone book?” Sean’s hand tightened on the banister. Of course, he’d noticed the similarity between Elise’s and Katie’s names, but who used phone books anymore?

      “No, I’m not. I suppose it’s just a coincidence, but maybe he’s looking at some alphabetical list of something.”

      Pain needled the back of his neck and he clasped it, rolling his head.

      “Are you okay?”

      “Headache.” He dropped to the bottom step and leaned against the wall. “Katie wasn’t a teacher, so it’s not some alphabetical list of teachers.”

      “What did she do?”

      “She was a legal secretary.”

      “Had she ever been to the Speakeasy, like me?”

      “We’re looking into it.” He leveled a finger at her. “You’re becoming a good detective.”

      “I have a vested interest in seeing Katie’s, and maybe the Carlson woman’s, killer nailed. I don’t want to live in fear. He may not know where I’m staying now, but he knows my name. Who knows what kind of info he can get on me?”

      A key scraped in the lock and the front door swung open. Sean jumped to his feet as a young Asian woman stumbled into the entryway loaded down with shopping bags.

      She stopped when she saw them and dropped half the bags. “You scared the spit out of me!”

      “Sorry.” Elise squeezed past him on the stairs and hugged her friend, bags and all. “Courtney, this is Detective Sean Brody. Sean, this is Courtney Chu.”

      Courtney dropped the rest of her bags and stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

      She arched an eyebrow at Elise. “Is he moving in, too?”

      “N-no. He, well, he followed me here. There was an incident at the Dragon Boat Parade.”

      “What?” Courtney gripped Elise’s shoulders.

      “I was attacked.”

      Courtney let out a yelp and then herded Elise to her spotless living room and sat her down.

      Elise told her the story while Courtney alternately gasped, cursed and covered her mouth with her hand.

      “Elise, this is crazy.” She turned on Sean, her black hair whipping across her face. “What are you doing to catch this guy?”

      “Everything we can.” He pulled the sketch Elise had helped create out of his pocket and smoothed out the creases. “Here he is. You didn’t notice him in the club that night, did you? You didn’t notice anyone watching Elise?”

      “Look at her.” She jerked her thumb at Elise. “She’s gorgeous. Of course I noticed guys watching her, but not this nut job.”

      Sean’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, glancing at the display. “It’s the station. I’m going to take this and then I’ll get out of your way.”

      He rose from the chair and wandered into the kitchen as Elise and her friend continued their excited chatter.

      “Brody.”

      “Brody, it’s Curtis. You’d better get down here.”

      Sean’s heart pounded and the blood thudded in his ears. “What’s up?”

      “That dead girl we found today? Katie Duncan?”

      “Yeah?” With his mouth suddenly gone dry, Sean could barely form the word.

      “Her killer sent you a message.”

      “What’d it say?” Sean clenched his jaw where a muscle twitched erratically.

      “It’s not so much what he said, dude, as what he sent.”

      Sean spat out an expletive. “Just tell me.”

      “He sent you a finger, Brody. Katie Duncan’s severed finger.”

       Chapter Eight

      Only half listening to Courtney’s exclamations, Elise directed her gaze at Sean clutching his cell phone to his ear. With his back turned toward her, she couldn’t see his face but his shoulders had a rigid set and his white knuckles made it look as if he could crush that phone with one hand.

      Courtney snapped her fingers. “Earth to Elise.”

      “Sorry. What were you saying?”

      “Never mind.” Courtney turned her head to look at Sean. “Not as important as some things.”

      Sean ended the call and took a few steps into the room, his face stern and white. “Duty calls. I gotta go back to the station. Take care of that leg, and don’t forget to pick up a phone and give me the number.”

      “My leg’s fine, and I’ll get that phone.” Elise pushed up from the sofa. “Hold on, I’ll see you out.”

      Courtney waved. “Bye, nice to meet you. Maybe we’ll see each other again.”

      Elise stepped into the hallway with him and pulled the door shut. “Is everything okay?”

      He relaxed his jaw enough to speak. “Everything’s fine, except we have a diabolical killer loose in the city.”

      “What was the call about?”

      “Murder and mayhem—just an ordinary day on the job. That’s my life, Elise, and you don’t need to hear about it.”

      Did he think she couldn’t handle reality? She grabbed his arm and his biceps felt like granite. “You can tell me. You don’t have to push me away.”

      He cupped her face in one large hand and stroked his thumb across her cheek. “Yes, I do.”

      His touch belied his words, and his proximity had her breath

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