He let out a loud sigh which seemed to echo through the bedroom as he tried to recall the last time he’d had sex.If he couldn’t remember, it was definitely too long ago.Maybe that’s why he was suddenly interested in Grace.He rarely dated a woman past a few dates.After one or two nights of mutually satisfying sex, the woman usually moved on, which was fine with him.
But Grace wasn’t one-night stand material.Not even two nights.Grace Whitman was a long-term relationship woman, and Sean didn’t do long-term.Hell, he barely did short-term.The longest relationship he’d had in the past five years had lasted a few days over two months before the woman had gotten tired of competing with his job.Not many women appreciated their dates being constantly interrupted by phone calls that had to be taken or the dates being canceled altogether because Sean had to respond to a crime scene.
He sighed again and went back to the case reports.An hour later, his mind and body succumbed to overwhelming drowsiness, tumbling him into some much-needed sleep with the files scattered around him.He hoped he would dream of Grace and not dead bodies.
Miles away, Grace tossed and turned on her own bed.Groaning, she fluffed her pillow for the fourth time and tried again to get comfortable.Glancing around the moonlit room, she made a mental list of everything she still had to do to make her condo a home.Her first few nights in North Carolina had been spent at Bonnie’s house.She then found the spacious two-bedroom unit after rejecting three other locations her realtor had suggested.Because of the loan she’d taken out for her business, she had to settle for renting the condo.The realtor told her the owners might be interested in selling the unit in the future, so a “rent with the option to buy” clause had been added to the contract.
The five-year-old complex called Hidden Cove Condominiums was in the small town of Gandy—a fifteen-minute drive to Whisper.In the middle of the six buildings, with a total of forty-eight units, was a large man-made lake and a small park with a playground area for children.There was also a residents-only swimming pool on the property.The landscaping was beautiful, and Grace had instantly fallen in love with the comfortable neighborhood.After touring the condo, she informed the realtor she didn’t need to see any more listings and put a deposit down.The moving company she’d used to transport her belongings from New York had stored the items until she could locate a new place.The condo had been available immediately, and she’d moved in after her furniture and boxes were delivered three days later.
The movers had placed all the large furniture exactly where she wanted it, but otherwise, the rooms were undecorated.All her belongings were still packed in moving boxes stacked against the walls in every room.Aunt Bonnie had come over the day after Grace moved in to help her unpack her kitchen and bathroom necessities, along with a few boxes of clothes.Other than that, Grace wanted to postpone the rest of the unpacking and decorating until after her business was ready to go.She’d deal with the boring white walls for now.Getting Pro-Care up and running was her main priority—everything else would just have to wait.
After flipping from her left side to her right and back again, she flung the sheets off and climbed out of bed.Maybe a warm glass of milk would help.She trudged out to the kitchen, grabbed the milk from the refrigerator, found a small saucepan to put it in, and set it on the stove to heat up.As she waited for the white liquid to warm, her thoughts returned to her impromptu dinner with Sean.
When she was younger, she’d had a huge crush on Brian Malone, but by the time she was in junior high school, Sean had gotten taller, broader, and cuter than he’d been a few years earlier.The Army had taken the boy she’d known and made him a man, and she suddenly found her infatuation shifting from the old Brian to the new Sean.
All the Malone brothers were handsome.At a young age, she’d figured out that very few girls, and then women, were immune to their looks and magnetism.Mothers found their polite and charming personalities appealing, yet every father could see through to the bad boys and free spirits hiding just below the surface.
Even though she only saw them at Thanksgiving, Easter, and a few weeks over the summer each year as a child, Grace had been close enough to the brothers back then to make some of the local girls jealous.Not that she had cared.She even remembered rubbing their noses in it a few times when she got the chance, like wrapping her hand around Brian or Sean’s arms when the popular girls were around or hopping on their backs for a piggyback ride.
Looking back, her behavior had been so childish, but the boys never complained and treated her like a little sister they didn’t mind hanging out with.But as they got older and started dating, Grace was the one to be jealous at being left behind, especially after she heard Sean had taken that bitchy snob Mary Jo Schreiber to the senior prom.It wasn’t as if he could have taken Grace since she’d lived in New York, but she’d still been disappointed at the time.
However, now she was back in the area to stay, and her eyes were once again drawn to Sean.But this time, it was as a woman, not a pubescent girl who didn’t know what real male desirability was.His rich, brown eyes seemed to change shades depending on what color shirt he was wearing, and his light brown hair was just long enough to make her yearn to run her fingers through it.The first night she saw him, it had looked as if he hadn’t shaved for a day or two, but this evening, just a hint of a five o’clock shadow had covered his jawline and upper lip.She couldn’t decide which was a better look on him—either way was very sexy.
Was she fascinated with him due to her childhood crush, or was this the real thing she felt?Unfortunately, Sean probably still considered her Bonnie’s niece, “Little Gracie.”She wondered if there was a way to get him to notice her as a woman—a woman who was very attracted to him.
A sizzling sound jerked her out of her daydream just in time to remove the milk from the stove and prevent scalding.Pouring the liquid into a coffee cup, Grace took the drink back to bed with her, and a short time later, she was finally asleep.
Chapter5
The two Malone brothers and Rafe all arrived at the sheriff’s department at eight o’clock the next morning.Sean climbed out of his car and approached the other men as they stood at the far end of the parking lot, staring at the crowd gathered at the main entrance.Multiple news vans occupied the lot as cameramen and reporters littered the front walkway of the building.
“This can’t be good,” Sean murmured.
Brian rolled his eyes.“You think?Let’s just hope it has nothing to do with our serial.”
“Twenty bucks says it does,” Rafe dared.
His partner snorted.“Even I’m not crazy enough to take that bet.And speaking of which, you still owe me twenty from the game the other night.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.I forgot to roll my loose change for you.”
“Asshole.Don’t laugh, Sean, but this jackass did that to me once,” Brian complained.“Paid his fucking fifty-dollar bet in dimes, nickels, and pennies.”
Sean shook his head.The two of them sound more like an old married couple than coworkers.But the thought of pennies had his mind going back to the case, and it was hard to laugh while thinking about that.
The lawmen managed to make their way through the chaos unnoticed.Although Sean was dressed in a dark suit, and the other men were in sports coats with their weapons and badges concealed, leaving no outward sign they were in law enforcement.As a result, the press didn’t question them as they entered the station.Showing their IDs to the deputy at the front desk, they were buzzed into the back hallway and went straight to Griffin’s office.His secretary, Nancy Kessler, was simultaneously talking on the phone and writing on a memo pad when they entered the reception area.Her husband taught history at the local high school and had coached both Brian and Sean in football when they were younger.Nancy recognized the brothers immediately, smiled, and gestured for the men to take seats for a moment.
The sheriff’s door was closed, but they could hear him yelling through the frosted glass.“I want to know who the fucking leak is, and I want to know now!All hell is breaking loose out there, and we’re no closer to finding this son of a bitch than we were two months ago.I’ve got every goddamned politician in Dare County demanding answers, and I’ve got nothing for them.
“Brooks, I want you to pass the word that no one… I repeat…no oneis to talk to the press about this case without permission from me.And, Dworski, since every pain-in-the-ass reporter and news station in the area is outside, you might as well make a statement.”
Another male voice responded, “What do you want me to say?Or not say?”
“Say we have three homicides thatmaybe related.We’ve formed a task force that includes state and federal investigators.Everything possible is being done to catch this bastard.No specific details about the murders.The pennies and the carvings are to be kept under wraps.Tell them we’ve stepped up patrols, women should take extra precautions, yada, yada.You know the fucking routine.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You can also tell them we’ll be holding daily press conferences at 11:00 a.m.starting tomorrow.If we do that, hopefully, that’ll stop some of those reporters from snooping around.I doubt it, but it’s worth a shot.”The man paused.“And if I catchanyonefrom this department talking toanyreporter without permission, even if it’s the damn maintenance staff, I swear there’ll be hell to pay.They’ll be cleaning every patrol car and piece of equipment with a goddamned toothbrush for the next three years.Dismissed.”
