Page 39 of Love Above Law

As hard as it was not to take things further with Leyna last night, I meant what I said—it was all about her. She tasted as sweet as I imagined she would, and the way she threaded her fingers through my hair; feeling her body tremble with every stroke of my tongue. I will never get enough of her.

It was even harder leaving her this morning after getting an early wakeup call from Kurt. There has been another homicide following the same pattern as the other three. That's four murders in two weeks. Usually, we don't see them this close together, even in more severe cases investigated in the past. Kurt feels we may need to use the media outlets to flush the killer out. It's a good idea. The public already knows about the killings but not the fact we believe it is the workings of a serial killer. For all these reasons, I asked Leyna to stay in today.

With my job there comes a price. Long hours, shit loads of paperwork, people hating me for wearing this badge. It's all worth it when one more monster is off the street; one more missing person is found, or several lives were saved. When I first started with the FBI someone once told me you have to harden yourself, become immune to what you see, detach yourself to do the job. How? Every case feels personal to me. In my line of work, I've seen the underbelly of society—the ugly, dirty, inhumane parts. The things the public hear or read about don't even scratch the surface of the evil in this world. And I don't have the worst end of the madness. The victims are the ones who have honestly seen it all. Many of them have starred in the eyes of the devil himself. Some live to tell the tale—some do not.

I'm sitting at my desk redirecting my focus when Dean walks up dropping another file onto the pile accumulating there already. "I know you're already knee deep in these homicide cases, but our guys dug up some interesting information on how someone was able to hack the bank account belonging to Miguel Santino." Taking the file from the pile, I flip it open. "Hackers?"

"Yeah, and the team was able to determine the source disabled the bank's intrusion detection system. After examining the metadata files, they didn't find any trace evidence. The hacker wiped their tracks clean. I heard someone put a call into another guy—a freelancer kept off the books to take another look. They're hoping he might be able to dig a little further," Dean explains.

Leaning back in my chair, I close then toss the file back on the growing pile sitting on my desktop. "Thanks, Dean." We have no answers. Only the knowledge that a brilliant hacker made his way through a bank security system, stole cash, and covered his tracks well enough our experts haven't found any evidence left behind leading us anywhere.

Dean checks his watch. "I'm clocking out. Taking the wife and kids to Canada this weekend to see her sister."

"How is the family?" I inquire. I've been so deep into these two cases and my personal life I haven't taken the time to ask him.

A tired yet genuine smile pulls at his lips. "Everyone is good. Long nights but worth it." Dean and his wife have been through a lot. It's nice to see them happy. "I'll catch you later." He turns to leave the office.

Standing, I grab my jacket from the back of my chair and dig my car key from my pocket. I've been at it since 4:00 am this morning. All I want to do is go home to my woman. I ride the elevator down with Kai to the garage.

"See you at dinner tomorrow?" Kai climbs into his truck.

"Yeah," I open my car door.

"Taking your woman?"

"I am," I state, and he nods.

"I'll catch you tomorrow." Kai closes his door, starts his truck, backs out of the parking spot, and exits the garage. Getting into my car, I do the same. The ride home feels lengthier than usual as I continue to run over what little evidence we have to go by on the murders. We watched the press release given by our local police. Hopefully putting the word out there will help the public become more vigilant of their surroundings and possibly have someone coming forward with any information we can use to find this monster. With us and local authorities working diligently around the clock on this case I can only hope something turns up a new lead.

Arriving home later than usual, I walk into the apartment and find Leyna asleep on the couch with her kindle laying on her chest. Leaving her to sleep, I stride across the living room and enter my office. Picking up the bottle of scotch I keep in here along with a glass, I pour myself a drink, then walk back out to the living room carefully sitting on the other end of the couch so that I won't wake my woman. The moment I go to set my glass on the coffee table I notice a note written on pink stationery and pick it up.

I still love you,

April

You have to be shitting me. Even after demanding she stop. April showed up at my apartment? I fist the paper in my hand, crumpling it into a tight ball. What the hell is she up to? I stare up at the ceiling then glance down at my woman. Her green eyes settle on mine. "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey," Leyna whispers.

I sigh. I thought April would stay in my past, but that isn't going to happen. "April is my ex." Leyna shifts, sitting upright against the arm of the couch.

"Lex, you don't owe me—"

"Yes, Leyna, I do. April and I were high school sweethearts. I was with her for years," I keep my eyes on her, "I even asked her to marry me at one point. Long story short she cheated—slept with my best friend of ten years. I found out they had been having an affair for almost an entire year."

"Lex, I'm sorry."

"I'm not. It angered me more knowing my best friend had betrayed me." Tugging on her feet, I slide her body toward me and I settle my body above hers. "I want no one else but you. Got it?"

"Si." Her hands threaded through my hair, pulling my head down until my lips lock on hers—giving me what I need in her kiss.

* * *

With a couple of Cuban dishes sitting on the back seat along with a couple of bottles of wine, Leyna and I hit the road making the forty-five-minute drive to Tacoma. "Are you sure you're okay with meeting the rest of my family?" I ask her one more time.

Throwing her head back in laughter, Leyna reassures me, "Si. I believe you're the one who is nervous. I'm fine meeting your family, Lex. I only hope your mother won't mind me bringing food."

Bringing it to my lips, I kiss the back of her hand. "You have nothing to worry about."