Killer Among Us by Adriana Hunter, Carmen Cross Page A

Kane’s senior
but he had been told to play second chair, it had to
sting.
    Forrester glared at him, his jaw working at
the hunk of bread and meat then he dropped his eyes. Janelle spoke
up, her voice deliberately neutral.
    “ I think we need to go back
and reexamine as many of the actual crime scenes as possible. Get a
feel for this firsthand.”
    Kane stood, wiping his hands on a napkin and
she stood as well. For one moment he had a sudden and disturbingly
vivid memory of the two of them in bed: Janelle tied to the posts,
her legs opened wide, her labia slick with fluids and him between
her legs with one hand on his stiff cock and the other in her hair,
pulling her face close to his for a kiss.
    He turned away, the memory abruptly fading
as another took its place: Sophie looking up at him, her eyes at
half-mast and her face flushed with the crimson tide that foretold
her orgasm.
    Hard on the heels of that thought was a
surge of anger. She had lied to him, she had given him a false name
and he wasn’t sure why. Even if it had anything to do with her
spotting the Creeper it was odd, she had to have trusted him, and
she knew damn well he was not the killer.
    Janelle and John stood quietly while he gave
orders. Forrester had vanished; his ability to do so was almost
uncanny. Kane was relieved because he didn’t want to have to give
the man some makeshift type of work to keep him out of their
hair.
     
    ***
    The sun lent a burnished glow to the
rooftops and the people walking home after a day at work all seemed
exhausted. The tourists had thinned out, Sophie knew the theatres
would be packed later but some of the streets seemed to be almost
eerily quiet as she made her way home.
    She paused at a crosswalk and her gaze
flickered to the building opposite her and her heart dropped into
her belly. Kane stood there, his head angled down to hear the words
the beautiful blonde woman he was standing next to was saying. They
were standing very close together, neither of them paying very much
attention to the rest of the world around them.
    Tears erupted from her eyes, startling her
into movement. She whirled around and dashed back down the narrow
street; intent on getting away she was oblivious to the stares of
other pedestrians.
    Kane looked up just as she disappeared down
a corner so he never saw her there. Janelle asked, “Do you want to
grab some dinner before we get back to work John?”
    John, standing slightly behind the two said,
“I saw a diner a few blocks down. I could use some coffee and a
meal.”
    “ Great,” Kane said. “Me
too, that diner makes really great omelets and home fries, if you
like them.”
    “ I do,” John said, a grin
creasing his face as the three of them made their way back down the
street,” My doctor hates them though. He swears they will be the
death of me.”
    “ He must not know what line
of work you’re in,” Kane joked, making them all laugh.
    Sophie was not laughing. She raced into her
apartment and slammed the door. Sassy came to her and she picked
the warm bundle of fur up and held her close, her tears soaking
into Sassy’s coat. “I don’t even know why I’m crying,” she sobbed
out, “He was just some guy I met!”
    But that wasn’t true and she knew it. There
was an aching hollow feeling inside her rib cage and she could not
stop weeping for a long time.
    ***
    It was after nine and Kane wondered if
Sophie had to work early the next morning or if she were out. He
stood outside her door and raised his hand to knock, paused,
lowered it and then raised it again a bit sheepishly. He wanted to
see her, he wanted to talk to her and he wasn’t sure why he felt so
driven to do so.
    Sophie peeked through her peephole and her
hand went to her mouth. Her eyes darted around the apartment; it
was pin neat as usual. She looked down at the flannel pajamas pants
and sloppy tee shirt she wore and she spun around, poised to run to
the bedroom to change. Then anger took over, how dare he show