R. E. Bradshaw - Rainey Nights by R. E. Bradshaw Page B

Rainey’s waist. “Don’t lose your patience. That was fun. Finish up with Ernie and I’ll go out and talk to Gary at the front. Take your time.” A quick peck on the cheek and Katie walked off the firing range.
    Rainey watched the petite blonde, still mesmerized by the sheer energy Katie cast out around her. She had taken Rainey’s breath the first time she saw her, standing at the gate of her old home in Chapel Hill. Now, nine months later, she took it no less frequently.
    “Ain’t love grand,” Ernie said snidely, drawing out the syllables in each word.
    Rainey’s face broke into a grin. “Yes, yes it is.”
    “All right, lovey-dovey, let’s wrap this up. I got shows to watch.”
    Rainey removed her father’s Smith and Wesson .45 semi-auto from the shelf in front of Ernie. She double-checked that it was unloaded and placed it on the table behind them. She talked while she did this, returning with a smaller .380 revolver, and placed it, cylinder opened, in front of Ernie.
    “Now, when we get here tomorrow, what are you going to do? Go through it step by step.”
    Ernestine Womble, the sixty-seven year old office manager of Bell’s Bail and Bait, wanted to qualify to carry a concealed weapon. With their clientele and what happened last summer, Rainey didn’t really blame her. The nature of the bond business was bad enough. In addition, through her time as a behavioral analyst, Rainey was involved in some of the worst serial murder cases in the last decade. The fact that some of those cases remained unsolved kept Rainey’s Glock tight to her side. Knowing there were so many more out there, roaming undetected, kept Rainey in a constant state of vigilance. She paid dearly the one time her guard was down. That was never going to happen to Rainey Bell again.

Chapter five
    “Rainey, did you see this article about the missing woman from Durham?”
    At 7:45 a.m., Tuesday morning, Rainey stepped out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her waist. She was using another towel to dry her thick hair as she walked bare-chested into the room. Last April, Rainey wouldn’t have been caught dead without a shirt on, but that was before Katie Meyers took over her life. Rainey no longer felt self-conscious about the scar slashed across her chest and torso by a madman. None of that mattered anymore.
    Rainey smiled at the sight of Katie seated at the computer wearing a terry cloth robe. She still had a hard time believing this was her life, now. Rainey had never been in love with a woman before, but then she never met a woman like Katie. During the previous July, Katie’s marriage ended abruptly, and the “Y-man Killer” that scarred them both met his maker. Katie moved in with Rainey immediately. Since then, life continued to get better every day.
    Rainey, towel draped over her shoulders, stepped up beside Katie who was intently reading from the computer screen. Rainey put her hand on Katie’s shoulder and leaned down to kiss her on the top of her head.
    “What did you say?” Rainey asked.
    Katie slid her arm around Rainey’s toweled waist without looking away from the computer screen. “This woman from Durham is still missing. Today’s the fifth isn’t it?”
    “Yep, it says so right there on the screen.”
    “Don’t be a smartass,” Katie said, popping Rainey on the butt. “That means she’s been missing for a week.”
    “Really? Who is she?” Rainey peered at the monitor. A picture accompanied the article Katie was reading. It showed a smiling woman with short dark hair. She was attractive, but in a rugged, outdoorsy way.
    Katie turned to look at Rainey. A smile spread across her face. “I didn’t realize there was a naked woman standing beside me.”
    Katie stood and stretched her five feet-six inch frame, reaching up to wrap her arms around Rainey’s neck. The four-inch difference in their heights forced Katie to stand on her tiptoes, until she could reach Rainey’s lips with