CHAPTER NINETEEN
The sound of Ellie’s cell phone woke her. Pale shards of light filtered through the open curtains. She struggled to orientate herself and turned and saw Clayton, still asleep beside her. The blanket had slipped around his hips and his bare, broad chest filled her vision.
Memories of their night together bombarded her. She blushed, recalling her wantonness, her eagerness to have him inside her. Oh, but she felt so wonderful. So sated. So relaxed. Sex had never been so good.
The persistent ringing intruded once again and she scrambled out of bed and hurried into the kitchen where she’d left her phone. It stopped just as she reached it. A few moments later, it beeped to tell her there was a new message. Putting it up to her ear, she waited for the message bank to connect.
A movement out of the corner of her eye snagged her attention. She turned and spied Clayton, wearing nothing but a pair of striped cotton boxers and a wide grin, lounging against the doorframe of the kitchen. He gave her a slow and thorough once-over and his eyes sparkled with appreciation.
Heat burned through her. In her haste to get to the phone, she’d left the room without a stitch on. Her gaze swept frantically across the countertops. There was nothing but the tea towel that would provide any coverage and even it wasn’t really up to the job.
Squaring her shoulders, she kept her back to him and concentrated fiercely on her voice message. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t already seen her naked. But somehow, being naked during a passionate lovemaking session wasn’t quite the same as standing stark-bollocky in the kitchen with the morning sun streaming through the window.
He chuckled behind her and she immediately had thoughts of killing him slowly and painfully. His warm arms came around her and drew her back against his chest, eliciting a gasp of surprise. His hands found her breasts and kneaded their fullness. She tried again to concentrate on her message.
It was from Ben. They’d tracked down the witness who had seen Sally Batten get into the cab. She’d given them the name of the cab company. With another gasp, this time one of excitement, Ellie pulled out of Clayton’s arms and moved away.
He saw the look on her face. “What is it?”
Momentarily forgetting about her state of undress, she grinned with excitement.
“We’ve got a witness who’s given us the cab company Sally Batten rode home with. This could be it, Munro.” With trembling fingers, she dialed Ben’s number.
“Have they—?”
She held up her hand as the call connected. “Boss, I just got your message. What can you tell me?”
Ben sighed on the other end of the phone. “Colleen Mayger just called. She’s working an early shift. Luke and Cheryl spoke to her late yesterday about Sally.”
“You said she’s identified the cab company.”
“Yeah, she remembered this morning. It was an Orange Cab. They work mainly in the western suburbs.”
“Did she get a look at the driver? We might be able to interview him and find out where he dropped her off.”
“Sort of. Male, dark haired, dark beard. Slight build. Maybe fortyish. This kid’s only nineteen, so we’ve got to assume the age could be anywhere from about thirty on. Anyone over twenty-five looks old to a teenager.”
Ellie’s excitement continued to build. She grinned even wider into the phone. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“Anyway, I’ve got some people contacting the Orange Cab Company to check their records about drivers working during that time.”
“We may even be able to narrow it down further,” she added. “Sally was picked up outside the Westfield Mall. It was raining all day. There must have been a pile of cabs there. Someone might remember her.”
“Yeah, we’ll put the word out. I’ve already faxed a picture of Sally to the cab company’s head office. They’re going to circulate it around the staff. We’re also waiting on Colleen to come into the station and work with us in putting together a composite of the driver.”
“Sounds good.” She tried to keep the excitement out of her voice. “This might be the break we’re after.”
“Yeah. It can’t come soon enough,” Ben replied, his tone somber.
“I’ll see you at the office shortly,” glancing over her shoulder at Clayton.
“Yeah, no worries. Listen, get onto Clayton and fill him in, will you? It’ll save me another call. The phones are going off in here like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll see you shortly.”
Ellie ended the call and whooped as she turned to Clayton.
“We might be close to identifying the cab driver who picked up Sally. Ben’s got people doing the leg-work with the cab company as we speak.” Unable to contain her excitement, she leaped forward and threw herself against him. “This is it; I know it!”
His arms tightened around her and drew her close. She’d forgotten she was naked until she came in contact with his warm, hard chest. With a sigh of defeat, she melted into his embrace and savored the feeling of skin on skin. For about three seconds.
Pulling away, she strode out into the hallway and headed toward the bedroom. “I’m going to take a shower,” she threw over her shoulder. “I’ll fill you in on the way to the station.”
“So, I take it this means you’re going to continue to chauffeur me around, after all?”
She turned and caught his lazy smile. He gave her another slow once-over.
What the hell. She’d just had the most amazing sex of her life. He was entitled to a little look. She sucked in her belly and thrust out her chest. His eyes darkened with desire. He reached her in three long strides.
His lips were liquid fire as they moved over hers. His tongue, warm and demanding, thrust its way inside her mouth and tasted her.
She shuddered when his hand cupped her bare bottom and pulled her into him, holding her still against the long, hard length of him. His erection pressed itself against the softness of her belly. Warmth spread through her and her clit tingled.
She pulled away, gasping. “Clayton, we can’t do this now. We have to get to work. I just told Ben…”
He silenced her with another mind-blowing kiss. Her limbs were weightless and she was grateful for the support of his strong, muscular body.
“Work can wait. You just told me he’s already got a team of people canvassing the cab company.” He pressed his cock against her, moving her hips across its hard length with unmistakable intent. “This can’t. Besides, I won’t take long.”
He picked her up and strode into the bedroom. Depositing her none too gently on the unmade bed, he shucked off his boxers and joined her, pressing his body against the length of hers.
Grasping her head in his hands, his lips devoured hers. She dragged air into her lungs each time his onslaught receded, trying desperately to regain a modicum of control over her pounding heart.
He released her head and moved his mouth lower to graze over the stiff peaks of her breasts. He nipped at the sensitive tips and she gasped. His voice was a low, panting murmur. “You like that, don’t you?”
All she could do was moan.
He shifted his weight until he towered above her, taut muscles bulging as his arms strained with the effort. He reached over and tore open another condom. His cock, huge and erect, brushed her stomach and she shivered with need. Moisture pooled between her legs and her clit pulsed a ‘yes.’
Bending low, he captured her mouth with his, fusing them together. At the same time, his cock plunged inside her.
She tore her mouth away, gasping from the impact. He rose above her, all beautiful, hard male flesh…and plunged into her again.
With her legs tight around his hips, she urged him on with little moans of desire and jumbled words of encouragement. Hot, desperate need exploded inside her. She kept time with his increasingly frantic thrusts.
His face went still and she knew he was close.
Pulling him down on top of her, she held him tight against her, while he continued to pound into her. His breath rasped in her ear and she reveled in the sound as her own climax beckoned.
“Oh, Christ, Ellie. You’re so wet. You’re so tight. I’m gonna come. Christ, I’m gonna come.”
He thrust into her, feverish with passion and the need for release. She locked her arms around his neck and took his mouth in hers. He pulsed inside her.
It was enough to tip her over the edge. Moving her hips restlessly beneath him, she concentrated on the feel of his thick cock still buried deep inside her. Sensing her urgency, he lifted his head and flicked at her erect nipples with his warm, wet tongue.
He took one into his mouth and suckled. She gasped. Sparks of desire shot through her, inflaming the fire that burned between her legs. Thrusting her hips upward, she let her passion spill over, shouting in relief as she orgasmed.
As her breathing returned to normal, she looked at the clock on her bedside table and shook her head in disbelief. Fast and furious, it had been all over for both of them in less than four minutes.
As if reading her mind, Clayton raised himself up on his elbows and grinned down at her.
“See, I told you it wouldn’t take long.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, after dropping Clayton off at his hotel to shower and change, she picked up a couple of jumbo-sized black coffees at a drive-through and waited in the car outside his building.
She took a sip of the hot, restorative brew. As the caffeine began to work its magic, she breathed a grateful sigh of relief. She didn’t know how much sleep they’d gotten, but her eyes were like sandpaper and her muscles hurt in places she didn’t know existed.
Still, it had been worth every minute: the tired eyes, the sore muscles. She’d never been loved with such thoroughness and expertise as she had with the Fed. She felt good. She felt really good. Almost boneless… And she owed it all to him.
As if she’d conjured him up, he came jogging out of the hotel looking like he’d stepped out of the pages of GQ.
The tailored white shirt and dark-maroon-and-white striped tie complimented the charcoal-gray suit and topped off the overall picture of a man who was comfortable in his own skin and confident of his appeal.
He flashed her a grin. All white teeth and shadowed cheeks. He hadn’t taken the time to shave. Still, he looked hot.
Heat crept into her cheeks and she looked away, grateful for the sunglasses that shaded her eyes from his way-too-observant gaze. She didn’t know why she suddenly felt shy—after all, the man had seen her naked and touched her in places no man had for a long time, but she couldn’t deny it.
Despite their night and morning of shared passion, she felt awkward and unsure.
Oh, he’d spoken words of love, but everyone knew they meant nothing. It was just what guys did, wasn’t it? He’d probably already forgotten.
The passenger-side door opened. Spicy cologne and the aroma of warm male assaulted her nostrils and she braced herself against it. God, he smelled good. It evoked images of naked skin and sensual lips, firm planes and tight buttocks.
She closed her eyes against those thoughts and shook her head. This was ridiculous. She was a grown woman. A woman of some experience. She wasn’t a dreamy-eyed, naïve virgin romanticizing over her first time. Christ, Cooper. Get a grip.
“Thanks for the coffee. It smells great.”
So do you, she almost added before clamping her mouth shut. What the hell was she doing? They were on their way to work.
That’s what they were. Work colleagues. Why the hell hadn’t she remembered that last night, before she let her much-neglected libido dictate the terms?
With a little sigh, she flipped on her indicator and headed out into the traffic.
“What’s the matter, Ellie?” His voice, soft and full of concern, almost did her in.
She cleared her throat and concentrated on the road in front of her. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. Just tired, I guess.”
A frown creased his forehead. His eyes were concealed behind dark Ray Bans, but she felt them upon her as she turned her attention back to the road.
“Look, I know this is a bit awkward, but it doesn’t have to be. I don’t regret one instant of our time together. In fact, I can’t wait until we—”
“Please, let’s not talk about it,” she interrupted as panic started to set in.
He cursed and took off his sunglasses. His eyes bored into hers. “Ellie, we did nothing wrong. It was great. It was wonderful. You made me feel alive.”
“Can we please just not talk about this right now? I’m really not ready to do this.” Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Let’s just say it was nice for both of us and leave it at that, okay?”
“Nice?” Clayton’s jaw tightened and a pulse beat in his neck. “Is that how you’re describing it?”
Ellie swallowed against the full-blown panic that threatened to take over. She didn’t know why she was anxious, but there it was. Could it be she didn’t want him to renew his declarations of love in the cold, harsh light of day when there were a lot fewer reasons to hide under? After all, he now knew about Jamie and somewhere along the way she’d come to accept he was nothing like her ex.
Maybe she felt she didn’t deserve it? Didn’t deserve to be happy? She made an impatient noise deep in her throat. What was this psycho-babble bullshit? She’d been to enough shrinks to know it was exactly the sort of crap they’d come out with.
Last night had nothing to do with Jamie. It was just sex. Wild, uninhibited, mind-blowing, soul-satisfying sex. Good for the body. Good for the soul. Nothing more, nothing less.
That was why she was irritated with Clayton for trying to make it into something it wasn’t.
“Ellie, talk to me.” His voice, low, commanding, caring, sent a shard of pain straight to her heart. How could she talk to him? How could she tell him how damaged she was? She couldn’t fall in love. She had no capacity to love left inside her. That had all been taken away the day she’d buried her son.
She skimmed a glance in his direction. He deserved more. Much more. He was good and kind and generous. He had a heart as big as an elephant. He deserved a woman who was whole.
Besides, he didn’t love her. He couldn’t love her. It was obvious—he was still in love with his wife.
She cleared her throat, determined to put it all behind her. “I’ve been thinking about the taxi thing.”
He sighed, disappointment filling his eyes.
Gritting her teeth, she ploughed ahead. “Sally Batten caught a cab home, right?” He grudgingly offered a nod of agreement.
“Josie Ward was also going to catch a cab home. Angelina was on her way home. Now, I know we’ve been told that she usually caught the bus, but what if she didn’t?” She turned to him as the thought began to take hold. “What if she didn’t?”
* * *
Clayton’s head spun and he struggled to keep up with the change in conversation. His mind had been crowded with images of them together, skin on skin, heart to heart and all Ellie wanted to do was pretend it didn’t happen.
It was like asking him to fly to the moon. It had been the most fantastic night of his life and she was asking him to forget about it.
It wasn’t going to happen, but now wasn’t the time to argue his point. For whatever reason, she was determined to make light of it and for the moment, he had to be satisfied with that. There was still a killer on the loose and it was his job to find him.
Swallowing another sigh, he focused his attention on the conversation. “You’ve got a point. It’s definitely worth considering. We know it was raining when Josie and Sally disappeared.”
“And Angelina,” Ellie added, her voice indicating her growing excitement. “At least, it was that morning. Her mother told us that. If it was still raining when she left the university, it’s feasible she caught a cab home.”
He picked up on her excitement. “A cab driver fits the profile. They’re mobile, trustworthy and invisible. We pass by them every day and never even notice. If you needed one, you wouldn’t hesitate to flag it down and jump into the back of the first one that stopped.”
“Or the front. Some people ride in the front, you know.”
“Of course. I always ride in the front.” A synapse connected in his brain and his pulse leaped. “I bet that’s how he does it.”
Ellie frowned. “Does what?”
Sitting up straighter in his seat, he took a healthy swig of his coffee. “Okay, let’s just assume our guy’s a taxi driver. Most people get in the back, right?”
She nodded.
“So, how does he overpower them? They were all fit and healthy young women. I don’t think this guy is large, so how come they don’t get away? What does he do to immobilize them?”
“Maybe he waits until he picks up a passenger that sits in the front?” Ellie said. “Or what if the back door wouldn’t open and it was raining? They’d probably jump in the front. It would be pretty easy to pull a gun or even a knife on someone sitting a foot away from you.”
“You’re right. None of them were shot, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t used a gun to threaten them. All he needs is to frighten them enough to get them to do as he says.”
She nodded again. “He’s already gotten them into his car. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine he intimidates them first by taking them somewhere different from where they’ve asked to go. Short of pulling open the door and taking their chances by leaping out of the moving vehicle, what choice do they have but to go along with it? By the time he pulls the weapon, they’re already feeling vulnerable.”
“Okay, so let’s look harder at the cab companies. We know Sally caught an Orange Cab. It’s as good a place as any to start. The girls were all picked up around the Penrith area. We can go through the driver records and see which ones tend to cover that strip. That should help narrow it down a little bit. And then of course, there’s the Tuesday thing.”
A frown creased her forehead and she shot him another quick look. “What Tuesday thing?”
He shut his eyes briefly, remembering he hadn’t told her. Then he remembered why he hadn’t told her. With clenched teeth, he forced those images out of his mind and turned to her.
“The girls all went missing on Tuesdays. I’m not sure why I didn’t see it before, but I worked it out last night.” He flushed and looked away. “It’s what I came over to tell you.”
Silence met his revelation. He snuck a peek in her direction. She looked bewildered and then bemused. A grin tugged at her lips.
“So, you really didn’t come over to seduce me?”
He groaned. “I thought we’d already been over this. I told you last night—”
Her face softened. “I know.”
The heat in his cheeks intensified. He cursed the sunglasses she’d replaced over her eyes, concealing them from him. He needed to see her, dammit. He needed to see what she was thinking.
“So, we’ve got Tuesdays; we’ve got taxis. We’ve also got DNA and fingerprint evidence. More than we’ve had since the start of all this.” Her eyebrows rose as another thought occurred to her. “Maybe we could ask our list of drivers to volunteer to give samples?”
He grimaced. “That would certainly be the quickest way to eliminate potential suspects, but I’m not liking your chances of men lining up to volunteer their DNA.”
“Well, if they’ve got nothing to hide, they should be happy to do anything they can to hasten the investigation. I know if it was me, I’d be lining up in a flash.”
“Unfortunately Ellie, not everyone is as civic minded as you.”
“Still, it’s worth a shot. And you never know, our guy might just be silly enough to fall for it.”
“Yeah, except for the fact that he’s been ultra-meticulous at his crime scenes. If it wasn’t for the fingerprints on that plastic bag and the skin cells under Angelina’s fingernails, we’d have next to nothing and even that evidence has led nowhere.”
“You’re right. But it’s worth a shot. I think we’re definitely onto something with these taxis.” She smiled and his heart lightened.
Maybe she just wasn’t a morning person?
He could live with that.