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Mariah had surrendered the film, and spent an entire afternoon listening to Serena’s fascinating stories of her travels around the world as a volunteer humanitarian.
They’d talked about Mariah’s work for Foundations for Families, too. Serena had mentioned she’d seen Mariah getting dropped off by the Triple F van in the evenings. And they’d talked about the grassroots organization that used volunteers to help build affordable homes for hardworking, low-income families. Mariah spent three or four days each week with a hammer in her hand, and she loved both the work and the sense of purpose it gave her.
“Hey, I got a package notice from the post office,” Mariah told her friend. “I think it’s my darkroom supplies. Any chance I can talk you into picking it up for me?”
“If you had a car, you could pick it up yourself.”
“If I had a car, I would use it once a month, when a heavy package needed to be picked up at the post office.”
“If you had a car, you wouldn’t have to wait for that awful van to take you over to the mainland four times a week,” Serena pointed out.
Mariah smiled. “I like taking the van.”
Serena looked at her closely. “The driver is a real hunk.”
“The driver is happily married to one of the Triple F site supervisors.”
“Too bad.”
Serena’s sigh of regret was so heartfelt, Mariah had to laugh. “You know, Serena, not everyone in the world is husband hunting. I’m actually very happy all by myself.”
Serena smiled. “Husband hunting,” she repeated. “The biggest of the big game.” She laughed. “I like that image. I wonder what gauge bullet I’d need to bring one down…”
Mariah gathered up her things. “Let’s go have lunch.”
SHE WOULD KNOW HIM WHEN she saw him, but she simply hadn’t seen him yet. He would have money. Lots of money. Enough so that when she asked for the funds for the down payment on a house, he wouldn’t hesitate to give it directly to her. Enough so that he would open a checking account in her name—an account she would immediately start draining. She would transfer the money to dummy accounts out of state.
She had the system set up so that anyone following the paper trail would be stopped cold, left high and dry.
She’d sit on the cash for a week or two, then make the deposits into her Swiss bank accounts.
Three million dollars. She had three million dollars American already in her Swiss accounts.
Three million dollars, and nine locks of hair.
Yes, she’d know him when she saw him.
“GARDEN ISLE, GEORGIA,” the agent named Taylor said as he looked around the table from Daniel Tonaka to Pat Blake, the head of the FBI unit, and finally to John Miller. “It’s her. The Black Widow killer. It’s got to be.”
He slid several enlarged black-and-white photos across the conference table, one toward Blake and the other toward Miller and Daniel. Miller sat forward slightly in his chair, picking it up and angling it away from the reflections of the overhead lights. He couldn’t seem to hold it steady—his hands were shaking—and he quickly put it down on the table.
“She’s going by the name Serena Westford,” the young agent was saying. “She came out of nowhere. Her story is that she spent the past seven years in Europe—in Paris—but no one seems to know her over there. If she was living there, she wasn’t paying taxes, that’s for sure.”
The photograph showed a woman moving rapidly, purposefully across a parking lot. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses, and her face was blurred.
Miller looked up. “What’s your name again?”
The young man held his gaze only briefly. “Taylor. Steven Taylor.”
“Couldn’t you get a better picture than this, Taylor?”
“No, sir,” he said. “We’re lucky we even got this one. It was taken with a telephoto lens from the window of the resort. It’s the best of about twenty that I managed to get at that time. Any other time I tried to take her picture, she somehow seemed to know there was a camera around and she covered herself almost completely. I have about five hundred perfect pictures where her face is nearly entirely obscured by enormous sunglasses or her hat. I have five hundred other perfect shots of the back of her head.”
“Yet you’re certain this woman is our Black Widow.” Miller didn’t hide his skepticism.
Daniel shifted in his seat. “I believe it’s her, John. Hear him out.”
Miller was usually unerringly accurate when it came to reading people. He knew for a fact that Patrick Blake disliked him despite his record of arrests. And he knew quite clearly that Steven Taylor was afraid of him. Oh, he was polite and respectful, but something about his stance told Miller clear as day that Taylor was going to request a transfer off this case now that he knew Miller was aboard.
Daniel Tonaka, on the other hand, had never been easy to read. He was unflappable, with a quirky sense of humor that surfaced at the most unexpected moments. As far as Miller could tell, Daniel treated every person with whom he came into contact with the same amount of courtesy and kindness. He treated everyone from a bag lady to the governor’s wife with respect, always giving them his full attention.
Daniel had spoken up to say he had a hunch or a feeling about a suspect or a case only a handful of times, and all of those times he’d been right on target. But this time he’d used even stronger language. He believed Serena Westford was the Black Widow.
Miller looked expectantly at Steven Taylor, waiting for him to continue.
Taylor cleared his throat. “I, um, used the computer to search out the most likely locations the Widow would choose for her next target,” the young man told him. “She prefers small towns with only one or two resorts nearby. I programmed the computer to ignore everything within two hundred miles of the places she either met or lived with her previous victims, and narrowed the list down to a hundred and twenty-three possibilities. From there, I accessed resort records and used a phone investigation to query the resort staff, searching for female guests under five feet two inches, traveling alone, staying for extended lengths of time.
“Frankly, there was a great deal of luck involved in finding Serena Westford. She’d arrived at the Garden Isle resort only two days prior to our call. When it became clear she was traveling under an alias, I went to Georgia myself to try to further identify the suspect.” He shook his head ruefully. “But as you can see, in all of the pictures we have of the Black Widow, her face is covered.”
“But her legs aren’t,” Daniel pointed out. “Steve got plenty of pictures of Serena Westford’s legs.”
“Her legs are visible in some of the other photos we found in the victims’ houses,” Taylor said. “We have no pictures of the Black Widow’s face, but we have plenty of photos of her legs.” He looked at Daniel and grinned. “Tonaka had the idea to take those pictures and these pictures and run a computer comparison. According to the computer, there’s a ninety-eight percent chance that the Black Widow’s legs and Serena Westford’s legs are one and the same.”
Miller glanced at Daniel. Damn, the kid was good at finding creative alternatives. “A computer match of legs won’t hold up in a court of law as proof of identity,” he commented.
“No kidding,” Taylor said, quickly adding, “Sir. But it’s enough to convince me that there should be a further investigation.”
Miller passed the photograph to Captain Blake, and again his hands shook. The older man glanced at him, eyebrows slightly raised.
Miller turned back to Taylor. “Tell me more,” he commanded.
“When Serena first arrived, she had traces of bruising beneath her eyes,” Taylor continued. “I’d dare to speculate that that was from recent plastic surgery—probably a nose job to alter her appearance.”
“We’ve been talking about the possibility of flying husband number seven’s former housekeeper to Garden Isle,” Pat Blake interrupted, “but if the Widow has had extensive plastic surgery, there’s no way she could make a one hundred percent positive ID. I want no room for reasonable doubt. This one isn’t going to walk away.”
Miller nodded. What they needed was to catch the killer in the act.
“She’s recently rented a beach house on Garden Isle,” Taylor continued. “That’s a clear indication that she’s intending to stay, although at this point, I don’t believe she’s targeted her next victim. I’ve compiled a list of all of the people—both men and women—whom our suspect has had contact with over the past several weeks. Out of forty-seven people, twenty-eight have since left the island. They were there only on vacation, and they’ve gone home. Out of the other nineteen, one in particular stands out.”
Taylor took a series of photos from his file, spreading them out on the table.
“Her name is Mariah Robinson,” he said. “Or so she says. According to our files, no such person exists. We’ve identified her as Marie Carver, former CEO of Carver Software out of Phoenix, Arizona.”
Miller leaned forward to look at the photographs. One was of a tall young woman with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a bathing-suit top and shorts, seated on a beach blanket. Another bikini-clad woman was sitting next to her, her face obscured by a huge straw hat.
The woman in the hat had to be Serena Westford. Her barely there bikini was designed to make blood pressures rise, yet it was the woman sitting next to her that drew Miller’s eyes.
“Marie Carver—or Mariah Robinson as she calls herself—lives alone in a rented house on the island,” Taylor continued. “She spends most of her time on a private beach taking nature photographs. She has a darkroom in her cottage. Every few days, she goes off island—I don’t know where. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to follow her. She and Serena seem pretty tight.”
Mariah Robinson was more than tall, Miller realized. She was an Amazon—a goddess. She had to be only an inch or two shorter than his own six feet two inches. She was as tall as a man, but built entirely like a woman. Her breasts were full and generously proportioned to the rest of her body. Her hips were appropriately wide—enough so that she was probably self-conscious, hence the shorts. Her legs were impossibly long and well muscled.
Another picture caught her riding an ancient bicycle. She was going up a slight hill and standing above the seat, muscles straining in her legs, breasts tight against the cotton of her T-shirt.
Christ, what a body. There was so damned much of her.
Serena Westford was their Black Widow suspect. She had allegedly lured seven men to their deaths with her searing sexuality. She was a femme fatale in the most literal sense.
Yet it was this other woman, Mariah Robinson, who made Miller stand at attention. Of course, he’d always been a breast-and-leg man. And from what he could see from these pictures, she had more than enough of both. Enough for a man to sink into and lose himself in for a solid year or two.
God, what was wrong with him? He didn’t usually have this kind of reaction to the female suspects in a case. Apparently, it had been too long since his last sexual encounter. Way too long. Back even before Daniel came on as his partner. Miller couldn’t even remember when it was, or even whom he’d been with.
Maybe that was why he wasn’t sleeping. Maybe he would finally be able to sleep if a woman was in bed with him. Maybe all he needed was a little sexual relief.
Except the reason he hadn’t had sex since forever was because none of the women he’d met during that time had managed to turn him on.
Yet here he was, having a definite physical reaction from surveillance photos of a murderess’s best friend, who also happened to be living under an alias. What the hell was wrong with him?
And wasn’t it just his luck that it wasn’t going to be the goddess, but the murderess who was probably going to end up in his bed? And that sure as hell wasn’t going to make him sleep any better.
Miller picked up the fifth photo. It was a close-up of Mariah Robinson’s face.
She was pretty in a sweet, girl-next-door kind of way. Her face was heart shaped, with broad cheekbones and a strong, almost pointed chin. Her mouth was generous and wide. Her smile revealed straight white teeth and made dimples appear in her cheeks. Her eyes were light colored—Miller couldn’t tell from the black-and-white photo if they were blue or light brown. But they sparkled with some secret amusement, as if she were laughing at him.
Miller felt a swirl of anticipation deep in his gut. It was sexual energy combined with something else, something deeper and far more complicated. Something that made his pulse quicken. Something he couldn’t identify.
Captain Blake smoothed one hand along the top of his nearly bald head as he shuffled through his copy of the file. “How long do you think it’ll take till we can get a cover in place for an agent to portray potential husband material?” he asked.
“A week,” Taylor answered. “Two at the most. In order to match the profiles of the previous victims, we’d need to find an agent who could pose either as a much older man or a man in poor health. We’d need to provide fictional background, complete with financial records and heavily padded bank accounts. You can bet Serena will run a credit check on anyone she’s considering targeting. We’ll need to prep the agent, set up protection and a surveillance team—”
Miller sat forward. “I could be ready to go down to Garden Isle tomorrow.”
Taylor stared at him, unable to hide his expression of surprise. “You? You’re not old enough.”
“Husband number three was only twenty-nine years old,” Daniel pointed out mildly. “And husband six was in his mid-thirties.”
“Both were in extremely poor health, one in a wheelchair.”
Miller took two copies of his file from his briefcase, handed one to Blake and tossed the other onto the table in front of Steven Taylor. “Meet Jonathan Mills,” he said. “I’m thirty-nine years old. Recently in remission after a long struggle with Hodgkin’s disease—that’s a kind of cancer of the lymph system.”
Taylor opened the file and quickly skimmed Miller’s investigation summary. His eyes widened. “You actually intend to marry this woman…?”
“If I don’t, she won’t try to kill me.”
“You’re going to be her husband,” Taylor said. “You’re actually planning to sleep with her…?”
Even Daniel had a hint of curiosity in his dark brown eyes as he waited for Miller’s answer.
Pat Blake shook his head. “Should I not be hearing this?”
“Don’t worry, Captain, the marriage will be legal. She’ll be my wife,” Miller said. “And I’ll make a point to practice safe sex.” He smiled. “Of course, in her case, that means no knives in bed.” He stood up, scooping the photos and files off the table, and looked at Blake. “Am I good to go?”
The older man nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Daniel and Steven Taylor got to their feet, and Miller turned to leave the room.
“One moment, if you don’t mind, John,” Blake said. He waited until the younger agents had left his office, then stood up and closed the door behind them. “You look like crap.”
Miller knew Blake hadn’t missed the fact that his hands were shaking. “Too much coffee,” he said. “I’m fine, but thanks for your concern.”
Blake nodded, clearly not buying it for one second. “I know we haven’t exactly been friends down through the years, John. I’ve always just figured I’ll stay out of your way, let you do what you do best, and you’ll continue to give me the highest success record in the Bureau. But if you’ve got some kind of problem, maybe there’s something I can do to help.”
Miller met his superior’s eyes steadily. “I just want to get to work.”
“Do you have anyone at all you can talk to, Miller?”
“Will that be all, sir?”
Blake sighed. “I’m not supposed to give you a warning, but after this one’s over, I’m bringing you in for a full psychological evaluation. So go on, get out of here. And try to spend a least some of your time on that resort island with your eyes closed and your head on a pillow.”
Miller had to protest. “Over the past eighteen months my efficiency has increased—”
“Yeah, because you work twenty-two hours each day.” Blake sighed again. “Go to Georgia, John. Catch this killer. Get the job done and make the world safe again for rich, dirty old men. But be ready to be stuck under a shrink’s microscope when you get back.”
Blake turned toward his desk, and Miller knew the conversation was over. He let himself out, aware that his pulse was racing, the sound of blood rushing through his veins roaring in his ears. Psych evaluation. Christ, he didn’t stand a chance. Somehow, over the next few weeks, he was going to have to teach himself to sleep again—or face the new nightmare of a psychological evaluation.
God, he needed another cup of coffee.
He was halfway down the hall that led to the lounge when he heard voices coming from one of the tiny windowless cubicles assigned to the less experienced agents. He heard what’s-his-name’s voice. Taylor. Steven Taylor’s voice.
“He’s a time bomb, about to explode. You know that as well as I do. You wouldn’t believe the rumors that are circulating about John Miller. Talk is that he’s on the verge of some kind of breakdown.”
“Do you always listen to rumors?” It was Daniel, and there was a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Not usually, no. But the man looks terrible—”
Daniel’s voice was gentle now. “He’s a living legend, Steve. He’s the best there is. He looks terrible because he’s got insomnia. It gets worse when he’s between investigations. But believe me, he’ll be fine. Don’t request a transfer—you’ll be able to learn a lot from this guy. Trust me on this one.”
“Humph.” Taylor didn’t sound convinced. “Did you see the way his hands shook? No way do I want to be under the command of some flaky insomniac James Bond has-been who’s on the edge. No, I’m outta here. Haven’t you heard that his partners have a way of dying on him?”
Miller stepped into the room. “If you’ve got a problem with me, Taylor,” he said coldly, “come and tell me to my face.”
A flush of embarrassment darkened Taylor’s cheeks as he gazed at him in surprise. His eyes lost their focus for a second or two, and Miller knew that he was replaying his words in his mind, recalling all the harsh things he’d said that Miller had no doubt overheard.
Time bomb. Flaky insomniac. James Bond has-been.
“Excuse me, sir,” Taylor said, making a quick exit out of the room.
That was one agent he was never going to see again. Miller turned to Daniel Tonaka. “Mind stepping into my office with me?”
