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The first thing she saw was the blood. There was so much of it that half the front seat seemed to be smeared with redness. Most of it was centered on the figure sitting there. Her eyes slowly trailed upward from the blood coating the person’s chest, past the awful gash on his throat, already knowing what she’d find before she saw his face.
Jeremy Decker stared straight ahead, the emptiness in his eyes showing he was dead even if she hadn’t seen all that blood. His mouth gaped as open as his throat, and shoved between his lips was what appeared to be a red handkerchief.
Reeling back in horror, Regina struggled to pull in a breath. Over the years she’d seen the grisliest of crime scene photos, but not once had she ever seen a murdered body in the flesh. To have the victim be somebody she knew made it even worse.
Jeremy. She’d seen him just days ago. Happy and excited, and most important, alive, eager to meet his niece.
Regina hurried back to her car for her cell phone, trying to choke back the sadness and regret that threatened to overwhelm her. Just moments ago, she’d been annoyed with him for being late, sitting in the safety of her office while someone did this to him right outside.
It appeared Jeremy Decker had the best excuse for lateness there was.
Chapter Two
“I’ll never understand people,” Jeff Polinsky griped as the crime scene came into view in front of the car. “You’d think cold like this would keep them indoors instead of running around outside killing each other.”
“I guess it depends how badly they want to kill somebody,” Marcus Waters mused from the driver’s seat. “You know as well as I do some people aren’t going to let anything stop them.”
“Yeah, just like I know if there’s an outdoor crime scene in December, we’re the ones who are going to catch it.”
With a faint grin, Marcus simply shook his head at Polinsky’s complaining. He’d heard this particular refrain before. They’d been partners for almost two years, and Marcus would be hard-pressed to think of a single day Polinsky hadn’t found something to complain about. A big, burly and balding figure in his fifties, Polinsky had been on the job for a long time, and the man wasn’t exactly known for his charm. Marcus knew that the reason they were partners wasn’t just because they worked well together, but because he was one of the few who were able to tolerate the man. For all Polinsky lacked in personality, he was a good detective, and that was all Marcus cared about. He just let everything else roll off him.
Not that he could disagree with Polinsky on this one. A nighttime crime scene in temperatures flirting with zero wasn’t his idea of a fun evening, either. Even with the heater blasting, the inside of the car was barely warm. He could imagine how it would feel when they got outside in the open.
But they would do it, and they would deal with the cold. Somewhere in the mess of people and vehicles in front of them was a victim, and somewhere out there was a killer. And it was their job to find that person and make sure he or she didn’t get away with it.
Familiar determination spread in his gut. He’d been on the job long enough he probably shouldn’t still get the feeling. Not nearly as long as Polinsky, but long enough that the idea of a new case, a new perp to catch, shouldn’t still give him a charge. But after all these years, the feeling was still there, still as strong as ever.
He found a free spot along the curb that was as close as they were going to get and parked the car. Before he’d even put the vehicle in Park, Polinsky had shoved his door open and begun the laborious process of hefting his frame out of the car. Marcus met him in front of the sedan and they started toward the scene.
A multitude of flashing lights lit up what he figured would normally be a quiet street at this time of night. It was a business district, primarily office buildings and a few warehouses, the kind of area that would be mostly deserted by now. A uniformed officer broke away from the scene and came to meet them as they approached.
“What do we have?” Marcus asked when they were face to face.
“Male victim found in his car. He’s been identified as Jeremy Decker, age 24.”
“Who identified him?”
“His lawyer. Regina Garrett. She’s the one who found the body. Her office is just up the street.”
Marcus frowned at the same time Polinsky echoed, “Regina Garrett?”
“Yeah. You know her?”
“I’ve heard of her,” Polinsky muttered, his tone making it clear none of what he’d heard had been good.
Marcus wasn’t surprised. He’d heard of Regina Garrett, too, all from other cops, none of whom had been fans. She was a defense attorney, and a very good one at that. Word had it she was smart, she was tough, and she was a crusader. If there was a weakness in a case or the slightest angle to be exploited, she’d find it. More than one case had been torpedoed over the years thanks to her. He’d never dealt with her on one of his cases or encountered her personally, but he’d heard enough to know he wouldn’t like her.
He did his best to swallow the instinctive distaste. Logically speaking, he knew defense attorneys served a key role in the justice system. But he also knew that in all likelihood there were plenty of people who should be in jail but weren’t because of her.
“If she’s the vic’s lawyer, I’m assuming he’s had some trouble with the law,” Marcus said.
“Burglary,” the officer confirmed. “She got him out a few days ago, just in time for Christmas.”
Polinsky snorted. “I bet he’s wishing she hadn’t right about now.”
“She’s waiting over there if you want to talk to her.”
“In a minute,” Marcus said without bothering to see where the officer gestured. He knew talking to her was necessary, but was in no hurry to do so. He could already guess how much fun dealing with her was going to be. Regina Garrett could wait. “Let’s take a look at what we’ve got first.”
“Sure, but I’ve got to warn you, it isn’t pretty.”
“They usually aren’t,” Polinsky grumbled.
It took only one look to see the officer hadn’t overstated things. Marcus had certainly seen his share of crime scenes over the years, but this one packed an unpleasant punch that was uniquely its own. Even Polinsky winced and glanced away for a second, muttering under his breath, before refocusing on the body.
Jeremy Decker stared straight ahead, expression frozen in a look of terror. He’d known he was going to die, probably felt it happening as all the blood that coated his front poured out of his body. He’d had his throat cut from behind, presumably by someone seated in the back seat. The back driver’s-side door was unlocked, most likely from the killer’s exit and possible entrance if he or she hadn’t been inside the car all along, but there weren’t any useful footprints that could be discerned outside the vehicle. They’d have to hope there was some useable trace evidence within the car, but from the looks of it, it hadn’t been cleaned in some time, making it unlikely anything would be found.
With one last look, Marcus turned to Polinsky. “Guess we should talk to the lawyer. You want to take her?”
“Nah, you go ahead. I might say something I regret.”
Knowing Polinsky, that was a safe bet. Nodding tightly, Marcus suppressed a sigh and turned around, eyes seeking out the woman, already anticipating what he’d find. No doubt she’d be uptight and humorless, a know-it-all with her nose in the air ready to tell him how to do his job and make it as difficult as possible. She’d probably be irritated at having been forced to wait instead of being spoken to immediately. He looked for someone who was frowning, someone who looked ready for a fight—
Someone who was drop-dead beautiful.
He stopped and almost did a double take as soon as he saw her. And there was no doubt this was her. The cold had limited the number of onlookers. There were relatively few women around, and all the rest were part of the crime scene team. That left a single female standing alone on the fringes.
Despite the cold, she wasn’t hunched over in her coat trying to keep warm. She stood straight, hands in her pockets, her eyes on the scene, as though she wasn’t affected by the weather at all, even as the wind pulled at the edges of her coat. A streetlamp behind her poured its glow directly over her, illuminating her as effectively as a spotlight. Which, from the looks of her, was exactly where this woman deserved to be.
Even from a distance, there was no mistaking the beauty of that face, her features perfectly formed, her lips lush and full, her skin a dark, warm brown. Her coat was belted at the waist and molded to her body, hinting temptingly at lush curves. Despite her obvious beauty, she didn’t look as cold and unapproachable as such women often did. Certainly not the angry, arrogant figure he’d been expecting. There was a warmth, a kindness, to her face, something approachable despite the worry on it that made her infinitely more appealing.
Their eyes met across the distance. Hers widened slightly with surprise, with shock, with something he recognized all too well as a charge suddenly jolted through his body. He stood as frozen as the world around him, but all he felt inside was raw heat.
Now that he thought of it, he’d heard talk that she was a looker, but mostly in a “what a waste” sense, her appearance hugely overshadowed by the talk of everything she’d done. What she did.
He would be better off remembering that. Not that he had any trouble doing so. After all, the only reason they were both here, the only reason he’d had the opportunity to experience that sudden, inexplicable charge that had passed between them, was because she’d gotten another criminal freed.
The only thing that mattered was finding out if her actions had played as much of a part in getting him killed.
REGINA HAD SEEN THE man she deduced was a homicide detective as soon as he arrived with another man who appeared to be his partner. He’d been far enough away, with his collar pulled up against the cold, that she hadn’t been able to get a good look at him. She’d watched from a distance as he and the other man had approached Jeremy’s car and examined the gruesome scene she could still see entirely too well in her head.
But it wasn’t until he suddenly turned and looked directly at her that she was able to see him clearly. And in that instant when their eyes met, every thought that had been racing through her head evaporated, along with every bit of moisture in her mouth.
The man was, quite simply, the best thing she’d seen in a long time, so much so he almost didn’t seem real. He was tall, with the kind of muscular frame that not even the bulky coat could hide. It seemed barely capable of containing his wide shoulders, the sleeves stretching and straining around his arms. Even if she hadn’t been able to see the rest of his body, his face would have been enough to tell her what it was like. His features were all hard planes and sharp leanness, and even his cheekbones seemed to have muscles. His hair was cut close to the scalp, making the features on that dark brown face stand out that much more strongly.
He started toward her, that massive frame moving with an easy grace. Her heart did a curious lurch in her chest, then kickstarted again in a faster pace as she watched his approach.
Then he came close enough that she could see the tightening of his expression, the wariness in his eyes. She immediately knew the cause of his reaction, and she choked back a sigh.
So he was one of those. A cop who viewed her as the enemy.
She wasn’t surprised, of course. It went with the territory. She was comfortable with her career. She’d learned a long time ago that the police weren’t always right and that not all police officers were good people. But there was still something uniquely disappointing about having as fine a male specimen as the man before her looking at her like that.
She swallowed the disappointment that rose in her throat. Hadn’t she just been thinking how difficult it was to find a good man? She should know better than to let herself be so affected by a physical reaction, a reaction that was no doubt caused just as much by the stress of everything that had happened in the past few hours as the man himself. Finding Jeremy. Talking to the first officers on the scene. The endless waiting. It was no wonder her emotions were off-kilter. She sucked in a breath, trying to regain her senses.
Then he was in front of her, bigger and more overwhelming than before, and she suddenly had to try to recover from his appearance all over again. “Ms. Garrett?”
Damn. His voice was as sexy as the rest of him, a low rumble she felt quake through her. She nearly shuddered. “Yes,” she said, her tone admirably smooth.
“Detective Marcus Waters,” he said, all business. “I was told you found the body.”
The subject matter thankfully brought her back down to earth. “That’s right.”
“And the victim was a client of yours?”
“Yes. He called earlier this evening and asked to see me.”
“About what?”
“He didn’t say. I tried to get him to tell me, but he would only say it was very important. I was expecting him at six. I called him a few times when he didn’t show, and finally gave up around eight. I was driving by when I saw him.”
“And he was already dead?”
“Yes.”
“You represented him on a burglary charge, is that correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Did he do it?”
For a second, the blunt, wholly unexpected question caught her off-guard, as she suspected he’d intended. Fortunately she had plenty of practice at keeping her expression from revealing anything but what she wanted it to. She never blinked, meeting his gaze head-on. “The charges were dismissed, Detective. That makes him innocent in the eyes of the law.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I’m afraid anything he might have told me is covered by attorney-client privilege.”
“Even if it’s relevant to his death?’
“Even then.”
The corners of his mouth twitched, turning downward the slightest bit, the only sign of his displeasure. She had to fight the urge to stare at those dangerously tempting lips. “What can you tell me about the case?”
“I imagine not much more than you could find in the police file.”
“Since I don’t have the file on me, any insight you could provide would be appreciated,” he said with a trace of sarcasm.
“Jeremy was arrested in April after the police responded to an alarm indicating a break-in at a home in Lincoln Park. He was found at the scene and was unable to provide a reasonable explanation for his presence, so he was arrested and later charged with burglary.”
“You said the charges were dismissed. So the case never went to trial?”
“No, it never got that far. He was released a few days ago.”
“And was murdered soon afterward.”
“You think there’s a connection.”
“Wouldn’t you?” he said sensibly. “Or maybe I should ask, don’t you?”
“I can see why you would think that,” she said carefully.
“So is there anything you want to tell me about the case? Anything I should know?”
Regina sighed. “Detective, I promise I’m not trying to be difficult. I want whoever did this to Jeremy to be caught just as much as you do. But frankly, it’s been a rather difficult evening and I’m not at my best. Let me take a look at my notes when my head’s a little clearer and see what I might be able to share with you.”
Eyes narrowed, he looked at her, long and probing, his gaze feeling as though it was peeling away the layers of her skin and exposing her to the core. Finally, his expression eased, like he’d come to the conclusion she really wasn’t trying to be a pain. “I would appreciate it.”
“Has his sister been informed?”
“His sister?”
“Lauren. She’s his next of kin, the only family he had left other than the baby she had a few months ago.”
He nodded. “I’ll take care of that next.”
“I’d like to be there when you do.”
“Why?”
“Lauren Decker just lost her only sibling. She’s going to need a kind face to break the news.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to inform someone of the death of a family member.”
“A family member you didn’t view as nothing more than a no-good criminal? That’s what you’ve already decided, isn’t it? That Jeremy Decker was nothing but a lowlife who probably deserved what was coming to him?”
“I’m not sure anyone deserved this, but just because you got him off doesn’t mean he was truly innocent.”
“And just because he was arrested doesn’t mean he was guilty.”
From his expression, he was biting back the response he wanted to offer. After a moment, he said, “Either way, I’m capable of breaking this news to her gently.”
“Then I look forward to seeing that. Because Lauren Decker is a young woman who just had a baby, which she is raising on her own. I suspect her emotional state is already fragile, and I can’t imagine this news is going to help that. Besides, who do you think she’s more likely to confide in, someone she just met who’s a member of the same police department that recently arrested her brother, or someone she’s met before, someone her brother trusted?”
Regina could tell he wanted to argue the point, those lips now compressed into a thin, frustrated line.
“Besides, like you said, you don’t have the file, so you’d have to look up the address. I already know it.”
“Fine,” he practically growled. “You can come.”
