All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [4]
“I can see why you were easily led down the road to hell.” Dossman openly assessed the reporter’s physical assets. “A woman who looks like that could only be trouble.”
Max cast another glance at Ms. Hunter. He hated to admit that his partner had a point. She was perfect; too perfect. With her long hair, her dancer’s legs, and her Colgate smile, she definitely spelled trouble. “Do me a favor?” Max said, returning his attention to Dossman. “Stay clear of her.”
“That could have gone without saying. Let me be the first to remind you to do the same.”
For the first time that morning, Max allowed a smile to curve his lips. “Consider it done.”
“Detective Collier,” another female voice rang out.
He turned toward his fellow detective, Julia Washington, who was waving him over. “I think you better take a look at this.”
“You go ahead,” Dossman encouraged. “I’m going to see if I can work out who was the last person to see Mr. Underwood alive. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find his date book. I should be able to search his office or place of residence. Let’s say we check in with each other—” he glanced at his watch “—in about three hours. Is that good with you?”
“Sounds like a plan.” Max nodded, then headed toward Detective Washington. As he walked, he took a closer look at his surroundings. What an odd place for teenagers to hang out. Back in his day, if he’d even thought about bringing a girl to some remote area like this, he’d never even gotten near first base. Surely women hadn’t changed so much that they no longer wanted to be romanced or wooed.
“What did you find, Julia?”
“Casings. Several of them, in fact. If I was a betting woman, I’d say they are from more than one gun.”
He frowned. “I thought that our victim was killed execution style?”
“He was. But I’d say that whoever killed him wasn’t alone and perhaps Underwood wasn’t intended to be the only victim.”
Kennedy flinched as she removed the small Band-Aid from her ear. At least it had stopped bleeding, she consoled. She leaned toward the mirror to get a better look and grimaced when she fingered her left lobe. She would probably never be able to wear earrings in that ear again.
She opened the medicine cabinet and found a half-empty bottle of peroxide. She tended her discolored ear as best she could, then placed another Band-Aid over the wound.
Slowly, she moved away from the vanity area and over to the tub, where she turned the shower on and made the water as hot as she could stand it. As she disrobed, she gazed at the numerous scratches that marred her skin. How she had survived that horrible night was beyond her. All she could remember was running…
“This way,” a man yelled to his companions.
He was a little too close for comfort. The thought of giving up crossed her mind, but she quickly dispelled the notion. She’d never considered herself a quitter and she had no intention of becoming one now.
Her lungs burned and her legs ached as she finally broke through into the clearing around her development. She wasted no time gauging her location; she ducked into the first building she reached. She knew the building’s floor plan well since it was a duplicate of her own.
Keep moving, keep moving. Down the stairs and into the basement, she ran. Faster, faster, she urged herself. When her hands pushed open the laundry-room door, she heard a crash on the floor above her. Her heart pounded as she plunged onward.
She stopped short the moment she spotted the small window. There were shards of broken glass scattered everywhere beneath it and two wooden boards were nailed across the opening. Dear God, what am I going to do now…?
“Mommy, can Jimmy go to church with us this morning?” Tommy’s inquisitive voice broke Kennedy’s reverie and jerked her back to the present.
“Uh… Sure, honey. As long as it’s okay with his mother,” she answered above the sound of the shower spray. She couldn’t remember when she’d stepped into the shower, or even lathering, but she rushed to rinse off. She had a million and one things to do