She clutched the edges of his shirt together, looking so vulnerable he wanted to soothe her. What about my sister? Who killed her?
His gut clenched as her look-alikes face flashed into his mind. Dammit, he didnt know what to think or do. The MO looks like the work of a serial killer called The Carver. Hes murdered five other women so far, all in the past nine months.
Tension simmered between them. Will you take me to see her?
Ill call the M.E. while you shower. He gestured toward the small bathroom adjacent to the bedroom. There should be clean towels on the shelf. And you left a few clothes in the closet. Some sweats and jeans and stuff.
She nodded, then slid from the bed and walked toward the bathroom, hugging his shirt to her. He tracked her movements, searching for a familiar body gesture, something to prove she was his wife.
Seconds later, the shower kicked on and unbidden images of Caitlin naked came to him. He banished them quickly. Needing some distance from her, he sat down at the Formica table in the kitchen and reviewed the
files on his missing wife. Theyd met two months ago at that honky-tonk in town. It was karaoke night, and shed danced her way across the stage wearing red sequins, singing I Will Always Love You in a sultry, soul-filled voice that had immediately ripped into his gut.
Theyd connected instantly. Later that night, hed seduced her, or had she seduced him? All he remembered was the mind-numbing attraction, the deep hunger that had whispered that he had to have her, the frenzy in the way theyd come together. And for days after, theyd practically stayed in bed. All she had to do was trail her long red fingernails over his abdomen and his sex stirred.
And when shed talked about opening an arts center for kids, hed believed she was a family kind of girl. The kind hed always wanted but never thought hed deserved.
A few days later, hed been so drunk on lust and foolish dreams of happily-ever-after that hed married her at a local Justice of the Peaces office.
Three days later shed changed. Turned into a different person.
Three weeks after that, shed disappeared.
What exactly had she wanted from him? Why had she tied the knot?
Hell, why had he?
Too much tequila and a weakness for a sexy woman? Dreams of a family, one to replace the one hed lost as a kid?
Hed lay off booze and women from now on.
Scraping a hand over his beard stubble, he skimmed the paltry personal information hed accumulated so far. They hadnt talked about their families, their pasts; theyd been too busy making love. Whispering promises.
When hed checked her records after shed disappeared, hed learned she was an only child. Her parents had died years ago. And when hed questioned the patrons at the Steel Toe hed realized that he knew nothing about his wife. That shed had no intention of settling down with him. Shed been cheating on him from the start, had played him for a fool.
He just didnt know the reason.
Frustrated, he slammed the folder shut. Hed revisit that honky-tonk and question the locals again, especially the bartender. And hed take Caitlin with him. If she really were suffering from amnesia, the place might trigger her memories.
Knowing he had to call Agent Brown and fill him in, he punched in the mans number. Its Monahue.
Yeah?
Listen, I want you to come to my place. We have to talk.
You cant tell me over the phone?
No, its too important. He wanted to see the agents reaction. See if he could tell the look-alikes apart.
Brown agreed, and they disconnected, then he phoned the M.E.s office. An image of his wife lying on the cold steel table amidst the medical examiners tools hit him, churning up more misery. Then he glanced at the imprint of the womans body in his bed, and his head spun with confusion.
Was the dead woman his wife, or had his wife returned to him, frail and suffering from amnesia?
LOOK, SHERIFF MONAHUE, Im backed up, but Im going to work on her this afternoon. Dr. Arthur Mullins gripped a scalpel in one hand, the phone tucked beneath one ear while he eyed the seventy-five-year-old man whod lost his life the day before. Ive had bodies stacked up with that pileup on the interstate yesterday. Youll have to be patient.
You know time is of the essence in a murder case, Miles barked. Make this one a priority.
Dont worry, Ill do my job, you do yours.
Not a problem. But I need extensive DNA testing to verify the womans identity.
Mullins twisted his mouth in confusion. I thought you identified her yourself.
Theres been a complication. Miles paused. I think the woman has a twin. We have to be sure which one of them was murdered, so Ill need dental records checked as well as any medical files we can locate.
Mullins agreed to run every test possible, chewing on the information as he hung up and walked over to the steel slab to study Caitlin Collier. He hadnt been lying about the bodies stacked up; he had his hands full.
The scent of formaldehyde, the drills and saws and instruments he used in his trade, offended some people, even turned their stomachs. But he had always been infatuated with the human body.