Chapter 14
Fourteen
O ver an hour later, Eileen stomped into Declan’s apartment. “This is stupid.”
The man said nothing. Instead, he hummed as he headed over to his kitchen.
“Declan!”
“Yes, my love?”
“Don’t you ‘my love’ me.”
“I like calling you that.”
She wanted to scream. The man was driving her batty. Worse, the captain had gotten wind of the situation and told her she was not to come in tomorrow. Or today, seeing how it was past midnight.
“This is stupid. I shouldn’t stay with you. I should stay far away from you.”
He pulled out what looked like the makings of an omelet. “You’re right.”
Her heart sank a little. He agreed with her. “Oh.”
“Don’t look like that, love. Do you want any kind of meat or veggies in your omelet?”
“If you are making an omelet, why didn’t we stay at my house?”
Again, he was watching her in that way of his. It was like he had her all figured out. How did the man look so good? She was sure she was a mess, her hair was probably all over the place, and he was standing there with perfect hair.
He stepped around the counter and pulled her into his arms.
“Which thing do you want me to address first? The staying with me or the omelet thing?” She didn’t respond. “First, you had eggs and cheese, but I have more choice of ingredients. Otherwise, you would end up at a safe house or with a guard.”
“A guard?”
He nodded. “I heard that Bryan guy offer to guard you.”
“No thanks.”
“Yeah, that asshole wasn’t getting near you.”
Then he kissed her nose and went to work in the kitchen.
“I want you to take this seriously, Declan.”
“I am. I would like to find the bastard and string him up, but I’m not trained for that. So instead, I’ll cook your food and give you a place to stay because you are the badass in this situation who will catch him.”
Her phone went off with Eddie’s ringtone.
She grabbed it up. “What do you want?”
“I was thinking.”
“And?”
“We need to look into the legacies.”
“Why?”
“Think about it. People could find out who was running the investigation, but only someone in the station house or at least in law enforcement would know how to find you so fast.”
“Not in today’s online world.”
“You have no social media. You keep offline. It would take a lot of digging to find you so fast and make that connection. Have you given any interviews about the first murder?”
“Irene’s?”
“No, Norma’s.”
“No. I stayed out of it on purpose.”
“So people knew you were checking out the files and looking into it.”
She sighed. “Damn, don’t know why I didn’t think about that. There are so many.”
“Yeah. I’ll get the info discreetly and come to your boyfriend’s house tomorrow.”
“Okay. Text me when you’re close. Oh, and did Bryan offer to act as my guard?”
“Yeah. That dude has issues. He thought he would show up at your house and be all manly. Seeing Declan there probably put a crimp in his plans.”
“Thanks, Eddie.”
She hung up.
“So, Eddie had news.”
“Not really. Just a passing thought that only a few people would be able to find out that I was looking into the old homicide. I didn’t post anywhere about it—I don’t have social media.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And how would you know that, Mr. Fitzpatrick?”
He chuckled. “I might have looked around.”
Since she had watched his short cooking videos a time or two, she couldn’t say anything to that. “Anyway, we thought it might have to be someone from law enforcement. I wasn’t officially assigned the case, but I looked into it and checked out the files.”
“Ah.”
“And that means it could be a legacy, or it could just be someone in the precinct.” She shrugged. She hated to think it could be another cop, but it kind of made sense. The guy had avoided all CCTV, and he seemed to know the intimate details of Irene’s murder.
“So, why don’t you turn it off just for a few minutes while you eat this,” he said, setting a plate on the counter in front of her. It was probably the most perfect omelet she had ever seen in her life. How did he do that?
“You want anything to drink with it?”
She looked up at him. “Yeah…just some water would be great.”
“You sit right there and let me take care of you. Then we can get to bed, and you can get some rest.”
She wanted to argue, but her stomach protested.
“Eddie will be here before you know it, and you can start obsessing again.”
He was right. She would think more clearly if she had some rest. So, she decided to give in to the amazing food he’d cooked for her and then get that rest.
Eddie walked into the precinct. He’d been home, unable to sleep, because something was nagging at him. Marguerite had ordered him back to work because he was disturbing her beauty sleep. Something was always happening at a police station, especially in a city like Baltimore. They had their share of crime, so it was hard to get any privacy there. Still, at least there is less activity at night.
As he sat at his desk, he pulled open his laptop. There was something that was bothering him about this case. It just wouldn’t leave him alone. The fact that someone had tied that old cold case in was weird. It was like this case wasn’t about these women…or not only about them. They had been picked because they resembled the first victim, but they also looked like…fuck.
Yeah, he should have picked up on this. The perp was fixated on Eileen. This killing spree might have been inspired by her. But why? He knew that she hadn’t dated anyone in the last few months, and from what she’d said, she had been pretty focused on her rehab from being shot and then getting back to work. Now, though…there was something off.
“Francisco, what are you doing here?”
He looked up to find the captain walking into the bullpen.
“Couldn’t sleep. I’m connecting things on this case, and I don’t like it.”
He nodded with his head towards his office. “Let’s talk about it because I am too. Before we talk to her, I want to get on the same page.”
Mathers didn’t have to say who the her was. Eddie did as the captain suggested and followed him into his office.
“Someone who knows her,” he said as he shut the door.
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement from his captain.
“Someone here who knows her. It wasn’t known outside the precinct that she was working on that cold case.”
The captain sighed and settled in his chair behind his desk. “So you don’t think it’s the same person?”
Eddie shook his head. “Eileen doesn’t either. Or, at least, she didn’t. She was basing it on the fact that Irene might have dated the perp.”
Another long sigh. “That means we need someone here who might have been dating the victim and had a connection to Eileen.”
He nodded as something nudged at his brain. Something that he couldn’t seem to grasp.
“You thought of something.”
He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to concentrate. “I’m exhausted, and my brain is trying to shut down. I know that we would do better with Eileen here.”
“I heard Comstock wanted to be her guard,” Mathers said with a chuckle. “That boy done fucked up years ago with her, and he has never accepted it.”
Eddie straightened. “Fuck. Comstock.”
He shot up out of his chair and hurried out to his desk.
Mathers followed him out. “What?”
“Comstock. He’s been all up in her business. Eileen admitted to me that she told him way back at the academy that she wanted to solve the case for her mother.”
“That’s a long time for him to be planning this.”
“Yeah. Now he has one uncle, right? The one that helped him get to detective?”
He sensed Mathers’ nod. “But there was another one, wasn’t there? He died a few months ago?”
“Yeah, it was the reason Bryan got detective, in a way. Spot came open and his other uncle pushed for him to move ahead.”
Eddie started to click through the files. Eileen shared some of the files with him, wanting his opinion. He pulled up the acquaintances of Norma. The moment he saw the name, ice coated his bones. “Fuck. We need to get people out to Fitzpatrick’s.”
He was calling Eileen when he heard the captain ordering units to the address. He just hoped that bastard wasn’t there yet.
Eileen woke around four, not sure what woke her up. Maybe she had started getting conditioned to early mornings. She and Eddie seemed to get calls a lot around that time of the morning. She turned her head and looked at Declan. He was sleeping, a big, sexy bear of a man, and he loved her. He looked so peaceful, his face relaxed. Trying not to disturb him, she slipped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She needed a drink of water.
She slipped on one of his t-shirts, then tiptoed to the kitchen. After grabbing a glass, she turned toward the refrigerator and opened it. Then, she sensed someone in the room with her—and she knew it wasn’t Declan. Don’t ask her how she did, but she knew.
“Don’t,” he said.
Eileen looked over in the direction of the voice. Bryan stood there, all dressed in black. It took her a moment or two to comprehend what she was seeing.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to save you.”
She frowned, thinking about what they had said about him wanting to guard her. “I don’t need help, but thanks.”
“You have no idea how dangerous he is to you.”
“He?”
“ Fitzpatrick .” He spat out the word like it was poison.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You weren’t meant for him. We were meant to be together.”
“Again, what the hell are you talking about? We dated for a couple of months years ago. We were not right for each other.”
“We were perfect.” He stepped closer, and that’s when she saw the gun and the zip ties.
“No. Remember? You hated the idea that I did better than everyone.”
His face flushed with anger. “Yes, but that was before I knew about our connection.”
“You’re losing me again.”
“My uncle was who you were looking for. All those years, you’ve been searching for the man who killed Norma, and it was my Uncle Simon.”
In that instant, she remembered a rumor that Norma had known a cop, but there was nothing to substantiate the rumor. Simon Culpepper was Bryan’s uncle on his mother’s side of the family and had worked their precinct.
“So,” he gave her a smile. Eileen was sure he thought it was teasing, but every creep alarm went off in her head. “I gave you similar women. They were prettier than the ones Uncle Simon killed. And now you know we should be together.”
The nut job thought she would love the fact he was killing women who looked like her. Still, she had to reason with him. If she convinced Bryan that she would go with him before Declan woke up, she could protect him. She could not take a chance that he would walk out here. That might send Bryan over the edge.
“Yes,” she said, nodding and smiling at him. “Definitely we should be together.”
His smile widened. The demented look in his eyes sent prickles racing along her skin. He was insane. Truly. He actually thought she would be happy with all of this.
“I’ll need to get dressed.”
He nodded. “And I need to kill Fitzpatrick.”
“No,” she said, trying to keep her fear at bay. She needed to make sure that Bryan stayed far away from Declan. Her ex was on the edge of insanity and might pop off at any time. “Why do you want to mess with him? He doesn’t matter. You’re all that matters.”
“But if he’s alive, our love will be tainted.”
She had moved so that she was facing Declan’s room and Bryan’s back was to it.
“No. Our love could never be tainted. It’s too pure.”
She almost threw up after saying that, but she fought it. She had to keep this idiot engaged until she could get him out of there and away from Declan.
For a moment, Bryan’s eyes softened as he stared at her with that creepy smile…then there was a creak behind him as if someone were walking around Declan’s bedroom.
Shit. She knew that she couldn’t distract Bryan anymore. Declan was moving around, and if Bryan thought he was awake, he would see him as a threat. Bryan turned toward the sound, his eyes going cold in that instant, and she knew this was her only chance.
Eileen rushed him, launching her entire body at Bryan, hoping her forward motion would catch him by surprise. She apparently did because he had no chance to prepare himself to get hit by her, and they both went tumbling down.
“What the fuck!” Bryan growled as he hit the floor face-first. She heard the clatter of his gun and knew that he’d lost control of it.
He reared up, sending her tumbling to the floor. She hit her head so hard on the wooden floor that stars formed before her eyes. Hell, she was even hearing sirens.
“You fucking bitch!” Bryan screamed as he wrapped his hands around her neck.
She struggled against him, clawing at his hands but he was so strong, and she was losing the ability to fight him. The roar she heard made her ears ring, and in the next instant, Bryan’s fingers jerked away, and his body weight was gone.
She was able to draw in a deep breath, then two. The sounds of flesh hitting flesh filled the room as she heard the door downstairs bust open.
“You. Don’t. Touch. Her.” It was Declan punching Bryan. He was straddled on top of her ex, hitting him with each word he said.
It took her a second or two before she could stand and approach him. Bryan was close to being unconscious. His nose was broken, his lip bloody.
“Declan, babe,” she grabbed his arm as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. “Don’t kill him.”
Declan turned to her. Anger and just more than a bit of violence filled his gaze. Eileen could tell he didn’t want to let go of Bryan, but soon Eddie was in the room with tons of uniforms, and Jesus, Mathers was there too.
“They can handle him.”
He blinked and looked over at Eddie, who was staring at Declan with admiration. Then, he released Bryan and rose. The next instant, he pulled her into his arms. She was so close to crying, which was so out of the normal for her she fought it. She would not cry in front of her boss and partner.
She could hear them reading Bryan his rights, so she assumed he was finally conscious.
“Damn, he’s gonna need paramedics,” Eddie said. He looked over at them. “I kept calling, but you didn’t pick up.”
“Eileen needs—f”
Declan didn’t get to finish his comment.
“Of course I want up there, asshole,” someone downstairs yelled. “That’s my brother’s place, and I want to make sure everything is okay.”
“Emmet’s here,” he said. “I’ll have him look at you. Why don’t you go in and get dressed?”
“I can’t.”
“What?”
“They’ll need evidence.”
More loud stomping feet. Her head was pounding, and her throat hurt, and she felt slightly nauseous. Damn. That could mean she had a concussion, and if she did, they would probably make her go to the hospital.
“Don’t worry. Emmett will check you out, but you and I both know that you’re probably headed to the hospital.”
She looked up at him. “I don’t want to go.”
“Too bad.” Then, he kissed her nose.
“I can’t believe you threw a party and didn’t invite me, brother,” Emmet said. She looked over at him and saw nothing but concern in his eyes.
“I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
“You will go if Emmet says you have to. But I’ll be with you.”
She didn’t like it, but if Declan would be there, she decided she could deal with it. She figured she could deal with just about anything with him beside her. She just hoped that this insanity didn’t chase him off.