Kylie suggested she would leave Dani alone but never actually agreed to do it. Perry didn’t take her up on the offer. Therefore, she wasn’t harassing the teenager. Dani agreed to meet her after school. Kylie was anxious to talk with her. Especially after spending the day surfing from profile to profile, matching kids she’d met so far with comments she found online. She glanced down at her handwritten notes and then back at the main door to the library. Dani would be arriving any minute.
“Crap,” she hissed when the library doors opened and Perry sauntered inside.
He was damn near the sexiest cop she’d ever laid eyes on. There was a badass look about him, and a dangerous glint in his eyes when he studied her. Every inch of her screamed caution whenever he graced her with that intense stare of his, and it wasn’t because he might blow her cover. It was more because she could so easily fantasize blowing him.
Which was insane. Perry was a cop. Whoever their online predator was, more than likely he was a police officer, or at least worked at the Judicial Center in order to have access to the computers there. With as little evidence as she had right now, Perry could be her perp.
He paused at the entrance, scanning his surroundings. The look on his face was confident, as if he knew all he saw was his domain, his world to command. His dark eyes moved over her, and every inch of her heated to dangerous levels. No way could she allow herself to react to him like this. Young lives were at stake. Until she confirmed his innocence, he was a suspect. She had to look at him as such.
Kylie closed her notebook and slid it under the books she’d pulled from the stacks. She stared at the cover of the romance novel she’d thought about checking out, but the cover barely registered on her. She didn’t need to look up to know he approached. So much sex appeal, such raw, unleashed male ego and confidence, made the air sizzle as he walked to her table.
“Working on your thesis?” His deep voice caressed her body and forced her heart to pound faster in her chest.
“Taking a break.” It would be hard to convince anyone she was studying with the books that were spread out in front of her.
“What do you do in your downtime?” Perry pulled the chair out next to her and sat, his long legs stretching out under the table.
She pulled her feet under her seat, knowing if he touched her in any way it would be even harder to stay focused. Perry had danger written all over him.
“I don’t have a lot of spare time.” She studied his face, the well-defined cheekbones and long, straight nose. His skin was blemish free, although she noticed a small scar that was on the side of his jawbone. He’d recently shaven and she guessed a day or so without a razor and a dark shadow would cover that small scar. His black, thick lashes matched the color of his hair, and he looked at her face, piercing her with green eyes that had flecks of brown in them. “Is this what you do in your downtime?” she countered.
Those green eyes darkened while she watched. Anger, fascination, maybe confrontation. She wasn’t sure what emotion she triggered with her question.
“I’m not on downtime,” he drawled. His facial expression didn’t change but remained hard, unreadable. It was those eyes, though, intense, deep, challenging.
She could drown in that heated gaze if she wasn’t careful. “Is that so?” She matched his lazy voice inflection and leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other under the table, and focused on her pen, stroking the side of it with her thumb. “Am I part of some dangerous investigation?”
When she looked up at him, intentionally trying to sound amused, she caught him looking at her pen. He took his time returning his attention to her face, as if everywhere he directed his attention was intentional. Most cops used their uniforms and their badges to boost up the dominating persona they liked to present to the world. This man didn’t need a uniform. She assumed he was packing something somewhere, but there weren’t any obvious signs that he carried a gun. Overall, Lt. Perry Flynn used his body as his deadliest weapon, and she imagined it had gotten him far in investigations in the past.
“You tell me.” He rested his arms on the table and leaned forward, allowing her to see the brown in his eyes grow until there was hardly any green left. His eyes could go from an attractive green to a dangerous dark shade that sent shivers down her spine. The longer he stared, the darker they grew. “Convince me the only reason you’re spending so much time with my niece is school-related and not for possibly a more personal reason. You can write this thesis of yours on the opinions of one child?”
“Hardly,” she grumbled, sighing intentionally. She would have to play him carefully. She saw that. His assets and qualities were very nicely fine-tuned. That didn’t make him innocent. Kylie had been surprised more than once when discovering who her perp was after extensive investigation. Maybe that made her leery, but better safe than sorry. “Dani appears to be the leader of her friends, so it’s been easy to talk to her. But I hope to spend time with other children from all ranks of their social ladder, so to speak.”
“What are you going to write about them?”
“The truth,” she answered easily. “Teenagers are really incredibly fascinating. They’re a species among themselves, moving around in our world, on our streets, in our stores, yet so engrossed in themselves they don’t see anything the way we do. Nor do they care to. When they transform from teenagers to adults, as we all do eventually, the behavior and attitudes of youth disappear and are forgotten. We begin our lives.” She paused, catching him watching her, fascinated. “This carefree, innocent part of our lives isn’t always that innocent.”
“Which is why I’m here to protect them,” he growled, his eyes turning almost black.
Kylie shivered: She got a rise out of him, which was what she wanted. Now to interpret his reaction. Whatever he felt right now, it was hitting him strong. She imagined a bit of anger mixed with curiosity, and possibly a bit of aroused interest. Were the emotions surging to life inside him strong enough for him to rape and then murder a teenage girl?
“You’re here to protect all of us,” Kylie whispered, and let her gaze drop to his mouth. His lips weren’t too full, or too thin. A man like him, rugged, carrying a badge, and so damn dominating and protective, would have a docile woman tucked away somewhere.
Kylie returned her attention to her pen, forcing herself to quit focusing on his sex appeal and to just make mental notes of what characteristics seemed engraved in him. A sexual predator quite often preferred only one type of woman or, in this case, girl. If Kylie played the part of an experienced seductress and Perry was her man, it would turn him off. He might like a cocky, and pretty, flirty female, but teenage girls very seldom had worlds of experience tucked under their belts.
“I’m fascinated at how many teenage girls have the freedom to meet me in public places, yet I seldom see the parents. These young ladies are apparently at an age where they’re mature enough to go where they want after school and not get in trouble for not heading straight home. Do you agree?” She glanced up in time to watch him straighten and knew she’d hit yet another nerve. But it was an easy strike. That subject was an open nerve in her as well. It amazed her how many teenagers came and went as they pleased and had parents who didn’t have a clue where their children were when a horrendous crime was committed. “Many teenagers appear to know everything, as in Dani’s case. She puts on a show of understanding all the world has to offer her, and doesn’t ask questions. But in truth, is she simply parroting her adult role models, or has she gathered her beliefs through life experiences?”
“Are you seeking my opinion on this topic?”
“You’re here,” she said, shrugging. “And you pose as a father figure to your niece.”
“Dani’s talked to you about her father?” He raised one eyebrow, suddenly looking and sounding skeptical.
Kylie shook her head, realizing there was history here she didn’t know about and wondering if she needed to know. “It was mentioned that he was dead.”
It was as though she could see Perry bristle when he growled the one word. “Mentioned.”
“I didn’t ask for details,” Kylie told him, seeing immediately the truth would send him through the roof. The level of protector’s instincts in this man was strong even for a cop.
“My guess is that would be out of character for you.” Perry watched her, the smoldering dark shade of his eyes resuming a forest green color.
Kylie’s heart skipped a beat, a mixture of excitement, at taking him on in a battle of wills, and sexual energy creating a pressure that swelled in her chest. The main door to the library opened, causing her to shift her attention from his face as four girls entered.
Dani hesitated when she saw Kylie sitting with Perry, and the three girls around her stopped as well and a group huddle formed as they started whispering among each other.
“I’m sure your investigative skills are in tune well enough for you not to jump to conclusions about anyone’s nature,” Kylie said dryly.
The girl who led the group to Kylie’s table looked a lot like Dani, except older. “Are you making the moves on our uncle?” she demanded, and slowly crossed her arms over her chest.
“God, Diane,” Dani groaned, rolling her eyes and then shoving herself in front of Diane. “Kylie, I thought bringing my sisters might help give you more information. You said different-aged teenagers would have different attitudes about stuff.”
“What is going on here?” Perry slid his chair back and stood, glaring at the four girls while he pressed his fists into his sides.
“Hi, Uncle Perry,” the youngest one said, and scooted around her sisters to give her uncle a hug. “We came here to tell the woman about teenagers.”
“Denise, shut up,” Dani ordered.
“Dani,” Perry growled.
“What’s the deal, Uncle Perry?” the oldest, Diane, asked, giving Kylie the once-over before raising one eyebrow and focusing on her uncle. “If I’d known you were coming, you could have hauled everyone here.”
Kylie looked over at the information desk where two older women glanced at their small group. There weren’t a lot of people in the library, but it was a Saturday and more would probably arrive as the day progressed. “Maybe we can move our discussion to a place where we don’t have to be quite so quiet,” she suggested.
Everyone looked at her and quit talking.
“You aren’t driving my nieces anywhere.” Perry put his hand protectively on the youngest.
Kylie stood, smiling. “That’s fine. You can drive them,” she said, guessing they would talk his ear off about catching him sitting with her. “Where is a good place to go?”
“How about your place?” Perry said, his gaze growing intense as he stared at her.
If he wanted to get inside her house to check her out further, she didn’t have a problem with that. Her temporary home was up and running and ready for visitors. “That’s fine, but I don’t have any munchies or anything.”
“You can order pizza,” Dani offered, grinning broadly.
Kylie stared at the expectant faces of the teenagers and at Perry, whose dark expression wasn’t readable. “Okay,” she said slowly. “We can meet over at my house.”
She gathered her things and then walked with the girls surrounding her to the door. None of them commented on her not giving Perry directions. She didn’t doubt he remembered where she lived after chasing the perp in her neighborhood the other day.
Kylie pulled up in front of her house, with Perry parking right behind her, and led the way to her door. After unlocking it, she pressed the keypad just inside her door on the wall to turn off the alarm system.
“Pretty elaborate alarm,” Perry commented, pushing the door open all the way and entering in front of his nieces. He stopped in the middle of her living room and turned slowly, taking in his surroundings. “That come with the rental house?”
“I paid extra for it. But my aunt owns the house, which is a blessing. Otherwise I’d be paying too much rent for a really small apartment.” She smiled at the girls, refusing to let Perry interrogate her further about her home. “Sit down. Where’s the best place to order pizza?”
All the girls spoke at once and almost immediately were arguing. Perry made himself comfortable on her couch, stretching his legs out in front of him and placing one arm across the back of the couch. He appeared to ignore his nieces while continuing to study her home with an attentive eye. There wasn’t anything in her living room to give away her nature, lifestyle, or career. He could memorize every inch of the room and the most she guessed he’d conclude was possibly she was a shitty decorator or, better yet, she was a college student who didn’t have time, or the money, to decorate.
“You girls decide where you want to order and what you want to order,” Kylie announced, speaking over their loud chatter. “I’ll go get some cash.”
She headed down the hallway, stopping at the middle bedroom and pulling the door shut. She reached around the door, turning the lock on the doorknob, then closed it. Any incriminating evidence, including her badge and gun, was locked up securely. The house was wired, and everyone’s actions in the living room would be recorded. Coming here was a good idea. Any information she could pull out of them would be on tape for review if needed.
Kylie hurried into her bedroom and over to her dresser. She pulled out some cash from her top drawer and then turned to head back to the ruckus still going on in her living room.
“Do you have enough money to feed the girls?” Perry asked quietly, standing in her bedroom doorway.
Kylie stopped, unable to leave the room with him standing there. “I can manage,” she said easily, and stepped forward, hoping he’d move.
He didn’t. “What questions are you going to ask them?”
She pointed past him. “My notebook is in the living room with all of my notes.”
“What university are you attending?”
She looked up into those deep green eyes. He studied her intently, his brooding expression impossible to read. “I’m working on my Ph.D. at KU. I thought you knew that already.”
When he reached for her, Kylie stepped back without giving it thought, immediately wary of his actions. He didn’t hesitate but cupped the side of her head and tangled his fingers in her hair, then held on tight. Pulling just hard enough that she felt a quick sting, he forced her head back and lowered his face to hers.
“You’ll keep your questions off any sexual topic,” he whispered. “You aren’t as good at hiding your personal desires as you might think. And if this is some game to determine how innocent my nieces may or may not be, you can find someone else’s kids to interrogate.”
“It’s not a game.” She hated how her voice suddenly sounded husky, and how her body reacted to his aggressive actions. Tingles rushed over her flesh while her insides tightened, a quickening swelling in her womb and traveling fast enough that she struggled to keep her breathing from growing ragged. “They’re going to wonder what you’re doing if you continue to stand in my doorway, trapping me in my bedroom.”
“No, they aren’t,” he said, his voice too damn calm. “They’ll know I’m making a move on you.”
Now she couldn’t breathe, let alone speak. Which she told herself played well into the woman she needed to portray to make her cover believable. But if he accused her of being more experienced than she wanted him to see, it should be a part of her he didn’t like. Especially since he had just demanded she not press his nieces about anything sexual.
Her sexual predator would be turned off by a worldly woman. He would crave beautiful girls who were sexy but had a clean slate, were easily manipulated and overpowered. Perry seemed even more aroused when she didn’t flinch as he damn near pounced on her.
“You aren’t, though, right?” she whispered, continuing to stare into his incredibly dominating gaze.
Perry let his fingers slide through her hair and let go of her, straightening and backing out of the doorway so she could pass. She let out a sigh and stepped past him. When she dropped her gaze, she noticed the bulge in his jeans. Her heart started pounding so hard that it was suddenly too damn hot in her hallway. Closing her eyes for a moment and forcing herself past him, she blew out an exasperated breath of air.
Fuck him anyway for getting a rise out of her like that. Even if it did affect him, Perry was messing with her head. He demanded she not discuss anything sexual with the girls, yet the only way she’d learn anything was if they touched on the subject of boys and dating. Although if he were her man that would explain him not wanting that topic brought up. She entered the living room, all eyes on her as she forced a pleasant smile on her face, knowing she wasn’t any closer to eliminating Perry as a suspect.
“Figure out where we’re ordering pizza?” Kylie asked, stuffing the bills she’d pulled out of her dresser into her purse that she’d left on the coffee table.
“A long time ago,” Dani said dryly. “What we’re trying to figure out now is what you two are doing back there.”
“You and me both,” Kylie grunted, and rolled her eyes at Dani, who continued giving her a hard stare. Dani might not mind talking to her, but apparently Kylie’s getting too close to Dani’s uncle was a different story, and one she wasn’t too sure she approved of. One look at the other girls told Kylie they all were of the same mind. “I think your uncle wants to make sure my intentions with you, Dani, and all of you,” she added, looking pointedly at each one of them, “are on the up-and-up.”
“He gets like that,” Dorine said, looking past Kylie toward Perry and narrowing her eyes. When she looked back at Kylie, she straightened and tucked loose brown hair that was pulled back into a long braid behind her ear. “What is it that you want to know?”
Kylie pointed at Dorine. “First one of you order the pizza, and then I want to know how old each of you are. You’re all sisters?”
“God, it’s that obvious,” Dani groaned.
“Yes, we’re all sisters.” Diane nodded at Dorine. “Order the pizza.”
Then, moving to the single overstuffed chair next to the couch, Diane pulled the youngest girl out of the chair, sat down, and then tugged her back down on her lap. “I’m Diane, eighteen, in college and moving out really soon.”
“Sounds exciting,” Kylie whispered.
Diane’s eyes were green like her uncle’s but more almond-shaped. She was definitely pretty, gorgeous in fact, with straight brown hair like her sisters, except hers fell just past her shoulders and wasn’t pinned back but fell straight.
“Danielle-,” Diane continued.
“Dani,” Dani snapped, correcting her sister.
“Who likes to go by ‘Dani,’ ” Diane added, “is sixteen. Dorine is fourteen, and Denise is twelve.”
“Eighteen, sixteen, fourteen, and twelve,” Kylie mused, and walked around the coffee table. She sat on her floor facing the two girls on the couch. Perry didn’t sit this time but instead walked toward the back of the living room that opened into her kitchen area. “Your mom must be a saint,” she mused.
“She’s the best in the world,” Denise agreed quickly.
“We’re really lucky,” the others chimed in.
Perry didn’t turn around but clasped his hands behind his back and stared out Kylie’s sliding glass doors at her backyard. Apparently he wouldn’t be part of this discussion, although it was clear he intended to hear every word said.
As the pizza was ordered, Kylie glanced at the notes she’d taken so far.
“I want to ask you something,” she said without looking up. “And any of you or all of you can answer. What’s the most common way you talk to your friends? On the phone? Text messaging? Instant messages?”
“All of those are the same,” Dorine said, laughing.
“She means instant messaging on the computer,” Diane offered. “Like AIM or Yahoo! And for me it’s probably mostly on my phone.”
“We don’t have a computer at home anymore,” Dani said. “But you can text-message or instant-message on the phone.”
Kylie nodded. “I actually knew that one,” she said, pulling her cell phone out of her purse and holding it up before dropping it back into the bag again. “So you think most kids between the ages of twelve and eighteen use their phones to talk to their friends? But do most of them talk on them? Or do they type on them?”
“I never thought about that.” Denise turned on Diane’s lap. “I think we text-message more than talk. And Diane can text-message without looking, even when she’s driving.”
“No. She can’t,” Perry growled from across the room, his back still to all of them.
Diane slapped her sister’s leg. “No, I can’t,” she stressed to Denise, who looked appropriately chastised.
“How many people do you talk to by texting on your phones?” Kylie asked, putting her notebook on her lap and writing: Check ISPs; if there aren’t any, then phone records.
“Dani talks to so many that Mom had to put unlimited messages on our phone plan. But Dorine never talks to anyone because she doesn’t have any friends.”
“Speak for yourself, brat,” Dorine snapped. “Not all of my friends have cell phones like Dani’s rich-bitch friends.”
“Watch your mouth, Dorine,” Diane snapped, and glanced over her shoulder at her uncle.
“Okay. Okay.” Kylie held her hand up in the air with her pen between her fingers. “I want to talk about online relationships. How many of you have met guys you’ve talked to online?”
The room got quiet and each girl glanced down at her hands. Perry turned around, watching them as well, a frown planted on his face. Kylie shook her head at him, silently willing him to stay quiet. He had demanded she not discuss anything sexual. Kylie would simply argue that relationships at their ages, or at least of the ages of the younger three, probably weren’t sexual. Either way, she prayed he wouldn’t interrupt her line of questioning.
“It’s okay, girls. Everyone does it today, right?”
“Have you ever met anyone you’ve chatted with online?” Dani asked.
“Sure have,” Kylie said without hesitating. She didn’t add that they were fellow agents and the discussion was work-related. Her private life was just that. But gaining the girls’ confidence would let them open up to her and help her gain more knowledge of what they knew. “So let’s assume that each of you has.”
“I haven’t,” Denise offered.
“And you’d tell on any of us if we agreed to meet anyone,” Dani snapped, chastising her younger sister.
“I would not,” Denise denied the charges, but focused on the ground, her long hair streaming over and partially covering her face.
Kylie smiled at the twelve-year-old. She was very thin and in a year probably at the most would start filling out. If she followed suit like her sisters, she would be drop-dead gorgeous in no time.
“How do you know the person you’re chatting with is who they say they are?”
“And not some pervert,” Dani said, nodding. “They’ve talked to my friends, or there are pictures of them on Facebook that are taken around town and you can tell that they are from around here.”
“Have you ever talked to anyone who’s chatted with someone that they think is not for real?”
Dani and Diane leaned forward. Diane pushed her little sister to the floor and rested her elbows on her knees.
“A friend of mine has,” Dani said.
“Yeah, same here,” Diane offered, lowering her voice. “He said he was going to school with us, but when we read his messages there were things he didn’t have right.”
“So what did you do?” Kylie asked.
Diane turned and gave her uncle a pointed look. “I’m not going to answer her questions and risk you yelling at me,” she said, sounding cross.
Perry turned from the group and pulled open the sliding glass door. Kylie managed to keep her expression relaxed. She’d fought with that damn door forever this morning and wasn’t able to make it budge. He opened it as though he did it every day. Without saying another word, he disappeared into her backyard.
“He’s so moody sometimes,” Diane said, looking at Kylie and sighing.
“Mom says he just needs to get laid,” Dorine offered.
Kylie quickly cleared her throat and refused to allow the image of Perry’s buns of steels to form a clear picture in her head. All that mattered was gathering intel from these girls that could help her clear a path toward the pervert stalking children online.
Someone knocked on her front door and her alarm buzzed. Perry was back inside in a second, proof he hadn’t wandered too far. Kylie stood, grabbing her purse, and walked over to the peephole she’d drilled herself when Paul had set up her computer system. The pizza guy stood there holding a large black bag in front of him.
Opening the door, she grinned at the young, pimply-faced kid. “How much do I owe you?”
“Forty-three dollars,” he said, pulling the Velcro strap and then sliding out several pizza boxes.
Kylie pulled the bills from her purse and paid the kid as the girls came to the door to help. “Looks like you all ordered a lot of pizza. Sure hope you’re hungry.”
“Starved,” Dorine said, eagerly taking a couple of the boxes.
Diane stood in line to take the third pizza. Kylie watched the girls hurry to the table with three large pizzas and a couple smaller boxes that she guessed contained bread sticks.
“Hey, Jimmy,” Dani said, offering a limp wave. “She tip you good?”
“Hi, Dani.” Jimmy blushed so brightly his acne stood out. “Yeah. She did.”
“Good.” Dani walked to the open door and stood next to Kylie. “Any more word on Olivia?” she asked.
“Nothing, dude,” Jimmy said, lowering his voice. “She’s like totally disappeared. Word is she is like dead or brutalized or maybe sold into slavery.”
“God, Jimmy. Don’t be sick,” Dani said, sounding serious. “She probably flipped on her parents and skipped town.”
“Without her car?” Jimmy challenged. “Dani, grow up. You’re as hot as she is. Someone stole her cute ass, and you could be next.”
“Yeah, right.” Dani seemed to have lost the fight in her. She turned noticeably pale and didn’t say anything else, nor did she move.
“Man, sorry, Dani,” Jimmy said, and backed up down the sidewalk. “I’ve got your back, though.”
“That’s what we all have to do,” Dani decided, her spunky, confident tone returning. “If someone stole her and he wants to steal one of us, we’ve got to stop him.”
Jimmy looked at Kylie, and Dani did, too. “I’ll see you at school,” she said, backing away from the door.
Kylie closed the door and turned to look at Dani. The teenager scowled as she walked over to the boxes of pizza with her sisters and Perry. Kylie followed, her mind spinning with the conversation she’d just been privileged to hear.
“Do you know someone who is missing?” Kylie asked.
Kylie shrugged. “We were in the same grade. She was my ride home. Mom threw a fit until Uncle Perry vouched that she’d disappeared.”
“Who are we talking about?” Perry asked.
“You said her name was Olivia?” Kylie focused on Dani. “She didn’t get along with her mom?”
“God, no!” Dani shoved half a slice of pizza in her mouth and then spoke with her mouth full. “Everyone knew she hated her mother. But her mom was as uncool as they came, demanding to know everything her daughter did and reading her text messages and just smothering her, you know?”
“Do you have other girlfriends like that?” Kylie asked.
“Like what?” Dani frowned.
“Whose mothers, or parents, are smothering them.” Kylie was very aware of Perry watching her but kept her attention on Dani.
“Like everyone, dude. Most adults don’t have a clue.”
“If her mother read all her messages, though, she probably wouldn’t complain to her friends in chat messages about it, though, would she?”
“Why not? It wasn’t her fault her mother was a prude. Might do her mom good to read that she needs to back off.”
“Okay. So she would.” Kylie didn’t like the picture forming in her mind. “And a sympathetic guy, like Jimmy out there, would offer to protect and help her out of her misery when her world is caving in on her.”
“Jimmy’s harmless. Besides, he works two jobs. He’ll be a millionaire by the time he’s twenty.” Dani stuffed more pizza in her mouth and waved her hand dismissively toward the door.
“That is the kind of guy you want,” Diane pointed out.
“You can have him.” Dani snorted and reached for more pizza.
Kylie walked into her kitchen. The profile of her victims was the same as it always was. Her online predator hunted teenage girls who weren’t happy with their home lives, and who were pretty, and who somehow had the ability to get out of their houses on their own. The girls who’d disappeared so far were sexy, had an independent nature, drove their own cars, and were intelligent and leaders among their peers.
Her stomach twisted painfully and the smell of the pizza was nauseating. She’d only known Dani a short time, but the girl was very easy to like. She didn’t have her own transportation, but that didn’t stop her from getting around town without the help of an adult. Other than that, she fit the MO perfectly. Kylie needed to narrow down her list of suspects quickly. The thought of Dani being lured in by a sexual predator wasn’t a thought Kylie wanted to dwell on.