Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) (32 page)

Barbara was pleasantly surprised when Dani showed up in person a short while later. After the officer took off her jacket and exchanged greetings with Matt, Barbara led her into the kitchen and poured them both cups of coffee.

"I was planning to stop by tonight anyway," Dani said, sitting down at the table. "I finally got a good look at Russ Latham yesterday. I made a few passes by the motel where he told you he's staying, but I hadn't had any luck up till then. He was backing out of a parking space just as I was pulling in, and I noticed he had a burned-out tail light. It gave me a convenient excuse to stop him and ask for his license and registration. Unfortunately, everything was in order and he was a perfect gentleman. The only thing I could ticket him for was the light. So, what's going on?"

Barbara let out a long sigh and filled her in, beginning with Russ's note on her windshield and ending with her belief that Decker had had someone search her house. "The restraining order should be served on Russ Thursday, Friday at the latest, but I'm no longer sure he's the worst of my problems."

Dani shook her head. "Let's take this one problem at a time. I can't do anything officially about Latham until he's served, but I can keep a watch out for him. I'll check on the status of the order tomorrow and see if I can't move it along a little faster. After that, maybe I can make it too uncomfortable for him to stick around."

"Next, that attorney is a real piece of work. I can't give you professional advice, mind you, but if it was me he was harassing, I'd have another meeting with him and tape-record the conversation. It might not give you anything you can legally use for your defense in court, but if he says enough, it could give you some leverage. Maybe you could get him in trouble with the Bar Association, or something like that."

Barbara smiled. "I'm ahead of you on that. I recorded the last conversation, but I have no idea how I could use it to hurt him without hurting myself."

Dani frowned. "Even so, I'd hold on to it in case the opportunity arises. On a more realistic level, if he broke into your house and we could prove that, we've got him committing a crime. How did your intruder get in?"

"I don't know. I was more concerned with the who and why than how. Russ was so good at that sort of thing, I quit having the locks changed. One time, while I was at work and Matt was at school, he convinced a locksmith that it was his apartment and he'd locked himself out."

Dani cocked her head. "Wouldn't he have to show some sort of proof of residence?"

"That's the best part," Barbara said, grimacing. "All he had to do was go to an office supply store, buy a blank lease form, and fill it out to show that he had recently moved in, which is why his driver's license would have an out-of-state address on it. I don't remember what his excuse was as to why he happened to have a copy of the lease on him, but I'm sure it was very convincing."

"Yeah. I got the impression he was real good at sincerity... as long as you aren't aware of what's underneath that charming smile."

"There was a time when I blamed myself for being too naive to see through his act, but everyone who met him was fooled. I can't tell you how many times police officers believed his story over mine."

Dani grimaced. "I know exactly what you mean. But I promise you, he won't win
me
over."

Barbara placed her hand over Dani's. "Thank you. That makes me feel better."

Dani smiled and stood up. "Good. Now it's time for me to do some actual police work here. Does anyone have a key besides you?"

"Just the owners and they live in Florida."

"What about Matt? Does he carry one?"

"No. I only keep one set of extra keys to the house and the car and they're well hidden."

"All right. Let's check points of entry."

It didn't take Dani long to give her opinion. "I don't see any sign of forced entry. If you're willing to make a formal report, I could have the place checked for fingerprints."

"On what basis? That the chair in my kitchen wasn't in the exact position I'd left it? Anyway, if Decker hired a professional to break in here, I'm sure he would have been careful not to leave fingerprints. It's seems like a waste of time and it makes such a mess."

Dani shrugged. "Let me worry about how to word the report. The tech won't have to brush the whole house, only your bedroom. Have the two of you ever been fingerprinted? It would be helpful to have your prints to eliminate from any picked up."

"Yes. I had that done years ago. I'll pull the cards out of my file tonight."

"Has anyone else been in the house who might have left prints recently?"

Barbara quickly ran through the possibilities. She hadn't let Decker or Russ inside. "A friend of Matt's and a woman named Tammy Garrett have been in the house, but they wouldn't have gone into my bedroom. The only other person whose prints should be in there would be the man I told you about, Kyle Trent."

Dani grinned. "So
that's
what you meant when you told me things were moving too fast for you."

Barbara gave an embarrassed shrug. "You know that expression,
he swept me off my feet
? That pretty much sums it up."

"Congratulations," Dani said with a wink. "I hope it works out for you." She asked a few other questions to complete her report then stopped when a call on her radio caught her attention. "What an interesting coincidence. Someone just reported a disturbance at the Wayward Motel. It sounds like a domestic, but I think I'll check it out anyway. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and Latham will be involved." She was on her way in a matter of seconds.

* * *

Dani stayed in her police car as the show played out in the Wayward parking lot. She intended to have a few words with Latham, but not in front of an audience.

She waved at a man on her squad who didn't seem to be doing anything but observing. "What's the story, Harris?"

He leaned down to her level and smiled. "You're gonna love it, Sarge. See the blond couple over there?"

Dani recognized Latham, but not the woman. "Hooker?"

"Not that we know of or that she'll admit. There was so much screaming and shouting when our guys arrived, they didn't bother to knock. Just broke the door in. There they were, both buck naked, but she's stretched out on the bed on her stomach with her wrists handcuffed to the headboard and her ankles tied to the frame, and he's whipping her with this stringy leather thing, like you'd find in—"

"I get the picture," Dani said holding up her hand. "Is she willing to press charges against him?"

Harris laughed. "Of course not. She says she's going to sue us for intruding on their privacy. Apparently their idea of an afternoon delight involves some freaky sub-dom shit. Looks like the only thing that's going to happen here is the guy's been told to pack up and check out."

Adding the girl's refusal to press charges to Latham's history with Barbara, Dani decided she was a hooker he'd picked up in Richmond or D.C. and she dismissed her from the collection of people she was keeping track of. She also gave up the idea of speaking to Russ at the moment. It would be too easy for him to claim police harassment. She would simply have to wait until he was served with the restraining order. The only problem with that was he would no longer be where they expected to find him.

Dani parked her car in the restaurant lot next to the motel and waited for Russ to make his move. When he pulled out, so did she, but he didn't drive to another motel down the road. She followed him at a distance until he crossed the Virginia state line. He was heading north, which she knew was home for him, but she also knew his type didn't give up this easily.

He'd come back. And when he did, she'd be right on his ass. Her fingers found the baton at her side and stroked its length. Whatever it took, she was going to prevent what happened to her sister from happening to Barbara.

* * *

"Simon? It's Tammy."

"Tammy? You sound awful."

Keeping her fingers tightly clamped on her nose, she said, "I've picked up a cold, and I'm running a fever. I just wanted to let you know I won't be able to get over there tonight." She pictured his sagging cheeks drooping even further.

"I could come there... bring you some chicken soup... cold pills..."

"Please don't. I hate being fussed over when I'm sick. I just wanted you to know that I searched Barbara's entire house today. If she kept her copy of that agreement, it's somewhere else."

"Damn. All right. The fact that she hasn't used it up to now probably means she didn't keep it. How did your visit with her go?"

"Not good enough. I'm going to concentrate on Matthew next. What about the boyfriend?"

"I put my investigator on it this morning, but it may not matter. I've given Latham another assignment. If he pulls it off, our problems will all be solved."

Tammy was so surprised, she let go of her nose. "You gave Latham an assignment? What was it?"

"Nothing I want you involved in, my love. Why don't you call me in the morning, after you've gotten some rest. Perhaps you'll feel like spending some time with me then."

"Bastard,"
Tammy hissed at the phone after she ended the call. He knew she'd be too curious about what he was doing to play sick for long. The problem was, she wasn't really playing.

She adjusted the cold water in the shower so that it came out in a fine spray then stepped under it. Uncontrollable shivers vibrated her body as the icy water hit her burning back. She was going to repay Russ for this if it was the last thing she did. A little spanking was exciting, but under no circumstances would she tolerate having her body scarred. The welts would go down, but the skin on two of them had been broken. If they didn't heal smoothly, Russ's punishment would be castration!

Barbara had been right all the time. He was crazy. And a liar. He had said he was going home to see his sick stepfather, insinuating that he might die, thus releasing Russ from his promise to his mother not to do anything that would embarrass that man while he was still alive. But Simon had just let her know that he had sent Russ off on an assignment.

It all had her wondering if the whole story about being the illegitimate son of Howard Hamilton III was just another one of Russ's lies.

It was obvious to her now that Russ was never going to be of any use to her. Barbara wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on earth and even if she did, he was still too obsessed with her to have her committed. Tammy had no doubt that
she
was the woman Russ was planning to get rid of rather than Barbara.

As old and repulsive as Simon was, he was now the front-runner in the race for the Hamilton fortune and the kid was her ticket to ride along.

Tomorrow night she would stop wasting time with Matthew and get down to some serious manipulation of his attitude. If that failed, she could always fall back on the plan she had suggested to begin with—the one both Russ and Simon had rejected as too dangerous.

Chapter 16

Barbara made one last spot check of her bedroom and was satisfied that it was back to normal. The technician Dani had sent to the house had been neat as well as quick, although he warned her that getting the results could take as long as a week. That didn't bother her, however, as she was still of the opinion that it had been a waste of time.

"Maw!
Kyle's here."

Barbara made a face at her mirror image and decided it was too late to worry about her hair or makeup. She hadn't even gotten dinner started.

She found Kyle and Matt in the kitchen, unpacking a box filled with Chinese takeout containers. Smiling, she said, "And once again, superhero Kyle Trent comes to the rescue of the poor maiden." He returned her smile with a look that made her breath catch in her chest.

"Just trying to make up for not being around to help yesterday."

Barbara caught sight of the sour expression on Matt's face and tried to soften it. "No problem. I had Matthew to protect me."

"Yeah, sure," Matt said, still frowning. "If you really thought that, you'd have told me why that man was in your bedroom."

Kyle's eyes opened wide as his gaze darted between mother and son, hoping for a reasonable explanation. Barbara had the distinct impression that Matt had purposely worded his statement to sound suggestive. "I was trying not to worry you in case it was just my imagination."