A Profiler's Case for Seduction - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,36

asked.

Troy released a deep sigh and once again slumped back against the sofa cushions, a beaten man. “Mr. Slick sports writer seduced her. They had a brief affair and Kathy was stupid enough to think she actually meant something to him. Two months ago she told me I couldn’t give her the things she wanted in life and she moved into an apartment in town.” He frowned, as if suddenly aware of his precarious position in the investigation. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

“Where were you in the twenty-four-hour period that the murders took place?” Mark asked.

“It’s been almost a month ago. Hell, I’d have to think about it, and I think I’m done talking to you now.” He got up from the sofa and walked to the front door, opening it and looking at them both expectantly.

Richard turned off the tape recorder and tucked it back in his pocket and then together he and Mark left the house and headed back to their car.

“What do you think?” Richard asked once they were on the road back to the courthouse in the middle of town. “Gut instinct?”

Mark cast him a wry smile. “I must be hungry because my gut instinct isn’t talking to me right now. He has motive to kill all of them. It’s probably going to be difficult for him to provide an alibi for the entire time in question, but somehow I don’t think he’s bright enough to pull something like this off.”

“The team is going to love him.”

Mark stared out the passenger window, his thoughts going in all directions. The memory of his nightmare about Melinda suddenly chilled him.

Was it time for him to let go of his idea that she somehow had a finger in the deaths? Had they found their guilty party and all they needed to do was get him under arrest...case closed?

* * *

At exactly eight o’clock Dora closed the bookstore and stepped outside to see Mark standing nearby. Relief mingled with pleasure at the sight of him. After the unexpected awkwardness of the night before she hadn’t been sure he’d really show up.

“Coffee?” he asked with a smile that warmed her from head to toe.

“Sounds perfect,” she replied, and fell into step next to him as they headed toward the nearby coffee shop.

“Good day?” he asked.

“The usual day. Classes and work, but yes, it was good. What about you?”

“We brought in a suspect late this afternoon. He’s being held for questioning in the murders.”

“Really? Who is it?”

“I mentioned him to you last night. Troy Young, whom we’ve now discovered had motive to want all three of the murdered men dead. We’ll hold him for as long as we can and in the meantime tonight several of the men are conducting a search warrant on his place.”

“Shouldn’t you be there?” she asked, immediately feeling guilty about taking him away from his work.

“Nah, they can do it without me,” he replied easily.

“So, you think he’s the one?”

Mark didn’t reply and he stopped walking, his eyes with that hazy cast that let her know he’d disappeared into his head where murders were solved and where his desire for her had been stowed away when she’d denied it any life the night before.

She allowed him to stay inside his head for several minutes and then tugged on his arm. “Mark? Come back to me.”

He looked at her with the heavy-lidded blink that indicated he was rejoining the here and now. “Do you think you have the right man behind bars?” she repeated.

“To be honest, I don’t know. There are still some things that bother me,” he said as they continued on down the sidewalk.

“Things like what?”

He smiled. “Things that you shouldn’t be worrying about.” They passed a new banner that hung between two trees. Go Gladiators, it read. The background was bright red and the letters an electric yellow. “So, tell me about more about these homecoming festivities. Do you usually participate?”

“It would almost be sacrilegious not to,” she replied with a small laugh. “I always attend the bonfire on Friday and then go to the football game on Saturday night. That’s about the extent of my participating.”

“If I’m still in town could I join you for the fun?”

She looked up at him and as always her heart leaped in her chest. “I’d like that,” she replied as they reached the coffee shop.

As she took their usual table and he went to get the coffee, she thought of his request. If I’m still in town...it was