Silent Night Stakeout

The first thing she saw was the blood. There was so much of it that half the front seat seemed to be smeared with redness. Most of it was centered on the figure sitting there. Her eyes slowly trailed upward from the blood coating the person’s chest, past the awful gash on his throat, already knowing what she’d find before she saw his face.

Jeremy Decker stared straight ahead, the emptiness in his eyes showing he was dead even if she hadn’t seen all that blood. His mouth gaped as open as his throat, and shoved between his lips was what appeared to be a red handkerchief.

Reeling back in horror, Regina struggled to pull in a breath. Over the years she’d seen the grisliest of crime scene photos, but not once had she ever seen a murdered body in the flesh. To have the victim be somebody she knew made it even worse.

Jeremy. She’d seen him just days ago. Happy and excited, and most important, alive, eager to meet his niece.

Regina hurried back to her car for her cell phone, trying to choke back the sadness and regret that threatened to overwhelm her. Just moments ago, she’d been annoyed with him for being late, sitting in the safety of her office while someone did this to him right outside.

It appeared Jeremy Decker had the best excuse for lateness there was.

Chapter Two

“I’ll never understand people,” Jeff Polinsky griped as the crime scene came into view in front of the car. “You’d think cold like this would keep them indoors instead of running around outside killing each other.”

“I guess it depends how badly they want to kill somebody,” Marcus Waters mused from the driver’s seat. “You know as well as I do some people aren’t going to let anything stop them.”

“Yeah, just like I know if there’s an outdoor crime scene in December, we’re the ones who are going to catch it.”

With a faint grin, Marcus simply shook his head at Polinsky’s complaining. He’d heard this particular refrain before. They’d been partners for almost two years, and Marcus would be hard-pressed to think of a single day Polinsky hadn’t found something to complain about. A big, burly and balding figure in his fifties, Polinsky had been on the job for a long time, and the man wasn’t exactly known for his charm. Marcus knew that the reason they were partners wasn’t just because they worked well together, but because he was one of the few who were able to tolerate the man. For all Polinsky lacked in personality, he was a good detective, and that was all Marcus cared about. He just let everything else roll off him.

Not that he could disagree with Polinsky on this one. A nighttime crime scene in temperatures flirting with zero wasn’t his idea of a fun evening, either. Even with the heater blasting, the inside of the car was barely warm. He could imagine how it would feel when they got outside in the open.

But they would do it, and they would deal with the cold. Somewhere in the mess of people and vehicles in front of them was a victim, and somewhere out there was a killer. And it was their job to find that person and make sure he or she didn’t get away with it.

Familiar determination spread in his gut. He’d been on the job long enough he probably shouldn’t still get the feeling. Not nearly as long as Polinsky, but long enough that the idea of a new case, a new perp to catch, shouldn’t still give him a charge. But after all these years, the feeling was still there, still as strong as ever.

He found a free spot along the curb that was as close as they were going to get and parked the car. Before he’d even put the vehicle in Park, Polinsky had shoved his door open and begun the laborious process of hefting his frame out of the car. Marcus met him in front of the sedan and they started toward the scene.

A multitude of flashing lights lit up what he figured would normally be a quiet street at this time of night. It was a business district, primarily office buildings and a few warehouses, the kind of area that would be mostly deserted by now. A uniformed officer broke away from the scene and came to meet them as they approached.

“What do we have?” Marcus asked when they were face to face.

“Male victim found in his car. He’s been identified as Jeremy Decker, age 24.”

“Who identified him?”

“His lawyer. Regina Garrett. She’s the one who found the body. Her office is just up the street.”

Marcus frowned at the same time Polinsky echoed, “Regina Garrett?”

“Yeah. You know her?”

“I’ve heard of her,” Polinsky muttered, his tone making it clear none of what he’d heard had been good.

Marcus wasn’t surprised. He’d heard of Regina Garrett, too, all from other cops, none of whom had been fans. She was a defense attorney, and a very good one at that. Word had it she was smart, she was tough, and she was a crusader. If there was a weakness in a case or the slightest angle to be exploited, she’d find it. More than one case had been torpedoed over the years thanks to her. He’d never dealt with her on one of his cases or encountered her personally, but he’d heard enough to know he wouldn’t like her.

He did his best to swallow the instinctive distaste. Logically speaking, he knew defense attorneys served a key role in the justice system. But he also knew that in all likelihood there were plenty of people who should be in jail but weren’t because of her.

“If she’s the vic’s lawyer, I’m assuming he’s had some trouble with the law,” Marcus said.

“Burglary,” the officer confirmed. “She got him out a few days ago, just in time for Christmas.”

Polinsky snorted. “I bet he’s wishing she hadn’t right about now.”

“She’s waiting over there if you want to talk to her.”

“In a minute,” Marcus said without bothering to see where the officer gestured. He knew talking to her was necessary, but was in no hurry to do so. He could already guess how much fun dealing with her was going to be. Regina Garrett could wait. “Let’s take a look at what we’ve got first.”

“Sure, but I’ve got to warn you, it isn’t pretty.”

“They usually aren’t,” Polinsky grumbled.

It took only one look to see the officer hadn’t overstated things. Marcus had certainly seen his share of crime scenes over the years, but this one packed an unpleasant punch that was uniquely its own. Even Polinsky winced and glanced away for a second, muttering under his breath, before refocusing on the body.

Jeremy Decker stared straight ahead, expression frozen in a look of terror. He’d known he was going to die, probably felt it happening as all the blood that coated his front poured out of his body. He’d had his throat cut from behind, presumably by someone seated in the back seat. The back driver’s-side door was unlocked, most likely from the killer’s exit and possible entrance if he or she hadn’t been inside the car all along, but there weren’t any useful footprints that could be discerned outside the vehicle. They’d have to hope there was some useable trace evidence within the car, but from the looks of it, it hadn’t been cleaned in some time, making it unlikely anything would be found.

With one last look, Marcus turned to Polinsky. “Guess we should talk to the lawyer. You want to take her?”

“Nah, you go ahead. I might say something I regret.”

Knowing Polinsky, that was a safe bet. Nodding tightly, Marcus suppressed a sigh and turned around, eyes seeking out the woman, already anticipating what he’d find. No doubt she’d be uptight and humorless, a know-it-all with her nose in the air ready to tell him how to do his job and make it as difficult as possible. She’d probably be irritated at having been forced to wait instead of being spoken to immediately. He looked for someone who was frowning, someone who looked ready for a fight—

Someone who was drop-dead beautiful.

He stopped and almost did a double take as soon as he saw her. And there was no doubt this was her. The cold had limited the number of onlookers. There were relatively few women around, and all the rest were part of the crime scene team. That left a single female standing alone on the fringes.

Despite the cold, she wasn’t hunched over in her coat trying to keep warm. She stood straight, hands in her pockets, her eyes on the scene, as though she wasn’t affected by the weather at all, even as the wind pulled at the edges of her coat. A streetlamp behind her poured its glow directly over her, illuminating her as effectively as a spotlight. Which, from the looks of her, was exactly where this woman deserved to be.

Even from a distance, there was no mistaking the beauty of that face, her features perfectly formed, her lips lush and full, her skin a dark, warm brown. Her coat was belted at the waist and molded to her body, hinting temptingly at lush curves. Despite her obvious beauty, she didn’t look as cold and unapproachable as such women often did. Certainly not the angry, arrogant figure he’d been expecting. There was a warmth, a kindness, to her face, something approachable despite the worry on it that made her infinitely more appealing.

Their eyes met across the distance. Hers widened slightly with surprise, with shock, with something he recognized all too well as a charge suddenly jolted through his body. He stood as frozen as the world around him, but all he felt inside was raw heat.

Now that he thought of it, he’d heard talk that she was a looker, but mostly in a “what a waste” sense, her appearance hugely overshadowed by the talk of everything she’d done. What she did.

He would be better off remembering that. Not that he had any trouble doing so. After all, the only reason they were both here, the only reason he’d had the opportunity to experience that sudden, inexplicable charge that had passed between them, was because she’d gotten another criminal freed.

The only thing that mattered was finding out if her actions had played as much of a part in getting him killed.

REGINA HAD SEEN THE man she deduced was a homicide detective as soon as he arrived with another man who appeared to be his partner. He’d been far enough away, with his collar pulled up against the cold, that she hadn’t been able to get a good look at him. She’d watched from a distance as he and the other man had approached Jeremy’s car and examined the gruesome scene she could still see entirely too well in her head.

But it wasn’t until he suddenly turned and looked directly at her that she was able to see him clearly. And in that instant when their eyes met, every thought that had been racing through her head evaporated, along with every bit of moisture in her mouth.

The man was, quite simply, the best thing she’d seen in a long time, so much so he almost didn’t seem real. He was tall, with the kind of muscular frame that not even the bulky coat could hide. It seemed barely capable of containing his wide shoulders, the sleeves stretching and straining around his arms. Even if she hadn’t been able to see the rest of his body, his face would have been enough to tell her what it was like. His features were all hard planes and sharp leanness, and even his cheekbones seemed to have muscles. His hair was cut close to the scalp, making the features on that dark brown face stand out that much more strongly.

He started toward her, that massive frame moving with an easy grace. Her heart did a curious lurch in her chest, then kickstarted again in a faster pace as she watched his approach.

Then he came close enough that she could see the tightening of his expression, the wariness in his eyes. She immediately knew the cause of his reaction, and she choked back a sigh.