“I want my lawyer.”
One of the detectives eyed Rebecca. She shook her head. “Not yet. I want to show you what you took."
She pulled out photos from all the previous victims and threw them haphazardly in front of him. “Take a good, long look, Mr. Hudson. These are your victims. The women you murdered.”
Richard Hudson shoved back from the table, visibly shaking. “I told you I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Sit down, Mr. Hudson.” Rebecca’s voice was calm, but firm. “Anger is a very, very compelling motive for murder.”
He stopped shouting, realizing that her words were somewhat foreboding. He took several deep breaths, calming himself. Settling back into the chair, he lifted his chin defiantly. “I’m not guilty of anything. You have nothing on me.”
She pulled out an evidence bag this time. “Someone interrupted you halfway through one of your attacks, and you left this behind.”
He looked closely at the bag containing the condom found inside Julie Keppler. “That’s not mine.”
“Funny thing about DNA, isn’t it, Mr. Hudson? It led us right to you. It also tied you to two unsolved rape cases.”
His face registered horrified shock. “I’ve never raped or killed anyone. Especially not my wife. Now why don’t you take the cuffs off me and figure out who really did this.”
“You did this.” Rebecca leaned back to meet his eyes. “This is what I figure happened. Guy like you gets married, figures he’ll have a nice little family in the suburbs. A couple of kids, a dog, barbecues in the back yard. Only, you couldn’t do that. Your wives wanted kids, and you couldn’t get them pregnant. So, they decide to use sperm donors. That gets pretty costly for you, and it’s not even your kid. That has to make you pretty mad. Mad enough to kill. But you can’t just kill your wife because that’s too obvious. So, you kill seven other people to cover the murder.”
Richard Hudson shook his head from side-to-side, refusing to believe her, refusing to admit to her words.
“You almost got away with it too. It was a brilliant idea. But you forgot one thing. Even the smartest criminals are stupid, and they make mistakes. You made yours and now you’re going to pay for every single life you took, especially your wives."
She glared at him with thinly veiled disgust. “Get him out of my sight.”
Chapter 15
“Yeah, we got him. He’s in custody now. Tell Julie it’s over.” Jordan hung up the phone after a brief and tearful conversation with Assistant Director Mitchell. She walked back into the bullpen and watched Rebecca typing in the last of the notes on The Cradle Killer case. The lines from stress had started to disappear, and Jordan had to admit that she was even more beautiful now than she was when they met. She decided to take a chance. That was what her life was about anyway, wasn’t it? Chances. Isn’t that what everyone’s life came down to? Everyone had hopes and dreams, and they took chances to get them. Sometimes you failed, but more times than not, when the chances paid off, and you held your dreams in your hand, then you knew what happiness felt like. At this particular moment, Jordan wanted to jump at the chance, even a small one, that she could find happiness.
“Will you have dinner with me?” Jordan’s voice caught, and she coughed to cover it. She had never had trouble asking a woman out, but Rebecca made her nervous, or the possibility of being rejected by Rebecca made her nervous.
Rebecca glanced up from her computer. “We can celebrate another time. I’m exhausted. I just want to take a hot bath and go to bed for the next two days.”
“I’m good with both.” Jordan waggled her eyebrows.
“Uh-uh, I’m not interested, Agent Gray.” Rebecca’s tone was firm, but the look of longing in her eyes gave her true feelings away.
“Agent?” Jordan stepped closer and ran a finger along her jaw. “You know I prefer Jordan.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened slightly, and Jordan saw the vein in her neck pulsing delicately. “Please don’t. I prefer to keep our relationship professional.” She pushed Jordan’s hand away and stood up, hitting the enter key. “As a matter of fact, we are done here. The CDD appreciates all your help, Agent Gray, but we won’t need the FBI anymore. We’re all done here.”
Jordan heard the words, but her eyes saw something behind them, and she acted without thinking. Closing the gap between them, she cupped Rebecca’s neck and pulled her mouth towards hers with deadly accuracy. She heard the faintest whisper of protest before Rebecca’s lips softened against hers, and her tongue slipped inside the inviting warmth that she had craved for so long.
Rebecca’s heart hammered against her chest. Whatever dreams she had dreamed about Jordan paled in comparison to the real thing. Her lips were soft, and she tasted like innocence and promise. Rebecca poured herself into their kiss and when Jordan pulled away, after what seemed like an eternity, her breath came in ragged gasps.
Jordan caressed Rebecca’s swollen lips with her thumb and stared into her soul, losing herself in the emerald-green depths. Her ragged breaths matched Rebecca's, and she struggled to pull herself away. Her sanity finally broke through, and she smiled sadly. “Now, we are done.”
Rebecca watched her walk away, sucking in deep breaths and praying that her heart wouldn’t pound out of her chest. Her fingers touched her lips. No one had kissed her like that in…well in ever, and she struggled to put the emotions she was feeling into a safe place where she could come back and sort through them. What she was surprised to discover was she didn’t want to think right now. What she wanted was to feel and forget what it was like to think.
Ignoring the warning signals her brain was sending, she ran out of the station, looking for Jordan. She caught up to her as she was getting into her car. From somewhere deep inside, her hunger took over, and she grabbed Jordan’s arm and pinned her against the car.
Had she given herself a moment to think, Rebecca would have realized the insanity of her actions, but a need to touch Jordan pulsed through her body. She reached up and pulled Jordan’s mouth to hers and ravaged her with her tongue.
Jordan groaned into her mouth, her arms finding their way around Rebecca’s soft and supple body. Their bodies melded together perfectly and within seconds, the need to touch had grown to an insatiable hunger that neither one could control.
Rebecca’s hands clawed at Jordan’s back as their tongues tangled together in a wild frenzy. Seconds turned into minutes, and Rebecca clawed at the last shreds of sanity and broke their kiss. She leaned against Jordan’s body and met her eyes, her desire mirrored in the dark pools. “I was wrong. We aren’t done. We’ve only just begun.”
They barely made it to Jordan’s house before Rebecca starting ripping her clothes off. The need to feel their bodies pressed tightly together overrode all other rational thought. She almost ripped the buttons off Jordan’s shirt in her haste, and a hungry growl erupted from deep inside as she unsnapped the button holding her jeans together. She slid the zipper down, and the brief flash of Jordan’s black briefs caused a sudden intake of breath.
The soft skin below her navel begged to be touched and Rebecca left a warm, wet stripe just above Jordan’s briefs with her tongue. The responding groan and twitching in Jordan’s muscles made her even hungrier. Ignoring Jordan’s hands, Rebecca pulled her jeans open and inhaled deeply. The sweet, musky scent of her arousal hit her nostrils and a welcome wave of pleasure rolled through her stomach. “Mmm, you smell perfect.”
Jordan’s knees buckled with pleasure, and she edged towards the bed, trying to keep her balance. She pulled Rebecca up so quickly her weight caught Jordan off balance, and they tumbled backwards onto the bed. Jordan felt Rebecca’s weight settle on top of her, and she gathered her against her body, feeling the welcome warmth tucked in all the right places. “Kiss me.”