The three words were all Jordan needed to break her bravado. She wrapped her free arm around Rebecca’s body and pulled her onto her fingers. A moan escaped from Rebecca’s mouth, and Jordan swallowed it with a passionate kiss. Normally, Jordan preferred to take her time, but as they had discovered rather soon after getting together, sometimes quick and hot was all they had time for.
Jordan’s fingers plunged inside Rebecca’s body, and her thumb stroked Rebecca’s clit deftly. She could feel Rebecca move with her, drawing her further inside her body. It was only a matter of minutes before Rebecca threw back her head. “Yes. Fuck, yes. I’m coming.”
Jordan smirked and increased the pace. That was the other thing that she had discovered rather quickly about Rebecca. She was quite loud in bed and as the screams of her orgasm filled the tiny bathroom, Jordan knew she had found the woman that she would do anything to keep.
A half an hour later, Rebecca watched Jordan rub gel through her wild hair. She ran her fingertip over her jaw line and smiled. “Have I mentioned how much I enjoy watching you get ready in the morning?”
Jordan cocked an eyebrow and smiled. “Only about a hundred times, but tell me again.”
Rebecca stepped closer, and her naked breasts brushed against Jordan’s arm. “I. Love. Watching. You. Get. Ready. In. The. Morning.” She punctuated each word with a quick kiss.
Jordan grabbed Rebecca and pulled her body flush against hers. “Keep that up and you will be watching me get ready again.”
Rebecca grinned mischievously and pulled away. She waggled her finger in Jordan’s face. “Uh-uh. Not today.”
Jordan watched her walk saucily out of the bathroom and into her closet, her naked bottom inviting a prolonged gaze. She forced her eyes back to the mirror and took a deep breath. “I think I should say I’m the lucky one when it comes to watching someone get ready.”
“What?” Rebecca’s muffled response got lost in the closet, and Jordan just shook her head. Rebecca seemed to do everything in the nude. She had told Jordan early on that she was in clothes, and uncomfortable ones at that, so much that when she was home, she didn’t want to be dressed. Jordan didn’t see a problem with that at all. Menial chores had unexpectedly taken on new life when she was with Rebecca, and food suddenly tasted better than it ever had before when prepared by a naked Rebecca.
“Hey, you want to ride in together?” They were going to the Federal Courthouse this morning for the jury selection in Richard Hudson’s trial. The judge moved the trial date up as quickly as possible. He was up for re-election, and a conviction in the Cradle Killer case would certainly sew up the election.
When no reply came, Jordan stuck her head out of the bathroom. Rebecca was standing with her pants halfway on, her eyes fixed on the television.
“We have breaking news in the case against alleged murderer Richard Hudson. In a very unexpected turn of events, Mr. Hudson has been released from jail, and all charges have been dropped.”
“What the fuck?” Jordan grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.
“In light of the new developments in the Cradle Killercase, Judge Thomas has dropped all the charges and released Richard Hudson. The CDD won’t comment on exactly what that new evidence is, but a source close to the CDD did confirm that Richard Hudson is no longer a suspect in the murders. Stay tuned to WXIN for further details as we will be following this developing story.”
Rebecca’s face was pale. “Son of a fucking bitch.” She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and checked the display. Twenty-one missed calls and at least one new voice message. She swore loudly. She had turned the ringer off last night at the movies and forgotten to turn it back on, and she had finally given up her antiquated pager last month.
She punched in her code and waited as the messages played. Jordan watched the emotions play across her face. She couldn’t imagine what had happened that would make the judge dismiss the case. A DNA mix up? It was possible, but not likely. She checked her own phone and was surprised to see that Matt had called several times. No message though, which was odd, except that they had not been on the best of terms since she had gotten the girl.
“God damn it!” Rebecca threw the phone onto the bed and ran her hand through her hair. “How is that possible?”
“What happened?” Jordan crossed the room, but stopped short of Rebecca, recognizing her need for space.
“Another murder last night.”
“A copycat?”
Rebecca shook her head. “Not unless they got a hold of Richard Hudson’s dick and left his sperm at the scene.”
“What do you mean?”
“Apparently, the DNA left at the scene, almost too conveniently I might add, matched Richard Hudson’s.”
“How is that possible?” Jordan was getting more and more confused by the minute.
“Now how the fuck do you think I would know that?” Rebecca snapped testily.
Jordan winced at Rebecca’s harsh words. She took a step back and tried not to bristle at the anger in her eyes. It wasn’t directed at her. “I didn’t mean that. I was just thinking out loud.”
Rebecca started storming around the room, throwing clothes on. “See, this is why I don’t get involved. It makes things complicated, and it throws me off my game.”
Jordan grabbed her arms softly and forced Rebecca to look at her. “You couldn’t have done anything differently than what you did. No one could have suspected it wasn’t Richard Hudson.”
Rebecca wrenched her arms away and glared at her. “I could have if I wasn’t distracted.” She sat down on the bed and tied her shoes silently. “Listen, this case just went from bad to worse. I can’t afford to be distracted. I think we need to cool it.”
“Do you really mean that?” Jordan was unprepared for the clench in her chest. She thoroughly enjoyed Rebecca’s company, in and out of bed, but she wasn’t emotionally involved, or at least she thought she wasn’t, so the tug in her heart surprised her. “You can’t think that you missed something because of us.”
“I function better alone, without all the shit that comes with a relationship. I need to make sure my head’s in the game this time. I messed up, and another woman is dead.”
“This isn’t your fault. You followed the evidence, and it led us to Richard Hudson.”
Rebecca shook her head. “I need to follow my gut, and right now you make it impossible to think clearly. I can’t do this anymore. From this point on, we’re going back to Detective and Agent. Nothing can get in the way of figuring out who the real killer is and how Richard Hudson ties into all of this.”
Jordan studied her face and knew that she couldn’t convince Rebecca otherwise. No matter how good they were, Rebecca was all about the job. She was the job. A wave of pain hit her square in the gut, and Jordan pushed it away. “Guess that answers my question about riding in together.”
Chapter 18
Jordan slipped under the yellow caution tape and while she flashed a small smile in Rick’s direction, she merely nodded curtly to Rebecca. The change between them was imperceptible to anyone around them, but the energy that hummed between them was palpable. Hours earlier, they had showered together, totally sated from their lovemaking, but now there was an intangible distance between them.
She surveyed the scene, not at all surprised that the M.E. had already removed the body. They were here to study the crime scene and find whatever evidence may eventually lead them to the killer.
Jordan stepped around the outline of the body and stopped near Rebecca and Rick. “Find anything?”
“Nothing.” Rebecca sounded the same as she always did, but there was a coolness to her tone that shook Jordan. “CSI swept the area already.” She pointed to several yellow markers. “Same as always. Not much to go on.”