Wicked Ties(90)
“Morgan,” Deke greeted over the speakerphone. “Hi, doll.”
“Hi, Deke. Do you have news?”
“Yeah. We weren’t able to lift any prints off the photos. I’m sorry. But we did learn
some interesting information about them, so I have a few questions.”
Disappointment trembled within her. When would this nightmare be over? And how
would it ever end if Deke couldn’t track this lunatic down? She wanted to feel normal
again, return home and not worry that someone had breached her personal space and
violated her bed with semen. She wanted her old life back. Clearly, she wasn’t going to
get it anytime soon.
To her surprise, Jack eased beside her and curled her suddenly cold hand into this
larger, warmer one. Warm. Solid. Secure. He enveloped her in that simple embrace, and
instantly Morgan felt stronger.
Until she realized that getting her old life back meant losing Jack. The
disappointment that crashed in on her stunned her. She clung tighter to him. Why didn’t
the thought of getting away from him make her want to celebrate? She ought to be
contemplating how many margaritas she could get out of her blender. Getting back to
her old life would mean no more stalker, no more questioning herself. Instead, she
latched onto Jack’s hand and refused to let go.
“What do you want to know?” Morgan asked Deke.
“Anyone you know really into photography, like it’s a bigtime hobby?”
“Reggie, my production assistant. He mostly dabbles but he’s very good. He’s had a
few shows in the past.” Morgan frowned. “You don’t think Reggie would…?”
He hesitated. “After my FBI buddies analyzed these pictures, we discovered they
were taken by someone who knows their way around a camera. They weren’t developed
in a standard lab, like someone had taken them to a one-hour photo place. They weren’t
printed from a digital image to a photo printer. This is old school, likely developed at
home, using a pretty rare set of chemicals and printed on photo paper that’s made in
Europe. This is someone who takes photography seriously. And while you may feel just
threatened when you look at these, a couple of the psych profilers felt like he was trying
to…make it art. He didn’t just snap pictures. He looked for symmetry, lighting,
interesting angles. There’s no sloppy work here.”
Reggie? Her friend, Reggie? No…
But she didn’t know anyone else with a passion for photography, who thoroughly
disdained the photo printers popular for digital cameras. Total crap, he called them. Not
worth wasting an image on. She didn’t know anyone else who had a darkroom in their
apartment.
Morgan went numb. Breath rushed from her body. Reggie, who was like a father?
No!
Not many people knew her address in Los Angeles. Reggie did—along with her
schedule. He could have snuck in and masturbated on her bed in her absence. Reggie
was one of the few people who knew exactly when she’d gone to Houston and exactly
where.
She rubbed her forehead against a sudden ache. Reggie? Could he have been in Texas
to take pictures of her in Brandon’s backyard a few days ago? She always talked to Reggie
via cell phone…so she didn’t know exactly where he was. Anything was possible. And if
Reggie had come that far to stalk her, well, he alone had known she intended to go to
Lafayette to meet Jack. Following her a bit farther wouldn’t have been that difficult.
Had Reggie, the father she’d never had, taken secret, sexual pictures of her? Had
Reggie stalked her, masturbated on her bed, tried to shoot her? No! But…who else could
it be?
Just Reggie.
“Oh, God.” Shock hummed through her body, buzzed in her brain. Morgan’s knees
buckled. She covered her mouth with a trembling hand to keep a scream in. “Wh… I
don’t… Why? I trusted Reggie. Completely.”
As she staggered, Jack wound his arm around her waist.
“Steady,” he murmured.
She stared at Jack in sudden horror. If she couldn’t trust Reggie, a man she’d known
for three years as the protective lout with a heart of gold, could she trust Jack, a man
she’d only known for days?
“Morgan?” Deke’s concern resounded through the phone wire.
She turned to look at Jack through wide eyes, pouring out uncertainty and panic.
What did she know about him? Just what Reggie had told her…and that he’d tried to
twist her sexuality into something she didn’t want to accept.
She struggled to escape Jack’s hold. Flee. Squirming and writhing, she tried to break
free. Now. Go someplace where no one could find her.