“Which is your favorite?” she asked, referring to the scars.
Archie thought she was kidding. “I’d be afraid I’d hurt one of their feelings if I said.”
“I like the heart,” said Gretchen. She touched the heart scar, running her fingers over its curves. “It’s one of the best I’ve ever done. It’s not easy to cut smoothly into chest muscle.” She leaned her face in close to his clavicle. He thought that she was going in for a closer examination of her work, but instead she touched the scar with her tongue.
The sudden warm wet pressure on the tender tissue made him jump.
She pulled her head away and looked up at him and he threaded a hand behind her blond head and pushed her face back to his flesh and she put her tongue back on the scar. Her hair was soft and slick in his fist; he could feel the heat of her tongue ripple through his body. He leaned back on the bed and she straddled him, and then slowly, deliciously, traced the scar with her mouth.
Then she moved her tongue down the vertical scar from the spleenectomy over his tensed lower stomach to his belt, which she began to unbuckle.
His erection throbbed, wanting release. His head hurt. His body ached. But he wasn’t as conflicted as he thought he would be. He’d felt guilty every time he’d fantasized about her, guiltier than he’d ever felt during their affair. He had paid emotionally for every imaginary fuck. But not this time.
“I want you on top,” he said. “So I can see you.”
She had the belt off and was pulling down his pants and underwear in a swift, practiced motion.
“I’ll be the last woman you ever made love to,” she said as she pushed him inside her. It took his breath away and he closed his eyes for a moment, lost in the sensation of her body, focusing on not coming instantly like a teenager. Then he let himself look up at her, hips rocked forward, head back slightly, her face relaxed with pleasure. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He put his hands on her slender hips and pulled her forward so he could push himself deeper into her.
“It’s not love,” he said.
CHAPTER
49
Susan fidgeted all through the press conference. It was a madhouse. They had set up a podium in the parking lot outside the bank. Both Henry and Claire spoke. Claire had powdered sugar on her chin the whole time. They’d gone over all they were doing to find Archie. Pleaded for citizen tips. They were treating it as a kidnapping. No one mentioned the fact that Archie had gotten into the car. Or that he had thrown his ammo and phone battery out the window. You could tell by the questions that half of the reporters there thought he was dead already. It was all a charade and everyone knew it. They couldn’t find her. Not until she wanted them to.
Susan had been late so didn’t get one of the metal folding chairs that had been set up in front of the podium. Instead she stood in the back, shifting her weight from one foot to the next, biding time.
When the press conference ended, Susan ran to catch up to Henry as he walked back toward the bank.
She caught up with him just as he reached the door. “I need you to come with me to Cleveland High School so we can convince the school to let us talk to a kid named Justin Johnson,” she said.
“Who the fuck is Justin Johnson?” Henry asked.
“He came up as part of my investigation into Castle,” Susan said. “He was a good friend of one of Castle’s kids. He knows something about the senator’s relationship with Molly. But someone got to him. He said that he’d been told not to talk to me. Maybe whoever shut him up had something to do with shutting Molly up.”
Henry stopped and turned back toward her. “So you want me to use my badge to intimidate some teachers into letting you harass a minor without his parents’ consent or legal representation?”
“Yes,” she said.
“You know that school just got out?” he said.
“He’s in summer school,” she said.
Henry rubbed his bloodshot eyes with one hand. “What does this have to do with helping me find Archie?”
“It has to do with his case,” Susan said. She tried to sound convincing. “With the park murders. He wanted me to finish it.”
“I’m sort of busy right now, Susan. What with the whole ‘escaped serial killer and kidnapped best friend’ thing.”
“You can wait for a call as well with me as you can here,” Susan said. “Or you can help Archie.” She leaned close to Henry to prevent anyone else from hearing. “He told me to. He has a plan. You said it. Then maybe this is part of it. Maybe if we follow up on the park case, it will help lead us to him.”