A Profiler's Case for Seduction

chapter 8



Mark raced after the dark figure that he’d seen at Dora’s window. It was definitely a man. Clad all in black and with a ski mask on, the man made it difficult to discern anything else about him other than he was fast on his feet.

“FBI...halt!” Mark yelled, but the figure continued to race ahead.

Unwilling to fire a gun in the dark without knowing who else might be around, Mark followed after him, slowly gaining ground in the foot chase that took them from Dora’s house, down the sidewalk and across to the campus grounds.

A ping off a nearby tree had Mark jumping for cover as he realized the man he pursued not only had a gun but wasn’t afraid to fire it.

He dove behind a trash bin, his heart pounding with the rush of adrenaline. When he saw the back of the figure, he left his cover and once again continued the pursuit.

They were in the middle of the campus now, between the history department building and a row of fraternity houses. When the man in black turned back toward Mark, Mark leaped behind a tree. He heard the sound of a bullet whiz by.

Once again as the figure disappeared around the side of a building, Mark burst out from behind the tree. He ran at full speed, ignoring the stitch that nagged at his side.

His heart pounded so hard it felt as if it threatened to burst out of his chest. His only thought was that he needed to get to the man—he needed to find out who he was and what he wanted with Dora.

When he reached the corner of the building, he paused and then whirled around in a shooter stance. And there was nobody to shoot.

The moon shone down on the empty ground, and Mark had no idea in which direction the man had gone to completely disappear. He searched for another fifteen minutes and then headed back to Dora’s house, his heart still banging with fight-or-flight adrenaline.

Why would a man with a gun be at Dora’s window? One thing was clear—Dora’s imaginary stalker definitely wasn’t an imagination. Somebody was after her and what he needed to figure out was who and why.

By the time he reached Dora’s house his heartbeat had returned to something resembling normal and his gun was back in his holster. He’d already contacted a couple of the members of his team to do a sweep of the campus and intended to meet them at Dora’s place. Mark wanted to see if they could find the bullets that had just missed him.

With a bullet they would at least find out what kind of gun had been used, and if and when that gun was found the markings on the bullets would match to it.

In the meantime he needed to make sure that Dora was okay and he needed to have an in-depth talk with her about who might want her harmed.

She unlocked her door after he knocked and called out her name. When he stepped inside the entry she fell straight into his arms. Tears streamed down her face as she hugged him close. “I was afraid. I was so afraid for you.” She stepped back and gazed at him from head to toe, as if to assure herself that he was truly okay.

“He got away from me. But the man at your window had a gun.” He ignored her gasp of shock. “Your imaginary stalker is very real, Dora, and nobody comes knocking on a window on the side of your house with a gun in his hand and goodwill in his heart.”

She stepped back from him and stumbled against the sofa, dropping as though she’d been hit with a stun gun. “But, who...why?” She looked up at him with her beautiful gray eyes.

“That’s something we need to figure out,” he replied. He sat down on the sofa next to her, trying to maintain a professionalism when all he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and carry her away from any danger. He wanted to take the simmering fear out of those beautiful eyes. “Do you have any idea who might want to hurt you?”

She shook her head, softly at first and then more vehemently. “No, I can’t imagine. I mean, I’m just a student here. I mind my own business, go to classes and work in the bookstore. I don’t make any close friends, but I also don’t make enemies, I just focus on my studies and my job.”

He knew that would be her answer because he already knew that about her. He was the anomaly in her quiet, orderly life. He was the friend, the wannabe lover, the only man she’d allowed to get close to her in some time.

“What about your ex-husbands?”

“Oh, Mark, I haven’t seen or heard from either of them in years. Billy and I parted ways when I was twenty and Jimmy and I divorced over eight years ago. That can’t be the answer. There would be absolutely no reason for either of them to want to hurt me after all these years.”

The doorbell rang and she jumped nearly a foot off the sofa. “That will be members of my team.” He got up to open the door, and Richard, Donald and Joseph came in. Mark quickly made the introductions and filled in his fellow agents on what had happened.

“Joseph, I’d like you to sit on this house for the rest of the night,” Mark said. “I don’t think this creep will return, but we can’t be sure and I don’t want to take any chances.” He turned his attention to Richard and Donald. “We need to see if we can find the bullets he fired or anything else he might have dropped while he was running from me.”

Dora got up from the sofa as Mark and the other agents prepared to leave. Mark grabbed her by the hand. “You’ll be safe for the night. Joseph will be right outside and nobody is going to come near this place.”

She leaned toward him, as if needing his arms around her, and he couldn’t deny himself or her. He pulled her against him and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “It’s going to be okay, Dora,” he said as he finally released her. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

With these words Mark left the house with Richard and Donald trailing just behind him. “Getting pretty cozy with the bookstore lady,” Donald observed.

“She’s a nice woman,” Mark replied, and hoped that particular topic was dropped.

“She’s a nice woman who looked pretty much at-home in your arms,” Richard said, ignoring Mark’s sigh.

“I like her, okay? I like her a lot. She’s been a piece of sanity in this whole mess of a case, a person to talk to when I need to unwind and just enjoy somebody’s company.”

They moved to the window where Mark had first stopped the potential intruder. Richard flipped on a high-power flashlight and together they scanned the area for anything the perp might have dropped or left behind. “I’ll print the window,” Richard said.

“You won’t find anything. He was dressed all in black, like a ninja warrior. I’m sure he was smart enough to wear gloves. Besides, when I saw him he wasn’t trying to get inside, he was just crouched down by the side of the house.”

“I’ll dust for prints anyway and then catch up with the two of you on campus,” Richard replied.

“Who would want to hurt a nice bookstore lady?” Donald asked as he and Mark headed toward the area of the campus where the shots had occurred.

“She has no idea. I have no idea, but I can tell you that the gun had a silencer. Whoever it was meant serious business.” Mark’s gut clenched as he realized how close it had been. The man could have gotten in through the window and waited for Dora in the darkness of a bedroom. Nobody would have ever known until it was too late.

“This is all we need,” Donald muttered beneath his breath. “With Troy Young in jail I’ve been counting the hours until I can get back to Dallas and my own place.”

“If the case is built that Troy Young is guilty, then we’re still on our way out of here. Stalking issues are not our problems,” Mark said, less enthused about getting out of town without everything being tied into a nice neat knot. “The locals will take over the kidnapping of Professor Grayson and this stalking case.”

“Could they somehow be related?” Donald asked.

“I don’t see how,” Mark replied. He stopped by the tree he’d hidden behind when the first bullet had flown. “I’ll tell you one thing. Whoever this is, he’s in good physical condition. He was fast, faster than me,” Mark admitted. “I didn’t want to return fire because I didn’t know if there might be a student sitting out here somewhere in the dark. Damn, but I wish I would have caught up with him.”

“Well, finding a bullet would be a start,” Donald said.

After half an hour Richard joined them and they searched for another hour and found plenty of things on the ground and in the bushes. Gum and candy wrappers, a paperback book that was weathered by more than one rainstorm, and a single pink sock. Although the grounds of the college looked pristine on the surface, it was evident that the groundskeepers rarely bent their backs to beat the bushes.

“Ugh, I’m not picking that up,” Donald said in disgust as he pointed to a condom. “Why don’t we pack it in? Those bullets could have gone anywhere and it’s obvious the perp didn’t drop anything. We’ve been back and forth over the territory the two of you covered half a dozen times.”

Mark looked at the illuminated dial of his watch. Almost midnight. He stared at the building that housed the history department and remembered what Dora had told him about Melinda and history teacher Andrew Peterson.

Funny that the man he’d chased had run to this area of the campus, as if it were his territory, a familiar place. Was it possible that Melinda and the teacher were behind the murders? A lovers’ thrill, the secret of murder could certainly spice up a relationship.

Or maybe it had been Peterson who had kidnapped Melinda, angry that she’d either spurned or threatened him. Maybe he’d kidnapped and beaten her to teach her a lesson and maybe he knew that Dora had seen him and Melinda together. That would make Dora a loose end, and nobody in the game of crime liked loose ends.

Nobody had spoken to Andrew Peterson with all the excitement about Troy Young. That particular piece of information had been deemed unimportant.

Let it go, an inner voice whispered in his head. Maybe it was time to let Melinda off the hook for the murders and pursue another avenue in her kidnapping. Maybe she didn’t show as much fear as he’d expected her to because she knew it was Andrew who held her captive, because she knew he was angry and might hurt her but wouldn’t kill her.

Maybe she really was a victim and the only reason she hadn’t fingered Peterson was because she still had some feelings for him.

He made a mental note to have an interview with Peterson the next day. If nothing else, Peterson knowing that Mark knew his secret might mitigate any threat to Dora, if that’s where the threat was coming from.

“Mark!” It was obvious by the aggravation in Donald’s voice that this wasn’t the first time he’d called out Mark’s name.

“Yeah?”

“I said let’s call it a night.”

Mark nodded and the three of them headed back toward Dora’s place, where Richard had parked his car. Donald got into the passenger seat of the car and Richard remained standing by the driver door with Mark. “You’ve got her covered for tonight, but what are you going to do about tomorrow night and the next night?”

“I’ll figure something out,” Mark said. If his theory about Peterson had legs, then a chat with the man might possibly put an end to the stalking or any threat to Dora.

“You know she’s crazy about you,” Richard said.

Mark looked at him in surprise. “How do you know that?”

Richard released a deep rumble of laughter. “I’ve been around a long time and it was obvious in the way she looked at you, in the way she needed your embrace. I don’t know what you’ve got, man, but you’ve definitely caught her on your hook.”

As Mark climbed into the backseat of the car, Richard’s words weighed heavily in his heart. He was pretty hooked on Dora. Now, all he had to do was keep her alive to see if there might be the possibility of a real relationship between them sometime in the future.

* * *

Dora woke early the next morning after a night of restless sleep and bad dreams. She stumbled into her kitchen as dawn was breaking and fixed a short pot of coffee, her head filled with thoughts of Mark and the horrifying events of the night before.

At least she now knew she wasn’t losing her mind, jumping at shadows and imagining a stalker. The stalker was real. The very idea terrified her and sent an icy shiver up her spine.

Minutes later she sat at her table, her hands cupping a mug of coffee, seeking the warmth that might steal away some of the cold that had taken grip of her since the moment she’d realized somebody was at her window.

Even after downing a full cup of the warm brew the chill inside her remained and she knew there was only one thing that could take it away.

Mark.

How she longed for his arms wrapped around her right now, his body pressed tight against hers. There was passion there, the joy of life, but also a feeling of safety, of security.

In the short time they’d known each other she knew he was nothing like the men in her past. Despite what he did for a living, in spite of his ability to get into the minds of killers, there was a gentleness, a kindness about him that she trusted.

She wondered if she’d see him today. It was her night off at the bookstore and she’d forgotten to tell him. Each week she had a different night off. Last week it had been Wednesday and this week it was today.

He’d show up to walk her home only to be told she hadn’t worked that day. Would he come by here to check on her?

She knew in her heart he would. He was that kind of man, the kind she’d never had in her life before. Dependable, trustworthy, with a genuine sense of humor and kindness, and she wanted to hold him tight and never let him go. He was a treasure she’d been seeking all her life.

But she knew she could never have him that long. He was a good, moral man, a man who would never understand who she had been, where she’d come from and the character flaws that had nearly destroyed her.

If he ever found out about who she’d been before she became Dora Martin, student and bookstore clerk, his respect for her would vanish, his desire for her would turn to deep revulsion.

No, he could never be hers forever. But he could be hers for a night, a little voice whispered inside her head, a tiny whisper that echoed in all the chambers of her heart.

Surely making love with Mark one time wouldn’t ruin her life plan. Or was it like an alcoholic deciding that a single drink wouldn’t mess up their sobriety?

Want battled with fear, a fear of tumbling into nowhere, of falling back to where she’d been in a past she desperately wanted to forget. She finished her coffee and shoved thoughts of Mark out of her head as she showered and dressed for her classes.

What she needed to do was focus on an answer to the question of who was stalking her and why. Who had been outside her window the night before?

It couldn’t possibly be anyone from her past. Nobody in the small town of Horn’s Gulf, Wyoming, cared enough about her to want to kill her. She couldn’t imagine anyone here who cared enough about her one way or the other to go to such lengths.

There had to be a reason this was all happening, but for the life of her she couldn’t think of one. But somebody had kidnapped and beaten up her sister and no motive had been presented for that crime, a voice nagged in the back of her head.

She couldn’t make that connection to Mark because it would open up all the ugliness of her life, inside her soul. She’d rather be kidnapped and beaten than be exposed to Mark for who she had once been.

Never had she felt the need for a friend as much as she did now. She needed somebody who wasn’t Mark to talk to, somebody who could be a voice of reason in the chaos in her mind.

Micah. She needed to talk to her brother.

She normally dressed up a bit when she was scheduled to work in the store. Today she chose a pair of jeans and a coral-colored sweater since she wasn’t working later.

With her books and laptop on the table ready to grab and go, she sank down on the sofa and punched in the numbers that would connect her to her brother.

It was after eight, he should be up by now, especially since he had two little stepsons who were probably early risers. She knew Micah had met the woman who was now his wife, Olivia, when he’d first been gone to Perfect to stop Samuel from his evil. Micah definitely had a personal vendetta to settle. Samuel had tried to have him killed and one of Samuel’s henchmen had put a bullet in Micah’s head, a bullet that hadn’t killed him but had put him into a coma for months. When he regained consciousness he was more than willing to work with the FBI to do whatever necessary to bring Samuel down.

Olivia had worked with Samuel and, one night, had seen him kill a man. Horrified, Olivia had fled with one of her sons, little Sam, but her other son, Ethan, had been left behind at the day-care center.

She’d run from town and headed into the wooded mountains, seeking a safe house that she’d heard had been established for people who wanted out of Perfect. Micah found her and vowed to get her son back for her.

He’d not only returned Ethan to Olivia’s arms, he’d also given her his heart and the two had married a few months ago in a secret ceremony. As far as the people in town were concerned, Micah was Samuel and Olivia was just Samuel’s live-in girlfriend.

“Dora?” Micah’s deep voice filled the line, pulling her from where she’d been lost in thought. She almost smiled as she wondered if maybe Mark’s plunges into introspection were contagious.

“Micah, did I wake you?” she asked.

He released a deep chuckle. “I was awakened about two hours ago with Sam on my chest poking his fingers in my eyes and demanding that I wake up.” There was such happiness in his voice and Dora wished for nothing more for him. “I’ve heard that you’re doing well,” he continued.

“I keep my nose to the grindstone,” Dora replied, unsure how to broach the topic of Mark and her growing feelings for him.

“All work and no play isn’t exactly healthy. I hope you’re taking some time to enjoy life. I know homecoming is coming up there. Are you planning on joining in the madness?”

She laughed. “I think the college board would kick me out if I didn’t show appropriate school spirit. We’re playing our rivals, the Everly College Blue Jays. The Gladiators hate them and they hate the Gladiators.”

“Should be a good game. Everyone plays harder when it’s against archenemies.”

There was a moment of silence and she wondered if he was thinking about how hard he’d had to play to get his archenemy, his twin brother, behind bars.

“There is something else,” Dora said tentatively. “I’ve kind of met somebody.”

There was a small pause. “I assume we’re talking about a man?”

Dora felt the rush of heat to her cheeks. “A very nice man. He’s one of the FBI agents here in town working the murder and kidnapping case. I like him, Micah. I like him a lot and I know he feels the same way about me. We’ve been going out for coffee together and he walks me home from the bookstore, but nothing more than that,” she hurriedly added.

She decided not to tell her brother about the stalking and the incident the night before. He was working his own case and the last thing she wanted was to worry him about something he could do nothing about.

“What’s this all about? Dora, are you asking my permission to have a man in your life?”

“No, I mean, maybe.” She released a sigh. “There’s a part of me that is afraid, Micah. I don’t exactly have a great track record when it comes to men and making good decisions. I don’t want to get off track from my goal to get my degree and move on with my life.”

“Dora, a lot of women have their career and a man in their life,” Micah said gently. “When Melinda and I gave you this opportunity to build something for yourself we put you in a college, not in a nunnery.”

Dora couldn’t help the laughter that burst out of her. “Maybe a nunnery would have been a good idea.” She sobered and continued. “I’ve had a ‘no man allowed’ policy in my life since I started here three years ago and this is the first time I’m tempted to break my policy.”

“Then break it,” Micah replied easily. “You aren’t the same person you were three and a half years ago. My wish for you has always been for you to be happy and lead a healthy, productive lifestyle. You don’t need my permission, Dora. You just need to trust your own judgment.”

A rush of relief shot through her as she realized he was right. She had grown by leaps and bounds in the past three and a half years, leaving behind the woman she’d once been for a smarter, better one.

At some point she had to learn to trust her instincts, to believe that she was capable of making important decisions in her life. She couldn’t forever depend on others to guide her. She had to be in charge of her own life and live it with confidence. “You’re right,” she replied. “And I thank you for reminding me.”

They made small talk another few minutes and then hung up. Dora grabbed her things from the table, realizing she’d have to hurry if she were going to make it to her first class of the day on time.

As she left her house she looked around to see if there was anybody nearby who might mean her harm. Twice in the night she’d gotten up to peer outside her bedroom window and had seen Joseph sitting on the curb.

She’d seen nothing of him this morning and could only assume that he’d been pulled off babysitting duty to get some much-needed sleep.

Nobody appeared to be around and even though she knew that, someplace, danger lurked nearby, the thought couldn’t stanch the thrum of excitement that warmed her veins as she realized she’d decided to break her rule.

She wanted FBI agent Mark Flynn not just in her house for a cup of coffee. She wanted him in her bed.