Harlequin Intrigue April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2, Carol Ericson [good book recommendations TXT] 📗

“As if I need a reminder.” She swirled the orange liquid in her glass. “As a warning? I thought you were convinced that The Player was not responsible for the killing spree we’re witnessing now.”

He tapped his finger on the card. “I was sure we had a copycat, but how would a copycat killer know about you? Especially with an identity change, how would some random person find you? In fact, how would The Player know you for Jennifer Lake’s daughter?”

“There are a few people out there who know my identity. Quinn suggested it might be one of them.”

“You told Quinn about this already?” He supposed he should feel happy that she was confiding in someone. He was sure Quinn was not advising her to keep this from the lead detective on the task force.

She set down her glass and faced him. “I tell Quinn everything.”

“Quinn suggested someone other than The Player and The Copycat might be responsible for leaving the cards?”

“Matt Dugan.”

“Who’s Matt Dugan?”

“When my mom was murdered, I got shunted into the foster care system.” Her whole body twitched. “A few of the families took in multiple foster kids for the money. Matt Dugan was one of those kids with a family the same time I was there.”

“So, sort of like a foster brother.”

Her full lips twisted into a bitter smile. “You could call him that. Like many kids in the system, Matt had issues. He liked starting fires, he liked hurting people and he liked me.”

“Did he hurt you?” Talk about hot under the collar. A flash of heat claimed his chest and clawed its way up his throat. How could a system be so broken that it would put a vulnerable girl like Marilyn Lake in a home with disturbed youth?

“A few times before I caught onto him. Then I put him in his place.” Her blue eyes flashed with a look he was sure never emanated from her mother’s eyes.

Maybe Marilyn Lake hadn’t been so vulnerable after all. “This Matt Dugan knows who you are?”

“He kept track of me. He stalked me and found out about my identity change. I suppose I should’ve made a clean break and moved to another state, but despite everything I never wanted to leave LA.”

“Knowing about the current murders and how you might be feeling, is this something Matt would do?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s one sick individual. Been in and out of the joint for everything from arson to robbery to domestic violence.” She formed her fingers into a gun and pointed at him. “I keep track of him, too.”

“Then maybe I need to pay Matt a visit.”

“No!” She slammed her glass on the kitchen table. “That’s not a good idea. I learned long ago, the best way to handle a stalker is to not handle him at all. He’s looking for a reaction—any reaction. That’s what fuels him. I never contact him. I don’t acknowledge that I’m aware of his existence.”

“Okay, okay.” He peeled the card from the table. “I’m going to take this with me. I’m assuming there aren’t going to be any prints, just like the other card, but you never know.”

She strolled toward him from the kitchen and sat on the edge of the coffee table facing him, her nose almost touching his, her long lashes almost brushing his cheek. “Do I have your word you won’t tell anyone on the task force who I am, not even Billy Crouch?”

“I won’t tell anyone, but you have to promise to keep me in the loop. For God’s sake, these cards could’ve been real clues to stopping this guy. That’s what you want, isn’t it? To stop this guy?”

“More than anything.” She drew back from him and placed a hand over her heart. “I’ll let you know if anything else pops up, and just so you know, Quinn never approved of my deception toward you.”

“I didn’t figure he did. He’s not that kind of cop.” Jake pushed up from the couch and picked up her water glass and untouched Scotch from the table. He separated himself from her by walking into the kitchen. If she got any closer to him, he’d promise her anything.

He placed the glasses in the sink. “Why didn’t the court allow Quinn and Charlotte to adopt you? Why thrust you into the system when they had a couple who wanted you?”

She crossed one leg over the other and clasped her hands around her knee. “Because Quinn was an alcoholic.”

Jake turned from the sink and gripped the edge of the counter behind him. “How would they even know that? I mean, a lot of cops are alcoholics. My dad was one of them.”

She lifted and dropped her shoulders. “He told them. Quinn is honest...to a fault. He stopped drinking, went to AA, tried to do everything to convince them he and Charlotte would’ve been good parents. And they would’ve been. I can’t tell you the number of times I ran to them when a foster care situation wasn’t working out for me, which happened a lot.”

“That’s sad. Does he blame himself?”

“Of course he does. Most of all, he blames himself for not catching The Player.” She held up the queen of diamonds. “You’re taking this, right?”

Was that her way of kicking him out of her place?

“I am.” He retrieved her empty juice glass from the kitchen table and added it to the others in the sink, just to buy more time with her. He’d discovered her secret and confronted her with it, and now she wanted him gone. He’d discovered more than her secret. He’d discovered layers to this woman that he’d never imagined.

She approached him and tucked the card in his shirt pocket, and then patted it. “There you go. I need to get some sleep.”

“You’re not afraid here by yourself? You said it. The Player is still out there.”

“I know that.” She reached past him for her purse on the table, unzipped