Split Second

“Saturday night about twenty miles from here, a young woman was found murdered, her body tossed into a Dumpster, her spleen surgically removed and placed inside a discarded pizza box.”

“Saturday?” Agent O’Dell fidgeted while she calculated the unusually short time line. “Kansas City is not a copycat. He left the goddamn kidney at my door.”

Tully winced. Forget chess. This would be more like a showdown at the OK Corral. Cu

“The young woman was a pizza delivery person. She was taken while delivering her route.”

Agent O’Dell became agitated, crossing her legs, then uncrossing them as if restraining her words. Tully knew she had to be exhausted.

Cu

“By sodomized are you saying he raped her himself from behind or with another item?”

Tully couldn’t see a difference. Wasn’t either hideous enough? Cu

“There was no semen left behind, but the medical examiner seemed convinced it was penile stimulation. There were no traces or remnants that a foreign object might leave behind.”

“Stucky’s never done that before.” O’Dell sat at the edge of her chair, suddenly animated. “He wouldn’t do that. There would be no point. He likes to watch their faces. He enjoys seeing their fear. He wouldn’t be able to see that from behind.”

Cu

“The young woman delivered a pizza to your new home the night she was murdered.”

The silence seemed amplified when the drumming of the fingertips stopped. Cu

“That’s why, Agent O’Dell, I’m guessing it didn’t matter that you stayed in Kansas City. He’ll follow you.” Cu

“And by keeping me out of it, sir, you’re taking away my only defense.” O’Dell’s voice had an undeniable quiver to it. Tully saw her bite down on her lower lip. Was it to restrain her words or control the quiver?

Cu

O’Dell stared at Tully with surprise. He found himself a bit embarrassed and not sure why. It wasn’t as if he had made the request to do her any favors. It could be putting her in even more danger. But the fact was, he needed her.

“I’ve decided to grant Agent Tully’s request on two conditions, neither of which I’m willing to negotiate or compromise.” Cu

“Of course,” she answered, her voice now strong and firm again.

“Number two. I want you to see the Bureau’s psychologist.”

“Sir, I really don’t think—”

“Agent O’Dell, I said there will be no negotiating, no compromise. I’ll leave it up to Dr. Kernan as to how many times he wants to see you each week.”

“Dr. James Kernan?” O’Dell seemed appalled.

“That’s right. I had Anita set up your first appointment. Check with her on your way out for the time. She’s also setting up an office for you. Agent Tully occupies your old one. I saw no reason in moving both of you. Now, if the two of you will excuse me.” He sat back, dismissing them. “I have another appointment.”

Tully gathered his mess and waited for O’Dell at the door. For a woman who had just been given what she had wanted for the last five months, she looked more agitated than relieved.

CHAPTER 30

Tess looked forward to her morning appointment, although while she drove down the empty streets, the guilt crept over her for tiptoeing out of Daniel’s house without waking him to say goodbye. She simply didn’t have the energy for another battle. He would grumble about her leaving so early to run home and shower and change clothes, when she could do all that just as easily at his house. What he really wanted was for her to stay, because he was more easily aroused in the mornings, and he wanted to have sex.

Yet he would say ridiculous things like, “We have so little time for each other, we need those few extra minutes in the morning.”

Each time she stayed over, it was the same thing, the same old argument—“How will we ever know if we’re compatible, Tess, if we don’t read the New York Times together or share breakfast in bed?”

He had actually given those examples. How could he believe any of that when he barely spoke to her over their di

Daniel was sophisticated, intelligent, refined and cultured. My God, the man completed the New York Times crossword puzzle in ink. But unlike Daniel, she didn’t kid herself about their relationship. She knew they had little in common. He certainly didn’t consider her his equal, and often pointed out her deficiencies as if she were his Eliza Doolittle. Even the other night when she had asked him about investing her bonus money, she had felt as if he had patted her on the head with his “don’t get into something you don’t understand” comment.

However, the one area where Tess excelled, above and beyond Daniel, was sex. What Daniel lacked, Tess made up for. He had told her many times—though only in the heat of passion—that she was “phenomenally the best fuck” he had ever had. For some twisted reason, it pleased her to have this power over him, though it left her cold and hollow inside. Having sex with Daniel, despite being phenomenal for him, was neither enjoyable nor satisfying for Tess.

In fact, she had begun to wonder whether she was capable of feeling genuinely aroused—if she would ever feel the sort of passion she continuously faked with Daniel. Having Will Finley, a complete stranger, resurrect those feelings proved more unsettling and a