Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

sisters each slid an arm around her.
    “There’s no point in going there, Sam,” Tracy said.
    “I haven’t had a chance to tell Nick the whole story.”
    “It won’t matter to him,” Ang assured her. “He’s mad about you. He never takes his eyes off you, but not in the creepy way Peter used to. More of an adoring way.”
    “He didn’t have a family growing up, and I know he wants one.”
    “There’re other ways, hon,” Tracy said. “You know that. Don’t worry about it right now. Enjoy this time with him. You deserve to be happy after everything you’ve been through.”
    “Thank you,” Sam said, hugging them. “I’m so glad you guys like him.”
    “Hubba hubba,” Ang said again, and they all laughed.
    “Now how about Dad and Celia?” Sam said.

    Just as Sam and Nick were getting ready to leave Skip’s house, Freddie called. “We’ve got another body, Sergeant.”
    A burst of adrenaline zipped through Sam. “Who?”
    “Tara Davenport.”
    “Oh, shit,” Sam sighed, remembering the timid Capitol Hill waitress they’d interviewed. “Where?”
    “Her apartment.” Freddie rattled off the address. “It’s bad, Sam. Whoever did this made sure she suffered.”
    “I’m on my way.”
    Nick insisted on driving her to the scene. On the way, Sam pumped him for information about Tara.
    “She was so sweet,” he said. “We always requested her section when we went in for lunch. I can’t believe anyone would want to harm her.”
    “No way this is a coincidence. This has got to be tied to O’Connor. Did he tell you he was dating her?”
    “He never came right out and discussed it with me, but I knew. He was so much older than her. I’m sure he thought I wouldn’t approve.”
    “Did you?”
    “Not really, but they were both consenting adults, so I kept my opinions to myself.”
    Since emergency vehicles had surrounded Tara’s apartment building, Sam told him to double-park.
    Freddie met them at the door to Tara’s apartment, his expression grim. “Beaten, bound, raped and strangled.”
    Steeling herself, Sam followed him into the bedroom. “God almighty,” she whispered at the sight of a bloodbath.
    Behind her, Nick gasped.
    Sam spun around. “You need to step back.” Realizing he was on the verge of passing out, she rushed him into a chair and pushed his head between his knees. “Breathe.”
    “I’m okay,” he muttered, looking up at her. His eyes glazed with shock, he shook his head. “Who could do that? Who?”
    “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
    “Go ahead. Sorry to wimp out.”
    Sam left him in the living room and returned to the bedroom as Freddie took photos of the scene. Tara had been bound, gagged and, judging by the bloody pool between her legs, repeatedly raped.
    “Who found her?” Sam asked Freddie.
    “One of her coworkers got the super to let her in when she didn’t show up for work for the second day in a row.”
    Dr. Lindsey McNamara, the medical examiner, stepped into the room. “Damn. Just when you think you’ve seen it all…”
    “No kidding,” Sam said.
    One of the crime scene officers lifted a baseball bat from the floor. Blood stained the thick end of the barrel. “Looks like this was used for the beating, among other things…”
    The women in the room winced.
    Sam studied the young waitress who’d been so distraught over her breakup with John O’Connor. “How long has she been dead?”
    Lindsey pulled on latex gloves and reached out to close Tara’s eyes. “Looks like twenty to thirty hours, but I won’t know for sure until I get her into the lab.”
    “I need a time of death ASAP so I can get a timeline going.”
    Lindsey nodded. “Who did this to you, sweetie?” the kind-hearted doctor whispered. “Don’t you worry. We’ll get them.” Lindsey shifted her green eyes to Sam. “Won’t we?”
    “You bet your ass we will.”

    “Go pick up Elin Svendsen,” Sam said to Freddie, working a hunch.
    “Really?” The spark of excitement in his voice wasn’t lost on Sam. “Will I get hardship duty pay for that?”
    “Take her to a hotel and arrange for round-the-clock coverage.”
    “Got it—take goddess to hotel and watch over her. I think I can handle that.”
    Sam was relieved to hear him joking again after the hideous two hours they’d just put in at Tara’s. “I’m going to send Gonzo out to Belle Haven to pick up the Jordans, too. I want her under protection.”
    “Noel passed the