Blood in the Moonlight

BLOOD IN THE MOONLIGHT

By

Allie Harrison

© Copyright by Allie Harrison, June 2008

© Cover Art by Alex DeShanks, June 2008

ISBN 978-1-60394-789-3

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

“This is really important,” Hunter insisted.

“Find someone else who cares. I can’t afford to care.”

Jenna gazed out toward the lake, the look in her eyes growing distant.

Hunter watched her, drinking her in like the lemonade in his glass.

“There’s no one else, and you have to afford it this time,” he said.

She was still for a long moment, and he knew she recognized the urgency in his voice, in his words, and took it for what it was worth. She met his gaze again.

“Why do you say that?” she asked slowly.

Hunter thought she probably already knew the answer. She just needed him to say it in order to believe it.

“Because I got another letter. Jack’s back. And because you were a target before, I can only assume you’re a target now.”

Jenna stared at him for a long moment. And Hunter said not a word as he allowed her to digest what he’d just told her.

“That’s impossible,” she let out finally, her words little more than a breathy whisper.

“I know. That’s what I thought, too. I know how you must feel ….” He could only imagine it was the same way he’d felt upon opening that letter he’d received three days before.

“You have no idea how I feel!” she let out in a rush, standing so suddenly her chair nearly toppled over behind her. “Don’t you dare tell me you know how I feel. This—this ….” She struggled for the right word.

“Butcher?” he supplied.

“Yes, this butcher killed four women, almost killed me and killed three other cops—good cops—during a car chase that never should have happened, one of them being my own father. There was nothing left of any of them when the fire department finally got all the car fires put out, not even enough to make a positive ID through dental records, and you’re telling me he’s not dead?”

If looks could kill, he’d be dead, Hunter thought, for he had never before seen such daggers in her eyes. True over the course of their time as partners, he figured he’d seen her in every emotion. He even thought he’d seen passion in her eyes when he’d given her a kiss at the stroke of midnight one New Year’s Eve and she’d had a bit too much champagne. But he had never seen the mixture of emotions he saw now.

Slowly, Hunter pulled the clear evidence bag from inside his pocket.

He slid it across the table toward her.

Involuntarily, Jenna took a step back as if she might get burned if she got too close. She stared down at it and read the words on the paper, cut from books and magazines, only one word handwritten.

Guess What? Jack is back.

After a long time to wait

Isn’t it great?

As you can guess there will be five

Who sooner or later won’t be alive.

Jack’s looking forward to the fun

Be on the lookout for number one.

* * * *

The woman was driving him insane.

Hunter knew this had been his idea, had been the only solution when it came to keeping Jenna safe from a possible second attack.

But it was still driving him insane.

As a close partner to her years ago, he’d seen her at her best and at her worst, but he’d never seen her in her underwear.

He hadn’t known she had such shapely legs.

He hadn’t known she felt so soft in his arms.

He hadn’t known it would be impossible to erase the vision of her in her panties from his thoughts even after she was dressed in jeans and a blouse.

It didn’t help that she chewed her scrambled eggs so slowly. They were only scrambled eggs. How in the hell was she able to make chewing them look so erotic?

The doorbell chimed with a simple ding-dong, and they both looked from their breakfast to the door.

“It’s awfully early,” Jenna said.

“It’s probably Booth. Should I tell him we spent the night wandering around out in the cemetery?”

Jenna rolled her eyes and didn’t reply. She simply filled her mouth with another bite of eggs and let him get up and answer it.

It wasn’t John Booth.