Page 34 of Tell Me Your Desires

Chapter Eighteen

Jaime tightened her hands around the steering wheel, focusing ahead of her.

She could feel Max watching her, trying to get inside her head, but she couldn’t do this right now.

The thought of Anya being hurt… the idea of the very same thing happening to her that had happened to the previous women…

Jaime was sure she would throw up if she didn’t focus elsewhere.

It may have been one night together, it may have seemed fleeting, but fuck, it was anything but that.

“It’s not safe to be with me. As much as I want to say yes to you, I… can’t. I’m sorry.”

Knowing Anya wanted to go on that date with Jaime only made this more complicated.

She wanted to, but she couldn’t. She felt something about Jaime but wouldn’t act on it.

Jaime didn’t know how to feel about that.

Part of her was relieved because then she wouldn’t have to come clean to Max, but most of her desperately wanted to be alone with Anya right now.

To explore. To allow her hands to wander. To…feel again.

Fuck, it was all she wanted moving forward.

To feel that connection with another human being.

That desire to be with someone hadn’t been close to happening for so long that Jaime wondered if she’d ever feel that way again.

Now that it was possible, she had to encourage that connection.

Because however they moved forward, it was electric.

“You got something you want to tell me?”

Jaime tried to swallow as inconspicuously as she possibly could. “Not sure what you’re getting at.”

Max scoffed. “Why did you go back to the house?”

“I told you. I wanted to be sure this was what Anya wanted.”

“Anya, huh.” Max loosened his tie and rolled his head on his shoulders. “You’re not thinking she’s a person of interest anymore?”

“Not after that conversation we’ve just had with her.” Jaime relaxed her shoulders, aware that she was lying through her teeth. But she couldn’t tell Max. She couldn’t bring herself to utter those words to him. Jaime was still processing all of this in her own head. “So, what are we thinking?”

“I’m thinking there’s something you’re not telling me, Baros.”

Damn right there was!

“Can we focus here? We’ve just established the connection between these women. We’ve just found out that Anya could be next if we don’t catch this prick. Whatever you think I need to tell you, it can wait. Our priority is keeping anyone we can safe.”

“Oh, now you want to be a detective. After losing your head, you’ve decided that you’re ready to get some fucking work done?”

Jaime sighed as she lowered one hand from the steering wheel. “I’m sorry, okay? I did lose my head, but if I don’t figure my shit out soon, more women will die. Anya… could die. I can’t have that on my conscience.”

Max’s eyes burned through the side of Jaime’s face. “Huh.”

Fuck it! “We…had a moment, okay? Is that what you need to hear? We had a fucking moment, and now you can let it go.”

“What kind of moment?” Max turned in his seat, waiting for an explanation. But Jaime didn’t know what else to say. She had no plans to tell him about all the ways Anya had blown her mind last night. She…couldn’t do it. “Baros?”

“Just a moment. It was nothing.”

“If it was nothing, then why do you consider it a moment at all?”

Jaime flared her nostrils. They didn’t have time for this. “Can we just get back to the station and catch this fucker?”

Max inhaled a deep breath, turned away from Jaime, and focused his attention through the window. “You’re playing with fire, Baros.”

Jaime stood back and out of the way, taking longer to pour her coffee than she usually would.

The tense atmosphere between her and Max was palpable—an atmosphere she had hoped wouldn’t put a wedge between them.

It was hard to keep her head in the game when he kept eyeing her.

It was even harder when every other thought she had was about Anya.

Was she home and safe? Was she resting and thinking of Jaime?

The answer to the latter was probably a harsh no.

Especially when it came to thinking about Jaime.

Because why would she? Anya deserved far more than waking up to cash on her nightstand.

That would always be Jaime’s finest moment when it came to stupidity.

“Fucking idiot!” She kept her head down as she approached her desk, determined not to make eye contact with Max until she absolutely had to.

Right now, the fear was that she would give herself away the moment she gave him even an inch.

She sipped her coffee and grimaced. “Fuck, that coffee is terrible today!”

“Over here, Baros.” Max cocked his head towards the murder board and then turned his back.

Yep. He’s well and truly pissed with you.

Jaime rose from her seat and puffed out her cheeks as she came to stand between Max and Jackson.

Obviously, Max had filled Jackson in on their conversation with Dr. Anastasia Grant while Jaime took her time with the coffee.

Jaime still couldn’t wrap her head around Anya’s credentials.

How could she know so little about a woman who made her feel so much?

She shook her head and focused on the murder board again.

Anya’s photo had been moved from suspects to the middle.

It told Jaime that Max didn’t know how to classify Anya.

Victim? Person of interest? Shit, they could put her down as an expert consultant.

The board told them everything they knew.

Which was close to nothing at all. If that didn’t describe what Jaime knew about Anya, nothing would.

Jaime picked up a marker and poised herself to write under the enlarged picture of Anya from her driver’s license.

ALL VICTIMS SLEPT WITH LADY A/ANASTASIA GRANT

“You really think that’s what the thread is?” Max said, sipping his coffee as he kept one eye on Jaime.

“You heard her, Max.”

Jackson scoffed. “I think we’d have a ton more bodies if that were true. Dudes and chicks.” Max and Jaime both scowled at him. “What? She’s a freakin’ sex worker. It’s literally her job. I’m not criticizing that, just stating facts.”

“Fact,” Jaime said through gritted teeth.

“She doesn’t sleep with ‘dudes.’ Fact: she doesn’t sleep with everyone who comes through her chambers.

She’s…selective.” Was Anya selective? Fuck, Jaime didn’t know, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let Jackson demean an incredible woman.

“So if she tells me that’s the thread, we’re fucking pulling on it. ”

“Calm down, Baros. Jackson is just—”

“A fucking moron. Why don’t you go get us some donuts and let the real detectives work.”

“Baros! Enough.” Max jerked his head at Jackson, who stomped off. “What the fuck, Baros?”

“Me? He’s fucking dragging Anya’s name through the mud!” Jaime capped the marker she was still holding and tossed it on the tray attached to the board.

“Jaime, whatever is going on with you, fucking deal with it. Whatever your moment with Dr. Grant was, get over it. Any other time, you would have agreed with Jackson. Now you’re taking it like a personal insult.

This woman has gotten under your skin, and you allowed it to happen.

But there are five women who deserve our attention. ”

“And they’re getting it, Max. But don’t forget that Anya is most likely the fucking target. She deserves our attention, too, or she could end up like the others.”

She knew she’d got Max there when he had no comeback. “Fine. I’ll have Jackson work on getting warrants for Frank’s phone records and going through traffic cam footage to see if we can see Frank following any of the victims. That should keep him busy. As for us…”

As for us… Yeah, Jaime had a few ideas about that. Well… one idea. She cleared her throat as she scratched the back of her neck. “I…I’m going to offer myself as bait.”

“The fuck you are.” Max’s head whipped around. “That’s not happening.”

“Why?” Jaime lifted a shoulder. “It makes sense. Someone is doing this because of what Lady A does in her chamber. Rather than wait for this bastard to strike again—because he will—I’ll be the one he comes after, and we’ll be… expecting him. There’s no danger for me if we plan this right, Max.”

Max laughed. “Again, it’s not happening. No chance.”

“Max, come on. I—”

He held up a hand and dismissed Jaime. “The department isn’t going to pay for you to get fucked on the job, Baros.”

“Well, obviously, we wouldn’t actually have sex.” Oh, Jaime would always want to be intimate with Anya, but this would be part of the job. Yeah, right. You’re so full of shit! “I think it’s something to consider.”

“And I think you’ve lost your mind. We do this the old-fashioned way.”

Jaime snorted. “Sorry, but there’s nothing more old-fashioned than doing what I’ve just suggested.”

He turned to Jaime fully, looking over his shoulder to check nobody else was around.

“You’re infatuated with her, aren’t you?

” Max frowned, and then his brows rose when Jaime didn’t answer.

“Fuck, Baros. You’ve gone from one extreme to the other.

First, you think she’s the killer, and now you want to get laid by her. What the fuck is going on with you?”

Jaime rolled her eyes, neither confirming nor denying Max’s accusation. “I think it’s a good idea.”

Max took a step closer to Jaime, a look of determination in his eyes.

He was never going to go for it. “It won’t work.

Whoever this fucker is, he knows what goes on in that chamber, and faking it ain’t gonna cut it.

So, yeah, we’re not paying you to get laid, Baros.

Now, how about you do some real detective work?

Dig into Frank’s life. See what we can find on him.

Turn over every fucking rock he’s probably lived under at some point.

I’m going to call the club and get a client list. Lady A’s, to be specific. ”