Her hair was damp against her cheek. He brushed it back and kissed her softly. She brought her hand up and touched his face. Her small foot slowly rubbed up and down the back of his calf.

“That was highly improper of you,” she whispered, eyes sparkling. They shared a soft chuckle and a softer kiss.

“You’re so beautiful, Anne,” he whispered. “So special.”

He drew breath to say something more, but the sound of his pager bleating broke the spell.

Swearing under his breath, he reached over the side of the sofa to grab his jacket. Pulling the pager out of the pocket, he hit the display button and swore again.

“Mendez.” He looked down at Anne and sighed. “I’m sorry, honey. I have to take this.”

“It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not,” he growled. “I want to hold you all night long. I want to make love to you again . . . and again.”

She smiled at him in a way that was knowing and sexy and absolutely female, and he felt himself getting heavy and hot.

The pager trilled again.

“Duty calls,” she said.

“Can I use your phone?”

“In the kitchen.”

Reluctantly, he got up off the sofa and pulled on his clothes. Anne sat up and drew her heavy sweater around herself, curling her bare legs beneath her. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him that little half smile that quickened his heart a beat. He contemplated throwing his pager into the neighbor’s yard when it went off a third time.

He went into the kitchen, found the phone, and dialed Mendez back.

“What?” he said impatiently by way of a greeting.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“This had better be good.”

“It’s good,” Mendez promised. “I just got a Telex from Oxnard PD. Julie Paulson’s last arrest for prostitution happened in a vice sweep. Guess who else got caught in the net?”

“Who?”

“Peter Crane.”

Chapter 47

47

He watched from the oleander bushes to one side of the backyard. From his angle he was able to see right onto the back porch. He was able to see where they sat down. He was able to see everything.

He watched them kiss. He watched the man take her pants off, watched him go down between her legs to eat her pussy. He watched the man take his clothes off, get on top of her, and fuck her.

She let him. She let him do all of that. And she liked it. He could hear the sounds she made.

She was supposed to be perfect. The perfect teacher. The perfect example. The perfect woman. But she was just another whore . . .

Chapter 48

48

“Someone has some ’splainin’ to do,” Mendez said as Vince got into the car.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t want to be in Dr. Crane’s shoes.”

Mendez gave him a look. “I wasn’t talking about the dentist.”