Free Darker Things (The Lockman Chronicles #1) by Rob Cornell

immediately.
    God, she hated running. But it was the only kind of exercise she could find time for, and part of doing it had to do with the self-torture. Her own private punishment for all the mistakes she’d made along the way.
    She said she was going to meet her real father.
    Real? As if she had a fake one. Kate had never fooled herself into thinking Alec would fill that void for Jessie. All she had ever asked was that Jessie accept Kate’s own need for companionship. Something she hadn’t even realized she was missing until she bumped into Alec at the grocery store.
    Kate dialed up the speed a notch.
    The burn moved up her calves into her thighs and buttocks. Her breathing inched toward ragged.
    How could Jessie have found out where to find him? How far away was she? How had she gotten there? The questions opened up possibilities that turned Kate’s stomach just thinking about. Hitchhiking? Some seedy bus station? Some older friend with a driver’s license Kate didn’t know about?
    After four miles, Kate gave up and abandoned the treadmill and soaps. She got in the shower, let the spray caresses her scalp, and remembered his strong fingers running through her hair, how he could work those fingers over the top of her head and get a near orgasmic reaction from her. He knew exactly how to touch her, no matter where he put his hands.
    She stepped out of the shower spray, her naked back pressed against the cold tiles. Jesus, what was she doing thinking about him like that?
    Out of the warm water she began to shiver and her skin turned to gooseflesh. She quickly rinsed and got out of the shower. She had just finished toweling off when Alec knocked and peeked in.
    Kate wrapped her towel around her. “Hey.”
    He studied her face a moment. “You all right?”
    She tucked a corner of her towel in to keep it around her, then took up her brush and ran it through her hair. “Worried about Jess is all.”
    “She’ll probably be back in time for dinner.”
    Instead of looking at him, she watched herself in the mirror while she brushed her hair. She hadn’t told him about her visit to Ryan’s house. Alec didn’t know much about Jessie’s father and Kate preferred to keep it that way. Telling Alec what Jessie was up to would make it hard not to breach the subject. “I’m sure you’re right.”
    He came close to her, put his hands on her shoulders and massaged.
    She set down her brush and closed her eyes, trying to enjoy the contact. It felt good.
    But nothing like the way he could touch me.
    Kate tried to squelch the thought, but it had already tainted her mind like an oil slick on water.
    Alec stopped massaging. “What?”
    “Nothing. Why?”
    “You went tense. Did I hurt you?”
    A deep breath and a conscious effort to loosen her muscles in her neck and shoulders. Somehow she managed. She turned to face Alec, kissed him gently on the lips. “I don’t know where I’d be without you.”
    “Who said anything about being without me?”
    “I’m just saying you’re really important to me. I love you.”
    He smiled. He slid one of his hands down along her neck and then hooked his fingers into the towel along the tops of her breasts. “I love you, too.” He tugged just enough to make the towel drop away to the floor.
    She leaned against him and kissed him hard, could feel him responding immediately. They wasted little time getting him undressed. He lifted her onto the bathroom counter and pushed himself inside of her.
    Kate closed her eyes and concentrated on the growing warmth below. But in the darkness behind her eyelids she saw his face. And when she climaxed, it took every bit of her strength to keep from calling out his name.
    Craig.

Chapter Twelve
    The wall adjacent to the one with the display case had a window facing the street. Lockman moved to the window and peered through curtains as sheer as wedding veils. A black SUV, tinted windows, sat double parked a few cars down from their stolen Town Car.
    “Did