Free The Bedroom Killer by Taylor Waters

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    All that and the way his eyes looked . They were warm. Not a killer's eyes. No, he wasn't a killer. He was a man in need of love. A man who needed to be held. Taken care of. She knew before she left the room that she would have him. But it would be different with him. She felt it. And it gave her hope.
     
    ***
     
    The men walked single file into the stark, white room and stepped upon the wooden stage, then turned to face the one-way mirror. Each man moved in front of a number, one through five on the wall behind them, and said nothing. The stage was lit well enough to see the facial features of each man, and the wall behind them bore horizontal lines with height measurements on the right side to reveal the height of each man. Megan's eyes were glued on John as he entered. Although each man had a bandage on his face, he was the only one with a black eye that looked real. The others had makeup under their right eye. Detective Bell and Karen Sharp stood beside her. Before they even settled into their spots, Karen pointed. "That's him. Number four."
    "Are you sure ?" Bell asked.
    Karen hesitated . Megan and Bell watched as she stared at the men, her eyes always coming back to John. "He's the one in the car."
    Gerald smiled and grabbed Megan's shoulder in a show of solidarity. She flinched! Bell took note, and let go.
    "But …"
    "But what ?" Megan asked.
    "He's not tall enough."
    Megan watched as Bell leaned forward, looked at the height of number four, and his smiled dropped as the realization spread across his face. John didn't match her description of the man in the house. At least six foot three was what she'd said, maybe taller.
    "Maybe he was wearing lifts ," Bell said.
    Megan turned to face him. "Five-inch lifts?"
    Bell winced at her comment and bore his gaze into Megan, but she didn't flinch. She knew Dr. Randall wasn't a killer. No matter how much her fat-ass boss hoped he was.
    Sorry to burst your bubble, Numbnuts.
    "They could be working together," Bell said.
    Karen Sharp took one more look at the man under number four, Dr. John Randall, as he stood there with his bandaged cheek, "All I know is he's not the guy who killed my daughter. You still don't have him."
    After Karen was finished , they drove her home and had the other moms brought to the station to try to identify John as the killer. In each instance, the mother of the murdered child could not identify John or any of the other men in the lineups. The other three mothers hadn't woken up in the middle of the night, so there was little hope of them recognizing John.
    Finally, Bell had to admit John Randall was telling the truth .

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 17
     
     
    A crowd of neighbors, onlookers, and news reporters had gathered outside John's house as Detectives Bell, Anderson, Kennedy, and Megan walked inside with John to search his home. He had given them permission, almost imploring them to come take a look. He knew he had nothing to hide…at least not from them. Once the front door was opened, Detective Bell took over.
    "Kennedy, you and Andy check out the backyard and the garage."
    Detectives Kennedy and Anderson nodded , stepped off the porch, and disappeared around the corner of the house. Megan watched John as Bell barked his orders.
    She was attracted to John, but she wasn't sure if it was normal attraction or something else entirely. Normal being he was a handsome man, even with the bandage, and he was a doctor. The "or something else entirely" being her never-ending lustful needs. She was experienced enough to know the dangers of falling for a suspect. But she didn't think of him as one. She knew that was dangerous in and of itself, but she believed every word that came out of his mouth. She was impressed that he was a doctor, but she wasn't too concerned that he was on disability, considering the circumstances that led to it. And she felt like she had to protect him from Numbnuts.
    "Doc."
    Bell motioned for John to step inside. John entered and