Strong, Sleek and Sinful - By Lorie O'Clare Page 0,3

originally let on. “Did you know her?”

“Nope.” Perry met Pete’s curious stare but kept his own masked. “She was one of the lucky ones. Proof there are parents out there who really care about their kids.”

“There’re some sick bastards in this world,” Pete grunted.

Perry glanced at the clock. Diane would be done with her classes at junior college and would be heading home to fix supper for her sisters. Ever since his sister took on a second job, the girls had been forced to step up to bat and take on more responsibilities to keep the house running smoothly. It was good for them, and for the most part everything got done. Perry would still touch base, make sure supper was on the table and homework was being done.

All four of his nieces were as near perfect as young girls could be. Maybe his life didn’t allow for a wife and children. He knew his job was dangerous, and the last thing he would ever do to a woman was make her a widow and force her to raise a family alone. Not that David Vetter, his sister’s husband, hadn’t been a damn good cop and head over heels for Megan. David couldn’t have seen his own death coming so soon. But it was a lesson, and a tragedy, Perry took to heart. Megan and the girls wouldn’t make it without him. He wouldn’t put a lady in the same predicament. A personal long-term relationship wasn’t in the books for him.

“Sometimes kids create drama for attention,” Pete continued as Perry reached for the door. “Don’t stress out over a ghost.”

“Fucking ghost, my ass,” Perry growled under his breath, and let the door close behind him as he headed toward his car. An attitude like that would slow the action in nailing the prick who was stalking teenage girls. They weren’t dealing with a ghost. Ghosts weren’t traceable through ISP addresses.

Heading out of the parking lot in his own car, a two-year-old Thunderbird he’d picked up for a pretty good deal off one of the lots in town, Perry pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his names. Then punching the number, he adjusted his Bluetooth and listened as it rang on the other line.

Maybe he didn’t have a connection between the Web sites he’d found and a teenage girl disappearing after talking to a boy online and then being found dead several days later. Right now, there wasn’t anything to piece that crime with the Wrights’ coming in last night after too close of a call with their daughter trying to meet some jerk off the Internet. But there was a connection. He could feel it. And he wasn’t some rookie cop. Half the time hunches were what he worked off of, and turned into cold, hard proof.

Perry listened to the phone ring in his ear a third time as he slipped behind the wheel to his car. He would get proof in bits and pieces, starting with the Web sites. But damn, if a predator was stalking teenage girls in Perry’s town, he was on that case, whether Rad liked it or not. Even if Perry didn’t bring them into this world, his nieces were everything to him. And it was his responsibility to ensure they had a safe environment to grow up in.

“Kayne here,” a deep male voice finally answered.

“Noah, it’s Perry Flynn.” Perry gripped the wheel and headed out of the parking lot and toward the ramp for the interstate.

“Hey, Flynn. What the hell is up with you?” Noah sounded unusually cheerful.

“I hear you’re settling down and accepting a leash and collar these days,” Perry teased, hardly in the mood for it, but he couldn’t remember the last time Noah didn’t snap over the phone if Perry pushed the right buttons. It was a tradition they’d upheld since college, berating and insulting each other but always there for the other when needed.

“Fuck you, man. There’s not a goddamn collar around my neck.” There was a lady’s laughter in the background and Noah grumbled something inaudible before sounding a bit more like himself when he snapped, “You call for a reason?”

“Actually, I did, but giving you crap sounds a hell of a lot more fun than talking shop. Who’s the unlucky lady?”

“She’s the luckiest woman on the planet, and she will tell you that herself.” Noah sounded happy again.

A small twinge of jealousy tightened Perry’s gut, but he ignored it. He was glad his old college buddy