Page 62 of Luke, The Profiler

“If it helps any, I think Truman’s been made to pay for his many sins,” I muttered absently, because Truman Steadfast wasn’t my problem. No. My problem was trying to see a way out of this shit storm without telling Eden her own father had decided to target her with a violent psychopath. Damned if I couldn’t find a way to do it. “We need to have someone check in with all the New Hope Teen Shelters to see if they had any buses scheduled to go to HEG last night, just to make sure we’re not barking up the wrong tree.”

“I’ll get Mary Jane right on that.”

“If you can, set her on Cobee Bruno’s trail as well. Maybe she can find out if Tru really did task him to be Eden’s original stalker. Who knows? Brain-trust Cobee might even have some insight as to who replaced him as Eden’s stalker.”

Cap made a note. “Got it. But I’m giving you a heads-up right now—if I see any of this shit flowing over to threaten our protectee directly, I’ll have no choice but to send this on to the local authorities. I’m always aware of our clienteles’ need for discretion, but Tru Steadfast having his skull caved in has upped the ante considerably.”

“Which leads me to my final point,” I said, and even I could hear the grimness in my tone. “No matter how upsetting Tru Steadfast’s attack is, we can’t lose sight of what we’ve been hired to do. The only priority we have is keeping Eden safe.”

“Steele texted me to say that they had our protectee safely ensconced at the quote,undisclosed location.” Cap flipped his phone over to see if there were any other text messages. “I take it that means you didn’t feel it was safe enough for Eden to go back to her own place?”

I nodded. “The stalker knows where she lives and he’s just proven he’s murder-level violent, so he’s got nothing left to lose. As of now, he doesn’t even get to lay eyes on her.”

“Considering the perp’s escalation in violence, I’d have to agree that dropping her off the grid is for the best until the authorities track down Steadfast’s attacker. Which safe house did you put our protectee in?”

I cleared my throat. “I didn’t use a safe house that officially belongs to Private Security International.”

Cap stared at me. “Where the hell did you stash our protectee?”

Fuck it. “I dropped her off at my mother’s place, along with her security detail of Steele and Echo. Nix is their back-up.”

Until that moment I never knew that my unflappable employer could goggle in shock. “The… the Pleasure Palace?”

“The Pleasure Palace,” I confirmed, trying to look innocent.

When Cap swore a blue streak, I realized I’d failed spectacularly.

Chapter Sixteen

The Pleasure Palace

Eden

Just when I thought life couldn’t get any weirder, I somehow got landed in a Victorian-era former brothel overlooking St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery. According to my hostess, the sprawling house was one of the few wooden buildings that escaped the Great Chicago Fire, and had once been run by “Machine Gun” Jack McGurn, Al Capone’s lieutenant and the guy who made the legendary St. Valentine’s Massacre a reality.

But since my hostess was none other than Bebe Zaiger, I not only believed her, I also had no doubt she bought the place for the sole purpose of wallowing in all that madcap historic drama.

“Knock-knock.” As if by magic, the woman sprang from my thoughts to materialize into full and glorious life, peeking her white head through the door of the bedroom I’d been shown to, a sumptuous confection complete with a huge featherbed topped with a red-silk tassel canopy. “Aw honey, can’t you sleep? I was kind of hoping that once I got you settled into some cozy sleeping togs, you’d be down for the count by now.”

Standing at the window covered by yards of gorgeous white lace now glowing in the sun’s first blush, I glanced down. The robe I wore was a satiny pink kimono, and it covered a cami-short set made of lace so see-through and light I suspected cobwebs were thicker. “I was actually thinking about heading back to the hospital, just to be there when they try to wake up my dad.”

Bebe made a dubious sound before coming in the rest of the way to sit on the red velvet ottoman at the foot of the bed. “I’d feel a lot better if you’d wait until Luke comes back. I know you have those other boys as your bodyguards,” she added even as I opened my mouth to tell her just that. “And I’m sure you’re safe as a kitten with all that muscle around you. I’m actually thinking more about Luke’s peace of mind, because… well, I’m his mother, so what else would I be thinking about?” she added on a self-deprecating laugh. “He’s never really had a special woman in his life, so naturally I want to be as protective of you as Luke would be if he were here.”

That was sweet, but I was much more interested in the first part of her statement. “I refuse to believe a man like Luke never had a girlfriend.”

“It’s weird, right?” Bebe seemed to agree, nodding vigorously. “Don’t get me wrong, he was the king of messing around with all the girls in high school, and he was just about irresistible to all the ladies I used to work with when I was an exotic dancer.” Then she winked at me. “Doesn’t that sound classier than stripper? Every time I sayexotic dancerI just have to giggle.”

As exhausted as I was, I couldn’t help but grin along with her. That was the magic of Bebe. “So he did have girlfriends.”

“No, he had girls. Then women. Then after his last tour of duty with the military,lotsof women. But I never saw him with the same woman twice, and he never bothered to introduce me to any of them. Wouldn’t even tell me their names if I happened to see him with someone out in public. To be honest, I always read that sort of behavior as a man who saw all his companions as temporary. Frankly I often wondered if growing up backstage at a strip club damaged him in some way.”

Of course Bebe had “read” her own son. She might not have been trained like Luke, but her insight into the human condition was as much a part of her as her blue eyes or bawdy laugh. “Of all the people I’ve met in life—and remember, I’m a life coach who deals with all sorts of screwed-up people—your son is the most well-adjusted, down-to-earth human being I’ve ever met. He’s also the smartest person I’ve ever come across, a fact that has thrown me for a loop a time or two. I’ll bet he was a challenge raising him all on your own.”

“Oh, he was a monster.” She laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh along with her at the term. “And while he’s definitely a people-person like his mama, I always wondered if he would ever find someone who could keep his interest for longer than, say…”

“Three dates,” I supplied when she searched for an appropriate time span. “His limit was three dates, or so he told me. That’s better than me, to be honest,” I added wryly, at last leaving the window to join her on the ottoman. “Before Luke came along, I was kind of a one-and-done kind of dater. I always put that down to how clearly I know myself—you know, what I like and don’t like, what I want and don’t want. But the truth is I bore easily, same as Luke. Yet when I’m with him, I can’t even remember what boredom is.”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that.” Bebe reached over to squeeze my hand, and I couldn’t help but squeeze back. “For the past few years I’ve watched him as so many of his friends fell in love, got married and started families of their own. Yet there was Luke, always left by himself, and I began to think it was something that I did that made him so… alone. For instance, I didn’t get him a puppy when he was a little boy and he begged and begged for one. I mean, who knows? Maybe denying him a puppy was what made him emotionally incapable of connecting with someone.”

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