The evolution of their relationship, in such a short amount of time, was no surprise to him. Upon discovering that his sweet Nicole would be holding another party at the very place their destinies first crossed paths, he knew that she was signaling to him that she was ready. It had only taken a week for her heart to reach out to his and embrace their love. That she had never meet him, much less spoken to him, only served as further evidence to the fact that she was meant for him – they shared a bond that transcended the superficial. Theirs was a bonding of souls.

Scanning the mass of hungry, lonely fools he felt awash with their desperation. The men walked about with puffed chests and presumptuous grins. The slightest indication that special attention was being paid to a particular female, and she would giggle and flush with reckless abandon. Playing witness to such a pathetic and pitiable display of mating rituals grated his sensibilities. The sooner he could take his Nicole away from such a world, the better. All of the preparations had been made; as usual, he left no detail unattended. Tonight, it would be done.

#

                Had I not needed my job as badly as I did, and if I were less afraid of Sadie, I would have rescheduled the night’s event. Taking full stock of my situation, a bar full of strangers was the least safe place for me to be. The idea had seemed almost fail-proof in the beginning; larger gatherings meant more money. Sure, the selection pool was a bit murkier but hey, money was green no matter whose pocket it came out of. And with my stock on a rapid decline, I needed this particular boost.

                Scanning the courtyard, I was pleased at the descent turnout. No one seemed to pay me any particular attention, so that was reassuring. Surely if I had a stalker he’d be staring a hole through the side of my head – at least that’s how it always seemed in the MyTime late night movies Leigha and I were addicted to. The one we saw a week ago was eerily similar to the predicament I was currently in – a naïve girl seduced by a mysterious man, but when she tried to leave him he stalked and killed her. I had to remind myself to stop watching those. They were making me paranoid.

                “Are you the one in charge this evening,” a hushed voice broke me from my musings. Blinking my eyes back into focus, I came to find a man standing in front of me. A quick assessment told me that he was well-off, most likely in finance, and still relatively young despite his silvery-gray hair. I immediately put him in the ‘Daddy Warbucks’ category.

                “I wouldn’t call it ‘in charge’,” I responded with a half-smile. “I’m more like a referee. Did you need help in meeting someone in particular?”

                “Honestly, I came over to introduce myself. I was here last weekend, and I guess you could say I crashed the party. My curiosity got the better of me while I was inside the restaurant, so I decided to come out and investigate.”

                “Oh, well in that case I’m glad you came back. I’m Nicole James.” I extended my hand in greeting. He captured it between both of his and drew me in slightly causing me to stumble, only to catch myself by throwing my free arm around his neck. To my absolute horror, he groaned at the impact. I had gained a few pounds, I knew, but I wasn’t so big that I could take down a grown man.

                “I am so incredibly sorry. Normally I can walk just fine; I don’t know what happened there. Are you okay?” Trying to untangle myself, and maintain some shred of professionalism, I looked about to make sure no one witnessed my faux pas. Corwin Quinn was propped up against the bar with a sardonic grin on his face. I immediately turned away from his pointed stare and snatched my hands behind my back, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing me flustered. Redirecting my attention, I continued trying to make amends with the gray-haired gentleman before me.

                “Is there someone you’d like for me to introduce you to? I haven’t had personal interviews with all of the ladies yet, but there’s bound to be someone that strikes your fancy.”

                “To be honest with you I only came tonight to test the waters, as it were,” he replied with a sad sort of smile.

“In that case, take your time. There’s an open bar and they should be bringing the hor d'oeuvres soon.” With a reserved smile and nod, I moved on to greet other guests and prospective clients as they entered the courtyard.

The sliding glass panel that divided the bar from the courtyard had been opened by the restaurant staff, nearly doubling the space. It also allowed for curious patrons to come out and join the festivities. I was totally fine with the added numbers. It had the potential for more business than my original plan projected. I’d let them mix and mingle until it was time for what I was calling ‘mini dates’. Those that hadn’t paid to fully participate would be asked to return to the restaurant. If they chose to stay, they would have to pay the participant’s fee.

Each person would be given the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with up to five probable dates. If they liked what they saw, I would become their official matchmaker and help them narrow their selections and facilitate more formal dates. There was also the outside chance that I could get bumped up to Matchmaker Special. The increase in pay was a welcome perk, but the unsettling feeling of peddling love for money continued to eat away at me. Giving the thought an angry shove to the back of my mind, I checked my watch for what may well have been the millionth time. Let’s get this show on the road.

“Now, that doesn’t sound promising.” I could hear the smugness on his face, and turning to look at Detective Quinn, I was unsurprised to see that I was right. Apparently, I’d been thinking out loud.

“Oh don’t you worry your pretty head, Detective. I’ve got at least eight women with cop fantasies chomping at the bit to get you alone.” I smiled sweetly. “I have to say, I am surprised that you even showed up. And you dressed appropriately, too. Thank you, sir.” I hadn’t had the opportunity to fully assess Quinn while he was at the bar. Now that he was standing next to me, I couldn’t deny that the man certainly cleaned up nicely. He was still clad in dark, neutral tones. Thinking back, I couldn’t remember seeing him in anything lighter or brighter than gray.

Tonight, he wore dark washed jeans, boots, and a slate colored button down shirt. I smiled when I noticed that he listened to me and left his hideous bargain basement blazer at home.

“Well, you did provide me with one of the biggest leads I’ve gotten since the case started. So, thank you.” Leaning closer in, he added, “And I’m glad you like what you see.”

Rolling my eyes, I shooed him off and took up position in the center of the courtyard to call everyone’s attention.

“Alright people,” I called out and clapped my hands together. “Let’s see if we can get you started down the road to romance!” There was a bit of nervous laughter from the small crowd, and I got down to the business at hand.

#

Given the circumstances, Quinn should have been back at the precinct sifting through evidence. It wasn’t that Marconi hadn’t proven himself to be a reasonably competent detective, but Quinn was starting to feel that he was losing focus. Half-clues and spotty information were making his mind a chaotic mess. The dead prostitute, the kidnap/murder victims, antique veils, and now Nicole’s stalker all fought their way to the forefront. He needed to make sense of it all.

“Corwin,” his father used to say, “the only way to eat a seventy-two ounce steak is one bite at a time.” Quinn needed to stop searching for the big picture and focus on all of the tiny breadcrumbs that had been collected. First, and most importantly, Karl was right; the women found on the beach were all selected for a specific reason. Based on the fact that they were all of various ages and backgrounds, it was fairly safe to say that the killer wasn’t trying to recreate a person from a past relationship. The reason had to be something other than physical. A mother complex seemed a bit of a stretch, so Quinn felt it safe say that wasn’t it either. What trait was he searching for?

Casually assessing his current surroundings, it finally hit him like a two ton truck. Women – all of varying ages, education, and economic standing – putting themselves on display for men who were circling the room, hunting and sniffing out the weakest prey; looking for love, or a one night only love connection. That’s what the Veiled Killer was looking for, too – a connection.  However, that didn’t explain the prostitute. Quinn knew that his suspect was too smart to believe the false promises of a professional girl, and yet he took her to the hotel. The body was well cared for, but she’d had the lace handkerchief lodged well into her throat, instead of simply stuffed into her mouth. Was he trying to force her innocence back on her?

If that was the case, then it begged the question “What made him think the other women were innocent?” Was it even about innocence? Though Quinn wasn’t too informed on wedding rituals, he was almost certain veils had something to do with preserving modesty and innocence. According to the medical examiner none of the victims were virgins. Hell the last one, Ramona Villanova, was divorced because she wanted children but her ex didn’t. It was a given that she’d been sexually active at some point during her forty-four years of life. Yet there were no signs of sexual trauma found on any of the bodies. There were no signs of sexual activity of any kind. Was there something that stopped the killer from consummating the relationship he thought he’d had with each of the women?

“Well shit,” Quinn huffed as he realized that he was running himself in circles again. The best he could do was to wait and see what Marco had been able to come up with, and then maybe he’d have a few more pieces of the puzzle. Dragging his hand across his face, he tried to refocus himself on the present. That included a petite Asian woman with disproportionately large breasts sauntering his way. Well, he supposed that she was attempting a saunter. Unfortunately it ended up looking like she was trying to walk her thong out of the crack of her ass. Quinn downed the rest of his drink to hide his laughter at his own joke as she approached.

“Hello handsome,” she greeted him in a breathy voice. Quinn hated breathy women. “I’m Claudia and I love a man in uniform.” Quinn cursed inwardly and signaled the bartended for another drink. He had four more of these ‘dates’ to get through.

“…and I just think that it is so selfless and brave what you do. Putting your life on the line every day for complete strangers, it’s so heroic.” Quinn could only take so much hero worship, and he’d reached his limit on date number two. Here he was at number three, with still two more women to meet, and he knew that if he drank anymore he’d be a prime candidate for an intervention. What was this chick’s name anyway? He couldn’t remember, nor did he care to.

“It’s just a job,” he deflected. “Excuse me will you,” pointing to his phone. “Work stuff.”

“Oh, totally! Protect and serve, right?” Quinn shook his head. Freaking badge bunnies.

Moving to an unoccupied corner, Quinn typed furiously on his phone and hit ‘Send’. Staring intently at the recipient, he waited for a reaction. Moments later Nikki, in the midst of a heated conversation across the courtyard, peered down at her phone’s screen with a frown and then burst out laughing. Quinn was pleased with himself as he watched her turn away from the man in front of her to search him out instead. When their eyes finally met, Quinn leveled her with a mixed look of anger and challenge. The first to break contact, Nikki returned to her phone and tapped a short response with a slight quirky smile on her lips.

When his phone buzzed, Quinn slowly looked at his phone making sure his face was unreadable. He knew she was still watching, anxious for his response.  A slow smile crept over his face as Quinn read the words on the screen – Suck it up.

“You need to leave Nicole alone; we both know you aren’t right for her.” Rather than immediately acknowledge his aggressor, Quinn calmly returned his phone to the pocket of his jeans.

“Alright.” Quinn made to side step the stranger, but was stopped by a firm hand at his chest. Quinn allowed himself to be stopped, but kept his eyes trained ahead refusing to engage any further.

“I don’t think you get it,” the man said as forcefully as he could manage. Quinn lowered his head and took in the sight of the man’s hand as he attempted to shove him back. Quinn then looked his would-be assailant square in the eye and chuckled. Hearing Nikki’s announcement to switch dates, brushed past the man and made his way back to the bar. The woman he saw waiting for him was a blond this time. His first thought was to question whether or not she was old enough to drink. Second, was that Nikki must have gotten some sick pleasure out of arranging these dates from Hell.

A night that had begun as a mere annoyance, was quickly taking on a sourer note. Promise or no, Quinn had to find a way to leave soon or he was going to lose what little control he had. At that moment, his cell phone buzzed. Glancing at it, he saw Chief Campbell’s name flash across the screen. It was as though the universe could sense his suffering and took pity on him. He’d found his ‘out’. Relief washed over him, and Quinn altered course away from the bar.

“Yeah, Chief,” he answered hoping that the noise of the event couldn’t be heard in the background.

“You wanna tell me why Marconi is running down new evidence alone?”

“What new evidence? All I asked him to do was run a background,” Quinn responded in an effort to avoid getting chewed out. He was a few feet from the door, almost free, when Nikki stopped him cold with an accusing stare. ‘Gotta go,’ he mouthed and gestured to the phone at his ear. ‘Work.’ Nikki huffed in aggravation and crossed her arms over her chest. She was making it clear that nothing he could say would make her let him leave. She’s cute when she’s angry. After thinking this, Quinn was yanked back to his phone conversation by the chief’s belligerent voice.

                “You get your ass back here or I’m giving the case to Marconi!” The crashing sound of the receiver signaled the abrupt end of the one-sided discussion. He’d have to make a call to Marco and find out exactly what was going on at the precinct. First, he needed to convince Nikki to move away from the door.

                “I have to leave,” he said plainly.

                “You have two more dates. You can’t leave,” she countered, testily.

                “If you’re referring to the other two women who I’m supposed to help re-enact their most recent cop fantasy, I’d rather not.”

                “Is it because of Byron, then? Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know he would even be here tonight. He can be a bit much but…”

                “Who the hell is Byron?” Quinn asked cutting her off. Realizing that the jack-off that approached him was the same guy she’d been talking to when he texted her earlier. Listening to her try and excuse Byron’s behavior fully ignited his irritation. “Oh you mean the douche bag? Take my advice; avoid obsessive assholes. You seem to have a collection going.”

Quinn angrily marched away, leaving a stunned Nikki in his wake. If she wasn’t going to actively take part in ensuring her own personal well-being, he told himself, why the hell was he supposed to waste his time on it? He had actual victims, dead victims, and a serial killer to worry about. Quinn punched in the number for Marconi, and held the phone to his ear listening to it ring. It was time to do some work that actually mattered.

“Yeah, it’s me. What’ve you got?”