He moved to her side. “You mean aside from the fact it wasn’t attached to the rest of the body?”
“I mean was there evidence of blood, mold?” She wasn’t trained in forensics, but even the smallest clue might help them date how long the remains had been sealed behind the drywall or where the victim had died. “Was there a distinct odor?”
“Actually, it seemed like it’d been there for a while.” He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “The building I found it in is one of Britland Construction’s oldest ongoing projects. I found out construction has been on hold for almost five years because of all the settlements the company is dealing with.”
“So it could’ve been sealed behind the wall anywhere from a few months to years.” Decaying bodies emitted gases as bacteria broke down cells over time. Whoever’d hidden the remains had to have used something to cover up the odor. They’d had access to that building and hadn’t expected anyone to find that head for years, if ever, but then Benning had started investigating Britland. He’d put a target on his back by getting too close to the truth, and the killer had known the moment he’d removed the remains and lashed out to keep their secret. But none of that explained the possible connection to the Samantha Perry case.
“I’ll start by looking into employment records for Britland and run background checks on their personnel. If this is tied to them, that should give us what we need so I can narrow our suspect list down to the man who took your son.” And find out how that charm had ended up at the crime scene on Benning’s property. She tucked her chin to her chest as awareness of how close he’d gotten rocketed through her. Stepping away, she pocketed her phone, her insides cooling instantly with his lack of body heat adding to hers. She fisted the dish towel she’d been using to clean up after her and Olivia’s cookie dough fight in an attempt to lock down her body’s visceral reaction, and tossed it into the kitchen sink with the dishes. In vain.
In the short few hours she’d been back in Sevierville, the time that’d kept them apart, the distance she’d wedged between them, the complete and utter focus on her cases... It’d all faded. As much as she hated the idea he could still affect her after all this time—after everything she’d worked to bury—that deep, lingering attraction held tighter than ever before. But she couldn’t risk giving it more power over her than she already had. Not when it jeopardized her ability to do her job. “With any luck, the medical examiner will have an ID and cause of death on the victim from the fireplace in the next couple of hours, and we can connect the two to get your son back.”
She headed for the duffel she’d dropped at the front door with her laptop inside. Running through Britland employment records. Identifying the victim who’d been burned in the fireplace on Benning’s property. Finding his son. Nothing else mattered. They’d already wasted so much time. She didn’t dare give in to any more distractions.
“Ana, wait.” Callused fingers slipped around her arm, swinging her into a wall of muscle. He didn’t move, her exhales mingling with his. Her brain locked on to the fact his free hand had drifted to her waist, and she couldn’t think beyond the searing heat seeping past her skin. “I just...” Hesitation lightened his hold on her as a darker shift deepened the color of his eyes.
Then he crushed his mouth to hers.
* * *
HER SPINE OF steel hardened under his touch, triggering every cell in his body into mind-numbing protest. But instead of pulling away, the woman who’d walked out on him years before sighed against his mouth. That sound, so small, so vulnerable despite her toughened exterior, only added fuel to the raging desire burning through his veins. She was everything he remembered and more. Soft but strong, unapologetic and honest, confident yet afraid of failure. Ana was the kind of woman if threatened with battle, she brought an entire war, a warrior who never backed down and never gave up. And there wasn’t a damn thing he’d been able to do over the years to get her out of his head, no matter how many times he’d tried. Now, with her here, fighting to save his family, he wasn’t sure it was possible. Or if he wanted it to be.
He penetrated the seam of her lips, memorizing her all over again as she arched against him. Her fingernails scraped against his scalp as she threaded her hand through his hair, and in an instant he was lost. In her. In the way her heart beat hard at the base of her throat, in her light sultry scent, in the way she’d managed to make him forget years of uncertainty and isolation with a single smile. Lean muscle flexed and released as he explored the smooth skin along her back. Things had changed between them. They’d gone their separate ways in an attempt to move on, to forget what’d happened between them, but this—the feel of her skin against his, the taste of her in his mouth—he’d missed this. Missed her. He’d given everything he could to make his marriage to Lilly work, loved his children more than he’d imagined possible, but the damage Ana had carved through him when she’d abandoned him had only torn deeper over time. Had left him hollow. Until now. “Ana—”
“We...” She pressed her hand against his chest, directly over his pounding heart. Hazel-green eyes lifted to his as she swiped something from his bottom lip with the pad of her thumb, sensation spreading across his face and down his neck. One word. That was all it took to bring him back to reality, to remind him of what was at stake if they took this any further, to remind him that there were lives at risk. His son’s life was at risk. She sank back onto the four corners of her feet and increased the empty space between them. She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth, a combination of regret and horror contorting her smooth expression that pierced straight through him. Shaking her head, Ana dropped her gaze to the floor. “We can’t do this, Benning.”
“I know.” Dread pooled at the base of his spine. She was right. They couldn’t do this. Because of the case. Because she blamed herself—her feelings for him—as the cause for that girl’s death, and he didn’t know what the hell had come over him other than he hadn’t been able to keep his distance from her for even another fraction of a second.
For years he’d kept himself in check. He’d buried his feelings for her at the back of his mind and tried to forget the rookie FBI agent who’d turned his entire world upside down. He’d thrown himself into taking care of his kids and building his company, but the moment he’d caught sight of her running around the kitchen island, chasing after his daughter with a spatula full of raw cookie dough, he’d realized it’d all been for nothing. Every minute they’d been together for those short few months had left an undeniable mark.
All this time he’d been turning down dates, offers of coffee, or grabbing lunch in the name of protecting his kids from losing yet another feminine influence in their lives. Protecting himself from getting too attached—from getting hurt—but when it came right down to it, he’d been holding out for her to come back into his life. Now here she was, more out of reach than ever before, and all he could do was laugh. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. You’ve made it perfectly clear you don’t have feelings for me.”
“You say that like I didn’t feel anything for you when we were together,” she said.
He pulled his shoulders back. “Did you? Because you certainly made walking away in the middle of the night look easy.”
Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, as though she was preparing for battle, and hell if he wasn’t ready for it. Shadows smoothed the emotions from her features, every detail of her face guarded in an instant. “My job is saving lives, Benning. I’m trying to bring as many victims home to their families as I can, and letting what happened between us distract me from finding your son only makes it harder—”
“Damn it, love isn’t a distraction, Ana.” He hadn’t meant his admission to roar past his defenses, but there it was. Out in the open. His heart threatened to beat straight out of his chest, lungs fighting to catch up with his fight-or-flight response. He understood the importance of her work, why she’d dedicated her life t
o bringing home the missing, why her brothers had all chosen law-enforcement careers, and he needed that cause now more than ever. But there had to be a point where she couldn’t blame herself for the actions of the monsters she chased. She deserved more than taking on one assignment after the next with nothing to gain. Didn’t she realize that? All she had to do was face that truth. Her little sister, Samantha Perry, all of the victims she hadn’t been able to find over the years? They weren’t coming home, and closing herself off from feeling that loss—or much of anything else—would only destroy her from the inside.
“Love?” The single word struggled past her kiss-stung lips. Her gaze connected with his. “Benning, I wasn’t... We didn’t—”
“I was in love with you.” He shortened the distance she’d wedged between them as the sun disappeared behind the ridge of the Smokeys through the windows. Worn wood flooring protested under his weight, the only break in silence settling throughout the cabin. Benning locked his jaw against the urge to touch her, straightening as he lowered his voice. “Listen, I know why you’re out there saving lives. I know why you push yourself so hard and why you’ve detached yourself from connecting with the people around you. But now it’s my son who’s been taken, and I need you to care. I need the woman I fell in love with seven years ago working this case because she’s my only chance of getting him back. Not the empty shell she’s trying to become.”
He didn’t wait for her response. Turning on his heels, he headed for the cabin’s front door and didn’t stop until he’d disarmed the alarm and stepped into the biting cold. Silent flakes fell around him as he stared out into the trees from the front porch. He could still taste her on his mouth, the slight hint of chocolate mixed with sugar and butter from the cookie dough on the back of his tongue. What the hell had he been thinking, kissing her while his son was out there in the hands of his abductor? That was the problem when it came to Ana. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t remember to breathe. Logic and self-preservation didn’t exist when he got close to her, but knowing now that she hadn’t felt the same way toward him as he had for her, that cleared up a lot of confusion. Back then he’d wanted, he’d taken, and he hadn’t given a damn about the consequences. Only now he had Owen and Olivia to think about, and his son would be the only one to pay the price if he let himself slip again.
He forced one foot in front of the other down the steps. Benning kicked through the six inches or so of snow toward the remains of a tree stump and pile of firewood along the side of the cabin. Wrapping his stiffening fingers around the handle of an ax embedded in the stump, he pulled the blade free. Muscle memory kicked in as he used the weight of the ax head to slide his hand lower on the handle and centered a log upright on the stump. Calluses from the thousands of times he’d chopped wood on his own property frictioned against the wooden handle. He’d lived his entire life in Sevierville, taken over his father’s inspection business and worked the twenty acres of land he’d inherited from his parents with his own two hands. No matter what’d come his way, he’d found a way to keep his family’s heads above water and food on the table, but he couldn’t fix this. Couldn’t make Ana feel something she didn’t want to feel.
“Seven years.” He rotated his shoulder as he swung the ax blade back and around. The crack of wood filled his ears as the log split down the middle and fell to either side of the stump. The breath he’d been holding rushed out of him, instantly freezing just beyond his mouth. The sun had gone down, the cabin’s motion-detecting lights washing over him and the snow around him, but the weight of being watched never surfaced. Ana had most likely gone to do exactly what she’d said she would. Run background checks on Britland Construction employees and shut out everything that didn’t matter to the investigation. Including him. Sweat built at the base of his spine as he swung again. And again. Exhaustion, exertion, guilt. Fatigue worked through his muscles after a dozen swings, but he wouldn’t stop. Not until he got his head back on straight. Although one thing was certain now: as soon as he and Ana brought his son home—ended this nightmare—he’d be the one to walk away.
Yet, for a brief moment she’d kissed him back.
A twig snapped somewhere beyond the tree line to his right, and Benning slowed the ax’s next arc. The blade swept across his pant leg as he scanned the darkness ahead for the source. Out here, this far up against the mountains, outlined black bear territory. He tightened his hold on the ax between both hands as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Taking a step back, he listened for any other sign of movement.
Then pain exploded across his head from behind, and the world went black.
Chapter Six
Her middle finger hung poised above her laptop keyboard as she forced herself to read, for the third or fourth time, each and every Britland Construction employee name TCD had forwarded on, but none of the names registered. She couldn’t focus. Couldn’t ignore the bright warning of motion-sensor detection from the south side of the cabin on the right side of her screen. Benning had stormed out so fast, she hadn’t gotten the chance to disarm the sensors, but from the soft rhythmic thumping coming from outside, she imagined he’d found the firewood and ax.
She’d confirmed his retelling of events with a digital copy of the Sevierville police report filed last night. Site security had called police after shots had been fired by an unknown shooter in a black ski mask, who’d escaped before officers arrived, but they hadn’t gotten a clear look at the man who’d been on the other end of the barrel before he’d run. Benning.
I need the woman I fell in love with... Not the empty shell she’s trying to become.
He’d fallen in love with her. Ana gripped the edges of the countertop until her knuckles whitened against the translucent skin there. Hints of dropping temperatures bled through the windows, but it was the cold sliding through her insides that kept her cemented in place. Benning had fallen in love with her seven years ago, but he didn’t think she was capable of feeling anything for him. Didn’t think she cared about the little boy he’d asked her to find. Isn’t that what he’d said? That she’d made disappearing in the middle of the night look easy. Because she was just an empty shell.
The kitchen lights flickered above, then died. Ana raised her gaze to the ceiling, her attention sliding down the walls toward the front door. The familiar LED light on the alarm panel on the wall blinked rapidly. The cabin’s previous owner had programmed a backup generator to automatically kick on when the property lost power, a necessity considering how far they were from civilization. But after a full minute, the lights remained dark.
And the thumping from outside had stopped. “Benning?”
Warning skittered up her spine, raising a trail of goose bumps across her shoulders. Ana unholstered her weapon but kept it at her side as she stepped into the main living space. She heel-toed it slowly toward Olivia’s bedroom, old wood groaning beneath her feet. No movement through the windows. Nothing but the sound of her own breathing. Routine blackouts occurred frequently throughout the area, but that didn’t explain why the generator hadn’t started. She’d checked the fuel levels and connections during her initial perimeter search. The tank had been full. Which meant it had to have been disconnected.
Wrapping her hand around the bedroom doorknob, she shouldered her way inside Olivia’s room. Curtains drawn, lights out. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but the soft outline of Olivia beneath the covers—asleep—brought her racing heart rate down a notch. Ana reached her free hand around the door and twisted the lock before closing it behind her. No matter what happened, nothing would get through this door. She’d make sure of it.
She skimmed her fingers across the alarm panel beside the front door and hit the panic button. No response. Her stomach sank, and she raised her weapon parallel with the floor. Whoever’d cut the power and the generator must’ve also cut the lines to outside contact. Unpocketing her cell phone, she checked for coverage. Nothing
reliable. “Maldicion.”
As of right now she was all that stood between the threat and Benning and his daughter. She shoved her phone back into her pocket. After dropping the magazine from her service weapon to double-check the rounds left over from the parking lot shootout, she slammed it back into place and removed the safety. Finger beside the trigger, Ana retraced her steps toward the kitchen. Then slowed as cold air brushed against her face.
The sliding glass door hadn’t been open when she’d gone to check on Olivia.
A soft protest of wood flooring from behind spun her around just as a wall of muscle slammed into her. The cabin blurred in her vision a split second before her head snapped back onto the floor. Hand tight on the gun, she took aim at the masked attacker, finger over the trigger.
But faster than Ana thought possible, he clamped his hand over the barrel of the weapon and twisted until the sound of crunching bone and splintering pain was all she knew. Her groan drowned the rough inhales and exhales coming from beneath her attacker’s mask, but she wasn’t down yet. Hiking her knee into his kidneys, she used his own momentum to slam him into the floor face-first. Disoriented, he gave her enough time to latch on to the glass coffee table and shove to her feet.
The bedroom door swung open, and Benning’s daughter stepped into the moonlight.
“Olivia, no! Run—” Searing pain spread across her scalp as the bastard fisted a handful of her hair and threw her back into the wall that made up the oversize fireplace. The air slammed out of her lungs, but she didn’t have time to recover. She dodged the fist aimed directly at her face as he rocketed his knuckles into the stone behind her. Targeting her shoulder into his midsection, she threw everything she had into hiking her attacker off his feet. She couldn’t let him get to Olivia. Her stitches pulled tight. She locked her back teeth against the scream working up her throat but didn’t make it so much as a single step forward before a direct hit to her bullet wound knocked her off balance. They both collapsed, both fought for air, but pain-induced nausea kept Ana down.
Midnight Abduction (Tactical Crime Division Book 3) Page 7