Iron Cross (COBRA Securities Book 20)

by Velvet Vaughn

  “I’m so sorry for your loss,” Anja murmured as Mark was loaded on a gurney and wheeled from the office. He’d survived two tours in the Marines, only to be gunned down on his first official assignment. Kayla felt like a monumental failure. She was the senior agent. It was her job to keep the others safe. How could Luke and Logan ever trust her again?

  She’d lost fellow soldiers during her stint in the Army, but it wasn’t the same. When you joined the military, you knew the danger. Once on home soil, the risks didn’t seem as great, but they were there, waiting in the wings to ambush you when you least expected it.

  The call to the office had been the most difficult she’d ever made. Telling Luke and Logan they’d lost an employee on her watch was gut-wrenching. She almost couldn’t get the words out. BeBe Davis was arranging to have his body transported to his hometown for burial.

  “We found a dark sedan abandoned two blocks away. It’d been reported stolen, so it was most likely the vehicle used. And we recovered a gun.”

  Anja’s words penetrated the fog in her brain, but she was having difficulty processing them. The detective seemed to understand. “There’s a traffic camera down the street. It caught the shooting, but we didn’t get a look at the driver. We’re checking other cams in the area.”

  One of the crime scene technicians called Anja over, leaving Kayla alone again. She needed to snap out of it and take charge, but that was beyond her right now. Mark was dead.

  Finn pushed up from the chair he’d been sitting in and headed her way. He’d no doubt saved her life and Kaiya’s by taking them to the ground. Had she thanked him yet? She couldn’t remember.

  “I’m so damn sorry, Kayla.” His voice was gruff as he dropped beside her on the bench, his head slumped. “He’s dead because of me.”

  That snapped her out of her fugue. No way in hell would she let him take the blame. “This is not your fault, Finn. The only one to blame is the psycho killing innocent people.” And her for not keeping her people safe. She rested her hand on his leg. “I didn’t get the chance to thank you for saving Kaiya and me.”

  He turned his head to look at her, causing her heart to skip several beats. They’d come close to dying tonight. Mark had tragically lost his life. If something happened to Finn, she didn’t think she’d survive.

  “You don’t need to thank me. You just need to stay safe.” Uncaring of the dozens of personnel fluttering around the office, he pulled her into his embrace—and she let him. It was selfish of her, but she needed the comfort of his arms right now. She should be the one taking charge and barking orders. “If you hadn’t noticed the shooter, we’d all be dead.”

  He shuddered and hugged her tighter.

  Anja returned and grabbed a chair to sit in front of them, clearing her throat. Reluctantly, Kayla eased back, but she wasn’t ready to leave the comfort of his arms yet.

  Anja glanced between them. “Did you get a look at the contents of the box?”

  “Just that there were four crosses inside. Did they have engraved initials?”

  “They did,” Anja confirmed. “SSN for Sally Sue Nolan, TL for Tammy Ladd and ML for Mona Little.”

  “The unsub came here already planning on killing Mona,” Finn realized. “He used her to get to me.”

  “Yes,” Anja confirmed.

  “What about the fourth cross?” Kayla asked.

  “It was carved with a GW.”

  Finn jerked back. “Georgiana Westfield.”

  Anja nodded. “That’s what we assume.”

  Kayla closed her eyes. That meant all the murders were connected. They had an unhinged serial killer on the loose targeting Finn and anyone close to him. There was no predicting who he’d go after next.

  “There’s more. We were able to pull a viable print from the box. We matched it with a print on file for a gun permit. And we traced the gun found with the abandoned car to the same person. I sent a car to pick her up now.”

  Kayla’s heart pounded. This could be the break they were looking for to stop the person tormenting Finn and killing people close to him. “Wait…did you say her?”

  Anja nodded. “The fingerprint and gun belong to Darcy Driessen.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Finn blinked, trying to make sense of the detective’s words. Did she say Darcy Driessen, his fan club president, had been arrested for murder? He couldn’t believe it. She’d always seemed a little off, but he never would’ve pegged her for a killer.

  The entire night felt like a bad dream. One of those nightmares you want to wake up from to stop what was happening, but you couldn’t. Mona’s body had been wheeled out on a gurney first, followed by Mark. He had to turn away, the visual of the black body bags more than he could stomach. Both were dead because Darcy was obsessed with him.

  He didn’t know Mona well, but she was a sweet person and a hard worker. He’d just met Mark, but they’d bonded over their shared love of video games and racing. He could’ve seen them becoming good friends. Now he was gone.

  A shudder ripped through him. If not for Kayla’s calming presence in his arms, he would’ve fallen apart. The guilt was overwhelming.

  “I should’ve known it was Darcy,” Kayla murmured. “She was on my suspect list from the beginning, but after questioning her, I didn’t see her as the unsub.”

  “Me, either.”

  “She works with metals, so she could’ve easily created the crosses and engraved the initials. That should’ve been the big red flashing light announcing her guilt.”

  He didn’t want her beating herself up over it. “None of us thought she was capable of the crimes, including the police.”

  Anja instructed them to leave and promised to keep them posted with the investigation. Although Kaiya drove them to the foundation offices and it was her vehicle, Finn eased the keys from her hand. She didn’t look like she was up to taking the wheel. He wasn’t much better, but he would get the women home safely.

  Streets passed by in a blur. Even the sight of Westfield Arena in the distance didn’t calm him like usual.

  “Finn, pull over.”

  He shot a worried glance at Kayla in the rear-view mirror and turned into a gas station. He hoped she wasn’t about to be sick.

  “Are you okay?” Kaiya twisted in her seat to look at Kayla while he hopped out and whipped open her door. She was holding an envelope.

  “I just saw this on the floor. It’s addressed to Finn.”

  “I thought your vehicles had security. How could someone sneak it in?”

  “I might not have set the alarm,” Kaiya admitted.

  Kayla withdrew a pair of latex gloves from her pocket, carefully opened the flap and turned it upside down. A stack of photographs fell into her hand.

  “What the…”

  A wave of acid welled up in Finn’s belly. All the pictures were of Kayla. In one, she was sitting in the stands during the commercial shoot, her captive gaze watching the action on the ice. Another was a close up of her in the arena parking lot. His face had been cropped out. There was one of her sitting with the other wives and girlfriends the night of the fan appreciation event. The next few photos had been shot in burst mode, showing Kayla in rapid succession as she stepped out of the limo the evening of Georgiana’s gala.

  Sweat dotted his forehead, and his breathing grew thin and rapid. This was a warning. The killer had Kayla in his or her sights.

  Kaiya had joined Kayla in the backseat and was studying the pictures with gloved hands. “Whoever took these had to be on the guest list to Georgiana’s reception.”

  “Not necessarily,” Kayla argued. “Georgiana allowed the press outside. The person could’ve snuck in with one of the crews. They would’ve fit right in taking pictures.” She glanced at him. “Did you see Darcy that night?”

  “No, but there were so many people crowded around when we walked into the house, she easily could’ve been there.” An image flittered into his head. “She has a telephoto lens.” At Kayla’s questionin
g look, he explained. “When we visited her house, there was a selection of lenses on a shelf by her camera.”

  “I remember.” She picked up her phone and dialed Anja, explaining about the package. She disconnected and said, “She’s meeting us at your house to pick these up.”

  Finn closed the door and climbed back into the driver’s seat. His heart still thumped heavily with worry for Kayla. The only thing that allowed him to breathe easier was that the cops would have Darcy in custody soon—assuming she was the culprit. Once Kaiya resettled and buckled in, he continued to his house, groaning out loud as he approached the gate. The number of camera crews had tripled. News of the shooting at his foundation had spread throughout the media.

  “Pull over here. I’ll drive,” Kaiya offered, already unbuckling. “Otherwise, they’ll never let you go.”

  He hated cowering in the back, but she was right. He’d be there all night, and he didn’t have the energy to deal with questions right now. The events of the evening weighed heavily on his shoulders. Mona and Mark were dead. The killer took credit for four more kills. And then there were the pictures of Kayla.

  Kayla moved to the passenger seat, and once he’d folded himself out of sight, Kaiya continued to his house. “They’ve spotted us,” she announced. The hiss of a power window rolling down sounded, and then voices were shouting—much too close for his liking.

  “Who are you to Finn Bates?”

  “Can you tell us what happened at his foundation tonight?”

  “Where is Finn now?”

  “Is it true a serial killer is on the loose?”

  “No comment, and please move back,” Kaiya insisted. He jerked when a honk sounded. “They’re testing my very minimal patience,” she muttered. “Move now,” she commanded with another toot of the car horn.

  He assumed the reporters listened to her and moved because she punched the button on the automatic remote, and they were driving through the gate. He tumbled onto the floor with a thud when Kaiya slammed the brakes. “Sorry,” she offered as both front doors shot open. He couldn’t see what was happening, but both Kaiya and Kayla jumped out.

  “Move back now,” Kayla ordered. “You’re trespassing on private property.”

  “Don’t think we won’t shoot,” Kaiya added menacingly.

  One of the reporters must’ve snuck inside. Man, he wished he could watch the women in action, but he was currently twisted in a pretzel and wasn’t sure how to untangle without injuring himself.

  Short staccato bursts of a police siren rang out, and then Kayla and Kaiya were back inside.

  “You okay?” Kayla asked, looking over her seat.

  “I’ve been better.”

  “We’ll get you out in a second. We had to run off a couple of trespassers. Detective Johansen’s here now.”

  Kaiya parked in front of the garage. He worked to dislodge himself before the doors opened and climbed out without help.

  Anja parked beside Kaiya’s SUV. He waited for her to catch up to them before leading the women to his house. His steps faltered when he thought of them leaving a few hours earlier. Mark had been with them. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to play Street Race Ultimate again.

  “Is Darcy in custody?” he asked the detective once they were inside.

  She shook her head. “Not yet. We haven’t been able to locate her.”

  Dread pooled in his gut. If she was on the loose, she might try to come after Kayla. She’d managed to sneak onto his property before. What if she tried again? He had no doubt Kayla could take her in a fair fight, and rather handily, but Darcy proved tonight that she was just as adept at using firearms as she was her hands.

  Kayla spread the photos out on the bar in his kitchen for Anja to study. “Some look like they were taken from a distance. Otherwise, you probably would’ve noticed a person with a camera.”

  “Darcy has a telephoto lens in her workroom,” Finn said.

  “I’ll add that to the search warrant, along with her camera.”

  “And metalworking supplies,” Kayla reminded her.

  “They’re on the list,” she confirmed. After gathering up the photos, she slid them into an evidence bag. “I’ll let you know once we have Darcy in custody.”

  They walked her to the door. She stepped outside and then turned. “I’m sorry again about Mark. We’ll catch her, I promise.”

  Kayla nodded, and he knew she was still blaming herself for his death, but it was all on him. Mark had died because Darcy wanted to hurt him. Somewhere along the line, her obsession turned deadly.

  Once Anja left, Kaiya went straight to bed. He made sure all the alarms were set. Darcy would not be getting inside his house.

  Kayla disappeared into her room. He wanted to follow so he could hold her, comfort her, but the solid click of her door shutting had him slogging up the steps to his suite. Leaving a trail of discarded clothes like breadcrumbs, he made his way to the shower. He could barely hold his head up when the water kicked on. He felt drained down to his toes. So much death. It was hard to process.

  He didn’t even flinch when two soft hands wrapped around him, but he shuddered, clasping them to his chest. Then he turned and lifted Kayla, pinning her against the tiles so he could kiss her.

  “I need you,” he groaned against her mouth. The nightmare of the last few weeks had taught him that life was short. He had to grab for any happiness while he could. It could all disappear in an instant.

  “I need you, too.”

  Turning off the taps, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to his bed. With so much death, she was the reaffirmation of life. He worshiped her body until he couldn’t wait any longer, sliding into her and feeling at peace for the first time since, well, the last time they made love.

  #

  Kayla knew she shouldn’t have snuck into Finn’s room. She was supposed to be keeping the relationship professional. But she couldn’t stand the thought of being alone tonight. When she closed her eyes, all she saw was Mark’s smiling face before it transformed into a death mask with a hole in his forehead. In the blink of an eye, his life had ended. All his hopes and dreams shattered.

  She needed Finn. He was the only thing that could chase the numbness away. He was being so gentle and caring, much different from the other times when desire swept over them like a raging tsunami. This was passion of a different kind. It worked to slowly chip away at the ice that had wrapped around her heart at her coworker’s death.

  She was so turned on, when he finally slid into her, she exploded, sensations slamming into her. He followed her, groaning her name. When he collapsed beside her and pulled her into his arms, the damn broke. It horrified her to realize she was crying—deep, gut-wrenching sobs torn from her very soul. He stroked her back and held her while she mourned the loss of a brave man and so many innocent women. And she cried for Finn. He would forever blame himself for the deaths. The tears drained her, and before she realized it, she fell into a deep sleep.

  #

  Kayla’s tears gutted Finn. She was the strongest woman he’d ever met. Knowing she was hurting was more than he could take. He had a feeling she rarely showed this much emotion, and she might be embarrassed in the morning, but he refused to allow her to feel ashamed about baring her soul to him. All he could do was tighten his embrace and let her cry.

  When their bodies were joined, he felt peace, acceptance and yes, love. They’d never said the words, and he was positive Kayla wouldn’t while on the job, but he felt them anyway.

  Nina, Fred, Megan, Sally Sue, Georgiana, Mark, Mona and Tammy. Eight people caught up in whatever game Darcy was playing with him. Why didn’t she just come after him instead of involving innocent people? He needed to understand why she targeted him and why she felt the need to murder people close to him.

  Kayla’s sobs lessened. When he glanced down at her tear-streaked face, it was to see she’d cried herself to sleep. He burrowed deeper against the mattress and closed his eyes. Rest came swiftly, but his dr
eams were marred with images of death and violence. Gasping awake, he breathed to slow his racing heart. Kayla twisted to him, and he concentrated on keeping her in his arms. Her presence calmed him. Slowly he gave into the darkness.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Anja Johansen studied the woman sitting on the opposite side of the two-way mirror in the interview room. With red and black bows tied around pigtails, she didn’t look like a cold-blooded killer, but then looks could be deceiving.

  The mayor had been riding her hard about solving the case. He was getting raked over the coals in the press. Instead of offering words of comfort to the citizens of the city, he saved his own ass and shifted blame to the police. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was preparing to step in and take over the case since it appeared a serial killer was loose in the city. Darcy Driessen’s arrest halted their involvement for the moment, but she wouldn’t be surprised to see agents in suits march in and take over the interrogation.

  It’d taken all night, but they’d finally located Darcy at a motel in town, thanks to her distinctive vehicle. Anja wanted to know why she’d paid cash for a room less than twenty miles from her home.

  “You seriously think she’s the perp?” Detective Mitchell asked with enough derision that it was clear he was having a hard time imagining it.

  Though Darcy had been on the task force possible suspect list, Anja never thought she was capable. “She confessed.”

  There was something off about her admission. She practically begged to be arrested. Most killers would deny involvement, hire lawyers and put the onus on the police to prove the case. Not Darcy. When Anja knocked on the door, she wasn’t the least surprised to see a swarm of police outside her motel room. She’d calmly grabbed her purse and admitted to the crimes.

  “Want me to go first?”

  “No, I’ve got this.” She knew more about the case than anyone.

  Darcy’s head snapped up when she opened the door and stepped inside. “Finn…oh. It’s you. I asked to talk to Finn.”