by Delores Fossen, Rachel Lee, Carol Ericson, Tyler Anne Snell, Rita Herron
Her fingers hit metal on the shelf. The crossbow. Adrenaline fueled her enough to heft the weapon from the shelf, and she took aim. Her hands and wrists burned as feeling came back, but she slipped her finger over the trigger.
Both men battled for the upper hand, each covered in blood. She didn’t have a shot. Declan was too close. Locking her jaw against the pain in her shoulder, she blinked to clear the sweat dripping into her eyes. One wrong move and she’d pierce him instead of Dominic. “Declan, move!”
Her partner ripped away from his opponent and ducked.
Kate pulled the trigger.
A soft whistling filled the cabin, and then Dominic’s scream filled her ears as the arrow tore through the muscles in his shoulder. Right where he’d shot her. He folded in half.
Pulling back his elbow, Declan slammed one final hit into the Hunter’s face.
Dominic crumpled to the floor, the thick layer of dust disturbed from a hard exhale escaping his lungs as he sank into unconsciousness.
The crossbow grew heavy in her hands, and she let it sink to her side as exhaustion took control. Her lungs heaved, trying to keep up with her racing heartbeat.
The nightmare was over. They’d apprehended the Hunter, and he would serve out the rest of his life behind bars for what he’d done to all those women, to Brian Michaels.
“Kate...” Declan stumbled forward, his voice weak. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth as he reached out for her. He collapsed against her, arms wrapping around her neck, but she kept him upright through pure force of will. “Did he hurt you?”
“No.” Gripping the crossbow, she rested her chin against his shoulder and closed her eyes. He was alive. They’d survived. Together. She blinked back the tears as fear, resentment, rage, every emotion she’d held on to over the last year broke free. He’d saved her life—again—but the hurt was still there. The lie he’d forced her to believe was still there. “You came for me. Even after I told you not to.”
“I promised to protect you. I might not remember much, but I do remember that.” His words rumbled through his chest and vibrated down to her bones. The ache in her body eased as he pressed his hands against her spine, fitting her against him.
“Thank you.” Kate pulled away. He’d saved her life, but everything else? The security she’d felt with him, the connection? The trust? It had all been destroyed. She swiped at her face with her free hand and stepped away. “How did you know where to find me?”
His shoulders sank away from his ears, exhaustion and disappointment clearly etched into his expression. He rolled his lips between his teeth and cast his eyes to the floor. “I remembered something Dominic said to me during an investigation we headed as partners. Then a whole lot more stuff I can’t really explain in a way that would make sense. I called your team.”
He locked brilliant blue eyes on her. “And I remembered the day you told me about the baby. How happy I was. You told me I was going to be a dad, and I remember thinking life couldn’t get any better than that moment. But I was wrong. These last five days, having a second chance...” He stepped closer to her. “You’re everything to me, and I don’t want to lose you.”
Kate shook her head. He already had.
“The worst feeling in the world is knowing you were used and lied to by the person you trusted most in the world,” she said. “That’s not just going to be fixed with an apology, Declan, and I think the best thing—for both of us—is space. You need to figure out who you are again, what you want to do with your life now that you have that second chance. I need to do the same. I need to learn how to be on my own. Alone. Without grief hanging over my head.”
His expression shut down, and she tried to swallow through the hollowness building inside.
Kate swiped at her face again, catching a stray tear on her cheek and backed toward the door. Dominic wasn’t dead. He wouldn’t stay down for long. “We should call the FBI and Anchorage PD. I need to let my team know what happened.”
Declan lifted his hand as though he intended to reach out for her but kept himself in check. “Kate—”
A murderous bellow pierced through the haze clouding her head as Dominic shoved off the floor and lunged.
Her heart caught in her throat, but Declan closed the distance between them, wrapped his fingers around hers and the crossbow and helped her lift the weapon up.
She pulled the trigger.
* * *
THE HUNTER WOULD never take another victim again. Would never come after Kate. Special Agent Ryan Dominic was dead.
What was Declan supposed to do now?
He and Kate had had an agreement from the beginning. They would work the case together, then move on with their lives. But this couldn’t be it. Not after everything they’d been through. Not after what they’d shared.
Red-and-blue patrol lights highlighted the bruises and scrapes across her angelic face as Declan stalked toward the ambulance where the EMTs checked her wounds. She had to understand. He knew exactly what he wanted. Her.
FBI and Anchorage PD had taken control of the scene. Blackhawk Security was on standby, each member of Kate’s team giving their statements. The victims’ bodies would be released to their families for burial now that the case of the Hunter was closed. Declan’s job was done, but he couldn’t leave. Not without her.
“Declan Monroe.” A wall of muscle dressed in a suit stepped into his path, hand outstretched. One of the FBI agents sent to clean up the mess. Cornflower blue eyes scanned him. A five-o’clock shadow and tousled brown hair were evidence of the amount of sleep lost on this case, but somehow Declan knew this agent had never let something as simple as sleep affect his job, which meant they’d known each other. “Special Agent in Charge Mitchell Haynes. You probably don’t remember me—”
“You were my boss.” Before Declan’s entire world had been ripped apart. He remembered that, remembered taking his suspicions about his partner to Haynes only to be told to find hard evidence before making accusations against one of their own. Declan shook the man’s hand.
“That’s right. Glad to know some of those memories of yours are coming back.” Haynes slipped his hands deep in his pants pockets. Mitchell Haynes, the man who’d partnered him with Dominic in the first place. The guy ran an entire team of agents who hunted violent serial offenders on the FBI’s most wanted list, but didn’t seem to have aged a day over the last year. “I read yours and Ms. Monroe’s statements. Everyone else’s, too. You successfully tracked and brought down a killer who made it his mission to not leave evidence behind.”
“I remember a lot. Have to wonder if you hadn’t listened to me before now, none of this would’ve happened. None of those families would have to bury the women they loved over the next few days.” Declan scanned the scene until his gaze landed on Kate, then nodded toward her. “And she gets the credit here. Couldn’t have done any of it without Kate.”
Declan maneuvered around Haynes, holding tight to the path to his future. To Kate. Of all the options out there, he didn’t want a life that didn’t include her. His guardian angel. Over the course of the last five days, she’d become his armor, a part of him, and nothing was worth the cost of losing her.
“Yeah, well. We all make mistakes, right?” Haynes’s voice came from behind. “Besides, I knew you’d get your guy, Monroe. You always have. You were my best agent before you got shot. It’d be a shame to see that talent go to waste.”
Declan slowed, turned his attention back to the SAC. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Bringing down the predators is what my team does best, and it’s what you’re good at.” Haynes spread his hands wide, as if that answer was obvious. His voice dropped into graveled territory. “Come back to the FBI, Declan. Help me save hundreds more families the pain of having to lose their loved ones to the sick, violent people set on destroying lives. Help me prevent more women like thes
e four from being abducted, brutalized and murdered.”
“You want me to work for the FBI after I killed one of your own men who turned out to be a serial killer?” The weight of Kate’s attention squeezed the air in his lungs. This was what he’d worked so hard for over the past year. Finding his place, getting his life back. Remembering who he’d been. Hunting the most violent criminals had been part of him for so long, the idea of settling back into that role bled excitement down his spine.
“You were the only one who suspected Ryan Dominic for what he really was back then. You know the monsters are real, and you’re not afraid to face them, Monroe. Only this way, you get to do your job legally.” Haynes handed him a card, flashed his straight, white teeth and backed away toward a waiting SUV. “I’ll try not to partner you with a serial killer this time. See you in Washington, DC, within the week.”
Declan stared at Haynes’s name on the small piece of embossed cardstock but couldn’t absorb the letters on the card.
“Looks like you got everything you’ve worked for.” Kate still sat at the ambulance, arms folded across her chest. The rope burns had been treated and dressed, but the fact they’d needed treatment at all resurrected the rage for the son of a bitch currently being wheeled out on a stretcher in a body bag from the cabin. “Your memories, your old job. This is great. I’m happy for you.”
Not everything. Not yet. Curling his fingers around the card, Declan ignored the chill of the dropping temperatures as her light vanilla scent filled his system. Just one inhale and the fiery burn of revenge ebbed. Would she always have that effect on him or had exhaustion finally caught up? They’d been running off fumes for so long, his body had gotten used to the high doses of adrenaline. But now... Now he wanted nothing more than to take her back to her apartment and sink into bed for the next several weeks. Taking her hand with his, he ran the pad of his thumb over her bandages. “Do they hurt?”
“Not as bad as it looks.” She wouldn’t have admitted to the pain either way. Always determined to stand strong, always in control. But Declan knew the truth. Despite her hardened exterior and attempt to bury her emotions, in reality, Kate felt entirely too much. “How’s your side?” she asked.
“Medium rare.” In truth, he didn’t know how the wound had fared during his fight with Dominic. He’d refused treatment until Kate had been checked over first, and his stitches ached with awareness. The bastard had tried to execute him, but more important, Declan had almost lost her. Again. He’d failed to protect her from the Hunter, and he’d have to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life, but knowing he was the reason she might walk away now... He couldn’t handle that.
“Kate, I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t want this to end. I didn’t want to lose you. I didn’t want...” he had to be honest with himself “...to be alone again.”
The rawness of that admission broke through in his voice.
She nodded, gaze focused on a point over his shoulder. “You know, my team has been through a lot over the last year. Elliot’s been shot twice, Sullivan almost died from his injuries and had to be airlifted to the hospital, Anthony’s son was kidnapped and Elizabeth was abducted when she was four months pregnant with Karina.”
She rolled her lips between her teeth as patrol lights reflected off the thin line of water in her eyes. “But no matter what’s been thrown at us, we’ve survived, and we come out on top the next day. Because we trust each other, we rely on one another. Even at this very moment, my team is standing over there waiting to help me with whatever I need from them. There aren’t any secrets between us. We all know and have experience with secrets putting lives at risk. I can trust them.”
His gut clenched as she turned those green eyes on him, and everything inside of him went cold. This wasn’t the woman he’d built the snow fort for, the one he’d taken to bed, the one who’d given him a reason to keep going. No. That woman had a warmth to her gaze. The woman standing in front of him had closed herself off and retreated to the point he wasn’t sure he’d ever see that warmth again.
“So we go back to the way it was before? We—” He curled his fingers into his palms, forced himself to breathe through the next words. “We move on.”
“That was the plan, wasn’t it?” she said. “We’d finish the investigation and continue on like nothing had ever happened.” She lifted her chin. “You saved my life—more times than I can count now—and I’ll always be thankful for that, but we were partners, Declan. Partners are supposed to trust each other. There shouldn’t have been any secrets between us, and I don’t think you can promise me there won’t be more in the future.”
Declan opened his mouth to answer, but no. He couldn’t promise her that.
She wiped her hand beneath her nose as she sniffled.
“I thought Ryan Dominic was my friend. Turned out he was a serial killer. I hope you understand that I can’t handle any more secrets.” Her uninjured shoulder rose on a shrug, the corner of her mouth lifting on one side. Uncrossing her arms, she stepped close to him and placed one hand on his chest, right over his heart.
She lowered that beautiful gaze to his hand and extracted the business card Haynes had left with him. Studying it for a brief moment, she slid it into his pants pocket. “Go get your life back, Declan. You deserve to be happy.”
Her fingers feathered over his arm as she stepped around him, her soft vanilla scent still on the air, in his system, becoming part of him. But she’d always been part of him, hadn’t she? That wouldn’t change. No matter how much distance she put between them.
“Kate.” He spun around, his breath icy on the air. “We’ll always be unfinished business. Remember that.”
Another half smile thinned her lips. “Not this time, Special Agent Monroe.”
And then she was gone.
Chapter Fifteen
Six weeks later
She rubbed at the dry skin around her wrists. The Hunter had left his mark. On her body, in her nightmares. Kate stuffed another handful of debris into a large black garbage bag. How many did that make? Sixteen? Seventeen bags?
With the connection between Brian Michaels and Special Agent Ryan Dominic established, the FBI had taken everything they needed to wrap up their investigation, but she still hadn’t been able to salvage anything from the house she once considered home. Not even the couch’s decorative pillows had survived.
She shoved a featherless pillow into the bag with a little more force than needed, swallowing back the sudden dryness in her throat. It was going to take a lot more than a few garbage bags to get this place ready to sell. She took a deep breath.
Broken glass crunched under her boots as she straightened. A small sting of pain lanced through her shoulder, but the hole from the Hunter’s arrow was almost completely healed. Swiping the back of her hand across her forehead, she inhaled deep to clear a rush of dizziness. Exhaustion pulled at her, and bile worked up her throat. Nightmares and heartburn. Great.
She stared out over the remnants of the living room. Not a single piece of furniture, item of clothing or dinner plate had survived both shootings. Insurance would cover the majority of the damage, but this was the second time she’d have to explain why her house had become a crime scene. What a mess—
“Kate,” a familiar voice said.
The hairs on the back of her neck rose. Heat flooded her, and she exhaled hard to keep the burn under control. The hits kept on coming. She stuffed another handful of garbage into the sack but didn’t turn around. No point. He wasn’t staying long. “I figured you’d be across the country by now, assigned to another case.”
“I turned down the FBI job.” His deep, reserved voice resonated through her, sending a bolt of electricity up her spine. The shifting of broken glass and debris sounded loud in her ears—too loud—as he closed in on her.
“Oh?” The weight of his attention burned between her shoulder blades, but
she couldn’t face him. The moment she gave in to the urge to lock her gaze on his, the heartache she’d buried over the last month and a half would take control. No. She was just starting to heal. She couldn’t do this again—wouldn’t.
Crossing to the other side of the room, Kate scooped the remaining items off her desk into the bag. Broken perfume bottles from his travels all over the world, fractured picture frames holding evidence of the life they once shared. She didn’t want any of it. Not anymore. “I thought getting your life back was what you wanted. Going back to the FBI was supposed to help with that.”
“It was.” Whispers of his exhale tickled over her heated skin. She hadn’t heard him move so close. Her body flooded with awareness as his clean, masculine scent worked deep into her lungs. “Until I realized taking that job would mean keeping more secrets from you. And that’s the last thing I want.”
Air caught in her throat. He’d turned down the job for her? She sagged against the desk, her fingers gripping the edge for support.
“Kate.” Declan’s fingers fanned over her arm—too familiar, too comforting—and she wanted nothing but to sway into his warmth, trust him, rely on him as she got rid of the evidence of their marriage. But she couldn’t. “Look at me.”
Her heartbeat thundered behind her ears. Hard to breathe with him so close. His scent filled the space he’d cornered her in, and she couldn’t get it out of her system. In all honesty, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her system. Not since she’d walked away from him back at the crime scene. It had taken every ounce of energy to keep her distance, to force herself to focus on the next case for Blackhawk, not to wonder if he was safe. If he was alive.
“You’re my life, angel. Not getting the rest of my memories back, not some job for the federal government or hunting monsters.” His hands circled her waist, pulling her against him. His back pressed against her spine, the even beat of his heart pulsing into her.