“Thank you.”
Goddman it.
Haven was correct in every way except the devilish kind. She should have never been in my room to begin with. Other agents could have complained if they even knew. I had done my best to keep it all quiet.
Nevertheless, I yearned for her presence in my space. I had gotten used to looking over from the couch and seeing her lay underneath the blankets. She had put her scent all over my bed.
Tonight, I would lay on top of it with a hard cock, sniffing the pillows and blankets.
Chapter 26
Unexpected Guest
Haven
After registration, I went up to Alexander’s room and packed my things. He helped with the move. The whole time worry covered his face.
I could have stayed with him tonight. I could have even remained in his room until the end of the investigation.
But I had to keep a clear head. There was no denying deep inside me that I wanted him. However, I hadn’t come to Fullbrooke to fall in love or start an affair. I’d returned to stop this psycho from taking little girls.
We were so close. Everything pointed to Vernon being the killer. Each step after this had to be on point and following regulation. I’d seen many cases with tons of evidence that didn’t hold up in court, due to agents inappropriate handling of the investigation. Then, the killer went free, roaming the city and preying on citizens again.
After we finished putting up my stuff, Alexander turned to me. “I guess that’s it unless you want me to tuck you in.”
“I do, but I have to take a shower and put on my night clothes.”
“Trust me. I can wait.”
I grinned. “I bet you can.”
“I’ve been known to be an excellent shower back scrubber too.”
“Really?”
“I don’t like to brag, but I’m also pretty amazing with towel drying.”
“Wow. I guess I’ll have to explore that one day.”
He nodded. “One day.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Alexander. . .”
He stepped closer to me. “What’s wrong?”
“Are we going to catch him in time?”
“I have complete faith in us.”
“I’m scared. I hope we didn’t spook Vernon. Even more, I pray we’re not wrong about him.”
“Regardless, we will make the right choice.”
“I’m scared.”
He extended his arms. “Come here.”
I walked into his hug.
He gathered his arms around me, wrapping my body in muscled strength. “Everything will be fine.”
I was loving his touch. Every time we brought our bodies closer together, I was near detonation. Our hugs had shifted from friendly to more intimate style of togetherness. For a long minute, I relished in his soothing hold.
Thank God, I’ve met him.
When Alexander let me go, I missed his warmth.
As if our touch infected him too, he cleared his throat. “I should go.”
I hugged myself, trying to replace his affection, but I couldn’t.
It was a pitiful alternative.
I kept my voice low. “Get some rest.”
“I will.” With a sexy heated gaze, he looked me up and down. “If anything goes wrong over here, call me.”
“Okay.”
“And if you feel that you’re in danger in any way, you’re welcome back.”
“I know.”
He frowned. “So. . .I guess I will go to my cold, empty room.”
“Stop it.”
In a mocking fashion, he deepened his frown. “What will I ever do without Agent Barron in my room?”
“Somehow you’ll make it.”
“Goodnight, Haven.”
“Goodnight.”
He left.
For some reason, I continued to stand there. In my mind, that hug played over and over. How could a simple hug be such a thrilling moment? Still, that was what his warmth had represented for me.
Focus on the case. Take a shower and get some rest.
I had a long day ahead. I pulled off my dress and bra to get comfortable. I would take a shower, but I had a few things to check out first. I threw on a shirt.
My phone rang.
I picked it up and saw my mother’s name on the screen. I placed the device next to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, baby. How are you doing? You rushed out of the Pastor’s house today?”
“I didn’t.”
“You did. And I thought about all of your questions after church. What’s going on?”
“Mom, I can’t talk about the case.”
“Why did you want to know all about the Pastor’s daughter—Julia? Does she have something to do with all this craziness?”
“She’s not a person of interest.”
“Then, it’s Vernon? No. He’s too young. It can’t be him.”
“Mom, don’t make me violate my job due to your curiosity.”
She sighed. “I won’t. I’m just worried about all these girls.”
That made me think of the email from Mrs. Mable.
While on the phone, I went over to my laptop and turned it on. “What else is going on, Mom?”
“I’m fine. I’m worried about you. All through dinner, you looked so preoccupied.”
“This case is draining me. I don’t want to slip up.”
“You’re under a lot of pressure.”
“Yes, but it’s all self-inflicted pressure.”
“I understand, baby. Some of your old high school friends were the ones that lost their daughters. You have a commitment to them and any future victim.”
“Exactly. So, I can’t mess around. Even enjoying a simple dinner with the Pastor, I wanted to make sure I stayed on the job.”
“But breaks are important.”
“They are.”
“And moving with God is even more important. You work with God; then you won’t have to worry about anything.”
I sat down at my desk.
The laptop screen glowed as the system woke up.
Mom’s voice soothed me. “When you want to catch something, you have to keep the faith. You won’t catch anything without faith.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t forget the lesson from Luke.”
I squinted my face. “What lesson?”
“In the bible, Jesus had been preaching the word by a lake. He saw two boats and got into one of them. He told Simon to put his nets deep into the water. Simon shook his head and told Jesus that they had been out all night and hadn’t caught one fish. Still, he went ahead and followed Jesus’ order.” Mom’s tone brightened. “Soon as they did it, all types of fish were in those nets.”
I smiled. “So, all I have to do is put my net out?”
“You can put your net out all you want, but if Jesus isn’t in the boat, then you won’t catch nothing worth anything.”
“I pray.”
“You have to do more than pray, Haven. You have to believe that He is walking with you. He is right there guiding you toward the solution.”
“I understand.”
“You can do everything through God. He is the one that gives you strength. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“I won’t, Mom. Never.”
“Stop being worried.”
I shook my head. “Okay, Mom.”
“Now, what about this Alexander King?”
I typed in my login information and password into the laptop. “What about him?”
“That white boy was staring at you all through dinner and a few times during church. And none of it looked professional.”
“Mom, you were imagining things.”
“I’ve been on this earth too long to not know what I’m talking about.”
“You haven’t even turned sixty yet.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re acting like this old wise woman.”
“I am an old wise wom
an.”
“My apologies.”
“You just want to get me off talking about this budding love affair between Agent King and you.”
“There isn’t any—”
“You’re going to lie to your mother?”
“I. . .”
“Tell the truth and shame the devil.”
I giggled. “I like him.”
“And he likes you?”
“Yes. But we’re keeping everything professional due to the reason why we’re here.”
“That’s the right thing to do. But when all of this is over, I want to hear about you spending more time with him.”
“We’ll see.”
“I hope so. I’m getting older. It’s time for a few grandbabies crawling around.”
“Oh my God.”
“I don’t want to have grandbabies and not be in the right state of mind to enjoy them.”
“Mom, would you relax?”
“I’m only telling you the truth. You over there playing around.”
“I am not playing around.”
“Well, then maybe you need to play around.”
“Wow.” I shook my head. “I have to go, Mom. I have a long day tomorrow.”
“Okay, baby. Keep me up to date.”
“Goodbye, Mom. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up and put all of my attention on my laptop.
Mrs. Mabel’s email sat in my inbox. I pulled it up and saw the Sunday School chart. As it loaded up, I grabbed my files from the desk and took out my notes with all the dates of when the victims went missing. Thankfully, the file was an excel sheet where I could do a search of names and months with no problem.
“Okay.” I went to Felicia Drake’s file. “She was kidnapped in January. Whose class was Vernon assisting.”
I put in his name and checked the teacher. “Mrs. Rosemond.”
I pressed into her class and checked out all of the ages. “There we go. Felicia Drake. Mrs. Rosemond had the pre-teens.”
My heart boomed in my chest.
“What about Karen Brookes?” I went to the month of February. “Coincidentally, Vernon had been helping in Karen’s class. “I was right. That’s how you are finding the victims. You’re picking them from Sunday School classes.”
I confirmed the same information with Ariana in March, Emma in April, as well as Shelly in May. The only change was Melody Luther for June. She was five years old. Vernon had not been helping with her Sunday School class. However, he had volunteered for Wednesday day care during weekly Bible Study. There, I found Mrs. Luther had brought Melody to the day care two different times in the month of June.
“But did you mean to take Melody from Fanny’s restaurant? Or was it just about seizing the opportunity?”
Something about how he took Melody Luther made me think that we could catch him better with that scene. It seemed more spur of the moment. The parents had been arguing in a crowded restaurant. He was possibly bus-boying that day. Unable to control himself, he slipped over and took her.
Had someone stopped him and asked what he was doing, good ole Pastor grandson Vernon would have simply said that he was taking care of her or guarding her from the crazy moment.
No one would have suspected him of being the Angel Maker.
I forwarded the email to Alexander and the rest of the agents. This would help build evidence toward Vernon, but it still wasn’t enough to definitively arrest him for the case. We needed more.
A knock hit my door.
I almost yelled out, “Just a minute.”
But I was on guard. Fast, I grabbed my gun off the desk and tip toed over to the door. The person knocked again.
I checked the peephole. Whoever was on the other side had their hand over it or something else. The only view was black.
A paper slipped under it.
Definitely him.
Quick, I undid the door and swung it open. “FBI. . !”
Noise sounded as the person rushed away. I didn’t even get sight of whoever it was. While the hallway light had been on, someone had blacked out the stairs.
“FBI! Stop!” I ran that way, not willing to let Vernon escape.
Chapter 27
Wet
Alexander
With only my boxer briefs on, I had just dropped onto the edge of my bed with the biggest, aching blue balls in history.
Suddenly someone yelled out in the hallway, “FBI! Stop!”
Is that Haven?
I had to protect her. Nothing else was more important. Forget about it possibly being the Unsub and ending the case. Forget that I was half-clothed.
I jumped from the bed, grabbed my gun, wrenched the door open, and was outside in five seconds.
Haven zipped by in nothing but a shirt. Her gun led the way. She was in fast pursuit.
I followed.
More doors opened. Both half-naked, Stein and Richards left the same room. Both looked like they’d been disturbed from a heated situation.
Okay. What? I’ll have to deal with them later.
We raced after the person rushing down the stairs. My heart kick-started with a slam into my chest.
My heart boomed in my ears. My legs moved fast, as I ate up the distance between Haven and me. We were down the stairs next, zipping past the lobby and outside of the Inn.
I scanned the lot, searching. “Do you see him?”
Haven spun toward me with her gun up. “King!”
So ready to catch our Unsub, she hadn’t even realized we were all out there with her.
I froze as Haven aimed her gun at my heart. “Calm down.”
She blew out a hard breath and then lowered the gun. “He’s here. He knocked on my door and slipped a piece of paper under it. I didn’t look at what the message said.”
Richards and Stein continued to run around the parking lot, looking for the person. More agents barreled out. A few police had been on patrol. They drove over and spoke to Richards.
My eyes tracked to the right and to the left. Only darkness. There was no moonlight tonight. Clouds even blanketed the moon. The lights in the lot were dim. I could only make out shadows. “Did you get a good look at him?”
“No.” She stepped back. “I–I just. . .ran out, when I saw that someone had knocked, but covered the peephole—”
“You opened the door not knowing what was on the other side?”
“I acted fast—”
“You should have called.”
“Is that what you would have done?”
“No.”
Stein ran over with Richards. Both appeared embarrassed. Richards only had on a bra and panties. Stein was in his boxers with an erection pushing through. One would think that the chase would have lessened it. Clearly, the adrenaline had kept it strong.
Did we disturb your love fest, Agent Stein?
Completely uncomfortable, Stein ran his fingers through his hair. “So. . .we’re going to put on some clothes and come back. Other agents are going to the back of the parking lot.”
“Good.” I glared at him. “We’ll talk later.”
Stein cleared his throat and headed away. Half-naked, Richards blushed as she rushed along with him.
The patrol car drove to the back.
Haven and I remained, scowling at each other. Just two armed and half-naked agents standing in an empty lot.
Rain began to fall.
Cold drops hit my skin.
I swallowed down my anger. “You could’ve been killed. He could’ve done something to stop you from shooting or—”
“That’s not what happened. I was ready to—”
“Don’t do it again!” I roared.
She blinked.
“It was dangerous. I told you to call me if something happens.”
She let out a long breath. “I understand that, but calling you may have resulted in my not catching him.”
“And did you catch him?”
She screwed her eyes at me. “Fuck y
ou.”
Rain fell. Harder now, not just a light misting. The touch of the rain turned into a sting. I kept my gun at my side. “Let’s go inside and read this message.”
Not moving from her position, she frowned. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”
“You’re pissed and ready to find our Unsub. I understand.”
“Still. . .I’m sorry.”
“Fine.” I gritted my teeth. “I would apologize, but I’m still pissed that you opened the door.”
“Maybe we should check out the parking lot some more.” She kept her voice low. “He has to be here. He couldn’t have run away so fast.”
I caught her arm and dragged her close, ignoring her gun or aggravated expression. “He may still be here and standing out in the open. Half-naked isn’t the best way to catch him.”
Raindrops clung to her lashes. Some trailed down her cheeks. Her t-shirt had shifted to soaking wet, clinging to her breasts.
All thoughts of danger ceased. My cock hardened.
Unintentionally, my voice came out as a rumble. “Let’s go. And by the way, you’re back in my room.”
“Okay, but—”
“I don’t care what anyone thinks or how it looks. He’s watching and letting you know that fact. Never again will he have a chance to hurt you.”
“Fine.” Haven gave a grim nod. Her hair curled in the rain.
You damn right it is fine!
I kept my hold on her as we walked back into the inn.
The rain fell harder. Any footprints or evidence of the Unsub getting away would be gone by the morning.
In the lobby, Stein had on jogging pants and an FBI t-shirt. He stopped in front of us. “I found the note. It orders Haven to leave town. Richards called forensics. I’m going to check for footage from security.”
I nodded, hoping he or no one else noticed the bulge in my briefs. While I had been judging him, I had my own deviance to deal with.
Haven and I went up the stairs in silence.
Haven stopped at her room.
Cops and agents already filled the space, hoping the Unsub left his prints around the doorway or outside.
I guided her forward. “We need to talk.”
She moved with me to my door which was wide open.
We both entered. The air conditioner whirred with a soft purr. Next, the cold hit. She shivered and hugged herself. Still, her stiff nipples pressed against the shirt.
Missing Hearts Page 25