by Cynthia Eden
“No. He—he almost stabbed Kristin.” She pointed to the right. The redhead was talking animatedly with more cops. “The knife went into her briefcase instead of slicing into her, and I shoved him back.”
Davis pushed Mark to the side. Mark glared at the guy.
“The elevator closed, and we got away from him.” Her gaze drifted to the museum. “Then the lights went out.”
“Where were you when the guy attacked?” Davis asked.
“The parking garage. We were leaving. The doors opened, and he was just there.”
Because he’d been waiting on her.
“The others had just left a few moments before. There’s so much security at the museum, I—I thought I was safe.”
He’d thought she was safe there, too. So when Davis had told him earlier that Ava had gone in to work a few hours at the museum, he’d figured she was getting some much needed downtime.
“When he cut the lights, he might have thought that also disconnected the security system,” Davis muttered.
“It didn’t. The alarm was shrieking so loudly, I thought my eardrums were about to burst.”
Maybe that alarm had scared the guy away.
Davis hugged her. Ava seemed stiff in his arms. And actually, Mark realized that when he’d touched her cheek earlier, Ava hadn’t moved at all.
“I was about to take Ava home,” Alan said. “That is...if you’re done talking with her?” he asked the cops.
They nodded.
“I can take my sister home,” Davis said, voice tight. “But thanks, Channing.”
“Actually, I can take myself home,” Ava said with a tired smile. “But thank you, Alan. I mean it. I appreciate the offer.”
Alan hesitated. His gaze seemed to soften as it slid over Ava’s face. “I wouldn’t ever want anything to happen to you.”
Ava shrugged out of the coat she’d been wearing and gave it back to Alan. “Thank you.”
And the guy still lingered.
Ava hadn’t looked at Mark, not directly in the eyes, since he’d arrived. He’d been expecting something else. What, exactly, he didn’t know. But Ava just seemed cold, and that wasn’t her. Ava was passion and heat and emotion—not this.
“Kristin is shaken,” Ava said, her gaze troubled. “We need to make sure that she gets home all right.”
“We can take her,” Davis immediately began.
But Alan told them, “I’ve got her. Don’t worry. I’ll see to it that Kristin gets home safely.” He inclined his head toward them, letting his stare stay on Ava a bit too long. Then he turned and made his way toward Kristin.
Davis pressed even closer to Ava. “Were you able to tell anything else about the guy this time?”
“He was still wearing a ski mask.”
Mark wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her tight. But she was actually inching away from him.
“The garage was well lit, right?” Davis pressed her. “Did you see his eyes?”
Ava pushed back her hair. “It all happened so fast. The doors opened, and he was just there with that knife. Kristin lifted her briefcase, and the knife came down.” She licked her lips. “I pulled her back and shoved him down. I don’t think...” Her head tilted as she seemed to remember the scene. “I don’t think I ever saw his eyes. I don’t remember them, anyway. So fast...” Her words trailed away.
“I want to talk with Kristin,” Davis said. “See if she can remember anything else about the guy.” He hurried toward the redhead.
Mark stayed right there. Ava still wasn’t looking at him. Was it because of what that jerk had told her on the phone call?
“I’ve had enough,” Ava said.
His heart stopped right then.
“I’m not going to let him hurt anyone else just because he’s after me.” She whirled away from Mark and stared out in the darkness. “He’s out there right now, watching me.”
“Ava...”
“First you, then Kristin. Who will be next? Who is he going to hurt because he wants to get to me?” Her voice was getting louder, sharper. A few of the cops glanced their way. “No one else,” she said. Her words seemed to ring in the night. “You want me? Then just come for me. Leave everyone else alone!”
Silence.
Ava’s breath heaved out.
Mark wrapped his arms around her. He hated her pain. If he could, he’d take it all way.
* * *
“LEAVE EVERYONE ELSE ALONE.”
He almost smiled when Ava shouted those words. Finally she understood. This was just about the two of them. The way it should always have been.
As he watched, she jerked away from Mark. She was realizing that Mark and his lies were no good for her.
Ava didn’t have blinders on any longer. She wasn’t hiding. She was ready to face all of the dark truths out there.
She was asking for him. Calling out to him because...
Ava is ready for me now.
He was certainly ready for her.
Chapter Nine
“Ava.” Mark held her tight, his mouth close to her ear as he said, “Baby, you’re tearing me apart.”
As always, his touch seemed to warm her, but her pain was strong right then. She was tired of others being at risk for her. The next time that stalker attacked, he could wind up killing someone.
She pulled away from Mark. A fast glance to the right showed her that Davis was with Kristin. No doubt grilling her. So much for the fresh start at a new job. When you nearly got your boss killed, that made one heck of an impression.
“Let’s go back to the cottage,” Mark told her.
Back to hide again.
She looked around once more. He was out there. She knew it. Would he follow her back to the ranch? I want this to end.
“Ava!” Davis called her name, and she looked up to see him jogging toward her.
“I’m going home,” she said. Because she needed to think. Just standing out there with those swirling blue lights was giving her a headache.
Davis looked at Mark. She sighed. “I have my own car. I can get home just fine—”
“I’m sure that’s what Mark thought last night,” Davis drawled, “until the guy opened fire on him.”
Ava flinched.
“For me, please let Mark take you home.”
Her lips thinned.
“I want to stay and talk to the cops, and I kind of need your car so that I can get back home.” He rolled his shoulders back. “When Mark and I realized what was happening, we both just jumped into one of the cars he keeps at his ranch.”
She fished for her keys and held them out to Davis. “Be careful.”
His fingers closed around the keys. “Always.”
Ava headed toward Mark’s car. A quick glance over her shoulder showed Ava that Davis was already closing in on Kristin Lang and the cops near her.
“Maybe the guy who did this left evidence behind this time,” Mark said.
Or maybe he’d gotten away clean again.
Ava slid into the car. Mark didn’t shut her door. He knelt down so that they were eye to eye. The open car door was behind him, partially shielding his body. “I know that he called you.”
More pain. She was so tired of the pain. “You lied to me.”
“I was—”
“Please, don’t say you were protecting me,” Ava told him as she rubbed her throbbing right temple. “Right now that’s the last thing I want to hear.”
His gaze held hers. He gave a grim nod and rose.
She caught his hand. “What did my father say to you?”
He looked away. Another secret. They sure were piling up. “What did my father say?” Ava asked again. “And how did he know?”
“You
r father said that he was sorry.”
His words squeezed her heart.
“And that it was his fault.”
Ava started to shake her head.
“That’s what your father said. It was his fault. Those were his last words to me, Ava, I swear it.” The faint lines near his mouth deepened. “There was no point in telling you what he’d said back then. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you any more. You were in enough pain. As it was, Davis and I were already afraid—” He broke off and looked away. As if he couldn’t quite bear to look her in the eye.
But Ava knew what he’d been going to say. “You thought I was going to hurt myself, didn’t you?”
He nodded.
“I didn’t want to die back then, Mark. Not then, not now.” She pulled her seat belt into place. He slammed the car door and hurried around to the driver’s side.
Mark started to crank up the car, but she stopped him. Her fingers curled around his wrist. “You still didn’t tell me... How does my stalker know what my dad said?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think anyone had heard him speaking to me. I was there with Ty and a few other ranch hands, but they weren’t close, not during those final moments.”
Ty? “Where is he now?” Ava asked softly. “Where’s Ty?”
Mark turned to stare at her. “He wasn’t at the ranch when I left. So I don’t—you think it’s Ty?”
“I think the man who called me on the phone...he was disguising his voice. Probably because he was afraid I’d recognize it—him—if he didn’t. I think he’s around Ty’s height and build, and I think Ty is one of the few people who knew that my father spoke to you before he died.” She pulled in a deep breath. “And right now, the thing I want most...is to find Ty.”
He cranked the car. “Then let’s hunt him down.”
* * *
“I DIDN’T SEE his eyes. I’m sorry,” Kristin Lang said as she swiped her hand over her cheek. “I just saw the knife coming right at me.”
Davis had sure hoped that Kristin would remember more about the attacker.
“He was waiting down there.” Her voice was hollow. “Other people had gone into the parking garage before us, but he must have been hiding. Waiting,” she said once more.
For Ava.
“Is he going to come after me again?” Kristin asked him, her eyes wide with fear and her lips trembling. “Ava said that he’s been stalking her. Do you think he’ll come back to the museum?”
Davis thought the man had to be stopped—yesterday.
“Let me take you home, Kristin,” Alan said. He put his hand on her shoulder.
She turned toward him, nodding. “Th-thank you.”
Davis watched them leave. Something was nagging at him. “Kristin!”
She looked back at him.
“He struck out with his knife once, right?”
Biting her lip, she nodded.
“He didn’t try to attack again?”
“Ava pushed him down. He had to yank the knife out of the briefcase. By the time he got back up, the elevator doors were starting to close.” She shuddered. “I’ve never been so afraid in my entire life.”
Alan led her away. His Jaguar waited near the corner.
Davis turned and strode into the museum. Most of the cops there knew him, so they let him into what normally would’ve been a closed crime scene. In moments, he was down in the parking garage, searching the scene. There were no video cameras down there. No wonder the guy had been lying in wait in that particular spot. Instead of going into the museum, it would have been much easier just to sit back and have his prey come to him.
Davis paced a few feet away from the elevator. A large column stretched to the ceiling. It would have been easy enough to hide near the column and still have a perfect view of that elevator.
You thought Ava would come down alone, didn’t you? But she wasn’t alone, so you had to try and get Kristin out of your way.
He edged around the column. The stairs were to the right. It would have been easy enough for the man to rush up there...
Davis pushed open the door. It groaned. The stairwell was dark. He took his time going up those stairs, searching carefully. Then he was at the first floor. He eased into the hallway. And saw the first sensor near an exhibit on his left.
You set off the sensor. You never intended to come this far, but you couldn’t let Ava get away, could you?
And when the alarms had started shrieking, the man would have gone for the fastest exit—and that would have been the stairwell again. He would have gone out that way.
Davis headed back downstairs. Only a few cars were left in the garage.
Did you just drive away while the alarms were shrieking?
He walked out of the garage, heading for the main street. He took the same path that a vehicle would have needed to take. And it was there, about ten feet from the garage’s exit, that he found the discarded ski mask. It had been tossed into a garbage can, one the city had placed right at the edge of the road.
Davis stared at that mask. “Got you.” Because he was sure the man he was after had left trace evidence in that mask. Maybe something as small as a hair, but it would be something.
He looked up and realized that...Alan Channing had been parked right at that same spot. His Jaguar had been there moments before.
And now he was gone...with Kristin Lang.
* * *
WHEN MARK PULLED up at his ranch, the place looked quiet. Too quiet. The doors to the stables were shut. No one was out patrolling. The lights in the main house were all turned off.
“Where is everyone?” Ava asked.
He killed the engine and climbed from the car. “Let’s find out.”
Ava hurriedly exited the vehicle and followed him. He went to the stables first and pushed open the doors. He braced himself before he entered, more than half-afraid that he’d discover his horses had been attacked again.
But when he entered the stables, Jamie was still there. She turned and saw him and Ava, and the doc smiled. “He’s doing great.” She stood next to Legacy and patted the horse. “Give him a day and he should be as good as new.”
His breath expelled in a rush. “Thank you.”
She inclined her head toward him. “I’m just glad I could help.” She made her way out of the stall. “But you should know...it was close, Mark. Someone didn’t just want to hurt that animal. Someone deliberately poisoned him with a very high dose of drugs. That person wanted Legacy to die.”
Because that SOB was trying to hurt me.
She made her way past Mark and Ava. “Hopefully you won’t need me again.” She reached for the door. “But if you do, you know where I am.” The door squeaked when she left.
Mark stared at Legacy. The horse walked toward him, and Mark reached out to stroke Legacy between his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Ava said as she edged closer to him. “This should never have happened.”
No, it shouldn’t have happened.
Jaw locking, Mark turned around. He had quarters for his ranch hands out back. And if the men weren’t patrolling, then he should be able to find them there. His steps were fast, angry, as he went straight to that area. Ava rushed to keep up with him.
The main ranch house had been dark, but the quarters for the men—they were lit up. He could hear the sound of voices and laughter drifting in the air. When he got to the door, he pounded his fist against the surface.
The door was opened quickly, and one of the youngest hands on the ranch, Pape Forrest, stood there. The guy, barely nineteen, swiped his hair back and straightened when he saw that Mark was the person who’d been pounding on his door. “Boss? Did you come to join the game?”
Mark looked over Pape’s shoulder. The workers were gathered arou
nd a table—poker night. Right. He’d forgotten all about that. Sometimes he joined in the games. They were a great way to let off steam after a hellish week.
But he wasn’t there to play. “I need to speak with Ty.”
Ty stood. A line of chips was spread out in front of him. “What’s up?”
Ava was silent behind Mark. “Let’s go outside,” he told his friend. Outside and away from the eyes and ears of the other men there.
Ty took his time heading toward Mark. He pulled the door shut behind him. The sun was setting, the sky darkening, and shadows were snaking across the ranch.
Ty looked at first Mark, then Ava. He exhaled heavily. “Why do I feel like I won’t enjoy this little talk?”
He is my friend. He’d been close to Ty for years. The man knew all his secrets. “Where were you earlier?”
Ty frowned at the question. “I went to visit my girl, Mary, at her apartment. She’d made a late lunch for me.”
Mary. Right. That would be Mary Angel. A sweet blonde who Ty had dated on and off for a few years. Mark had thought that Ty and Mary were currently off, but maybe they were an item again.
“What’s going on?”
Ava stepped forward. “You were there the night my father died.”
“Yes.” Sadness whispered in his voice. “And that’s a sight I won’t ever be forgetting.”
“You knew my father was alive when Mark got to him.”
Ty’s stare jerked to Mark. “You told her?”
“No, the man who has been stalking her did that.” He kept his voice emotionless. “He called Ava and told her about her father’s last minutes and about her dad’s final words.”
Ty took a step back. “He spoke to you, Mark? I-I didn’t know. He was breathing, but it was a bare thing. I can’t believe—he spoke to you?”
His shock seemed real.
“I didn’t know.” Ty shook his head. “I mean, I knew he was hanging on, barely, but the guy was bleeding all over the place. I almost fell in the blood that covered the floor—”
Ava gave a choked cry.
“I’m sorry!” Ty said at once. He yanked a hand through his hair. “You didn’t need to hear that. You didn’t need...” His words trailed away. His head cocked as he studied Mark. “Why are you asking me these questions? About where I was? About what I might have heard all those years ago?”