by Cynthia Eden
“Sarah, a word,” Wade gritted out. Then he was carefully pulling her away from Ella Jane just as another cop approached the woman. He guided Sarah toward a small alcove. “What. The. Hell? We both know Jax Fontaine is a criminal!”
She wasn’t so sure of that. He hadn’t been charged with anything since his eighteenth birthday.
Maybe because he’s been careful not to get caught.
“The guy is trouble, and you’re selling him as some kind of hero to that poor woman? She needs therapy, you know that.”
Sometimes, therapy isn’t what fixes us.
“We can do this without that guy’s help. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.”
Yes, they would, of course. It was just—
I don’t want Jax locked up.
Something was happening to Sarah. Something she didn’t understand. She’d never actually needed anyone before, and this connection she had with Jax, it was burning right through her.
“I’ll get your phone, and then we’ll hit the streets,” Wade said with a decisive nod. “We have to focus on the missing girl. Ella Jane, Jax—look, I know they need help, but they can’t be our priority right now. Molly is the priority. We head out, and we try to retrace her steps from the moment she left that bar. Because she vanished somewhere along that path. We find the spot he took her from, and we could find her.”
Sarah glanced once more toward the door that led to holding. She wanted to force the cops to release him. Wanted Ella Jane to recant. She wanted—
Jax.
Her eyes closed for a moment. Molly. Molly is the priority. Wade is right. Her eyes opened. She’d come back for Jax. She’d fix this mess.
“Let’s go,” Sarah said. She didn’t look at the door to holding again.
I’m sorry, Jax. She had to leave him there.
SHE’D SCREAMED AND she’d cried and she’d bled.
He stared at Molly. Light spilled through the window, falling onto her long, tangled hair. “So now you know,” he murmured.
She didn’t look up at him. Her body was covered with wounds. Small slices that had been designed to make her cry out. Deep puncture marks where he’d cut into her because she tried to stop those sweet sounds of pain from escaping her lips.
“At first, you just want to live,” he told her. “To escape. That’s all that matters.”
She was crying again.
“But soon, the pain becomes too much, doesn’t it? And you just want to let go.”
“Pl-Please . . .” Molly whispered. Oh, sweet Molly. She’d been fun. He’d ever so enjoyed playing with her.
“Do you think your mother gave up before you did?”
Her head sagged forward.
Frowning, he marched toward her. He reached down, intending to grab her chin with his gloved fingers. But when he leaned over her, Molly heaved, surging toward him with a strength he hadn’t expected. Not after all those hours. She sent the chair toppling forward. Molly slammed into the floor, her yell spilling from her.
His head tilted. He suspected Molly had just broken some bones. Maybe even fractured that lovely face of hers. But . . .
“Not . . . ready to die,” she rasped out. “You won’t . . . break me!”
Interesting. “The way Murphy the Monster broke your mother?”
She twisted on the floor. Poor broken Molly.
“Is it true?” he asked her. “Was she an out-of-control junkie? Is that why the cops didn’t look for her, not until it was far too late?” Molly had been so young then. Had she even realized what her mother had really been like?
“She was my mother!”
“Your brother has his mother’s weakness. Slip him some drugs . . . and he’ll do anything.”
She was struggling against her bonds. One of the chair legs had splintered so her left leg was nearly free of the ropes.
“Are you as weak as your brother? As your mother?”
She yelled and struggled harder.
“I don’t think you are,” he said, pleased. That was good. He needed her to be strong. Especially for what would come. He caught a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back. “Do you remember my name?”
Tears were leaking from her eyes. “Yeah . . . you’re the devil.” She spat at him.
He drove the knife into her stomach. “Try again.”
“J-Jax!”
He pulled the knife out. “Very good . . .”
Chapter 6
HIS LAWYER HAS BEEN HERE, SO EDDIE WILL probably be making bail soon,” Brent said as he led Jax back to the cells. “You won’t have much time.”
“I don’t need much time.” He rolled his shoulders. His lawyer would be there any moment. “Just make sure we’re not disturbed.”
“I already had the guy moved to a separate holding area. I’ll put you with him.”
Perfect.
Jax didn’t say another word. Other cops passed them, and he sure didn’t want to give those guys any reason to question Brent. The guy had been too useful.
A few moments later, they were in front of a dimly lit cell. Two cots were in that cell. A toilet. And the guy who’d tried to use his knife on Sarah.
Jax stared at the man’s bent head. Eddie Guthrie wasn’t moving at all.
Brent unlocked the cell. Jax took his time stalking inside. When he was clear of the door, Brent slammed it shut behind him. That clang seemed to echo through the cell.
And, finally, Eddie lifted his head. His eye were bleary, confused, as he stared up at Jax.
Brent’s footsteps shuffled away.
“Hello, there, Eddie,” Jax murmured. “We need to talk.”
He advanced. Eddie hunched back against the wall.
“I know you . . .” Eddie whispered. “You . . . you were the one with Sarah Jacobs last night.”
“Yes, I’m with Sarah.” He offered the boy a cold smile. “And I don’t like it when people try to hurt my Sarah.”
Eddie glanced at Jax, then at the cell’s door. Fear and panic fought on his face. In a flash, the guy had lunged off that cot and toward the bars. His fingers curled tightly around them as he screamed, “Guard!”
Jax crossed his arms over his chest as he studied the younger man. Fool. “No one is going to come back here for a while. It’s just you and me.” Until Jax was done with his little talk.
Eddie threw a fast glance over his shoulder. “Guard!” he screamed again.
Some people just didn’t listen well. Jax sighed. “There are two ways this can go down . . .”
Eddie spun around. Lunged at him.
Jax just sidestepped and the guy hit the wall.
“You can answer my questions and save yourself some energy.” And pain. Because the guy had hit the wall pretty hard. “Or you could piss me off.” He flexed his hands. Then there will be pain.
Eddie rose and his gaze darted to Jax’s hands.
“I can help you,” Jax told him. That part was true. He could help or he could hurt. “Trust me, buddy, you want my help. You don’t want me as an enemy.” The kid should consider himself lucky, especially after the way he’d gone after Sarah. Jax didn’t normally make this offer to many people.
His gaze swept over the younger man. Eddie’s body was quivering. His eyes were bloodshot, and he kept licking his lips. Drugs. Jax shook his head. “Your sister is missing and you are so strung out that you don’t even realize what the hell is happening here!”
Eddie shook his head. “Not missing! That’s a lie!”
“I’ve told plenty of lies.” Jax kept his body relaxed and ready to attack. “And I’ll tell plenty more. But this is the truth. Someone took Molly. She’s tied up, and he’s keeping her hidden someplace. The man’s got a knife. He’s already sliced into her once.”
All of the color bled from Eddie’s face, but he stubbornly cried out. “Lie! You’re lying!” He sidled around the cell. “That asshole Detective West is lying! Molly is fine! You’re all trying to trick me!”
“Molly was taken after her shift at
Voodoo Night.”
Eddie gaze dropped. “I walk her home,” he whispered. He started to rock a bit, back and forth.
“You usually walk her home, don’t you?”
Eddie flinched.
“But last night, you didn’t. Last night, you attacked Sarah.” That won’t be forgotten or forgiven any time soon. But he’d plan for the man’s punishment, later. Right then, Jax needed information.
Eddie’s hands spread behind him, clutching the bars there. “She deserves to die! She’s as sick as he is! Evil! She—”
“I think you’d better stop talking about Sarah.” He closed in on the guy. He didn’t reach out to him, not yet. He didn’t touch the guy at all. “Before you say something that pushes me too far.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m someone you want on your side right now. I’m someone you want helping you find your sister.”
Eddie lifted his shaking hands to cover his face. “Can’t . . . think straight . . .” He slammed the palms of his hands into his eyes, again and again.
Jax tilted his head to the side as he studied the guy. “How long you been using?”
Eddie stiffened. “Just . . . a few times last night. Only then! To help . . .”
“To help you get up the courage to kill a woman?”
Eddie lurched toward the toilet. He vomited. Once. Twice.
Jax shook his head. “Can’t live with what you’ve done?”
“My mother . . . needed justice . . . I—I had to do it! He—he said!” Eddie slumped on the floor and swiped his hand over his mouth. “He said . . .” Eddie whispered again.
“Who said?”
Eddie’s body shuddered.
The guy looked like he was pushing fast through withdrawal or . . . Jax’s gaze swept over Eddie in speculation. What if last night had been the first time the fellow drugged up? “You’re coming off a bad trip.”
Eddie gave a hard nod. “Want it . . . to stop . . .” He was still shuddering.
“Tell me who sent you after Sarah, and I’ll make it stop.”
Eddie’s eyes doubled in size. “Pr-Promise?”
“Yes.”
But then Eddie hesitated. “Sarah . . . evil . . .”
Jax’s jaw locked. That guy was going to push him too far soon. “The man who sent you after Sarah . . . he could be the man who has your sister. Don’t you want to save Molly?”
“Molly,” he repeated. A wide smile split his face. “I love Molly.” Then he started . . . jerking. Not just shuddering, but convulsing.
Definitely coming off a bad trip.
Shit! Jax lunged toward him. Eddie was tremoring, his whole body twisting, and his head almost slammed into the porcelain side of the toilet. Jax grabbed him and slid him safely back. But . . .
Eddie’s eyes started rolling.
“Stay with me,” Jax demanded. Then he raised his voice and called, “Brent! Brent, dammit, get in here!” Knowing the cop, he figured the guy had stayed close, just out of sight, while Jax had his little chat with the other prisoner.
But Jax didn’t hear the rush of footsteps coming toward the cell.
And those convulsions weren’t stopping.
“Brent!” Jax bellowed. “Guard!”
But no one was coming.
Jax leaned over the guy. “Give me a name. Tell me who did this.”
“D-Don’t . . . know . . .”
“Tell me!”
Eddie’s breath was sawing out. In and out . . . desperate gulps. Then—
“S-Said we’d . . . get her . . .” His breath was wheezing. “S-Said she’d . . . pay.”
“Sarah?”
“Pay for what . . . he did . . . to us . . . me . . . him . . .”
Jax’s mind raced. “Wait! You’re saying this guy wants vengeance on Sarah, too? Because of some shit her father did?” He needed to know—specifically—why someone wanted vengeance on Sarah. He knew that the LOST agents had plenty of enemies because of the work they did. But someone coming after Sarah because of her psychotic father, that was a whole different nightmare.
“Yes . . .” Then Eddie was rolling on his side again. Retching and—
Footsteps thundered toward him. Jax looked up and saw Brent and a uniformed cop rushing toward the cell. About damn time.
“What in the hell did you do?” Brent demanded.
Jax put his hands up and backed away. “Nothing.” He hadn’t needed to. “Get the guy to a medic. He needs treatment, now.”
Eddie let out a pain-filled moan.
“The kid’s pumped up on some drug,” Jax added quietly. “A bad trip, and he needs help.”
Swearing, Brent unlocked the cell and hurried inside. The uniformed cop behind him just stood there, blinking.
New guy. “Go get help, asshole,” Jax ordered the guy.
The uniformed cop ran.
“Did he tell you what you needed to know?” Brent whispered.
Jax stared at Eddie. The guy was barely conscious. “I think he told me all that he knew.”
“And?” Brent pushed. They could hear voices, coming toward them—
“We’re looking for someone else with a serious grudge against Murphy Jacobs.” Someone who thought he’d hurt Sarah.
Think the fuck again.
SARAH STRODE QUICKLY down the cracked street, her gaze darting to the left and to the right. It was broad daylight, but Sarah didn’t see the light. In her mind, it was night. She was trying to picture the scene as Molly had. No, not Molly . . . but her abductor.
When Sarah hunted for victims, she found them by thinking like the perps. By putting herself into the minds of abductors, of killers. It’s always too easy for me to think like them.
So she advanced down that worn street and . . . Sarah saw the night, not the day. And when Molly had vanished, shortly after 4 A.M., there would be so many shadows out then. So many dark corners.
So many places to hide.
She and Wade had begun their search at Voodoo Night. Then they’d gone to the left, away from what Sarah knew would have been the busier clubs. From what Dean had learned at the college campus, Molly wasn’t a party type. No drinking. No drugs. So she would have wanted to get away from those crowds . . . and back home as fast as possible.
Cars weren’t allowed on a long stretch of Bourbon Street. So Sarah marched toward the intersection where the access to a vehicle would have first been available. She kept searching the area and . . .
“Anything yet, Sarah?” Wade asked softly.
She shook her head, but muttered, “You just need to get her away from the others. There are too many people here.” For an instant, she could almost see the crowd before her. So much thicker at night. Men and women jamming the streets. The alcohol would have flowed heavily. Drunken laughter hung in the air
“Okay . . .” Wade said. “I guess we’ve started ’cause you’re doing that ‘you’ thing.”
Sarah ignored him.
You have to get her away. You would only stay out in the open as long as absolutely necessary. Every moment was a risk.
Sarah’s gaze darted to the left and she saw the narrow opening of another street. One that branched away. She knew how Bourbon Street worked at night. Bourbon itself would be packed, overflowing, but if you went one street over—
Deserted. The surrounding streets were often completely empty, especially at 4 A.M.
She turned onto that smaller street. Stilled. “You get her alone.”
“Have I ever mentioned . . .” Wade asked, “that it creeps me out when you talk to yourself like this?”
Sarah ignored him. “A vehicle would be waiting. You’d need to get her out and away as fast as you could. So it would be close by.” She hurried forward. The perp would have turned his vehicle away from Bourbon Street and the crowd. He’d want a spot where his vehicle could be easily accessed, but not hemmed in by anyone. He’d want—
“Here,” Sarah said as she stopped near the entrance to an alley. “You get her far enou
gh away from the others that no one would hear in case she screamed. And your car could have been stashed right here, right between these buildings. You drove it out . . . and you were home free.”
“But why did she come with him?” Wade asked, sounding confused. “Dean told us that her friends at college said Molly never hooked up with strangers. She’s the classic ‘good girl’ here, Sarah. She doesn’t just wander away at night with a strange man.”
Sarah thought of her father. “Even good girls wander when you tell them the right things.” She looked up at him. “Her brother was supposed to pick her up, but this guy . . . he made sure her brother wasn’t around for that job.”
Wade whistled. “He sent the brother after you.”
“A diversion.” She headed into the alley. A big, green Dumpster waited to the right. “So maybe this guy showed up, and he told Molly that Eddie had sent him.” You told Molly just enough that she felt safe walking with you.
“Why her, though? Why would he go after her?” With Wade, it was always about the victims. He identified with them, no, he wanted to save them. Maybe because he’d worked homicide for so long in Atlanta. By the time the cases had crossed his desk, those victims had been long past saving. Now . . . now he wanted to bring the vics home alive.
But we can’t always do that.
Sarah made her way to the Dumpster. She hefted herself up. The place reeked, but if this was the scene of Molly’s abduction, they might need to check for—
The Dumpster was empty. It had already been cleaned out by the city’s team. Dammit.
“Sarah? Why her?” Wade pressed.
Sarah shoved away from the Dumpster. She dusted off her hands and stared around at the buildings. And up at them. Her gaze drifted to the upper left. “Got you,” she whispered.
“What?”
Sarah pointed up. Someone had an apartment up on the second floor of that building. The balcony was covered with hanging plants, and, right at the corner of that balcony, she saw a small surveillance camera.
“Hot damn,” Wade said.
Now they just needed to get the footage from the camera. She and Wade ran out of the alley. They went around to the front of the building, but even though they banged on the doors, no one answered.
She looked up. “Hello!” Sarah yelled. “Is anyone up there? Hello!”