Crime & Punishment 2: Master Delacroix

by Trista Ann Michaels

  “Someone’s sex drunk,” he whispered with amusement.

  She mumbled something as he climbed onto the bed and pulled her into his arms. She nestled her head on his chest and her leg over his thigh, curling her body into his as though they were made for each other. He inhaled the lavender scent of her hair, wishing things could always be this simple—just him and Connelly holding each other after a night of incredible sex. And they were definitely incredible together.

  Connelly was a woman who could handle him and, at times, put him in his place. He liked women who weren’t intimidated by him, who weren’t afraid to stand up to him, even in a playroom. He’d never wanted docile, and this little slip of a woman was definitely not that.

  Although he knew he had to end things as soon as they were safe again, the thought of being without her tore at his chest like a dull knife. He wouldn’t be able to keep her safe. There were too many angry criminals from his past he’d helped put away who could each try their own form of revenge. Or a case in the future that might put her in the line of fire yet again. He cared too much for her to see her in danger.

  Determined he’d made the right decision, Nathan closed his eyes and let himself fall into a hopefully visionless sleep.

  * * * *

  “Daniel,” Nathan gasped as he stared wide-eyed at the dark ceiling.

  He’d just seen his brother covered in blood, another bright light, a sharp, piercing pain in his head. Behind his eyes throbbed, and he closed them tight, trying to ease the pressure. It didn’t help.

  Nausea rolled through his stomach. He sat up, drawing in slow, deep breaths to keep the contents of his stomach down.

  What the hell was going on? Why was he seeing this shit, and how could he stop it from actually happening? Or could he?

  He swung his legs off the bed and set his feet on the floor. Behind him, Connelly still slept peacefully. He had an insane desire to wake her, to grab hold of her and never let go. It felt strange as a Dom who gave comfort to suddenly feel like he needed it.

  He braced his elbow on his knee and bent his head so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. Oddly enough, that eased the pain behind his eyes briefly, but not by much. He knew from experience the pain would linger for a while. He just wished he knew why. What did it all mean?

  With a tired sigh, he stood and reached for a pair of silk pajama pants that were lying at the foot of the bed. He slid them on, then crept from the room so as not to wake Connelly. No point worrying her over something she couldn’t do anything about.

  He walked almost silently through the house. The cold hardwood floor felt good against his feet as he headed toward the rooftop deck. He would feel better once he got some fresh air. Or at least he hoped he would. These visions, or whatever the hell they were, had begun to freak him out. He didn’t like it at all. He would rather be connected to someone than see things he couldn’t interpret. Especially things that involved the people he cared most about.

  He opened the door to the rooftop deck and stepped outside. The night was clear and warm; unfortunately all the city lights made seeing the stars nearly impossible. He preferred the country. At least there he could see the bright lights of the sky. Here he couldn’t see anything but black. Even the moon was unimpressive.

  Drawing in a deep breath of warm summer air, he walked over to the railing and stared down at the crowded streets below. Despite being two in the morning, downtown Atlanta was crowded. Why had he ever had a condo here? Because Trish had preferred the city. She’d worked here, so it was close for her. Maybe that was why he’d moved out to the club. Not because he couldn’t stand the space without her, but because he’d never really liked it in the first place.

  He loved Trish, but the connection he had with Connelly was so much stronger, so different. He could never hear Trish’s thoughts. Not like he could Connelly’s. What did it all mean? Anything? Was it just a fluke and nothing more? It didn’t matter anyway. He could not continue to put women’s lives in danger. As soon as this was over, he had to end it with Connelly. Period.

  His chest tightened with the very thought, but a sudden image in his head had him tensing for another reason entirely. In his mind, he could see himself, leaning over the railing, staring at the ground below. Nathan froze. He even held his breath. Was he seeing himself? What the hell?

  He lifted his head and saw the movement in his mind’s eye. He looked toward the skyscrapers surrounding him until he stared right at himself in his head. He tilted his head and saw in his mind his head move. It was like looking in a damn mirror.

  Andre.

  It was the only explanation. Andre watched him, and somehow, despite the mental wall, Nathan could see what Andre saw. The building was several blocks away. Nathan knew it. It was the one where Trish had worked. Andre was probably on the roof, watching Nathan through a high-powered binocular of some sort. If he left his spot to get Josh, would he lose the connection? If he didn’t, they might lose their chance to get Andre.

  “Nathan?” Connelly’s voice called from a few steps behind him.

  He turned slightly but still kept his concentration mostly on the vision. “Get Josh,” he ordered, much more harshly than he’d meant to.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “Now, Connelly,” he snapped.

  “Fine,” she growled. “You don’t have to be such an ass about it.”

  Nathan wanted to run after her and apologize, but he forced himself to stay put. This might be their only chance to get him. He couldn’t lose the opportunity. He began to look at other skyscrapers, then back to the ground. He didn’t want to make Andre suspicious by keeping eye contact. It was doubtful Andre had any idea about their connection, but the last thing Nathan wanted to do was give it away by doing something stupid.

  Nathan heard the door to the roof deck close and Josh’s low, agitated rumble from behind him. “Connelly said you summoned, oh great one.”

  “Very funny,” Nathan snarled. “He’s watching us.”

  Josh walked up to stand next to him. Nathan could feel his anger and didn’t bother to look his friend in the face. “You dropped the damn wall, didn’t you?”

  “No,” Nathan said as he turned to glare at his friend. “I didn’t do anything.”

  Josh frowned. “Then how—”

  “I’m looking in a mirror.”

  “A what?”

  “In my head I can see myself on the roof. You and I talking. It’s like we’re standing in front of a mirror.”

  “Are you sure it’s him?”

  “Who else would it be?”

  “I don’t know. Your own sadistic ego?”

  “Josh,” Nathan warned. He wasn’t in the mood for his friend’s snarky sense of humor.

  “Where is he?” Josh asked, heeding the warning and turning serious.

  “I think he’s in the Bank of America tower.”

  “The one that looks like a pencil?” Josh asked. “How will we find him in there?”

  “I think he’s on the roof.”

  Josh dug his cell phone out of the pocket of his pajamas. “Can you even get on the roof of that thing?”

  “There’s maintenance access.”

  Josh stepped back and made a call. While Nathan waited, he felt the image fade, then disappear. Either the connection was lost, or they’d spooked him somehow. Nathan dropped his head and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on Andre.

  “Where are you?” Nathan murmured, but was greeted by silence.

  Connecting with Andre had nearly driven him insane the first time. Did he dare do it again?

  * * * *

  Connelly sat at the island in the kitchen, blowing across her hot tea. What had made Nathan so upset and grouchy? Had he done what the others had warned him against and connected with Andre? If she stayed with him, was this what her life would be like? A constant target? Always in hiding from some criminal he and Josh were after?

  Someone gripped her shoulders and gave them a soft squ
eeze. She didn’t have to turn to know it was Nathan. She could smell his spicy scent. It was the soap he used.

  “I didn’t mean to snap at you, sweetheart. I’m sorry,” he whispered as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

  Her heart melted at his apology and sweet kiss, but her confusion remained. “Did you connect with him?”

  He let his lips linger on her scalp as he sighed. “No, but something did happen. He was close and watching us.”

  She spun on the stool, forcing him back a step. “Do you know where he is?”

  “Yes. The question is whether he’ll still be there when the team arrives.”

  He studied her way too closely for comfort. She shook her head at him in silent warning. “Please don’t read my thoughts. I’m not ready to talk about any of this, much less have you analyzing it as it races through my head.”

  “I can’t turn it off, Connelly. I’m sorry.”

  She huffed and jumped off the stool, carrying the tea with her into the living area. “I need a banner that pops up in my mind that blinks ‘Stop, this far, not farther.’”

  Nathan snickered. “I would just ignore it.”

  “Of course you would,” she grumbled. “Perhaps it should say red instead.”

  Nathan’s lips twitched, but his eyes didn’t sparkle with his usual mischief. “I’m sorry about all this,” he whispered.

  She smiled slightly, then let it fade as sadness took hold. “It’s not your fault, Nathan.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. I feel like I owe you that at the very least.”

  “Why don’t you ever call me Connie like everyone else?” she asked.

  “I like Connelly better. I’ve never been much for shortening names.”

  “So nobody calls you Nate?”

  He grinned. “If they do, it’s only once.”

  She dropped into the corner of the sofa and curled her legs under her. The leather felt cool against her skin, but it didn’t take her body long to warm it. Nathan sat on the arm of the leather chair, facing her.

  “What does your mother call you?” she asked.

  “Pumpkin.”

  Connelly giggled, unable to picture Nathan as a pumpkin.

  “Daniel is Sweetie. She only calls us by our names when she’s pissed.”

  “That’s cute.”

  Nathan grimaced. “It is, and it’s also incredibly unmanly.”

  Connelly almost choked on her sip of tea as her amusement turned to full-on laughter. He smiled at her, and the tension faded from his face.

  “How long do you think it will take for the feds to track him down?” she asked, almost hating to change the subject, but at the same time wanting to know.

  The lines of worry that had left his face were back, making his eyes crinkle at the corners. “I don’t know. I don’t know that they will even find him at all. He was a slippery son of a bitch before. I’m sure that hasn’t changed.”

  “What’s he like?” she asked.

  She knew it probably sounded sick, but she wanted to know all she could about the man who’d kill her husband and almost killed her twice.

  “He’s your typical, everyday serial killer,” Nathan drawled.

  Connelly lips thinned. “I was serious, Nathan.”

  He sighed and glanced down at his hands, which slowly rubbed up and down his thighs. “I know you were.”

  She briefly thought about replacing his hands with hers but shook her head, forcing that desire aside.

  “He had a mission…or has. I disrupted that mission.”

  “What kind of mission?” she asked, then took a sip of tea, hoping it would settle the sudden queasiness that had invaded.

  “He was paranoid schizophrenic. He believed the women he was killing were monsters.”

  She frowned. “Monsters? But—”

  “You and your husband were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “What about your…” She bit her lip, unsure she could say the word fiancée without almost choking on unwarranted jealousy.

  “Her name was Trish,” Nathan said softly. “Her murder was his last-ditch effort to get me to stop.”

  “I take it the plan didn’t work.”

  “It almost did. I felt a lot of guilt over that. If I had remained connected to him. If I hadn’t put up that wall. If I had just… It played through my mind like a broken record. I didn’t want anyone else I loved to get hurt. That lasted about three days.” He grinned and plucked a piece of link off his pants. “Josh cussed me out. Told me to get up off my ass and do something. That I was the only one who could.”

  “Because of the connection?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I dropped the wall, but this time the connection was a lot deeper. I actually began to take on the killer’s personality. I began to see some of the things that he did, and let me tell you, it…it scared the hell out of me. I think it scared the hell out of Josh.”

  “What happened?” she asked. “How did you catch him?”

  “To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve blocked a lot of it out.”

  Connelly stared at the cup of tea. “Do you miss her?”

  “Not as much now. She was a part of my life. I loved her, but I moved on. Just like you did.”

  Had she? Really? She hadn’t done a conference. Marvin would be so upset with her over that too. She missed seeing her readers and talking to them. She missed the fun she always had with them.

  Once this was all over, she needed to make some changes in her life and stop holding on to the past. She should sell her house, get a new one, go to conferences again. Start over.

  She glanced up at Nathan and noticed an odd sadness in his eyes. She liked him a lot. Too much if the truth was known. She just didn’t think she could do this…this what? She could definitely be his submissive. She wasn’t sure that she could be in constant danger or see him in it.

  But he didn’t work for them full-time anymore. Right? That didn’t mean another convict wouldn’t break out and come after them. She’d seen and experienced enough violence in her life. If she was so adamant about it, then why did her heart ache so much at the thought?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Nathan slapped his palm against the counter and cursed loudly. The morning sun shone through the windows, making him squint and then turn his back to the glass. “How the hell did they miss him?” he snapped.

  “It took the team a while to get there,” Josh explained. “By the time they did, he was gone, but he did leave behind evidence that he was there.”

  “And that helps us how?” Nathan snarled.

  “Look, Nathan. You’ve worked cases. You know this stuff takes time. Stop taking your foul mood out on me before I drag you to the roof and hang you off the edge by your damn balls. I’m not any happier being cooped up here than you are.”

  With a sigh, Nathan nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Now if we could just keep that thought in your head as a given.”

  Nathan snorted softly. “You know. If you weren’t my best friend…” Nathan let the last of his words die off as he gave his friend a pointed look. He loved Josh; he just wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit this morning.

  Josh grinned as he poured himself a cup of coffee and moved to sit at one of the island stools. “How’s Connelly?”

  “She’s still asleep.”

  “Are things serious with you two?” Nathan glanced at Josh, but his friend only raised an eyebrow. “Is that scowl a no, or is it a warning to stay away from her because it’s a yes?”

  “It was neither.”

  “Well,” Josh drawled with his usual amusement. “That was clear as mud.”

  Nathan moved to pour himself a cup of coffee not so much because he needed the caffeine, but because he didn’t want to have to face his friend. Josh could read people really well. Sometimes too well, and Nathan didn’t want to go into detail about just how much he cared for Connelly; especially since he was going to
have to let her go.

  “Connelly doesn’t want a serious relationship with me.”

  “And you know this how?” Josh asked. “Because that’s not what I see.”

  “I know it because I feel it.”

  Josh set his cup down. “You’re connected to her?”

  Nathan nodded as he lifted his cup to take a sip of the hot brew.

  “How strong is it?”

  “Much stronger than I expected. I can actually read her thoughts.”

  Josh’s eyes widened. “As in hear what she’s thinking? Not just getting impressions?”

  “I can’t hear everything, but I can pick out a few words here and there, especially if I concentrate really hard. The first time I met her, I heard the words ‘holy shit’ in my head. I realized it came from her. I know she’s torn, just like I am. I know that what’s happened now has pushed her away. She’s afraid this sort of thing will happen again, and considering her past, I can understand that.”

  “How do you feel?” Josh asked.

  Nathan glanced down at his coffee. He revealed more than he wanted to, but there was no point in stopping now. “I don’t want her to get hurt. I’m thinking maybe she’s better off away from me.”

  Josh snorted. “Nathan, come on. That’s ridiculous.”

  Nathan lifted his gaze to his friend. “Is it? First Trish. Now Connelly. I have too many enemies.”

  “No more than I have.”

  “And are you dating anyone seriously?” Nathan asked.

  Josh’s lips twisted. “Not because of that…smart-ass.”

  Nathan lifted one corner of his mouth in a small grin, relieved for the opportunity to change the course of the conversation. “They’re not all cheaters, Josh.”

  “I’ve had two serious girlfriends. Both of them cheated on me because I wasn’t there. I put my job first. What woman wants a boyfriend that does that?”

  “Perhaps you should date within the agency. Find a woman who’s just like you.”

  Josh chuckled. “Right. And have Human Resources come down on my head so fast I wouldn’t even see it coming. No thanks.”