“I’m thinking how lucky I am to be loved by a man like you. Love you.” Her voice trailed to a whisper.
The room phone rang twice in short succession. He pushed her gently off his lap and walked to the table and answered.
“Montgomery here.” His gaze swiveled to her. “Yeah. Give us five, then head up. Room 1064.” He hung up. “Murphy and Ragusa. You have time to slip on some jeans if it would make you feel more comfortable,” he said.
She nodded, and hastily dressed in soft denim and a fitted top with three-quarter sleeves and scooped neckline. The room was cold. Maybe that was the cause of the chill bumps rising on her skin. Had they taken Clark into custody?
Kate made a pot of coffee with the in-room service, the aroma scenting the cool air. Cash ushered in the two policemen after a knock at the door. Both men refused coffee as they entered, and stood facing Kate with carefully controlled expressions.
“No easy way to say this,” Ragusa began. “We’ve got another one.”
“Damn. Let’s hear it.”
“This woman bears no resemblance to Kate, but both…er…breasts…have been sliced off.”
Kate reached for the photos Ragusa held.
“You might not want to see these, ma’am. They’re pretty gruesome.” His hand fell to his side. But not before Kate caught a glimpse of a woman in a pool of blood, a look of stark terror frozen on her face.
“No, Kate, don’t look,” Cash said.
The next second he caught her falling body as she cried, “Oh, my God…my God…my God.”
Her body trembled. The wetness of tears dripped on his hand, and she grabbed his biceps, nails digging into the flesh.
“Cash…it’s Sarah!” she screamed.
Cash gently lowered her to the sofa and turned to Ragusa. “He did this…Clark, the sick fuck. He killed Sarah, her assistant. He knew Kate cared for her, that they were friends. The message is clear, isn’t it?”
“I can’t believe this,” she wailed. “Why would Clark kill Sarah?”
The two cops stared over her head at Cash. One brief shake of his head warned them not to go any further.
“Ma’am.” Ragusa shot Cash a hesitant glance. “There’s no doubt the murderer is Clark Burgess. Your friend isn’t his only victim. We can link him to at least three murders. And I hate to say it, but there’s also no doubt he’s after you. You’re under no obligation to help…”
Cash roared, “No way in hell, Ragusa. Tell your unit to get off its collective ass and find this fucker before he kills another innocent woman. This is what they do—it’s their job. Not hers.” He pointed at Kate.
Murphy moved to his partner’s defense. “Sir, if Ms. Sanders would agree…”
Cash quelled him with a glance.
“What?” she asked. “What is it you want me to do?”
Both policemen shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
“They want to use you as bait,” Cash muttered. “Give Burgess the target he wants. Once he has you, they’ll move in. Catch him red-handed, all the proof they need to give him the needle. It’s too dangerous.”
Ragusa nodded. “Yeah, we’ve thought of that. But every time I tell another mother and father their daughter has been tortured and killed by a madman, I know we don’t have much time to catch him. He’s not gonna stop. He’s going to go on killing women. We have to end this.”
Murphy sat down beside Kate and studied her. “Listen. This guy is evidently well connected, off the radar. He moves invisibly through the city. Either he has an accomplice or he has incredibly well disguised hideouts. He dumped you two years ago, yet his profile suggests he stalked you the entire time. Preyed on substitutes, never changing his focus. It was always you. Always will be you. You may be the only one who can stop him.”
“Find another way,” Cash commanded.
Kate slipped her hand in his. “He killed Sarah. My Sarah. How can I not help?”
“No.”
Ragusa and Murphy exchanged loaded glances.
Face turning red, she jumped to her feet. “Yes. If there is any way to stop him, of course I’ll help.” Her gaze swiveled between the three men, her shoulders rising and falling, her eyes shooting sparks. “We have three weeks until the fundraiser. Allison is coming, and we’re going to raise a boatload of money and send kids to college who haven’t a hope of going without our support. I won’t let Clark cheat them out of their future. We’ll give the police forty-eight hours to find Clark. If he’s still on the loose, we’ll go back to our lives. Business as usual. He won’t stay hidden long. He wants me; he’ll come after me.”
“I’m not putting you in danger. Burgess is off his rocker,” Cash argued.
“You just said Suzanna can stay with her grandmother. She’ll be safe. You and I can be in constant contact. We’re supposed to be working together anyway. I’ll stay at your place. I’ll work at your office if I have to. I’ll be careful.” She turned to Ragusa. “And I’ll be watched, right? You guys can monitor me wherever I am, wherever I go. Once Clark shows himself, you’ll arrest him, and it’ll all be over.”
Cash was shaking his head before she finished her sentence. “You make it sound easy, but this isn’t the same man you knew before. What happened to you since then—you triggered something inside him that created a monster.”
He grabbed the photo of Sarah from Ragusa and thrust it into her hand. “Look at it, Kate. This is Sarah, for God’s sake. Look what he did to her. He could do that to you. I can’t chance it. I won’t. I lost one woman I loved and survived. I won’t lose you. I can’t, not again. Suzanna can’t.”
Kate stared at the grim image of Sarah Porter. “We worked together. I saw her every day. She was my friend. How can I not do this?”
He’d opened Pandora’s box. In taking away her fear of intimacy, helping her find her footing, he’d given her back her belief in herself and her courage. She wouldn’t be running away from anything else—ever.
Chapter Eighteen
Cash wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
If she took one step, he took two. Always in sight; always by her side. By the end of the week, they’d established a routine of sorts. She worked from the computer by day, refusing to hide, to keep things low key, exposing herself to venues where Clark could easily approach her.
They had meals in various small boutique restaurants and diners, nights of making love, exploring each other, enjoying each other. Kate had no complaints. She wouldn’t let him out of her sight, either.
The following Monday, Cash took her to a quaint little Italian place that didn’t look like much from the outside, but the inside reminded her of a La Contessa in Rome—a place she’d frequented while on vacation, before cancer, before Clark. Greenery, flowers, sun-bleached brick. The smell of garlic and tomatoes perfuming the air. Sheer heaven.
The hostess led them to a table for four in the back, and two big men stood upon their arrival. She recognized Cash’s buddies from Tortilla Joe’s the night they met.
Cash made the introductions. “Kate, these are my good friends, Rush McAlvoy and Jake Parker. We served together in Afghanistan.”
“Kate Sanders, Mr. McAlvoy, Mr. Parker. I remember you from the night Cash and I met.”
“Of course you do,” Rush teased. “And I remember Cash falling all over himself to keep me away from you. May I call you Kate?”
“By all means.”
Rush held out his hand and immediately brought her fingertips to his lips. “I can see Cash wasted no time with the prettiest girl at the party.”
Kate smiled at the compliment, and turned to the other man standing next to Rush.
“And you are Jake,” she said.
Jake, with his black hair and serious blue eyes, dipped his chin.
Kate shook his hand and smiled in greeting.
Cash motioned for the waitress and steered Kate to a seat next to him, with her back toward the wall, safe and secure, facing the entrance. Rush and Jake sat to each side.
The men constantly scoped the room, their gazes checking out new patrons entering the restaurant and watching with keen attention the goings-on around them. Cash’s friends were as well trained as he.
“So you met Cash while in the service?” Kate asked, glancing at Rush, then Jake, as their waitress filled her glass with a dark red wine and put three fresh long necks in front of the men.
Surprisingly, it was Jake who was the more forthcoming of the two while Rush and Cash drank and listened. “Yeah, we were the ones who pulled good old Cash from the ambush when he got shot. Guess it’s true—if you save a life, it belongs to you. We’ve been friends a long time. Cash says you have a lot on your plate right now, huh?”
“We’ve been a little preoccupied, it’s true,” Kate agreed, as she cast a glance at Cash.
Jake lifted a chin. “We served in the same unit. Intelligence. Peshwar Mountains, Afghanistan, before the shit hit the fan and the Marines made their presence known. We know a thing or two about dangerous situations and having a friend’s back.”
She believed him. Cash certainly had her back. He was a man who took care of the ones he loved. Brothers in arms, his daughter, and now her. Her throat tightened. She’d experienced fear, yes. She’d fought a battle, no doubt about it. She’d survived a challenge that far too many women had not. But nothing like the incredible sacrifice of these three men. It humbled her, brought her circumstances into a different perspective.
A self-deprecating smile crossed Rush McAlvoy’s face. “You know, Kate, heroes come in all shapes and sizes and genders. The measure of a man—or a woman—is not always the battle, but the way it’s fought. My mother had breast cancer. She waged her war for seven long, inspiring years. My dad and my brothers and I miss her every day, but the lessons she taught us—especially her courage and her joy of life—are a legacy our family will pass to our own sons and daughters.”
Her nose started to sting as her eyes grew moist. When she could speak, she shook her head and, with a husky voice, said simply, “I’m lucky to have met you.”
Cash hooked her around the neck and placed a light kiss on her lips. Jake stared with surprising tenderness in his expression.
“This sick son of a bitch isn’t going to get his hands on you. You’re Cash’s woman, and we protect our own,” Rush said.
Incredible. They not only had each other’s backs—they had hers as well.
They clinked glasses and tactfully gave her a few minutes to control the emotion clogging her throat.
“Thank you,” she said and picked up her menu, grateful for these men, loving Cash with a deeper sense of pride and commitment, and feeling the need to lighten the mood. “I’m starving…the veal parmigiana sounds wonderful. Cash, what sounds good to you?”
She loved getting to know Jake and Rush. By the end of the evening, it seemed as if she’d known them all her life. They were good and capable men. Her sense of relief was a tangible thing. She’d be safe. Somehow the police would catch Clark, and the danger would soon be over.
“One of the policemen on my case suggested I could make myself, shall we say, more available to Clark. Flush him out in the open, I don’t know, set a trap or something.”
“Hell, no,” Cash said, emphatic.
“Hold on, partner, let her finish,” Jake said.
“I’m not letting her deliberately put herself in harm’s way. This sick fuck has killed three women.”
“Precisely,” Kate continued. “Who knows how many others are in jeopardy because they remind him of me? Because they’re unfortunate enough to have a life-threatening disease? We have to stop him, and I’m the only one who can. I have you, Cash. I have Jake, Rush, Ragusa, Murphy. Clark doesn’t stand a chance of getting to me.”
Jake sat back, arms crossed over his chest. “She may be right, bro.”
“Doesn’t matter. I won’t allow it.”
Gently, she covered his hand with hers. “With all due respect, sweetheart, it isn’t yours to allow. You don’t have that right.”
Red flooded his face, and the veins popped out in his forehead. She’d never seen him so angry.
“Don’t hand me that.” Barely restrained fury came from his tone. “You gave me that right when you shared my bed.”
Kate gasped. “Cash,” she reproved, feeling her face turn hot.
Jake growled under his breath. Rush stared straight at his friend.
No one moved until the muscle in Cash’s cheek flexed, and his jaw thrust forward. Then he heaved a heavy sigh. “Sorry. But you’re mine, and I protect what’s mine. They”—he jerked his head toward his friends—“protect what’s mine. We can’t do that if you insist on using yourself as bait.”
“I disagree.” She spoke quietly. “I know you care for me. I know you’ll protect me. Don’t you see, Cash? I have to do this. For me, for Suzanna, and for you. We’ll never have a minute’s peace with Clark out there. We can’t in good conscience do anything else. He wants me; he’ll come after me.”
Jake nodded his head. “She has a point, Cash. Burgess knows the cops are after him. He knows they’re protecting Kate and will expect she’s being watched twenty-four-seven. We coordinate with them, come up with a plan to entice him into the open. If Burgess is as psycho as you say, he’ll make his move.”
“I don’t like it. It’s too dangerous,” Cash again objected.
Kate turned to the men. “I have some ideas. Cash, could you ask Ragusa and Murphy to join all of us for coffee in the morning? I promise I won’t take unnecessary chances, but I have to do this, and I’d like to get everyone together. I think we can come up with an effective plan that addresses your concerns and will put your mind at ease.”
“What, let me kill Clark Burgess before he strikes again?” Cash’s square jaw tensed visibly.
“No, one that will lead to his capture, and force him to face justice for the women he’s murdered,” she answered.
Jake kept his gaze steady on Cash. “Kate might be in the driver’s seat, but you’ve got your hands on the wheel. We’ll do what it takes. The three of us know what it means to claim a woman. To be willing to lay your life on the line for her.”
“We were there when you lost Ray. There’s no way in hell we’ll let you lose Kate,” added Rush.
Chapter Nineteen
Silence like a granite wall grew between them on the ride home. Awkward and uncomfortable.
Kate’s right hand stole over the console to coax his fingers with hers. He couldn’t deny her, and he let her wrap her hand in his and rest it on the hard muscles of his thigh. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as her warmth encompassed him.
“Please,” she whispered softly, “please don’t be angry. I need you. You’re my strength.”
“I’m not angry at you, lady.” He brought her fingers to his lips, and pressed a moist kiss on her cold skin. “I’m furious that you have this madman making your life miserable. Threatening you. He took enough from you. I want to kill him for that.”
“I’d be happy if he spent his life behind bars.”
“More like lethal injection,” Cash added as she shrugged one shoulder. “What? You don’t believe in the death penalty?”
“Not in this case,” her voice sounded hard.
He sent a questioning gaze in her direction.
She met it. “Too easy,” she said, and leaned back against the seat.
“Back there in the restaurant, you mentioned a plan. What are you thinking?” he asked.
Kate gazed out the window at the passing pedestrians and slow-flowing traffic. “I’m not entirely sure. I want to see what Ragusa has on his mind. He’s a smart man. A good cop. I don’t think he would have suggested I participate in this if he wasn’t sure he could carry it off.”
“Maybe so, but he isn’t in love with you. I am.”
She paused. “I love the sound of those words. I didn’t think I’d ever hear them again. Didn’t think I’d want to.”
He couldn’t believe she’d deluded herself i
nto believing no man would be attracted to her. She was everything…beautiful, kindhearted, hot as hell in bed, loved his daughter. Damn, he’d hit the jackpot. The sooner Burgess was out of their lives the better. No way would he take her away from him.
Step one was a visit to the ophthalmologist. He needed his sight to be as clear as possible. The doctors assured him his vision would be acceptable with corrective lenses. If acceptable was all it would ever be, he’d work with that. First thing after the meeting with Ragusa and Murphy, he’d head to the VA and take care of it. If the lab put a rush on the glasses, maybe he could get them within the next few days.
Step two, he wanted to give Kate the basics in self-defense. If she got in a tight spot, she should know how to defend herself—at least be able to buy herself some time. Only problem with that was keeping his mind on the lesson and not on her curves. One touch and his body responded. Reciting the Gettysburg Address came to mind.
Step three, keep her close.
****
Kate arranged for breakfast to be served in an alcove on the concierge level of the hotel. Big men had big appetites, and one thing she’d learned about Cash was that he liked to eat. Eggs, bacon, southern-style grits, and biscuits. She smiled while the men dug in, and made sure the coffee was replenished as needed. She couldn’t help it; inside she was a nurturer, and it pleased her to look after them.
When their stomachs were full, she grinned as they leaned back, patted the finest collection of male abs in the city, and complained about getting fat. Like that was a possibility. She could publish a calendar with all the mouthwatering male flesh concealed beneath the fabric of their shirts.
She caught Cash’s gaze. A hint of a grin crooked up one side of his mouth. Her man liked sex, a lot of it. Morning, noon, and night. She was a lucky girl.
Ragusa, never one to waste time, took a swallow of coffee and turned his attention to her.
A Little Night Music Page 18