Lost in Bliss

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by Sophie Oak


  gotten a bit fat for his tastes, but there was still a loveliness to her that called out to him. She seemed so perfect from the outside. Smart.

  Elegant. Lovely. Of course, underneath it all she was just like the rest of them. Just like his mother and his dearly departed wife. Women

  were whores. They couldn’t help themselves. If you offered them a

  cock, they took it.

  And if Special Agent Kincaid and that idiot Briggs thought they

  were the only ones she was fucking, they were fooling themselves.

  She had obviously been with that obnoxious SEAL and perhaps the

  deputy as well. The deputy had a mouth on him. He would love to

  shut that mouth, but it would have to wait.

  Need clawed at his belly as his rabbit ducked away. Briggs tried

  getting close to her again, but she shook her head.

  “I need some air, Cam.” She slipped outside.

  “Give her a little time.” Kincaid stopped his former partner with a

  firm hand on his shoulder. “We know she’s not going anywhere.”

  “Yeah, she made that clear.”

  A very large man with scars covering some of his rough face

  walked in the door carrying two large bags with handles. “Food,

  anyone?”

  Ah, the luncheon. It was coming from some bar. Yes, that would

  likely be lovely. He forced himself to smile and join in the general

  drivel about how good a burger would taste.

  He needed something more than a piece of meat. His hunger was

  growing, and he was going to make a mistake if he didn’t do

  something about that. The last five years he’d been very careful,

  culling only what he needed to get by. He’d performed his rituals, but

  in a truncated way that never seemed to feed his beast. He would have

  to do it here, too. His rituals required time and space, neither of which

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  he had, though a plan was forming in his brain. He’d listened in on

  the ants and their talk. He knew there was at least one private home

  that wouldn’t be occupied for a while. Something about aliens and

  taking cover. Once he knew where that space was, he could start

  planning.

  But for tonight, a quick fix would have to do.

  “Kincaid, Briggs!” The small-town sheriff barked like he had

  something important to say. The man stood in his office doorway with

  a ferocious frown on his face. “Seriously? I thought you were going to

  use my office to talk to her.”

  Kincaid had the decency to flush, but Briggs was right back to

  grinning. “Words were said.”

  “Yeah, I can imagine what was said. Hope, we’re going to need

  some Lysol,” the sheriff yelled. “And you, Briggs—get in here, and

  we’re going to have a serious lecture on respecting your new boss’s

  office. Why don’t you step in, too, Kincaid. I have a couple of things

  we can go over.”

  He didn’t like the way that sounded. The last thing he wanted was

  that pesky sheriff nosing in where he didn’t belong.

  He needed a distraction. Perhaps he could serve his needs in

  multiple ways. He could distract the sheriff, feed his need, and put a

  little fear into his rabbit.

  All he needed was a few moments alone with a lovely lady. He

  had his pick in this town.

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  Chapter Twelve

  Cam settled into the seat beside Laura and slid his hand around

  the back of her chair. She was tense, her shoulders set in a way that

  made him want to get behind her and rub until she relaxed. He wanted

  to take her home and coddle her until the tightness around her eyes

  softened and she let him hold her. He and Rafe could take turns.

  “Don’t cause more scandal than you already have, Cam,” Laura

  murmured low as she moved his hand away from hers. “I can have

  you thrown out of here.”

  He frowned. “No one seemed very scandalized.”

  Cam wasn’t upset. Let them all know. If he could, he would have

  broadcast the whole thing so there was absolutely no question to

  whom she belonged. He would have made damn sure that fucker

  Wolf Meyer had a front row seat. Why was he still here? He was

  hanging around the sheriff’s department when he didn’t have a real

  place here. The ex-SEAL still looked at Laura like something he

  needed to protect. Bastard. And Cam hadn’t missed the way all of the feds looked at her. She was a gorgeous woman, but did they all have

  to look at her like she was the second coming of Marilyn Monroe?

  They needed to get their own superintelligent, funny, blonde

  bombshells. This one was his. And Rafe’s. He and Rafe had things to

  work out, but Cam wasn’t going to fight him. It hurt Laura, and damn

  it, he liked having Rafe around.

  She slid a glance his way. “The boys from Bliss might not care,

  but I assure you, everyone from DC was shocked at what happened.”

  Was she worried about that? Cam didn’t give a shit what any of

  them thought. He’d never fit in with them. He’d always been that

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  weird mix of nerd, country boy, and aggressive asshole that no one

  had liked in the Bureau. No one except Laura and Rafe. “Well, they

  don’t count. The guys from Bliss were just pissed that I hadn’t

  cleaned up. I received very explicit instructions on how to have sex in

  public places. The sheriff has a pamphlet. I’ve been assured that if I

  don’t follow the rules, he’ll shove me in a cell. There’s only two, you

  know. He told me what happened the last time he put Rachel and Max

  Harper in jail.”

  There it was. That smile that made his heart skip a beat. Laura’s

  smile lit up his whole fucking world. “Yeah, that particular incident

  had the gossips going for a day or two. Rachel has a problem with

  jaywalking. And being very mouthy. Nate was in a bad mood at the

  time. Max sacrificed himself to go to jail with her. He threw a punch

  at Nate. Needless to say, they had fun while they waited for Rye to

  post bail. It was very late, and it was their date night. They didn’t let the little fact that they were in jail stop them.”

  Now see, that was information he was interested in. There were a

  couple of trios in this town, and Cam really wanted to know how they

  worked. “They have date nights?”

  Laura nodded. “She goes out with each one at least once a week. I

  believe Callie, Nate, and Zane do it, too. I can imagine it’s a good

  way to keep the relationships intimate. Conversely, I know the boys

  have boys’ nights out.”

  The door to the interrogation room opened, and Brad walked in,

  followed by Rafe. Rafe’s face was set in dark lines. Cam knew he

  wasn’t happy to be on the other side of the table, but for now, it was

  their best choice. They needed to know what was going on from the

  inside. Joe and Edward followed. The all looked grim and gray, file

  folders in hand.

  Cam remembered what this felt like. There was a certain

  adrenaline that pumped through any agent’s veins before an

  interview. Even if the agent knew the person in front of him wasn’t

  who he was looking for, there was a
certain amount of power that

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  came from being on the right side of the table. Cam definitely felt

  vulnerable.

  Laura’s spine straightened. Cam suddenly wished he already had

  the badge and gun Nate Wright had promised him. There was

  paperwork to be done even in a small town. This wasn’t his dream

  job. Far from it. Cam wasn’t sure he had a dream job. He wanted

  Laura. That would be enough. If he could marry her and provide for

  her and find some time on the side to write his code, he would be

  happy. Still, he’d feel safer when he could legally kill someone again.

  It would make defending Laura so much easier.

  If only she would let him defend her now.

  Joe sat down. He was in great shape for his age. Rapidly

  approaching fifty, the special agent in charge looked years younger.

  He smiled at Laura as he opened his folder. “I am so sorry to have to

  go over all of this again, Laura. I know it’s an old wound for you.”

  “I don’t know about that. It feels pretty fresh today.” She clasped

  her hands together.

  “Let’s get right to it.” Brad sounded unctuous and self-important.

  He’d changed his shirt and put on a new tie, but he couldn’t hide the

  way his nose bulged. Rafe hadn’t broken it. That was a bit

  disappointing. Brad was in the middle seat, the driver’s seat, and he

  seemed to utterly relish it.

  Brad drummed his fingers along the top of the table. “So, we’ve

  gone over the facts of the case. You became involved in the case

  roughly a year after it had been established that there was a serial

  killer working the DC area.”

  Laura took a deep breath and plunged in. “Yes. It was spring

  roughly six years ago. I moved from another unit. I had been a special

  agent for four years before that.”

  Brad huffed a little. “That’s young to join the BAU.”

  Laura shrugged. She didn’t mention the amazing work she’d done

  in the Crisis Negotiation Unit. She didn’t talk about how she’d

  graduated at the top of her class from Harvard where she’d put herself

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  through school. She merely shrugged. Cam wanted to shove her

  exemplary record in Brad’s face. She hadn’t gotten into the BAU on

  her looks.

  Brad moved on. “So, you came into the unit as a special agent,

  and roughly a year later, you turned in a profile of the killer known as the Marquis de Sade. Did you realize at the time that you turned in the

  profile that Senior Special Agent Edward Lock was the unit’s senior

  analyst?”

  What the hell was that supposed to mean? Everyone knew that.

  Cam sat forward. This wasn’t going the way he’d thought it would.

  He caught Rafe’s glance, but Rafe seemed as confused as Cam.

  “Yes,” Laura replied. There was a little flustered pause in her

  voice. “I was aware of that.”

  Brad smirked as though he’d caught her in something. “Who

  actually asked you to turn in a profile?”

  Laura tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Um, no one,

  but I thought it was important. I thought I had a very fresh look on the case. I have degrees in psychology and criminal justice. I knew what I

  was doing.”

  “But no one actually asked you to turn in a profile?” Brad asked.

  Rafe sat forward. “Joe told the whole team that any information

  we gathered on the case would be welcome. He wanted everyone’s

  thoughts. It wasn’t out of line for anyone to work up a profile. We’re

  all trained.”

  Joe nodded. “Yes. I like to keep the lines of communication open.

  I think it’s important for any team. I worked that way then, and I still work that way today.”

  Edward adjusted the glasses he always toyed with when

  interrogating a subject. He put them back on and stared at Laura like a

  bug he’d pinned down for study.

  Cam started to get a very bad feeling about the way this was going

  to go. “What does this have to do with anything?”

  Brad held up a hand. “Mr. Briggs, you are here out of courtesy. If

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  you can’t stay out of this interview, I am going to ask you to leave.”

  Cam started to get out his chair. “I’d like to see you try to get rid

  of me.”

  Joe shook his head. “Cam, please. I know this is hard, but Special

  Agent Conrad has reasons for asking the questions he is asking. We

  spent time deciding on these questions. We all agreed to them. We’re

  in a bind here. We haven’t had a break in this case in years. We need

  a fresh approach.”

  Laura put a hand over his, and he reluctantly sat down. His heart

  rate was creeping up along with the need to kick a little ass. He

  looked back at the large two-way mirror on the opposite side of the

  room. There would be a whole bunch of people watching this, and

  one of them would be his new boss, Sheriff Nate Wright. It probably

  wouldn’t do Cam a bit of good to start his new job by punching his

  former coworkers in the face. He needed this job. Cam needed to fit

  into Laura’s world.

  He allowed himself to relax back in his chair as Brad pelted her

  with questions about how she became involved with the case. Laura

  answered each one in short, professional terms. She explained why

  she’d written her profile. She talked about how she’d collected her

  data. In short, she told the asshole that she’d done her job.

  “How long had you known Jana Evans?” Brad asked, flipping

  through his large folder.

  A long sigh came out of Laura’s mouth. “I met Jana Evans our

  freshman year of college. She was studying journalism. We ended up

  rooming together for a couple of years. After we graduated, she

  moved to New York, but I moved out to DC when I joined the BAU.

  She got a job at a TV station in DC about three years later, and we got

  back in touch.”

  Brad smirked as he asked his next question. “Is that the time you

  started to feed her confidential information?”

  “What the hell?” Rafe got to the outburst before Cam could. “Joe,

  what is this? I was told we were asking former Special Agent Rosen

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  about her ideas on who the Marquis de Sade is.”

  Joe’s left eyebrow rose. Sometimes it was easy to forget he wasn’t

  just one of the guys. “You are also here on my sufferance, Special

  Agent Kincaid. If we hadn’t been friends for many years, I would

  have kicked you off this case the minute I figured out you were

  sleeping with a witness.”

  Rafe opened his mouth to argue, but Laura charged in. “In Rafe’s

  defense, I wasn’t a witness when I started sleeping with him.”

  “And Briggs?” Brad practically sneered.

  “Well, it was the same night,” Laura said brazenly. “So no, I

  hadn’t met the Marquis de Sade at that moment. I was just a

  coworker. It was probably not the most professional thing I could

  have done, but it had nothing at all to do with the case.”

  “You better change your line of questioning,”
Cam said through

  clenched teeth. He wasn’t about to sit here and let them insult her.

  “Or we could stop this entirely,” Rafe interjected. “Perhaps we

  should. A lawyer might be helpful.”

  Cam didn’t disagree at all. It sounded like a perfect idea. Laura

  didn’t need a lawyer for anything criminal, but a lawyer could fuck

  with these pricks in a way neither he nor Rafe could.

  “I’m not getting a lawyer,” Laura said with a resigned huff.

  “You will if I call one,” Cam shot back. He hated fighting with

  her, but he couldn’t let her refuse good counsel.

  “Just get on with it,” Laura said.

  Brad’s shoulders moved up and down in a negligent shrug, as

  though he didn’t really care, and Cam believed it. “Fine then. If your

  cavemen are done, I’ll move on. In your original report, you talked

  about a phrase the man who abducted you used. Do you recall what

  he said to you?”

  Laura’s eyes took on a haunted, vacant look. She seemed to go

  somewhere deep inside herself. “He liked to talk. He talked to me for

  hours. I don’t remember a lot of it, but I remembered that one phrase.

  He told me that the only way to a woman’s heart was the path of

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  torment. He said he knew of no other way so sure.”

  Cam had looked it up. The real Marquis de Sade had written it.

  He’d had a lot to say, most of it garbage in Cam’s mind. The Marquis

  had believed that all moral principals were fancies, not anything

  concrete or real.

  “That’s a bit specific,” Brad said. “Are you sure that’s what he

  said?”

  Now Laura was the one staring through Brad. “Well, a girl rarely

  forgets what’s been said just before a man in a plague doctor’s mask

  whips her, cuts her, and shoves a knife through her gut multiple times.

  I was tied down at the time, and he’d whipped me viciously. I hate to

  admit it, but he did have my attention.”

  Cam felt his gut twist. His brain tended to go to a black place

  when he thought about what had happened to her. When he read it on

  paper, it was bad enough. When he heard it coming out of her mouth

  in that dead monotone she employed whenever the subject came up, it

  was devastating. She’d been taken and brutalized. She’d been tortured

 

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