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anything that’s for sale in the area. He needs to know that the place
won’t be occupied. He would make sure of it.”
The horrible noise coming from the bathroom stopped, and Wolf
reappeared, his face a surprising shade of green. For the first time, the man didn’t look like the all-American hero. “Caleb needs the
activated charcoal. Nate’s going to be fine.”
Cam passed the mug. “We’re trying to come up with an isolated
place within about twenty minutes driving distance. Do you know of
any cabins that are known to be unoccupied?”
Wolf passed the mug, but kept his eyes on Cam. If anything, he
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got even sicker looking. “Wasn’t this guy at the town hall meeting?”
Edward looked up. “Yes, we all were. Joe insisted on it.”
“Then he knows about my mom and Mel.”
Cam went still. “Where is this Mel’s place? Everyone is talking
about the fact that they won’t come out of their bunker until the feds
are gone. Joe has to know that.”
“He laughed about it,” Brad interjected.
“We need to get out there,” Rafe said, walking toward the door.
“Mel’s place is a no-go. He has all kinds of whacked-out security,
including cameras he can monitor from his bunker,” Logan said.
“But my mom doesn’t. She refused to spend the money. She just
planted beets everywhere. She thinks they’ll keep the aliens away.”
Wolf took a deep breath and visibly stilled. He was back to being in
control. “Her place is right on the county line. You can easily get
there in fifteen minutes, and her closest neighbor is two miles away.”
If Wolf was wrong, Laura could be dead by the time Cam figured
out where else to look. He looked to Rafe. He stared at his partner and
was suddenly so fucking grateful he wasn’t in this alone.
“We’re going out there.” Cam turned because there wasn’t a
moment to waste. “Edward, you wait here, and if Hope and Holly
come up with anything, you check it out. Brad, you need to have the
doctor check you out. Logan and Wolf are coming with us. ”
“Stop.”
Cam turned, and Nate Wright stood in the doorway looking like
death warmed over. “Consider yourself on the clock, son. You do
what you need to do and with the full weight of a badge behind it.”
Cam nodded and they all hit the ground running.
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Chapter Nineteen
Laura came to with a splitting headache and terrible fear in the pit
of her stomach. She tried to sit up, but her arms were held fast. Rope
bit into her wrists. She was already losing feeling. God, where was
she?
Don’t let it be real. Wake up. Wake up and be back in the cabin
curled up with Rafe on one side and Cam on the other.
She forced herself to focus, to take in her surroundings. She
couldn’t fool herself. She was in serious trouble. She was naked, her
skin chilled. She hated this so much. She looked up at the ceiling.
There was a wagon wheel that had been fashioned into an odd
chandelier.
God, she was at Cassidy’s. She remembered looking at that light
fixture the last time she’d had dinner out here. Laura had been helping
Cassidy and Nell on a project, and that was when she’d met Wolf. She
remembered how she’d looked the gorgeous man over and all she’d
been able to think about were Cam’s shoulders and Rafe’s dark eyes.
Where were they? Did they even know she was gone?
“Ah, you’re awake. I had to use the Taser a couple of times, dear.
I hope it doesn’t have any lingering effects. I wouldn’t want to
desensitize you.” Joe came into view. “You know who I am now?”
A monster. “Yes. You’re the man who calls himself the Marquis
de Sade.”
He chuckled lightly. “He was an amateur, a fop who played at
dealing pain. I am more than that. Still, he had a lot of interesting
things to say. Did you get my present? Or did those idiot cops keep it
from you? It was addressed to you.”
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Jana’s body. God, had she ever known this man at all? “I got your
message even if I didn’t see the actual package.”
He pulled latex gloves over his hands. “But I did it for you, little
rabbit. I cut out her heart. It was a little messier than I like to get, but I thought you should see that she actually had one. And I took it apart
for you. You really are the only one who understands me.”
Her first instinct was to scream her lungs out. Her second was to
fight with all her might, but another thought skittered across her brain.
Time. She needed time.
“But I don’t,” she forced herself to say in a calm, even voice. “I
think I understand parts, but not the whole.”
He stopped and looked down at her, brown eyes narrowing.
“Well, no one can comprehend all of me, but you came the closest. It
was why I had to shut you down. You aren’t my usual prey. Not
because I find women like you more worthy of life. I don’t. You’re all
the same underneath. It’s just better to prey on the weak, the
unwanted. I was making a statement. It was far more important that I
remain unfettered to continue to speak.”
By speaking, he meant killing. “Why did you stop after me?”
He sighed and turned briefly, coming back with a small tray. “It
was a close thing with you. Do you know why I left you, darling? It
was rude of me, I know. I’ve always wanted to explain why I had to
leave you there so very unfinished.”
His words sickened her, as did the almost affectionate way he
spoke. He didn’t sound anything like the Joseph Stone she knew. Still,
if he was talking, he wasn’t stabbing her, and she needed to avoid
that. They would come. This time they would come for her. “I did
wonder why you left so suddenly.”
“Well, my two worlds collided,” he explained. “I had been so
careful to keep them apart, but you forced my hand. I thought I was
the smartest guy in the world when I was able to fire you for talking
to the very reporter I had set up as my mouthpiece. Do you
remember? You introduced me to her at the Christmas party years and
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years ago. It was when you were working in another department, but
you would butter me up because you knew you wanted to be in the
BAU.”
“Yes,” she replied. He was talking. If he wanted to stroll down
memory lane recounting all the ways he was smarter than the rest, she
would go with him. “I brought Jana with me because she was more
outgoing than me.”
“She was a whore, dear. She hit on every man in the place. But I
digress. I was able to fire you for talking about a case to the press. I thought no one would miss you for a night or two. I didn’t realize that
you had made…friends with both Kincaid and Briggs. They went
looking for you. When they couldn’t find you, they made a stink. I
was called away to start investigating your disappearance. By the time
I was able to get away from wo
rk, you had already made it out of our
little hideaway.”
A little sob threatened to escape. She’d always wondered why
he’d left so abruptly. Cam and Rafe. They had saved her then, too.
They hadn’t known it, but their need to find her had saved her life.
She would live through this. She would do it because she loved
them. She didn’t need survival instincts this time. She had them.
“I think you’ll find the ropes are properly tied this time. The last
time, I was a bit too eager,” Joe said, testing them again. He pulled at the ropes he’d tied. Laura noticed there was a sheet underneath her
covered by a layer of plastic. It was like last time. He’d be able to
easily destroy the evidence without leaving pesky blood or fibers
behind. She wondered if his baldness was real or if he routinely
shaved his head. Hairs left behind at a crime scene had gotten more
than one killer caught. “Like I said, you were outside my normal prey,
but so much closer to what I truly hunger for.”
She shivered. “What do you hunger for, Joe?”
He smiled. “I like hearing my name for once. I like hearing it
coming from you. We’re close, you and I. To answer your question, I
want someone soft and real. Those whores are close to death anyway.
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Most of them thank me when I finally put them out of their misery.
Not you. You fought like you had something to live for. It made the
game so much sweeter.”
“I’ll fight this time, too.” She would. And if he believed the
experience would be good, maybe he would prolong it. She would
survive. She would live through anything if it meant getting back to
her men.
He ran a gloved hand along her torso, obviously admiring the
scars he’d placed there. “I read you lost your womb, dear.”
Temper. She had to watch it. She wanted to spit on him. “The
surgery to repair my intestines and uterus didn’t go well. I bled out,
and they performed a hysterectomy. I was lucky to live.”
And she could see that now. She’d been lucky. She’d lost
something precious, but she hadn’t lost her life. Rafe was right. They
could have a family if they wanted one. They could adopt. Their
lifestyle would be a challenge, but she knew people who could cut
through red tape. Stef Talbot had offered his help in the past, and
she’d turned him down because she didn’t want to be a charity case. It
wasn’t charity, she realized suddenly. It was love. It was caring. It
was family.
“You’re getting emotional, dear.”
Laura felt the tears running down her face. She felt his hands on
her body. It felt like the ultimate violation. She preferred his violence to this slow, torturous petting. “How are you going to get out of this,
Joe? Rafe and Cam know the Marquis de Sade is someone in the
FBI.”
He chuckled and reached down. At least his hands were off of her.
When he came back, there was a small brush in his hand. It was pearl
handled and had old-fashioned bristles. Laura felt every muscle in her
body tense. She remembered what he could do with that feminine
looking brush. He’d beaten her with something very similar. In
between “sessions,” he had used it to brush her hair.
“You’ve made it impossible for me to continue, but I think you’ve
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freed me in some ways, too.” He reached over and started caressing
her hair with the brush. His motions were languid as though he deeply
enjoyed this part of his ritual. “My time with the FBI is done. I have a car waiting for me. I’ll make it to Mexico and on to some friends in
South America. I have an appointment with a plastic surgeon. Thanks
to my dearly departed wife, I have quite a bit saved up. She had a trust fund, you know.”
Just how long had Joe been killing? She’d written in her profile
that there had to have been an inciting incident that started the killer on his path. “Your wife cheated on you.”
Joe started. He stepped back, pulling the brush from her hair.
“Yes. I gave the bitch everything, and she preferred the gardener. She
even got herself pregnant.”
That explained it.
“Marla was just like my mother. Dear mother left me with an
alcoholic, abusive father because she needed to follow her heart. She
also left me with my idiot brother. He came in handy, though.” He
took a step back, the brush at his side. “Now, little rabbit, it’s time for some punishment. Do you know what the Marquis used to say? He
said it is always by way of pain that we arrive at pleasure. He was
right. Your pain is my pleasure.”
He snapped the brush back, and Laura cried out when she felt the
sting along her skin.
She tugged at the ropes, but they wouldn’t come loose.
Another strike and she cried out again. Fire licked along her flesh.
“We’re going to have a fine time, you and I,” Joe said with a
ghastly smile on his face. “And I have a note written out for those
dolts you call lovers. They weren’t smart enough to find me, and now
they’re going to lose you.”
“Think again.” Laura’s head came off the table at the sound of
Rafe’s voice.
Rafe stood in the doorway that led from the kitchen to the dining
room. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her breath
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caught. There wasn’t a single thought that he could be hurt. He was
here to save her. Everything would be fine now.
Joe shrank back. He dropped the brush, an almost bored look on
his face. “I didn’t expect that.”
“I’m sure you didn’t. You never expected anyone to put it
together,” Rafe replied.
A little smirk lit Joe’s face. “It took you long enough. Do you
have any idea how much fun it’s been to watch you chase your tail?”
Rafe ignored him. “Does he have a gun, bella?”
Laura shook her head. “Not where he could get it before you
could shoot.”
Joe shrugged as though he’d been caught in a little lie rather than
exposed as a serial murderer. “Well, I suppose you’ll take me in
now.”
Cam came in from the opposite direction, from the living room.
Both of her men carried guns leveled at Joe. “That would be the
procedure.”
Cam looked down at her, his eyes seeming to take in every mark
on her body.
“And you’re a good little boy, aren’t you? Both of you. I’m
counting on that, you know. Let me tell you idiots how this is going to
go. You’re going to take me in, but you’ll find most of the evidence is
utterly tainted. Good luck pushing through a case where the lead
investigator is also the suspect. You won’t have a shred of evidence
that will hold up. I made sure of it. I’ll get out on a technicality, and you should know, I’ll come for her again.” He smiled. “Perhaps this
will be a fun little game, too. I know I’m smarter than any judge.”
Laura wanted to be sick. He really would. And he was right. All
of the evidence was contaminated.
Joe re
ached a hand out for her. “You’re mine, little rabbit. Bars
aren’t going to keep us apart. This game isn’t over until I hold your
heart in my hands.”
“We’re not playing games, Joe,” Rafe said, his eyes cold.
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He nodded at Cam and fired. Her men fired one shot a piece. Joe’s
body staggered under the impact. Two holes opened up in his chest,
bright red blood blooming through his clothes. His eyes flared, and he
looked down at her. He reached a hand out toward her.
Rafe moved quickly, shoving the dying man away. “You don’t
touch her. Not ever again.”
Cam’s face came into view. “Baby.” He put a hand on her hair,
and she could hear the emotion choking his throat. “Baby, are you
okay? God, he hurt you.”
She shook her head, wanting so much to get her arms around him.
“I need a knife!” Rafe called out.
Cam pulled off his own shirt and covered her with it. “Wolf and
Logan are here, baby.”
Wolf entered the room, looking down at the body on the floor.
Logan followed after him. Wolf passed Rafe a knife, and he went to
work on her bindings.
“I’ll have you out in a moment, bella,” he promised.
Logan was already on his radio. “Yeah, Sheriff, we’re going to
need to call in some help. We found her. Laura’s fine, but Deputy
Briggs and Special Agent Kincaid were forced to put the suspect
down. He was going to kill her.”
Rafe turned back and sent the deputy a grateful smile. He passed
the knife across to Cam who cut through the last of her bindings, and
she was free. Rafe pulled her up and into his arms. She was
deliciously crushed. Even the pain from the strikes she’d received
now just reminded her that she was alive and they were here.
“Bella, I was so scared.” Rafe didn’t seem to care that her ass was hanging out, but Cam came around the other side and covered her
with his body. His arms wound around her.
“I was terrified,” Cam admitted.
“I’m fine.” Laura sighed and let herself sink into their warmth. “I
knew you would come for me.”
She felt a tremble go through Rafe’s body. “Always, bella. Never,
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