Cold Case at Carlton's Canyon

by Rita Herron

  “Her pulse is low and thready, and she’s banged up, but the air bag worked, so she might be all right.”

  Amanda noted a few differences in the girl she’d once known. Gone was her pointed nose; instead she had a petite rosebud of a nose. Her teeth had been straightened, her coke-bottle glasses were gone and...she had implants.

  Was this what her aunt had meant about Bernie wanting to come back and show off what she’d made of herself? That she was a beauty now, not the geeky masculine awkward teen they’d made fun of.

  “Bernie.” Amanda caught Bernie’s hand in hers. “Can you hear me?”

  Bernie gave a low groan; then her eyelids fluttered. Wild panic darted through her eyes.

  “You’ve had an accident,” Amanda said. “The ambulance is on its way.”

  Bernie reached her hand up to touch her face as if to make sure her remodeling hadn’t been affected.

  “You’re fine,” Justin said. “Just some bruises from the air bag. But the medics need to check you out.”

  “Why did you run?” Amanda asked.

  Bernie’s lips quivered, making Amanda’s stomach knot.

  “You were outside the inn,” she continued. “Were you looking for Julie and Lynn?”

  Bernie coughed, wincing as she gripped her chest in pain. “They wouldn’t let me stay there,” she growled. “Stupid jerks haven’t changed at all.”

  “Is that why you made all those girls disappear over the years?” Justin asked. “Why you killed Kelly Lambert and Suzy Turner?”

  Bernie hissed through clenched teeth. “They deserved to die. All of them...they deserved exactly what they got.”

  * * *

  THE AMBULANCE ROARED to a stop and two medics jumped out. Amanda directed them to Bernadette.

  “This woman is a suspect in a homicide so I need to ride with her,” Justin said.

  The blond medic checked Justin’s badge while the dark-haired one hurried to Bernie and took her vitals. He instructed Amanda not to let her move; then he and the second medic retrieved the stretcher, secured Bernie’s neck with a brace and boarded her.

  “I’ll ride along if you want to meet us at the hospital,” Justin said.

  Amanda agreed, her expression torn. “I’ll search her car and find her phone and meet you there.”

  Justin climbed in beside Bernie, hoping to solicit a confession on the way to the hospital.

  But the minute the doors slammed shut, she closed her eyes and clammed up.

  “Bernadette,” he said in a gentle voice. “If you abducted Julie Kane or Lynn Faust and they’re still alive, you need to tell me now. Things will go a lot easier on you if we find them alive.”

  She opened her eyes and gave him a cold stare.

  “The D.A. can cut you a deal for their safe return. And we can arrange psychiatric care instead of putting you in a maximum-security prison.”

  A blink of her eyes was her only response.

  “Think about it,” Justin said as the ambulance careened around a curve and into the hospital emergency room entrance. “A psychiatric hospital versus a prison with murderers, rapists and gangs.”

  A sinister smile curved her lips. “They deserved to die,” she said again. “Every single one of them.”

  Justin urged her to say more as the ambulance screeched to a stop, and the medics pulled the stretcher from the ambulance. But she maintained her silence.

  Was she the sociopath who’d committed all these crimes?

  By the time Amanda arrived, they’d carried Bernadette off for X-rays and a CAT scan. The two of them went to get coffee and Amanda paced the waiting room while they waited on Bernadette to be moved to a room.

  “Did you find a gun in her car?” Justin asked.

  “No.” Amanda lifted her cell phone. “I’ve been checking her calls but so far, nothing we can use against her. And no calls to any of our victims.”

  The doctor entered and cleared his throat. “She’s going to be all right. She sustained a blow from the air bag, but no broken ribs. We’ll watch her overnight for a concussion.” His brows arched in question. “We did a tox screen, and it showed that she is taking medication that’s used to treat bi-polar disorder.”

  “She was a mental patient at one time,” Justin filled in.

  “That explains it,” the doctor said. “Do you know who her doctor is?”

  Amanda relayed their conversation at the mental hospital. “We’re putting her under arrest,” Amanda said. “I’m sure the court will order a psych evaluation. I’m assigning my deputy to stay at her door all night. But I want to talk to her again before I leave.”

  Justin followed her inside, and they found Bernadette sleeping.

  “Damn, Bernie,” Amanda said, her tone laced with irritation. “Have you been kidnapping and murdering our classmates all these years?”

  But Bernadette had lapsed into a deep sleep and didn’t respond.

  “I offered her a deal,” Justin said. “But she just reiterated that the girls deserved to die.”

  “No, they didn’t,” Amanda said fiercely. “There are a lot of jerks in high school, but people grow up and some of them change.”

  Justin rubbed his hands down her arms in a soothing gesture. “You have to remember that she’s mentally ill, Amanda. Her thought processes don’t work like a normal person’s.”

  Amanda knotted her hands into fists. “She has to wake up and tell us where Julie and Lynn are.”

  A knock sounded at the door, and the deputy poked his head in. “Reporting for duty, Sheriff.”

  Amanda updated him on the situation. “Make sure she stays handcuffed to the bed. I want to question her if she wakes up.”

  He claimed a seat in the vinyl chair in the corner. “I’ll call you the minute she stirs.”

  “Thanks.”

  Justin checked his watch as they left the hospital. It was midnight already. They’d been working nonstop since he’d arrived in town. Something nagged at the back of his head as she drove from the hospital though.

  Julie and Lynn were still missing. And he’d wondered if Amanda was a target.

  Was she safe now that Bernadette was in custody?

  * * *

  AMANDA PARKED AT the station, her adrenaline waning, and Justin retrieved his SUV.

  Clouds rolled above, obliterating the moon as he followed her to her place. Amanda kept reliving the past few days, seeing the dead girls’ bodies in her head.

  Bernadette had been cunning enough to remain under the radar for years. But now that she was in custody, they could hope the town would be safe again.

  But they still needed to find Julie and Lynn and the bodies of the other missing victims.

  Weary, she parked and walked up her porch steps, aware Justin was close behind her. She could feel his big body, his strong presence, his intensity...

  She halted on the porch, her heart stuttering. A picture had been tacked on her door.

  One of her cut out from her class yearbook. A big X had been drawn across her face.

  A deep shudder coursed through her body.

  “What the hell?” Justin snarled.

  “It’s a message to me, that I was going be next,” Amanda whispered hoarsely.

  Justin yanked gloves from his pocket, tugged them on and removed the photo from the door. “If she left her prints on it, this will help us build the case.”

  “Bag it and we’ll send it to the lab tomorrow,” Amanda said. “We need to check in with them and see what they found at the event center, too.”

  Even though they had Bernadette in custody, she removed her weapon before unlocking the door. Behind her, Justin did the same and she slowly crept inside.

  Everything looked just as she’d left it, yet she had the uneasy sense that someone had been inside. She visually swept the attached kitchen while Justin eased his way to the hall and her bedroom.

  “Clear,” he called.

  She walked to the bedroom and looked inside, then checked her bathroo
m. “It doesn’t look like anything’s been touched.”

  “She’s taunting you, wants you to know she’s watching.”

  “She wanted to kill me, too,” Amanda said, the truth harsh. “For some reason, she lumped me with that group even though I wasn’t a cheerleader or dancer or part of their crowd.”

  “Maybe she thought you were protecting them.”

  “That could be,” Amanda admitted.

  Justin pulled her near him, his dark gaze raking over her. “Bernadette is a sick woman. No one could have predicted what she would do.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and her heart fluttered with a feminine awareness that she rarely felt.

  It was probably just the situation, she told herself. She was upset. Women her age had died all around her and she’d been helpless to save them.

  “Amanda,” Justin said in a husky whisper. “You’re nothing like the students who were mean to Bernadette. You know that, don’t you?”

  Her chest ached with suppressed emotions. “But I should have seen how disturbed she was.” Her voice cracked. “The people in town depended on me to solve this case instead of letting it go on so long.”

  Justin stroked her arms with his hands, making her want to lean into him.

  “You did solve it. Bernadette is handcuffed, and we’ll get her confession in the morning and find out where Lynn and Julie are.” He lifted her chin with his thumb. “Not only did you do a good job, but you showed compassion to the victims and their families. That’s a lot more than some law enforcement officers do.”

  Her breath caught as she looked into his eyes. For a brief second she felt totally vulnerable, feminine, wanted.

  Desire heated the air between them, desire charged by emotion, danger and adrenaline from the case and horrors they’d seen.

  Desire that made her forget all her reservations.

  Pulse throbbing, she laid her hand against his cheek. Coarse beard stubble grazed his jaw and his lips were thick, parted as if hovering, waiting for a kiss.

  She answered him by rising on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to his.

  * * *

  RAW HUNGER BLAZED through Justin as Amanda fused her lips with his. She was tough but tender, smart but vulnerable, shy yet aggressive. A mixture of sensuality that fueled his desire with an intensity he’d never felt before.

  Some part of his brain shouted at him to stop this madness, but the week had been filled with another kind of madness that made him crave this kind. A physical connection charged with want, need and passion.

  He deepened the kiss, teasing her lips apart with his tongue. She moaned and captured his face between her hands, moving against him in a seductive torture.

  Wind whistled behind them, and he realized they’d left the door open. He kicked it closed with his foot, then trailed his hand down Amanda’s side. When his hand hit her holster, he paused.

  “Amanda?”

  She murmured a soft whisper of need against his lips, then dropped her hands and unstrapped her holster. He quickly did the same, and they set their weapons on the end table.

  The plush rug in front of her fireplace beckoned, and he threaded his hands into her hair and kissed her again, leading her to the rug, where they knelt, slowly undressing each other in a seductive tease.

  Even in a uniform, she was beautiful, but in red satin panties and a sheer lace bra, she was exquisite. Her hair fell around her bare shoulders, inviting him to play in the tangled strands, and the rise of her chest as she exhaled with desire drew his eyes to the soft flesh above the lacy cups of her bra.

  He dipped his mouth and tasted her skin. Succulent. Sweet. Heady.

  She moaned and stripped his shirt, buttons popping in the breathy silence, the heat between them igniting as he lowered his mouth to tease her nipples through the lace. Her breasts were larger than he’d expected, her nipples dark, achingly enticing. He cupped them in his hands, molding them and lifting them so he could tease the turgid peaks before he stripped the bra and held her bare in his hands.

  “You’re so beautiful, Amanda,” he rasped.

  “You feel so good,” she whispered as she unsnapped his jeans and pushed them down his hips.

  His length surged and hardened, aching to be free, inside her.

  Desperate for her touch, he helped her shuck his jeans and then she was climbing on top of him, pushing him back against the rug, straddling him and stroking him.

  His sex throbbed, begging for release, but he moved her hand and shifted her hips so he could strip her panties. Her hair fell around her face like a curtain as she bent over him and kissed his neck.

  Erotic sensations flooded him, but a moment of rationality returned, and he reached for his jeans, grabbed a condom from his pocket and ripped it open. Amanda helped him roll it on, her eyes darkening as she straddled him again and lowered herself onto him.

  He gripped her hips, barely hanging on to control as his length filled her. With a whispered sigh of pleasure, she rotated her body, moving up and down on top of him in a frantic rhythm. The friction was erotic, her body a haven for him as he thrust deeper and deeper.

  She braced her hands on his chest, her breath gushing out with a moan as her body quivered. Euphoria carried her away, and she moved faster and faster, circling her hips and riding him until his own orgasm teetered on the surface.

  He tugged one nipple into his mouth, suckling her until she cried out his name, and they rode the wave of pleasure together.

  * * *

  AMANDA GROANED, HER body convulsing, every nerve cell in her alive with erotic sensations. Justin gripped her hips, pumping deeper inside her until colors exploded behind her eyes and she soared over the edge.

  Her breath rasped out, and she clutched his shoulders, savoring the feel of his thickness inside her.

  She had never felt more complete. More...of everything. Pleasure blended with emotions, making her throat close as feelings for Justin overpowered her.

  Fear immediately seized her.

  She could not have feelings for him. He was a Texas Ranger married to his job just as she was. He could die on the job just like her father had.

  And then she’d be left behind again, alone and...broken.

  Instincts warned her to stop this foolishness now. To forget that she’d needed him and that he’d seemed to want her just as much as she wanted him.

  That it was the best sex she’d ever experienced.

  But that was it—just sex. Yes, just sex.

  Sex was normal. A tension release. They were two consenting adults simply working off the strain of the past few days.

  As long as she kept their lovemaking in perspective.

  She should pull away.

  But when she looked down into his passion-glazed eyes, and hunger heated his expression, she couldn’t make herself leave the rug.

  Justin must have felt the same way and wanted her to know the sex meant nothing because he rolled her sideways, then stood up and strode into the bathroom.

  She closed her eyes, reminding herself that they were on the same page, but disappointment made unwanted tears swell in her eyes.

  She wanted him again.

  The door creaked open, and she took a deep breath, expecting him to leave. Instead, he crawled back onto the rug with her, slid his arms around her and spooned her.

  Amanda wanted to turn around and kiss him again, but forced herself to lie still.

  Just for tonight, she’d let him hold her.

  * * *

  IT WAS ALREADY Friday. One more day until the reunion.

  One more day until the town would see that they couldn’t stand by and let innocent teenagers be bullied and brutalized and tormented.

  They thought words couldn’t hurt a child. But words could be cruel and cut a frail person to the bone just like a knife could.

  Anticipation rose, exhilarating and sweet. Ten years of watching those who’d sinned climb their way to the top in spite of their shortcomings.

  This
week they’d returned to brag and gloat as if the ones they’d trampled on didn’t matter.

  But they did matter.

  Tomorrow when they gathered to celebrate, they would be talking about funerals and goodbyes and the end of their glory days.

  And justice would finally be served.

  Julie and Lynn would attend that party, but they wouldn’t be dancing.

  No...dead girls didn’t dance.

  Chapter Twenty

  Justin started to leave Amanda’s bed a half dozen times during the night. But each time he’d felt her lush, warm body against his and hadn’t been able to bring himself to go.

  Because he wanted her again.

  They had made love over and over during the night. Finally they’d slept.

  Both of them had been exhausted from the investigation and the tension had triggered their need for raw sex.

  Nothing more.

  Then why don’t you want to walk away?

  He climbed from bed, unable to answer that question because the answer terrified him. Because he was starting to care for Amanda.

  She turned over and murmured his name, and he lowered his head and kissed her. “Time for reality. That press conference is this morning. And I need to question Bernadette again.”

  Her so-called confession had haunted him during the night. She’d said the girls deserved to die. But she’d never actually admitted that she’d killed them.

  He needed to grill her for details. Make sure they had the right unsub.

  Amanda’s life depended on it.

  * * *

  THE MENTION OF the press conference drove thoughts of another lovemaking session with Justin to the back of Amanda’s mind. She heard her shower kick on, and she was tempted to join Justin, but with daylight streaming through the window, she had to face reality and the truth.

  She and Justin were coworkers who’d relieved their stress in bed together. It happened.

  She’d get over it.

  Hoping to end the nightmare today, she dragged on a T-shirt, then went to the kitchen to make coffee. Her stomach growled, and she checked the fridge, then pulled out eggs and bread and whipped up some French toast.