Caught in the Crossfire

by Nichole Severn

  “That’s how he’s finding them.” She tapped the screen. Her arm brushed against Declan’s, and her entire body caught fire with adrenaline. They had a lead. “The crime scenes where each victim was left are too complex, too clean. I’d originally thought he was a true crime buff, maybe studied a bit of forensics, but this points to law enforcement. Someone in the FBI is targeting women who’ve been brought in for questioning during missing persons investigations. It’s the perfect cover.”

  “The FBI has dozens of agents assigned to their missing persons task force, Kate. We know the Hunter is local to Anchorage, knows the area and is a big-time hunter, but the Bureau won’t ever give us access to the personnel files without a warrant. Even then, by the time we get through the files, another woman could go missing.” Declan smoothed his hand over his wound. “I have your back, but we’ll have to come at this another way.”

  Heat worked through her. She had his back, too, and in that moment, she trusted him more than she’d ever trusted anyone since his death. Over the last year, she’d fought to keep her head above water, fought for her team, fought with everything she had not to dissolve into nothingness, but with him here, it was easier. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.

  “Our unsub had to be assigned to all four of our victims’ cases to come into contact with them, right? He didn’t choose these women at random. He got close to them during the investigations, probably talked with them a few times. Became familiar with their lives.” She blinked to clear the exhaustion from her head. They’d been running on fumes and fear for the last few days. Barely eaten more than marshmallows and chocolate. Barely slept. But she wouldn’t stop. Not until they identified the Hunter and brought his victims and their families justice. “Who was the lead agent?”

  Scanning the reports, Declan confirmed a commonality. “Special Agent Kenneth Winter headed all four missing persons cases, but these are career-making cases. A lot of agents and officers wanted in. The chief of police included. Wait. I’ve heard that name before.”

  Her stomach sank. “He’s Dominic’s partner.” The BAU’s newest agent had always been desperate to prove himself on the hardest cases. If he was responsible for these women’s deaths, what was harder than making it look like some other perpetrator had delivered the killing shot while taking credit for the collar in the end? Winter was over six feet tall, close to one hundred and ninety pounds. Had he been the one to toss her in that pit to die?

  Kate cleared her throat, shook her head to dislodge the memory. Like Declan said, these were career-making cases. Winter might be one name out of dozens all assigned to work missing persons cases. They’d have to dig deeper into each case.

  “Blackhawk Security has a contact in Anchorage PD. Maybe she can give us some insight into who might’ve taken a special interest in the women during the investigations.” Kate refocused on the dinner mess on the kitchen counter. Her body ached from tension, from being shot with an arrow, from the last four days. She grew heavy as a wave of dizziness took hold. “I’ll let Dominic know he might want to take a closer look at the missing persons cases.”

  And his partner.

  “Kate, you’re bottoming out.” Declan pushed away from the laptop and caged her against the cool countertop. “You need to get something other than sugar in you, shower and sleep for at least few hours. You’re no good to any of those women if you’re dead on your feet. I’ll fill Dominic in and finish up the mess here.”

  “Thank you.” She gripped the granite. He was right. Of course he was. If she didn’t take a step back now, the Hunter would only take advantage of her weakness. But the thought of stepping away—even after Dominic had ordered her to cut ties to the case, even for a few hours—pooled dread at the base of her spine.

  The Hunter had made this personal. He’d recruited Michaels to do his dirty work. Twice. He’d taken her husband’s memories, taken her unborn baby, taken everything that mattered. The killer was still out there, and he wouldn’t wait around for her to get herself together. He’d strike when she least expected it.

  “For everything,” she said. “Truth is, I feel better when I’m with you.” Not scared. Not weak. Kate framed Declan’s face with her uninjured hand, his five-o’clock shadow bristling against her palm. She didn’t have to hide from him. No secrets. No lies. No pretending. He’d pulled her from the darkness and out into the light, given her a second chance. He’d saved her, and she trusted him straight to her core. He would catch her long before she ever fell. She’d fight like hell to keep him at her side.

  “I’ve hunted at least a dozen monsters between my job at Blackhawk Security and consulting for the FBI, but this one...” Dropping her hand, she took a deep, cleansing breath and shook her head. “I’m glad you’re here. I wouldn’t want to work this case without you.”

  “Me, too. If for no other reason than having my own personal partner with benefits,” he said. “Pretty sure Dominic and I never had that kind of relationship.”

  Kate pressed her lower back into the counter. Was this a relationship? Sure, they’d slept together in that perfect little snow fort he’d built out back, but it had started simply as a way to stop the nightmares, to distract her from the harsh reality crashing down around them both. Only, being with Declan had become so much more. Hadn’t it?

  He leaned into her, his mouth mere centimeters from hers. His exhale brushed against the thin skin of her collarbone as he studied her from forehead to chin. Sliding his hand to her wrist, he traced the oversensitive veins running up her arm. “Now stop stalling and get in the shower. Because, angel, you smell awful.”

  A burst of laughter escaped her lips, and she tipped her head up toward the ceiling. “Trust me when I say this, I don’t smell as bad as you do.” Desire pushed through her as she grabbed his shirt collar and tugged him back toward the bedroom. “But it’s a good thing I have a solution for that.”

  * * *

  DAWN BROKE THROUGH the trees, but the feel of a new day hadn’t struck yet. With Kate asleep in his arms, it was easy to imagine the nightmares didn’t wait outside these walls. They could lie here, waste the day away in bed, surviving off nothing but each other’s body heat and whatever they could find in the pantry. But the world wouldn’t stop for them and neither would the Hunter.

  “I can almost see the wheels spinning in your head.” Her fingers smoothed between his eyebrows. Kate pulled the sheets around her, hiking her uninjured hand beneath her head. Mesmerizing green eyes followed the path of her fingers as she reached out to trace one of his scars. “Trying to figure out how to sneak out of here without waking me up again? It won’t work.”

  “Quite the opposite. I was devising a plan to convince you to stay in bed all day long.” Taking her chin between his thumb and first finger, he rolled into her. He needed to tell her the truth. He’d become the one person in this world she could rely on, and he intended to keep it that way. Hell, he was a jerk for keeping her in the dark this long.

  Her soft moan vibrated against him as she closed her eyes. “Wouldn’t take too much convincing, but since you’ve already gone through all that trouble, I’ll let you plead your case.”

  He pulled her flush against him with his arm. His mouth crashed onto hers, and Declan pushed everything he had into that kiss. The loneliness of waking up in that hospital room alone, the pain from the bullet wound in his side, the fear of losing her all over again. She shouldered it all and expected nothing in return. That was the kind of woman she was. Considerate, caring, honest.

  Everything he wasn’t.

  “I’m beginning to see your point, but I think I need to hear a bit more of your defense.” She smiled against his mouth, then skimmed her fingertips along his bottom lip. Setting her ear over his heart, she ran one hand through her hair. “It’s also time we got on the same page. I know I said after this investigation was over it’d be better if we go our separate ways, but a lot has ha
ppened since then.”

  Anxiety clawed through him. “Kate, wait—”

  “Please just let me finish before I lose my nerve.” Straightening, she placed a hand over the gauze taped to her shoulder. “For the past year I’ve been lost. I’ve helped dozens of patients move past their trauma in my career, but for the longest time, I couldn’t take my own damn advice. When it came right down to it, we were together for so long, I’d forgotten how to be alone.”

  She shook her head. “I hated it. I was cold inside. I’d given up hope of ever finding another person who could make me feel the way you did. I threw myself into my work because helping my clients was the only thing that made me feel alive. Until you walked back into that house five days ago.”

  Kate hiked the sheets farther up her body. “When you kiss me, I see a light at the end of this dark, lonely tunnel I’ve been stuck inside. You’re the strongest, most selfless man I’ve ever known, and I don’t want to give that up. I don’t want to give you up.” She smoothed her hand over his chest. “I want you to stay. I want us to try to make sense of whatever’s happening between us. It won’t be easy, but I think it’ll be worth it.” She placed her hand over his sternum. “So that’s how I feel. Now you tell me how you feel.”

  Heat worked through him, and he fisted his hands in the sheets. Committing the past few minutes to memory, Declan filled his lungs with her sweet vanilla scent. He had to tell her the truth, pray she’d still want him despite the lie. And if she didn’t... His gut tightened. Things would have to go back to the way they were. He’d rebuild his life. Without her. “Kate, there’s something you need to know before we—”

  A soft ringing reached his ears, and she lowered her forehead onto his chest. Her hair tickled his overheated skin as she pushed away to reach for her phone on the nightstand. “Hold that thought.” Bringing it to her ear, she pegged him with a smile, and his blood pressure spiked. “Kate Monroe.”

  The smile disappeared, her gaze sinking into the sheets. Her tongue swiped across her bottom lip, and she pushed herself upright. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and positioned the phone between her neck and shoulder as she reached for her discarded clothing on the floor. “When?”

  Everything inside of him shut down.

  “Okay.” Kate hauled her T-shirt over her head, careful of her wound. Slipping into her jeans, she hopped to pull them around her waist, and Declan shoved out of the bed. “I’ll be right there.”

  She tossed the phone onto the bed, turning away from him.

  “Kate?” Concern deepened his voice and ignited his instincts with battle-ready precision. “Tell me who was on the phone.”

  “That was Ryan. Sorry, Special Agent Dominic.” She turned, biting down on her thumbnail. “He got our message about the connection between the women and started digging into any active missing persons cases the FBI is investigating.” Kate ran a hand through her hair. She did that when she tried to hide the emotions fighting for release inside, but she couldn’t hide from him. The tension along her spine gave her away, and he rounded the bed in order to close the distance between them. “He believes another woman has been taken. And that his partner is responsible.”

  “Kenneth Winter. But what makes you think Dominic isn’t involved? That him pulling you back in isn’t some kind of trap? They’re partners. They’re assigned the same cases.” As far as Declan knew, Anchorage PD and the FBI were still analyzing the last scene, and the Hunter had already taken another victim? Damn it. They couldn’t keep up with this guy.

  “Serial killing teams are rare, but even so, Dominic’s name isn’t on any of the missing person reports.” Kate shook her head. “I know Ryan. He bleeds red, white and blue for the FBI.”

  “So Dominic wants to keep this quiet until he has enough evidence to bring his partner in for questioning,” Declan said. “That’s why he called you back in?”

  “He wants as many available eyes on this case as he can get. He’s at a scene he believes is the last known location of a missing woman who fits the Hunter’s MO.” She reached for her green cargo jacket and slipped into her boots. “There’s no rhyme or reason to this unsub’s attacks, and it’s only going to get worse from here. We need to catch this guy. If there’s a chance this latest victim can be brought home before we find her with an arrow through the heart, Dominic is going to take the risk of losing his job to do it.” Straightening, she softened her expression. “He’s going to email me the details in a few minutes, but I really want to finish our conversation.”

  “This case has to take priority.” Dominic’s call had bought Declan some time. He’d tell her the truth soon, but right now, bringing down the unsub who’d set this all in motion had to come first. “Don’t worry. We have time. We’ll do what we have to do to get those families justice, then talk about us.”

  “So there’s an us?” Her eyes glittered as sunlight speared through the windows. She stepped toward him, slipped her arms around his waist and stared up at him.

  “I’ve waited a long time to find the woman in my dreams. Do you think I’m going to walk away after everything we’ve been through?” Twisting a strand of her hand around his finger, he set his forehead against hers. He tilted her chin higher and planted a soft kiss on her mouth. “You accept my past, support me in the present and have given me a glimpse of my future. You’re my armor, and you and I will always be unfinished business.”

  That angelic smile of hers overwhelmed her expression, and he couldn’t help but smile back. “Not sure I had a choice in those first two things,” she said. “Finding out your husband isn’t dead after all is kind of a sink-or-swim situation.”

  “Good thing your personnel file says you’re scuba certified, then.” His laugh rumbled through him, and for the first time he could remember, the gutting hollowness inside didn’t ache. “Maybe after all this is over, you can show off some of those skills on a beach far the hell away from here.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck, hiking herself onto her tiptoes. “Hot sand, cold drinks and nothing but the ocean and room service? I could get on board with that.”

  He nibbled at her bottom lip, sliding his arms around her waist. Kissing a trail down her neck, he locked on their reflection in a standalone mirror against the wall. This. This was what he wanted. Her, for the rest of his life. Every wound he’d incurred, every scar left behind, they all paved the way to this moment, to her. Declan would fight until his last breath to protect her.

  Her tablet pinged with an incoming message, and she turned in his arms at the sound. “That’s probably the details Dominic said he’d send over. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said.

  Kate unwrapped her arms and crossed back to the nightstand beside the bed. He watched as she tapped the screen, confusion deepening the distinctive lines between her eyebrows. “That’s not...right.”

  “What is it?” He pushed his feet into his boots, the mattress dipping under his weight as he bent to tie them. His gut sank. Had law enforcement been too late? Declan pushed upright, took a single step forward. “Did they already find her?”

  “No.” She snapped her attention up and tossed the device face up onto the bed.

  Every muscle down his spine tightened as he studied the screen. Surveillance photos taken from outside her apartment—of Declan—dated a few weeks ago.

  “Looks like we’re going to have to hold off on that beach vacation,” she said.

  Chapter Twelve

  “How did you know I like cinnamon in my hot chocolate?” The dates on those surveillance photos couldn’t be right. If they were... Then Declan had been lying to her all this time.

  Nausea churned in her gut. Lying about his memories. Lying about not knowing who she was. The photos of him watching her apartment and their home two weeks ago proved that.

  “That’s not the question you want to ask, K
ate.” He straightened from tying his boots, gripping the edge of the mattress, his attention on her tablet. “Ask me.”

  She swallowed around the bile rising up her throat. The truth dried out her mouth and pulled at her body until her knees weakened. It took everything to keep herself upright, but the air had been taken right out of her. Her scars burned as though she’d been shot all over again. Pain spread from her shoulder down through the rest of her arm. Or was it the scars in her heart tearing open again?

  “How long have you had your memories back?” she asked.

  “Hard to say.” Piercing blue eyes locked on her, and the room spun. Was that an admission? Veins struggled to break through the skin of his forearms the harder his fingers clenched the edge of the mattress. “They still come in bits and pieces. I don’t remember everything.”

  “But you knew who I was before you walked into our house that night, right? You knew I was your wife, and you stayed away anyway. You let me think you were still dead.” Her eyes burned as betrayal hit.

  Kate forced herself to take a deep breath to drown the nausea, but his clean, masculine scent filled her system instead. The grief, the pain he’d helped ebb clawed through her, deepening the fissures Brian Michaels had put there in the first place. A combination of sorrow and rage exploded inside her. Hot tears burned a path down her face. Apparently, Declan had only come back into her life to finish the job.

  “Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Why keep me in the dark? I could’ve helped you sooner,” she said.

  He stood, towering over her to the point she had to crane her head back to look at him. “I woke up with four bullet wounds, Kate. I had no memory of how they’d gotten there or who pulled the trigger. For all I knew, you were the reason I was in that hospital bed.” He gripped his fists at his side. “I wasn’t sure I could trust you. I thought if I inserted myself back into your life pretending not to know anything about you, you could help me regain the rest of my memories and get me access to my personnel file with the FBI. Which you have.”