by Jenny Lyn
Sean resembled his father so much it almost hurt to look at him. Even though he was in his midsixties, Tom was still quite handsome and relatively fit. They had the same strong, masculine bone structure, same dark hair, although Tom’s was graying around his face, and the same expressive evergreen eyes. Sean’s had tiny flecks of gold around his pupils that became more pronounced when he laughed. Or when he was turned on.
Not the time to be thinking about that, Erin.
“It’s my fault things went bad between you and Sean. I should’ve never asked you to keep my health problems from him. I shouldn’t have kept them from my family in the first place. It was wrong of me to put you in that position.”
Erin smiled ruefully. “It’s okay. I stuck my nose in your personal business when I should have just kept my mouth shut. Anyway, what’s done is done.” She hesitated, knowing she was about to scrape the scab off another wound, an old wound, but what difference did it make now. It was hurt on hurt. “If I had a family like yours, I’d want to spare them from as much pain as possible too.”
Tom frowned. “You don’t?”
“I have an older brother who lives in New Orleans. My parents were killed when I was thirteen, so I guess I saw both sides of the coin.”
That’s what made keeping your secret that much harder.
“Yes, I suppose you did,” he said, still frowning. “I’m very sorry to hear that.”
“Thank you.” Erin drew a deep breath, noting the melancholy ache seemed duller this time, less suffocating at the mention of her loss. But that didn’t mean she wanted to discuss it in depth. She grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I should go. I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you.”
“I’m glad you came by.” He held on for a moment more. “Erin…Sean has—”
Just as he said Sean’s name, the door to the room swung open, and the man himself stepped through. Filling the small space. Sucking all the air from her lungs.
They both stood frozen, lips parted in surprise, eyes stretched wide as they took each other in. For a moment, she thought his gaze looked almost…hungry. He swallowed; then his mouth moved as if he was trying to form a word.
Erin’s chest squeezed tight. Even if she could think of something coherent to say, she wouldn’t have been able to get it past the choking lump in her throat. The backs of her eyes stung. Oh no, she would not lose it here. She’d shown far too much weakness in front of him as it was. If she was going to fall apart again, it would be while she was alone.
She slid her hand from Tom’s grasp and darted past Sean, out of the room, and into the closest available elevator, punching the Down arrow once she stepped inside. As the doors slid closed, she thought she heard him call her name. Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking on her part.
When the elevator hit the first floor, she jogged to her locker to retrieve her backpack, then sent Luke a quick text to find out which one of them was following her home. Instead of texting her back, he called.
“Hey, Erin,” he said, his voice sounding strained on the other end of the line. “We’ve all been called away to another murder, but I’ve sent a patrol unit to follow you home. He’ll post watch outside your apartment until we get through here.”
Her stomach jumped into her throat. “Is it…does it look like the same guy?”
Luke sighed a thousand defeated breaths at once. “I think so.”
There was so much dejection and frustration in his reply, Erin’s hand tightened on her phone in sympathy. This had to be taking a hard toll on them all, being unable to catch this monster while a fear-based hysteria grew in the city’s residents and officials. The mayor was threatening curfews. Sales of various forms of self-protection were skyrocketing. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to Erin to see the hospital have an uptick in accidental shootings. With any luck they’d catch a break on their case very soon or else the city was going to have a mass panic on their hands.
Still clutching her phone to her ear, she headed for the parking garage. “I’m sorry, Luke.”
“Me too,” he said. “The patrolman has your information—where you work, the make and model of your car, where you live.”
“I see him,” she said as she made it to the doctors-only area of the garage. Relief loosened some of the boulders of tension in her shoulders. “He’s parked a few cars down from me.”
“I told him to expect you around six.”
She checked her watch. “I’ll have to apologize for keeping him waiting.”
“He’s doing his job, kiddo. I’ll check in when we wrap things up here.”
“Thanks, Luke, and good luck.”
When she hung up, she dug her keys out of the side pocket of her backpack and gave the cop a little wave to let him know she was aware of him. Through his tinted windshield, she saw him lift a finger from the steering wheel in acknowledgment, but that was all she got. Erin climbed in her car and drove out of the garage, her temporary shadow in tow.
Chapter Sixteen
Sean was disoriented for a moment, as if he hadn’t walked in and seen Erin standing there beside his father. That instead he’d been suffering from a sleep-deprived hallucination, before he ran after her. “Erin, wait!”
But the elevator doors slid shut before he could reach her. He slammed his hand against the wall in frustration, then walked back to his father’s room, his mind racing.
“What time was Mom coming up?” he asked his dad, trying not to appear too anxious to leave.
“I’ll be fine, son, just get out of here!” his dad said, shooing him out the door.
He caught the next available elevator, which took so long it must have made the trip from three states away, and rode it down to the ground floor. There was no sign of her blonde head in the hallways when he disembarked, so he went in search of her.
After checking the cafeteria, peeking inside rooms, and even loitering outside a few ladies’ restrooms like a pervert, Sean headed for the ER, thinking he wasn’t above whipping his badge out of his pocket to get past any barriers he might encounter. Sitting in the waiting room before, he’d noticed people were not allowed into the actual treatment area until they were called back by a staff member. He hesitated for a bit, waiting to see if Erin exited that way or if perhaps Tess came out to fetch someone, but his patience was wearing thin. The next time the staff buzzed a person in to see a loved one, he followed them through the frosted glass sliding doors.
It was more subdued back there than what he’d expected. He’d figured on absolute chaos, but nobody was screaming or bleeding profusely. People weren’t shouting or running back and forth, which might explain why Erin had the time to come up and visit his dad. Either that or she was at the end of her shift. His heart sank a little with that thought. If he had to drive to her apartment he would of course, but he didn’t want to wait a minute longer, not when he’d come to his senses and found his balls.
“Sean, what are you doing back here?”
He turned around. “Tess! Thank God. Where’s Erin?”
She got that look on her face again—the wary, reproachful glare that told him this wasn’t going to be easy, not by a long shot. “Why should I tell you that?”
Sean winced and rubbed his forehead. “Because I was wrong to say what I did to Erin that night in her apartment. I was hurt that she’d kept the information about my dad from me, and I lashed out, not considering her feelings, her job or…or that my dad might’ve asked her to keep his condition a secret. She went up to see him just now, and I walked in. I couldn’t find my tongue fast enough before she ran out of the room. It’s killing me that I’ve upset her again. Please, I need to apologize, Tess. I’ll get down on my knees and beg for her forgiveness if I have to, but I can’t do that if you won’t tell me where she is.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Promise you won’t hurt her ever again?”
“I swear I won’t hurt her ever again.”
He took her sigh as a sign of surrender. “Her shift’s over. She
should be on her way home by now.”
Sean was already jogging out of the ER, tossing a quick “Thank you!” over his shoulder.
* * * *
Erin did her best to hold it together as she drove home.
Sean looked good, even rumpled with dark shadows under his gorgeous green eyes. He’d looked like comfort and safety and desire. Of laughter and all the other amazing things he’d shown her and made her feel in just seven rather eye-opening days and nights.
It would get easier. Time heals all wounds, or so they say. She knew that was a lie. They didn’t all heal. It might make them hurt less, yes, but not heal completely. Scars were souvenirs, whether you bore them inside or out. A mistake, a slip, an injury, a repair. Tom would have a nice one on his chest from his surgery, a visible reminder to take better care of himself. Erin couldn’t see hers, but they were there—old ones that still throbbed on occasion, and a new one that no amount of sutures could close.
She scrubbed her knuckles over her sternum as if that might ease the ache and glanced in her rearview mirror as she drove into her condo complex. The cop followed her around to the parking area in front of her unit, choosing the empty slot beside her assigned space. This time of the morning, most of her neighbors were either leaving for work or already gone to avoid the thick commuter traffic.
She climbed out of her car, and the cop followed suit, all stiff propriety in his dark blue uniform, crisp hat, and mirrored shades. He wore a belt lined with black leather pockets of different sizes and shapes, along with a gun similar to the one Sean carried. Erin thought he appeared rather annoyed at having to follow some chick home and babysit, whereas he’d prefer to be out busting speeders or eating a lazy breakfast with his buddies at a local diner.
She pasted on a fake smile and offered her hand. “Hi, Officer…” She glanced quickly down at the nametag above his badge. “Moody. I’m Erin Taylor. I appreciate you following me home.”
He shook her hand, giving her a stiff smile in return. “My pleasure.”
The sunglasses were a little aggravating and made him appear coolly indifferent to her plight. Oh well. She didn’t want him to hang out and socialize over coffee. All he had to do was make a quick check of her condo; then he could sit in his car and do whatever cops did while they waited for a crime to be committed.
Get in, get out, leave me alone with my misery and a hot shower.
After unlocking her front door, she stepped back out of his way so he could do his thing. He hesitated a moment as if he didn’t understand what she was waiting for. Erin raised her eyebrows and made an after you gesture with her hand. Wow, Luke had sent her a real winner.
“Oh, right,” he said, palming the grip of his pistol. “Wait here until I give you the all clear.”
“You bet.” Erin fought the urge to roll her eyes. He’s here to help you, remember? Be nice.
He paused in the foyer, nodding once at the blinking alarm panel. “Might wanna turn that off before you get a call from the alarm company.”
“Of course,” she said, thumbing the code before stepping back into the threshold of the front door to wait.
He disappeared inside her apartment but was back in less than five minutes. Okay, her condo wasn’t huge, but when Sean had first searched it, it felt as though it took an hour for him to return and tell her everything was fine. Clearly, this dude had job burnout.
“Miss Taylor, I need you to take a look at something for me,” he said, motioning her inside.
“What is it?” Erin asked, anxious all of a sudden. Had someone broken in? She dropped her backpack in the foyer, making a quick visual sweep of the condo. She didn’t immediately notice anything out of place.
The door shut behind her; then the dead bolt clicked, making her spin around at the chilling sound. Fear poured through Erin’s body in a sickening rush as the cop swept his hat from his head and tossed it aside.
Spiky platinum blond hair.
She’d seen that hair before. Her heart began to thud so hard it hurt. The sunglasses came next. A memory slammed into her.
“What can I get you, sugar?”
“The bartender,” she said, her mind racing. What to do, what to do? Run? Scream? Grab something to use as a weapon?
He gave her a devil’s smile, all pearly-white fangs and evil dancing in his eyes as he took a measured step toward her. “Smart girl. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a doctor.”
He unbuckled the heavy tool belt around his waist, dropping it to the floor. The action was sexual in nature, as if he was starting to undress. Erin swallowed against the bitter bile that rose in her throat.
And he’d dropped the gun! Her gaze darted down to where it lay, still tucked inside its holster, thinking if she could just find a way to get her hands on it. While he kept his gaze locked on her, he reached down to slide his hand beneath his right pant leg, withdrawing a huge knife from inside his boot. The blade gleamed ominously in the sunlight leaking in through the windows.
She drew a shaky breath, trying to remain calm, but she could feel a tidal wave of terror rising inside her. Her eyes darted from the knife to his face, to the bar in the kitchen to her left, searching, searching, frantic and wild. “Please, you don’t want to do this.”
“Oh, yes I do. So much so that I killed a cop for the opportunity.”
Another cold chill raced down her spine.
So this was what real horror felt like, she thought, a thousand unpleasant sensations warring inside her body at once, each one fighting for dominance. Then a strange sort of clarity took over. The will to survive. Erin summoned every ounce of courage she had, along with the anger over what he’d done to all those other women. He would do the same to her too. But she wasn’t going down without a fight.
She backed up a cautious step, then another, luring him farther into the apartment and away from the front door. It was the only chance she had to try to escape.
His body tensed, and then he lunged, grabbing for her with his free hand. Erin darted to her right, into the living room, barely escaping his grasp. She swung blindly at a lamp, knocking it over in his path, then did the same to a second one. He swore behind her as he stumbled over them, kicking at least one out of his way. Glass shattered as it connected with something solid.
She made it to the front door, clawing at the dead bolt and the knob at the same time, but a hand wrapped around her ponytail, snatching her backward. Erin let go a blood-curdling scream of both pain and hope that someone would hear her. Stinging fire erupted in her scalp before he palmed the back of her head, and the wall rushed toward her face. At the last second, Erin twisted her head and closed her eyes.
Agony bloomed in her cheekbone, radiating in a white-hot surge toward her ear, into her eye socket, and down into her jaw. Her knees buckled, then hit the hard tile floor of her foyer. She blinked open her eyes, but unconsciousness was trying its best to pull her under.
No! You have to stay awake!
Erin shook her head to clear the fogginess the savage blow had caused. When she opened her mouth to scream again, his hand clamped down over it. He made her stand, pulling her up by the neck. The blade of the knife pressed firmly against her throat. A sharp sting told her it had broken the skin before she felt the trickle of blood crawling down her neck.
“Go ahead and fight, sugar. I love it when they struggle. Gets me hard faster.” His breath was hot and acrid across her cheek, his body heavy as he pushed the sickening evidence of his words against her ass.
Erin bit back a sob of helplessness while behind his clammy hand she struggled to breathe. She didn’t dare move for fear the blade would slice farther into her skin. Tears of pain made her nose stuffy, and he held her mouth so tightly her teeth mashed into the back of her lips. She was determined not to whimper at the throbbing in her head.
Her captor jerked her away from the wall and removed the knife from her throat. His hand left her mouth to land in a hard shove between her shoulder blades. Erin went flying forw
ard, crashing into and over an end table in her living room. More pain erupted in her thighs and shins. She threw her hands out to try to break her fall and felt one of the bones in the back of her left hand snap seconds before she landed face-first on the carpet. Her teeth broke the thin skin on the inside of her mouth, and the taste of blood swirled across her tongue.
Then he was climbing on top of her, snatching her head up by her hair, forcing her to roll over. Dazed, limp with hurt, and fighting the blackness creeping into the edges of her vision, Erin felt the fabric of her scrub top give way as the knife’s blade sliced through it.
Oh God, I’m going to die.
* * * *
Sean parked behind Erin’s car. A JPD cruiser sat next to it, empty. Annoyance settled heavily in his gut.
On the way over, he’d checked in with Luke, only to find out about the most recent murder, and that Luke had sent a uniform to look out for Erin in the interim. The officer would be adequate at doing his job, but it still didn’t sit well with Sean’s overprotective nature when it came to Erin. Given the circumstances, there wasn’t much he could do about it. Until now.
As he walked past the police cruiser, something caught his eye and he backed up a step.
The right rear taillight was busted out—a definite no-no for a cop to be sporting on his work vehicle. And it appeared to be recently broken.
When he looked closer at the rear end of the car, there were several tiny dots spattered across the white paint of the trunk lid. Sean leaned down, scraping at one with his fingernail. It came off easily. Examining the speck further, he would’ve sworn it was dried blood.
The hair on the back of his neck rose.
The door to the cruiser was locked when he tried the handle, so he pressed his face to the window. In the front passenger-side floorboard sat a pile of clothing, one of which looked like a wadded-up dark blue sweatshirt with faded yellow letters.
“He had on a dark hoodie. It looked black, but I suppose it could’ve been navy blue, with something written across the front of it in faded yellow letters. I want to think it said Navy, but I can’t be sure.”