Killer Secrets

by Sherrie Orvik

  To hell with the past. To hell with rules. As long as he kept her safe, what difference did it make? Her eyes begged him to kiss her, and he was done fighting.

  He pressed his lips hard on hers, her lips soft, supple, and warm against his. He kissed her jaw, then her neck, and she dropped her head back, completely yielding to him.

  She grabbed the bottom of his shirt, practically tearing it over his head. Her fingertips slid up and down his back and she kissed his chest-slow, hot kisses that made him insane with desire. She stopped and locked her eyes with his, holding his gaze as her fingers trailed from his neck downward along his chest.

  Her stare made it hard to breath, hard to think about anything but the ecstasy of the moment. He pulled her shirt off and she pressed her chest against him, pressed her lips to his neck.

  “I need you, James. I…”

  Her breathing slowed, and she pulled back and stepped toward the table. Her face twisted, her eyes open wide under a low brow. “I had a candle on the table, and I had pulled all the curtains closed. Did Terry or Bailey open everything?”

  “No, they weren’t to disturb anything, just watch. Are you sure you left the curtains closed?” He grabbed their shirts and tossed Elyse’s to her.

  Elyse walked to the window and looked out, putting her shirt back on as she walked. “Positive. I felt like I was being watched, so I closed them all. It started getting dark, but the light wouldn’t come on, so I lit the candle and set it right in the middle of the table. Right there.” Her finger shook as she pointed it at the table.

  “Bailey said the electrical to the cabin had been cut. Somebody wanted you without power. The evidence team dusted everything for prints, but it looks like the perp was wearing gloves. No prints anywhere besides yours. We know it was the same guy who attacked you, though. Oden picked up his scent all around here. He must have taken the candle and opened the curtains to send you a message. He’s been here, and he’s been watching.”

  Elyse grabbed him and held him close. He could feel her heart speeding to keep time with her quickening breath.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “He’s not here now. I promised you as long as you were with me, you’d be safe, and I meant it.”

  She pulled back and looked at him. He had seen fear in her eyes before, but this was different. She was afraid of more than just her attacker.

  “We got what we came for, can we go? Please, James. I just want to get out of here. Take me…home.”

  Nothing had ever sounded better.

  “This is where you’d been living before the accident. This was home.”

  “It was only a home when my family was here. It was just a house for me, a place to hide. But someday, after all of this mess is over, maybe I can make it a home again.”

  He cocked his head and lowered his brow.

  “You know I can’t let you go, Ely—”

  “I want this place to be the way it used to be. Kids playing outside, the smells of a family meal cooking. Bedtime stories in front of the fireplace and roasted marshmallows by a big bonfire outside.”

  She closed her eyes, and her expression relaxed. He’d always thought she was beautiful, but there had been a hardness to her before that was disappearing before his eyes. She smiled and sighed as she relaxed in his arms.

  “I want to feel little sticky hands tugging at my legs and kiss little heads goodnight. I want to sit on the porch with…” She opened her eyes and gazed at him. Tears glistened in her eyes, making them even more beautiful than they usually were.

  “I’m tired of running, tired of being alone. I’m starting to realize home isn’t a place. It’s any place, as long as you’re there with someone you love.”

  His heart raced. Did she mean it? She wrapped her arms around his neck, warming his body. He slid one arm around her waist. She raised her face toward his, her exquisite lips mere inches from his.

  “You…think you might let yourself love someone?” He slid his hand around the back of her neck and held her gaze.

  She smiled. “Well, not just anyone. But I do have someone in mind. That is…if he’s up for the challenge. I have a tendency to be a little—”

  “—independent?”

  She let out a short laugh. “Yeah. But he can be a little…independent, too.”

  “He can,” James nodded. “But I think he’s up for the challenge.”

  Her back was still hot and trembled at his touch. He pulled her against him, fire running through every point their bodies came together. He slowly brought his lips to hers, letting the heat from her mouth warm his. He scooped her into his arms, and she laid her head against his shoulder.

  “Take me home,” she murmured against his neck.

  He locked the cabin door and carried her to the cab of the truck.

  The sunshine against her hair made her face glow, and he inclined his head to kiss her again. It was a feeling he never wanted to forget, her body next to his, her lips soft on his. He set her in the truck and rounded the front to get behind the wheel. She slid to the middle of the seat and laid her head on his shoulder.

  He looked at her and smiled. She looked perfect, in his truck, between him and Oden. He hoped she meant what she’d said, because if she ran now, he was going to get hurt.

  Chapter 14

  Elyse stood in the doorway to her parent’s blood-spattered room. Her daddy lay on the floor, the life that once flowed through him now pooled around him in a red puddle on the floor. Momma rocked Evie back and forth, singing a haunting lullaby while the blood of her youngest child ran down her face.

  Horror pulsed through Elyse’s veins like poison, making her stomach churn. She couldn’t stay, she couldn’t run. Fear nailed her feet to the floor.

  Something dark moved from the corner. A shadowy figure? A person came towards her from the back of the room. She squinted, trying to get a better picture of the approaching figure. Young—a teenager? Blood soaked jeans clung to the thin legs that walked towards her.

  “Run, baby.” Her mother’s voice was calm, detached. “Run!” That time it was a scream, a plea to survive from the depths of her mother’s soul.

  Her legs wouldn’t move. The figure reached out to grab her.

  “No!” She screamed. “Stay away! No!”

  “Elyse, wake up.”

  Her eyes shot open and she sat up. She grabbed James, who was lying beside her, leaning on one elbow. He pulled her into his arms and gently stroked her hair.

  “Shh, you’re okay. It’s over.”

  “I’m not okay. The nightmares are getting worse. I have at least one every night. I try to avoid sleeping, because I know I’m going to have to relive that day every time I fall asleep…I can’t do it anymore. I’m so tired.” She buried her head into his chest and cried, desperate for the comfort his arms gave her.

  “I wish I knew how to help you.”

  There might be a way, but he wasn’t going to like it. She didn’t really like it either, but she was running out of options. She released him and wiped the tears from her face.

  “I think I know…there might be a way.”

  She already knew how he was going to answer, but this was the only thing she could think of.

  “Tell me. I want to help you.”

  She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “What if…” She hesitated. There wasn’t going to be an easy way to say it. “I think I should see Dr. Mann—”

  “No. No way.” James shook his head. “I don’t trust him. You don’t need a shrink, you just need time.”

  “Just hear me out. What if he can help remember that day—the figure?”

  She placed her hand on his arm, wanting to feel his strength, hoping he felt her desperation. “I need to sleep again without fear. And it might help with the investigation—maybe even solve the case. Please, at least think about it.”

  He sighed, his expression uneasy. “I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises. And there would be conditions.”

 
; “Of course.”

  “You can’t see him by yourself. I don’t care about doctor-patient confidentiality. You need a guard with you.”

  “We’ll be discussing personal things, James. I don’t want some stranger with me. I—”

  James jumped to his feet. “Then I don’t want you seeing him. We still are trying to find your attacker, and I’m not going to have you out there, unprotected, while some lunatic—”

  She climbed out of bed and stood in front of him. “Whoa. I don’t want a guard. I want you there with me.”

  He sighed and looked at her, his tone resigned but firm. “Alright. But I’m still not so sure about Dr. Manning. You know, there are other psychiatrists in town. Maybe one of them could help you.”

  She shook her head. “Dr. Manning already knows about the nightmares. Plus, he was Momma’s doctor. Maybe now that she’s gone, he can tell me what she remembered about that night. Do you still have his card?”

  “Somewhere. Give me a couple of days to really think about this, though. Then we can talk about it some more, okay?”

  We can talk about it some more?

  She said she wanted him to come with her, but she didn’t need his permission. After everything that had happened between them, she thought they would be on more equal ground.

  “Look, James, it’s my brain we’re talking about. I think I have the right to decide whether or not to see Dr. Manning.”

  “You do. But you need to use caution, Elyse.” He let go of her and put his hands on his hips, pacing. He took a couple of deep breaths and continued. “I know you need answers, believe me, I do. I want answers as much as you do. But you need to remember I have a job to do. Your safety is my priority right now. I need to run background and credentials checks, and then, if everything checks out, we’ll call Dr. Manning. Okay?”

  The background checks were just a ruse. The hospital would have checked all those things before they’d hired Dr. Manning. James just didn’t like him, and she knew it. She also knew that wasn’t going to stop her from getting the answers she needed.

  “Okay. A couple of days.”

  He could have his two days. After that, she was calling Dr. Manning, whether he liked it or not.

  She wasn’t looking forward to talking to a shrink either, but she wanted answers. She needed to be able to sleep again without fearing the horrors that plagued her dreams.

  James paced back and forth, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. He stopped and looked at her, his eyes narrow, one corner of his mouth pulled up. “You really believe your mother was innocent, don’t you?”

  “You know I do.”

  He nodded and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His eyes shifted back and forth, seeming to search for something deep in the corners of his mind. He started pacing again.

  “There had to be a reason my dad thought she was, too. If you’re right, if someone besides Maggie killed your family, and it is the same person who attacked you—like you think it is—it would be motive for trying to kill you. If you’re right”—he raised his brow and pointed at her, then resumed pacing—“and the evidence from that day doesn’t support your theory—but if you’re right, and your attacker killed your family, they may be trying to finish what they started.”

  James stopped and focused his attention on her. “Maybe seeing Dr. Manning is a good idea, after all. If he can help you remember who was in the room that day, it just might lead us to your attacker.”

  “So, you’re on board with calling him?”

  “Yes—as long as you’re sure you want to do this. You know I want to solve the case and find your attacker, but whatever you’ve buried…well, you’ve obviously buried it for a reason. It could be very painful for you to remember.”

  She knew that. She also knew it couldn’t be any more painful than living in the constant fear that tormented her now. No matter how bad the truth was, it was going to be better than not knowing.

  “I’m sure,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck. “I can handle whatever we find out.”

  He enfolded her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “I know you can…I just want you to be prepared.”

  “You’ll be with me. Whatever the truth is, I’ll get through it.”

  “You know I only want to protect you, right?” He whispered into her hair.

  She slid her hands down his arms and took ahold of his hands, stepping back enough to look into his eyes. She held his gaze and bit her bottom lip, then smiled.

  “You didn’t really think I could do it until the attacker is caught, did you?”

  “Do what?”

  “Resist the delicious hero cop.” She smiled and raised her lips to his. Warmth washed through her body, and she pressed close to him, trying to memorize the feeling of his body against her. She was happy. For just a moment she almost forgot about the murders, forgot someone wanted her dead.

  Here in his arms she felt like she could handle anything. But he could very well be right. Whatever she had buried could be worse than what she remembered. Much worse. She took a deep breath, exhaling against his chest.

  James released her and kissed her forehead, almost as if he could read her thoughts and was trying to reassure her.

  “I think I know where that card is. I’ll go look.”

  She nodded and watched him walk toward the door. He stopped in its frame and looked at her. “You’re not gonna go through this alone. We’re doing this together.”

  She smiled and he turned and left the room. She closed her eyes and ran her hand through her hair.

  Together.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she had gone through something with someone else. She’d done everything alone for so long…she could do this alone too, if she wanted to. She was taking James along because she wanted to, not because she needed to. Right?

  An icy shiver ran through her. Her parents were supposed to take care of her, and they didn’t. Her foster family was supposed to take care of her, and they beat her. She closed her eyes, wondering why she’d let James get so close. Even he’d almost let her down because of what he thought about her mother. What if letting herself fall for him was a giant mistake? What if they never resolved the murders, and he went back to believing her mother did it? What then?

  Hot tears stung behind her closed lids. She reached up and brushed them away. She was not going to cry. She was going to be strong, even if it was just a facade. She was going to go to the kitchen, call Dr. Manning, and get the answers she needed. She took a deep breath, stood tall, and tossed her head back, determined to keep it together, determined to stop relying on James so much.

  The sound of James and Pops’ voices coming from the kitchen made her pause. She heard her name, and it didn’t sound good. She stopped in the hallway, inclining her ear to listen to their conversation.

  * * *

  “I don’t know, Pops,” James said, his hand reaching around and rubbing the back of his neck. “The more I think about it, the more I think she might be right. Whoever attacked her could be the same perp that committed the murders of her family. I know Dad always believed Maggie was innocent, but he never really explained why.”

  “I can tell you why. He said he talked to a kid at the scene…” he paused. The seconds ticked by, and James’ heart sank when he realized Pops was struggling to remember.

  “A neighbor kid?” he asked, hoping to trigger something in Pops mind.

  Pops shook his head. “No…there was also the DNA anomaly.”

  James furrowed his brow. “What anomaly?”

  “The lab said there was cross contamination of the DNA evidence. All the DNA from the scene was identified as belonging to the family. There was one sample, though, that couldn’t be one hundred percent identified as Maggie’s or Mr. Benson’s.”

  “And it wasn’t the little sister’s?”

  “The lab wasn’t sure. It had the same markers as Maggie, but also had some male markers. The lab speculated that Mr. Benson’s blood
must have mingled with Maggie’s.”

  Technology had advanced a lot over the past twelve years, and if there was a problem with the DNA, maybe it could be straightened out now. If there was any DNA evidence left.

  James pulled out a chair, turned it backward, and straddled it, resting his arms across the top.

  “Maggie’s blood?”

  “Yeah, she had a knife wound.”

  “I didn’t know Maggie was stabbed.”

  Pops brows raised, wrinkling his already aged forehead. “Not stabbed, a cut in the palm of her hand. It was thought that Mr. Benson had tried to pull the knife away, and her hand was cut in the struggle.”

  James closed his eyes and made a fist with one hand. He opened his eyes and shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. If the cut ran along the palm of her hand, it would indicate a defensive wound, like someone else was holding the knife and she tried to grab it.”

  Pops pursed his lips and narrowed his gaze. “You know, the whole investigation was a mess. Powell had just become mayor, and had pledged to make the police force more efficient. The case was poorly investigated. It seemed it was cleaner for the town to just pin the murders on poor Maggie Benson.”

  “What about poor Maggie Benson?” Elyse demanded when she entered the room.

  James stood and pulled a chair out for her. Judging by the look on her face, she had heard more of the conversation than she was letting on. “Pops was just saying that the police department was going through some changes when your family was murdered, and he thinks evidence was overlooked in order to bring quick closure to the case. It’s possible your mother’s mental illness provided the perfect scapegoat.”

  She rested her palms on the table and lowered herself into the chair. Her stare was almost blank, like she heard him speaking, but couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  “So…you think I’m right about her innocence?” Her voice wavered, and she kept blinking, trying to fight the tears he could see pooling in her eyes. He felt the tension in her body as soon as he put his hands on her shoulders.