Swallowing down the revulsion at the act she was about to put on, she softened her stance and thrust out a hip. “Have you stopped to wonder why God sent you to me?” she purred, taking a step closer. He waved the gun at her as a reminder, but his pants stirred at the crotch, betraying his interest. She refused to show the disgust on her face and slapped a sexy pout to her lips instead. The next step took her close enough for her breasts to brush against the fabric of his sleeve.
As if mesmerized, he brought a hand up to the curve of her breast, but he still had the presence of mind to swap his gun hand, keeping it out of her reach.
Kelly redoubled her efforts, her voice smoky and low. “He wants you to take me. Wants you to purge me from the inside out. That’s why you feel so hard and heavy, so desperate to be inside me. Take me—I’m yours. Only you can save me.”
His mouth parted slightly, and he licked his lips. “Perhaps God wills it so. I’ve never felt this way before,” he ground out, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched her.
Ignoring the bile threatening to choke her, she unzipped his pants and reached inside stroking him lightly as she reached for his scrotum. “Doesn’t that feel good?” she whispered into his ear. “This is what God wants. Your gift for all the good work you’ve accomplished so far.” She held the soft sac in her hand, and forced her thumb to rub sensuously over it. He closed his eyes and groaned long and loud.
Suddenly, she wrenched his balls with one hand and jabbed him in the throat with the other. His scream cut into a gurgle as he fell to his knees, his hand over his crotch.
She raced for the door but slipped on wet tiles and landed heavily on her hip. Scrambling up, she risked a glance over her shoulder at her attacker and gasped in horror. He laid there, teeth gritted in pain and rage with the Taser leveled at her. Desperately, she regained her feet and grasped the handle, only to have the prong sink itself into her bare buttock like a bee sting.
Electricity arced through her, shocking her entire system. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her fingers clutched the round knob of the door like a claw. While her body collapsed to the ground, her back bowed. And then it was over, and her hand collapsed to the floor.
“That was interesting,” he rasped, still cupping his balls. “I’ve heard a person doesn’t die from the shock of one of these. Shall we test that theory? I’ve got all day.”
Her panting filled the air as she struggled to maintain some control over her body, trying to get her legs underneath her.
He squeezed the trigger again. The pressure inside her chest built and her heart pounded, threatening to explode. If she could pass out she would, but the volts kept her conscious. This time, her scream rent the air.
The third time he pulled the trigger, her scream was as prolonged, but with less volume.
Rough hands spun her onto her back and she was helpless to resist. Her strength ebbed with each attack and he knew it. Judging by his triumphant smile, it was what he’d been waiting for. He straddled her hips, placed his hands around her throat, and squeezed.
Her hands rose weakly. She tried to buck him off, but her body refused to obey.
“Do you feel it, Kelly?” he whispered softly, staring with lover-like intensity into her dimming gaze. “I knew you were the ultimate, but I didn’t know how hard you would be to overcome. Looks like I passed the test. Now, the Lord is calling you home. Repent and you will know the glory of God.” He leaned forward and kissed her numb lips all the while choking the breath out of her. And she could do nothing about it.
Her thoughts turned inwards to escape the last few torturous moments on earth.
Goodbye, Nate. If only we’d had a chance. It could have been so good.
Chapter Thirteen
The smell of Thai food wafted over from the passenger seat making Nate’s stomach growl. He smiled in anticipation of good food and great company, and maybe if he was lucky, more mind-blowing sex.
Sex. He frowned at the word. What he’d shared with Kelly had been more than mere sex. It could only be described as lovemaking.
Was he in love with her?
He waited for the panic, the denial, but all he felt was peace and belly-deep excitement. The notion appealed to him. A grin stretched across his face as he accepted the fact. He pressed down on the accelerator eager to get home to share the discovery with her and the car leapt forward.
And then a thought came to him that froze him to the bone. What if she told him she’d been mistaken? She hadn’t been in love with him. Or if she had, after the cruel way he’d rejected her feelings, what if she’d come to her senses? What if she no longer cared? His chest ached at the thought, and he rubbed a palm against it. Is this how he’d made her feel? His very soul cried out for her—needed her for completion. If he thought of a future without her, unending sorrow yawned before him. He could sense it, taste it like a bitter pill on his tongue.
An overwhelming need to see her had his foot depressing the pedal harder. He’d make her listen. Attack while she least expected it, catch her off guard. If he declared his love for her while she was still prone in the bath, she couldn’t escape so easily. His lips curved at the image. If she accepts me. His chest grew tight. God, please let her accept me.
Nate drove as fast as he dared, fingers tight-knuckled on the steering wheel, and Kelly’s features forefront in his mind. Something shimmered at the edge of his vision, and at first, he paid it no heed. His concentration was focused on the road ahead.
Hurry, Nate.
His head whipped around at the familiar voice filling his head, his eyes widening on the apparition of his sister sitting in the passenger seat.
“Shit!” The car veered off the road and the wheel shuddered under his hands. He righted the vehicle, taking his eyes off her for the moment. The prickling sensation, like electricity in the air, assured him she was still there. “You’d think I’d be getting used to this by now.” His gaze alternated between the road and the impossible and shook his head.
Kelly’s in trouble—she needs you now. Go!
“What?” The apparition faded before his eyes. “Wait! Thea! Don’t leave me so soon. Tell me what’s wrong!” But he didn’t need telling. Sick dread lodged like a stone in his gut.
Planting his foot hard down on the accelerator, he weaved in and out of traffic, his heart thumping against his ribcage. “Get out of the way!” he yelled and flattened his hand on the horn, wishing he were driving a squad car. “Stupid man,” he cursed himself repeatedly. “Listen to your instincts, I taught her. Why didn’t I follow through on mine?”
Seeing the red light ahead and cars waiting for their turn, he took a calculated risk, mounted the sidewalk, and overtook them, blasting the horn all the way in warning. The engine bucked and screamed as he downshifted at speed, maneuvering the car around another with right of way. He caught a glimpse of a pale-faced driver, mouth open in shock before his wheels caught traction, and he lurched away with the merest of bumper touches.
Once through the intersection, he pushed the accelerator to the floor and shot into the apartment’s parking lot. The speed bumps jarred his clenched teeth. Not wasting time on parking, he screeched to a halt outside the entrance, leapt out, and pushed the elevator button.
“Come on, come on,” he muttered, watching the light blink its slow way down to him. Just as he contemplated taking the stairs, the doors dinged and slid open. He stabbed the button for the nineteenth floor conscious of the seconds ticking by as it ascended so painfully slow. At the eighth floor it stopped. Nate stepped to the side, reached under his shirt, and palmed his gun. A large man in his late fifties tried to get in and Nate blocked him, his gun hanging loose in his hand, his gaze feral.
“Get out. Police business.” He pressed the button again and this time, rode uninterrupted.
Not wanting to alert the bastard to his arrival, Nate ran up the last flight of stairs. Darting his head around the corner, he eyed the long corridor. Empty.
He moved quickly, keeping to one wall, his eyes trained ahead over his gun. Clearing his mind of all but the most important thing, Kelly’s rescue, he stopped at his door and listened hard. What he heard brought bile to his throat and ice to his veins.
Screaming. Kelly was screaming!
He reached for the handle. Shit! Self-locking doors! Rummaging in his back pocket, he pulled out the card, swiped it, and burst inside. A familiar dark shadow loomed outside the bathroom door before drifting through the wood into the room beyond.
Uncaring of the noise he made now, he charged down the passage and shouldered the door open. The scene greeting him would haunt him for the rest of his life.
A man, with his back to Nate, straddled the form of a naked, lifeless Kelly. He held a scalpel in his hand.
“Get off her!” Nate roared and trained his gun on the back of the man’s head. His finger tightened on the trigger, but from his position, there was a risk of the bullet hitting Kelly in its trajectory. Relaxing the tension on the trigger took almost all the willpower he possessed. With teeth bared, he stepped into the room and eased to a better position. “I said get off her—right now—or I will put a bullet in your brain.”
“I am on a mission from God. You cannot stop me from accomplishing His will,” the man said calmly and whirled, throwing his scalpel with deadly aim.
It all happened in slow motion. The scalpel spinning end over end towards him, and his finger pulling the trigger. The bullet punched a neat hole into the center of the man’s forehead, his expression one of pure ecstasy as he fell back to the ground in a posture eerily like that of Jesus on the cross. Nate jerked his shoulder back at exactly the same instant the blade whistled past by mere millimeters. It embedded itself in the wall with a thwack.
Even while the blade still quivered, his gaze sought and found Kelly’s face. Fear, stark and deep curled into a hard ball in his chest. She was so still. Blood smeared her chalky-white skin and her lips were tinged blue. With a cry, he gathered himself to leap towards her but found his body frozen. Worse, the shadow that had been hovering in the corner glided over and settled itself like a thick blanket over the bodies. His eyes widened in horror.
“No! Don’t touch her!” He fought against the invisible bonds with every atom of his being. Adrenaline flooded through his veins, the overflow running down his body in rivers of sweat. Obscenities ripped from his throat, leaving it raw. But it made no difference. Every muscle in his body burned as if they had been put through the mother of all workouts. His eyes blazed with hatred at the shadow intent on taking the woman he loved. “You can’t have her, you bastard. I’m not giving up.” Gritting his teeth, he redoubled his efforts.
Relax, Nate. Thea appeared by his side, her voice sympathetic but firm. You will be released soon. Watch.
Wispy tendrils of a smoky fog emanated from the shadow. His eyes widened as the ghosts of the man’s victims rose above the crumpled figures. They turned as one and pulled.
At first, he didn’t know what he was seeing and then his head filled with a man’s unearthly scream. They hauled their killer’s spirit into the air and immediately surrounded it. Nate’s skin prickled as their laughter filled the room, drowning out his cries. But when the shadow lifted and followed them, the man’s terror found another octave, prolonged and blood curdling.
The apparitions disappeared and the bands of pressure holding him still snapped. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees beside Kelly.
“Kelly!” Nate shoved the dead man’s weight off her. The joy at discovering the blood hadn’t been hers lasted for just a second. She showed no signs of life. He placed trembling fingers to her neck but couldn’t detect a pulse. “No! Damn it, Kelly. Don’t you dare die on me.”
Frantically, he started CPR, pumping her chest, his eyes glued to her face. Sweat beaded his forehead as he kept up a steady pace. Tears gathered as he realized she slipped further away.
“I know you can hear me, Kelly, so fight. Come back to me. I need you. Who else is game enough to give me a butt-kicking when I need it?” He continued with the manual pumping of her heart. Tears slipped unashamedly down his cheeks. “I love you and idiot that I am, I realized too late to tell you. I love you.” His voice broke, and he swallowed, blinking hard to clear his gaze. “Damn you! You never gave up on me. Don’t think for one second I’m giving up on you. You get your sweet little ass back here, Appleton! You don’t get away that easily.”
Her first unaided breath was so shallow he almost missed it. He thought he’d imagined it until he felt the slight rise and fall of her chest under his palms. “Oh, thank God.” Lifting shaking hands, he gently stroked loose strands of hair off her forehead. “That’s it, Kelly.” His voice gathered strength, willing her along. “Come on, my love, you can do it. I know it hurts, but I’m right here for you. Come back to me.”
Her breathing regulated into a rasping wheeze and her eyes moved restlessly behind the fragile lids. He watched her fight back to consciousness and his throat seized with joy. After a brief struggle, her lids slit open and pale blue eyes stared around in confusion before clearing and settling on him. “Nate?”
It was a croak, hardly distinguishable as her voice, but it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. “Yeah, sweetheart. It’s all right. I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay.” He broke out in a wide grin as his own words registered. He repeated them again in a stronger voice just because they sounded so damned good. “You’re okay. Just relax and concentrate on breathing. I’m going to call for an ambulance.”
“Nate,” she croaked desperately and gripped his sleeve in a death grip.
His heart leapt as she gazed into his eyes. Intensity burned, and he smiled in anticipation, needing to hear her tell him to his face that she loved him.
She paused, as if she’d read his mind then flashed him a shadow of the cheeky grin he loved so much. “Could you get me some clothes,” she rasped and closed her eyes at the effort, the smile still curving her lips.
Chapter Fourteen
After seeing Kelly settled in her hospital room, Nate turned to leave but stopped when her hand touched his arm.
“Find the necklaces for me, Nate. I promised the families.”
He’d stared down into her pain-filled eyes and nodded solemnly, ready to promise her the world. “I will, sweetheart. You rest now. I’ll see you soon.”
He bent over, kissed her forehead lightly, and straightened. His chest caught at the sight of her sweet smile as sleep claimed her. His jaw clenched as he thought of how close he’d come to losing her. Reluctant to leave her side, he lingered at the door.
“Bugger off, Nate.”
He started at the husky-voiced command and found her eyes open a crack, watching him with amusement. He grinned widely. “Yes, ma’am. Buggering off now.” With a smart salute, he turned on his heel and set about fulfilling her promise.
For two days, he helped sift through Carl Hodgkins’ home with half a dozen other officers. He made daily visits to Kelly in the hospital and weathered her displeasure at being cooped up, which she often directed at him. He couldn’t help grinning at the similarities to when he was the patient. They were more similar than either had known.
Although the team came up with some interesting discoveries in Hodgkins’ home, the collection of jewelry was never found. And there was no way he could make an issue of it without raising questions. The most interesting discovery was on his computer. It seemed he’d discovered Scott Williams’ website long before the police had.
The theory was Hodgkins had idolized Williams and his strange ways. When he was put away for the murders and then committed suicide, it disturbed Hodgkins greatly, enough to carry on in his name. Only Nate knew otherwise. He’d glanced over Williams’ website and noticed one photo in particular. In it, the corpse was dressed in eveningwear and staged as if in celebration with Williams. Around her neck was a gold cross. Simple, but it would have been like a red rag to a bull for Hodgkins.
Na
te glanced around at the impeccably kept apartment that had housed such a monster and shook his head. Apart from the religious objects on the wall and surfaces, the house was sparse, devoid of personality.
Most killers spilled their guts to someone about their deeds, needing someone to brag with, but Carl Hodgkins appeared to have no one and was happiest to be that way. According to his boss and workmates, he’d been pleasant to deal with, but was somewhat remote. Most assumed he had a hobby that kept him from taking up the occasional invites to after work drinks and the like. When his hobby was revealed, they were shocked and horrified. Nate’s lip curled as he remembered the ill-concealed fascination a couple of them displayed who wanted the details of his hobby. Human beings never failed to sicken him. If they had to deal with what he dealt with every day, they’d soon change their tune.
“So, Kelly gets out of hospital today does she?”
Nate shook himself out of his thoughts and met Reece McCabe’s dark gaze. There was something in the depths that made him uncomfortable, like he was being assessed and he’d come up short. “Yeah. I’ll be collecting her in a couple of hours.”
“Thank God she’s okay. It’s not the same at work without having her fine ass to gaze at, brightening my day.” He tipped his head to the side, his eyes twinkling. “How do you think she’d react if I asked her out?”
Nate turned to face the man, his hands clenched into fists. “Don’t even think about it, McCabe,” His eyes narrowed dangerously on the station’s Romeo. His first instinct was to destroy his rival. It took all his willpower not to leap across the room and smash his fist into the other’s face. How dare he even think of Kelly like that? Then the red mist cleared as he noted the wide smile on the other’s face.
“Like that, huh?”
Nate’s lips tightened and he gave a short nod. She was beautiful, brave, and intelligent. And everything he’d ever wanted. The thought someone might steal her out from under his nose made his gut clench and his heart cry out in denial and pain.
Beyond the Shadows Page 19