“Yes, sir.”
“And Josh? I’m sorry about what happened in Philadelphia. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that alone.”
“I get it, Hell. I did my job.”
Kelly listened as the men talked, wondering if Josh realized how much respect the older men had for him. She looked at him, next to his boss. Hellbrook was close to forty, but an extremely good looking man with auburn hair and blue eyes. He was around the same height as Josh, but he was bulkier. Her father and Ed Dennis were not quite six feet tall, but they were both physically fit men in their fifties.
Josh was the youngest, just getting into his thirties. He was young, but she knew they all respected him. And she knew he’d earned it. He belonged with the CCU. She still felt like an imposter—especially with men like the ones surrounding her.
All of them wore confidence like it had been sewn into their underwear.
“You’ve got a drive ahead of you, so you’d best get going,” her dad said. “Take care of each other out there.”
Chapter 3
She had never meant to become a killer. She had planned almost all of her adult life to work in a position to combat evil, bad, those who would hurt others.
It had taken her quite a while to accept that she was exactly that. A killer.
First she’d tried to hate herself. But with each successive kill, and she was definitely keeping track, the thrill had grown to be more than she ever imagined. She wasn’t exactly a thrill seeker either, but she knew the technical terms. Sociopath. Borderline personality disorder. And abusive childhood, mostly at the hands of her father. With an ineffective mother. Older siblings that had bullied. No, she hadn’t exactly had the most ideal family life.
All of her family was gone now, her father passing less than six months before the first time she’d killed. She might have had a brother, still living, but she had no idea where he was. Her mother had wasted away shortly after her nineteenth birthday, leaving her as the sole caretaker for the man who thought nothing of harming his own children. Especially her. Because she was a girl. And young, vulnerable.
She’d made a vow herself shortly after that day that she would never be vulnerable again. She had complete control now.
Her father had been confined to a wheelchair in the same accident that had originally injured her mother. He had been in her care, and she could have done anything and everything she wanted to him. If anyone had ever asked, she was the perfect daughter. Selfless and kind, caring. Seeing to his every whim.
When in reality, she had taken every opportunity she could find to torture him for the way he’d treated her throughout her childhood. For the teasing, the comments about how ugly she was, how large. How much like a man—manlier than either of her brothers, who’d ended up six inches and fifty pounds lighter than she was. He’d told her she was a freakish giant. But she wasn’t. Maybe she wasn’t the most beautiful woman, but she didn’t feel ugly. Not anymore.
That rage she’d felt toward him had had to go somewhere, hadn’t it? And she’d found a way, an outlet, for dealing with it. She wasn’t overly proud of if it. At first… but now? Now she was extremely proud to have alluded one of the greatest FBI units in the country for over three years.
Knowing she had someone beneath her hands, controlling every breath she took, she didn’t feel ugly at all. She felt like a goddess, perfect and powerful. And wasn’t that the way it should be?
She looked down at the new body, a young woman in her early twenties. She didn’t know her name; all she knew was that the woman made a decidedly slutty glance at him. He had drawn her attention after the fourteenth woman she had killed. Her earlier victims — and she never thought of them in this is anything other than victims — had all been killed and disposed of outside the region of the area where she worked.
Until she’d met him.
After number fourteen it had been just her luck that she had misjudged the jurisdictional lines, and her unit and been called to process the scene. She hadn’t realized that her work in previous victims had drawn the addition of a very powerful team of the FBI. He had been one of those agents. He’d nodded at her, looking at her with his beautiful hazel eyes.
That’s all it had taken for her; she’d known that they were meant to be together. That only he could understand the true depth of her work. He seemed to see right into her soul that day, everyone’s. He cared deeply about the victim. No one had ever cared for her like that. So she’d started to wonder what it would be like if he cared that much about her?
In the months since that day, she had ramped up the number of victims. Mostly in vain attempts to get his attention, to get him out to the scene so she could work with him, even for just a little bit. She lived for those days. Always wondering when it would be exactly the right moment. She just didn’t know. And it made it so exciting for her.
Him, too. Though he had never come right out and said.
Chapter 4
“Keep going. We’re almost there.”
Kelly wanted to smack him, and she had a strong suspicion Josh knew it.
She hated seeing the victims. Knowing what they felt, what they suffered, at the hands of the monsters who’d hurt them. She didn’t have any illusions about it, she knew exactly why the thought of what lay at the end of their hike bothered her so much.
She hated seeing the victims, because in them she could see herself. And how could she not? With everything that had happened to her in recent years, not to mention the things done to her by her own mother, it was hard not to feel like a victim all the time.
But that was the one thing she’d refused to let happen. Those who had hurt her may have hurt her in the past, but she would not let the fear they’d caused in her affect her future.
Maybe the idea of being out in the woods for an entire night did freak her out a little, but it was a part of her job, and she was going to do it as best she could. And she’d look at it as practice for the camping trip her father had insisted on for the following weekend.
She wasn’t about to let Josh, or the two rangers who’d met them at the rendezvous point, know that.
She and Josh had taken turns dozing on the drive, so they’d not spent too much time talking. Kelly was good with that.
Josh wasn’t a big talker, either. When they’d both been awake, they’d gone over the file. It was pitifully thin. A partial skeleton had been found in near Asheville, Tennessee. There was nothing to determine how old it was, or anything other than approximate height and gender.
It would be up to Kelly to figure out a bit more. Like whether it was a recent death or whether the bones had been there for years. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t ever done before. She just wasn’t certain why it was a PAVAD consult, though.
The rangers had met them, and they’d begun the hike to the crime scene. The rangers had introduced themselves, smirked at her hair and at Josh’s conservative trousers and polo, and said very little else.
Nothing Kelly hadn’t experienced before. “How much further?”
“Another twenty minutes or so, ma’am.” One of the rangers glanced back at them. She and Josh were in the rear, and she had a definite feeling the rangers weren’t expecting much out of them. It didn’t matter—she was used to being underestimated.
What did matter was the victim. And finding out how and why they were left alone on a mountain to die.
The climb got steeper. Kelly had to stop again to adjust the bag slung over her shoulder. It held a field kit that would be necessary for preliminary evidence recovery, plus a few other supplies for hiking in the—God help her—mountains. “Why weren’t local agents asked to handle this?”
“That’s something you’ll have to take up with the sheriff.” The taller of the rangers was the one who answered. To be honest, he kind of creeped Kelly out. He kept eying her and Josh, sly glances that made her walk closer to the man she knew instead of those she didn’t. Something was definitely odd about that guy.
They k
ept hiking.
***
It was the shoes. The shorter ranger was wearing the wrong kind of shoes for hiking through the Appalachians. That, and for rangers, neither of the two men seemed prepared for an hour long hike through the mountains.
Josh had spent the last ten years being trained to notice when something wasn’t right; and this wasn’t.
They paused for a few moments, ostensibly to give Kelly a chance to rest. But it was the rangers who were out of breath. And who didn’t seem to know where they were or what had happened.
Josh adjusted his sunglasses, then reached out a hand and grabbed Kelly’s. When she turned to him, he shook his head just a bit.
He pulled her close, then whispered in her ear. “Go along with me here. Something’s wrong.”
She didn’t pull away. He led her over to a huge boulder, perfect enough for her to sit on. He shifted, so he could look at the two men. They’d stepped off the path about five yards from where Kelly sat. Just enough range that he should be able to read the lips of at least one of them.
He’d read lips before he could read books, thanks to growing up with a hearing impaired mother. The skill had come in handy quite a few times. He just hoped this was going to be one of those times.
The taller man was more visible, and Josh had figured him for the more dominant of the two men. He took a moment to study the guy while keeping his head turned more in Kelly’s direction.
He just hoped it looked like he was speaking intimately with her, rather than trying to figure out what they were up to. “Something isn’t right with these guys.”
“No kidding.”
“I want you to stay quiet and stay close. I don’t plan on going up the mountain with them.”
She looked up at him. “Whatever you need me to do.”
“Just stay relaxed. I’m trying to see what they’re talking about.”
The rangers had weapons—he’d seen at least one holstered on each man. There might have been more than the two handguns. He couldn’t count on there not being more.
He had two weapons of his own—his service weapon was on his left hip and he had his .380 on his right ankle. It had been a gift from Kelly’s father when Dan had retired from field work over a year ago. It had been Dan’s when he’d first entered the FBI. And the man had been proud to pass it on to Josh. He would never forget that.
Josh would cherish the sentiment behind it for all of his days.
The taller man spoke, and Josh watched the movements of the man’s face. We keep her.
The other guy turned and looked at Kelly. Josh pulled one hand up and touched her hair softly. The shorter ranger spoke. Kill them both. Let’s go.
That made things perfectly clear for Josh. And he wasn’t going to waste another moment fucking around with these guys.
He looked around quickly, evaluating every escape route possible. They were halfway up a mountain—that didn’t give them much choice. The element of surprise was about all they had. He tightened the strap on his backpack. They would need the supplies he carried.
He could try shooting the sons-of-bitches, but that still left Kelly right in the middle of things. And if they killed him she’d be doubly vulnerable. And he wasn’t about to let that happen.
He studied the terrain as quickly as he could. There was only one real option available, wasn’t there?
Behind the boulder Kelly sat on was their only real avenue of escape.
He looked back at the rangers. One had his hand on the grip of his gun.
Josh reacted.
He dove for her just as the first shot rang out. They went over the back of the boulder and down.
Just like he’d intended. He yanked her as close as possible as they rolled and bounced down the twenty-foot valley. When they reached the bottom thanks to a couple of saplings that broke their downward momentum he jumped to his feet.
Kelly had landed four feet away; he yanked her up as fast as possible. “Run. Toward the sun. Don’t stop. No matter what you hear.”
He still had both his weapons, thank God. He pulled the one on his hip free, just as shots rang out above them.
She dove behind a cluster of moss covered boulders. Josh was half a step behind her. He fired off several shots of his own. “Keep going. There are enough rocks and trees we should have adequate cover.”
She kept going.
He ran behind her.
Chapter 5
Every joint in her body hurt and Kelly was certain her arm was broken. But she couldn’t stop to think about that now.
Josh had told her to run, so she ran. She tripped over rocks and detritus, but she kept going.
They were still shooting, weren’t they? How were they supposed to escape when barreling down a mountain in the middle of the Appalachians? There were bears out there, weren’t they? Mountain lions, rattlesnakes? She didn’t know. What were they supposed to do?
Was Josh still back there? What would she do if they killed him? She couldn’t leave him. There was no way she could. No way.
She looked over her shoulder.
Where was he?
She kept going, careful to keep as much cover between her and the shooters.
Her foot came down hard in a hole, and she fell, sliding more than two yards down the side of the embankment. She caught herself on a tree root, stopping her fall.
Strong hands lifted her from behind. She started to fight until she saw the watch. It was one she recognized. Thank God. “Josh! What…what happened? Are they still behind us?”
“Hell yeah. But we’re not going to let them catch us. You dropped your bag. I grabbed it. We need to find a place to regroup.” He ran his hands over her, and Kelly didn’t stop him. She was just grateful they hadn’t already killed him. “We’ll need to take stock of what we have, and see if we can get a call out to someone who can help us. But we need to keep going. If it’s any help, I’m not sure they’re any more familiar with this area than we are.”
“How do you know?”
“The shoes. Guy was wearing loafers and the pants weren’t his. Ranger uniforms are tailored. This guy’s were about two inches too short. And from the obvious fact that they were shooting at us, I’m pretty certain I’m right.” His right hand brushed over her left wrist. Kelly bit her lip to keep from crying out.
“I think it’s broken. Again.”
“When we get a good lead we’ll splint it. We’re going to get out of this, sweetheart. I can promise you that.”
“We both know there are no guarantees.” But if there was anyone she was going to be lost in the forest with, she was just glad it was Josh. She could depend on him. And she had no doubt about that. “We need to keep going. Do you think they were responsible for the body?”
“I’d say it was highly likely.”
“Why did they meet us instead of just running? Why impersonate the rangers?” Kelly tried to wrap her head around it, but it didn’t make much sense.
“Think back to when we first met the rangers. They were coming off the trail as we pulled in. We spoke to them first, didn’t we?”
“Yes.” But they hadn’t checked their badges. The rangers had asked if they were the FBI coming to meet Decker. Decker, the sheriff they’d been told would be waiting for them.
Was Agent Hellbrook’s old friend involved in something? Or had those faux rangers killed him?
They had millions of questions, and the only answer they had was that they had to get out of there. And fast. They kept moving.
Josh held her uninjured hand. Kelly just let him. She wasn’t letting go of him for anything.
Chapter 6
She was scared. Josh could see it in her eyes, could feel it in the way she held on to him. But she never complained. Kelly rarely did. Even when the sky above them opened up and started dropping rain and hail down upon them.
“We need to get out of this.” They hiked faster. Josh didn’t like the looks of the clouds that had built north of them. But they hadn’t pas
sed so much of an access road or a residence of any sort. “We need shelter, and quickly.”
“But where?”
Josh thought about it. And had no clue. “Anything you see. First thing, I swear.”
The thunder was almost deafening. Josh’s primary fear switched from the assholes finding them to them getting struck by lightning or crushed by falling trees.
“There’s a road up there.”
He looked where she pointed. It was gravel. But it was a road.
Which meant it went somewhere. “Come on.”
She was right beside him the whole way. Josh pulled her closer, trying to shield her from at least some of the rain and hail. She was shivering and holding her injured arm against her narrow chest. Josh surprised both of them by kissing her on the forehead quickly. “Let’s keep going. Hopefully, this will lead somewhere soon.”
She nodded.
His admiration for her grew. He pushed the wet red—and purple—hair out of her eyes. “How are you holding up?”
“I’ll be ok.”
“Yes, you will. We both will.”
“Let’s just keep walking, ok?” Her voice was breathless, and he knew it was from pain.
“How’s the arm?”
“It’s broken, but I’ll get through it. It’s not the first time. The last time it was broken I went days without it being looked at.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother was afraid my father would be angry if he found out.”
The casual way she said it made him hurt for her. But he would never tell her that. Not Kelly, who tried to appear so darned tough.
But who looked a lot like a drowned rat standing on a mountain in the middle of a rainstorm.
Josh knew he’d never forget how she looked at that moment.
Chapter 7
Ghosting (PAVAD: FBI Romantic Suspense Book 10) Page 2