Crossroads 4: Shot Through the Heart (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but that just makes me want to know more about her. Makes me want to interrogate her and then demand she let down her guard and let us in. You two feel the connection, that attraction to her like I do, don’t you?” Mitch asked, and Tiegen nodded.

  “Maybe it’s a waste of time.” Murdock downed the rest of his beer before placing the empty bottle down on the bar.

  They were quiet for a while.

  “Mitch, you said that Mia spoke with Jethro before she went to see those kids and the mom. He’s her boss but maybe he knows her on a personal level? He had to have done a thorough background check on her before accepting her into the position she has. They don’t just hire anyone to be forensic photographers and enter crime scenes, and she definitely has a knack for more.”

  “Maybe you’re right. Maybe Jethro can shine some light on what’s going on here. But either way, I’m not going to let this go. She felt so good in my arms, and I love being close to her. This isn’t over,” Mitch said to them.

  Chapter 4

  He couldn’t contain the excitement he felt. He almost didn’t turn on the TV. He hated watching it, but the news was so helpful, indicating how close the police were in solving crimes and also in giving him ideas of what he would do to Mia when she was his woman. Every day there were stories of murder, rape, and violence. In fact, he was able to pull up the news reports from all over the United States if he wanted to. But that wasn’t his interest.

  When he saw Detective R.J. Duncan, he smiled from ear to ear. He didn’t deserve Mia. He’d taken advantage of her youth, her innocence with his older, dominant ways. He slammed his fist into his palm and rotated it as he clenched his teeth. R.J. would die, but first he would put R.J. through hell. He’d failed Mia in so many ways. He failed to get her to become his fully because Mia belonged to him, not R.J., not any other man. He saw her first. Watched her since her first day of college and knew she was the one. She was so much like Colleen.

  He closed his eyes and inhaled then exhaled, trying to calm his anger down. He’d lost it back then, wanted so much from Colleen, but she wasn’t right in the end. Adopted, a woman without a family, and he wanted to be her everything. He eased his way into her life, and they became lovers so quickly his head spun. But soon he saw the things she was lacking and knew she wasn’t exactly what he wanted. Plus, she began to pull back and started talking about seeing other people. He was the man, the one in charge, and he would say when the relationship was over. He’d taken her virginity, and he owned her completely, so when she tried to leave, he didn’t let her, and he ended her life because he had that right, that power, because Colleen belonged to him.

  He took a deep breath and then exhaled as he leaned back into the old plaid recliner. He closed his eyes, and he saw them. Like he did every night in his dreams, his nightmares, he saw them. The women he hunted over the years, the ones he captured and killed in order to try to get Colleen out of his head and train in preparation for the day Mia was in his arms and his possession. They all looked the same. Same hair color, same bodies, same eyes, and same innocence. But it was never enough, and the police were getting closer, so he had to pull back and regroup. He had to try to figure out who could replace Colleen forever. That was the first time he’d seen her. Mia. She lived in the same apartment building. He knew her parents had been old and died, leaving her to fend for herself. Then that jerk tried to get her in his car, and he knew he had to do something. He intervened. He thought that was it. That she was too young. But each time he saw Mia after that, and watched her blossom in a year’s time, seeking her out whenever she was nearby, he knew he was growing fond of her. In his head, he gradually began to no longer look for women who reminded him of Colleen. He began to look for women who reminded him of Mia.

  Then one day she moved out, all while he was entertaining a kill and disposing of the body. In that long weekend, she disappeared.

  He swallowed hard remembering the sudden shock to his system as he watched the young couple with a baby move into Mia’s old place. His heart grew heavier and heavier each day. He saw her in all things and all places. A woman with brown hair getting onto a bus. He ran quickly to catch up, and when the woman turned, she wasn’t Mia.

  He drew her picture, searched the Internet, asked the neighbors questions, and then he heard she might have gone to the local university. Weeks passed, then months, until he finally couldn’t get her out of his head so he went to all the places co-eds hung out. The campus, the local bars, the community workout center.

  He started buying things for her, planning when they would be together and deciding that she would be the final one. That he would spend the rest of his life loving her, having her body, and making her all he ever wanted. No one else in the world mattered. But his obsession turned into such need and desire he was becoming desperate to act out his fantasies and prepare for the day Mia was his.

  As he sat in the little café and deli near campus, he searched for the right woman, the one to practice on. He grew inpatient until he saw her, standing in line at the café down the street from the community college.

  Her long brown hair, slim-fitting skirt, conservative top, and perfectly round ass grabbed his attention. His cock instantly hardened, and he knew she would do even before she turned. This woman was mature, sexy, voluptuous, and more than likely not a student at the college. He had to see her face, and when she turned and he saw her smile, her angelic expression, he nearly took her right there. Mia. My Mia.

  She was beyond beautiful, and sexy, too. Her breasts bigger than Colleen’s, her body made to please a man and then some. No longer a maturing woman but a fully blossomed goddess. She was all woman, yet she was shy, reserved, and virgin-like. That part of her personality had appealed to him two years before. It was part of why he searched for others like her and always came up short. There was no one like Mia. His obsession with Colleen and finding ones like her had been a waste of time because, right here before him, stood destiny.

  He licked his lips and could practically taste her scent, her perfume, and feel her sweetness. He moved closer to her, close enough to know her perfume and to know that her eyes were of the darkest blue he had ever seen. Those eyes would glisten with love for him, with passion and lust as he sank his cock deep into her depths and made her his forever.

  His plan was foolproof, or so he thought. He had everything set up in the cottage in the woods. The drive was a good hour away from the city but the place was perfect for seducing his woman and making her scream and beg for him to fuck her over and over again.

  The sound of the television and a commercial with sirens and alarms brought him back to the present. He felt his whole body tense and shake with need. He needed inside of her. He needed to take from her body, and he needed it now.

  He was breathing heavily. His cock was hard within his jeans, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold off much longer. He had to find her. He was getting so close. But back then, he’d fucked up somehow. He was so obsessed, so impatient, that he grabbed her roommate instead of Mia. He’d fucked up, and the only thing to do was to get rid of her. Wynona had been a slut, and she always tried to get Mia to go to bars with her and to pick up men, but Mia always left. She never stuck around past eleven. She was a good girl, and she was waiting for him to claim his woman. Wynona suffered the consequences of trying to taint Mia. But in punishing her, torturing her, and killing Wynona, it cost him everything. Mia had fallen into the arms of R.J. Duncan.

  He had to hide and lay low. He knew he’d fucked up, but he needed time. Time to recoup and to train and prepare himself to be patient and calm with Mia or he could wind up killing her, too. Knowing she was fucking another man just made him realize how much more he could do with her sexually and more quickly than if she were a virgin. So he set to work on a plan, a means to get what he wanted, and Mia disappeared.

  In the last five years, he’d decided to practice, to prepare for her to be his woman, his wife, his
everything. But then he had the urge and the need to kill again, to grab a woman who reminded him somewhat of Mia and take from her, practice on her what he wanted to do to Mia, but things got out of hand. He was getting better, but then when R.J. turned up to be the detective investigating the homicides, his revenge began to build a new plan.

  R.J. would pick up on the details, the evidence left behind, and he would know that it was him, the same man, the killer who’d taken Wynona’s life when he meant to take Mia’s. When he finally had Mia, there would be nothing R.J. could do. He would know that Mia truly belonged to him and not R.J., and the suffering and pain would send R.J. into a state of fear and panic. But he wouldn’t find him and Mia, no one would, and the two of them would disappear into the woods to live out his fantasies and hers together.

  He glanced at the television as thoughts of finding Mia filled his heart and his mind. He was getting closer, especially living right outside of the city. R.J. would lead him to her. He just knew it.

  He heard the report, something about home invasions and a man being killed and how local Portland Place detectives and a forensic photographer had broken the case. He had to do a double take. He clicked the record button on the remote as he thought he saw her. Then the camera scanned the police cruisers and vehicles again as men were handcuffed and arrested.

  “Mia.” He saw her standing by two men, her lip bleeding, holding an ice pack against her cheek but looking even more beautiful than ever before.

  “I found you. My God, I found you.”

  He could barely contain his excitement and catch his breath his heart was beating so rapidly.

  He looked at everything and listened to all they were saying. She was thirty minutes away. She was a hero in solving that case, and she would be his sooner than he ever expected.

  He jumped up and looked around the room. There was so much to do. He’d thought he had more time, but this proved she was meant to be his. He almost didn’t turn on the television. My God, Mia is so close. I can get to her. I can have the life I always wanted with her. I need to get the cabin fully stocked. I need to grab everything we’ll need for months, for years, to live up there. The snow would be falling sooner than later. By November there’d be inches, if not feet, up in the mountains. He had to plan this right. He had to make it so no one would be able to track them or follow and do any search and rescue missions.

  Patience, Peter. Patience. There’s no need to rush this. I have plenty of time, and this is what I have been training for. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling as if he could smell her scent. Mine. Mia is finally going to be all mine.

  * * * *

  Mia was going over some paperwork at her desk when Reed walked over. He sat down in the chair next to her and smiled.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Just doing a bunch of paperwork.”

  “I bet it’s a lot considering your involvement in that home invasion case. Pretty cool stuff.” He gave her arm a nudge.

  She gave a small smirk but kept working.

  “It was good to see you out at Crossroads. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you out anywhere.”

  “When is there time to go out? We’ve been pretty busy for months.”

  “Yeah, kind of sucks that we are. It means the world is full of evil people.”

  “It sure is, but it’s not as bad as all that. We’re busy because what we do is so time consuming and there isn’t room for mistakes.”

  “That’s true. So, question for you. What made you go out to Crossroads?”

  She turned to look at him and felt a bit uncomfortable. She talked to her coworkers but mostly kept to herself.

  “I had to give the detective’s brother a ride back to Wellington. They were planning on meeting some friends, and I got roped into a few drinks.”

  “Looked like you weren’t minding their company.”

  “Reed, what do you want? I’m trying to get through all this stuff and then head out to town for some things this afternoon.”

  “Just wanted to know if you wanted to maybe go out for coffee sometime, or some drinks, dinner? Maybe?”

  She swallowed hard. “I don’t think so. I don’t date. I don’t like going out that much.”

  “Why not?”

  “I just don’t, okay? I’m sorry. I don’t want to get involved with anyone, especially someone I work with. Friends, okay?” she said to him, firmly but nicely.

  He smiled. “Okay. For now. But I won’t give up hope unless you are seeing someone else. Or maybe three someones?” he teased and then stood up. She felt her cheeks warm, and he winked.

  “I don’t really know the McKay brothers, just Mitch sort of, but from what I saw last night, they have their eyes on you, and they’re older, pretty intense men. Mitch always gets what he wants and is known as a pit bull in the field of homicide investigation.”

  “That’s nice to know, but I’m not interested. I don’t even know them.”

  He shrugged. “Just saying it was good to see you out in the social world, and if he had something to do with that, it’s cool.”

  He walked away, and Mia tried to start typing again but couldn’t. She instantly thought about Mitch, Tiegen, and Murdock. She actually hadn’t minded at all going out to Crossroads. In fact, a couple of the women in the lab had asked her to join them for a drink tomorrow night. Then, of course, others joined in saying they would meet there. No one from the labs or the coroner’s office went out like that. They were all workaholics, or so she’d thought. It was hard to say no, and she didn’t know why she said yes when she hated coming home alone at night to an empty apartment. But she had. She’d said she would and now she might have to deal with seeing Reed, who obviously liked her. She hoped he got her message that she wanted to be friends. She could do friends but nothing more.

  She sighed. It was crazy, but she was entirely too attracted to Mitch, Tiegen, and Murdock. Yet, Murdock and Tiegen held back a bit and acted so distant, even when they flirted a little. Mitch was forward, almost commanding in the sense that he didn’t hesitate touching her and pulling her close. Though it made her tense and freak out slightly, she had to admit that it felt good. But maybe just being hugged like that was what she was holding on to. When she thought about it, it had been years since she was hugged, truly held and cared for by anyone.

  That was pretty fucking lame. She felt the tears sting her eyes. Actual tears. What the hell was going on?

  She felt guilty, as though she had been mean to them before she left. She’d walked away when Mitch was telling her how they wanted to get to know her. Three men, brothers, wanted to be close to her and get to know her. Everything about that scared her. The conversation, the being held, the flirting, the intimacy of a man’s touch. Times that by three and, holy shit, she was scared out of her mind. But she wasn’t stupid. She knew what really had her confused. She’d never thought about having a relationship with a man again. Not after R.J. and how things had gone wrong. She wasn’t capable of fully trusting anyone. She wasn’t able to let down her guard and let go and be free. She just couldn’t do it. She’d conditioned herself to be independent and never rely on anyone but herself.

  She had no family, no ties to anything. The only reason she lived in Portland Place was because, after college and with the help of her professor who thought she was super talented, she’d wound up getting a job nearby. She hated her apartment, she hated the city, and she disliked feeling unconnected, yet she’d embraced it and become so attached and reliant on it that it had hardened her and made her more alone than ever before.

  She looked at the computer screen and refocused on her work. She needed to clear her mind. She thought about what Reed had said, about her never going out and how she’d looked as though she was having fun. For a moment that thought made her feel normal, when most of her life she’d felt so abnormal. Perhaps going out with Amy and Alyssa would be a good thing. How could it hurt to make a few friends? It wasn’t as if she wanted or needed
companionship. She wasn’t good at it anyway. If she didn’t go and the rest of the office went, then she would really stand out as the oddball. She sighed. I’ll just decide after work. If I drive there, then the decision is made for me.

  She finished up the report and then added it to the e-mail, printed a copy out, and then added it to the thumb drive as backup before looking at the clock. Lunchtime. She needed some fresh air, despite how windy it seemed to be out there. She grabbed her purse and her sweater plus the crocheted hat that matched and headed toward the stairs.

  When she got outside, she walked through the lobby and watched people holding their jackets tightly as leaves danced around. It was pretty darn windy, but the little café and luncheonette was around the corner.

  She pulled her hat onto her head, grateful for the warmth and also loving how designer it looked with her long brown hair and matching the wool sweater wrapped her body. The wind blew in gusts and then dissipated before repeating the same gusts a little harder as she made her way down the block.

  The moment she rounded the corner, she saw the line for the luncheonette and cringed. Too long. She passed by knowing that another two blocks up and a bit out of the way was a local pizza place that had a small deli and salad bar. A lot of cops went there for coffee and lunch. It was fast and convenient. She figured she could grab a salad to go if necessary if there weren’t any seats left.

  As she headed that way, a gust of wind blew her hat off, and she gasped as her hair whipped over her face, stopping her from turning to grab her hat. A moment later, as she turned, she spotted Tiegen and another guy.