by Cynthia Eden
Also by Cynthia Eden
Die For Me: A Novel of the Valentine Killer
Fear For Me: A Novel of the Bayou Butcher
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2014 Cindy Roussos
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Montlake Romance
PO Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140
ISBN-13: 9781477848463
ISBN-10: 1477848460
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013910017
Thank you so much to all the wonderful romantic-suspense readers out there! I really appreciate all the support that you’ve given to me.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PROLOGUE
His prey stumbled through the dark parking lot, teetering in her high heels, swaying as she tried to brace her body against the old sedan. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her slender shoulders were slumped.
Voices and laughter drifted in the night. The last few bar patrons slowly staggered away.
They didn’t acknowledge the woman. They were too busy trying to stay upright.
He was the only one who watched her.
She wasn’t drunk. That wasn’t why she swayed. The woman was bone tired. Lily Adams had worked a double shift, staying far later at Striker’s than she normally did. She had to be so very weary.
She shouldn’t work so hard. If she wasn’t careful, little Lily was going to work herself straight into an early grave.
She finally got the car door unlocked. Lily slid into her sedan. Cranked the engine. It sputtered, then died. Lily tried again, obviously used to this routine.
It was a routine he’d watched before.
A few minutes later, after a few more false starts, her car backed out of the lot.
He waited a beat, then followed her.
When she turned on the old, long stretch of highway that would take her back to the little ranch house she had off of County Road 12, he was close. So close. His headlights were turned off, and sweet Lily Adams had no clue she was being hunted.
The hunt was always so much fun. Not the best part, of course, but still…
He enjoyed it. The hunt built the anticipation. Let him know of the pleasures to come.
He kept track of the miles as they passed. It was important to keep track because he’d planned this so perfectly.
Up ahead, her car began to slow. To sputter. Right on time.
When the sedan stopped completely, he smiled and flashed on his lights.
The road was instantly bright, the headlights falling straight on Lily and her car. She hadn’t gotten out of the vehicle. Sometimes, they did. When their cars stopped, they would jump out. They tried to lift the hood, tried to see what was wrong.
Tried to fix what couldn’t be fixed.
But Lily wasn’t moving.
He parked behind her. Took a breath. Let the anticipation build even more. Then he slid from his vehicle and headed toward her. The road was empty. Stretching as far as he could see. No help in sight.
No help would be coming for Lily Adams.
His gloved hands fisted.
She would make such a perfect addition to his collection.
CHAPTER ONE
Dr. Cadence Hollow was beautiful when she slept. Her defenses were down, her body so relaxed. No fears plagued her, no desperation. All of that was gone in sleep.
Kyle McKenzie studied his partner as the plane slowly descended. Cadence’s head rested on his shoulder. She’d hate that intimate position when she woke. She always tried so hard to keep distance between them.
Distance he’d like to eliminate.
His fingers skimmed over her cheek. Like touching silk. So soft and smooth. His head had turned toward her, and he was close enough to catch the light scent that always surrounded her.
Cadence smelled like flowers. Roses.
She was also the embodiment of every fantasy he’d had for the past year.
“McKenzie.” She sighed out his name without opening her eyes. “What are you doing?”
Imagining you naked. Was that such a bad thing? Probably. Since they were partners and they were supposed to have a serious hands-off rule in effect. But a guy could still dream.
The plane jerked a bit. Cadence’s lashes lifted. Her big, golden eyes were startlingly aware for someone who’d been asleep. That was Cadence. Instantly alert.
Always on guard.
“We’re touching down,” he told her.
Her head rose, a faint furrow appearing between her brows as she realized she had been sleeping on his shoulder.
Not that he minded being her pillow. Not at all. Especially because she’d been the one to move closer to him.
Cadence licked her lips.
Torture.
Then she hurriedly straightened in her seat. “I didn’t realize we’d arrive so soon.”
“It’s been two hours.” Not that he’d been counting. They’d left their base in Quantico early that morning, heading out on another case he already knew would hit too damn close to home.
Hell, he’d taken the case because it hit close. When he’d gotten the phone call from the police captain in Paradox, Alabama, everything had changed. It wasn’t his first time talking to Captain James Anniston.
Because fifteen years ago, Kyle’s sister had disappeared in that same small, southern town.
Vanished without a trace.
There had been no way he could have denied Anniston’s request for assistance. Kyle hadn’t told Cadence about his connection to the town, not yet.
He knew Cadence. She would think he was going to the town for the wrong reasons. To find my sister.
Cadence would be right.
As an FBI agent, he’d always thought he knew all about the evil in the world. Then, last year, he’d been transferred to the violent crimes division and specifically assigned to work with Cadence.
Her specialty?
Serial killers. She was a doctor turned profiler, an MD who’d taken to profiling not just killers, but also their victims. Her profiles were dead-on and had resulted in a case closure rate that had caught the attention of all the higher-ups at Quantico. Cadence’s skills were in high demand at the bureau.
Killers weren’t stopping. They were simply becoming more vicious.
Right then, he and Cadence figured there were between thirty and forty active serials hunting, just in the United States. All those killers were why Uncle Sam had recruited the agents to work specifically at serial apprehension, or SA as the bureau called it.
The pilot’s voice came over the speaker, reminding them to secure their seat belts as they landed. It was a private plane, one the FBI le
t its agents use when they were going out on cases like this one.
When time matters. When a life could hang in the balance.
“Do you think she’s still alive?” Kyle asked Cadence, unable to hold the question back.
Cadence hesitated.
She doesn’t.
Cadence never seemed to have much hope. The victims were the ones she focused on; she got them to lead her to the killers, yet she never seemed to think she or Kyle could actually save anyone. Stop the killers, yes, but rescue a victim?
No.
“Lily Adams has been missing for less than twelve hours,” she said, giving a quick shake of her head. Her gaze cut toward the window. “There’s certainly a chance she could still be alive, but I don’t know what to expect.”
Such a lie. Cadence could actually lie amazingly well—to everyone but him. The longer they’d worked together, the more hesitant she’d become in telling him a direct lie. Now, when she lied, she didn’t even look him in the eyes.
“This might not even be a case for us,” she continued as the plane slid down the narrow runway. It wasn’t exactly a commercial hub. The pilot hadn’t even been sure they could land at the old place. Not at first.
Cadence sighed. “Why did you push so hard for us to come here?”
Here being a small spot on the Alabama map, just west of Huntsville. Most folks would probably never even hear of Paradox, but Kyle had never been able to forget the place.
Lily Adams’s disappearance matches my sister’s. Captain Anniston had called Kyle because the guy saw the link, too.
“I pushed because I think we can save her.” Unlike Cadence, he actually did think they had a chance of helping victims, and not just finding their broken bodies.
Her gaze, so golden and deep, the most unusual eyes he’d ever seen, came back to him. Cadence was a gorgeous woman, no getting around that, with an oval-shaped face, high cheekbones, and a small, slightly curving nose. And those lips. Full, red. Bow shaped. Seriously fucking bow shaped. Who had lips like that? Cadence. Her skin was pale, her hair so dark it almost appeared jet-black.
Those golden eyes studied him with the same assessing stare she used on perps. He tensed beneath that gaze. “Stop.” He hated it when she analyzed him. But then, Cadence had a tendency to analyze everything.
She didn’t look away. “Saving Lily won’t save your sister.”
Hit. He thought he’d been so careful, never telling Cadence about his past.
But it looked as if he’d underestimated his partner. Cadence knew about the demons that had driven him to join her in serial apprehension.
His fingers tightened around the hand rest.
His sister. It had been fifteen years since he lost Maria. How much did Cadence know? The actual case files on Maria’s disappearance were sickeningly slim. Just the barest of facts, because the sad truth was that there hadn’t been much for the authorities to find. But over the years, he’d created his own files. He’d never stopped searching.
And dammit, he had to follow this lead. If there was any chance that Lily Adams could be connected to his sister’s disappearance, Kyle knew he had to act. Protocol be damned.
All of these years. All of my searching. Finally, this could be the break he needed. Anniston had given him the tip on Lily’s disappearance right away. If they found Lily…
Then I might find clues that can lead me to Maria.
His jaw locked. “We investigate the Adams case. If it’s BS, and the woman ran off on her own, then we walk away. All we’ve lost is a day.”
A day they could have spent on another case. Catching another killer.
“Just a day,” Cadence said softly.
This time, he was the one to look away. He didn’t want Cadence seeing the emotion that might be in his eyes.
Hope. He’d never lost it for his sister, or for any of the victims.
He never would.
Cadence didn’t even seem to understand what hope meant. To him, that lack of understanding was a real fucking shame.
After a few moments, his eyes cut back to her. Only Cadence wasn’t studying him any longer. She was looking down toward her lap. The case file—bare bones at this point—was still open. Her gaze slid over the picture of Lily Adams. Thirty-two, blonde hair, green eyes. A wide smile.
Lily Adams looked happy. Full of life.
If he had his way, they’d find her—and she’ll look that way again.
He settled back in his seat and waited for the plane to come to a stop.
Cadence hated Alabama summers. Hated them. Once upon a time in a life very far away, she’d grown up on the Alabama coast. Growing up here meant it was impossible to forget the heat that hit like a blanket when you walked outside. The sweat could drip and drip from your body because there was no relief in sight.
No, you didn’t forget. But you sure tried to.
She’d tried hard enough to put those memories away.
Cadence lifted the hair from the back of her neck, attempting to fan her skin. Like that was going to help. The sun glared down on her as she and Kyle stood in the middle of a deserted, two-lane highway.
The middle of nowhere. She’d seen plenty of spots like this before. Perfect killing spots.
“Her gas tank was empty.” The slightly drawling voice drew her attention. The local police captain had escorted them out to the old highway. The road wasn’t exactly deserted.
“Why hasn’t the vehicle been moved?” Cadence asked, frowning. The sedan, with its faded blue color and taped back taillight, sat on the edge of the road.
“You folks told me to leave it where it was,” Captain James Anniston told her with a frown. “Don’t worry, I had a guard on it at all times. It’s been secure. When I called Quantico, McKenzie here told me—”
“I told him we wanted the scene as protected as we could get it,” Kyle interrupted. He’d taken off his suit jacket. The heat had gotten to him, too. Kyle and his suits. The guy never seemed to dress right for fieldwork. Always too fancy. That was a rich boy for you.
He shouldn’t have wound up chasing killers with the FBI. His family business and the family’s big stack of money should have kept the guy busy living the country club life.
His gaze slid to her. A bright, glittering blue stare. The stare that always looked a bit haunted.
I know why you joined the bureau. Why you turned your back on everything waiting for you in Maine.
Guilt could sometimes eat a man from the inside out. From what she could tell, guilt had consumed Kyle for years.
If he wasn’t careful, the guilt might destroy him one day.
Or send him back down to Alabama permanently, chasing ghosts.
But she was the one who’d agreed to travel with him, so she’d do her job. Even if the job turned out to be nothing. Only missing twelve hours.
She let her gaze shift back to the captain. A fit guy, maybe in his late forties, tanned, with faint lines near his eyes. Laugh lines? Or worry lines? “You put out the report on Lily very fast. Usually a missing-persons case waits for—”
“I wasn’t waiting for forty-eight hours, ma’am. Not with Lily.” His jaw locked and the sun gleamed off his bald head. “I’m not some backward hick, Agent Hollow. I know when I got suspicious circumstances staring me right in the face.”
Cadence blinked. “I never said you were.” If he only knew about her own roots…but few people did.
That life was over.
She cleared her throat and reassessed the captain. Something had set the guy off. Handle carefully.
He pointed to the car. “Lily Adams has a daughter. A nine-year-old girl who is her absolute life. There is no way—no way—Lily would wander off without her.”
Cadence’s heart beat faster. She’d only had time to learn the barest of details about Lily Adams before she’d jumped on the plane. Kyle had been insistent that they take the case, almost desperate, and she hadn’t been able to turn him down.
It was his eyes. The e
cho of pain in his gaze pierced through her every time.
Kyle McKenzie was a good agent. A little reckless too often, and too prone to going with his gut, but he was dedicated to the job. Dedicated to saving lives.
He wasn’t her first partner. She’d had several over the years. Some hadn’t been able to handle the darkness of the job. One had been killed in the line of duty by one of the monsters they hunted.
When she’d first been paired with Kyle, Cadence had been less than impressed. Kyle was handsome, wickedly so with his flashing eyes and chiseled jaw. He’d come to her with a bit of a playboy reputation.
She hadn’t been interested in joining his group of admirers. Cadence hadn’t ever been swayed by a handsome face. Handsome was boring, easy. Not for her.
She’d soon learned there were plenty of layers to Kyle McKenzie. What you saw with him was not what you got.
Until recently, Kyle had been almost too perfect with his classic features. But on their last big case, he’d gotten into a vicious hand-to-hand fight with a killer. The result? A broken nose that now gave the agent a rougher, more dangerous appearance.
That dangerous edge of his had been coming out more and more lately. She was too aware of it—and of the growing attraction she felt for him.
They were supposed to be just partners, but lately—I want more.
She wanted him. And if the way he looked at her was any indication, the desire was mutual.
“Lily’s kid has to be frantic about now,” Anniston continued. “She’s probably at home, crying her eyes out.”
Because the girl just wanted her mother back. Cadence swallowed. Goose bumps rose on her overheated flesh.
Back home in Alabama.
The cases involving kids were always the hardest for her to handle.
She kept the emotion out of her voice as she asked, “Just what scenario do you think happened here last night?”
Kyle was walking around the vehicle, studying it carefully. He’d put on gloves as he bent near the driver’s side. Sweat dampened the hair near his temples. His blond hair was so thick and heavy, no wonder he was sweating.
They were all baking out there.
“Lily’s car ran out of gas. She probably started walking.” Captain Anniston turned and pointed north. “Her house is that way. She must’ve started walking and some SOB picked her up. Took her.”