by Cynthia Eden
He heard the shuffle of footsteps. Coming from just beyond the back door of the bar. Someone watching…
In an instant, he was at the back door. He yanked it open and ran into the night.
His gaze swept to the left. To the right.
A couple was stumbling away from Dale’s, arm in arm.
He started to call out to them, then saw they were headed for the taxi waiting near the edge of the street.
His heart slammed into his ribs. He should have been watching the bar, not getting so tangled up in Cadence.
But tangled up is where I want to be.
“We should stay until the bar clears tonight, just in case,” Cadence said as she stepped out into the night.
Yes, just in case.
His gaze slanted to hers. They’d stay. When they were sure these people were safe…
I’ll have my time with you.
He shuffled back into the bar, making sure to keep his head down. The conversation between the agents had certainly been interesting.
There were far more layers to the agent and his lovely partner than he’d realized.
Far more.
The phone call to Kyle had done exactly as he’d hoped. The agent was unraveling.
A dangerous situation for McKenzie.
But if McKenzie thought the game was finished, he couldn’t be more wrong. Things were just about to get interesting.
You think you’re the badass who can catch all the killers? You never caught me…and you never will.
So much for Maria’s hero. In the end, the hero wouldn’t be remembered.
But I will be.
Christa Donaldson knew she was holding her steering wheel a little too tightly. Her car’s headlights cut through the darkness as she hurried back toward her mother’s place on the ridge. The sitter had only agreed to stay until two a.m. She was running late, and if she didn’t get there soon—
The car sputtered.
Her gaze flew to the dash. Plenty of gas. Plenty. But the car’s temp was too hot. The gauge needle was heading straight to the H.
She immediately reached forward and turned on the heater, getting the hot air to blast toward her. An old, temporary trick that a high school boyfriend had taught her.
The car sputtered again.
A trick that isn’t working.
The sound of her breathing was far too loud in the interior of the car.
Then the car started to slow down.
“No, no, no.” This couldn’t be happening. The agents, this was what they’d warned her about.
The car’s engine died. The vehicle barely coasted to the side of the road.
She fumbled, reaching for her phone.
The flash of headlights lit her as a car pulled up behind her.
CHAPTER NINE
Christa screamed when the light rap sounded at her window, and her fingers flew out, frantically making sure she’d locked the door.
“Ma’am?”
It was a woman’s voice.
She squinted as she craned her head to see in the darkness.
“I’m FBI Agent Cadence Hollow,” the voice told her. “We met at Dale’s earlier tonight.”
Tears stung Christa’s eyes. She remembered the agent.
“Is there a problem with your vehicle?” Cadence asked, raising her voice.
Christa rolled down the window as fast as she could. “It just stopped.” Tears wanted to choke her. “It stopped.”
The other agent, the handsome man with the hard eyes, stood behind Cadence. “Are you okay?” he asked her.
She nodded. “I just want to get home.”
The two agents shared a look. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure you get there.”
Sonofabitch! The agents had followed Christa. How had they known he wanted her? How?
Christa’s car had stopped, just where he’d wanted. She’d been alone. Such perfect prey.
But the agents had been there.
Now they had Christa. He watched from the darkness, every light in his vehicle out.
Christa’s car door was open, the light spilling onto the ground. In the pool of illumination, he saw Kyle pull out his phone.
Calling for backup.
The agent would figure out what had happened to Christa’s car.
Not the gas this time. He’d made the radiator overheat. Giving her enough time, just enough, to get where he needed her to be.
He’d even been out there, waiting for her.
But she hadn’t come alone. The agents had been tailing her.
Dammit.
His jaw ached as he clenched his teeth. Christa had been so perfect. He’d needed her.
He reversed, moving slowly, keeping his lights off.
Part of him wanted to floor the vehicle, to get out of there as quickly as he could.
The agents would hear him. They’d chase him.
He wouldn’t be caught.
He turned the car, headed quietly down the narrow dirt road, a road that would cut through the hills and forest and send him out far away from the agents.
And Christa.
Perfect Christa.
He’d had his eyes on her for years.
So many years.
But she’d been in Maverick. She’d had to wait until it was time to hunt there again.
The agents are screwing up everything. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to happen. The pine trees and the darkness wrapped around him as he drove. Drove and drove as the rage built inside of him.
He needed his prey. He was empty. Alone. He needed her.
Maria…
He needed his perfect girl. Maria had been his first. He’d thought he could never have another girl who would be as good.
Kyle McKenzie had been there. Coming back to the town. Searching. Always looking.
But you couldn’t find her, could you? So close, but so far away.
Kyle had joined the FBI. Started tracking others. Did you forget about me?
It had seemed that way. Three years…
The urges within him had grown again. But he’d realized he had to be more careful. Then, one night, he’d found himself on another dark road. With another girl. A girl who could have been all he needed, too.
Three years. That night, the rush had been just as good. Just as strong.
The power had flooded through him as he’d taken her.
He’d surrounded her with darkness. Locked her away. Held the ultimate sway over her life.
After that girl, he hadn’t tried to hold back. When the urge came for another—he took her.
A new girl, a new year. The same rush.
He taught his girls. They learned to obey him. If they didn’t obey, they suffered.
Some learned faster than others.
Some…didn’t learn at all.
The car fishtailed off the dirt road, cutting once again into the highway. He jerked the wheel, bringing the vehicle under control. He had to play this cool.
He passed the bright lights of a gas station, and almost missed the blonde who was hurrying out of a red sports car.
He slowed his vehicle.
The blonde disappeared into the gas station.
The girl, the blonde…she might not be perfect, she might not be what he wanted—
But the agent took my girl.
So he’d have to make do.
Because the urges within him were too strong to deny. He would show the FBI. He would show them all.
They can’t stop me.
“How did you know?” Christa whispered. She was standing to the side, watching as the tow truck settled in to haul her car away.
Kyle saw that she was still shaking. She’d been terrified when they first approached her. Terrified, with good reason.
Christa had been prey tonight.
“Cadence knew.” His stare slid to her. She was huddled with some local cops, talking quietly. No doubt telling the men to keep their eyes open as they continued patrolling.
&nbs
p; They had a killer in the area.
When they’d left that back room and headed into the main bar area once again, Cadence’s attention had focused on the waitress. The one with the nervous hands who jumped so quickly to obey Dale’s instructions.
Cadence had made a quick call to Dani, and they’d pulled up Christa Donaldson’s background information almost instantly. No speeding tickets. No jail records. A model citizen.
When they’d questioned Dale again, he’d told them about Christa’s mother.
A good girl. They’d followed her because Cadence wasn’t wrong when it came to victim profiles.
Never wrong.
The patrons in the bar had been pairing up. They’d actually seemed to have gotten the message about not leaving alone.
Christa had slipped out alone, with her shoulders hunched.
“Why me?” Christa asked, voice breaking.
“You’re his type.” The bastard had gone back to the beginning. Back to his location pattern. He’d lost Lily, and Kyle had known the killer would have to strike immediately again. They’d headed straight to Maverick and were prepared to stay as long as it took for the killer to strike. They hadn’t had to wait long. Part of Kyle was surprised how little they’d had to wait. Because they hadn’t delayed their search in Maverick, Christa was alive.
But now he wondered…since he hadn’t been successful in Maverick, did that mean he’d go on to the next city? Hit again, as soon as he could? If so…
We’ll be ready for you.
But they weren’t giving up on this county yet. The perp had been there, and he’d lay odds the guy had been in that bar. Did he see us? Was he there when Cadence and I went inside? So many people had been crammed into that place. Too many faces.
“Christa.” Cadence came toward her, moving quickly, easily, over the broken road. “Did you talk with anyone tonight? Anyone who might have asked you some personal questions? Anyone who wanted to know a little too much about you?”
Christa’s hands were clenched in front of her. “No.” She hesitated. “Well, just my regular.”
It was so dark, she probably wouldn’t be able to read his expression, but just in case, Kyle made sure to control his emotions. “Your regular?”
She nodded. “Yeah. The guy’s been coming in for years.”
“How many years?” Cadence asked before Kyle could.
Christa rubbed her hands over her arms. “At least five. I mean, as long as I’ve been there.”
Could the guy have been going back, visiting all of his abduction sites?
Yes. Killers liked to head back to those locations. The sites comforted them, gave them a rush of power.
“What does this regular look like?” Kyle was too conscious of his thundering heart as he waited for her answer.
“He’s got dark hair, dark eyes. He’s big. Not fat, but built.”
“His age?” Kyle had to fight to keep his voice level.
“Probably in his thirties. Maybe in his forties. It’s hard to tell. The lighting in Dale’s is crap. And the guy usually wears a ball cap.” She rocked back on her heels.
“Does he have a name?” Kyle asked her instead of answering.
“Billy?” The name sounded like a question. “He always pays in cash.”
He would. The guy wouldn’t want to leave a trail behind.
“You told me I could go home.” Christa’s voice thickened. “My mom had a stroke. She needs me. I have to get home.”
“We’ll get you to your mother, but Christa, we’re going to need you to talk with some cops first thing in the morning. To get a sketch going of your regular.”
How long would it take to get a good sketch artist in town? He’d make a call to the FBI office. They’d get a guy there by dawn.
“I want to see my mom first. Before anything else. She needs me,” Christa said again.
Fair enough.
He led Christa to his car. Opened the back door. Christa slid inside, the tears drying on her cheeks.
When he looked up, he saw Cadence hadn’t moved. He hurried back to her. “What is it?” Her instincts about Christa had been dead-on. Cadence had saved the waitress’s life that night. But she didn’t look pleased.
Her body was tense, her posture almost afraid.
“He didn’t get her,” she whispered. “So who will he take?”
He glanced down the dark, stretching road.
And wondered if the killer was hunting right then.
“Shut the fuck up!”
The bitch wouldn’t stop screaming. He had his radio on, but it wasn’t drowning out her screams. And the cops—
They were everywhere.
She was still screaming.
He’d told her to be quiet.
She hadn’t listened.
Still screaming.
Another cop car passed him.
Could the guy hear her screams? No, no…
The patrol car kept going.
He started breathing again. This wasn’t working.
He pulled off the road. Cut his lights. The old diner was closed, had been for at least two years.
He eased in behind the building.
Her screams were even louder now.
He shoved open his door. Hurried to the trunk. Yanked it up.
The bitch sprang at him. Jumped right for him. He grabbed her, trying to choke off the screams.
When his hands pressed on her windpipe, the screams stopped. Silence. That perfect silence of death. Only…the rush wasn’t there.
He didn’t let her go.
She wasn’t what he wanted. Wasn’t good enough.
His head was pounding. His hands shaking. She’d had a car similar to Maria’s. The bright, flashing red. The red that had first caught his eye.
But this one didn’t understand her role. She wasn’t supposed to fight. She was supposed to obey. To follow all of his orders.
He kept squeezing her throat.
She never screamed again.
Sunlight was just cutting across the sky when Kyle opened the door to the motel room. Another cheap motel, complete with faded carpeting and a sagging bed.
One room.
This time, it had been by request.
He shut the door behind Cadence.
“We did it.”
She glanced up at his words.
“We didn’t arrive too late. We saved Lily. We saved Christa.”
A faint smile trembled on her lips.
He took two steps and had her in his arms. Held her tight.
Cadence. He’d thought she didn’t have hope. Too late, he was realizing she was his hope.
His mouth took hers. He lifted her higher, holding her fully as he carried her weight easily.
Her legs wrapped around his hips.
They wouldn’t have much time. Just a few hours to crash before they reported in at the local police station.
More questions. More searching.
But for that moment, that one moment—
I have her.
He pulled his mouth from hers. Began to kiss a hot path down the curve of her neck. Her legs tightened around him.
She likes this.
He licked. Lightly bit her silken skin.
Her hands fumbled, pushing between them, trying to get his shirt out of the way.
He wanted to rip his clothes off, shred hers. Wanted to be in her.
Would it be as good as before? Was that even possible? It had to be the adrenaline kick he’d had after surviving the cave-in and finding Lily. No way could the sex have really been that mind-blowing.
No fucking way.
They fell onto the bed. Rolled. Cadence came up above him. Stared down at him with eyes that glowed with an emotion he couldn’t name.
Lust was there, yes, desire, but something more lurked in those golden depths. Something he couldn’t make out.
“This is a mistake,” she whispered.
“Then it’s the best fucking mistake I’ve ever made.”
/> She smiled then.
His heart stopped.
Her hands went to his zipper, pulled it down with a hiss that seemed to vibrate through him. She shoved the pants away.
Her fingers curled around the aroused flesh that thrust so eagerly toward her.
Her head bent.
“Cadence.” If she put that mouth on him—those full red lips—he was gone. “Be careful, I don’t know…” How long I can last.
“Let’s see how far I can push.” She didn’t seem afraid. She never did.
She put her mouth on him.
Fuck.
His eyes wanted to roll back in his head. She licked and sucked and had his hands fisting into the bedcovers.
“Enough.” He couldn’t hold on, not anymore, and when he exploded, he wanted her with him.
Cadence rose above him. Straddled him with the legs that blew his mind. She’d ditched her pants. When? She still had on her shirt. No panties, though, because he felt warm, wet flesh press against him.
He parted her folds. Pushed two fingers into her and enjoyed the flush covering her cheeks.
When they were in bed, it wasn’t about being agents.
It was about—
She’s mine.
“I’m clean.” His voice was a snarling rumble he should have hated. Hadn’t he sworn he’d give her seduction this time? Gentleness? “No diseases, nothing.” He wanted to thrust into her, to feel that hot flesh all around him. “Are you—”
“I’m protected.” Her breath panted. “No diseases.”
He’d never gone bare. With her, it was all he could think about.
Staring into her eyes, unable to look away, he thrust into her.
So tight.
He knew he couldn’t last. Not in that sensual heat that was driving him mad. His hands locked on her hips. Holding her too tightly, go easier, be careful.
He couldn’t stop.
He lifted her, brought her back down. Thrust in and out. She was rising on the bed in perfect tune with him. A frantic rhythm that couldn’t stop. Faster. Harder. Deeper.
The bed was thudding into the wall. Release was seconds away.
Cadence had to come first. He needed to feel—
“Kyle!”
Her delicate inner muscles clenched around him. Pleasure flashed across her face. The most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.