When a Heart Stops

by Lynette Eason

  The profiler.

  “Why?”

  “Because this isn’t the serial killer’s MO. I mean, it is, but he’s never killed a male before.” He paused. “Other than Howard. But we know why he killed Howard.”

  “Because of what he knew,” Colton muttered.

  “So,” Dominic pinched the bridge of his nose, “he had to get rid of this guy too.” He blew out a breath. “I need to call Katie and Hunter. And Debbie. Excuse me for a few minutes.” He looked at Colton. “Let me know when security gets here.”

  Dominic got back on the phone, discussing the new killing with Debbie. Serena stared at the man on the bed. Who was he? Why had he been in her house? Why did the serial killer want him dead?

  Questions swirled, but no answers followed. She just knew that somehow she was suddenly very connected to a killer and it scared her spitless.

  “He’s only been dead for a short time,” she said.

  “I just checked on him about forty-five minutes ago,” a soft voice said from the door. “He buzzed the nurses’ desk saying he wanted more water but was too weak to get it.” Serena and Colton turned to find the same nurse who’d called security standing there. The woman took a deep breath. “I’m Hannah Grant. I am . . . was his nurse.”

  “So he was killed sometime between . . .” Serena looked at Colton. “What time did the call come in saying he was awake?”

  “I noted it on his chart,” Nurse Grant said. “But I remember. It was 7:13. I was in here changing his IV bag and he grabbed my hand.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “Nearly scared me to death.”

  “And he asked for water,” Colton said.

  “Right. Actually, he gestured. He couldn’t talk with the tube in his throat. I checked his vitals and called the doctor who came immediately and took him off the ventilator.”

  “And I received the call at 7:33,” Colton said, then looked at Serena. “I made a couple of other calls, wrapped up a few things, then called you.”

  Serena frowned as she studied the machinery. “No alarms went off?”

  The nurse shook her head. “No.”

  “So whoever killed him knew exactly which buttons to push to make sure the alarms didn’t sound.”

  “Which was why I came back to check on him this last time,” Nurse Grant said. “I noticed the heart monitor wasn’t reading up at the desk. I walked back here and found him.” Tears welled in her pretty green eyes. “At first I just stood there staring at him, I couldn’t believe it, then I called the police.”

  “Who called me,” Colton said. He shrugged. “It was my case.”

  “Yes,” Serena drew in a deep breath. “Your case that’s now tied in with a serial killer.”

  A knock on the door made her turn. “Hi, Rick. Short staffed again?”

  “Unfortunately.” He nodded to the body. “Looks like he made someone mad.”

  “Indeed.”

  He handed her a kit and said, “I’m guessing you don’t have your bag or you would’ve already started collecting evidence.”

  “You would guess correct.”

  He moved to the package. “I’m also guessing you want to know what’s in here.”

  “You win the big prize.” Dominic returned, followed by Hunter and Katie. She looked at them. “You’re just in time for the big reveal.”

  With gloved hands, Rick grasped the box lid and pulled it off. Looking in, he shook his head. “No doll this time, just a note.”

  “What does it say?”

  Rick read,“‘You lose. I win. She’s mine.’”

  Serena immediately felt Dominic’s tension spike. He said, “This is the guy who broke into Serena’s house. The serial killer took him out because he thought he was trying to take something that didn’t belong to him?”

  Hunter frowned and Katie lifted a brow as she looked at Serena. “So, the killer thinks that Serena belongs to him?”

  Serena felt her insides start to shake.

  “Oh boy,” Katie said. “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

  Dominic shot her a black look and Serena just shook her head. Katie didn’t use her filters most of the time, but she was harmless. Serena didn’t have the energy to even get upset at the woman’s unprofessionalism. She had a feeling Dominic might say something to her later, though.

  Serena asked, “Why leave a note? Why taunt me?”

  Dominic and Hunter exchanged a glance, then Dominic said slowly, “Because he wanted us to know exactly why he killed this man. He’s saying flat out that you’re a target. Not that we didn’t already know this, but this just makes it irrefutable.”

  Fear started in her belly and spread north until she felt suffocated. Spinning on her heel, she pushed her way from the room, away from the man who tried to kill her and the note that a serial killer had left her.

  Heavy hands landed on her shoulders, spinning her around. “It’s going to be okay, Serena. I promise. I’m—”

  She shrugged him off. “You can’t promise that, Dominic. I appreciate it, but you just can’t.”

  Fire lit his eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. Not unless it’s over my dead body.”

  “Don’t.” She lifted a hand. “Just don’t.”

  “We’ll get you some protection, we’ll—”

  “There’s not enough manpower or money for that.”

  “We’ll see. I also have friends. Don’t be stubborn about this.”

  She closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them, Dominic’s handsome features blurred into a shapeless blob. “This is what happened to Alexia,” she whispered. “This is exactly what she went through when that woman was after her, trying to kill her just a few weeks ago.”

  Dominic frowned and she could see his mind spinning. He paced in front of her. “Okay, so a few weeks ago someone terrorizes Alexia and finally kidnaps her because they want to know where Jillian is. Now bad things are happening to you. Someone breaks into your house looking for something, tries to steal your purse, and now a serial killer targets you. Why? You think all of that could be related?”

  A sobbing, humorless laugh escaped her. “No. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s just that I’ve had some really bad luck lately.” She waved a dismissing hand. “That’s not what I meant anyway when I said this is what Alexia went through. I just meant I now understand so clearly exactly how she felt. Helpless, afraid, and very, very angry.” The rage simmered just below the surface. She kept a lid on it, refusing to allow it to boil over. “He’s not going to do this to me.”

  Satisfaction glinted in Dominic’s eyes. He said, “That’s right. Get mad. Get really, really mad. And fight back.”

  “How?”

  “With my help.” He paused. “We need to warn those closest to you about this. So far he hasn’t gone after family members. Then again, he hasn’t warned his victims they were targets either.”

  Her parents. The air rushed from her lungs. She bit her lip and walked to the end of the hall and back. “Do you know who my parents are?”

  “Of course.”

  “My father is running for the senate. He’s not a shoo-in, but he’s got a good chance of winning. This . . . this would not be a good thing for his political . . .”

  Dominic pulled her to him and she let him. He cupped her chin. “Your life is more important than any political race.”

  She blinked. “How did the killer get past the cop?”

  Dominic switched gears as easily as she did. Knowledge filled his eyes. “The missing child.” He turned to the passing nurse. “What floor was the child on when he disappeared?”

  Her eyes widened. “This one.”

  Dominic’s lips tightened. “It was a distraction.” He snapped his attention back to those in the room. He asked Colton, “Has anyone located that cop yet?”

  “No.”

  “What about video?”

  “Security’s pulling it up now,” Colton answered.

  He looked at Serena. “I know you have to
take care of things here. I’ll be back.”

  “Fine.”

  “Are you going to be all right?” he asked her, concern written on his face.

  “I guess I’m going to find out.”

  The video showed the officer standing in front of Serena’s attacker’s room. Then a distraught young woman with a panicked expression on her face approached the officer. He placed a hand on her shoulder, looked around, then spoke into his radio.

  Dominic saw uncertainty cross his features, then he followed the woman down the hall with a glance back toward the room he was supposed to be covering. “There he goes,” Dominic said.

  Nurses scrambled in the halls, going in and out of rooms. Chaos reigned for the next several minutes.

  Which was all the killer needed.

  “Look,” Dominic pointed.

  A nurse exited John Doe’s room. Another person appeared on camera and entered. Colton grunted. “You can only see that one from the back. Is it a man or a woman?”

  “Can’t tell. Whoever it is, he or she is tall for a woman, short for a man, thin, maybe five eight, five nine? I’m trying to judge seeing where the person’s head hits the height of the door. He walks with a confident stride in spite of the bent head.”

  Colton said, “Lab coat, head down, but short brown hair with a baseball cap.”

  “Okay, wait. Here he comes.” The door opened—and the person backed out of the room. “He knows where the cameras are,” Dominic slapped a hand against the table in disgust as he watched the probable killer walk down the hall toward the stairwell, passing the cop and the young woman clutching a toddler who looked to be about two years old. The officer, who was now returning to his post, spoke into his radio.

  “Look,” Dominic pointed. “There’s our cop. He came back, so where is he now?”

  “In the ER,” a voice said from behind them.

  Dominic turned to find the officer he’d sent to track the missing cop down. “What do you mean?”

  “Someone found him out cold on the steps. He’s got a serious knot on the back of his head. Maybe even a fractured skull. Doc said he’s going to be unconscious for a while.”

  Dominic winced and turned back to the video.

  “Bet if we back up, we’ll see this guy snag the kid from the hall and put him in the stairwell,” Hunter said. “And the officer will disappear again too at some point.”

  “It was all over in less than thirty seconds,” Dominic murmured. “No one paid any attention. As soon as the commotion with the kid starts, our killer’s in and out.”

  The head of hospital security turned and said, “There. I’ve got him grabbing the kid. Hold on. Watch.” He reversed the video.

  They turned as one to watch as the person backed from the stairwell door. When he turned, he tugged the baseball cap low, leaned against the wall, and pulled a newspaper out from under his arm. He kept his head down.

  And then he waited.

  Katie said, “If you didn’t know he was watching everything going on, you’d never know he was watching everything going on.”

  Thirty minutes passed before the toddler appeared in the hall. Quick as a snake on a mouse, the killer snatched the child and was back behind the stairwell door.

  “He was just waiting for something to give him the opportunity to create a distraction,” Colton said. “The cop’s back was turned too. He didn’t see a thing.”

  “You don’t get any better than a missing kid to stir things up,” Katie agreed. “And the timing of everything just fell right into this guy’s plans. I hate it when that happens.”

  The stairwell opened once more and again, the killer pulled out his newspaper and casually leaned against the wall. The cop shifted, glanced down the hall, didn’t see anything amiss, and resumed his bored stance.

  Hunter said, “Kid’s in the stairwell. The door’s heavy enough there’s no way he could open it.”

  “Wouldn’t someone hear him crying?” Dominic asked.

  “Not if he was having a good time playing on the steps,” Katie said. “And besides, this hall’s basically empty. Who’s around to hear him except the cop?”

  A harried woman appeared from the end room and looked both ways, up and down the hall, like she was getting ready to cross the street.

  When she didn’t see her child, fear flashed across her features. Then she searched the hall, talked to the cop, stopped a nurse, then was back to the cop who spoke into his radio. And then it picked up where they started earlier.

  “Look, he comes back to his post after he finds the kid, then goes back into the stairwell.”

  “He suspected something and went to look.”

  “Should’ve called it in.”

  “The killer was still there and caught him by surprise?” Dominic asked.

  Colton nodded. “Looks like it.”

  Dominic sighed. “Well, we know what happened, we just don’t have a clue who did it.”

  Colton shook his head. “This dude is smooth.”

  “All right.” Dominic looked away from the screen and into Colton’s always shuttered eyes. Then he let his gaze bounce from Hunter to Katie back to Colton. “I want to see video of all of the entrances and parking lots now. This killer’s made this highly personal when it comes to targeting Serena. I want to know which door he came in, where he parked, everything.”

  “We’re on that. And yes, Serena needs protection.” Colton’s flat statement said he caught on quick.

  “I can talk to my boss and the local chief of police, but you and I both know what they’re going to say,” Hunter said.

  Colton nodded. “No money, no manpower.”

  “I’ll talk to my boss too,” Dominic said. “Because of Serena’s father, he may be able to pull a few strings and get some extra coverage.”

  Colton grunted. “I know her father. He and my uncle Frank are going head-to-head in this election coming up.”

  “Is working this case going to be a conflict of interest?” Dominic asked.

  “No way,” Colton snorted. “I have no use for politics. This is my job. Serena’s a great girl, she doesn’t deserve this.”

  “I’ll be glad to do whatever you need,” Hunter volunteered. “Alexia won’t have a problem with that, considering what she just went through a few weeks ago.”

  Colton said, “I can help.”

  Katie tightened her lips and Dominic raised his brow at her. She rolled her eyes. “All right, I can donate a few hours. I mean, it’s not like I have a life or anything.”

  “Thank you.” Dominic didn’t worry about Katie. She had a wicked wit and spoke mostly in sarcastic phrases, but she was professional and would do the job to the best of her ability.

  Even if it meant taking a bullet for someone.

  “All right, folks, let’s catch us a killer before he strikes again.” Dominic turned and walked back into the hall.

  Serena paced from one end to the other, head bowed, deep in thought. She startled as Dominic stepped in front of her, grasped her upper arms, and pulled her to a stop.

  She let him, looked into his eyes, and said, “Okay, we’re targets, no doubt about it.”

  Dominic tapped his chin. “I agree—to a point. Or he’s being really smart and just wants us to think we’re targets.”

  She frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. What does that gain him?”

  “I have no idea. It’s just a thought.”

  She considered that. “If we’re targets, and I think we’ve established that, what kind of police protection can we expect?”

  Dominic grimaced. “I was just discussing this with some of the team and here’s the deal. About you, not me. The sheriff could put a protective detail on you for the short term, but I hate to break it to you, no one has the manpower or the money for a long-term deal.”

  “I see. So I’m pretty much on my own.”

  Shivers rippled through her when he reached over to grasp her fingers. “Hey, no way you’re on your own. I told you I w
as just discussing this. Whatever the sheriff can’t cover . . . well . . . let’s just say I’ve got friends.” He snorted. “And trust me, after that ‘gift’ left on my property, I’ve asked a few to watch my back for me.”

  Serena bit her lip. “That’s good to know.” She firmed her jaw. “Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe he’s just taunting us, telling us that we can’t catch him. Like this is all part of his stupid game.”

  Dominic’s brows pulled together at the bridge of his nose. “Maybe.” His expression said he didn’t think so.

  “So why is he picking on us? Why is he making this so personal?”

  “What if it just happened to be you and me? What if it’s not us per se? What if we’re now targets because we’re the ones who’re working Leslie’s case?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, maybe he was watching to see who found her. Watching to see who responded to the call. And it happened to be you on the time clock.”

  Serena wrinkled her nose. “So I’m just lucky. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Maybe. Who knows? It’s just a theory and probably not even a good one.”

  “Well, until we have a better one, I’d say let’s work with that one.”

  “Then again, the note pretty much makes it clear that this guy thinks you belong to him.”

  Serena shivered. “I know.”

  Even Dominic’s warm hand covering hers couldn’t chase the chill of terror invading her.

  Serena’s house was lovely. The killer stood in the den and looked right . . . then left. Where to start? Golden green eyes peered around the edge of the recliner, causing the killer to jump. Heart pounding, a little laugh escaped. “Hello, kitty. Not much of an attack cat, are you?”

  The dog, Yoda, sniffed the gloved hand and decided she’d found a new best friend. Serena should have chosen her pets more wisely. But then she had no reason to.

  The instructions had been clear.

  Get the information before getting rid of Serena.

  But that had been much harder to do than originally thought. The woman didn’t scare easily. And with her schedule so wacky, getting inside and feeling comfortable that Serena wouldn’t be coming home anytime soon was impossible.