Anywhere She Runs

by Webb, Debra

  All this time she’d thought she had done just that but she’d been fooling herself.

  More lies . . . more pretending . . .

  The runaway cop . . . sounded like the perfect theme for a movie.

  The door opened.

  She glanced up as Wyatt crouched down next to her. “Addy.” He searched her face. “You should stay here while we get things started out there. Take a break. Let the rest of us deal with this search.”

  Was he out of his mind? She struggled to her feet. “No way in hell. I’m fine. Let’s go.” She straightened her jacket. What was wrong with these people?

  “You are not fine.”

  She closed her eyes, tried to stop the sound of his voice from reverberating in her ears.

  “Addy?”

  She glared at him. “The truth is, I may never be fine again. But that’s not going to stop me from finding this son of a bitch.”

  “You’re exhausted,” he said gently. “You’re upset. You have every right to be.”

  “Look, Dr. Phil”—she glared at him—“give me five fucking minutes and I’ll be good to go.” All she had to do was wash her face and take a few more deep breaths.

  “If you insist,” he relented, his frustration showing. “But, like I told you before, I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he said flatly, those hazel eyes hard with determination. “You stay right where I can see you twenty-four/seven until this is over. After what happened in that cemetery, I’d think you would be down with that.”

  “And what happened to my mother?” He needn’t forget that part. If Adeline had been on her toes she would have sensed the danger before it happened. She’d fallen down on the job as a cop and as a daughter.

  “Yes,” he confessed.

  She folded her arms over her chest. “And if I don’t agree to those terms, what do you plan to do about that, Sheriff Henderson?” This was ridiculous. How could she do the job if she had to be right under his thumb every second?

  “Put you in protective custody as a person of interest to this case.”

  Impotent laughter bubbled into her throat. “You are seriously crazy if you think I’d let you get away with that shit. Remember, I know as much about the law as you, hotshot.” Anger had completely taken over all those weaker emotions now. Even she realized she wasn’t reacting rationally.

  “Try me.”

  She took a mental step back. He was serious. The fury in his tone as he’d uttered those two little words warned that he would not back off. Allowing him to control her every move was out of the question.

  “I’m out of here.” She reached around him to open the door. Her breasts rubbed against his chest. Big mistake. Her breath mired with the jolt of electricity that tingled her nipples.

  He reached up, she watched that long-fingered hand coming toward her . . . was helpless to evade his touch. He tipped her chin up, stared at her lips . . . hunger etched in every line of his handsome face. Her entire body yearned to feel . . . to just feel.

  “If anything happened to you . . .”—the pad of his thumb slid slowly across her cheek, sending shivers over her skin—“I don’t think I could bear it.”

  The misery came rushing back in. “I . . .” She had to make it stop. She couldn’t go out there and accomplish her goal like this. This consuming pain . . . she was drowning in it. There was only one way to stop the pain. “Kiss me, Wyatt.” She searched his eyes, begged him to obey. “Please. I need you to . . . make the hurt go away.”

  His face lowered to hers, his lips brushed hers . . . teasing, tempting. She pushed her arms around his neck and took control of the kiss. When Wyatt kissed her nothing else mattered. The world could end and she wouldn’t care as long as his lips continued to pleasure hers.

  Her hands slid down his chest, went to his belt. She didn’t care that they were in his office and that someone might overhear. She needed him. Right now.

  She opened his fly, pulled his thick cock free. Her entire being shivered with anticipation. He’d already unfastened her belt, unbuttoned her pants, and lowered her zipper. He reached behind her, locked the door, then lifted her against him and carried her to his desk. She couldn’t stop looking into his eyes, anticipating how it would feel to have him inside her.

  He shoved the files and papers aside, settled her bottom on the desktop. The fingers of one hand worked the pony-tail holder loose from her hair while the other dragged her jeans and panties down to her ankles. She spread her thighs wider apart, wishing she could wrap her legs around his waist but the fucking jeans circling her ankles wouldn’t allow the move.

  “Hurry,” she murmured against his hungry lips.

  That big, sleek penis nudged her. She gasped, rocked her pelvis to facilitate his penetration. She almost came as he pushed inside her. Pleasure erupted in every muscle, detonated in her veins. She wanted to touch his skin. Her hands found their way beneath his shirt, slid over his chest. Hot . . . smooth. God, he felt so good.

  Those slow even strokes in and out were driving her mad. But she needed more . . . wanted him deeper. She pulled her hands from under his shirt and pushed them up and around his neck, tried to lift her pelvis into his. He instinctively understood what she needed. He lifted her against his chest, bent forward and pressed her back against the desk. He angled her hips for maximum penetration.

  Hmmm. “Feels good,” she murmured, wanting him to know how much she liked what he was doing. All the other ugliness . . . all other thoughts evaporated like rain falling on hot rocks.

  Slow, slow, slow, he moved in and out with such deliberation, the anticipation of the purposeful strokes and the resulting friction was sending her over the edge.

  He moved a little faster . . . just a little. She gasped. Faster, deeper.

  A fist rapped against the door. “Sheriff Henderson?” The secretary.

  Wyatt froze.

  “Don’t stop,” Adeline muttered. Her body pulsed, ready to launch into that stratosphere of pure sensation.

  Another knock. “Just a minute,” Adeline called out when he didn’t.

  When he still hesitated, she squeezed him with those tingling feminine muscles. “Finish it,” she demanded.

  The desire in his eyes darkened. He pulled back, paused for one anticipation-building second, then thrust deep and hard. She moaned, couldn’t help herself.

  He set a rhythm that blew her mind. She bit down on her bottom lip to hold back the screams. Oh God. A little more . . . just a little more. She came. Melted against the sleek oak desk, while he kept driving into her. Harder. Faster. She could feel him throbbing deep inside her . . . on the verge of climaxing. She couldn’t move . . . couldn’t help him. All she could do was savor the glorious full-body sensations and the feel of being in his arms.

  Then he did this little thing. Squeezed her bottom with those big, powerful hands, tilted her pelvis a little more, and slipped one finger inside when she was already filled to capacity. He pressed a certain spot and she bucked against him. Oh God! Harder he pressed, still sliding his penis in and out. She tried to catch her breath . . . moaned with the tension mounting. He captured the sounds in his mouth.

  She started to come again. By the time his climax erupted, she was coming fast and furiously.

  He held her tight against his chest, his generous cock deep inside her, for another long moment. Until they caught their breath. Slowly they righted each other’s clothes. Neither spoke. The moment was too perfect to ruin with reality.

  Her mother was dead.

  Two women were missing.

  Her sisters.

  And her brother wanted her next.

  She and Wyatt righted their clothes . . . stole kisses. Ignored the secretary waiting outside the door and the others no doubt still gathered in the conference room.

  This was all they had. Right now. Right here . . . this stolen moment.

  Nothing was certain.

  As much as Adeline wanted to, she wasn’t entirely sure she could trust him not to let he
r down again.

  He certainly couldn’t trust her not to run again.

  The only thing they could both count on was that they were damned good cops.

  For now, getting the job done—for her mother, for the missing women—would have to be enough.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  5:42 P.M.

  Wyatt removed his cap and swiped the sweat from his brow. The fifty-five degrees felt like seventy. The teams had filed out nearly six hours ago to search their designated grids.

  Womack, Sullenger, and Addy were on Wyatt’s team but they’d gotten a later start than the others. Addy had insisted on bringing Nichols to the location.

  Wyatt couldn’t deny the woman had sensed some of the details about the killer, but he wasn’t so sure how far to follow that lead. And daylight was wasting.

  He’d kept a close eye on Addy. He could hardly believe her mother was dead. Even more unbelievable was the idea that he’d allowed her to be a part of this search.

  Admittedly, as long as she was focused on the investigation, she didn’t dwell on all the insanity.

  But there was no way to avoid the issues. She was in denial now. He couldn’t let her fall apart without being close by to back her up.

  The way he’d failed to do nine years ago.

  Wyatt shook off the painful thoughts. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.

  Nichols turned all the way around, her eyes wide, her big wool coat swallowing just about all of her but those eyes. “He came this way.” She pointed to the water and nodded with complete certainty. Then she stilled. Her head started to wag back and forth. “He didn’t bring them here.” Her gaze settled on Addy. “But he was here . . .” She gave her head another good shake. “Don’t know why, but he came here for something. Or maybe he passed this way going where he was going.”

  “A lot of these waterways intersect,” Womack suggested. “He may have used a canoe, moved about that way with his victims.”

  Wyatt heaved a disgusted breath. “Yeah. We’ll keep searching until dark.” Scarcely a few minutes more. There was nothing else to do at this point. “Tomorrow we’ll take another sector and do the same. We’ll just keep doing it until we find them.”

  Pain tightened in Addy’s face. She offered her arm to the older woman. “Come on, Ms. Nichols, I’ll walk you back to the command post. From there one of the deputies will give you a ride home.”

  Wyatt started to argue, but Sullenger jumped in. “I’ll go with you, Detective Cooper.” She smiled at Wyatt. “Better to move about in pairs, right, sir?”

  Addy rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

  Wyatt checked in with the team leaders. He knew damned well that if any of them had made a discovery he would have known about it within seconds. Still, it was something to do until Addy was back at his side. He’d sworn he wasn’t letting her out of his sight. But they weren’t that far from the temporary command post and Sullenger was with her, both were armed. If he didn’t give her some breathing room, she would revolt.

  Truth was, he’d needed a minute to pull himself back together. They’d made love in his office, then gotten the search under way. His head was still spinning, even more than six hours later.

  He shook his head. So far they hadn’t found a damned thing and Nichols had just insisted the women weren’t anywhere near here. Of course, she could be wrong. But she’d been right about a hell of a lot so far.

  Damn it.

  What the hell was wrong with him? One minute he thought the woman being involved was a waste of time, the next he’d done an about-face.

  Wyatt closed his phone and shoved it back into the holster on his belt. Addy’s scent still clung to his skin. The sweetness of it played havoc with his ability to focus. Not to mention heightened his frustration.

  If this thing hadn’t happened, she likely would never have come back home. But every minute that this crazed bastard was on the loose, her life was threatened.

  Damn it. He felt helpless. Just plain damned helpless.

  “This guy’s a true psycho, don’t you think?” Womack asked. “What he did to his wife is unthinkable.”

  “Yeah.” Wyatt had read about the children of killers and how sometimes they ended up following that same path, but he’d never worked a case where the perp fell into that category. Well, there were the Cooper boys, Gage and Clay. But, to his knowledge, neither one had resorted to murder. If Cyrus had ever committed a homicide, he’d kept it under wraps. No way to be certain with a man like that.

  Womack scanned the woods all around them; the trees and underbrush grew right up to the riverbank. “I’m scared to death we’re going to be too late for those women.” He settled his attention on Wyatt. “No harm in a man admitting fear, especially in a situation like this.”

  “None at all,” Wyatt agreed. “We hope for the best and brace for the worst. Then we do all we can.” It may already be too late. Wyatt exiled that truth.

  With the phone tucked back into his belt, Wyatt took a moment to regain his composure. Every county from here to just north of Laurel and all the way west to Picayune was looking for this guy. He couldn’t be that fucking good.

  Wyatt turned to stare in the direction Addy had gone with Nichols and Sullenger. He shouldn’t have let her out of his sight. How many times had he said that and gone on to let her have her way? He started in the direction of the command post. Womack called out to him, but Wyatt just kept walking.

  He had to get to Addy and this time she wasn’t getting more than two feet from him.

  “Thanks for your help, Ms. Nichols.” Adeline assisted her into the back of the county cruiser.

  “You be careful now,” the lady urged. She searched Adeline’s face. “He’s watching you real close. Almost as close as he’s watching his boy.”

  Adeline resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, ma’am. I’m watching for him.”

  Ms. Nichols grabbed her hand before Adeline could close the door. “Stay away from your kin, Detective. You can’t trust him.”

  Adeline promised she would as she extracted her hand from the old lady’s surprisingly strong grip. She closed the door and banged the top of the car with the flat of her hand to give the deputy the go-ahead to get moving.

  Nichols had picked up on the fact that the man they were looking for was her biological brother. And that he had a son. No way to ignore she had some sort of gift.

  The whole thing gave Adeline the creeps.

  At least she’d kept her mind occupied . . . and off her mother. Images of her lying in that hospital bed ached through Adeline. It was so hard to believe . . . her mother was gone . . . forever.

  “That old woman is one strange bird,” Sullenger commented as she watched the cruiser roll down the dirt road, leaving a faint cloud of dust in its wake.

  Adeline blinked the images away. “Very strange.” Her attention settled on Sullenger. She really was attractive, despite the long nose. Seemed like a good deputy. Had Sullenger and Wyatt dated? Or just flirted at the office? The smell of him lingered on Adeline’s clothes . . . on her body. Made her warm and restless inside just thinking of the way he’d taken her in his office. Funny, though she had every reason to, a shower was the last thing on her mind. She liked having his scent on her. Hers was, no doubt, still on his skin.

  Her gaze narrowed on Sullenger. Kind of like marking territory. That was what her mother would say. A renewed ache deep in her chest took her breath.

  “So.” Sullenger started back in the direction they’d come. “Will you be staying long once this investigation is wrapped up?” She shook her head. “And, after the funeral? I’m really sorry about your mother, Detective.”

  Yep, the girl was getting the lay of the land. Sizing up the challenge the competition represented. The sympathy was just something she tacked on for appearances’ sake. “Thanks.”

  “You’ve got a lot on your mind,” Sullenger suggested, answering her own question. “The funeral. Taking
care of your mother’s place. You’ll probably be around for a while.”

  “I don’t think my chief would be too happy,” Adeline admitted, “if I hung around too long.” But the woman was right. Adeline had a lot to take care of . . . none of which she wanted to think about right now. God, she hadn’t even considered all that stuff.

  Sullenger made an agreeable sound. “Sheriff Henderson probably won’t be too happy about you going.”

  “He’s a big boy, he’ll get over it.”

  “He never stopped loving you.” Sullenger stopped and faced Adeline. “You do know that, don’t you?”

  If she’d slapped Adeline in the face she wouldn’t have been more surprised. “Do you always nose around in folks’ personal business?” Adeline folded her arms over her chest and met the woman’s brazen stare. No point beating around the bush.

  The deputy hiked her shoulders, then let them fall. “Only when it affects me.”

  Adeline’s gaze narrowed a second time. “If you and Henderson have something going on, you don’t need to worry about me.” Adeline started forward again. “When this is done and things are taken care of, I’m out of here.” The question of whether she would stay or go had never been a real issue. Had she inadvertently given the impression she might stay?

  “We don’t exactly have anything going on,” Sullenger confessed as she trailed behind Adeline, “yet.”

  With everything else that was going on, the pure jealousy that roiled inside Adeline pissed her off. She had no right feeling jealous. She had way bigger problems than Wyatt Henderson. They’d had sex, yes. But they were both adults and it hadn’t meant anything real. Had it? Of course not. “You got no competition with me, Deputy.”

  “Ha.”

  Adeline shot the smart-mouthed deputy a look.

  “Every woman who’s given him a second look has to compete with you.”

  “Well now.” Adeline kicked aside the ridiculous feeling of victory that attempted to roar through her. “Maybe the right one just hasn’t come along.”

  “Is he why you’re still single?”