by Becca Van
“Yes.”
“Fucking hell,” Tanner snarled. “That’s an hour from here. We can’t all go, Clay. What if Jasmine needs backup?”
“That’s why I’m only sending you two and Spence. Spence is probably halfway there, by now. Weren’t you listening? I just told you what was going down.” Clay sighed.
“You can’t do that, Clay,” Tanner said. “If that fucker is watching—and we know he is—he’s not going to make the move we want him to if he sees the sheriff’s vehicle.”
“I wasn’t fucking born yesterday,” Clay snarled. “I’m in my truck.”
“Shit, sorry. I wasn’t questioning your abilities,” Tanner apologized.
“Yeah, you were, but don’t sweat it. We’re all a little tense right now. You need to get your mind in the game, guys. I don’t have time to reiterate stuff. Stop letting your emotions take over and be the soldiers you were trained to be.” Clay paused to take a breath. “I’m sorry for snapping at you.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Get your asses moving and keep me informed. I have a feeling we’ll be finding the bodies of the other three men before long.”
“Yeah, me, too. Watch her back, Clay.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I’m not letting that fucker get her.”
“Thanks, boss.” Tanner disconnected the call. He wasn’t going to bother to change into his deputy uniform this time of night. The CSU unit and the coroner knew him and the others on sight. He hurried to the office, unlocked the hidden safe, and grabbed their guns. He passed Coop’s over and then checked the clip. They were in the SUV and racing toward Pahaska Tepee Resort moments later. The faster they got there, the quicker they could get back home and hold Jasmine in their arms.
* * * *
Jasmine pulled her cell phone from her pocket when she felt it vibrate and felt the blood drain from her face as she read Clay’s text. Even though the guy who’d instigated the attack on her last night with his three friends was an asshole, she wouldn’t have wished him dead. Frissons of fear skittered up her spine, but she quickly pushed all emotions aside. Now wasn’t the time to be a compassionate human being. Now was the time to draw on all her resources as a trained FBI agent and profiler.
She shoved her phone back into her pocket after sending Clay an expressionless emoticon and began to serve the inn patrons. All the time she laughed and joked with the customers as she took their money and made their change, her eyes never stopped roaming the room. However, the lighting in the bar area of the inn was dim, and there were a few spots in the large room that were sequestered in shadows. For all she knew, the serial killer could be sitting in one of those shadowy areas watching every move she made.
After getting the best rest she’d had in years, Jasmine felt sluggish. It was strange how she could keep going on little to no sleep, but when she got a bit of the sleep she needed, she found it harder to concentrate and function. She just hoped like hell if she was being watched by the psychopath that he didn’t make a move tonight. Jasmine wasn’t sure she’d be able to get out of his clutches alive if he did.
* * * *
“Sick motherfucking bastard.” Coop swallowed the bile that tried to rise from his stomach when he saw the mutilated body. He gazed at the coroner. “Are you sure this is the same guy?”
“Yeah. The slash marks are the same pattern, as are the angles of the stab wounds.”
“Do you think this is a message?” Tanner asked.
“I thought that would be obvious,” Tom Maher, the coroner, replied.
“How so?” Cooper asked.
“He has to have heard or seen what happened to his escaped victim,” Tom began to explain. “In his mind, he considers her his.”
“Fuck!” Tanner gazed over at Coop.
“She’s safe, guys,” Spence stated calmly as he clasped Cooper’s shoulder. “Just got a text from Clay. She arrived home a couple of minutes ago.”
“Thank fuck,” Tanner muttered under his breath.
“How the hell did you know about that?” Tanner asked Tom in a clipped voice.
Tom quirked his eyebrow. “Kent told me when I dropped into the office this morning.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Tom nodded and, with a sad sigh, zipped up the body bag. “He’s getting more violent. I think cutting off this man’s hands is a warning to his friends.”
“If that’s the case, he might not go after them,” Spence said.
“That’s wishful thinking,” Tom responded. “He likes killing. He’s not going to pass up an opportunity to take a life.”
“We don’t have the resources to babysit those bastards,” Cooper said.
“No, we don’t,” Spence agreed. “Kent or Dawson are already on their way to those men’s homes. They’re going to suggest they leave town or move in together until we have the killer behind bars.”
“They’re not allowed to leave,” Tanner pointed out. “They have a trial to attend in a few months for assaulting our…your woman.”
Cooper felt his lips twitch at Tanner’s near mistake. Jasmine was their woman, she was part of their hearts and souls, and it was getting harder and harder to keep from fucking up, all in the game of police work. He really wished he could hunt this bastard down, put his gun against his head, and pull the trigger. They couldn’t move forward until they captured the psychopath.
* * * *
Jasmine was glad that Kent had arrived back home not long after she did. Dawson had stayed at the ranch to protect the women. She hated how vigilant everyone had to be with the killer still on the loose. Clay had called her on her cell phone after she’d ditched the mic and earpiece asking if she was okay. Of course, she’d answered in the affirmative, but she wasn’t sure she would be all right until this was over. At the very least until Cooper and Tanner were back home. She wandered about Clay, Spence and Misha’s home as she tried to unwind after a busy night. She didn’t invade the other people’s privacy by looking into drawers or going into the master bedroom, and though she liked the house, she loved Cooper and Tanner’s so much more. They had decorated with neutral simplicity, which suited her personal tastes, as well. All their place needed was a few colorful cushions on the sofa and armchairs and maybe a throw rug or two. Jasmine wasn’t a girly girl and never had been. Sure, she wore makeup to work, but she wasn’t the type of woman to need to put her face on whenever she left the house. She didn’t want or need to impress anyone. She was who she was, and she wasn’t about to change.
She’d also been astonished by how quickly she’d clicked with Misha and Bella. They were beautiful women on the inside and out. Misha was more girly than Bella. She never seemed to have a hair out of place, and she always wore makeup. Although, to be honest, the tones she used were natural, and most people wouldn’t even be aware Misha had makeup on. Bella was the complete opposite to Misha. She was vivaciously bubbly, and though she had every reason to be sad, she always seemed to have a smile on her face. Nonetheless, she had caught a few unguarded sorrowful expressions when Bella hadn’t been aware Jasmine had been looking at her. She’d caught the same expression on Misha’s face a time or two. Maybe that was why she had such an affinity with both women. They’d all faced evil and conquered.
Sometimes Jasmine felt like a failure as a woman. She was more capable of looking after herself and didn’t need to lean on anyone. She mentally shook her head at that thought. She did and had leaned on Cooper and Tanner. A gasp escaped her mouth when she realized that she trusted those two men implicitly. If she hadn’t, she never would have opened that locked vault door and spilled her guts about the horrors she’d faced and suffered as a teenager.
Her knees wobbled and then completely gave way. Jasmine sank to the floor, bent over, and hugged herself about the waist. She was irrevocably in love with Tanner and Cooper.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
* * * *
Tanner jumped from the SUV and rushed toward the door. Cooper wa
s right on his heels. He’d hated being so far away from the ranch when Jasmine was in danger, but he still had a job to do. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kent, Dawson, Spence or Clay to protect her. He needed to be close so he could help her escape danger if it came for her. If something happened to her when he wasn’t near, he would have to live with that guilt for the rest of his life, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to endure that.
Cooper tried to shove him out of the way, but Tanner shoulder checked the big bastard to the side and reached the front door first. He smirked at his friend as he opened the door and hurried inside. He took his hat off and hung it on the rack just inside the door. Cooper took his hat off, too. The men had taken to wearing their Stetson sheriff’s hats whenever they left the house and if they weren’t working and in uniform, they all wore the same colored clothes. If the serial killer was watching them, the fucker would have a hard time differentiating between them. With their hair covered and their faces in shadows, the bastard would have to be up close to see who was who.
He stumbled and only caught himself from falling and going to his knees by taking an extra quick step when he saw Jasmine huddled on the floor, bent over clutching at her belly. She looked as if she’d been there for a long time.
Tanner rushed to her side and knelt next to her, his heart in his throat with fear that she’d been hurt. He glanced at Coop when he heard a gun being cocked. Cooper had his weapon out, and the fierce expression on his face looked as if he was ready to take on the world all by himself and come out the winner.
“What’s wrong, Jas? Are you hurt?” Tanner ran a hand over her head and down her long braid.
Jasmine slowly lifted her head to meet his gaze. His heart stuttered when he saw how pale she was, but when he gazed into his eyes, it slammed against his ribs so hard and fast the organ hurt for a second. She was totally naked to him in that moment. Totally open and exposed. In those gorgeous blue eyes, he saw his heart and soul.
Pink crept up her cheeks, and she quickly lowered her head again, but Tanner wasn’t about to let her hide from him and Cooper anymore. He was done with keeping his emotions locked down inside. It was time to lay his heart bare, and hopefully, when he’d told her what she meant to him, she would do the same. Even though he could see it in her eyes, he needed to hear those words from her luscious lips.
Tanner scooped her up into his arms and stood, taking her with him. He stepped over to the sofa and sat with her on his lap. After maneuvering her to sit side on to him, he glanced at Cooper and indicated for him to take the seat beside them.
“I’m fine,” Jasmine snapped and tried to shove the arm he had locked around her waist away, but he held firm. “You’re being overprotective. Let me up.”
“No.”
“What the fuck, Tanner? I’m tired and want to go to bed.” She pinched him.
“Settle down hellcat.”
“What did you call me?” Jasmine snarled.
“Hellcat.”
“That’s an apt nickname.” Cooper smirked.
“Screw you.” Jasmine’s glare would have killed from a hundred yards or more if she’d been able to shoot laser beams out of her eyes.
“Oh, I will, baby. Don’t you worry.” Coop gave her a heated look.
Jasmine’s mouth gaped open before she snapped it closed with an audible click.
“Tell me why you were on the floor looking as if someone had just died,” Tanner commanded, bringing the conversation back on track.
“I can’t remember.”
“Bullshit,” Coop growled.
“Why are you lying to us?” Tanner asked. “I thought you trusted us.”
“I do,” she whispered.
“Then explain.” Coop pointed to the floor where she’d been sitting.
“Clay told me what that fucker did to my attacker.”
“Shit!” Tanner spat. “He should have kept his mouth shut.”
“Why?” She flung her hands in the air, nearly hitting him in the face. Tanner clasped her wrists and pinned them to her chest. “It’s my job to know and wade through and see all the gruesome details.”
“But you don’t like it,” Cooper said. “Why do you do that to yourself?”
“I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through. If I can save even one person in my lifetime, then dealing with the fallout is worth it.”
“Not to the detriment of your health, honey. You don’t sleep. You hardly eat. You’re exhausted. When is enough going to be enough?” Tanner asked.
“When I’m six feet under,” Jasmine yelled.
Tanner shook his head and sighed. Although this had been irking him from almost day one, he’d allowed the conversation to get off track. Jasmine was trained in psychology and had used that training to manipulate the conversation. It was time to get to the heart of the matter and maybe they would have a happy future to look forward to.
Chapter Fifteen
Jasmine was pissed at herself for not hearing Cooper’s and Tanner’s return. She had no idea how long she’d been sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs, but it must have been at least a couple of hours. She’d had to swallow back a groan of pain when Tanner had scooped her up off the floor. Her muscles were stiff and sore from sitting in one position for so long.
She’d seen the flash of awareness in Tanner’s gaze when he’d met her eyes, and when he’d started asking her pointed questions, she’d gotten scared. She was still scared. You’re a fucking coward, Jasmine.
She’d easily redirected the conversation deliberately misunderstanding Tanner’s and Cooper’s questions. She just hoped that they wouldn’t persist and get back to the original subject, but from the determined gleam in Tanner’s green eyes, that wasn’t about to happen.
“Why are you scared?” Tanner asked.
She sucked in a breath, and though neither man stood on ceremony and were usually blunt, she hadn’t expected him to aim right at the crux of the matter.
“I’m not scared.”
“Lie.” Cooper shifted closer, took one of her hands in his, and laced their fingers together. “You’re good at hiding what you’re feeling from other people, but we know you.”
“I’m not willing to keep going around in circles. It’s late, and this is getting nowhere.”
Tanner lifted her to her feet and, after making sure she wouldn’t stumble, released her hips. The knot of anxiety in Jasmine’s gut got bigger, and her stomach began to roil, making her feel ill. Had her evasiveness just fucked up any chance she had of having a relationship with them? Tears stung the back of her eyes, but she ruthlessly pushed them and all emotion down deep. She shoved and shoved until they were back in that steel vault, and she was about to slam the door closed, but she hesitated.
Tanner stood, cupped her cheek in his hand, his long fingers caressing her sensitive skin. She didn’t bother trying to dislodge his hold because she could see implacable resolve in his eyes. She kept her gaze steady and locked on his, even though she wanted to look away, run away so she could hide and lick her wounds, but she wasn’t a coward and wouldn’t start being one now. She would face this head-on like she did everything else, even if she ended up with her heart broken in pieces at her feet.
“Jasmine, you have no idea how amazingly special you are,” Tanner said with so much conviction it was difficult to swallow around the emotional constriction in her throat. “I knew as soon as I set eyes on you, you were trouble.”
She made a humph sound. She couldn’t deny the last because she’d known as soon as she’d seen them that they were different from any other men she’d met or dealt with before. She’d mentally labeled them trouble, too. How right she’d been.
“You used a horrific tragedy in your past and came out swinging. In fact, you’re still swinging, and though I admire your strength and tenacity, it’s time to rest, honey.”
Jasmine frowned, not sure what he was getting at. “What?”
Cooper walked up behind her,
wrapped his arms around her waist, and pressed his front to her back. She gasped and tried to suppress her shiver of arousal when she felt his thick, hard cock pressing into her lower back.
“What Tanner is trying to say, baby, is that we love you. We hate seeing how obsessed you are over bringing killers and criminals to justice. You’re exhausted, burnt out, and if you don’t take some time off to relax soon, you’re going to collapse or get very, very sick.”
The emotions she’d shoved back into the vault but hadn’t locked away exploded out of the open door. A sob erupted from her mouth, and the tears she’d been keeping at bay, formed, welled, and rolled down her face. Joyful euphoria filled her heart to overflowing, and her whole body began to tremble in reaction.
She met Tanner’s blazing green eyes and saw pure unadulterated truth. He loved her. Cooper loved her. Her. Emotionally damaged, physically scarred, and they loved her.
“Y–you l–love me?”
Tanner cupped her cheeks between the palms of his hands. “With all my heart and soul.”
Another sobbed escaped her mouth. She wrapped her fingers around his broad, muscular wrists and held on to him, never wanting to let go. “I love you, too.”
A slow smile spread across his lips, drawing her gaze. She licked her lips instinctively just before he lowered his head to hers. “Thank God,” he whispered against her mouth right before he devoured her mouth.
She kissed him back, hoping to show all the love in her heart in her passionate kisses. Their tongues danced and dueled and rubbed along each other before twirling around each other’s again. She moaned when liquid heat pooled low in her belly and gripped his wrists tighter when her knees threatened to buckle. She groaned when Cooper unhooked his arm from around her waist and actually whimpered when he caressed up and down her sides, shaping her curves, dips, and hollows with those large, warm, manly hands. Tanner slowed the kiss down, nipping and sucking at her lips until finally he gently sipped at them. He released her face, lowered his hands to her shoulders, and turned her to face Cooper.