The reality of the statement dispersed some of the mental fog, bringing him back from the brink. Sweat broke out on his forehead, all the spit dried up in his mouth and his hands trembled. He had to get out of there. With a hand against the small of Addison’s back, he guided her down the hallway. Brandon should already be cuffed and on his way to jail. The fact he wasn’t meant that either the detectives were on his payroll, which was likely, or he was about to sweet-talk his way out of trouble. Again. They had to find a way to get her out of there before that happened.
Austin increased his pace, and Jace and Addison sped up beside him.
“Where are we going?” Not that it mattered, as long as it was away from there.
“She’s going before the judge for arraignment.” He shot Jace a pointed look. “Then you’re going to get her out of here.”
They took the stairs up one more floor, entered the small courtroom, and Jace slid into the empty first row while Addison and Austin stood before the judge, who was already seated at the bench, apparently waiting. Someone definitely knew how to get things done. If not the lawyer, Connor probably had a hand in her quick arraignment.
Austin stood before the judge and explained the situation, arguing that Addison hadn’t fled but simply gone somewhere she felt was safe when she feared she was in danger.
“I’ve gone over the paperwork. Is there anything you’d like to add?” Shuffling through the papers on his desk, the judge peered over his glasses at Addison.
She glanced at Austin, who shook his head.
“Very well. You are being charged with obstruction of justice for impeding the progress of an investigation. In light of your attorney’s argument that you didn’t actually flee from the police, but in fear for your life...”
And the fact they had no legitimate reason to arrest her.
“I’m releasing you on your own recognizance. But...”
Addison sucked in a breath and opened her mouth, but a nudge from the lawyer stayed her response.
“Only on the condition you remain on Long Island and available to answer questions and cooperate fully with the investigation.” He stared her down, obviously waiting for some sort of response.
Addison’s posture stiffened. “Yes, Your Honor.”
While Austin agreed to the terms and made arrangements for her release, Jace kept most of his attention on Addison.
An air of defeat surrounded her as she turned, her lower lip trembling, and headed toward him on her way out of the courtroom.
He slid into the aisle behind her and grabbed Austin’s arm as they followed her out. “What’s going on, man? Obstruction? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Austin waved him off. He pushed through the doorway to the parking lot and held it open for them to pass. “Just get out of here before they change their minds. I’ll call Connor and update him.”
Addison stopped and faced Austin, then extended a hand. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled warmly and shook her hand. “Now go, get out of here.”
Jace jogged down the stairs, staying behind Addison, just in case Brandon managed to free himself of the two detectives before they made it to the car.
“And make sure Connor knows where to find you,” Austin called after them.
Jace pulled his keys from his pocket and hit the unlock button, then opened the door and guided Addison inside.
Taking a few deep breaths of the cool air, Jace rounded the car and surveyed the parking lot before slipping in beside Addison. Too focused on getting a grip on his own emotions, Jace let her be while he started the car and sped down the road.
She remained silent until he hit the highway. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” His mouth felt like it was filled with paste, and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth when he tried to talk. Spotting a McDonald’s, he pulled through the drive-through. “Want anything?”
“A Diet Coke, please.”
Once he got their sodas, he pulled to a far corner of the parking lot where he’d be able to keep an eye on both entrances, backed into a spot beneath a large oak tree, opened the windows and turned off the ignition. He needed a minute to collect himself.
When Austin and he had approached the two detectives in the hallway and Austin had started questioning them, Jace had pressed his ear against the bathroom door. He didn’t have to recognize the muffled sound of a man’s voice coming from the other side to know who it belonged to.
The intensity of his feelings for Addison had sucker punched him; the thought of anything happening to her had been more than he could take. He’d desperately wanted to destroy Brandon, then wrap her in his embrace, shelter her from harm, cocoon her in warmth and safety, protect her.
He couldn’t deny the depth of his feelings for her, feelings that might have progressed slower had he not been so afraid for her safety. Feelings that might once have mattered, if he desired or deserved a relationship. As it was, the rush of emotions had blindsided him, and the power of the emotions that tore through him had driven him into that bathroom without even a single thought for his own safety.
And he’d prayed, the words that had once eluded him coming easily when the plea had been for Addison and not himself.
“I’m sorry.” Her quiet apology pulled him back to reality. The bruises on her cheek were already darkening. She frowned. “I wasn’t sure I believed you. I didn’t understand why you’d resign if you weren’t involved in what was going on with Brandon.”
He appreciated the fact she wasn’t asking, but rather letting him decide if he wanted to share anything without making him feel obligated. His hand shook, rattling the ice as he lifted the large soda and sucked half of it down, the receding adrenaline surge leaving him edgy. Caffeine and sugar might not have been the best choice. Water would probably have been better. “After Maris’s article, which is when I first learned Brandon was anything other than what he appeared to be, I couldn’t bring myself to trust anyone. Some of my fellow officers were only involved because they had no other options, had families to support, children to feed. Brandon threatened them, and they had too much to lose to stand up to him.”
“Brandon preys on people like that. He finds their weaknesses and exploits them. He knows they won’t have the resources or the energy to cross him.”
“Exactly.” He let his head fall back against the headrest. “And I didn’t know who to trust. No one does. That’s part of the problem. It could be, and probably is, only a handful of people are directly involved in Brandon’s activities. But who do you trust? How do you do the job not knowing who has your back?”
She couldn’t give him answers. No one could. Which was why he’d chosen to resign, to simply walk away from a career he loved.
He ran his thumb over the bruise on her cheek, careful not to apply too much pressure. “He hit you?”
“No.” She shook her head and shifted her gaze, but he cupped her cheek and brought her focus back to him. “He just squeezed my face. It’s no big deal.”
“He shouldn’t have put his hands on you.” And next time he did, Jace would—
She covered his hand with her own. “I’m fine. I’m just sorry I involved you in this.”
“You didn’t involve me, Connor did.” He grinned. Odd to realize he was no longer sorry for his involvement. He should have taken on Brandon Carlisle long ago.
“But now you’re on Brandon’s radar, and the killer’s radar, and it’s my fault. I’m sorry I didn’t clear up that you and I weren’t...involved. The accusation caught me off guard.”
He skimmed his fingers along the bruises Brandon’s fingers had left. The depth of the vulnerability pooled in her green eyes called to him. A wave of feelings he couldn’t understand rushed through him, and he leaned toward her.
The ring of his cell ph
one stopped him short. He swallowed hard, forcing down the heightened emotions the encounter had brought to the surface and the knowledge she was being hunted by a killer, and answered the call. “Yeah, Connor, I have her.”
Addison leaned back against the car door. Retreating from him?
“Austin called.” Connor’s voice pulled his attention from her. “Said you had a run-in with Brandon.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, I didn’t run into him hard enough to tumble him off his high horse.”
“Don’t worry about him. When this is over, we’ll take him down. We have faith in you, Jace, Maris and I both. And we’ll do everything in our power to help put an end to Brandon Carlisle’s influence.”
Jace had every intention of doing just that, and while he appreciated the sentiment and the feeling evident in Connor’s voice, when the time came, Brandon Carlisle belonged to him.
TWELVE
Addison jogged up the front steps, grateful to be home. She stopped at the crime scene tape that had been strung across the closed door.
“Austin said they’re done here. You can go ahead in.” Jace stood behind her, a little too close for comfort, even though he was only trying to protect her.
“It’s not that.” She stepped back.
“Then what’s wrong? We don’t want to stand out here any longer than necessary.”
“When I left...” Had it really only been the night before last? “I didn’t take anything with me. I don’t have the key.”
Jace reached past her, pulled down the crime scene tape, turned the knob and pushed the door open.
Nice. They couldn’t even lock the front door.
Once she’d moved into the foyer and closed the front door, Jace held out a hand to stop her. “Wait here with Phoenix.”
Surely the dog would have alerted them if anyone waited in the house? Weaving her fingers into Phoenix’s fur, she waited for Jace to search the house. Exhaustion beat at her.
Phoenix sat in the middle of the hallway, his presence bringing her comfort. She was glad Connor had dropped him off to them, even though he’d had to meet with someone and couldn’t stay.
A trip to the shelter for a dog of her own was definitely in order. She was tired of being alone, of keeping her head down, of being afraid to trust anyone.
She pressed a hand against her face where Jace’s fingers had brushed her skin. The bruises left by Brandon, though a little tender, didn’t bother her. It was the phantom touch of Jace’s fingers still lingering against her cheek that had her heart racing. Heat flamed her cheeks.
“All clear.”
“Thank you.” She started past him toward the stairs. “I just need to grab my cell phone and computer.”
“Mind if I tag along?”
Did she? “Sure.”
He followed her up the stairs and into her room.
Everything was pretty much as she remembered leaving it, except for her computer, which was missing. Apparently, the police had confiscated it after the killer had saved the pictures to her hard drive. It could have been worse. She’d expected the house would be trashed. They must have been content to find evidence they could use against her.
The tea that had spilled across the nightstand and run down its side in a sticky mess would most likely leave a permanent stain on the light wood.
Addison smoothed her long hair away from her face, plucked an elastic band from her nightstand and tied her hair back. “If you’ll excuse me, please, I have to get this mess cleaned up so I can lie down. I’m exhausted.”
She turned her back to him and righted the cup.
Jace picked up the comforter balled up on the floor and tossed it onto the bed.
She plucked her cell phone out of a puddle of dried tea on the floor and tried to wipe it off with a tissue. They’d left it sitting in the mess. She pressed the button, and her home screen popped right up.
Only 4 percent charge left. She’d have to plug it in, but first... She opened her email and scrolled through, the killer’s newest taunt jumping out at her almost immediately. “No.”
“What’s wr—”
“No. No, no, no. This isn’t right.” Visions of the newest murder scene battered her. She scrolled faster. “It’s not right. He can’t—”
That victim should have had five more days to live. Addison should have had five more days to figure out who the killer was and stop him. But he hadn’t stuck to her schedule. And now another woman was dead. Because of her. She should have known, should have realized when he’d sent her the green stone. On some level, she had, even though she couldn’t accept it.
Acid churned in her empty stomach. Deep sobs racked her body. She wrapped her arms around herself, clutching her body as she rocked back and forth, trying to ease the unendurable ache.
“Come on, Addison.” Jace put an arm around her, gently taking the cell phone from her hand. “Do you want a drink of water?”
Her stomach turned over, and she shook her head.
“I have to call Connor. Will you be okay for a minute?”
She nodded.
He stayed close to her as he made the call and forwarded a copy of the email to Connor. “Come on. Let’s go sit down and talk.”
“No.”
“Addison...”
“I don’t want to talk.” She couldn’t. The images would be forever seared into her brain. The woman’s long, dark hair fanned out around her in a pool of blood. The blood-spattered garden stone, seemingly carelessly discarded against the stockade fence surrounding the small garden. Only she knew the truth, that the stone had been carefully placed, meticulously arranged to match Addison’s crime scene perfectly.
The woman’s wide blue eyes, filled with fear, pleading for her life, begging for him to spare her. Addison had looked into those eyes, deep into them, desperately searching for a reflection of the killer, for an image of the monster she’d unleashed.
She couldn’t talk about those images. Not with anyone, but especially not with Jace. The sympathy in his eyes would be her undoing. The compassion. The lack of blame she knew she shouldered. She didn’t deserve compassion. Only his victims did.
Jace didn’t argue. He turned over an empty laundry basket, plopped down on an overstuffed chair in the corner and propped his feet up on the basket.
“I’m going to bed. I need to sleep.” Or just cry my eyes out without an audience.
“I’m not leaving you alone, so forget it. Connor is calling the lawyer. He’ll forward Austin the email, along with the others you’ve received up until now, and Austin will go to the detectives with all of it.” He folded his arms and leaned back in the chair, apparently settling in for a while.
Fine. Let him. She probably wouldn’t sleep anyway, but there was no denying his presence made her feel safer. Guilt struck hard. Where did she get off worrying about her own safety when three women had already died? Three of the four who’d die before the killer went after Maris.
Her breath hitched.
How long did she have? If the killer decreased the time frame between murders, he’d get to Maris a whole lot sooner than expected. “You have to tell Connor to get Maris out of here.”
“He’ll take care of Maris.”
“No. You don’t understand.” Sobs tore free. She had no hope of reining them in, so she tried to talk through them. “She’s the only victim we can prevent from being killed, the only one we can anticipate and protect. She has to go into hiding.”
A small smile played at the corner of his mouth. “You try telling her that.”
Her temper flared. “This isn’t a joke, Jace.”
He held up his hands. “I know it’s not a joke. But Maris is as safe as we can make her. Or, at least, as safe as she’ll allow us to make her. Believe me, Connor said he’s tried, more than once, to get her to agree to a safe house. It’s not happeni
ng. Unless you want me to knock her out and drag her there, which would be fine with me...”
He paused, looking a little too hopeful, so she settled for glaring at him.
When she didn’t answer, he simply shrugged and moved on. “We’ll do the best we can to protect her. In the meantime...” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands. “We need to figure out who he is and stop him before he kills anyone else.”
“And what about your feelings for Maris? Will they interfere with you protecting her?”
His expression hardened, danger darkening his eyes. Funny, since she’d gotten to know him better, it had seemed he was a lot less menacing than she’d first thought. The edge in his eyes, along with the harsh angle of his clenched jaw made her reassess that impression. This was a dangerous man. She’d do well to remember that.
“First of all, my personal feelings would never interfere with me protecting someone. Anyone. Ever.” He held her gaze, his hard stare holding her captive. Then he sighed, and his expression softened. “Besides, it seems my feelings about your sister have gotten a bit complicated. While I’m still angry with her for what she did, I’m starting to understand the why of it a little better. And maybe I don’t blame her as much as I once did.”
“So you like her more now?”
He stared into her eyes. “Don’t push it.”
She nodded. At least he’d given some. And he was going to help her, so that was all that really mattered. And with time, maybe he’d even forgive Maris, as Addison had. “But you will try to keep her safe?”
“I’ll do what I can.”
That would have to be good enough. She’d gotten to know Jace enough by now that she figured he’d protect all of them at any cost, but with the chaos threatening to consume her right now, she’d needed the reassurance.
“Now, if you’re not going to talk to me about any of this, why don’t we get some rest?” He stretched, then grunted, wincing as he gripped his side.
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