Angus was on top of her and he peered over his shoulder, his hands on either side of her body. His erection was clearly visible against his zipper. “Hey.” His voice was a low rumble.
Wolfe studied them both. “I brought lattes. You guys want to keep fighting each other or do you want to come help us fight a killer?”
Angus pushed himself to his feet and hauled her up with a hand around her biceps. “Good point.”
Nari sucked in air, fury and embarrassment heating her entire head. “Yes. Thank you.”
Wolfe grinned, his eyes firing. “If you ask me, you two should just fuck and get it over with. Stop this fighting foreplay thing you have going on.”
“Nobody asked you,” Angus growled.
Wolfe shrugged. “Your loss.” He disappeared to the hallway and shut the door.
Nari tried to control her breathing and heartbeat, staring at the metal door. Amusement bubbled through the anger inside her.
Angus coughed and then let it turn into a chuckle. “Guess we’ve fooled everyone.”
She let her body relax, enjoying the moment of secrecy with Angus.
“We just need to get to work,” Angus said. “It was a long and frustrating night, and I should’ve gotten more sleep.”
“Me too.” She walked toward the bathroom, not knowing what else to say.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Of course not.” The guy had taken special care to avoid her bruises and had even pulled her to land on him rather than the floor. Angus Force would break his own arm before he hurt a woman. “Let me get ready really quickly and then I’ll be out.” She didn’t wait for his response before shutting the door and leaning against it. What the heck was wrong with her?
* * *
Angus stared at the murder board he’d set up on one brick wall in Jethro’s office area. He had freaking lost his damn mind with Nari. What was wrong with him?
Jethro had placed a lid on the pool table earlier, and they’d spread out all the case files with barstools surrounding it.
Wolfe sat on one, happily gulping down more sugar than a human body could probably process in one day. He sat up when Nari entered the room. “Yours is on the table with the pink sprinkles. I figured you’d want some pink today.”
Angus gestured toward a plate of pastries. “Apparently Pippa spent all night baking.”
How did Nari look so amazing after just a few minutes of getting ready? She’d put her silky hair in a ponytail and wore dark jeans and a light-yellow silk shirt that somehow didn’t have one wrinkle. Her eyes were a clear, deep, brown today, reminding him of the final moment as the sun disappears behind a mountain and the darkness rushes in.
Jesus. He really had lost his mind.
Nari took a deep breath and reached for her latte, looking up as Jethro and Roscoe entered the apartment after obviously having gone for a morning walk. “Morning.”
“Good morning.” Jethro shrugged out of a leather jacket. “There’s tea in the kitchen if you’d rather have that.”
Wolfe chuckled. “She’d much rather have the latte. I got her favorite. It’s caramel with two extra pumps, whipped cream, and sprinkles.”
Nari sighed quietly.
Angus grinned, letting in a little humor. “So. Let’s get started. Wolfe? How would you like to go on vacation with Dana and Nari?”
Nari stiffened.
Wolfe shook his head. “Can’t leave town. The HDD and Metro were as direct about that point as anything. They want us all near until they nail your ass for murder.”
So much for that plan. Angus took a drink of his latte and braced himself for the jolt of sugar. It was shocking his team didn’t weigh five hundred pounds each after working with Wolfe for over a year. Of course, they got shot at a lot, and that probably burned many calories. “What do you have, Wolfe?”
Wolfe sobered. “I agree with just having one liaison to keep us off the radar for now. Metro was rather, I guess you could say insistent that we don’t work either case. The HDD piped in with the old interference-with-a-federal-case language, which is a felony, as you know. So we have to be careful.” The soldier’s eyes glittered.
Angus nodded. “Agreed. Did the teams meet earlier?”
“We did.” Wolfe eyed the pastry dish. “I brought all the research we compiled, along with dog food for Roscoe and this stuff for you all.”
Nari pulled out a barstool and sat, while Jethro moved toward the kitchen.
Wolfe angled his head to view the Brit. “I didn’t forget you. I have a chai tea for you. It’s the one with green sprinkles.”
Jethro turned around, his eyebrows arched. “There normally aren’t whipped cream and sprinkles on chai tea.”
“I got it specially made for you.” Wolfe tilted his head toward the cup holder, his smile genuine. “You’re one of us now, dude. Especially after you and I bonded blowing up the drug cartel holdings in Mexico. Besides, if we get caught with this current case, you’ll be charged just like we will.”
“Wonderful,” Jethro muttered, stalking toward the sugary treat. He was moving better this morning. In fact, he looked like the M16 agent he’d once been.
Nari cupped her drink. “Please tell me that Brigid has found Millie.”
“Yep. Get this: She’s at a wellness spa resort in Thailand. I talked to her myself and basically told her to stay there for a while. Turns out that was already her plan.” Wolfe reached down to pet Roscoe’s head.
Some of the tightness in Angus’s chest relaxed. Millie was safe. That was one thing off his mind. He scrubbed both hands down his face and moved toward the table, pulling out a barstool and sitting. “Okay. Let’s cross that one off the list and move on to who wants me or us dead.”
Wolfe flipped through a stack of files and handed out purple ones. “Pippa color coded everything. That woman is a master at organization.” He paused. “Not as good as you, Nari, but close.”
Instead of smiling, Nari just took her file folder.
Angus winced. He shouldn’t have said what he had in the bedroom. “Being organized is a good thing.”
Jethro finally took a seat, still eyeing his chai tea. He set it down next to his file folder. “I imagine there are several people who want you dead, my friend.”
Sad but true. Angus flipped open his folder and studied a list of enemies still living after the cases of the past year.
Wolfe leaned forward. “The team started with recent cases and went backward, including your time in the FBI. Brigid had to hack some files, so we need to destroy a lot of this after we’re finished.” He pointed to a picture on the front page. “This is Barry Barnes, one of the cult members we busted. He made several threats about the team before he was put away for a short stint. Got out of jail just three weeks ago, and he has a sketchy past. Brigid is trying to track him down now.”
Angus studied the innocuous-looking man. About forty years old, blue eyes, saggy jaw. The guy had a gut. “I don’t see him as the man who got away the other night, but maybe he got in shape while in prison.” He looked up. “Any ID on the guy I killed?”
Wolfe shook his head. “Nothing that we found, and Brigid doesn’t think the HDD has identified him either. But their system is harder to hack, even though she’s on the inside. She’s working on it.”
Thank God for their talented hacker. They went through the entire file, and by the end of it, even Angus was surprised by how many people might want him in the ground. Huh. He sighed. “All right, let’s move on to the current case.” He opened a file folder on the six recent victims.
It was time to find this guy. He rolled his neck and slid back into his role as a profiler of evil.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nari tried to even out the sugar rush from the latte with a cheese-and-bacon protein roll baked by Pippa. It was shocking how many people wanted Angus and the rest of their team dead. She took a deep breath and opened her file folder to see what had been compiled on the ser
ial killer. She whistled. “Wow. Brigid really hacked everybody this time, didn’t she?”
Wolfe nodded. “Yeah, we all called in any favor we could find. The newest victim is on the second page.”
Nari turned to see a brunette who looked defenseless in death, and tears pricked the backs of her eyes. The poor woman. Nari had never gone to the bakery, but she’d enjoyed the goodies Angus had brought to the office on more than one occasion.
Angus read the papers without saying a word, but tension radiated from his hard body. She wanted to reach out to him and offer some kind of comfort, but they weren’t exactly getting along just then.
Angus flipped the page and stared at the picture. “She didn’t stand a chance.”
Nari studied the heartbreaking picture. “He’s being more subtle, finding a baker. Pippa doesn’t work as a baker, and most folks outside our team don’t even know she exists. So, how does the killer?”
Angus nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. How does the killer know Pippa bakes?”
Nari shook her head. “Not many people are close enough to any of us to know that.” Pippa wasn’t even on the team, although she lived with Malcolm and was part of the little family they’d all formed. Nari looked up. Angus had been the best profiler in the FBI before he’d left the agency. “What’s this guy’s next move? I mean, who?”
Angus’s jaw was hard as he flipped through the records. “Let’s work through it with the notes we’ve found. Normally, if I had to guess right now, I’d say he’d want to go in opposite order from these kills, mainly because you and I are spending so much time together. He’d save you for last. Except that’s not what he’s done. He’s tried to take you already.”
Nari shivered. “Why?”
“I don’t know. There’s something we’re missing.” Angus looked at Wolfe. “When you report back, let Malcolm and Pippa know that, if this guy hadn’t tried for Nari, I’d think Pippa would be the first target.” He took a drink of his latte. “Although, the guy might take any opportunity, so everyone needs to be alert and guarded.”
“What about the men?” Nari asked quietly. “Maybe he’s going after the entire team.”
“It’s a possibility,” Angus said, his green eyes glimmering with intelligence. “But there’s a sexual component to all these killings, and I think this guy gets off on harming women.” He turned the page. “Let’s go through the notes and I’ll develop a profile.”
Wolfe looked at Jethro. “You helped catch Lassiter, right? What are your degrees in?” He munched on a cinnamon roll.
Jethro reached for another sheet in his file folder. “Philosophy, with emphases in rational choice, game, moral theory, ethics, and decision theories,” he said absently, reading along.
“As well as psychology and criminology,” Angus added.
“Huh.” Wolfe licked frosting from his fingers. “Somebody is trying to explain away evil.”
Jethro jolted and then returned to reading.
Nari eyed a blueberry muffin. Sometimes Wolfe was so insightful it was scary. Or impressive. Maybe both.
Jethro cleared his throat. “There weren’t notes with the first two victims, and we’ve tracked down the origin of the note with the third victim.” He turned toward Wolfe. “The passage was from a poem called The Fate of the Damned by Giuseppe Legonito. The poet lost his family in a fire and went crazy all by himself.”
Wolfe sat back. “Well, that fits Angus.”
Angus winced. “Thanks, Wolfe.”
“Sure.” Wolfe set down his folder. “What was the saying you found on the bridge?”
Angus spoke instantly, not looking at the papers. “‘The forest watches, the darkness knows, the time is coming—can you feel the change?’”
Jethro tapped a Cross pen on his paper. “The passage is from an eighteenth-century poem by Aiden Donnelly, who studied under Robert Burns for a while and was also Scottish. He, too, went crazy. This poem, like the other, is about death.”
Angus sat back. “That doesn’t help me.”
“No, but this might.” Jethro pushed a picture of the graffiti beneath the bridge toward Angus.
Nari leaned closer. She’d seen the graffiti, but the photo made the symbols easier to discern. She squinted. “Wait a minute.”
Jethro nodded. “Yeah. It’s Latin for Vosegus, who was a Celtic god of hunting and forestation.”
Angus exhaled. “Lassiter was big on the Celtic gods.”
“I remember,” Jethro said somberly. “Of course, anybody studying the case would know that if they had access to all the case files, which we’re assuming.”
Angus didn’t respond to that thinly veiled question. Instead he turned the page. “Did anybody get their hands on the note found with the fourth body?”
“No.” Wolfe leaned back in his chair. “No other notes have been entered into any computer system. Metro might be worried we can hack their system, or they’re trying to keep information from the HDD so they can solve the case, or maybe they’re just being cautious. Is there any chance your friend will slip us info?”
“Tate?” Angus snorted. “Not a chance. Even if he doesn’t think I’m guilty, he won’t risk his job. I wouldn’t blame him.”
Nari flattened her hand on the table. “Special Agents Fields or Rutherford might be able to get us any notes.” She focused on Angus. “You’re going to need a lawyer.”
Angus tapped his fingers on the table. “I know. Does anybody know of a good one?”
Nari thought through her friends. “I know a couple, but you’re going to want a defense attorney, and one of the best. I’d have to ask around. I’m surprised you agreed to hire a lawyer.”
He leaned forward. “If I get charged, I’ll have a right to see the evidence against me. Those notes would count.”
“Yeah, but you also won’t be able to hide out from the police,” Nari said quietly. She hadn’t liked that idea anyway.
Angus looked at Jethro. “I need a phone. Can I borrow yours?”
“Oh.” Wolfe reached into the pack he’d set by his feet. “I forgot. Brigid secured several burners for the two of you.” He tossed a couple across the table. “Just in case.”
“Thanks,” Angus said.
Nari reached for the burner, feeling guilty at even needing one.
Angus caught her expression. “Listen. Whoever is after us might be able to track us via GPS, so we shouldn’t have our phones with us. You’re not doing anything wrong.”
She held the small device in her hand, her anxiety up. It was time to get back to a routine she could live with, and that started with returning to work the next day. Maybe she could even get some information on those other three notes so they could finally put this case to bed. “We’re doing a lot wrong,” she muttered.
Wolfe looked at them and then at Jethro. “I need a break. How about we grab lunch and catch up? It’s been a while since I saved your ass in Mexico and you still owe me a couple of meals.”
Jethro slid off his stool. “I can’t argue with that. Of course, you did get me shot first.” He grabbed his jacket by the door. “We’ll bring you two something back. Any allergies?”
“No,” Angus said, while Nari just stared at them, her face heating up.
She cleared her throat. “You don’t have to leave us. We’re fine.”
Roscoe bounded off the sofa and stood by the door expectantly. Even the dog wanted to be away from them? Nari frowned at the disloyal pooch, who gave her the soft, puppy eye look. She softened. Had the tension been that thick during the meeting?
“’Bye,” Wolfe said, quickly escaping with Jethro and Roscoe right behind him. As soon as the trio left, the entire apartment quieted.
Angus set his burner on the table. “So.”
“So.” She twirled hers around and tried not to look at him. “You had no right to try to force me to take a vacation with Wolfe and Dana.” Her shoulders went back and she braced for an argument.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,”
Angus said.
Her head jerked so fast her neck hurt. “What?” She stared at his rugged face.
He shrugged. “You were right. This guy is after you as well as me, and you have every right to hunt him down. Getting you out of town would make things easier for me, not for you. It was selfish and I’m sorry.”
She wobbled, almost falling off her stool.
He rolled his eyes. “Give me a break. I’ve apologized before.”
“Ha.” She looked into the empty kitchen, sorry nobody else was around to witness this. “You have not.”
He reached for a muffin and carefully unwrapped it, his hands large and capable, bringing back memories she needed to banish if she was going to concentrate. Those long fingers had stroked her to orgasm too easily.
She cleared her throat. “Do you want a psychologist’s insight before you create your profile?”
“Sure.” His voice only held a hint of sarcasm.
She bit back a sharp retort. “Why do you dislike shrinks so much?” She’d asked him before, but he’d always refused to answer. Well, mostly.
He bit into the muffin and chewed thoughtfully. “When I was chasing Lassiter, my boss at the FBI thought I was getting obsessed and ordered me to see the agency shrink. He was a smart guy and we ended up collaborating more than working on my brain. Nelson was his name, and he was supposedly an expert in abnormal psychology.”
“And?” Nari prodded.
Angus took a deep breath, looking at the half-eaten muffin. “He analyzed all the data and concluded that Lassiter was obsessed with me and playing an intellectual game. That he wanted me to stay in the game, so I was essentially safe from attack. It sounds weird, but it made sense at the time.”
“But every game has an end,” Nari said.
Angus nodded. “Yeah, and I was supposed to be the end. Not my sister. I trusted the shrink’s analysis over my own instincts because I agreed that I’d become obsessed. Driven. I should’ve locked my sister down. I didn’t, Lassiter took her and he killed her.”
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