“You can’t promise that.”
“The hell I can’t. We will move out of this country if we have to. I have resources that would allow us to disappear someplace that lunatic would never discover.” He let go of my hands, and kissed my neck, his breath warm against my skin.
“That’s a lovely thought.” I slid my arms around his back and hugged him tight.
“It’s a promise. One of many that I will make to you.”
“I think I would feel better if we just make sure we put Romeo away for the rest of his life. But for now, I’d like to wash my face and let you take me to bed.” I reached over and flipped on the light switch.
Declan’s lips lifted in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and we turned to face the room.
“What the…”
The place had been ransacked. Bits of torn paper and ripped shreds of white fabric were strewn everywhere.
“The wedding dresses! The ones Mom picked out for the magazine shoot.”
“Not all of them,” Declan said. He pointed toward the closet where precisely one of the dresses still hung untouched.
“I guess we know which dress Romeo likes best.”
Then I noticed photographs pinned to the wall. Photographs of me. Declan followed my gaze.
“That bastard got inside our hotel room?” he said.
One of the photographs was of me sleeping in Declan’s arms. My hand lay gently on the pillow next to my face, and I was wearing the ring Declan had given me only hours before.
“Not inside,” I said. “Look here.” I pointed to a glare—a reflection—caught in the upper corner of the photo. “He was watching us from outside the glass door. He was on the balcony.”
I knew enough not to touch anything in my room, but I wanted to change out of my dress. So while Declan called my father, I changed into a pair of Declan’s sweatpants and a long-sleeved University of Kentucky T-shirt. Declan had become a college basketball fan since moving to Kentucky.
After a series of “Yes, sirs,” “Ayes,” and “Of course, sirs,” Declan hung up and slid his phone into his pocket. He was still wearing his tuxedo pants, shoes, and shirt, but he had lost the jacket and tie, and his sleeves were rolled to his elbows. “He’s on his way up with a pair of agents. The FBI will be taking lead on the investigation; they’ve already talked to the local sheriff’s office and the state police. Although after this…” He gestured to the room. “I don’t know how much investigating there is to do. This is clearly the work of Harrison.”
“Harrison…” I said. “I’ve been calling him Romeo for so long, it’s still difficult for me to refer to him with an actual name.” I slipped my arms around Declan’s waist and clasping them at his lower back, then looked up into his eyes. “He’s not going to let me sit this one out. You know that, right?”
Declan rested his forehead against mine. He knew I was talking about Romeo and not my father, though I was guessing that my father would eventually ask me to help the FBI out with this one. I knew more about Romeo than anyone—especially now that Mike was gone. Dad had to know that.
“We’re not going to decide tonight,” Declan said firmly.
“No,” I said. “We need to decide now. The investigators will take that room apart and carry away the evidence that Romeo left for me.”
Declan’s eyes were glued to mine, analyzing. I could hear voices coming down the hallway.
“Romeo left clues, Declan. Clues intended for me. You know it, and I know it. He’s talking to me.”
Declan closed his eyes and squeezed them tightly. I grabbed his hand and placed it over my heart. He opened his eyes.
“I love you, Declan O’Roark. But that asshole killed Mike. He turned Marie into a young widow raising a baby alone. And he did it because of me. I can’t sit on the sidelines.”
“You’re right.” Declan lifted his hands and framed my face, forcing me to focus on him. “But you are going to let me help you. And Dimitri.”
I nodded. “Fine.”
There was a knock on the door, and Dad pushed it open.
I straightened my shoulders and faced him. “I want in.”
“What are you talking about?” He looked from me to Declan—then understanding registered on his face. “Oh, honey. You don’t want to be involved in this case. I have a team of agents who are ready to pick up where Mike left off.”
“Your team of agents doesn’t know Woodford Clay Harrison like I do.”
Dad remained stoic.
“Dad, that room in there is covered in messages for me. I may be the only person who will understand them.” I fisted my hand on my chest. “And Romeo is not going to stop killing people until he gets me to play his game.”
“And what if he kills you?” Dad’s voice took on an edge of fear.
I didn’t even dignify his question with an answer. We all knew that Romeo could kill me any time he wanted. He’d managed to get access to me even when I was living my simple life in Midland, Kentucky. “Romeo’s had plenty of opportunities to kill me. Yet here I stand. It’s your other agents who are at risk. Romeo kills anyone—other than me—who gets too close.” Which is why I was sure Mike must have been getting close to something big. “He wants me to play his game. I’ll find him, Dad. I’ll stop him. And I’ll expose him for what he is.”
“What are you proposing?” Dad said.
“I’m proposing that you reinstate me as a special agent, or at least give me investigative privileges within the Bureau. Officially, I’ll continue to work my homeland security job for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, but in reality, I’ll put Ty in charge of that while I track Romeo’s moves.” Or at least the moves I could detect.
Dad shook his head. “Your governor will never go for this.”
“He won’t have to. I’ll be so undercover that Governor Kale won’t even get to know.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t see that I have any choice. You’ve seen how Romeo’s crimes have escalated. I won’t be able to live a normal life until Woodford Clay Harrison is behind bars.”
Or dead.
Chapter 15
Declan
The photo shoot went on for far too long. A photographer from Virginia Style, a magazine that tracked interior design and fashion of Virginia’s rich and famous, took photo after photo of Brooke in three different wedding dresses and in various settings around the Wallers’ home.
Currently, Brooke wore an off-the-shoulder silk gown with a full skirt of dramatic layer after layer of organza. She lay across a dark blue velvet chaise, resting her chin on her arm. She had a playful, even sultry look on her face. Her makeup was thick and theatrical, and she looked sexy as hell.
Wendy had been against all of it. She had wanted to cancel the photo shoot after what happened last night. Said it was in poor taste to continue on as if nothing had happened after a man was killed in their home. She was terrified of what her friends would think when they didn’t cancel.
But Brooke had convinced her mother this was the only way to win at Harrison’s game. Instead of angering Harrison, she had decided to draw him in by pretending to do as he wished. And she convinced us all that Marie would understand. Marie would want the man who’d murdered her husband to be captured and punished. And Brooke was more determined than ever to do just that. Which scared the hell out of me.
After Wendy called the bridal boutique and had them send over two additional dresses, I called the boutique directly after and paid for the damaged gowns myself; I needed to show the Wallers I intended to take care of their daughter. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe Brooke could take care of herself—I knew she could—but she no longer had to do it on her own. She was about to become my wife, and she would have to accept everything that came with that, including me providing for her financially.
She would also have to accept a team of security. Which was why Dimitri was on his way to join us here at the Wallers’. Dimitri would be an integral part of Brooke’
s team, not only because of his skills, but because Brooke already trusted Dimitri—and more importantly, so did I.
“Okay, Brooke,” said the photographer, a diminutive Chinese-American woman with her hair in a straight bob. “Take a five-minute break. I think we’ve almost got everything we need, but just give me a few minutes to take a look over the images I’ve captured.”
Brooke stood from the chaise, gathered the layers and layers of fabric, and walked over to me.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s a whole lot of dress, Miss Fairfax.”
“Right?” She laughed. “Isn’t it ridiculous?”
“I don’t know that I would call it ridiculous, but I’m not sure it’s you.” No, Brooke belonged in a long, sophisticated gown that accentuated her beautiful body and perfect curves.
Brooke watched as a man and woman crossed through the living room toward the foyer. Her smile faded. “This place is crawling with agents.”
“What did you expect?” I said. “David is already hiring extra security back home. Wherever you are or go, there will be extra security. I don’t care if we have to hire a hundred undercover security officers, you’re not to go anywhere alone.”
“How am I supposed to draw Romeo out if I’m surrounded by large, burly men everywhere I go? He’ll see right through that.” Brooke glanced toward the foyer, and her face lit up. I turned to see the reason.
Dimitri was standing in the doorway.
“I hear I missed one hell of a party,” he said in a British accent—his normal manner of speaking—as he joined us.
“Dimitri.” Brooke practically beamed—which was out of character for her. “I can’t believe you were back in the States and didn’t bother to come to the engagement party.” She looked sideways at me.
“I told you,” I said. “He was busy.”
“Well, it seems we could have used his help here, at the party.”
Dimitri picked her up and swung her around, which he did with ease despite the thirty extra pounds of fabric. “I’m sorry to have missed it. I had other business to tend to.” Dimitri shot me a questioning look.
“I told her you tracked Harrison outside our hotel,” I said.
“I’ve been trying to keep tabs on Harrison. I’ve been following him off and on for the past forty-eight hours.”
“What do you mean ‘trying’?” Brooke asked.
“He’s highly trained at counter surveillance. He’s stealthy in the way he slips in and out of places unnoticed. I’m damn good at finding people, but your Romeo is gifted at staying hidden—when it suits his objective.”
“Are you saying there are times when he wants you to see him?”
“Oh, yes. When he was at your hotel two nights ago, he wanted me to see him. Then he disappeared.”
“Right. Declan told me.” Brooke spoke hesitantly. “And I’m assuming you never found him again. Not even when he managed to get onto our hotel balcony and take pictures of me sleeping.”
“Sleeping was not all he took pictures of the two of you doing.” Dimitri pulled a stack of photographs from inside his jacket and presented them to Brooke and me.
As Brooke cycled through the photographs of us in bed together, my blood began to heat up. I backed away and ran a hand through my hair. How had I become so inept at protecting her?
“And before he killed that agent,” Dimitri said, “he took photos of you at your engagement party.”
I stepped back over and saw photos of Brooke standing in various spots around the downstairs of the Waller home. “He had to have been heavily disguised,” I said.
Brooke shoved the photos into Dimitri’s chest. Not because she was angry at Dimitri, I didn’t think, but out of frustration. “How did you get these?”
“They were left for me at my hotel this morning.”
“Romeo knew where you were staying?”
“Apparently.”
The photographer returned. “Brooke, I just need a few more photos, then I think we’re done.”
Suddenly the sight of the photographer’s camera nauseated me. By the look on Brooke’s face, she felt the same. I stepped to her and lightly cupped her cheek so as not to smudge her makeup. I swallowed hard against the frustration I was feeling with myself. “Do this for your mom. You’re almost done.”
Wendy had been difficult to take since we’d arrived yesterday, but we couldn’t help but feel sorry for her now. She’d been so thrilled to throw last night’s party and have her daughter photographed in wedding dresses today—but her grand party had been ruined, and she clearly found no joy in the photo session today. She’d spent her life taking a back seat to her husband’s career in the FBI, and she was doing so once again.
As Brooke left to rejoin the photographer, Dimitri said, “I’m sorry I failed you. Not only Friday night, but I should have known he would come here last night.”
“It’s not your fault. I should be better at protecting her. He got onto our bloody hotel room balcony. He saw us—” I stopped myself. I couldn’t even say it out loud.
“We have to stop this bastard.”
“And ‘we’ includes Brooke,” I added. “She’s asked to be granted access to the Bureau’s files on Mike’s investigation, and her dad agreed. She’s already called Governor Kale and told him of her plans, though she initially was going to keep it from him. Officially, she’ll still be running the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security.”
“She’s going to pretend it’s business as usual until he comes after her,” Dimitri said. “She plans to draw this asshole out.” Dimitri didn’t bother to hide the shock from his voice.
“That’s how it’s looking.” I watched Brooke putting on a happy act for the camera, and I thought about the “wedding planner portfolio” where she’d been keeping notes on Harrison. She was almost as obsessed with Harrison as he was with her, though for different reasons. “Director Waller will have other agents working on the case in and around DC, but you and I know that if Brooke returns to Midland with me, Harrison will eventually follow. I suspect the only reason he hasn’t been there in recent weeks is because Donaldson was getting close to something here.”
“Do you know what?”
“No. It could have something to do with that list of men. Could be something else entirely.”
“And now Donaldson is dead.”
“Donaldson is dead,” I repeated with a sigh. He had been my best hope for keeping Brooke away from this case, and away from Harrison. “If I had to guess, Harrison knew Brooke would get involved once Donaldson was eliminated. And she’s doing exactly that.”
“I will do whatever you want me to do. But Declan?”
I looked at Dimitri.
“Brooke’s got to want me involved. I won’t lie to her or go behind her back.”
I nodded. “Agreed. I think we’re way past that. I just want Brooke to survive this arsehole.”
I flipped once more through the photos Dimitri had brought with him. Holding photos of Brooke and me making love—taken by a man who wanted to hurt Brooke—set my pulse racing. Then there were the photos from last night. He’d caught her laughing and smiling with Ty, hugging her grandma and granddad… and there was a single picture of her standing in her father’s study. He had to have been outside the window to get the shot. She was alone, looking out the window, and she appeared to be thinking hard about something. Maybe she’d been wondering why I had sent her a note to meet her there and then didn’t show up. Maybe it had dawned on her that I was with her dad on the back patio. It didn’t matter. He had gotten to her, and there she stood, alone and vulnerable.
“Turn that one over,” Dimitri said.
I flipped it over. On the back of the photo was a handwritten message: You’re looking in the wrong direction.
Chapter 16
Brooke
Ty arrived at my parents’ house shortly after noon. I immediately took him upstairs to my childhood bedroom, where Romeo had wreaked havoc with the wedding dresses and
taped up photographs of me. Some of the photos were of me alone, others were of me with other people—Declan, Ty, Teddy, and many others. Some were from before I met Declan. Others were since I’d moved to Midland. There were so many that I hadn’t had time to analyze them yet.
I had already changed out of the ridiculous wedding gown into jeans and an oversized sweater, and I was carrying the envelope of photos Dimitri had brought with him.
“You sleep any last night?” Ty asked.
“No.” I pushed open the door to my bedroom.
Ty gasped when he saw the state of the room. “How did Romeo have time to do all this?”
“He knew we were busy with the party. All the agents and security were tied up guarding the entrances.” I leaned against the wall just inside the door.
“Yet somehow he got onto the property unnoticed.”
“Yes. They’re still working on how he managed that. Probably came in with the caterers. Or maybe as one of the event photographers. Does it really matter at this point? Mike was a great agent. Well trained. Yet Romeo got to him.”
Ty continued to study the room. “And he could easily have gotten to you.”
If I had been his target, I thought. “We removed the shredded wedding dresses last night, because the fabric was covering the things we thought we really needed to see. And, of course, I actually wore the one he left unharmed. But we’ve left everything else just as you’re seeing it.”
“Who’s been in here?” Ty asked.
“Dad, of course.” I pushed off the wall. “And Declan was with me last night. But other than that, no one. Dad thought it was best to keep it a secret for now.”
Ty faced me. “Why?”
“Part of the reason is to piss Romeo off. He likes attention. Especially from me. It’ll annoy him when this little show accomplishes nothing—when he hears nothing and thinks that no agents are talking about him today. But also… perhaps Dad doesn’t know who to trust. Mike and Carlos are the only two agents who’ve been working this case the last few months, and Carlos is out of town, due back today. But someone hacked into Dad’s email in order to tell Mike to back off the case. Mike honestly believed the message had come from Dad.”
Desired in Darkness Page 8