At that moment, the amount of anger running through me was enough to cause me to commit murder. And if Brooke didn’t survive what he had done to her, I would find a way to reach him in whatever prison they buried him in.
But for now, I wasn’t going to waste another second on him. I jogged to the ambulance. The EMTs were loading the gurney into the back, but Brooke was thrashing against them.
“Brooke, honey, don’t fight them.”
“She’s not making much sense,” one of them said. “But her vitals are stable.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Chapter 43
Brooke
I tapped my pen against the conference room table inside the fusion center. This was the first Friday in over a month that the entire staff was present for our weekly staff meeting. Marti had brought in two dozen muffins and pastries from Julep Hill Café. I sipped on my coffee while my fusion center analysts presented reports on their areas of responsibility.
We covered everything from a cybersecurity breach in a regional hospital to an issue with a local guy losing his drone on the roof of our building. The entire room erupted in laughter at that one; the FBI had been called in to investigate the drone, only to find that it belonged to an elderly man and his grandson, who’d had some bad luck when the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security building got in their drone’s way. Our young analysts thought it was a bomb or some sort of device to spy on KOHS.
When the meeting wrapped up, and everyone went back to their desks, Ty hung back.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Huh?” I turned my head and met his gaze. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” I straightened the legal pad in front of me. I had taken no notes during the meeting; Ty had pretty much run it alone. “Good meeting.” I moved to stand.
Ty laid a hand over mine. “Brooke. You should talk to someone. It’s been two weeks, and you’re withdrawn.” His lips tightened into a tight line. “You need to talk to someone.”
I smiled. “You’re right. And I will.”
Three men in dark suits passed by the conference room, heading in the direction of my office. “What’s he doing here?” I asked.
I pushed away from the table and exited. “Dad,” I called.
The men turned. “Brooke, dear.” Dad walked over to me and pulled me into his arms.
When he released me, I smiled up at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see how you were.”
“Like I told you yesterday, and the day before that and the day before that, I’m fine.”
“Can we talk?”
“Sure. Let’s go to my office.” We started walking, and the two agents followed. “Who are they?” I asked.
“Agents Lauer and Santori, meet Director Brooke Fairfax.”
Both men shook my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
We walked into my office. “Please, have a seat.”
The two agents sat on the sofa. Dad sat in one of the guest chairs.
“This seems official,” I said.
Dad had smiled when he arrived, but all hints of that smile were now gone.
“What is it?”
“I read your statement.”
He was of course referring to the statement I’d given after recovering from the drug Romeo had given me—the statement where I’d detailed every piece of information I knew about Woodford Clay Harrison. The only things I left out were tidbits that I knew were highly classified and would only serve to jeopardize the careers of Special Agent Marshall and my father.
“Okay. You came all the way here to tell me you read my statement?”
“No, I came all the way here to tell you that you’re going to have to revise your statement.”
“What? Why?”
“Because the CIA is denying everything. They deny ever knowing Woodford Clay Harrison.”
“Typical. Why do I care about this? We have enough on him to put him away for the rest of his life.”
“You should care. The CIA will not allow Harrison to take down their organization. And they’re not above doing everything in their power to discredit you.”
“You’re telling me they’re going to manipulate the facts? Keep us from putting him away?”
“I’m telling you they’ll do whatever it takes to protect the Agency. But if you change your statement, we can still put Harrison away for the rest of his life. And you can get back to your own life.”
I glanced at Agents Lauer and Santori. “Why are they here?”
“I’ve assigned these two agents to the Lexington area. I thought Central Kentucky could use additional resources.”
“Wait.” I crossed my arms and tried to analyze what my father was trying to tell me. “Do you think my life is in danger?”
He sighed. “I don’t know how far the CIA will go to protect their reputation. I’m just trying to protect you.”
“And now you want me to change my statement about what happened to me. Revise facts that I know to be true. You want me to lie under oath.”
“I don’t think you have to lie. I just want you to omit what Harrison told you about the CIA ordering him to murder your husband, and using an illegal drug to make him do it.”
“How about this,” I said. “You draft something up that would be acceptable, and I’ll consider it.” I didn’t bother to hide my anger. “But don’t think for a second you’re going to have your agents follow me around. I don’t want your protection.”
I was at the point where I just wanted the three agents, especially my father, out of my office. I simply wanted to get on with my life. I wanted to live for one day without having to look over my shoulder for the man who had terrorized me for more than a year.
Dad leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I’ll be in touch.”
When I arrived home that night, Declan was waiting for me in the living room. I let him wrap me in his arms, then pulled back and looked up at him. “I missed you today.” I knew I needed to tell him about Dad’s visit to KOHS, but before I did that, I needed time for Dad’s request to simmer.
He pressed his lips to mine. “And I missed you.” He smiled. “So much so that I have a surprise for you.”
“A good surprise?”
“I promise not to allow any other kind into our lives from now on.”
“You can’t promise that.” I stepped out of his arms and walked over to a beverage cart. I placed some ice cubes in a glass and poured a couple of fingers of bourbon.
After I took a sip, Declan took the glass from me and took a swallow of his own. “I was thinking we would go out tonight.”
“You did, did you? Where would you like to go?” With the huge smile on his face, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I just wanted to curl up in bed and let him hold me in his arms all night.
“That’s the surprise. But I had Mrs. G send something over for you to wear.”
I angled my head. “Are shoes included?”
“Of course.”
I took another drink of bourbon, set the glass back on the cart, then grabbed Declan’s hand and pulled him toward the stairs. “Show me this foot jewelry you speak of. Then I’ll decide if going out sounds like something I want to do.”
Declan and I made our way to the bedroom, where he pulled me straight across to the bathroom door. He had drawn a bath for me and surrounded it with a dozen or so candles. “What’s all this?”
“Just a small part of the surprise.”
Two items of clothing hung on the closet doors. On one side was a dress the color of snow, made of silk and lace. On the other side was a coat made of faux fur, fastened closed by a sparkly brooch that appeared to be made of real diamonds. Below the dress and coat sat a pair of taupe pumps with rhinestone-studded buckles.
I faced Declan. “What have you done?”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“With my life. Always.”
Chapter 44
Brooke
; “I’m so confused,” I said when Declan pulled up in front of Julep Hill Inn.
He exited the car, skirted around the hood, and opened my door for me. “Right this way, Miss Fairfax.” He held out a hand.
I slipped my hand into his and climbed out of the car. He led me along the walkway that led to the courtyard behind the inn. In the autumn, Marti and Carrie Anne had transformed the courtyard into a tented dining room. They’d hosted a large Thanksgiving dinner just last week, inviting one hundred fifty guests, including Declan and me. As soon as it was over, they’d removed the fall decorations and turned the courtyard into a winter oasis of romantic lighting.
As we walked along the strategically lit path toward the entrance of the white tented courtyard, Declan stopped and turned to me. He ran his fingers down my cheeks, framing my face. “Remember when we were here for Thanksgiving last week, and you leaned over to me and told me what you wanted for our wedding?”
“An intimate gathering of our closest friends and family,” I whispered.
“And remember how you told me that you would marry me right then and there?”
I smiled. “And I meant it.”
Declan’s voice shook slightly, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to the frigid temperature or fear. “I plan to spend the rest of my life giving you everything your heart desires.”
I leaned my head to look around Declan. “What have you done?” I could hear soft music coming from the courtyard.
Declan leaned in and placed his lips on mine. He pulled my body flush with his. When he released me, he said, “I thought you might like to marry me tonight.”
I stared up into his eyes.
His smile faltered before I could react. “But if this is too—”
I placed my fingers over his lips. “Don’t say it. Of course I want to marry you. I want to marry you right now.” When I had been in the hospital, recovering from what Romeo had done to me, I promised myself I wouldn’t put off starting my life with Declan.
He released a breath. “Thank God. I was going to hate telling your parents that they’d come all this way for nothing.”
“You brought my parents here?” Dad wasn’t only here on business.
“Of course. Everyone who means something to us is here.”
I threw my arms around him and buried my face into his neck. I tried to swallow back the tears that threatened.
“Don’t cry,” he said. “You’ll ruin your makeup.”
I laughed. “I don’t care.”
When I pulled back, he said, “You ready?”
“More than ready.”
The courtyard was lit to perfection with dimmed chandeliers and draped sheets of twinkle lights. Ty, James, Carrie Anne, and Marti had planned the perfect event based on strict instructions from Declan. It started with a ceremony officiated by the governor. Who knew that Governor Kale was licensed to perform wedding ceremonies?
After the ceremony, my mother approached me, holding a glass of champagne. I braced for what she might say. I knew she was probably disappointed that Declan and I had chosen something so small and impromptu.
She smiled. “You look absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t have designed a more perfect wedding for you. And the love I see in Declan’s eyes tells me that you’re going to live a long, happy life together.”
I hugged her. “Thank you, Mom.”
We spent the night dancing and eating and drinking with friends. I avoided my father every chance I got, allowing him one father-daughter dance, but I refused to talk about Romeo.
At the end of the night, Declan delivered me back to our home, and we spent the night relearning everything there was to know about each other.
As he held me, he brushed his fingers along my back. “Thank you,” he said.
I rose up on my elbows. “For what?”
“For coming into my life. For agreeing to stay with me forever.” He lifted his head and kissed me. “For not leaving me.”
I let my eyes drop, then found his gaze again. “I’m never going to leave you.” I laid my head on his chest and admired the wedding band that Declan had designed to perfectly complement the engagement ring. “Where are you taking me on our honeymoon?”
Declan laughed. “What makes you think I’m taking you on a honeymoon? I thought you didn’t want any of that traditional hoopla.”
I lifted my head and stared at him. His face was serious, but it didn’t take long for it to crack under my gaze. I slapped at his chest.
In a swift and smooth move he threw me on my back and covered my body with his. “I was thinking we’d start in Bora Bora, then we’d sail to some of the smaller islands in the area, and then… we can simply see where the wind takes us.”
I smiled as I remembered telling him about my dream vacation months ago. “That sounds perfect.”
And it did. Bora Bora would be the ideal spot to come up with a plan to survive the wrath of the CIA. Because I had decided that I would not change my statement. I would fight to make sure that the agency responsible for Teddy’s death—and the deaths of everyone else Romeo murdered—would face the justice it deserved.
And more importantly, Bora Bora would be the ideal place for Declan and me to begin a life together. A life that didn’t include Woodford Clay Harrison.
After Declan made love to me again, I lay there in his arms, my back to his chest, and drew lazy figure eights along his skin. “I’m so tired,” I said.
The heat of his breath warmed the back of my neck as he leaned in and touched his lips to my hair. “Go to sleep, dear Brooke. And dream only good dreams tonight.”
With a sigh, I relaxed deeper into his hold. “Yes. Only good dreams tonight.”
A Note from the Author
Hey! Heather here! You have reached the conclusion of Desired in Darkness, but I’ve got a special offer for you.
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Death is in the Details
Death is in the Details - Book Description
A woman haunted by her past. A killer who won’t let her forget.
* * *
Faith Day’s condition curses her to recall her mother’s fiery murder like it was yesterday. And when the forensic photographer’s convicted stepbrother is somehow cleared 12 years later and released from prison, Faith wonders if he’ll put an end to her tortured memories. But after a string of eerily familiar fires tear through her small town, Faith starts to question every detail of her traumatic past.
* * *
Luke Justice won’t rest until he catches a notorious serial killer masking his murders in arson. Following a trail of deadly blazes to Faith’s doorstep, the FBI agent senses she holds the key to the case. But if he can’t convince her to open up, Luke fears he’ll miss his best chance to put a psychopath behind bars.
* * *
As Faith fights the resurgence of dark emotions, an arsonist begins leaving personal totems in her home. Determined to stay alive, she taps into the only weapon she has against the vicious murderer: the echoes of her childhood nightmare.
* * *
Can Faith help Luke unmask the true killer before they both go up in flames?
* * *
Death is in the Details is a chilling standalone thriller novel. If you like small-town mysteries, psychological thrillers, and spine-tingling twists, then you’ll love this page-turning tale.
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; Chapter 1
Another fire roared to life as the bodies of two parents cooled across town.
I incorporated the sound of my buzzing phone into my dream at predawn hours. I was five years old and cooking with my mom. We were mixing dough to make cutout cookies. The buzzing? An electric mixer—the kind you hold in your hand and with beaters you can lick after.
The sweet scent of vanilla permeated the air. A fire burned in the fireplace, crackling and popping as fire met sap.
The soothing buzzing stopped, replaced by a violent bang.
My eyes shot open, and I gasped. My heart beat wildly. I was not in my childhood home, and my mom was still dead, a memory that rushed back like it had just happened.
With tears running into my hairline from the flood of memories, I stared up from my bed at the golden light that danced along the curved walls and ceiling of my 1969 Airstream—a trailer renovated and situated in the middle of a twenty-acre piece of farmland I grew up on, land I inherited when my mother was brutally murdered and I nearly burned to death.
Sitting up slowly, careful not to make a sound, I took in the flickering light of five votive candles in glass jars sitting on a shelf built around my queen-size bed. Candles I had not lit. Goose bumps sprang up on my limbs, and the hairs along the back of my neck stood at full alert.
I listened carefully for whatever had made the banging sound moments before, no easy task with my heart jackhammering. Had I imagined it?
I certainly wasn’t imagining the candlelight that bathed my trailer in a warm, yellow glow and gave it the soothing scent of vanilla.
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