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Cold Malice by Toni Anderson (19)

Chapter Twenty-Two

That’s how Mac found her.

A patrol officer was crouched down beside her as she sat on the steps. She wore soft-looking pink pajamas, different from the ones she’d worn last night—the ones he’d stripped off her just before dawn. All day, he’d tried to push aside the memory of what they’d done, but being confronted by Tess looking shaken and scared left him with a raw ache in his chest. Not for what they’d done, but for what he couldn’t do. He couldn’t pursue a relationship with her. He couldn’t risk letting her into his heart. He was too close to achieving his goals to abandon them now. But the idea of never seeing Tess again except in an official capacity hurt like a punch in the gut.

It didn’t matter. His job was what defined him. It had given him purpose and made a dirt-poor kid from the wrong side of the Montana tracks believe he could make a difference.

Police officers moved around inside Tess’s house.

Fuck. He stood for a minute on the sidewalk next to his truck, his heart still spinning out of control after getting her call earlier. He’d been in his office, and at first thought she’d accidentally pocket dialed him and had been curious as to what he might overhear. Then he’d heard her say, so quietly he was worried he might have imagined it, “Send help.”

He’d told Walsh to do just that and reeled off her address. As he’d sprinted toward the underground garage where he now had a parking spot, he’d listened as she told someone to remove a mask and lie down on the floor.

He’d never felt so powerless.

He’d known she was in trouble, but until he’d heard the gunshot it hadn’t hit him exactly how much danger she was in. And he hadn’t realized how crazed with worry that would make him feel. She could have died. Again.

They were organizing a team to watch her but the agents wouldn’t be available until tomorrow at the earliest. Unless Tess agreed to go into protective custody—which his boss wasn’t ready to sign off on yet. Either way, she was going to have to get used to being shadowed by the Feds.

Was it Eddie? The idea that psycho was in town pissed him off. Why hadn’t the goddamned USMS picked him up yet?

Motherfucker.

And if not him then whom? Why was Tess a target? What wasn’t she telling him? What was he missing?

She glanced up from her position on the step and spotted him. The relief in her eyes was followed by a flood of tears and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to walk up to her, open his arms and let her hang onto him as she cried.

At least she wasn’t mad at him anymore.

And in that moment, he realized something else—how isolated she was. How the events of twenty years ago continued to shape her existence.

“They find anyone yet?” Mac asked the uniform who eyed his badge with interest.

The guy rested his hands on his equipment belt. “Lady here swears she didn’t see his face and didn’t fire her gun. It’s cold so I believe her.” The uniform handed him the weapon, a nice little Ruger 9mm, which Mac slipped into his pocket along with the ammo.

“We found a bullet hole in the wall outside the bedroom door and neighbors report hearing a single gunshot and seeing a figure fleeing the house. No sign of forced entry.”

Mac frowned.

Tess pulled away and seemed to realize what the officer said. “So how did he get in?”

“You sure you locked up?” Mac asked.

A look of incredulity passed over her features. “With Eddie on the run? Are you serious?”

“Eddie?” the patrolman queried.

Mac took pity on Tess as her eyes widened with dismay. “An escaped felon threatened Ms. Fallon’s life if he ever got out. Feds are gonna be taking over this scene.”

“Eddie Hines? The guy who escaped prison after serving nearly twenty years? Guy’s got a screw loose.”

“You’re not wrong,” Mac agreed. “Thanks for your help.”

Tess was shivering in his arms. She thanked the cop through chattering teeth, and all the uniforms who started to leave as people from his task force rolled up.

Walsh, Carter, and Makimi turned up in one car. Agents Ross and Atherton piled out of another. Detective Dunbar pulled up in a Crown Vic that had a dent in the front fender. They eyed Tess like a pride of lions eyed fresh meat.

“Let’s go inside,” he said quietly.

She nodded mutely and headed back into her house. She seemed subdued, zoned out, in shock. He followed and the other members of the task force filed in behind him.

Carter thanked the last patrolman and closed the door with a quiet snick that echoed through the house. Tess sat on the couch, dragging a blanket off the back of it and wrapping it tight around her shoulders. Her hair was tied up on top of her head, dark curls falling in unruly waves around her face. Her skin had lost all vestige of color.

Mac stood by the window, looking out onto the street. Turned to face her, strangely uncomfortable with his role as task force leader when questioning this woman who’d gone through so much and whom he was starting to think of as much more than a mere acquaintance.

He crossed his arms over his chest. Probably had something to do with sleeping with her last night and knowing what she looked like when she came.

“Why don’t you talk us through what happened here tonight. What time did you arrive back at the house?”

She reached for a tissue from a box on the table and wiped her eyes, blew her nose. “I was stuck in Denver until early afternoon due to mechanical failure so didn’t get home until after five.”

She told them about coming home, and the unease she’d experienced. Then how she’d realized the toilet seat was up when she’d been relaxing in the bath.

Anger settled in his jaw. Why the hell hadn’t she called him?

But he knew. She’d told him she didn’t trust easily. When he’d walked away from having sex with her earlier she’d consider it a rejection and had retreated back behind her walls. He got it. She thought he hadn’t wanted what she’d offered when the truth was he’d wanted it so much it had ripped out his guts to walk away.

He ignored the weight of the guilt. He could live with his mistakes. But he wouldn’t compound them by getting involved with another woman who didn’t value his commitment to his career. He gritted his teeth. If he got involved with Tess he wouldn’t have a career worth preserving.

He turned to Walsh. “Get an evidence response team in here.”

“What? You’re going to dust my toilet for prints?” Tess appeared horrified.

“Why not?”

“I hope they receive hazard pay. Tell them to dust my office desk drawers, too. I swear someone went through them though nothing was taken.”

“So you thought someone had been in your house but you went to bed without calling the cops?” Walsh asked.

“I grabbed my gun, searched the house from top to bottom. Found exactly zero evidence besides my ever-increasing paranoia. I was exhausted.” Her hazel eyes held his then glanced away. “I decided I must be imagining things and overreacting so I made sure the house was locked up and went to bed.”

“What woke you up?”

“A noise.” Her pale cheeks gained a little color. Probably remembering the noise that had woken them both last night. “I opened my eyes and realized someone had turned off the hall light. There’s a switch at the top and the bottom of the stairs,” she explained. “Someone was going through my bags.” Her hand rose to her mouth and the blanket fell off her shoulders. “My laptop! My work.”

She raced between Ross and Dunbar into the kitchen. Mac followed on her heels, the others crowding after them.

“It’s still here. Thank goodness.”

Mac grabbed her arm when she went to touch the machine. “We need to brush it for prints.”

Her eyes flashed. “I need it for work.”

“Evidence tech will be here in half an hour, tops. We’ll get him to dust the laptop first as a priority.”

“Or her,” Miki said under her breath.

“Or her,” he agreed. “Can you tell without touching if anything is missing?”

Tess bit her lip nervously. “I’d have to look in my wallet.”

He averted his eyes from her beaded nipples. He tried not to think about the lack of underwear beneath her thin pajamas or the fact the house was cold thanks to the police searching the place earlier and leaving the doors wide open. No wonder the cop had interviewed her outside.

He told himself not to be an idiot as he fished out a pair of nitrile gloves and pulled them on. He took some photographs and then carefully lifted her wallet off the floor. Pens, notebooks, tissues, tampons were scatted amongst the papers on the table. He opened the wallet using the very edges and showed her the inside. Several bills were visible as were a bunch of credit cards and her driver’s license.

She crossed her arms over her chest, maybe aware of the fact her nipples were poking against the thin fabric. He wanted to offer her his jacket but was aware of everyone watching their interaction, judging his ability to do the job. Judging the effect she had on him. And her ability to spin a tale.

“Is it all there?” This time his voice came out sharply and her chin came up.

“As far as I can tell.”

“Is it possible the intruder got inside the house when you went to Idaho? Maybe you left in a hurry and left the front door open?”

“No.”

“No? Are you certain?”

Her eyes flashed belligerently. “I locked up before I left for the airport. I told you before, I’m not an idiot.”

“But rather than call the cops when you thought someone might be in your house, you searched it yourself and then went to bed with a gun by your bed?” This from Agent Ross.

“I figured the cops would dismiss me as a scared female living alone. Or maybe someone who wanted attention.” She snorted. “Trust me, I do not want attention.”

“So any idea how they got in?”

Her mouth opened and closed. Then she shook her head.

“Who has a key?” Mac’s phone went off with the goddamn MC Hammer tune and he was ready to run the thing through the garbage disposal.

She swallowed. “Myself, obviously, and my brother, Cole.”

“Any reason to suspect your brother might want to hurt you, Ms. Hines?” Ross asked.

“Fallon,” she snapped at him. “And no way would Cole want to hurt me.”

Ross nodded as if satisfied. Mac didn’t believe it one bit.

Mac studied his team. They were waiting for instructions, unsure as to whether or not they were needed here. “They didn’t take cash, jewelry or anything of value. It looks more like they were looking for something. Can you think of anything you might have that someone might be interested in, Tess?”

“If you’re referring to things from my parents’ compound then the answer is no.” She clenched her fists and brought one to her lips. “I don’t even have any photographs.” She looked away.

Was there something she wasn’t telling them?

The front door banged open and Mac found himself face-to-face with a young man wearing dark jeans and a green t-shirt. Easily identifiable as Tess’s kid brother because he was so like David Hines Mac had to do a double-take. Gone was the pimply kid with thick glasses he’d seen in the photograph on Tess’s mantel. This guy was younger and leaner than the man Mac had once known, but overall the resemblance was a little unnerving. Why hadn’t Tess mentioned it?

“Tess?” The kid moved through the assembled agents and took his sister in his arms. Everyone watched like hungry vultures, wondering what he knew.

“What’s going on? I got your message. I called back but you didn’t answer your phone.”

Her fingers curled around her little brother’s upper arms and she drew him in tight as if she realized the moment of reckoning was finally here.

“I’m fine,” she said. “There was an intruder.” After a few beats of silence, she let him go and took a step back. “Cole, these people are from the FBI.” She bit her lip. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

*     *     *

Angry tears streamed down Cole’s cheeks as he slammed out of Tess’s house. He was so furious he could barely see where he was going. He stood for a moment trying to get his breathing under control.

“I take it that was unexpected news?” The comment came from a slender brunette who was leaning against the wall of Tess’s house. She looked as if she was sneaking a smoke except he didn’t see a cigarette, just skintight leather pants, a black tee and a biker jacket that failed to conceal her sidearm.

“The fact my sister has been lying to me my whole life? Yeah, you could say it was unexpected.”

She huffed out a disbelieving laugh. “You’re seriously telling me you didn’t know?”

He looked her up and down. A sneer touched his lips. “Who the hell are you? Lara Croft?”

The tolerant smile she gave him spoke of sheathed claws. “Careful kid, I’m one of the people you need on your side.”

Kid? “You mean now that I’m being accused of murder?”

“No one accused you of murder.”

But he’d seen the insinuation in their eyes when he’d been questioned about his movements this week. “My sister tells me our family were Idaho’s answer to the Klan, and the prick standing guard over her asks where I was on certain dates this week that I happen to know coincide with a rash of hate crimes happening in DC. But I’m not being accused of murder?”

“Tell us your alibi and end this thing.”

He set his teeth. Why the hell should he? “Let me consult with my attorney—”

“Innocent people don’t need attorneys,” she touted.

“Bullshit.” Cole called her on it.

Her eyes hardened. “If you have nothing to hide tell us the truth.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “When the DJ was shot I was with Tess.”

Her finely plucked brows quirked. “It might be nice if you guys could provide a third-party witness to verify, preferably one who isn’t related by blood.”

The side of his mouth tugged. “Bite me.”

She raked his body with her gaze and a small smile curved her lips. She walked toward him and put her finger in the middle of his chest. “Tempting, but you’re a little young for me.”

He raised his chin. Little did she know. But he needed to be careful about what he said. He wasn’t about to draw Carolyn into a scandal. Her reputation was everything to her. She was skittish enough about the age difference. If he brought trouble to her doorstep he’d be history.

“I’ll check my calendar and get back to you with my movements, Officer…?”

Black eyes twinkled at him but he wasn’t fooled. She wasn’t amused. She was hungry to nail someone for these murders.

“Detective. Detective Dunbar.” She brushed past him to walk back into the house and he was aware she was playing with him, using her blatant sexuality to get him to lower his guard. Wasn’t gonna happen. He was more mature than that. Another Fed spied on them from the living room window. Cole shook his head and walked away, climbing into his Prius and wishing he could rewind the entire night.

Tess had been obviously upset when he’d walked out. He was so angry with her he wasn’t sure they’d ever get back to where they used to be. He loved her, but he’d never forgive her for this. When the hell was she going to realize he wasn’t a little kid anymore? He was old enough to make his own choices.

What would people do when they found out he was related to the Pioneers from Kodiak Compound? His mouth went dry. What would his girlfriend do?

He wasn’t sure. He needed to get his shit together before he saw her again.

His hands trembled as he turned the key in the ignition. As much as he wanted to be honest in their relationship he wouldn’t risk Carolyn turning away from him. He needed more time to figure out how to make the FBI look somewhere else for their killer.

He looked up. Tess was watching him from the living room window. The worry on her face pissed him off all over again. He backed out of the driveway and drove off, wishing like hell he’d never listened to her message.

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