Thursday, June 28, 9:00 p.m.
Faith poured a glass of wine and sipped it slowly, closing her eyes as she tried to forget the day. She carried the glass into the living room and sat in her favorite chair. She sipped again as she kicked off her shoes, leaving them where they fell.
The doorbell rang and she moved leisurely to the door, peering through the peephole. Mitchell Hayden towered on her front porch.
She opened the door. “Hayden.”
He removed his hat. “Mind if I come in?”
She was glad to see him. “Sure.” And when he stepped inside, she said, “Can I get you a wine or beer?”
“Beer, if you have it.”
“Coming right up.” She closed the door behind him. “Follow me.”
She sensed his curiosity as he moved through her house, staring at her odd blend of artwork. He paused to study the oil painting featuring exquisitely detailed flowers in a vase done by a Russian artist in Washington, DC.
“Nice place. Some art collection.”
She opened the refrigerator, selected a craft beer, twisted off the top, and handed it to him. “My grandmother started it,” she said. “She and my mother introduced me to art when I was a child. A lot of what you see is their collection. I’ve only had the money in the last few years to begin collecting for myself.”
He took a sip, his gaze on her. “I wouldn’t know good art if it broadsided me.”
“It’s not complicated. If you like it and it makes you feel good, then that’s all that matters.”
“What pieces did you buy?”
“With my very own money?” She sipped her wine and moved to an acrylic seascape with a young woman and her two small blond children. The three all looked toward the ocean, their faces either turned away or covered with the brim of a hat. “When I think about it now, it’s kind of prophetic. A faceless mother with two blond children.”
His frown deepened as he looked at her. “How are you doing?”
“Me? I’m a champ.”
“Seriously?”
This conversation felt more intimate in some ways than the sex they’d had. “Confused. Angry. Hurt. More confused. Where the hell did I come from?” She shook her head. “I always wondered why my parents weren’t more honest about my adoption. Now I know.”
“I can only assume they thought they were protecting you.”
“Or themselves.”
She didn’t want to talk about herself or her issues any longer. “How is the excavation going?”
“They unearthed the last two bodies this afternoon. They’re also female. We’ll be viewing all the remains tomorrow. Now it’s a matter of confirming they’re who we think they are.” He took a pull on the beer. She set down her wine glass, took his beer, and set it on the counter as well. “Garnet and his coworker were found murdered tonight.”
“What?” Her first reaction was frustration. She feared now that it might never get sorted out.
“Neither one of them died easy. We still don’t know who or why, but the forensic team is going over their murder scenes now. There were supplies for a newborn at both crime scenes.”
She wasn’t sorry for either one of them. That wasn’t a very Christian thought, but she still couldn’t begin to imagine the pain and suffering those two monsters had caused.
There was so much death and loss. And in this moment she was tired of trying to process it all. “Do you have to be anywhere in the next hour?”
“Nope.”
She smiled. “Can I take your jacket?”
“Sure.” He shrugged it off and handed it to her. She laid it on the chair. She’d never brought him back to her home. Up until now it had been hotel rooms, and they’d kept whatever it was between them at arm’s distance.
She reached for his tie and loosened the knot. “You look tense.”
He ran his hand up and down her arm. “Do I?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She was tall for a woman but still had to stretch to reach his lips. He banded an arm around her waist and pulled her firmly against him. The malaise that had dogged her when she’d pushed through her front door faded away and was replaced by a delicious excitement that made her forget everything but this moment.
His full erection pressed against her, kicking up her heartbeat several clicks. Her fingers skimmed down his shirt over his flat belly, and she reached for his belt buckle. His breathing deepened as her long fingers unfastened the top button on his pants and slowly pulled down his zipper. She slid her hand down and wrapped it around him.
He sucked in a breath, kissing her again and cupping her backside with his hand. He squeezed, kneaded, and pressed himself against her.
“It’s going to be right here and right now if we don’t find a bed quick.”
She considered the carpet on her living room floor but saved that idea for another time. She released him. “Down the hallway.”
Faith started down the hallway, not looking back, knowing he would follow. As she moved, she reached for the hem of her sweater and pulled it off, the same as she had done, alone, countless times before. She let the sweater fall to the floor and reached for the hook in her bra. She paused at her bedroom door, unlatched her bra, and slid it off. It dropped to the floor.
When she looked up, he had paused to watch. “Still interested?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She moved into her bedroom, sliding off her jeans and tossing them aside. She loosened the clip in her hair and let it fall loosely around her shoulders.
The light from the hallway dimmed, and she knew he was watching her. Good. Just the idea of him watching her tip her head back and cup her breast lightly made her hot.
She heard his clothes hit the floor. She didn’t turn, didn’t coax him, but waited for him to come up behind her and pull her close.
She didn’t have long to wait. Barely seconds passed before she heard the steady beat of his bare feet cross the hard wood. Strong hands rested on her shoulders. Next, he kissed her on the back of her neck. She closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sensations.
This was how it had been for them. She always faced away from him as he entered her from behind, never saying a word. She liked the impersonal nature of their sex. No emotion. Just physical sensation.
This time he turned her around. She considered making a joke about the conventional nature of the move, but when she caught him staring at her breasts, she forgot what she was thinking.
He kissed her nipple, sucking it until all she could do was tip her head back and give in to the firing nerve endings that threatened to short-circuit her brain.
He kissed her lips and cupped her bottom again, but this time when he took her hand, he guided her toward the bed. “Move to the center,” he said.
She could have argued, but she didn’t want any words to get between them. So she sat on the edge of the bed and very slowly scooted her bottom to the middle of the mattress. He watched, clearly savoring the sight of her slim legs and narrow waist.
“Put the pillow behind your back and lay back,” he said.
Again the order excited her. So she pulled her pillows from under the comforter and stacked them on top of each other. She lay back, cupping her breast. “Like this?”
“Yeah. Like that.”
He crawled up on top of the bed and smoothed his hands up and down her legs and then over her flat belly before teasing the nest of curls between her legs. She hissed in a breath, anxious for him to take her. She wanted an explosion of sensation. She wanted release.
But Hayden was in no rush. He nestled between her legs, kissing her breasts again as the head of his penis rubbed between her legs.
She moistened her lips and slid her hand to his erection, ready to guide him inside her.
“Not yet,” he said.
“Why are you teasing me?”
He gently nibbled her nipple. “You don’t like it?”
She closed her eyes, pushing toward him. “I didn’t say that.”
“Then what’s the rush?”
“We aren’t the type who linger.”
“I’ve got a few extra minutes.”
He spent the next twenty minutes teasing her body and bringing her so close to release she could see the edge of the abyss. But each time, he pulled her back, making her endure more of this sweet torture.
When she was so wet she was squirming, he straddled her and pressed into her just a little bit. She raised her hips, her body coaxing him deeper.
“Hold still,” he said.
“You’re cruel.”
“Want me to stop?”
“God, no.”
A devil’s smile teased the edge of his lips, but it was mirthless and reminded her more of a hunter closing in on his prey. He pushed a little deeper into her and pulled out a fraction. This went on for God knows how long. He was moving in a little deeper and then retreating.
When she slid her fingers down, ready to send herself over the edge, he grabbed her hand and pinned it over her head.
“No cheating,” he said.
He began to move faster, coaxing her again to the edge. He stared down at her with intensity like he never had before, and as hot as it felt now, she sensed something had shifted between them.
The thought was lost when his fingers slid to her moist center. Her breath caught, and his name rose from her throat as she moaned.
This time she was anxious for release and raced to the edge. And this time he was ready to let her fall into the abyss. She opened her eyes and discovered he was staring at her face, absorbing everything about her.
He thrust in and out of her faster and faster. The momentum was feverish and then a wave caught them both and release overtook them.
Kat was pretty sure that if she had to sit in the recreation room of the shelter five more seconds her head would explode. She’d done all her class assignments, she’d read half a book, but the giggle of the other kids blending with the beep, beep of the video games was driving her nuts.
When her computer chirped with a message from Faith, she was thrilled. Meet me in the alley. Parking a nightmare. We can get ice cream.
“God bless you,” she whispered as she closed her laptop, shoved it in her backpack, and headed out the back door. When the door closed behind her, the quiet of the evening was a refreshing change from the noise inside. The baby kicked, and she tried to convince herself it was only gas. This was going to be a baby-free night. Just ice cream, like when she was a kid.
She saw the car down the alley flash its lights and hurried toward it. She had a couple of bucks in her pocket from the waitress gig, but she’d bet anything Faith was going to treat. Already she knew she’d order Rocky Road, with extra chocolate sauce and nuts.
She was steps from the car when she heard her name come from behind her. “Kat.”
She looked toward the street, and there was a man standing in the shadows. For a second she thought it might be the Ranger, but then she decided he was too lean. The lights on the car flashed again, and she realized he was pressing his key fob.
“No way,” she whispered.
A bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, and instead of talking to this creep, she turned and hustled back to the door. A year ago she could have outrun this clown, but with the kid weighing down on her frame, she could barely waddle, let alone run. But she did run, cupping her hands under her belly as her backpack thumped against her.
He was behind her in an instant, long legs eating up the space in seconds. Footsteps pounded directly behind her, and his fingers brushed and then squeezed her shoulder.
“Get off of me!” she shouted.
“Kid, don’t panic. Faith sent me. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Her chest burned with the quick exertion, but he sounded as if this chase was nothing. “Fine; I’ll call her from inside and confirm.”
She was seconds from reaching the door when he grabbed her from behind and jabbed a syringe into her thigh. The needle pinched, and whatever he had injected burned a little. She thought about what the drug would do to the kid. She might not want it, but that didn’t mean she wanted it poisoned with drugs.
Immediately, her body turned to jelly and her tongue felt so thick she could barely speak. Her knees buckled, and he caught her, supporting her weight easily.
“Don’t fight it, kid. What I gave you won’t hurt you or the baby.”
“Faith didn’t send you.” Her voice slurred as her eyelids closed.
“You’re right about that. She didn’t send me.”
“Then who?”
“Doesn’t matter, kid,” he said. “Only thing that matters is that Faith cares about you, and she’ll jump through all kinds of hoops to save you.”
He lifted her into his arms as she tried to draw in a breath to scream, but nothing came out. From what felt like a distance, she heard the back door of his car open and then he laid her gently on the soft leather seats that had that new-car smell.
He set Kat’s computer on the kitchen counter and carried the half-conscious girl down the stairs, following the directions that Garnet had finally shared with his new best friend. He punched the code in the door lock, and when it clicked, he pushed it open.
The girl moaned and tried to pull away from him. “Shh,” he said. “Just a few more steps, and then I’ll put you down.”
“Wh-where are we?”
“That’s a good question, Kat.” He looked around what amounted to a nondescript home. It was on a half-acre lot, and though there were neighbors, none were right on the property line, so he had ample privacy. “Looks like another hideaway for Mr. Garnet.”
“Who?”
He hoisted her closer to him. “I doubt you know him. But I’m sure if given the chance, he’d have brought you here.”
She looked up with unfocused eyes. “Why?”
“To take your baby and sell it, silly.”
Fear registered in her gaze, and it excited him. God, but he loved fear. He opened a door to a basement, switched on a light, and helped her down the stairs. He spotted another door, also outfitted with a security pad.
“The man liked his basements and high-security locks,” he said.
Killing Paige and then Kat was the wise move.
It was the smart thing to do.
But it wasn’t what he was going to do.
He punched the keys, and when the lock clicked, he pushed it open.
He saw the girl lying on the bed, rolled on her side. Her legs were drawn up, and she moaned slightly. A manacle attached to a chain was wrapped around her ankle. When she looked up at him, her eyes were hazy with pain and fear. “Where’s Garnet?”
“He’s not coming.” He walked Kat inside and lowered her onto the end of the bed. He tried to sit her up, but she slumped over. “But I brought you a friend.”
Paige pushed up, wincing as she straightened. “Who is she?”
He grinned. “Paige, this is Kat. Your new best friend.” He realized the bed was wet and that Paige’s water had broken. Anxious to be out of the room that smelled stale with the heavy scent of birthing, he prepared to head back up.
“Are you going to just leave us?” Paige said. “My baby is coming.”
“I know. Don’t worry. I’m betting the cavalry will be here before you know it.”
“Who?” The chain rattled as she shifted.
“You’ll see.”
She screamed for help as he closed the door. He didn’t bother to lock it. Paige wasn’t going anywhere, and Kat would be lucky if she could stand in the next twelve hours, considering the juice he’d shot into her veins.
He opened Kat’s backpack and removed the computer. Opening it, he logged in to the Wi-Fi account he’d created.
“Come and find us, Faith,” he whispered.