The signals were shit. They’d sure gotten lucky they’d been able to trace Cadence as far as they had.
He nodded. “I’ll bring the evidence tapes in to you myself.” Ben turned to leave.
“Why did you lie?” She had to ask. It had been bothering her since Maverick.
Ben stiffened. He glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Since she’d been sleeping with Ben for over a year, Dani had gotten to know him pretty well. Well enough to be able to tell when he lied to her. “That story about the kids who were missing for years—the one you fed Cadence and Kyle—why’d you do it?”
He moved to fully face her, the faint lines near his eyes deepening. “What makes you think it was a lie?” His head cocked. “You haven’t been digging into my files, have you, Dani?”
Not yet. It sure was an item on her to-do list now. “You’ve had nightmares.”
He blinked.
“You scream out, ‘Kill me, not the kids!’” The words haunted her.
His lips thinned. “In my nightmares, I don’t get to the kids in time,” he said, stepping closer to her. Close enough for her to feel the brush of his body against hers. “In reality, I fucking did. I got those kids. I saved them. I told that story, a story I don’t tell many people, because I know just how close to the edge Kyle is.” He pulled in a ragged breath. “My job is to make sure he doesn’t go over the edge until we close this case.”
The shower had stopped. It had stopped a good five minutes ago, but Cadence hadn’t come out of the bathroom yet.
Kyle glanced toward the bathroom door. “Cadence?”
He took a step toward the closed door, then stopped. Behind the door, he knew what waited. Cadence. Naked, wet.
No, he didn’t need to get close to her right then. Someone else—Dani, Heather—should have been sent to watch her at the motel.
Not me.
A rap sounded at the motel’s door.
Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder. He sure as hell wasn’t expecting anyone then.
And as far as he knew, neither was Cadence. This was her room. No one would know he was in here with Cadence.
He checked through the small peephole and saw the detective, Jason Marsh.
Eyes narrowed, Kyle yanked open the motel room door. He made sure his body blocked the entrance. “What do you want, Marsh?”
Jason blinked. “I wanted to see Cadence.”
“She’s in the shower.” Let him assume whatever the fuck he wanted.
The guy’s jaw hardened. “I was going back to the station. I just wanted to stop by and make sure she was all right.”
Wasn’t that nice of him?
Kyle tilted his head as he studied the guy. “She’s not going to sleep with you.”
Jason’s mouth dropped open in shock, but he recovered fast and said, “Look, man, I was—”
“We both know what you want, and it isn’t happening.” Jason had made it clear what he wanted the first night in Striker’s.
“I was worried about her,” Jason snapped.
“I don’t remember seeing you at the caves,” Kyle said as he studied the man before him. “If you were so worried…”
“I was there! Dammit, I was searching, just like the rest of you!”
He didn’t remember seeing the guy. His gaze raked Jason’s face. “How’d you get that scar? Looks like it almost took out your eye.” Cadence’s theory pushed through his mind. The killer had spent time in darkness.
Jason rocked back on his heels. “Car accident when I was a teen. And yeah, I almost lost the eye, but that’s ancient history.”
Kyle wasn’t so sure. “You knew where the caves were. You took us right to the body.” Suspicion was tight inside of him. This guy just came right up to Cadence’s room? Who the hell did he think he was? “You took us there. Then you left us when the walls caved in.”
“I went for help.” Marsh’s cheeks flushed. “If you don’t believe me, ask Anniston! I called the captain as soon as I got out, and I told him that you were trapped down there! You should be thanking me, not—”
“What’s going on?” Cadence’s voice. Worried.
He hadn’t even heard the bathroom door open.
Kyle glanced over his shoulder. Her hair was wet, her pale skin scrubbed clean, and she wore a terry-cloth robe.
She needed more fucking clothes on then.
Jason shoved Kyle aside as he stormed into the room.
Wrong move.
“Your partner is accusing me. Hell, I think he believes I’m the Night Hunter!”
Cadence’s gaze sharpened on Jason. “Are you?”
“What? Hell, no.”
Kyle grabbed Jason and spun him around so the two were eye to eye. “Where were you last night, when Cadence was taken? Just where the fuck were you?”
His hold was unbreakable as he trapped Jason in place.
The man’s face mottled with fury. “Where were you?” Jason tossed right back. “You’re her partner! Shouldn’t you have been with her?”
He wanted to break the bastard’s arm. Actually, that sounded like a damn good idea.
“I was at Striker’s!” Jason shouted as Kyle’s hold tightened. “Ask the waitresses! They saw me. I was there until I got the call to join the search for Cadence!”
Easy enough to check. Kyle planned to do exactly that.
He shoved the man aside. No, he shoved the fool right back out the door.
“I could write your ass up for assaulting an officer,” Jason threw at him.
Kyle’s brows climbed. “Let’s see how that shit works out for you,” he dared.
Jason’s gaze tried to cut over Kyle’s shoulder. Back to Cadence? “I’m sorry about what happened to you. This dick”—he pointed his index finger toward Kyle—“isn’t gonna stop me from saying that. I thought you were damn brave to face off with that perp, and if you need me, if you need anything…” He gave a nod. “You call me.”
Kyle imagined driving his fist into the guy’s face. Hearing the crunch of bones.
“Thank you,” Cadence said. “I will.”
Jason gave a jerky nod, then he was gone, hurrying down the steps to the parking area.
Kyle slammed the door after him and yanked the flimsy lock back into place.
Then he felt Cadence’s fingers on his arm. He didn’t turn to her, not yet. Instead, he grabbed for his phone and had Ben on the line in seconds. “I want you to run another check on Jason Marsh’s background.” They’d checked before, but they damn well needed to do it again.
“What’s happened?”
He’s too interested in Cadence. Too focused. He cleared his throat. “Cadence has a new theory on injuries the perp may have sustained. Dani’s checking, but—tell her to look at Marsh’s background. He fits.” He quickly explained about Marsh’s accident.
Do you like the darkness, Detective?
A huge part of him wanted to race out of that door and go after Marsh but…
Cadence came too close to death.
He couldn’t leave her now.
“I’m on it,” Ben assured him. “That guy won’t move tonight without me knowing exactly where he’s at, every second.”
That was exactly what he wanted to hear. Kyle ended the call and tossed the phone onto the small nightstand.
“You think I can’t see what’s happening to you?” Cadence demanded, her voice low. “Kyle, you’re ripping apart right in front of me.”
Fifteen years’ worth of grief was ravaging through him, twisting up with the rage and fear of nearly losing Cadence.
His eyes squeezed shut. The useless movement didn’t stop the vision. He saw Cadence, bathed in his light. Blood on her face. Fear in her eyes.
If Cadence died, he would truly be lost.
I love her.
No, it was more than love. Too hard and dark and dangerous for love. Too consuming.
She was his drug.
His breath.
; His fucking everything.
“Talk to me,” she whispered.
Grief and rage and fear twisted inside of him and made it damn hard to think. All he could do was feel.
I can make her feel, too. But maybe he could be careful. Maybe he could show her.
He turned in her arms and found her staring up at him with the eyes that had always seen straight through him.
“I need you,” he said, pushing the words out. Those growled words were more true than she’d probably ever realize. “I can be careful.”
She pulled him toward the bed.
This room. This bed. Her.
He’d touched heaven here.
Then found hell waiting in the dark.
“Lie down,” Cadence told him.
Kyle slipped down onto the mattress. The bedsprings groaned beneath him. He wanted fury and flesh. Desperate passion. A release that left him hollowed and hungry.
But he couldn’t hurt her.
Wouldn’t.
She let the robe fall to the floor. There were bruises on her flesh. The sight of the darkened blue and brown marks made him even angrier. He wanted to kiss that skin. To take all of her pain away.
“Don’t see the pain,” she said.
Her voice had his eyes rising to her face.
“It doesn’t matter.”
It mattered to him.
“You. Me. This minute. That’s what I want you to think about,” Cadence told him.
She slid onto the bed. Her silken thighs straddled his jeans-clad legs. He’d changed while she showered. He’d cleaned himself, then hurried back into the adjoining room to be with her.
Always, he wanted to be with her.
She bent toward him. Pressed her lips to his. “I knew you were coming for me.”
“I should have been there sooner.”
Her fingers sank into his hair. She tilted up his head. Made him look at her. “Let it go.”
He blinked, not sure.
“Let the guilt go. She didn’t blame you for anything, and neither do I.”
Then her mouth was on his. Sweet, full, her lips pressed to his as her tongue dipped into his mouth.
Her hands were between their bodies. Opening the snap of his jeans. Pulling down his zipper.
It was wrong. She was hurt.
Need.
He kissed her back. Harder. Tasted her as his tongue thrust inside her mouth.
Then his hands were between their bodies. His fingers pushed between her thighs. Careful. So very careful. He eased his index finger into her sex.
She moaned into his mouth.
Her scent, her body, was all around him.
Life. That was what Cadence was to him. His hope, his chance.
His life.
A second finger pushed into her.
He wanted to lift her. To roll and pin her beneath him. To taste every secret she had.
To lick her until she screamed.
I can’t. I have to stay gentle. No more pain for Cadence. No more.
She caught his hands. Pushed them away.
He tensed.
She took his cock in her hands. Her silken, soft hands. Stroking him, base to tip. Again and again. The blood heated beneath his skin. Pounded through his veins.
She rose onto her knees and positioned his cock at the entrance to her body.
His hands lifted.
Threaded with hers. Held hers.
A faint furrow appeared between her brows.
He thrust into her, not the driving, consuming thrust he wanted to take. Slow, easy, and he watched her expression for any sign of pain.
Only pleasure whispered over her face.
She started to push up on her knees.
“No.” His whisper was rough.
He was afraid too much movement would jar her. Be careful. Be careful.
His flesh swelled even more within her. He arched his hips, pushing deeper.
She pushed down, a gentle glide of her hips.
Her fingers squeezed his, tighter.
He stretched her completely, feeling every inch of her sex. She was so hot. Wet. Perfect. A sensual heat that had his jaw clenching.
“Have to…” Her breath panted. “I need to move.”
She rose up onto her knees.
Slid back onto him. His flesh pushed through her heat. Drove deeper.
His right hand stayed twined with hers.
But his left moved, going to the juncture of her thighs. Then down, to press against the sensitive flesh that waited. “Don’t move, Cadence.” She needed release. But she wouldn’t have pain.
He wouldn’t allow her pain.
His fingers stroked over her. His cock stayed in her.
Her eyes on him.
His fingers on her.
Stroking. Caressing.
When she came, her delicate inner muscles clamped his length, milking his release from him because he couldn’t hold back anymore.
He exploded within her, even as he kept his hips locked down against the mattress. His release pulsed through him, jetting into her. Cadence whispered his name, her breath heaving, as she leaned forward, pressing her chest to his.
He wrapped his arms around her. Held her.
Her heart thundered against his chest. Or maybe it was his own heart. Right then, it was too hard to tell the difference. Too hard to tell anything but how much he loved holding her.
He pushed back her hair, held her against his chest, and didn’t pull his cock from her. The damn thing was still half erect, and growing more so by the moment. He didn’t want to move, though. He wanted to stay part of her.
“Don’t go to sleep.” His voice was gruff.
“I won’t,” she said softly.
The bedside lamp was still on. The light seemed harsh then, but she might need the light to help her stay awake.
“I know she’s gone.” He hadn’t meant to say the words. Kyle felt Cadence stiffen. “I want to kill him.” He confessed his dark wish even as his fingertips skimmed lightly over the delicate curve of her spine.
“Kyle…”
“I will kill him.” She should know the truth about the man with her. “I’m not planning to bring him in alive.”
It was easier to confess to her when he didn’t have to stare into her eyes and see just what she truly thought of him.
But some monsters didn’t belong in cages. They belonged in hell.
He felt a hot splash against his shoulder.
It took him an instant to realize—Cadence was crying.
Cadence didn’t cry.
His hold tightened on her.
“I wanted to save her,” she whispered.
“So did I.” Maria, Judith, Fiona, Christa—he wished they could have saved all of the victims.
He hadn’t been able to do that. He could do one thing, though. He could stop the perp from taking another woman. From destroying another family.
That he would do.
“From here on out, where you go, I go.” Kyle’s words were flat. His fingers kept sliding over her spine. “If he thinks he’ll get to you again, he’s wrong. He’ll have to come through me first.” That was exactly what Kyle wanted. To face off with the man who got off on imprisoning women in the darkness.
His phone rang then, and Kyle tensed. Would it be the SOB, calling to taunt him again? Another burner phone, another tear-filled plea from his sister?
When he’d found the camera in the caverns, he’d realized he’d been listening to his sister’s recording during the calls.
Once she had begged for him.
The phone rang.
But she was far past begging for anyone then.
On the third ring, his hand slid over to the nightstand. He picked up the phone. “McKenzie.”
“Kyle!” It was Dani’s voice. Excited. “Kyle, I did that check, just like Cadence said. People who’d been in car accidents who went into the hospital.” It sounded like a door shut behind her. “I got three hits. Three. All on men in this
town right now.”
Cadence sat up, frowning.
Kyle turned the phone on speaker so she could hear better. “Three? Who are they?” he demanded. But he already knew one…
Cadence had been right all along. To know the killer, you had to learn about the victims.
“The geology professor, Aaron Peters. He was hit by a drunk driver when he was twelve. The guy had to stay in the hospital for almost three months after that. He was in a coma, and the docs weren’t sure he’d ever wake up.”
Cadence’s breath caught.
“Ben told me about Marsh, so I focused on him fast. Seems he was in an accident when he was sixteen. He was driving with his twin sister, Caroline. His sister died at the scene. The guy couldn’t go to her funeral because he was in the hospital. He had a brain injury, and it took days for the swelling to go down.”
The cop had just been at the motel. Was it to check up on Cadence, or for something more?
“Who’s the third man?” Cadence asked carefully.
“I had to dig farther for this one. It was over thirty years ago. Happened just over the state line in Tennessee. James Anniston was hit head-on.”
“The captain?” Cadence asked, surprise sharpening her voice.
“Yeah, he wasn’t hurt too badly, though. He was pinned in the car overnight, had some stitches and was sent home from the hospital a few days later.”
Excitement still hummed in Dani’s voice. “Ben’s rounding them all up now. I figured you’d want to be in on the questioning.”
Damn straight.
“We’re on our way to the station,” Kyle said.
But…Anniston? Anniston was trying desperately to find the women. He’d been the one to call Kyle back down to Paradox.
The other two, yeah, they were the right age. They were the ones with access to the caverns. The ones who seemed to know the area best.
“The tapes are here, too,” Dani added, the excitement slipping away from her voice.
“Tapes?” Cadence asked as she frowned down at the phone.
“Dozens of them. Ben thinks the girls are on here.”
Their lives. Their deaths.
Cadence’s gaze rose and held Kyle’s. “We’re on our way,” she repeated, her voice soft.
The call ended.
Cadence didn’t move. Neither did Kyle.
“They’re leads,” Cadence said, with a slow nod. “We’ll talk to Marsh, Peters, and Anniston, and see if we can get one of them to break.”