It wasn’t the time to chase after him. They had to get Jenny to safety. Jenny was the key. She could help them identify her attacker.
Noelle hurried her steps and followed closely behind Thomas. His hold was gentle on Jenny. He had to be freezing, but he didn’t slow at all. He was fast and strong, and his grip on the young woman was unbreakable.
For an instant, the snow-covered landscape vanished, and Noelle saw—
Not flames. Not snow. A forest. Woods. Noelle remembered the moonlight that had trickled through the tops of the trees. She’d stared up at it as he’d held her. His grip had been so strong. So solid. She’d been...safe.
Noelle’s grip tightened on her gun as the image faded. She glanced back over her shoulder. The cabin was burning; the hungry flames consumed the place, destroying any evidence that might have been left behind.
But...
Jenny is safe. She survived.
Noelle was used to finding the bodies of the victims in her job as a profiler. She usually arrived too late to help anyone. But this... This was different.
We saved her.
She kept her gun up as she hastened after Thomas and Jenny.
I’ll always be with you.
The voice whispered through her mind, and the voice—it belonged to Thomas.
* * *
JENNY WAS LOADED into the back of an ambulance. Thomas watched its lights flash on as the siren’s cry filled the night. Jenny had been sobbing when she was loaded up. She’d told him again and again how sorry she was. He made her lure us into that cabin—he wanted us all to burn.
“I can’t thank you two enough.” Sheriff Hodges came toward him. He stared at Thomas, then Noelle with wide eyes. “That girl... You saved her.”
They’d nearly died with her. Thomas looked back at the wilderness. “When are the dogs getting here?” Because every moment that passed was another moment the perp could use to flee.
“We can’t send them out, not with the storm.”
He’d been afraid of that. The snow was already falling so much harder, and the howl of the wind was constant now.
The sheriff ran a gloved hand over his face. “Word came through on the radio a little while ago. The storm’s due to hit any minute. It won’t be safe to send anyone out. The snow’s gonna be too thick. The snowstorm will last all night.”
And it would give the killer out there the perfect cover for his escape.
“Jenny wouldn’t have lasted until dawn.” Noelle’s voice was soft. “If he hadn’t killed her, then the storm would’ve.”
Thomas could feel the push of the impending gales. As he’d carried Jenny, he’d fought to stay upright as the wind and the snow blasted against him.
“You two need to get secure for the night.” Hodges gave a firm nod. “I’ll get my men to check the area once more, but then I have to send them in. I won’t lose any of my people for that guy.”
No, they couldn’t put lives on the line.
And so the perp gets away, for now.
The sheriff nodded once more, then turned away. The wind battered against Thomas. He was wearing a borrowed coat a sheriff’s deputy had given him. Noelle was wearing a similar one, only its bulk seemed to swallow her.
She stared up at Thomas with unreadable eyes. Strange, he’d believed he’d gotten pretty good at reading Noelle’s feelings. But right then, he couldn’t tell a single thing about her thoughts.
Thomas cleared his throat. “We should get back to our place.” Driving would be a nightmare if they waited much longer. It was a good thing their rented cabin was near town.
Noelle nodded, but she didn’t move. “Do you jump through fire often?”
He hadn’t expected the question. He felt his lips curl in a grim smile. “Only when I have to.”
She inclined her head and spun, heading back toward the diner and their vehicle. Thomas saw Henry was out, watching them with wide eyes. The sheriff had taken the shovel in as evidence. Maybe they’d get lucky on the fingerprint check.
Maybe not.
But at least they’d found the girl.
When he’d rushed into that cabin and seen her there, the blindfold covering half her face, her red hair streaming behind him, it had been as if Thomas had run straight into a nightmare from his past.
Only I wasn’t the white knight then.
He’d been the man ignoring the cries for help.
They reached their SUV. Snow coated the windows, and Thomas shoved it away. When the vehicle was clear—well, clearer—he glanced at Noelle. Her eyes were on him.
What is she thinking?
“I was wrong about you,” Noelle said, and the howl of the wind nearly swallowed her words. “The profile that I had in my head... It was all wrong.”
He stiffened at her words. “I warned you before that you shouldn’t profile me.” Because he’d been afraid she wouldn’t like the man who truly lived inside him.
“I just didn’t realize how good you were at keeping secrets and telling lies.”
She knows. “Noelle?”
She climbed into the vehicle. Thomas jumped inside with her. It was as cold in the SUV as it was outside. And the snow was falling in ever harder waves. He turned on the ignition. It took three tries for the motor to finally kick to life. The windshield wipers slashed across the glass, but they didn’t help him see any better.
The sheriff had been right. Thomas figured he and Noelle would be lucky to make it back to their cabin before the storm hit with its full fury.
He spared another fast glance for Noelle. She was staring straight ahead, her attention seemingly on the snow that blasted down on them, but he could feel the tension emanating from her body.
Oh, yeah, the storm was about to hit, and he had a feeling it just might wreck his world.
* * *
HE’D LEARNED TO cover his tracks when he was ten years old. But he didn’t slow down to erase his footprints. There was no need then. Mother Nature was erasing the tracks for him.
The fire was out. He didn’t even see the smoke drifting up into the sky any longer.
He’d watched the blaze, just for a moment, and he’d seen them escape.
Worthy prey.
Noelle had come out first. She’d been burning. He’d smiled at the sight. But the flames had been extinguished all too quickly. The male had followed her—and he’d brought out Jenny.
Jenny shouldn’t have made it out of the house.
Now two have survived.
That wasn’t acceptable. He’d have to correct that situation.
Jenny would be easy enough. She didn’t have any fight in her. But Noelle... Now, there was his challenge. He’d take her out first. Her and the agent who seemed to always be at her side. The fellow thought he was some sort of protector. No, he was just a dead man walking, and he didn’t know it.