Christa’s hands were clenched in front of her. “No.” She hesitated. “Well, just my regular.”
It was so dark, she probably wouldn’t be able to read his expression, but just in case, Kyle made sure to control his emotions. “Your regular?”
She nodded. “Yeah. The guy’s been coming in for years.”
“How many years?” Cadence asked before Kyle could.
Christa rubbed her hands over her arms. “At least five. I mean, as long as I’ve been there.”
Could the guy have been going back, visiting all of his abduction sites?
Yes. Killers liked to head back to those locations. The sites comforted them, gave them a rush of power.
“What does this regular look like?” Kyle was too conscious of his thundering heart as he waited for her answer.
“He’s got dark hair, dark eyes. He’s big. Not fat, but built.”
“His age?” Kyle had to fight to keep his voice level.
“Probably in his thirties. Maybe in his forties. It’s hard to tell. The lighting in Dale’s is crap. And the guy usually wears a ball cap.” She rocked back on her heels.
“Does he have a name?” Kyle asked her instead of answering.
“Billy?” The name sounded like a question. “He always pays in cash.”
He would. The guy wouldn’t want to leave a trail behind.
“You told me I could go home.” Christa’s voice thickened. “My mom had a stroke. She needs me. I have to get home.”
“We’ll get you to your mother, but Christa, we’re going to need you to talk with some cops first thing in the morning. To get a sketch going of your regular.”
How long would it take to get a good sketch artist in town? He’d make a call to the FBI office. They’d get a guy there by dawn.
“I want to see my mom first. Before anything else. She needs me,” Christa said again.
Fair enough.
He led Christa to his car. Opened the back door. Christa slid inside, the tears drying on her cheeks.
When he looked up, he saw Cadence hadn’t moved. He hurried back to her. “What is it?” Her instincts about Christa had been dead-on. Cadence had saved the waitress’s life that night. But she didn’t look pleased.
Her body was tense, her posture almost afraid.
“He didn’t get her,” she whispered. “So who will he take?”
He glanced down the dark, stretching road.
And wondered if the killer was hunting right then.
“Shut the f**k up!”
The bitch wouldn’t stop screaming. He had his radio on, but it wasn’t drowning out her screams. And the cops—
They were everywhere.
She was still screaming.
He’d told her to be quiet.
She hadn’t listened.
Still screaming.
Another cop car passed him.
Could the guy hear her screams? No, no…
The patrol car kept going.
He started breathing again. This wasn’t working.
He pulled off the road. Cut his lights. The old diner was closed, had been for at least two years.
He eased in behind the building.
Her screams were even louder now.
He shoved open his door. Hurried to the trunk. Yanked it up.
The bitch sprang at him. Jumped right for him. He grabbed her, trying to choke off the screams.
When his hands pressed on her windpipe, the screams stopped. Silence. That perfect silence of death. Only…the rush wasn’t there.
He didn’t let her go.
She wasn’t what he wanted. Wasn’t good enough.
His head was pounding. His hands shaking. She’d had a car similar to Maria’s. The bright, flashing red. The red that had first caught his eye.
But this one didn’t understand her role. She wasn’t supposed to fight. She was supposed to obey. To follow all of his orders.
He kept squeezing her throat.
She never screamed again.
Sunlight was just cutting across the sky when Kyle opened the door to the motel room. Another cheap motel, complete with faded carpeting and a sagging bed.
One room.
This time, it had been by request.
He shut the door behind Cadence.
“We did it.”
She glanced up at his words.
“We didn’t arrive too late. We saved Lily. We saved Christa.”
A faint smile trembled on her lips.
He took two steps and had her in his arms. Held her tight.
Cadence. He’d thought she didn’t have hope. Too late, he was realizing she was his hope.
His mouth took hers. He lifted her higher, holding her fully as he carried her weight easily.
Her legs wrapped around his hips.
They wouldn’t have much time. Just a few hours to crash before they reported in at the local police station.
More questions. More searching.
But for that moment, that one moment—
I have her.
He pulled his mouth from hers. Began to kiss a hot path down the curve of her neck. Her legs tightened around him.
She likes this.
He licked. Lightly bit her silken skin.
Her hands fumbled, pushing between them, trying to get his shirt out of the way.
He wanted to rip his clothes off, shred hers. Wanted to be in her.
Would it be as good as before? Was that even possible? It had to be the adrenaline kick he’d had after surviving the cave-in and finding Lily. No way could the sex have really been that mind-blowing.
No f**king way.
They fell onto the bed. Rolled. Cadence came up above him. Stared down at him with eyes that glowed with an emotion he couldn’t name.
Lust was there, yes, desire, but something more lurked in those golden depths. Something he couldn’t make out.
“This is a mistake,” she whispered.
“Then it’s the best f**king mistake I’ve ever made.”
She smiled then.
His heart stopped.
Her hands went to his zipper, pulled it down with a hiss that seemed to vibrate through him. She shoved the pants away.
Her fingers curled around the aroused flesh that thrust so eagerly toward her.
Her head bent.
“Cadence.” If she put that mouth on him—those full red lips—he was gone. “Be careful, I don’t know…” How long I can last.
“Let’s see how far I can push.” She didn’t seem afraid. She never did.
She put her mouth on him.
Fuck.
His eyes wanted to roll back in his head. She licked and sucked and had his hands fisting into the bedcovers.
“Enough.” He couldn’t hold on, not anymore, and when he exploded, he wanted her with him.