Fuck.
“What I know,” she said, “is how to be the victim he wants.” Cadence’s voice was soft, such a contrast to his. She was controlled. Certain. So very certain she could jerk around a killer.
He was certain she’d die.
“I can get him to keep me alive, Kyle. I can make this work.”
She had her theories, profiles, but they could be screwed to hell and back in an instant. “He’s not just jerking the FBI around, he’s jerking me around.” Kyle’s words weren’t for the others in the room, only for her. Just like his fear was for her. “If he wants to hurt me”—and he knew that was exactly what the bastard wanted—“then he’ll kill you his first chance.”
And he’d leave her body for Kyle to find.
If that happened, Kyle knew he would be lost.
But Cadence was shaking her head. “We can draw him out. I can do this.” Her lips lifted in a faint smile, one that showed no humor. “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve faced a killer.”
He knew that.
“Better me than a civilian out there. Another sister or friend who vanishes.”
His hands were tight fists.
Cadence turned away from him. Focused on Dani. “I know you have tracking devices you can use.”
He saw Dani nod, but worry had tightened her face. “Plenty. You could pick your poison.”
“We’d need several,” Ben said. The bastard is considering her plan. “Just in case one gets disabled, we’d want backups on her.”
“This isn’t happening,” Kyle thundered at them. “You can’t.”
Cadence whirled back around to face him. “Do you want her back?” Some color had come into her face. A flash of red on her high cheekbones.
“Yes,” Kyle gritted. But he didn’t want to risk Cadence.
“If any of the women are alive, he could panic right now. We’re searching for him, and he knows it. Hell, he already broke pattern with Christa’s death. If they are still alive, maybe he’ll decide it’s better to eliminate them.”
“Or to eliminate you.” His voice was flat. There was too much danger to her, she had to see that.
“I’m giving you a chance to get her back.” In her golden stare, he saw stark determination. “He told you that I was on his list. That means he’s already got me in his sights. We use that, okay? We don’t wait for me to be prey.”
“Making you bait is supposed to be better?”
She shook her head, sending her dark hair sliding over her shoulders. “We just make it easier for him. If we can get him to come for me, then we can get him.”
If she died, Kyle didn’t know what he’d do.
“Dani.” Ben’s voice. Calm in the storm. “I think we need to give these two a few minutes alone.”
Kyle couldn’t look away from Cadence.
He heard footsteps. Dani and Ben heading for the door.
Kyle didn’t move. Neither did Cadence.
The door closed with a soft click behind the other agents.
He wanted to put his hands on her, but he didn’t trust himself. Wasn’t sure what he’d do if he touched her.
Pick her up, run away with her. Get her out of here.
“This is the chance you’ve always wanted,” Cadence told him as a faint line appeared between her brows. “This is your hope. Why aren’t you taking it?”
He’d never wanted to trade hope for her. She meant too much to him.
Her hand reached out. Closed around one of his clenched fists. Her touch seemed to scorch right through him. “I trust you to find me, Kyle.”
Something seemed to break inside of him. “Don’t.” The word was more growl than anything else. “Maria trusted me, too, and I failed her.” He’d lost her.
I can’t fail Cadence.
“I do trust you.” She came closer, and her body brushed against his. Her hand tightened around his fist. “You’ll be able to trace me. I’ll lead you to him. With the FBI’s resources, we can close this case before anyone else gets hurt. No other women have to be hurt. They don’t have to die by his hand.”
Her mouth was inches from his.
What he desired most was right f**king there. “I want to take you away.” A brutal confession. “I want to just grab you and take you as far away from this hell as I can.”
Her smile was sad. “That’s not who I am.”
No. She wasn’t the kind to run, not even from the monsters who hunted with their deadly intensity.
“We protect, that’s what we do.” The line between her brows smoothed away. “I’m not scared.”
She should be.
Cadence leaned up on her toes and pressed a light kiss to his lips. “Whether you agree or not,” she whispered, “I’m doing this.”
Hell.
He moved in an instant, locking his arms around her, yanking her harder against him, and kissing her with the desperation that pumped through his veins like acid.
He couldn’t control Cadence, but the woman controlled him. The thought of her in danger had his heart racing, fear rising in his chest.
If the plan didn’t work—if she didn’t come back—darkness seemed to wrap around his mind. She will come back to me.
His hands sank into her hair. He tilted her head. Kissed her with a desperation that should have alarmed them both.
Cadence had said she wasn’t scared.
Not of the killer.
Not of him.
She will be.
Her nails bit into his shoulders. She pulled him closer as she kissed him with the same frantic need.
Even as a knock sounded at the door.
The damn door was shut for a reason.
I want her naked.
Actually, he just wanted her.
Cadence pulled away. Her breath rushed out. Too fast. Panting. “I trust you,” she said again.
The drumming of his heartbeat wouldn’t slow.
The knock came again. Someone out there was pissing him off.
“I told you.” Kyle barely recognized his own voice. “Maybe you shouldn’t.”
The door swung open just as Cadence slipped from his arms.
“Well?” Ben demanded.
We needed more time.
Only they were working against the clock. He got that.
Cadence’s chin was up. Her shoulders squared. “Tell Dani to get the trackers ready. We’re doing this.”
He knew who he wanted, and he wasn’t going to settle for anyone else. Not this time.
He’d tried to settle before, but it had been a f**king disaster. The blonde woman hadn’t been right. Even her death had been a waste for him.