“Are you sure it’s a he?” Cadence pushed her.
Back off. Anthony bit the words back.
“Walker said, ‘he.’” Lauren was adamant. “I know exactly what I heard.” Then she shook her head. Tears glinted in the gaze that she didn’t take from Anthony. “Please, I’m hurting. I want to get out of here. Dammit, I just—I can’t breathe in here! I need to get out of this hospital!”
Paul shuffled toward the bed. “You still can’t stand hospitals, huh?” His fingers brushed over her uninjured cheek. Anthony realized he hated that intimate touch. A touch that spoke of emotions and a shared past. “They still remind you of your mom?”
She gave a low nod. “After all the time I saw her wasting away…” The sound of her swallow was a painful click. “The place is just a morgue to me.”
Paul knew her well, too well, and Anthony felt a jolt of shame rock through him. He should be the one to know the private details of Lauren’s life. Her secrets should be his.
Not the detective’s.
“I can give you police protection,” Paul said as his hand dropped away from Lauren. “That room at my place is still waiting for you.”
It can keep waiting.
Anthony didn’t say the words because the choice wasn’t his. It was Lauren’s.
After a tense moment, Lauren shook her head. “Anthony’s promised to keep watch over me tonight. Dr. Davis gave him the okay to take me.”
I’ll watch over you, baby, all night long.
Her gaze stayed on Paul. “I want you to pull Jenny’s file. I had a copy at my house but...” She broke off and lifted a trembling hand to shove back her hair. “I can’t go there now. I need to see her file again.”
“I’ll need to look at that file, too,” Cadence added.
If Walker had been killing that long ago—and it sure seemed he had—then it would change the man’s profile. He would have been just a kid himself back then. A kid with a taste for death.
“If you need me,” Paul said to Lauren, as he leaned toward her, “you call me anytime.”
“Thank you.”
Paul glanced up, and his eyes collided with Anthony’s. Anthony wanted that guy away from Lauren, and if he didn’t move soon…
He backed away. Finally, the guy filed out of the room, with Cadence following behind him. Lauren eased to the side of the bed and tried to stand. Her body shook, and he was there instantly, steadying her. “I’ve got you.”
Her lashes lifted and her stare met his. The blue still wasn’t the vibrant color he loved, but he’d make sure the sparkle came back. “My parents…they both died without ever knowing what had happened to Jenny.” She swallowed. “I think they both thought, hoped, that she was still alive.”
He held her tighter.
“Maybe that was better,” she whispered, the shimmer of tears sweeping her eyes. “Better to have the hope than to know—”
A tear leaked down her cheek.
With fingers that weren’t as steady as he wanted them to be, Anthony wiped away the tear.
Lauren’s chin lifted. “I need to leave now.”
Any f**king thing she wanted—that was what he’d do. “I’ll help you dress,” he offered. With her stitches and concussion, she’d need help. He bet Dr. Davis would insist Lauren leave the hospital in a wheelchair. It was usually the way the hospitals worked, especially with liability issues.
She gave a little nod. Very carefully, he untied the hospital gown and let it fall to the floor. Lauren was still in front of him, barely seeming to even breathe. The sight of her body made him ache—he always wanted her. But this wasn’t about lust. This was about taking care of her. He kept his touch light as he carefully helped her with her panties and bra. She didn’t speak at all. Didn’t make eye contact with him.
He watched her face when he slid the sleeve of the blouse over her injured arm. She flinched and he froze, but she whispered, “It’s all right.” He hurried to finish.
It’s not all right. Her words were a lie.
It wasn’t going to be all right until he had her safe with him.
Until Walker was dead.
When she was dressed, he slipped a pair of comfortable shoes on her and eased her back onto the bed. He went to the door, where a wheelchair was waiting for him. A few minutes later, Lauren was secure in the chair. He started to move behind her, but she caught his arm.
“Thank you.”
She shouldn’t be thanking him. She’d been taken on his watch.
“I knew you’d find me.” Her voice was certain. “I just…I didn’t want you to find me dead.”
He schooled his expression, but she was already glancing away.
Finding her dead would have been his worst f**king nightmare.
What the hell would I have done then?
Cadence watched as Anthony wheeled Lauren out of the hospital. Did the marshal even realize how much his expression gave away? Probably not.
“We never found any indication that Walker had committed other murders. We thought we’d found all of his kills,” Paul said as he came up behind Cadence. The detective sounded frustrated, confused, and pissed.
She glanced over at him. “Maybe you did find all of his kills.”
Paul’s brows climbed.
“Did you miss that whole part from Lauren about her sister?”
He gave a low whistle. “Jennifer Chandler. I remember when that story made headlines around here. She was sixteen, captain of the cheerleading squad, class president—you know those kids, the popular ones everyone misses the instant they’re gone.”
“Her murderer was never caught?” Cadence asked.
“Her body was never found. Police weren’t even sure it was a murder.”
Lauren was at the end of the hallway now. Anthony glanced back at them. Cadence noted that he’d schooled his expression this time. Too late, Anthony. She’d seen, and she was pretty sure the cop had, too.
“The detectives back then thought that maybe she’d run away, but her family never bought that story.” He rolled his shoulders, as if pushing away a bad memory. “I caught Jenny’s file as a cold case a few years ago. That’s how Lauren and I got together.”
Only they weren’t together any longer, and Cadence knew if Anthony had his way, they wouldn’t be again.
A rough sigh broke from him. “Lauren has spent her whole life trying to find her big sister, and to discover that Walker was the one—hell, I can’t even imagine what she’s feeling right now.”