of trouble for you.”
“She would never tell.”
“Maybe I will.”
“You are such an asshole, Tanner. You think that’s doing her any favors? You may not trust me,
but she does. This wasn’t some tawdry affair. Hell, I’m only eight years older than her.” His voice
got quieter, filling with the slightest emotion as if he was trying like hell to fight against it. “My wife
had passed away a few months before. She helped me through that time. I helped her too. She needed
someone who knew her. Knew her history. If you want the truth, I have no qualms telling you I love
her.”
I wasn’t expecting him to say that. I narrowed my eyes, willing myself not to punch him. “She
loves me.”
“There’s no arguing that. I know she does.”
I started breathing easier, surprised by how much his admission eased my tension.
“She’s very special.”
“I know that. She’s one in a million.”
“I’ve known a lot of people who have been through half of what she has that can’t seem to get
past it. She never once felt sorry for herself. In fact, all she did was worry about other people. Hell,
she worried about me, for God’s sake…and she really worried about you.”
“I know. Maybe your feelings for her have clouded your judgment. Maybe you should take
yourself off the case, Joe.”
“That’s her call, not yours. I will always be there for her. Besides, as I see it, I’m not the one at
this table who compromised her safety.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He shook his head, chuckling softly. “She never told you, did she? I’m not surprised since she
never blamed you. Not once. Like you said, that girl’s one in a million.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Are you really this much of a dumbass? How do you think they found her the first time?”
I stared at him blankly.
“Someone submitted her painting to a national art exhibition and it won. It was in a major
museum in New York. A carbon replica of her mother.”
Fuck.
My hand clutched the neck of the bottle so tight I felt my knuckles go white. I had done that to
her. I was the reason she’d had to leave. I was the reason for her getting shot. Oh, God, I was the
reason her father had been murdered. I felt my hands trembling and I tried desperately to control them,
not wanting to give Joe the satisfaction he craved.
“I didn’t know.”
We sat there for a moment in silence, lost in our own thoughts. Joe made a move like he was
leaving, but I grabbed his arm. “Tell me about Eddie. What do you know about him? How close are
you to finding him?”
Joe sighed and stared at me for a minute. It felt like a very long minute. “I suppose you deserve
to know. He fell off the grid after that night.”
“Do you think his family’s involved with this? Are they helping him?”
“No, we’ve been keeping tabs on the remaining members, and we believe they have disowned
him, as they say. He did kill his uncle after all. I don’t think any of them are interested in Sophie.”
“So, it’s just some lunatic guy with an obsession then?” The idea made me feel somewhat better.
It wasn’t a Mob family after her, but one crazy fucker.
“It’s not that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“We just got forensics back from the crime scene. His fingerprints match up to a known suspect
who’s wanted in two different states.”
“What’s he wanted for?”
Joe swallowed back his drink and discreetly ordered another, “He tortured, raped and killed
two girls.”
My heart stammered and I felt like someone had just knocked the wind out of me. “Are you sure
it’s him?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
“The evidence is strong. Besides the fingerprint matching up to one at the victim’s apartment,
there was a similar MO.”
“What was that?”
“He bit them many times. He pulled out their hair. Both things he did to Sophie when they were
younger.”
I hadn’t known about the hair. I wanted to kill this bastard more than anything else in the world. I
wanted him to suffer as those two girls had suffered at his hands. I wanted to prevent him from ever
harming the girl I loved again.
“Also, both victims were in their mid-twenties, brown hair and eyes.”
“He’s typecasting her.”
“Yes. There are no other murders, but we do have three rapes over the years with a similar MO.
We can’t tie them to him since he wore a mask and didn’t leave any DNA, but we think he’s
escalating. That he’s trying to temporarily satisfy his needs until he gets to her.”
“Joe, I know I made a mistake, but it would never be my intention to ever bring harm to her. I
need to know, though, if you’re professional enough to do this. To make sure she’s safe.”
“Caleb, I don’t think you’re asking to see my credentials here.”
“I want your word as a man.”
“The way I see it, we have a common enemy and we both love her. I think that makes us the best
men for this job, don’t you?”
I nodded slowly. He was right. I didn’t want to admit it, but in the end, I’d rather have someone
who loved Sylvie keeping her safe than a stranger.
“How did he not leave any DNA? Did he use a condom?”
Joe looked down at his drink, swirling the ice cubes with his straw. “He didn’t rape them in the
usual way.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
He winced. It was a strange reaction for a man who’d seen a great deal of atrocities in his line
of work. The fact that he was having this response caused my scalp to prickle. “He used a steel file.
The kind you’d use to scrape wood.”
I felt the color drain from my face with his words. “The FBI profiler believes he’s most likely
impotent. He used the file in several places,” Joe continued.
Don’t do it,
I kept repeating, but I did. I imagined it in relation to Sylvie. “Excuse me,” I said,
getting up from the table.
I walked slowly to the bathroom, but once I was in there, I crashed into the nearest stall, and
hurled the contents in my stomach until only dry heaves came out. I finally made my way to the mirror,
using the sink for support. I rinsed my mouth and splashed cold water on my face, not recognizing the
sickly pale tone of my skin. One thing was clear. I would never let this bastard get near her. I would
protect her. I would give my life for hers.
I came back to the table, expecting to see Joe with a glib expression in the light of my weakness,
but he was somber. “I had a similar reaction,” he said.
“Tell me everything. I need to know so I can protect her.” I picked up my bottle to swallow
down the rest of the contents. I didn’t need any liquid courage, but I had to wash away that awful
vision of what this man was capable of.
He took out his cell phone. “Let me introduce you to our enemy. We located a photo of him when
he was sixteen and age-projected it. Caleb, this is Eddie Vincetti.” He held the phone out showing me
a photo of a handsome-looking guy with black hair and a wry smile.
I didn’t think I had any more blood, but I felt it drain again. A chill ran down my spine. I heard
the clink and subsequent shattering of my beer bottle as it crashed to the floor.
“What?” Joe barked.
“His name is Tony Romero.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I felt nauseated again, but as Joe got up, I stood too, moving so fast my feet slipped against the
remnants of beer and glass. We raced out of the bar and into the lobby. Joe hit the elevator button as
he radioed his partner. It was taking too long. I ran to the stairs and Joe followed me. We took them
two, sometimes three at a time as we made our way to the sixth floor.
The chair once occupied by Haynes now sat vacant. I tried to jam my keycard into the slot, but
my hands were shaking so badly, it wouldn’t make proper contact. Joe took it from me and managed
to get the green light to appear. I rushed in first, almost tripping over Haynes’ dead body. His face
was an unrecognizable, bloody mess, destroyed by the bullet lodged there.
I ran around the room searching in vain for her. I ran into the bathroom to do the same, but she
was gone.
“Caleb,” Joe called. I approached him, knowing the sound in his voice was anything but hopeful.
On the bed were spots and splatters of blood. Her blood. What had that bastard done to her?
We made our way to Joe’s car. “You stay here.”
“Like hell I will,” I spat back at his command.
“You’ve done enough, Caleb.”
“I know that. This is my fault. Let me make it right.” Joe didn’t seem convinced so I added, “I
know him. I can help.”
Joe nodded curtly and I wasted no time jumping into the passenger seat. Joe called the local
police and sent out alerts. “What kind of car does he have?”
“A Yamaha motorcycle and a Ford econo-line van.”
Joe called it in and told them all the info that I gave him on Tony Romero. “I think he went to his
cabin. It’s close to here.” I gave Joe the city and he had his office look it up. Unfortunately, there was
no land registered for Tony Romero in Holly Oak.
The thing was, Tony had talked to me about this cabin all the time. I didn’t think a man could
make so much up about something that didn’t exist.
“You don’t know where it is?”
“I have some idea. Can we just go there?”
Joe didn’t answer me, but told the person at the other end of his radio we were headed to Holly
Oak. It was the longest half hour of my life. I estimated we had been in the bar for close to an hour. I
didn’t want to think of all the things that man could do to her in that amount of time. I prayed, no, I
begged God to please spare her from this. I would take her place if he saw fit. Just let her live.
“How did he find her?” I asked Joe as we neared the small country town of Holly Oak.
“He didn’t have to find her, Caleb. He just needed to find you. You’re the one who insisted she
was alive. Hell, you even wrote a book about it.”
Oh, my God. I had done it again. I had been a fucking beacon signal for the very demon I wanted
to protect her from. I wanted to slam my head into a wall, but now was not the time. Now we had to
find her. I needed to be strong.
Thankfully, there was only one lake in Holly Oak and as we neared it, my gut told me we were
in the right place. The road turned to dirt and was covered with slippery golden leaves freshly fallen
from the rains. It would have been a beautiful welcoming sight any other time, but today it filled my
heart with dread.
“Cal, you didn’t know,” Joe said. I think he was actually trying to make me feel better. “I
shouldn’t have been so hard on you.”
“I should have known better, Joe. If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Let’s not think like that. Let’s just get our girl.”
I didn’t mind that he said ‘our girl’, because she was and Joe had been right. We were both in
love with her and we would do what was necessary to save her from this monster. “I hope this is the
right place. I’ll call for backup as soon—”
He never finished the sentence. The car started veering as a tire popped and we went off the side
of the road headlong into a massive oak tree.
It took me a second to come to. Blood trickled down the side of my head where the glass from
the windshield had embedded itself. I looked over at Joe. “Joe, are you okay?”
There was no answer. He was unconscious, but when I put my fingers against his wrist, I felt a
pulse. I grabbed the radio he’d been barking orders into and reported the accident and Joe’s injury. I
managed to get off my seatbelt after several tries and walk back toward the road.
Road spikes hidden under a pile of leaves had caused our crash. Eddie must have planted them
to slow us down. We were on the right track. I walked up to the car and opened Joe’s door. I knew
better than to move him in case he’d broken anything. I took the gun holstered on his waist, knowing
he had another concealed at his leg. I hadn’t had the foresight to bring my own gun. Then again, who
would have thought we’d end up here? “Joe, I’m going to get her. Help is on the way.”
I looked down the road, seeing it open up at the end. Joe had checked and there were cabins
down this way. I didn’t think about it. I just started running, harder and faster than I ever had. It felt
like all those early-morning runs had prepared me for this moment.
I reached the end of the road where several cabins sat. Eddie/Tony had told me that most of them
were vacant, since they had all been owned by the same man who had passed away. They required a
great deal of work and the family was having trouble selling them. Hell, he’d even suggested I buy
one. I saw Tony’s car parked at the side of one and sucked in a breath as I approached the door. All
the windows were covered so I had no idea where she was, but I doubted it was too late. He didn’t
get off on quick and painless. He wanted torture.
“Are you coming in, Cal?” a voice boomed from inside the cabin. Eddie’s voice.
I turned the knob, finding it unlocked. As I entered, I struggled not to pounce on him. He held her
in his grip. Her face was cut and badly bleeding from the large slash on her cheek. He held a gun to
her head. She was breathing hard, staring at me with complete paralyzed fear, but she was alive.