Deadly Obsession (3 page)

Hating the desire he still felt for her, he slammed a hand against the steering wheel. He flipped on his lights and increased his speed as he headed back to his place. Even if what they had was long over, someone was watching him and that someone wanted him to suffer.

Lilly might get pissed, but he was going to switch vehicles, then stake out her place for the rest of the night. Hurting her would be one of the most obvious things the killer could do. He’d lost too many people in the past few years and he refused to let something happen to the one woman who still haunted his dreams.

Lilly snapped her laptop shut and slid it into her carry-on bag. After glancing around the shabby room one last time, she rolled her carry-on and suitcase to the door. As she placed her hand on the door handle a thunderous explosion ripped through the air.

The ground shifted beneath her. Pain fractured through her skull. She rocked back on her feet to keep her balance but it was useless. Lilly tumbled over her carry-on and slammed into the dresser, stomach first. As the wind rushed from lungs, she shook her head. A low buzzing rang in her ears and she tripped again. This time she landed on the floor, face first. Trying to steady herself, she sat up, but weaved back and forth.

She pressed an unsteady hand to her head. A bomb must have gone off.
Shit!
Before she could contemplate getting out of there, shouting and staccato gunfire erupted outside her room.

Everything sounded as if it was in a tunnel. Since she couldn’t stand, she fell to her belly and crawled toward the bed.
Find a weapon! Hide!
The words echoed in her brain. Before she’d made it two feet, her door burst open.

Two men in black ski masks and guns stormed the room. They shouted at her, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying. With incredible force, one of the men slammed the butt of his gun onto her thigh.

A piercing sound reverberated through the room. She finally realized it was her own screams. He lifted the gun again. She covered her face, knowing what was coming—

Lilly jolted upright in bed, choking on a scream. Despite the cool temperature, sweat rolled down her face and back. She shoved the heavy cover off and forced herself upright. Would these nightmares never end? Sitting on the edge of the bed, she practiced the breathing techniques her counselor had taught her until her heart rate returned to normal.

A glance at the clock told her it was five. She still had time to sleep but knew no matter how much she wanted it, trying would be useless. Once she’d splashed water on her face and brushed her teeth, she’d stopped shaking enough to make a pot of coffee.

She looked through the peephole of the front door before tugging on a robe and slippers. If she remembered correctly, her aunt had a key hidden out front and there was no way on earth she was leaving it there. Her aunt might have been trusting, but after Braden’s—
rather Sheriff Donnelly’s
—warning, Lilly wasn’t going to take the chance. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about it until now. Jet lag was her only excuse.

An icy blast of January air hit her as she stepped onto the front porch. It was physically impossible, but she swore her heart jumped into her throat when she saw an unfamiliar vehicle in the driveway. It took a second until she realized Braden was sleeping in the front seat of the truck. What the hell was he doing? Wrapping the robe tighter around herself, she hurried down the stone steps and tapped on the window.

He reached for his pistol, until his dark eyes locked on hers. For a man of the law, his brown hair was a little shaggy around the sides. It reminded her of the way he’d worn it when they were younger. Back then he’d been a football star, but he hadn’t been a typical jock. If anything, he’d been more bookish than her.

An unexpected but incredibly vivid memory of their first kiss flashed in her mind. It had been in the front seat of his wintergreen, 1979 Ford pickup. The heat hadn’t been working and he’d told her he knew the perfect way to warm her up. Not exactly original, but it had sure worked on her. Barely sixteen, she’d never kissed anyone before, but he’d known what he was doing. Even if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have known any better.

Even with the cold, a slow building warmth filled her. Despite the way they’d parted, she held too many memories of Braden close to her heart not to still feel
something
for him. It was unavoidable, she supposed.

Lilly stood back as he stepped out of the vehicle. “Were you here all night?”

He stretched his arms above his head and yawned again. “Just about. You got any coffee?”

“Follow me.” She decided to wait until they got inside before she started firing questions at him.

As they walked up the front steps she bent down by an oversized stone frog and stuck her hand in its mouth. Sure enough, her fingers clasped around the same magnetic key holder that had been there for years.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

She held out her hand as she stood. “Getting this.”

“Your aunt had a key outside?” His mouth pulled into a thin line and Lilly had another flashback of how those lips had kissed every inch of her body once.

An involuntary shudder skittered down her spine, but she fought it off. “I know. I told her to at least hide it in a better place, but you know how she was.”

“Yes, I do,” he murmured.

Once inside, she took off her aunt’s old robe and hooked it on the coat rack. She regretted the decision immediately. Although she wore a long pajama set, the heat in the house was temperamental and she was suddenly very aware that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

Well, she couldn’t put the stupid thing back on without looking crazy so she led him to the kitchen. “Black, right?”

He nodded and sat at the kitchen table. After pouring them both a mug full, she slid onto the seat across from him. “Why were you sleeping outside?”

Braden’s jaw tightened in that familiar way and she knew whatever he had to say, she wasn’t going to like it. “I know I told you that this killer is targeting people close to me but I left out that we found another victim before I came to see you. She was a woman I went on a couple dates with.”

She frowned as he continued. “There have been three—four—killings with the same MO over the past year. I always suspected that the first three were personal, but I wasn’t sure until last night. The woman we found didn’t live here but as far as I can tell, I’m the only connection to all the victims.” He took a sip of his coffee as she digested the words.

“So that’s why you slept outside last night?”

“I didn’t plan to fall asleep, but I think whoever’s doing this is a local. If they are, they’ll know about our history. I don’t want to scare you, but you need to be careful.”

“It’s been a decade since we’ve seen each other. Do you really think someone would come after me?” She wrapped her hands around the steaming mug to keep them from shaking.

“I went on two dates with the woman we just found. She didn’t mean anything to me. You mean—meant a lot more.” His last words came out strangled, but she didn’t miss the blatant male interest in his eyes when his gaze strayed to her chest.

Heat spread up her neck as her nipples involuntarily pebbled under his intense stare. The man looked…hungry. It was written in every line and groove of his face. She wished she could be offended or feel some sort of outrage that he was staring at her with such deliberate desire, but it had been a long time since a man had looked at her like he wanted to strip her naked and take her right on a kitchen table.

She cleared her throat. “Have there been any witnesses?”

Braden shook his head, before he once again focused on her face. “None that we’re aware of.”

She contemplated telling him about the masked face she’d seen by the window the night before but couldn’t force the words to come. If someone wanted to hurt her, they wouldn’t show themselves to her then run away. She just needed to face the reality that she was seeing things that weren’t there. The last thing she wanted to do was sound crazy in front of Braden. Especially now. She wanted to deal with her aunt’s funeral, and maybe get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”

He nodded but the grooves around his eyes deepened. Wordlessly they stared at each other and it was all she could do not to fall over. A woman could lose herself in those dark eyes. And she had once.

She was the first to break contact. Somehow she found the words she didn’t want to ask. “I’ve got to go to the coroner’s to sign off on everything. I’d planned to go alone, but was wondering if maybe you’d go with me before we go to the rental place? Only if you have the time…” She hated the almost pleading note in her voice, but she didn’t want to handle this on her own. Even after years away from Braden, just being around him somehow grounded her.

He paused so long she wondered if she’d made a mistake in asking him. Finally he spoke, but his words were unsteady. “I’ll go with you. How long are you here anyway?”

“A couple weeks, at least.” After the funeral she planned to do nothing but relax and maybe get her head screwed on straight.

“Oh.”

“Don’t sound too excited,” she murmured.

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

His dry tone said otherwise but she didn’t comment. The only sound in the bright kitchen was the cold wind whipping at the window and the soft tick of the nautical clock hanging on the wall. Lilly should have expected this awkwardness, but as she’d prepared to leave D.C., she’d ignored the fact that she’d inevitably run into Braden. However, she’d expected to see him at the funeral, not her first day back.

He was the first to break the silence. “How’s work?”

By the tenseness in his voice, she guessed that he knew what had happened to her. Hell, thanks to the media, most of the world did. Of course, the world thought she’d been part of a group of analysts checking out the volatility of the region. They’d never know she’d been working undercover with a black ops team hunting a well-known terrorist. When half her team had been kidnapped by Islamic terrorists based in the horn of Africa, it had been splashed all over the news for weeks. So, the leaders of the NSA and CIA combined task force had decided to make a preemptive strike and leak the “story” to the media first.

The extremists had killed most of her teammates and tortured the rest. For a while, she’d wished she’d died with her friends. She couldn’t very well tell him that. And unfortunately, she couldn’t tell him what she actually did for a living. “It’s been a rough year, but work’s the only thing keeping me sane.”

Jaw tight, he nodded and pushed his chair back. “I didn’t mean to intrude…I thought I’d be able to get home before picking you up this morning. Do you mind if I grab a shower before we head to the coroner’s office? I’ve got an overnight bag I keep in my truck for emergencies.”

“Sure. Use the downstairs bathroom. You remember where everything is right?” At his nod she continued. “I’ll meet you down here in half an hour or so. If you get hungry, I don’t know what’s here but help yourself.”

“Listen, Lilly, what happened between us is water under the bridge.” His abrupt words sliced through the air with the subtly of a machete.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she met his intense gaze, unsure she’d heard right but really hoping she had. “You mean that?”

“Yes. I don’t want us to walk on eggshells around each other. We were little more than kids when we broke up and it’s in the past.”

She let her arms drop as the vise around her chest loosened. “Thanks…It really is good to see you, Braden.”

Before she realized what he intended, he reached out and cupped her cheek. Her lungs squeezed painfully as his palm caressed her face. The gentle touch was so familiar, but the raw, primal energy she could feel rolling off him wasn’t. What happened between them might be water under the bridge but her attraction to him definitely wasn’t in the past.

And neither was his. His eyes flashed an even darker shade of brown as their gazes locked. Conflicting emotions warred inside him. She could see it as plain as if the words were written in front of her. He wanted her, but he didn’t want to.

Not that she blamed him.

“Braden…”

As soon as the word fell from her lips, his hand dropped as if she’d burned him.

Without pause, he exited the room, effectively sucking all the warmth out with him. As she cleaned up she was vaguely aware of the front door opening and shutting a couple times.

“I locked the front door.” Braden’s voice trailed down the hall.

“Thanks,” she called out. A lot of things might have changed in the past decade but one thing definitely hadn’t.

Braden Donnelly still had the power to turn her on like no one else. Over the years she’d wondered if things would have turned out differently if she’d told him the real reason she’d left. Seeing him again brought back all those old feelings and insecurities. Back then she’d been so sure she’d made the right choice by making a clean break and keeping him in the dark, but now she wondered if—no, it didn’t matter. The past was the past.

As she placed the mugs in the sink, a flash of movement caught her eye. She swiveled toward the window.

The face was back. It was still semi-dark outside, but the masked face was at her kitchen window again.

Staring.

Waiting.

Smiling.

You’re not real. You’re a figment of my imagination.
She tried to say the words out loud like her therapist had taught her, but her throat tightened in terror.

The man’s dark eyes pulled to slits as his grin grew wider.
Evil.
It was the only word to describe what she was looking at. Slowly, he held up a wicked looking knife and made slashing movements at his neck. How could this be happening? Was he real? Her brain screamed at her to do something.
Anything.

It was as if hundred pound weights had settled around her ankles again. She tried to take a step back, but movement was impossible. Her throat was too tight to scream. She rubbed her eyes, and when she opened them, the face was gone.

“Lilly?” Braden’s voice broke through the silence.

“Yeah?” she called out as she jerked her head toward his voice.

“Where are the towels…never mind, found ’em.” His deep voice faded down the hall.

When she turned back to the window again, there was still nothing there. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she hurried over and yanked the lace curtains into place. Her lungs seemed to shrink as she bounded up the stairs. Never in a million years would she have imagined she’d be experiencing something like this.
That she might actually be losing her freaking mind.
For a brief moment she wondered if she wasn’t seeing things and this was the killer targeting women in town. Just as quickly she shoved the thought away. Braden hadn’t said anything about anyone taunting the women before they’d been killed and this was the kind of thing the murdered women would have reported beforehand.