Chapter 48 Dex
DEX
The scream split the trees, igniting a fear in my veins. My lungs burned as I leapt over a fallen log and raced toward the sound: the eerie voice that seemed just a bit drugged. The piercing cry.
I skidded to a halt just as Brae came into view and hauled her against me to shield her from whatever threatened her. And then I saw it. The body. Unmoving. Limp.
Kol broke through the trees, gun at his side. The weapon was pointed toward the ground but still ready to do whatever needed to be done at a moment’s notice.
He caught sight of me and Brae…and then the body. He lifted the gun, sweeping the surrounding trees as he moved toward the fallen form.
Brae still screamed, that strange voice coming through in the pockets where she sucked in air. It was Brae’s name. Over and over. Desperate and begging.
Kol bent, pulling back the hair, and then stilled. “It’s a fucking dummy. It’s fake.”
Fury lit through me, burning everything in its wake. But still, I kept hold of Brae. I rocked her back and forth. “It’s not her. It’s not Nova.”
The screaming stopped, hitched into a garbled sob. “Not her?”
Brae’s voice was completely raw, ravaged, and pained.
“It’s not her. It’s fake.” But it looked so damn real. Not like a regular mannequin but an actual lifelike human replica of some sort.
Brae’s name was still being chanted over and over. “Find that fucking speaker,” I barked out.
Kol pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and donned them, moving the mannequin and tugging something from beside it: a portable speaker connected to some sort of recorder. He pressed a button, and the sound cut off.
Nothing but wind in the trees now. No birdcalls or other animal sounds. Brae had likely startled them with her screaming.
I held her to me and kept rocking her back and forth. She trembled against me, her legs finally giving way. I caught her and lowered us to the forest floor, cradling her so she wouldn’t see the grisly mannequin. It didn’t matter that it was fake. It was too close to the real thing.
“It’s her clothes. Her voice,” Brae croaked.
I stiffened, my muscles turning to cement as she continued. “Her shorts, her shirt. Nova. That was Nova saying my name.”
My gaze lifted to find Kol’s. What in the actual hell was happening?
* * *
Brae sat huddled on the couch, staring at nothing, Yeti curled next to her. The blankness on her face scared the hell out of me as I watched her from outside. I didn’t want her to hear the conversation I was about to have.
“Did you get the photos?” I asked into my phone, pacing across the back deck barefoot.
The sound of Anson tapping his keyboard came over the line. “I’m looking at them now.”
“They think it’s Nova’s actual clothes. Her voice. It’ll take a week or two for DNA testing to come back on the blood on the shirt.”
It wasn’t an amount of blood that necessarily meant death, but it could if the wound hadn’t been treated. And there was no way to know when the voice had been recorded. Yesterday? A year ago? And what the hell was the point?
“Whoever this is, they get off on emotional torture,” Anson surmised.
“Tell me something I don’t fucking know,” I clipped.
Anson shifted, making the chair he was sitting in squeak. “Are you holding it together?”
“No.” There was no point in bullshitting him. He’d know.
Anson was quiet for a long moment, likely thinking over his approach. “All you can do is hold on. And make sure you’re holding on to each other.”
“I have to keep her safe.” The words were guttural and came from my deepest parts—the ones I hid from everyone but Brae.
“I know. I understand that fear. It’s gonna bring up a hell of a lot of stuff for you.”
“I’m not here for a shrink session. I’m here for insights. Anything that will help us catch this fucker,” I ground out.
Anson sighed. “All right. This is someone who likely enjoys various forms of torture. It’s not just about the victim but all those in the victim’s orbit. They likely relive the kill or violence when they get a reaction from a victim’s loved one.”
Dread pooled low, like oil spilling out and sliding through the ocean. “Is Nova dead?”
Anson went quiet again. “Likely. And if she’s not, I don’t want to think what she’s been through.”
More dread, a sick feeling.
“This isn’t the unsub’s first offense. If you’re not finding any like crimes in the area, then they’ve been working up to this.”
And they had to be close enough to watch us.
They must have known what we were doing today, which meant they’d heard through the grapevine of people who sat at those tables at the Boot two days ago.
The only problem was that each person at those tables could’ve told a dozen others, and those dozen…
a dozen more. Gossip and small towns were like wildfire and a desert-dry forest.
“They knew where we would be, Anson.”
“Gotta close the circle. Information to your family only. I know it sucks, but it’s the way it’s gotta be.”
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw. “It’s not just what we’re sharing, though. The Juniper County Sheriff’s Department isn’t exactly locked down. The sheriff just started to believe something bad could’ve happened to Nova.”
Anson muttered a curse. “Well, keep Brae’s location, plans…all of that under wraps. She goes nowhere alone.”
“That’s a fuckin’ given,” I growled.
“And keep breathing. You need me to come down there?”
God, he was a good friend. One who had been through his own hell. But he and Rhodes had made it through. And she had helped heal him in ways I hadn’t thought possible. Just like Brae was doing for me.
“You’re doing everything you can from Sparrow Falls. But thank you. You offering means something.”
“Just say the word and I’m there. And in the meantime, watch your back.”
“You know I will.” Needing eyes in the back of my head was more like it.
“Keep checking in.”
“Talk soon.” I hit End on the call and just stared inside for a moment.
Brae was still staring into space, and then I saw her shiver. Even though it was eighty-five degrees outside, and she was wrapped in blankets, she was cold.
Fucking hell.
I strode toward the back door and through it, taking a moment to flip the deadbolt and arm the alarm. I crossed the space in six long strides and crouched in front of Brae. My hands lifted to her face, trying to get her to focus.
“Brae,” I whispered.
She blinked a few times, jolting from wherever her brain was, and then her teeth started chattering. “C-cold.”
I didn’t wait, just moved. Tossing off the pile of blankets, I gave Yeti the command to stay and lifted Brae into my arms. The dog watched as I cradled her to me, battling indecision. “Reste,” I said again.
Yeti’s head dropped back to the couch, but she was just as worried about Brae as I was.
My hellion. Tough as nails. A warrior. And she was shaking like a leaf as I strode toward the bathroom off the primary bedroom. It wasn’t huge, but the shower was spacious enough. It was clear that Blaze had modernized with a new shower and vanity.
I lowered Brae’s feet to the floor, but it killed me to let her go. As if I were ripping my skin from my own damn flesh. I framed her face with my hands and dropped my forehead to hers. “Gonna get you warm, okay? Just stay right here.”
Tearing myself away from her, I moved to the shower and turned the water to hot. I was back to Brae in a matter of seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. “Is it okay if I undress you?”
Brae’s teeth chattered, but she nodded in jerky motions.
I moved to the hem of her tank. “Arms up.”
She lifted her limbs robotically, and as I gently tugged her tank and bra off, I noticed all sorts of scrapes on her arms and chest that must have come from running through the woods.
A curse slipped free as I tossed the clothing to the floor and moved to the medicine cabinet.
I should’ve noticed before. None of them were too deep, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t get infected.
Opening the cabinet, I found hydrogen peroxide and cotton swabs. I doused one and moved back to her. “This might sting a little, okay?”
She nodded again in that robotic movement.
But there was no reaction when I gently brushed the cotton over her skin. It was as if Brae felt nothing at all. And that killed me. She’d gone totally and completely numb, apart from the cold racking her.
I moved as swiftly and thoroughly as possible, disinfecting every scrape and scratch, cleaning away every sign of dirt. When I was done, my hands moved to the button on her waistband. “I’m going to get these shorts off now, all right?”
Brae swayed slightly but nodded again.
I pulled them down, not looking at parts of her body for too long, other than to judge any injuries. I shucked my own clothes and guided Brae into the shower as fast as I could.
Her body shook harder, more viciously. I maneuvered her under the spray, the water just shy of too hot. “Gonna get you warm, Hellion. Gonna get you strong.”
A soft moan left Brae’s lips. Not a sexual one. One of relief.
“That’s it. That’s my girl.” My fingers ran through her hair as the water soaked the strands, turning them a darker shade of blond. I reached for the shampoo on the shelf and filled my palms, rubbing them together.
Turning Brae so she faced the water, I began to wash her hair. She leaned back into me, into my touch, humming as if reveling in the sensation.
The sound was a balm to my ravaged soul, to the worry and fear I’d been battling all day. I might not be able to fix this, but I could take care of her. I could do something to ease at least the slightest bit of pain.
My fingers dug into Brae’s scalp, massaging. She let out another moan.
“Gonna rinse now, okay?”
Brae turned on her own this time, her eyes meeting mine as she stepped back under the spray, a little more aware.
My hands lifted, rinsing the suds from her strands.
“Feels good,” she whispered.
I leaned in and pressed my lips to her forehead. “I’m glad.”
I repeated the steps with the conditioner, coating every strand before rinsing again. When Brae met my gaze once more, I saw that more of her was there. But as the numbness faded, the pain swirled. Her golden eyes were heavy with it.
“Almost done,” I promised.
“My hair tie,” she rasped.
Frowning, I looked around and found it hanging from a hook.
“Need to put my hair up,” she explained.
“I’ve got it,” I assured her. I gathered that mountain of blond hair, squeezing the excess water from it and winding it into a sphere atop her head. I awkwardly wrapped the rubber band around it, finally getting it to stay.
“Thank you.” Brae’s voice was still raw, even after the tea and rest.
I pressed my lips to her temple. “I’ve got you.”
I reached for the bodywash, and as I opened it, the scents of red currant and vanilla filled the shower. It wasn’t quite Brae’s scent but something that blended with whatever was uniquely her.
As I poured the bodywash into my palm, the scent grew. I slid soapy hands over her shoulders and down her arms, careful to make sure every scrape and scratch was cleaned all over again. My hands moved over her belly and up to palm her breasts.
Brae’s breathing picked up, and I tried to ignore the familiar hitch. My dick didn’t have any such reservations.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Ignore my dick.”
Brae’s mouth curved the barest amount. “Not his fault.”
“He likes you a little too much.”
She arched into my touch, eyes going hooded. “Dex?”
“Yes?” I croaked.
“Make me feel,” Brae whispered. “Anything but the cold. Anything but the pain.”
My chest constricted, my rib cage strangling my lungs. “I’m not sure that’s—”
She cut off my sentence with a kiss, her tongue stroking in. It wasn’t forceful like in Wylder’s office. It was searching, pleading. And when she broke the kiss, her eyes held the same emotions. “Please. You’re everything that isn’t cold. You’re warmth. You’re fire. You’re life.”
My hand slid along her jaw, down to feel the pulse fluttering in her neck. “You’re sure?”
And then Brae leveled me. “You’re always what I need.”