Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“No,” Ava groans in her sleep, snapping me awake.
“Stop, stop!” she cries, her breaths fast.
Quickly, I shift positions so I can caress her shoulder. “Ava, sweetheart,” I say in a soft voice. “It’s okay.”
She blinks her eyes open. “Hutch?” She sounds confused, and scared.
I stroke her brow with my thumb. “I’m here.”
She inhales a shaky breath. Her eyes slowly focus, like she’s still partway stuck in the dream. “I was in my apartment. The man was there. On my bed. It was awful.”
She starts to cry.
“Come here.” I pull her to my chest. Her heart taps wildly against my ribs, like she’s been sprinting. I rub between her shoulder blades down the curve of her back. “You were having a nightmare.”
“Why is this happening to me?”
I reach to my nightstand and snatch a couple of tissues then press one to each corner of her eyes. “Your nervous system is getting hijacked.”
“It makes no sense.” She takes the tissue and blots under her eyelids. “I wasn’t this scared when he was physically in the room with me. Why am I so scared now?”
“Sometimes when we aren’t able to process things in the moment, they get buried, only to surface in the future.” Whether we’re ready for them or not.
“You’d think I would understand this, given the gazillion hours I studied developmental psychology.” She goes limp against my chest. “I guess when I woke up to find him there, I was too focused on survival to panic. I remember being worried about my roommates, especially Becca, who was kind of fragile.”
“Bingo. But that panic your nervous system suppressed doesn’t magically disappear.”
“How do I make it stop?”
“For sure we need to get to the bottom of whomever is harassing you.”
“That’s why all of this is happening now,” she says with a heavy sigh. “It’s so unfair.”
“I know this isn’t easy to talk about.” I stroke her silky hair. “But sweetheart, I feel like I need to know if he hurt you.”
She releases a slow breath. “No. But he…when I woke up…”
I reach for her hand and bring her fingers to my lips to let her know that I’m here, that I’ll wait as long as she needs me to.
“…he was…straddling me.”
I wince. “Fuck, Ava.”
“His knees were against my sides. I couldn’t move.”
Anger flares hot beneath my skin. “Did he touch you?”
“No. But his eyes…through that awful mask…”
“What did you do?”
“That’s when I screamed.”
Atta girl , I want to say, but I don’t think she’s in the right mindset for praise. “And he just…left?”
“He was gone in a flash. It happened so fast. Like the whole encounter lasted maybe five seconds.”
From what Ava shared with me at the time, I know that the intruder had come in a window but left through the front door. That nothing else was disturbed or taken. A set of fingerprints was found on the doorknob but not the window. Like the perp had used gloves to get in, but had taken them off once he was inside, then must have forgotten to put them on when he fled.
If Ava hadn’t screamed, what would he have done to her? I shut that thought down—I can’t go there.
“Where was the rose?” I ask.
“I think it was in his hand.”
“You think?”
“It doesn’t make sense.” She gives a frustrated sigh. “I woke up and he was there, staring down at me. The rose is touching me…” Her fingertips brush the place between my collar bones. “Here. But I don’t remember him holding it.”
“He must have left it behind when he took off,” I say.
She sighs, her warm breath tickling my skin.
“And nothing else happened? You don’t remember seeing anyone following you? No roses left for you to find?”
“No. I got the feeling that my scream…scared him.”
This would be a really great question for Luke Ballard, who hasn’t texted me back yet.
“The detective told me that the prints didn’t match any they had in the database. I think he pretty much dropped the investigation after that. Though the detective working on Nichole-Renée’s disappearance paid me a visit.”
“Did he think the two were connected?”
“He didn’t exactly say so, but…why else would he have reached out?”
It’s what I had been afraid of, too.
It makes sense now what spooked her about the rose. I release a heavy sigh and caress the smooth plane of her shoulder blade. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”
Ava wraps her arm tighter around me. “You’re a pretty incredible listener. ”
I curl up so I can kiss the top of her head. Telling her that I’m here anytime is on the tip of my tongue but I swallow the words because that’s not a promise I know how to keep. At least not yet.
“Does talking to me help?” I ask.
“This helps,” she says in a sleepy voice, curling closer to me.
I adjust the comforter so she’s covered then gently stroke her hair until her breaths grow heavy and she drifts back to sleep.
It takes me a while to downshift thanks to the questions spinning round and round in my mind. Is the person who broke into her San Francisco apartment the same person who left that rose on her car today? I denied it in the moment, but what if I’m wrong? If Zach found prints, that would give him something to compare to, assuming the San Francisco detective still has that evidence and is willing to cooperate.
What about Marin and those bones? Are they connected to this too?
Walking to the pale light peeking through the blinds and Ava tucked against my chest stirs up feelings I don’t know how to process. I like her in my bed. In my bathroom. At my family’s dinner table, laughing and teasing alongside my sisters and my mom. I like waking up with her curled into me, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. And I like that she feels okay sharing her fears. It’s a gift I’ll never take for granted.
This helps , she said. Meaning me being here. Holding her. Touching her. Caring for her.
Things I can’t do from the UK or Florida or from thirty thousand feet.
Kirilee’s words rattle around in my mind.
I think I’m in trouble.
I think I’m in love.
Fuck !
Ava stirs, and gives a soft sigh, like she’s happy. Through the walls, Thea giggles, followed by Dylan’s low tones.
“Should we get up?” Ava asks, her tone wistful.
I caress her low back, beneath her T-shirt, taking my time. “Maybe we let them take the morning shift today.”
“Mmm.” Her fingers brush up and down my chest, her touch soothing and tender. I drink it in while forcing my worries aside.
I have four more days to figure out how to keep my world and hers connected. To find a way to keep my heart from ripping in two.
Scooping her up, I lift her on top of me and tug her shirt off so I can caress her everywhere. She’s so soft and warm, her limbs relaxed, as if the nightmare that had her so scared last night has faded far from her thoughts. I savor the weight of her body against mine as I trace the curves I love so much. She kisses the crook of my neck and sighs. My hunger stirs from deep inside me, but I tell myself to be patient because having the luxury to touch her and caress her like this is worth savoring.
From the kitchen comes the shuffling of feet and the murmurs from my family starting their day. Then the front door shuts, and the house quiets.
“Should we get going too?” she asks, but doesn’t move.
“Is that what you want?” I cup her ass and gently rock my hips against hers.
With a soft chuckle, she nips at my earlobe. “We have to leave this bed at some point this morning.”
I roll her over and kiss down her body while she squirms. “Not until you’re satisfied.”
She hums her reply. “I’m not sure we can accomplish that before breakfast.”
Fuck, do I love her challenges. I part her open with my tongue, making her gasp. “It’s worth a try. ”
After we say goodbye to Thea and Dylan, I hop in my truck to follow Ava to the sheriff’s department. My phone lights up with a text from Luke Ballard.
I can do better than call. I’m here.
Fucking finally!
With a grin, I tap his number, and seconds later, my old friend’s steady voice fills my ears. “I thought the Boulder Mountains were big, shit. No wonder you’re part mountain goat.”
I laugh. “When did you get in?”
“Last night.”
“I hate the circumstances, but…” I pause at the end of my driveway behind Ava, who checks both ways and turns right, toward town.
“I feel you,” Luke replies, his tone heavy. “Are you home on leave?”
“Yeah, my mom’s having some health issues.” When I turn to follow Ava, the rising sun blasts my mirrors. I reach up for my shades stashed above the visor.
“Damn, I’m sorry.”
“She’s doing better now, so…” My tongue refuses to form the words that should come after that, so I force down a swallow.
“That’s good to hear,” Luke says, sounding relieved. “And no surprise, given how tough she is.”
“I know you’ve got work to do, but if you have time, I would love to catch up.”
“I’ll make time.” In the background, his car door thumps shut. “I’m just leaving the hotel. Can you meet me sometime this morning? I want to hit the ground running, and from what the sheriff has told me, you’ve got valuable intel.”
“I’m actually on my way to the station now.”
“Oh? ”
“My, uh, friend, Ava is coming in to talk with the deputies and I’m her escort.”
“Hold it,” he says. “Ava as in your Ava?”
My chest pinches with a powerful ache. “Yeah.”
“What are you not telling me?”
“I’m not holding back, promise.” I run a hand through my hair but it just reminds me of Ava tugging at it when she comes. I force a deep breath. “Everything is happening really fast.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you soon.”
We end the call as I cruise up behind Ava at the traffic light. Even from here, her shoulders look tense. Memories from the nightmare that woke her flash through my mind, and with it come questions I don’t have answers for. Questions that scare me.
At the station, I park next to Ava in the lot and jump down in time to open her door.
Her honey-brown eyes warm as I reach for her hand. The contact sends little sparks dancing over my skin.
“You don’t have to walk me inside,” she says.
“What if I want to?”
She rolls her eyes, but her smile gives her away. “Fine.”
“Plus I have a date with a FBI profiler,” I add as we start walking.
Her steps pause and she shoots me a glance. “Um, what?”
“You remember my friend Luke Ballard?”
“Of course.” She glances at the building, confusion clouding her expression. “He’s here?”
“Yep.” I pull open the station’s heavy glass door for her. “After the accident, he got recruited by the feds.”
“I see.” Her gaze turns calculating—I can practically see the gears turning in her sharp mind. “It’s serious then, if he’s involved.”
My stomach hollows. “It means they’re not afraid to pool resources.”
“Right,” she says.
We check in with the receptionist, a young kid with a stern expression. Zach appears behind him, the circles beneath his eyes making it clear how little sleep his caseload is allowing him.
“Morning,” he says briskly, opening the door to let us in. “Ava, you’ll be with me and Everett in the conference room.” He leads us past an open room with two rows of cubicle desks, most of them empty. “Hutch, Special Agent Ballard is waiting for you in the chief’s office.”
Ava gives me a quick glance. “Bye,” she whispers.
I entwine my fingers with hers and give her palm a soft squeeze. It pains me to separate from her, but she’s in good hands, and I’m eager to do my part to help Luke. At the hallway, Zach heads for the door straight ahead while I turn left, toward the chief’s office.
I knock on the door.
“Come in,” Sheriff Olson calls.
When I step inside, Luke practically tackles me in a giant hug, his solid frame like a brick wall. “Damn, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” he says.
“Likewise,” I say, slapping him on the back.
Sheriff Olson gives an impatient grunt.
With a final grin at me, Luke gives the sheriff a nod, and his expression turns serious. “Take a seat. What I’m about to tell you is pretty intense.”
Nerves chew at my gut. I raise an eyebrow at the sheriff.
“This is an open investigation, Hutchins, but Luke needs your input, and I agree you have critical intel. However, there are things we cannot reveal. Understood?”
Meaning the information exchange may only move in one direction. I lower into the other chair opposite the sheriff’s desk. “Understood.”
Luke puts his hands on his hips. “We have the ID of the victim you found in that mine.”
“Shit, that was quick.”
“We had dental records from a missing person case that matched. ”
I glance from his tense gaze to Sheriff Olson’s impassive frown. “There’s more to this, isn’t there? That’s why you got here so fast.”
The sheriff and Luke lock eyes for a moment, a look of understanding passing between them.
Luke crosses his arms. “We have strong evidence to believe we’re dealing with a serial killer.”