Chapter 21
LOCKE
I paced the deck as I talked to Stone.
There wasn’t much he could do especially since it happened in Boston instead of Salem, but I could hear the annoyance in his voice.
“Have there been any other attacks?”
Stone sighed. “Nothing. Not a single peep. I never want to wish a woman hurt, but fuck—the longer he goes quiet the less my captain cares. He wants to write it off. I swear he’d rather have another cold case than own up to the fact that we have a serial killer.”
“Cilla pulled a mask off him.”
“Did she see him?”
“No. It was bedlam at the Boston Harbor. A full ferry had just pulled in. Hell, he could have been on the damn ferry.”
“Could be.” Stone growled. “I’ll see if I can pull the video feed from the ferry today. Can’t hurt to look through it.”
“No, it definitely can’t. This guy wants Cilla. And he was willing to try and take her in broad daylight.”
“Desperate.”
“Yeah.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Desperate people are dangerous.”
“I’m assuming you aren’t going to let her come to the station.”
“Fuck, no. And as you said it’s Boston’s problem if we did anyway. We’re going off grid for a few weeks.”
“What?” Stone changed ears and he was shuffling something. “How off grid?”
“I’ll be checking in with Kendrick every other day. I’ve got a contact for you over there. Nina Kendrick is running point on the research. She’s digging into your files.”
“Jesus, Jordan. Those were for your eyes only.”
“Yeah, well you want help, you want the best. That’s Nina.
She’s head of the cybersecurity arm of The Kendrick Group.
She’s got people who excel at reading data.
It would be better to go to the FBI. They have better databases to look and see if this has happened in another city or state, but she’ll do what she can. ”
“Feds,” Stone practically spit out the word. “Yeah, if I went over my captain’s head he’d literally cut out my heart and feed it to me.”
“And they probably wouldn’t take the call anyway. There’s a hierarchy for that bullshit too.”
“Agreed. Just make sure you keep her safe.”
“On it.”
“Okay, I’ll check in on that mask, but I doubt it’ll go anywhere. There’s probably thousands of them out there.”
“Yeah, but at least there’s something to go on.”
“Yeah. Send me a photo of it.”
“On it.”
We hung up and I headed back up to the captain’s chair. We were well out of the way, without a boat or a cloud in the sky. I dragged in a deep lungful of sea air.
Kissing Cilla wasn’t smart, but I didn’t regret it.
I was a head-case in every way and she was better off without me, but fuck.
Touching her—tasting her—never made me feel more alive.
Because you have to start living again, pal.
I closed my eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was Milligan or me on that one.
I couldn’t hide forever.
Walking back into the tower didn’t feel as wrong as I was expecting. The anger was still so damn close to the surface though. I wasn’t sure how I could protect her without fucking things up royally.
I didn’t want to scare the shit out of her, nor was I sure I could hold back from touching her.
Not after her taste infused my system so completely.
One taste?
Was it just because she looked at me like I was a goddamn hero?
I wasn’t. Far from it on every level, but damn did I want to be.
And that was probably the scariest part of all of this. I wanted to be a better man for her. I wanted to be the man who could support her through this and I was the worst one for the job.
But I was the one here.
I grabbed the mask with its twisted teeth and brought it in with me.
I snapped a few photos with my iPad and sent them off to Stone in an email.
If I was a better man, I’d take her in and have them swab her scratches.
There might be some DNA in the wounds, but I couldn’t put her in that kind of danger.
It was more important to keep her away from this piece of shit than building the case to put him behind bars.
She was quiet on the couch. The last bit of sun was sizzling into the sea. It was a clear night. I could probably make a good dent in the travel out of Boston tonight, but it was safer to do it in the morning. Safer because I had her to worry about.
For a number of reasons.
I sat beside her. “How are you feeling?”
She shrugged. “Still a bit freaked out.”
“How about you help me make some stir fry?”
Her big brown eyes softened. “I’d like that.”
I stood and held my hand out to her. She took it and the fizz from before was still present between us. She leaned on me a bit, but without the staples she was definitely moving a bit better. I settled her at the table and came back with vegetables, a cutting board, and a knife.
“Music?”
She nodded. “That would be great actually.”
“Anything off the table?”
“Death metal.”
I laughed. “I think I can work with that.” I had an extensive digital collection. I preferred records, but that didn’t actually work well on a moving boat. I grabbed my iPad and selected one of my playlists. It was a mix of mid-tempo new and older music.
There was a companionable silence between us, and she sang along to a few of the songs. Her voice lilting and comforting as she made a big pile of peppers and onions. The chicken was quick and I added a frozen bag of stir fry vegetables to extend the meal for two.
“Spice?”
“Oh, yes please.”
I grinned over my shoulder at her. “Good.”
Her cheeks pinked up, and the double entendre bloomed between us.
She got up to wash the board and knife, her hips brushing mine in the tiny space. I turned with the wok in hand to get it off the heat and my thighs brushed her backside. The flowy skirt of her dress little more than tissue paper between us. I lifted the pan over her head and she froze.
I cleared my throat and slid away to the marble counter, setting the wok on the trivets I set out.
“My rice isn’t fancy.”
“Fine by me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used the microwave stuff.”
I huffed out a laugh. “That’s what I have.”
I reached around her for the slim cupboard I kept it in.
Her citrus scent mixing with the red chili paste I’d added. When I glanced down at her, she was watching my mouth.
My lips kicked up into a smirk. “What are you staring at?”
Her gaze flicked to mine. “Not used to seeing so much of your face.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“You know it’s not.” She grabbed the plate behind me and slipped away.
I laughed. “Thanks, I think.”
“You know you’re attractive.”
“Been a long time since anyone has noticed.”
“Because of the animal on your face?”
I laughed. “No, more like I worked too much.”
“And I bet there are more than a few that have let you know in between.”
I slid a hand along her hip and drew her back against me. Her breath whooshed out. “I don’t really care. What do you think?”
She lifted a hand up to graze her fingertips down my cheek then along my jaw. “I think I wouldn’t mind a little beard burn for once in my life.”
I lowered my mouth to her neck, dragging the bristles on my chin along her neck up to the space behind her ear. The soft skin as well as the wisps of hair brushed my lips. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you marked by me.”
She shivered.
I breathed her in, then the microwave chimed making us both startle apart. I cleared my throat before I grabbed the rice and dumped half on my plate then gave her what was left.
When she built her plate, I grabbed utensils and took them all to the table, letting her use the counters to make her way over on her own steam.
She sat down gingerly. There was a little sheen of sweat at her forehead, but the paleness had faded.
The sun had been kind to her, warming her skin into a honey golden tan.
The navy dress showed off her tan and she was already gaining some of the weight back from her stay in the hospital.
She actually dug in for once instead of picking at her food.
“Our field trip seemed to help your appetite.”
She glanced up, vegetables speared on the tines of her fork. “More like I don’t want to be so fucking weak.”
I covered her other hand. “You’re anything but weak, Cil.”
“Tell that to the asshole who was ready to drag me away.”
My hand tightened over hers. “We can both use some strength training. I’ve been slacking off.”
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
Hozier’s dynamic blend of music and voice rose in the unspoken spaces between us as we ate. The beat thrumming and surreal with words that spoke of longing and defiant love.
She licked her lips, a chili flake stuck to her full lower lip. I reached over, brushing it away with my thumb. She lifted her napkin to wipe away the rest and I curled my fingers into my palm as I drew back.
My randomizer, being an absolute menace, added a watery Halsey song to rise between us as we cleaned up. The space small for one, but nearly impossible for both of us, but I didn’t want to tell her to go sit down.
I liked her beachy citrus scent in my nose. And I definitely wanted to feel her against me in this safe way.
I couldn’t do anything more than this. She wasn’t ready and I was less than in the right frame of mind to touch her the way I wanted to. But I wasn’t ready to go to our separate corners.
With the dishes finished, I caged her in against the sink, my nose drawing a teasing line up the nape of her neck. “You smell so fucking good.”
She shivered. “Your bar must be low. Between the hospital and the docks, I’m a sweaty mess.”
Unable to help myself, I tasted the skin behind her ear. “Salty Cilla might be my new favorite snack.”
She shivered and her body tensed.
I stopped, making sure she was all right with this move. Just as I was about to step back, her pinkie brushed my fingers on the counter.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered.
I traced the shell of her ear with my nose. “Are you sure?”
“I just want to feel something other than afraid.”