Chapter 16
16
ALEC
“ W hat do you have for us?” I asked, brows narrowed in concentration at the phone.
“I’m headed to the police station to pick up that evidence from the first murders and send it to the Dallas FBI office. Rae, would you mind me taking a sample of your hair from the house for comparison reasons? This way we can either prove it’s yours from when you tried to wake up your parents or rule you out completely. If you’re ruled out, we can run it through the national DNA database and maybe identify a new suspect.”
“Um, sure.”
The rustle of clothes filled the phone. “I’m getting dressed now. I also want to meet up with the coroner to go over the autopsy results. I want to know cause of death and see if this body has the same anomaly as the others.”
“Anomaly?” Rae and I said at the same time.
“I found something that might connect the victims. Even though they were killed in different ways, there was something similar among all of them besides the overkill. A red, raw abrasion emerged around each of their throats, like they were strangled either before, during, or after death.”
“Interesting,” I mused. “Why didn’t they see this before?”
“They probably never lined up the autopsy photos side by side. That’s how I noticed. Whatever he used was the same with each victim. The abrasion had a fabric-like pattern. I want to see if this new victim has the same.”
“His signature. Excellent work. Let me know what you find and if you need me to push through any red tape. Did you get anywhere on the background of the missing women?”
Annoyance filled Charlie’s huff. “Kind of been busy proving your girl’s innocence and finding the actual killer. Speaking of which, Rae, I have a question for you.”
I swept my gaze to where she now sat ramrod straight in the chair.
Interesting.
“What’s up?” Her lips parted as her chest rose and fell with her quick breaths.
“A package arrived for you before I left for the hotel.” I watched her every move. “It didn’t have a return address on it, so I opened it in case it was another taunt from the unsub. Do you want to know what was in it?”
Her fingers gripped the armrests. The way she avoided my questioning stare spoke to the fact that she was hiding something. But what?
“Oh, the charm I ordered, I bet?”
The silence from the other end of the line was deafening. It seemed Charlie suspected she was hiding something too.
“Yes, it was a charm, yet it didn’t have a sales slip, return label, anything inside except for the small silver charm.” I waited, anticipation mounting with each detail Charlie gave. “And how did you buy it? You don’t have a cell phone, no Wi-Fi at the house, and your internet history is basic from the library—much to my disappointment.”
“You checked my search history?” she asked breathlessly.
“What can I say? Girl-on-girl porn piqued my interest.” I could’ve hugged Charlie for not mentioning I asked him to look into her more deeply. “And to my surprise, I didn’t find lesbian porn like you promised.”
Fingers in her hair, she loosened the messy knot she had it tied in and nervously raked her fingers through the long tangled strands.
“Guess I’m good at covering my tracks.”
Something wasn’t adding up, but it was clear she wouldn’t tell us with this line of questioning.
“Let me know what you find out from the coroner,” I cut in. “You questioning that bastard I caught after?”
“Yep. I’ll let you know what he has to say. Later.”
I stared at the beauty sitting across from me while she did everything she could to avoid my gaze. The chair rocked back when she sprang to her feet and pulled the sheer material up and over her head, giving me an unobstructed view to the lush curves beneath.
I called out her name in question as she raced toward the pool, but instead of stopping, she dove into the water. There was no doubt she was trying to distract me from asking about that charm and oddly avoiding behavior.
But it worked. That flash of fair skin, the look of her in that swimsuit, and I forgot about it all. Leaving the towel in the chair, I strode to the pool and dove in after her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pushed off the bottom, rocketing us to the surface.
Her back to my chest, I moved her hair to one side and kissed along her neck, the taste of her and a hint of salt water washing over my tongue. Treading my feet through the deep water, I kept us afloat.
“Now that you can’t escape my questioning…” I said against her skin. She squealed when I rotated her, putting us chest to chest, her palms pressing against my pecs. I tightened my hold, pressing her lower body tighter against my own. “What’s with the charm bracelet?”
“It’s nothing,” she breathed, pushing with all her strength to break my hold. “Just let it go, Alec. Please.”
“Why?” Keeping one arm around her waist, I grasped the wrist with the curious bracelet and held it up between us. “What are you hiding?”
“It has nothing to do with the case,” she said. That felt like a truth. But what did it have to do with, and why wouldn’t she tell me?
I sucked in a breath, ready to ask more questions, but forgot anything and everything when her lips sealed to mine. The taste of the salt water from the pool mixed between our moving lips as I deepened the kiss.
Pulling back, I gave her a devilish grin. “I know what you’re doing.” Her features dropped. “But I don’t mind.”
This time it was me who pounced, holding her tighter, grinding my now rock-hard cock between her legs as I kissed her. I flicked my tongue against her, swirling with the preview of what I could do—no, would do—between her thighs. Fuck, I couldn’t wait to eat her, to taste her orgasm on my lips as she screamed my name.
I shuddered at the thought. We had to get out of this pool now.
I moved an arm through the water, directing us toward the shallow end. Every thought, every action revolved around getting her naked and making her mine. Right here, right now.
I stood once I had my footing along the pool bottom. She slipped in my hold, but she reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck to stay secured.
Panic bolted through me, devouring any hint of lust or pleasure.
My heart raced as the memories of being restrained and the following pain flooded my mind, overtaking every sense. I released my hold on Rae and shoved her away, sending her floating backward with a look of shock on her petite face.
Ignoring the blooming guilt, I gripped the ledge and hauled myself out of the pool with ease. Snatching a towel off the rack as I left, I snapped it to the side and wrapped it around my waist, not once looking back as I headed inside the house.
Glass condiment bottles and other containers lining the shelf rattled as I yanked open the fridge and grabbed a beer. I twisted the cap off with my bare hand and tossed it to the counter.
I was weak. So damn weak. Even after all these years, something as insignificant as Rae wrapping her arms around my neck sent me into a frozen panic. That hurt and confused look on her face was like a knife to my heart, but I still walked away. Because I couldn’t explain to her what happened. For years I’d worked on minimizing any overreaction when held or restrained, yet what just happened made it so clear that I was still fucked in the head.
That was why I should’ve told her to stop. I should’ve backed the fuck off and never touched her. She was too much. She was always too much, infiltrating every inch of me, making me feel and be too much. I had no clue how she did it, how she made me feel so fast.
The bottle slipped in my tight grip as I raised it to my lips.
“I know that look.” I ignored Sherry and kept guzzling the cold beer. “Alec Bronson, you look at me when I’m talking to you.” The laundry basket she’d been holding smacked to the floor at her feet. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” I again avoided her stern look and picked at the label on the brown glass. “It’s complicated.”
“Then uncomplicate it, Alec.” She sighed. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” Elbow on the counter, I rested my head in an open palm and motioned for her to continue. “Women forgive the men they love easily, but they have to understand to forgive. I don’t know what happened out there, but if you’re in here sulking, you did something wrong, which you need to go apologize for and explain why you did or said what you did.”
“Do you know how many times my mom forgave my dad?” I asked through gritted teeth. “I refuse to repeat that cycle.”
“You’re a damn fool,” she snapped, and yanked the beer from my hand.
“I’m a realist.” I reached across the counter to retrieve the bottle, but she was too fast. Seconds later, the remaining half of the beer was down the drain. “I’ve seen the worst firsthand, and I refuse to do that to her. Plus, I’m a fucking mess, Sherry. No one should be tied to that. I won’t ask her to be tied to me.”
“Don’t you dare take the choice between you or leaving away from her. That is her choice. You lay it all out on the table and let her decide.” Marching to the wine fridge, she withdrew a bottle of white wine. “Now you stay in here and think about what you did.” Did I just get put in time-out by my housekeeper? She turned and glared at me. “I’m going out to make sure she’s okay and enjoy a glass or two of wine. When I come back, then you can go out there and beg for her forgiveness.”