Chapter 22
22
ALEC
I stomped from one end of the living room to the other in four long strides, my focus on the row of disposable prepaid phones. The worn rug twisted under my boots as I swiveled, ready to make another lap. The door to her bedroom remained closed, yet her soft pain-filled sobs were loud and clear. Each whimper laced with emotional pain, pain I caused, was an ice pick to my shredded heart.
The evidence before me spoke to her taking part in something illegal. Hell, just the roofies Charlie confiscated could land her in jail for several years. But she didn’t trust me enough to explain why she had all the supplies needed to be a criminal mastermind.
I didn’t mean to accuse her of conspiring with the unsub, but the hurt and betrayal made me fumble with my words. Now I had to figure out a way to get her out of this shit. To follow the law like I swore to uphold, yet discover a loophole to keep her out of prison. I might have been mad as fuck at her right now for playing me, but I still loved her.
Holy fuck.
I love her.
That realization had my steps stumbling. When did that happen? When did it go from having to stay away from her to loving her with every square inch of my mess of a heart?
“What in the ever-loving hell was that?” Charlie whisper-shouted, jamming a finger toward Rae’s bedroom. He glowered at me from his spot on the couch. “You were supposed to play the good cop, be on her side to get her to open up.”
I gaped at the agent, who was now on the verge of being murdered in his own right—by my hand. “How in the hell was I supposed to figure that out while you were throwing accusation after accusation mixed with evidence solidifying her guilt?” I snapped back.
“Because you know her. You trust her. You fucking love her.” I hesitated at the fury in his voice. “I expected you to stand by her side, defend her, give her a safe space to explain all this shit.” His voice raised with each word.
“I… I…” I stammered, not knowing what to say to that. Dropping my chin, I squeezed my lids shut. “Hell, what have I done? But she’s into something, and I can’t let that slide, even if I do care for her. She’s lying to me.”
“I told you, Bronson. I fucking told you this would come back to bite you in the ass. Some people’s secrets are secrets for a reason.”
“Yeah, I remember.” I cursed under my breath and looked at him, feeling helpless for the first time in years. “What can I do now? How do I even begin to apologize and explain I know she’s not conspiring with the killer?”
“Yeah, that was bad, man. I’m not sure even I could get out of that one.” I snarled and went back to pacing. “Listen, this is what we do. We wait out here for her to gather herself, get changed, and come out of her room. Then you’ll explain, maybe while on your knees, that you know she’s not a killer or partners with a psychopath. You’ll tell her you believe she’s innocent.” He looked at the evidence and cringed. “Well, innocent-ish. I’m intrigued now. What is she up to?”
“There isn’t an -ish with criminal behavior.” I shoved both hands into my front pockets and tilted my face to the ceiling. “Roofies. What the actual fuck is that about?”
“That,” Charlie drawled, “I don’t know. And what about the missing money? Where is that going?”
“She’s not a druggie.”
“Agreed.”
“So that’s out. She goes through a shit ton of wine as her vice.” I smirked at the thought, only for it to fade. “She’ll forgive me eventually, right?”
“That I don’t know. She looked really hurt, Alec.” I sighed and nodded in agreement. “So what do we have so far? A multi-dealer enforcer who only rage kills those who are connected to Rae somehow. He’s stalked her for years, killing her parents first, but left her alive. Rae has a secret of her own, but my gut says it has nothing to do with this case.”
I glanced at the closed bedroom door, the sound of shuffling leaking through the small gap beneath.
“Did she explain the charm bracelet?” Charlie asked. He leaned his head along the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He looked exhausted. “I feel like that’s a clue to figuring all this out.”
“No,” I stated dryly. “She deflected like before.”
“She’s good at that.” A smile tugged at a corner of his lips. “Whatever she’s gotten herself into, we’ll help her out of it.”
“Yes, I will.” I removed him from the equation, not liking the idea of him and Rae spending more time together. He was good with women, unlike me.
A groan of annoyance grumbled from him as he shifted to dig a cell phone out of the front of his pants. Earpiece pressed to his ear, he gave a clipped greeting.
Giving him privacy, I made my way to the kitchen. Head in the fridge, I peeled back various container lids, trying to find something edible.
An ominous presence had me turning from the opened brown box to where Charlie stood in the doorway. Phone pressed to his temple, leaning against the doorframe, he stared, gaze unfocused.
“This case keeps getting stranger with every new piece of evidence.”
Forgetting about my hunger, I tossed the food back into the fridge and slammed the door shut. “Tell me. What did you find?”
“That hair. The one they found in the blood in her parents’ room.” The long dramatic pause grated on my nerves, but I kept quiet. “It’s a match.”
I let out a long breath. That was fine. She already admitted to being in contact with the bodies when she discovered them. That wasn’t evidence they could use against her.
“To a sibling,” Charlie added.
Every thought vanished as I stared completely dumbfounded at him.
“She… I….” I couldn’t even form a full sentence. Hell, I couldn’t get out more than a single word.
“I’m assuming you didn’t know.” I shook my head, eyes wide as I mentally replayed our childhood and everything I knew about Rae’s family. “This case”—Charlie grinned like a cat playing with a mouse—“is fucking awesome.”
I growled in response to his enjoyment. He jumped out of my way as I barreled through to exit the house. This place was too small for everything I was feeling; I’d end up shattering the entire place. I ripped through the crime scene tape and kept moving toward the large oak tree. Palm against the bark, I rested my head and breathed deep to help clear my thoughts.
“Rae doesn’t have any siblings.”
“Not according to the comparison of the hair sample I took from her house.” Charlie leaned back against the tree and wiped at the sweat already beading along his forehead. “This is curious. You say she never talked about a sibling, and there isn’t any mention of a sibling in any of the reports.” The little silver ball of his tongue ring rolled along his lower lip, flashing in the sunlight. “I need to do more digging. I’ll also run that hair DNA against the database. If we’re lucky, the person it belongs to was incarcerated before.”
Something Rae had said several times popped in my mind at the mention of incarceration.
“Ten years.” The blades of withered grass held my full attention as I pieced it all together. “That’s how long Rae claimed it had been since the last murder. If the guy was incarcerated, then the long break would make sense. Probably a drug charge or trafficking at that stint, and you said he was a known enforcer. He couldn’t stalk her, couldn’t kill anyone because he was behind bars.”
“I’ll have them run it now.” A sharp ding from his phone had us both hovering over the device to see what fresh evidence would throw us for a loop. “Well, there you go,” he mused as we both read the report. “You were right.”
“Of course I was.”
Every single woman who was reported missing also had a string of ER visits in her past. I scratched at the back of my head, hoping to ease the nagging feeling building there. I was missing something, something big. But what? It was on the tip of my tongue, a thought that vanished before it could fully form.
The deafening shriek of sirens had us both standing tall. We glanced at each other as the sound grew closer. Seconds later, two squad cars rounded the corner, their lights flashing as both raced down the street.
“Huh,” Charlie mused. “That’s odd.”
His tone made my gut twist, only to turn sour completely when the tires screeched to a halt alongside my truck. With a shared confused glance, we strode toward the Sweetwater police who stepped out, guns raised.
What the fuck?
“Get on your knees,” an officer shouted, his gun trembling.
“Kid, you have the wrong guys. Look at the badge on my belt.” Hands still raised, I nodded to my Ranger badge. “Texas Ranger Alec Bronson and Special Agent Charlie Bekham with the FBI. He’ll show you his papers if you promise not to shoot him.”
“Don’t move,” another officer shouted.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I snapped. “Lower your fucking guns, or the second we get this squared away, I’ll have all your badges stripped.” That got their attention. One by one, their gun barrels lowered to point to the dried grass instead of our heads. “What’s going on?”
“We received a 911 call stating two men held a woman against her will at this address.”
Hands on my hips, I started to say they had the wrong address only to stop when it all came together. “Fucking hell, Rae,” I said under my breath as I raced toward the house.
I stormed through the door; the walls rattled beneath my pounding steps. Not checking to see if it was locked, I slammed a palm into the center of the bedroom door. It cracked and split, and the hinges gave way, sending the entire thing flying into the room.
“Rae,” I bellowed. The overwhelming anger and confusion shook my loud voice.
Empty.
Panic sank into my chest. In one long stride, I ripped open the closet, shoving aside the hanging clothes and boxes, searching for my missing girl.
Turning, I scanned the room again, looking for any signs of where she could’ve gone.
I saw it then. The opened window. Only partially shut, like it was haphazardly closed in a hurry.
I groaned, knowing what that meant.
Rae was gone.