Chapter 18
LAWSON
Night curled around me as I drove, and each revolution of the wheels twisted my gut tighter. I hadn’t wanted to be this late. Hadn’t wanted to leave my kids and Hallie alone in the dark. Not with everything going on.
When I texted Hallie to tell her I’d be late, I’d asked her to make sure all the doors and windows were locked. Told her to set the alarm—one I needed to have Holt give a once-over because it hadn’t been upgraded in years. And there wasn’t even one in the guest cabin. That was a problem.
I hated that I’d probably scared Hallie with the request. I’d probably ratcheted up her anxiety to a ten. But safety was more important.
My house glowed as I rounded the curve in the drive. The boys’ rooms were dark, but the living room and kitchen were blazing. I pulled into my parking spot next to the SUV and pulled out my phone.
Me
It’s me who just parked. I’m coming in. Didn’t want to startle you.
Maybe Hallie had already fallen asleep in the guest room or on the couch. Maybe she wouldn’t notice my entrance at all.
I turned off the engine and slid out of the SUV. Beeping the locks, I headed up my front steps. It only took a matter of seconds to unlock the door and disarm the system. But as soon as I was inside, I relocked the doors and reset the alarm.
Turning, I saw Hallie. She hovered in the living room as if she’d been pacing. She still wore those damned leggings, but she’d switched the sweater for an oversized sweatshirt, and her hair was piled in a haphazard bun on the top of her head.
She didn’t say anything, nor did I. We just stood there, staring. I had the intense urge to go to her, wrap her in my arms, and not let go.
Hallie was chipping away at my defenses, bit by bit. I tried to make repairs every night, but it was proving futile.
I forced my legs to move, to walk. The motion seemed to jolt Hallie out of whatever haze she was in. She instantly headed for the kitchen. “I saved you dinner. We had something light because I took the boys to Dockside after school, and we feasted. I hope that’s okay. They loved it.”
She pulled a covered bowl from the fridge, unwrapping it to reveal some sort of soup. “I’ve got rolls from the bakery, too. I need to reheat the soup—”
“Hallie.” I gently took her arm to stop her movement. “We had pizza at the station.”
“Oh.” She deflated as if she were lost without a task.
“But thank you for saving me some. I’ll take it for lunch tomorrow. It’ll be a hell of a lot better than cold pizza.”
Hallie nodded, a few strands of blond hair falling from her bun. “I’ll just put it back in the fridge, then.”
She moved from my hold and headed back to the refrigerator. As she straightened, those gray eyes found me. “Are you okay?”
“Not really,” I answered honestly.
Pain and empathy filled Hallie’s expression, but she didn’t look away. “What can I do?”
The question was so simple, but it meant everything.
I let out a long breath. “I need to talk to you about a few things.”
Hallie stiffened. “Did I do something wrong? I can fix it. I—”
“You’re perfect.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Hallie’s eyes went wide, and her lips parted as she sucked in a breath. I wanted to tease and taste those lips. Wanted to feel them wrapped around me—hell. I shut those images down.
“You’re doing an amazing job. Better than I thought possible. Even Luke seems…”
I wasn’t sure what the right word was. Gentler, maybe? Not as filled with rage?
Hallie’s entire demeanor softened. “Luke is an amazing kid. I think he just feels more than the average person. It makes everything hit him harder.”
My throat constricted. I’d known that about him. I’d felt it on the first day of kindergarten when he hadn’t wanted to let me go. Saw it as he wept uncontrollably when my parents lost their dog. But I’d somehow forgotten along the way.
“He is. A feeler, I mean. He always has been.”
Hallie twisted her fingers together. “He needs to learn to take care of himself. To not let others’ emotions overwhelm him. But he’ll get there.”
I loved how she saw my boy. Loved it so much that the knowledge hurt, causing my chest to crack the way ice did when it thawed. “He will.”
She worried her bottom lip. “You wanted to tell me something.”
Hell, she’d pulled me under again. I got lost in the Hallie spell. I cleared my throat. “Yeah, let’s sit. Do you want tea or anything?”
As if that would help what I needed to tell her.
Hallie shook her head. “I had some hot chocolate earlier.”
I nodded and headed for the sectional.
She sat an appropriate couple of feet from me. I wanted to close the distance, hating that it was there at all, but I stayed where I was.
“A body was found today.”
Hallie sucked in a sharp breath. “The missing woman?”
I nodded. “Someone killed her.”
Hallie’s face went blank. It was as if someone had erased all hint of emotion from her. “Someone killed her.”
She echoed the words robotically. Her gaze was locked on me, but I knew she didn’t see me. She was somewhere else entirely. Her hands trembled in her lap, the force of it making her entire body shake.
I hated everything about it. It was so completely wrong.
I moved instinctually, closing the distance and taking her hands in mine. “Come back, Hallie. Come back to me.”
I squeezed her fingers, trying to remind her that she wasn’t alone. That I was right here.
Hallie blinked, the movement jerky and rapid, but then her eyes seemed to focus. The gray had a bit more life. “Sorry—”
“Don’t apologize. That kind of news always hits hard.”
“How?” Hallie whispered.
I didn’t want to tell her any other details. Didn’t want to fill her mind with the trauma I’d seen today. “Are you sure you want me to keep going?”
“I need you to.”
I read between the lines. She didn’t want to hear, but she had to. I understood that. “She was stabbed and strangled.”
Her hands started shaking again in mine, but I held on.
“There was a mark on her hip bone.”
Hallie’s gray eyes flashed. “Her hip?”
I nodded. “It wasn’t a brand. It was made up of a series of tiny cuts, but it looked similar…”
“To what’s on me,” Hallie finished. “To what was on the rest of them.”
Them. The seven women who hadn’t made it out.
Who’d been found one at a time over the course of several months, each in a different location somewhere in the woods, clad in those disturbing white nightgowns and covered in flowers.
All their bodies were littered with scars and fresh cuts, and each had a ring of bruises around their neck.
“Yes. It looks similar. It’s likely a copycat. Someone who followed the case and is either using it to cover their tracks or has developed an obsession.” The only way we would know for sure was if another body showed up—or didn’t.
Hallie swallowed hard. “Why do you think it’s a copycat?”
I heard the unasked question in her words. “The original unsub kept women for much longer.”
Unshed tears welled in Hallie’s eyes. “Or it could be him, and he’s gotten impatient.”
I hadn’t let myself go there today. Hadn’t let myself consider that the man who had terrorized Hallie and seven other women and girls might be back.
When the case went cold five years ago, the FBI had believed the unsub had either committed suicide, ended up in prison on an unrelated charge, or changed his hunting grounds and MO.
My friend, Anson, who’d been a profiler at the time, doubted it could’ve been the latter.
He believed the unsub was too compulsive for that.
My fingers wove through Hallie’s. “Let’s not go there yet.
This is only one case, but I think we need to take extra precautions.
I’d like you to move into the main house.
You can take one of the guest rooms. Even if this is a one-off, I’ll be working long hours.
I want you to have a place to sleep while keeping an eye on the boys. ”
My voice was even as I said it. The idea of Hallie in the cabin alone was like a blowtorch to bare skin. Too much for me to bear.
She instantly began shaking her head. “I can’t.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
Hallie swallowed hard, averting her gaze. “I have nightmares. I could scare the boys, wake you all up.”
Nightmares. Of course, she did. My mind flashed back to the first night she’d stayed here. The lights on in the cabin at five in the morning. I wondered how Hallie slept at all.
“I’ll explain it to the boys. They’ve all had bad dreams at one point or another. Charlie still ends up in my bed every other week with one. And I’ve got the bruises to prove it.”
Hallie’s brows rose. “Bruises?”
“That kid is tiny, but he’s a violent sleeper.”
Her lips twitched, a little lightness entering her expression. “I don’t want to disrupt things for you guys.”
My thumb swept back and forth across her hand. “You won’t. Things will hardly change at all.”
I’d just have a walking temptation living right across the hall.