Chapter Twenty #2
She hesitated, his words surprising her. “I didn’t think of it that way, that when you woke up in recovery it was your first time being awake since the explosion. You must have been really confused. In your place, I think I would have been terrified. Not knowing what had happened.”
He turned to face her, his left hand braced on top of the fence. “I was beyond terrified, about you.”
“About me? But... I was right there in the recovery room. You saw that I was okay.”
“By the grace of God, yes. Teagan, what were you thinking coming back inside that shack? Just a few seconds earlier and that madman would have still been there to kill you or take you with him. A few seconds later and you’d have been killed in the explosion.
You shouldn’t have risked your life like that, especially after promising me you’d run as fast as you could and wouldn’t stop. ”
“Sort of like you promised me that you’d run out of the shack too?
If you’d told me you’d been shot, I would have helped you instead of running off and leaving you.
If you’d been killed, how do you think that would have made me feel?
How could I live with that kind of guilt on my conscience?
If you think I’m the kind of woman who thinks it’s romantic for a guy to die for her, then you don’t know me at all.
I don’t want you to die for me. I want you to live. ”
His jaw tightened, and he turned to face the pond again.
She did the same, counting silently until she could speak again without her voice shaking.
“So that’s it then?” she finally said. “You’ve been mad at me ever since then because I couldn’t bear for you to die if there was anything I could do to prevent it?
Is this your apology? Because as apologies go, it totally sucks. ”
He suddenly turned and grasped her forearms, pulling her close.
“Don’t you get it, Teagan? When you walked in my door in Gatlinburg, you changed everything for me, everything.
You made me care when I didn’t want to. You made me want.
..you. And instead of shutting myself away to protect someone else from being hurt by another one of my lousy decisions, I decided to give it another try.
I thought maybe, just maybe, I could help you and not be a bringer of doom.
But look at how that worked out? I’m a jinx.
Bad luck. Whatever you want to call it. If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have been at the Brodericks’. ”
She shook her head. “What you’re saying doesn’t even make sense.
Mason told me what happened with Hayley, when you were shot in the hip.
You were the only person for miles around who saw her with the kidnapper.
You rammed her truck with your car to try to save her, and paid for it by getting shot.
” He started to interrupt, but she pushed his hands away to stop him.
“The only one who thinks you were a failure in that incident is you. From what Mason said, the delay you caused before the abductor took off with Hayley again was enough of a delay to save her life. It gave other Seekers the time they needed to catch up to them. She’s alive because of you. Period.”
His jaw tightened. “Are you done yet?”
“No. I’m not. I won’t bother getting into the details about the Ripper case.
I already told you my own investigation proved to me that you were the only one who had that right.
And, hey, look at me, I was the one who was dead wrong on who abducted me.
It certainly wasn’t Lowe. But as far as me going with you to interview the Brodericks, give me a break.
You know me well enough by now to realize that if you hadn’t agreed to work with me after running into Zeus and me on that path, I would have continued my investigation on my own.
So what do you think would have happened when I took the steps you did, set up an interview with the Brodericks, and others.
Eventually I’d have stumbled onto the killer, like you and I both did.
But I’d have done it alone. How do you think that would have turned out?
Without you to save me, I’d have never figured out how to get out of handcuffs, or thought to make a hole in the floor to escape the shack.
Without you, I’d be dead right now. Don’t you see that? ”
His gaze searched hers. “After everything that’s happened, how can you have such faith in me?”
“You’ve never let me down, not once. Why wouldn’t I believe in you?”
He lifted her hands and gently pressed a kiss on the back of each of them. “I’ve been angry at myself, angry at you, because I care so much about you. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
She tugged her hands free and cupped his cheeks. “Then maybe instead of pushing me away, you should be pulling me close. Because there’s no one I’d ever trust more than you to keep me safe.”
He groaned before taking her in his arms and kissing her. The kiss was so sweet, so tender, that she was crying when it was over.
He frowned and gently wiped away her tears. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. What is it? What did I do?”
She laughed through her tears. “You did everything exactly right. These are happy tears, for once.”
He pulled her against his chest. “I don’t know that I deserve your trust. Or that I deserve you at all. But you make me want to.” He pressed a kiss against the top of her head.
She reveled in the feel of him in her arms, finally. The sweetness of his hug, and the kiss they’d just shared, melted away the hurt of the past week. Finally, she was exactly where she wanted to be. And it felt far better than she’d ever imagined it would.
“I’m so glad I took Zeus for a walk that day,” she said. “And that you were with me when the killer found me. You’re an amazing man.”
He grew still, then gently pushed her back. “That’s it. The missing puzzle piece. The path where you were abducted the first time, and where we met while you were walking Zeus. That has to be it.”
She stared up at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
He pulled out his cell phone. “It’s always bothered me that the killer knew you’d be at the Brodericks’.
And that he had enough lead time to have carjacked the delivery guy and hidden the truck in that garage.
He also had time to loosen a section of fence, all in anticipation of us coming over. Who knew you’d be with me that night?”
She shook her head. “No one. No one but you and me. I didn’t even tell my parents where we were going.”
“Exactly. You and I didn’t talk to anyone about our plans. And there’s no reason to assume the Brodericks would have told anyone either, or that they’d just happen to mention it when the killer was nearby.”
“Okay, then the killer would have had to hear you and me discussing it. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Bingo.” He pressed a speed-dial number on his phone.
“Mason, yeah, it’s Bryson at my new number.
Listen, are any of the Seekers in The Woods subdivision right now, maybe interviewing witnesses?
” He shook his head for her benefit. “Okay, right. That’s fine.
I can—” He listened for a few moments, nodding.
“JSO. Of course. I forgot they were conducting extra patrols out here. I’ll call them now.
I’ll catch you up later. It’s just a hunch. ”
“Bryson, what’s going on?”
“Just a minute, sweetheart. One more call.” He pressed another speed-dial number. “Detective Burns? Bryson Anton. Yes. I have a favor to ask.” He idly turned away, slowly walking down the length of the fence as he explained whatever hunch he had to the detective.
She leaned against a post, smiling as she noted how well he was walking, without using his cane.
His limp was barely noticeable. The last several days of rest had done wonders.
And thankfully his surgery had been laparoscopic, making the recovery much easier.
Still, he hadn’t had a miracle cure. If he pushed too hard he’d end up having to use the new cane she’d gotten him to replace the old one.
Or, worse, end up in his wheelchair for the rest of the day.
What he really needed was to go home, to get on that flight to Gatlinburg, and give his body more time to fully recover.
As he turned back toward her, still talking on the phone, she wondered what was going to happen next.
Not with the case. She was content to let others handle it at this point.
What she wanted to know was what would happen with them.
After all, he’d kissed her, in full view of her parents who were no doubt watching them through the back sliding glass doors this very minute.
And he’d called her sweetheart. Twice in as many minutes.
That had to mean something serious, didn’t it?
He stopped a few yards away and leaned against the fence looking out at the water, phone still to his ear.
But he wasn’t talking. He seemed to be waiting for something.
He suddenly straightened and looked at her, a slow smile spreading across his face.
He said something else to the detective, then shoved his phone in his pocket and closed the distance between them.
“What is it?” she asked. “Did they...did they catch him?”
“Not yet. But we’ve got a great lead. I asked JSO to look for some kind of camera tucked up in the trees that overlook the path, at the spot where we were that day I met you with Zeus.”
“And where I was abducted.”
“Yes. It dawned on me that the only reasonable way the killer could have known about you going to the Brodericks’ was if he heard us talking about it. And the only place we spoke about it was—”
“On the path.”
“Exactly. The camera was about twenty feet up in an oak tree, tucked into a juncture with two other branches, with a fake bird’s nest concealing all but a small hole for the lens.
And it has audio capabilities as well as visual.
He was watching and listening. There may be other cameras along the path too.
Now that JSO knows what to look for, they’ll be able to find them, if they exist. More importantly, they’ll be able to get an expert on this, figure out the camera’s range and triangulate the area where someone would have to be in order to receive the transmission. ”
“Wouldn’t he have to be close by?”
“Probably. Which means it’s likely he lives or works in this subdivision, and I’m guessing he did two years ago, as well. I doubt he targeted you specifically, not the first time. You just happened along the trail and met whatever criteria he has for his preferred victims.”
She pressed a hand to her throat. “I’m still stuck on the first part, about him living or working here. JSO cleared everyone back then, everyone in the whole development.”
He cocked his head. “They didn’t clear everyone in the one next door.”
She gasped. “Bentwater Place. The house where he took us and put us in the truck. He might live there?”
He shrugged. “JSO’s looking into it. I would have thought if he did, they’d have figured that out already as part of the Broderick murder investigation.
But it’s possible he lives in one of the homes next door and would have known the house was empty the night we were doing the interview.
Then again, he may live here in your subdivision and the police cleared someone they shouldn’t have when your case was being actively looked into.
Like you, I’m a bit skeptical since they missed that camera and it’s remained there all this time.
But from what the officer said who found it, he never would have seen it if I hadn’t specifically told him to look for one. ”
“Wait. Are you saying it’s been there for years? Not that it was put there recently?”
He clasped her hands in his. “Based on the condition of the outside casing, it was probably there back when you were abducted. My guess is when the police didn’t find it, the killer didn’t risk going back to get it.
And when months passed without it being discovered, he kept it active and checked in on the video every now and then. ”
“Which is how he knew I was here in Jacksonville, and where we were going that night.”
He squeezed her hands. “I believe so, yes.”
She stared up at him. “I was bound and determined to walk that path all week for my planned visit with my parents. I naively assumed I’d be okay with Zeus and my gun.
But the way I froze back at the shack, and at the Brodericks’ house, we both know I wouldn’t have drawn my gun in time to protect myself.
And knowing what I do now, I don’t think Zeus could have stopped him either. Thank God you were there that day.”
He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss against her lips. “That camera will hopefully lead them to the killer. And the BOLO they have with the police artist’s sketch will ensure he doesn’t get very far. But I’m not taking any chances. Pack a bag, Teagan. You’re going with me to Tennessee.”