CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Kol
MY WHOLE BODY VIbrATED, FURY MAKING MY MUSCLES tremble with the force of holding myself together. I should’ve known. Some part of me had—I knew, but I should’ve pushed harder. Had Dex do another sweep into the creep’s computer.
But I hadn’t.
I’d been too focused on Travis. So sure he’d escaped death and come back to destroy us all a second time. Or some twisted copycat sparked to life by his crimes.
Fucking hell.
I wouldn’t let this monster escape. I wouldn’t let him go on to ruin someone else’s life.
“Nova,” I clipped, moving toward the front door.
Panic lit her features as she looked between Cora and me. “Hold this to your wound,” she instructed her friend as she pushed to her feet and hurried toward me. “What are you doing?”
I rifled through the drawer in the hutch, finally landing on what I needed: a tactical flashlight. I grabbed it and tested the beam. Batteries were still good.
When I was sure I had everything, I turned back to Nova. “Lock the door after me. Set the alarm. Call 911 and then my brothers.”
Nova’s hands snaked out, gripping my forearms. “No. You’re not going out there. Wait with us. Wait for backup. Mav and Orion, at least.”
I shook my head. “The longer I wait, the colder the trail gets. I’m not letting him get away. I’m not letting you or anyone else live in fear any longer.”
“Please,” Nova begged, gripping my arms harder. “Please, don’t leave me.”
Those silver eyes filled with unshed tears, and I knew they were tears of love. They still killed me—more lethal than any blade. I shoved the flashlight into my pocket and cupped her face. “I will always come back for you. Always.”
A tear spilled over, tracking down Nova’s cheek. “You did before you even knew me.”
My throat tightened, an invisible rope winding around it. “It’s like I knew you before we ever met. Some part of your soul called out to mine.”
“Kol,” she croaked.
“You make me feel worthy when I’m not sure I ever have before. You give me peace even when the outside world rages. I love you, Phoenix. And that’s a forever thing.” It was a vow without asking or pushing. But I needed her to know.
Nova cupped my face now. “You’re the best person I’ve ever known. All I want is forever with you.” And then she kissed me. It was far too brief, but it was a vow of her own.
“Call the sheriff’s department. Call my brothers.”
“I will,” she choked out.
“Lock the door after me. Set the alarm. I have my phone if you see anything wrong.”
She nodded.
The last thing I wanted to do was leave her. But I knew I had to. I had to end this. For all of us.
I stepped outside, gripping my gun in one hand and the flashlight in the other. I didn’t turn around, but I waited until I heard the lock click into place. Nova was safe. She’d set the alarm, and my brothers would be here in minutes. Even Orion, at a time like this.
Walking down the steps, I listened. Nothing but the wind. I swept the beam of my flashlight over the gravel. Blood. A scattering of drops. Then something glistened.
A knife.
It was much larger than the one Cora had held. Blood coated the blade, and the sight had anger welling up inside of me.
My flashlight beam circled wider, but there was no sign of any more blood. Reese likely had one of his hands pressed to whatever wounds Cora had left him with. And the gravel made it hard to track things like footprints.
I gritted my teeth and studied the landscape.
I would have to approach this another way.
Taking a deep breath, I channeled the things I’d learned from Orion and Mav.
They were geniuses at reading the land, Mav the forests and Orion the way every acreage knit together.
Geographic profiling but from another angle.
What would Reese want now?
He’d go for coverage. Because, psychologically, that would make him feel safe. But he also wasn’t stupid. So he’d want a means of escape.
The ranch road leading away from my house was too open. There wasn’t enough coverage. Same with the pastures behind my house. There were forests to the east, but the question was: Would he go north or south along that forest?
I closed my eyes, picturing a map of our property, one of the many Orion had painstakingly created. It still didn’t give me the answers I needed.
There were no roads or paths in the forest. Not even a river or stream that people would sometimes move toward when lost or confused.
I forced myself to look beyond our borders: Aster’s family’s ranch.
My spine snapped straight. There was a ranch road between two pastures that butted up against our east fence to the south.
I was already moving, breaking into a jog as silently as possible.
I flicked off the flashlight since I didn’t want to give away my position, and I knew I wasn’t likely to get tracking clues until I was in the woods, where clothing could get caught on branches and bushes, and where you could see a human path through the underbrush.
My ears stayed tuned for any signs of movement as my eyes adjusted to the low light. Within a handful of minutes, I slipped between the trees. My pace slowed as I looked for landmarks that could point me in the right direction but also as I assessed what path a wounded man might take.
Not over a series of fallen logs but where the trees weren’t as thick instead. I followed a game trail through the underbrush, thinking Reese would likely do the same.
As Aster’s ranch came into view in the moonlight, my pulse picked up. I could see the road in the distance but no signs of movement.
And then I saw it.
A form slumped across the path. I broke into a run, shoving my flashlight into my pocket as I gripped my weapon with both hands. I had no idea if Reese had a gun or if he’d lost his only source of defense when he dropped the knife.
My lungs burned, and my muscles ached. I skidded to a stop, breathing hard.
The man on the ground groaned so faintly, I knew he was near death. I rolled him onto his back and pressed two fingers to his neck. Thready. Weak. He didn’t have long. He needed medical attention sooner than now.
I recognized the blond hair, the blue eyes. The hipster beard. Only now his skin was far too pale. My phone was already at my ear, calling in his location to dispatch, telling them to send EMTs and deputies.
But as I studied Reese’s wounds, the sense that something was wrong swept over me. I flicked on my flashlight, sweeping it over him. And that’s when it hit me. The blood soaking his shirt … It wasn’t fresh.
An untrained eye wouldn’t know that, but I could see. It was starting to dry on the outskirts of the stain, turning to a more reddish brown as opposed to a deep red, which meant one thing: the blood had had time to dry.
Icy dread swept over me. Something was wrong. Deadly wrong.
The dispatcher on the other end was asking if I was there. “Kol? Are you all right?”
I was already running. “Send everyone you have. Send them to my house.”
But terror had ahold of me now, my demons. Because it could already be too late.