Chapter 19 #3
“Then we find him first,” Silas said. “We check every abandoned building, every warehouse, every place he might hole up. We flood this city with officers and we hunt him down.”
“He’ll see that coming,” Harper said. “He’ll know we’re looking. It’ll just drive him further underground.”
“What are you suggesting?” Holloway asked, though his expression said he already knew.
“I make myself available. Create an opportunity he can’t resist.” Harper’s voice was steady despite the fear coiling in her gut. “We set a trap with me as bait.”
Silas was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was strained. “I know I said I understood. That I’d support this plan. But now that it’s real, now that we know he’s out there—” He stopped, ran a hand through his hair. “Harper, I don’t know if I can watch you do this.”
“You agreed earlier that it was our best option.” Her confusion was clear.
“I know what I said. But that was before his apartment was empty, before we knew he’d been planning his escape for days. Before it became clear just how calculated he is.” Silas’s jaw was tight. “What if the backup isn’t fast enough? What if he—”
“Then I’ll have body armor. A panic button. Full surveillance—”
“And if something goes wrong?” Silas’s voice cracked slightly, revealing the fear beneath. “If he gets to you before we can stop him? Harper, I can’t—” He stopped himself, looked away. “I can’t lose you.”
Harper felt her chest tighten at the raw emotion in his voice. “You won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.” Silas turned back to her, and she could see it written all over his face—terror barely held in check. “I’m trying to be logical about this. I’m trying to think like a detective instead of—” He stopped again.
“Instead of what?”
“Instead of someone who cares too much to be objective.” His voice was fierce now, almost angry. “I know it’s the best tactical option. I know we need to draw him out. But knowing that and being okay with you walking into danger are two very different things.”
“So what are you saying? You’re going back on supporting the plan?”
“I don’t know!” The admission seemed torn from him. “I know we need to do this. I know you’re right. But every instinct I have is screaming at me to find another way. Any other way.”
“It’s not your decision,” Harper said quietly.
They stared at each other, the tension crackling between them—not just a professional disagreement, but something deeper, more personal.
“Both of you, cool down,” Holloway ordered, cutting through the charged moment like a hot knife through butter.
“We’re not making any decisions tonight.
It’s almost six p.m., we’re all exhausted, and we’re not thinking clearly.
Go home. Get some rest. We’ll reconvene at oh-six-hundred tomorrow morning with clear heads. ”
Harper wanted to argue, wanted to insist they keep searching. But Holloway was right—they were running on fumes and adrenaline, making decisions from emotion instead of logic.
Back at the cabin, Harper and Silas moved around each other in tense silence. Silas made dinner that neither of them had much appetite for. Harper checked the locks on every window and door three times, unable to shake the feeling that Sutton was out there somewhere, watching.
Finally, Silas broke the silence. “I can’t let you do the bait plan.”
Her anger was instant. “It’s not up to you.”
“Harper—”
“He’s fixated on me,” she said, spinning to face him. “That makes me the best chance we have of drawing him out.” She met his eyes, determination flaring bright. “I know it’s dangerous. I know you’re scared for me. But this is my job.”
“Your job doesn’t include being a sacrificial lamb,” he said gently, his gaze filled with something so desperate it threatened to crack her resolve.
“My job is catching serial killers. Whatever it takes.” Harper softened her voice. “Look, I’ll be careful. We’ll plan it perfectly, have backup in place—”
“Plans fail. Backup can’t always respond in time. And if something happens to you—” Silas’s voice broke slightly. “I can’t lose you.”
Something in her chest pinched. Harper crossed to him, took his hands in hers. “You’re not going to lose me. We’re going to catch Sutton, put him away for the rest of his life, and then you and I are going to have that weekend at the cabin you promised. No case, no pressure. Just us.”
His hands squeezed hers. “Promise me you won’t do anything reckless.”
Her fingers shifted to lace through his. “I promise I’ll be as safe as possible while still doing what needs to be done.”
“That’s not the same thing,” he said as he pulled her closer so their bodies were touching from chest to thighs.
“It’s the best I can offer,” she whispered.
They stood close together, foreheads touching, neither wanting to let go. Tomorrow they’d start hunting Sutton in earnest. Tomorrow they’d plan how to draw him out, how to end this once and for all.
But tonight, they would simply hold each other in the darkness and try not to think about all the ways this could end badly.
Because somewhere out there, Dale Sutton was planning his endgame. And Harper knew with absolute certainty that she was at the center of it.