Beg for Mercy (29 page)

His arm.

“He had a tattoo,” Megan blurted out. “I saw part of it, on his right biceps. Dark ink. I couldn’t see the design.”

She jerked back as the truth thudded home, so obvi
ous even her thick brain could comprehend it. “It was Jack Brooks,” she said, feelike an idiot that it had taken her this long to connect the dots. “The security guy at Club One,” she clarified at Petersen’s quizzical look.

Megan gave Petersen a rundown of her brief acquaintance with the shadowy former Special Forces guy, emphasizing his repeated warnings for her to steer clear of the club. “He could easily be the Slasher. He works at the club—he had access to the victims. Find out where he was the night Evangeline Gordon died. You never know—”

Petersen cut her off. “How about you let us handle the investigation for a change? I’m sure we’ll make a lot more progress without you stumbling around getting potential witnesses killed.”

Guilt slammed her as she thought of Stephanie’s body splayed like a broken doll on the floor. If Megan hadn’t been snooping around… She looked up as the door to the exam room was pushed open. Cole stood in the doorway, his face pulled into grim lines. “You about done in here?”

Petersen nodded and flipped her notebook closed. “We’ll follow up with Brooks,” she assured Megan. “And we’ll let you know if we need any more information. I’ll call a squad car to take you home.”

“I’ve got her,” Cole said, his tone brooking no argument.

That didn’t stop Petersen from trying. “You sure you want to do that, Cole?” she said, straightening to her full height and squaring off against him. “She’s caused you nothing but trouble,” Petersen said as though Megan wasn’t sitting two feet away. “If you give a shit about your job, you need to stay the hell away—”

“Whoever did this knows her,” Cole bit out. “And unless you can guarantee her twenty-four hour protection until he’s caught, she’ll be with me.”

Megan felt herself shrink under Cole’s stare, feeling vulnerable and all but naked in the flimsy hospital gown. “You don’t have to give me a ride home, Cole. I’ve caused you enough problems. If you just give me a minute to get dressed, I can go home with another officer.”

“I’ll give you five minutes,” Cole said, and walked out.

Megan slid reluctantly into the passenger seat of his Jeep, which one of the patrol officers had been nice enough to drive to the hospital.

She could feel the tension emanating from him. Cole was closed up in that silent, self-contained way he had that didn’t invite conversation. But she had to try. “What happened with Tasso?”

“I don’t really feel like talking about it.”

Though his tone wasn’t harsh, Megan felt the sting of his brush-off. Leaving him to his brooding, she curled up against the passenger door. She tried to tell herself that she was only doing what was necessary. She wanted to save Sean; she didn’t have any time for guilt. But today she’d seen up close the kind of collateral damage she was causing. And for the first time in three years, she wasn’t in this alone. Now Cole was getting hurt too.

A month ago she might have been spiteful and told herself losing his badge was nothing less than what Cole deserved. But after the last week… nothing was so black-
and-white any more. “I’m sorry I dragged you into all of this.”

Cole held up a silencing hand. “You didn’t drag me into anything. I made my bed when I decided to give you confidential information.”

“And I want you to know how much I appreciate that,” Megan said. “I know I haven’t exactly been generous with my gratitude—”

“Can we just drop it for now?” Cole said wearily. “I don’t really feel like dwelling on the fact that I’m pissing away a fifteen-year career.”

Megan slumped in her seat as they turned down her block. He parked in front of her driveway and led the way up the stairs to her flat. When she went to unlock the door, he took the key from her hand. He opened the door slowly, and Megan jumped back when a gun seemed to appear out of thin air into his hand.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

He raised a finger to his lips and hit her with a glare. “He knows you. He most likely knows where you live. I’m not taking any chances.” He motioned for her to wait while he did a sweep of the apartment, then beckoned her inside.

“Um, okay, I guess that means you can go now.” Megan wrapped her arms around herself and forced back a shudder. Despite the tension between them, she didn’t exactly relish spending a night alone.

“Are you kidding me?” Cole looked at her like she’d just lost about forty IQ points. “You’re not staying here.” He moved down the hall to her room. Without asking, he rummaged through her closet until he found a small duffel bag. He tossed it on the bed. “Pack enough to hold you for at least a few days. You’re coming home with me.”

They drove to his house in silence so thick it was like a physical presence between them in the car. She’d tried to convince him to take her to a hotel, reminding him how it would look to Lieutenant Chin and the rest of the review board if they knew she spent the night at his house, but he completely bulldozed over her protests. Short of making a break for it and trying to elude him, Megan didn’t see that she had much choice.

And really, after what had happened, she knew she wouldn’t feel safe alone, even in a hotel with the dead bolt thrown. Knowing Cole stood between her and the psycho who had tried to kill her made her feel secure in a way that she hadn’t in a very long time. She warned herself to be careful with Cole—she’d made the mistake of reading too much into his actions before and got burned for it.

But tonight, she wanted to lean into him and let him chase all her demons away.

Cole turned down his street in his development and drove past a row of nearly identical houses. He pulled into his garage, grabbed her bag, and walked into the house without a word. She followed and watched as he tossed her bag onto the couch="imas place hadn’t changed at all in the nearly three years since she’d seen it. The same plain coffee table and leather sofa. He’d upsized his flat-screen TV, but there was still no art on the plain, off-white walls.

The place was devoid of personality, without so much as a book or stray DVD to hint at the interests of the man who lived here. On the handful of occasions she’d been over here while they were dating, she’d entertained stupid
fantasies of how she might enliven the décor when she moved in with him.

She shoved away the tug of sadness that she’d never had the opportunity. That his house had remained as boring and sterile as it had been the last time she saw it. Like his life had gotten just as stuck as hers.

And there’s obviously not any woman coming around to put her feminine touch on things.

Not that she cared, she told herself firmly as she walked into Cole’s living room. Still, it was hard to forget what had happened the last time they were alone together.

After the last adrenaline-fueled hours, she was suddenly so drained she could barely keep on her feet. She sank into the leather armchair and felt like she could close her eyes and sleep for the next forty-eight hours.

Cole’s voice roused her. “I’ve set up the spare room as an office, so I don’t have a real guest room.” He rubbed his hand wearily against the back of his neck. “You take my bed and I’ll take the couch.”

Her? Sleep in his bed? His stuff, his sheets, his scent all around her. “Absolutely not. You’re almost a foot taller than me—you won’t even fit on the couch.”

“I’m not going to debate it, Megan.”

She pushed herself up from the chair. “I don’t want to put you out. I can stay at a hotel for a few days—”

“Right, and you’ll be out on your own trying to find the guy who attacked us today. You really think I’m going to let you out of my sight?”

She swallowed, wincing at the ache in her throat. “What else do you expect me to do? Sit around and twiddle my thumbs and wait for Sean’s execution date? I’m out of options, Cole.”

He shook his head. “If you decide to go off half-cocked over another barely there lead, I’m gonna be with you. And you’re staying here. No negotiation. And while you’re staying here, take the fucking bedroom.” He turned his back on her and went into the kitchen, where she could hear him rooting around the refrigerator like a bear in a garbage can.

She followed him, protesting. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll be fine on my own.” After what happened today, she wasn’t sure about that at all, but she could feel herself starting to lean on Cole and it was feeling a little too good.

He whirled around on her, so fast she took a startled step back, stopping only when the ridge of the countertop dug into the small of her back.

Streaks of angry color stained his high cheekbones, and his eyes were molten with fury. “Goddamn it! After what happened today, could you just stop fucking arguing with every goddamn thing I say? You almost died today, Megan! And for what? A fucking note on a scrap of paper!”

She swallowed, wincing at the ache in her throat. He was pulled tight, every sinew coiled with tension, like he didn’t know whether to kiss her or shake her. She broke her stare, unable to look at him, knowing he was right. Knowing she had put her life and his career at risk for a barely solid lead.

The memory of her attacker’s fingers digging into her windpipe sent a shiver of fear down her spine. “I had to take that chance. Don’t you understand? Unless Sean changes his mind, he’ll be dead in five days. I have to do something, no matter how crazy or far-fetched it seems.”

He moved closer, so close she could feel the heat of his thigh muscles against her hips, and planted his palms on the counter on either side of her hips. “You could have died.”

Her pulse throbbed in her throat at the feel of his hot breath on her cheek. She dropped her gaze from his face and struggled to get her traitorous body back under control. “I think that would make your life easier, wouldn’t it? Get me out of your hair once and for all.” Her weak attempt at lightening the mood backfired. Now he was even angrier, his dark eyes practically spitting fire.

“Don’t even fucking joke about that!”

Before she had time to react, his mouth was on hers, hungry, desperate as his lips crushed hers. God he felt good, strong and powerful. Heat exploded in her veins, and just like that, she melted into a puddle at the first touch. Helplessly, she parted her lips to drink him in, suck his tongue into her mouth, tangle it with hers.

His kiss immediately gentled, and he pulled away, cradling her face in his hands as he whispered again, “Don’t even fucking joke about that.” Soft, nipping kisses rained on her mouth and cheeks. “Do you have any idea how it felt to walk in that room and see you…” His voice broke, and a shudder rippled through him. “I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of my life, thinking about what would have happened if I hadn’t shown up in time.”

He kissed her again. “I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you. It kills me that he touched you, that you were hurt. So don’t ask me to leave you alone, not when I’d cut my own arm off if it kept you from getting hurt.”

Before she could absorb what that implied, Cole leaned
closer, pressing her into the counter. Unable to stop herself, she wrapped her arms around his waist, then jerked away when he let out a hiss of pain.

Megan jerked back to reality. She wasn’t the only one who had gotten hurt today. This was so crazy; they were both riding high, their resistance pummeled by adrenaline and fear. She couldn’t give in. “This is a really bad idea.”