Beyond the Shadows (8 page)

Nate rested his elbows on his knees and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “God. Can’t they leave well enough alone? It was bad enough having that damned cameraman hanging around before all this.”

Kelly perched on the end of the couch. “I’ll call the sergeant and ask him to arrange the press release. I’ll record a new message on your machine stating all enquiries are to go to him, and we’ll let the machine get the calls. You’re not alone in this, Nate.”

“Thanks, Kelly. I appreciate it.” Nate glanced at the wall clock and stifled a yawn. Nine o’clock and he felt ready for bed like a child. He rose from the couch and excused himself.

Kelly caught the smothered attempt and offered him a soft smile. “You look knackered. Let me help you.” She stepped close, her hand at his waist as if to steady him.

Just that fleeting touch reignited the embers he thought he’d banked. “I’m not an invalid you know,” he snapped, his nerves stretched.

Kelly recoiled, the smile fleeing from her face. Flags of color sat high on her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “It’ll take me a little while to adjust to the fact you’re not so helpless anymore. I didn’t mean to infer you’re incapable.”

Nate’s gut clenched at her wounded expression. God, he was such an ungrateful bastard. “No. I’m sorry,” he offered gruffly. “But what are you doing here, Kelly? It’s a Friday night and you’re young and beautiful. You should be out enjoying this night with a date, not looking after a grumpy old man like me.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth parted slightly. It took a few seconds before she answered. “You’re obviously seeing something most men don’t then Nate.” He caught an underlying note of hurt before she breezed on, “And enough of the young. I’m twenty-six, only five years younger than you are. And when a friend needs me, I’m going to be there for them. You got a problem with that?”

“No,” he conceded and put an arm over her shoulder to prove it, steeling himself for the zing of lust that shot to his groin at the contact with her smooth skin. “But I’ve never had to rely on someone else before. I’ve always looked after myself. It’s going to take some adjusting to.”

Kelly nodded and led him down the hallway. He bit the inside of his cheek as their hips bumped. The muscles in her shoulders tensed, proving she wasn’t entirely comfortable, either.

Upon reaching his room, she ducked out from under his arm and helped ease him down on the edge of the bed. Toeing his shoes off, he bent to peel off his socks and straightened quickly with a hiss as a jolt of pain sliced into the gunshot wound.

“I’ll do it,” she offered and squatted down to attend to the task. His eyes lit on the crown of her head, the strangely intimate act sending bolts of longing through his groin.
God. How was he going to handle another week of this?

She lifted her chin, her gaze direct and oblivious to his thoughts. “Would you like some help getting undressed?”

His breath caught in his throat and his cock throbbed at the images that rushed through his head. While she was no doubt thinking practically, his were purely carnal thoughts.

He came back to the present with a jerk when she tugged on his big toe and tickled the arch of his foot. He cleared his throat. “Uh, no. I can manage.”

“Good.” She stood and stretched her back. “I’m exhausted myself. Once I’ve talked to the sergeant, I’ll be hitting the sack too.”

For the first time, Nate noticed the blue shadows under her eyes and the faint worry lines on her smooth brow. Concern for him had put them there. He needed to start making it up to her. “I really appreciate all you’re doing for me, Kelly.”

She paused in the doorway and smiled. “It’s my pleasure, Nate. I’m just so glad you’re back with us. Those six days you were elsewhere were the worst of my life. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night.”

His eyes travelled without conscious thought to her bottom as she left the room and he curled his hands into fists at his sides. She is not for you, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time, but he was getting mightily sick of listening to that voice. With a sigh, he rose gingerly from the bed and padded across to the bathroom to prepare for a restless night.

****

Kelly hung up the phone with a wry smile. As she’d thought, the sergeant was thrilled to have the media diverted to him. She was more than happy with the arrangement. Now, she could concentrate on getting Nate better so she could get out of his hair. The near kiss had left her shaken. Their relationship had taken a sudden and unexpected turn, and regardless of how much she’d always wanted him, it wouldn’t be a good thing. Not for her anyway. Sleeping with him would never be enough. She’d want more, he wouldn’t, and it would end with her having her heart broken.

From the first glimpse of him at the station, she’d noted he kept himself distant from the others. Singularly focused on work, he didn’t seem to need the companionship and camaraderie of his peers, didn’t join in telling the raucous jokes that made the grim reality of their jobs more bearable. He hardly ever cracked a smile. If she hadn’t been watching him so closely and seen the occasional glimpse of sadness in his eyes when he thought no one was looking, she would have written him off as someone to stay far away from. But she’d been haunted by the show of vulnerability and curious. Then that curiosity morphed into a wild attraction she had no hope of controlling.

The shower shut off and, moments later, she heard faint sounds of him brushing his teeth. She picked up the remote and surfed the channels, pretending interest in case he popped out before bed. He was exhausted and she figured if he thought she was going to bed soon, he would be more likely to also. The man’s pride knew no bounds. Anyone could see how precariously balanced he was towards collapse. But his energy, drive, and determination kept him going. Even while she cursed his stubbornness, she admired him for it. Those traits were a large part of what drew her to him.

An image on the screen dragged her attention back and she was glad she didn’t have to pretend interest. Acting had never been her strong suit.

“Typical cop,”
she snorted, noting she’d come across a news channel. “Why do I not get distracted by some silly sitcom instead? I’m sure it’s much healthier.” She shook her head at her fascination with the macabre. The grin faded from her face as she realized there was something disturbingly familiar about the image that had caught her eye.

She frowned, squinting and then gasped. The anchor, a beautifully made-up woman fronted the desk. Her face was arranged in a serious expression, but that wasn’t what had caught her attention. It was the square of frozen footage above the woman’s shoulder. The scene struck her as all too familiar. When it unfroze and increased to full screen, it became all too obvious why. She increased the volume and sat transfixed, her stomach churning as the story unfolded.

And in breaking news. Another body was discovered today with mutilation marks similar to those on the victims of Scott Williams, the man dubbed the Mortician Murderer. Do we have a copycat killer out there, or was Scott Williams, in fact, innocent of murder as he’d vehemently pleaded in court? Did the police make a terrible mistake in their quest for justice?

Kelly’s blood ran cold, her body frozen in denial. She pressed her hand hard over her mouth. This particular case still haunted her. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she held it in for a count of ten seconds before letting it out. Her mind cleared, allowing her to examine the situation with logic.

She checked the channel. It was one of the smaller news stations. No doubt, they exaggerated some of the facts in order to win more viewers. And there had been nothing bigger than the capture of the serial killer who had gripped a nation with terror. What better way to increase their nightly ratings?

Unable to watch anymore, she pressed record on the remote. Once her mind stopped racing, she wanted to be able to watch it again, to take in the significance of things she may have missed during the first viewing. And to look at the case with fresh eyes, a voice in the back of her mind whispered.

As far as on the job training went, Kelly’s first taste of being a front-line officer couldn’t have been tougher or more exciting. From day one, she’d been thrust into one of the country’s biggest murder cases, and an active one to boot. Instead of being stuck behind a desk typing up her partner’s reports, she’d been in the thick of it, lending a hand where she could, and trying to help stop a madman’s reign of terror from escalating.

The whole city had been wrapped in a web of fear while the vicious and bizarre murders occurred, seemingly at random. No pattern emerged, meaning the team hadn’t been able to preempt the killer no matter how many man-hours they put into the case. And he liked to bide his time making it more difficult to track his movements. His intelligent actions made him all the more terrifying.

When the damning photos of Scott Williams outside the victim’s house appeared in the station’s inbox, suddenly they had a breakthrough and a suspect. His behavior made horrendous sense. A funeral director would feel at home with the dead, could spend time gloating over his kills. And that seemed to be exactly what he’d done.

Once he’d been taken in for questioning, his possessions were seized and examined in minute detail for further evidence. It didn’t take the computer specialists long to find and open the suspect’s wacky website. The authorities tracked down his online friends, interviewed them, and also charged them with their own transgressions. Although each man was interviewed separately, not one believed Williams was capable of the murders. The common opinion was that he genuinely seemed to
care
for the corpses in his charge.

Kelly shivered as the memory of the photographs flashed behind her eyes. A grinning Williams clinked champagne filled glasses with a corpse sitting across a table from him, his hand wrapped around her dead flesh to help hold it up. Another of him sitting in a makeshift movie theatre with two corpses, either side of him, a paper bag filled with popcorn sitting on his lap as if sharing with good buddies. There was no forgetting the one that creeped her out the most. A woman, murdered during late pregnancy was posed on a couch, her hands cradling her giant belly as if in a moment of reflective wonderment.

She swallowed down the tears as the image haunted her again. That one had kept her up too many nights. More times than she could count, she’d wake drenched in sweat from a recurring nightmare featuring her. In her private hell, the woman came to life and lifted her head to stare at her with the opaque, lifeless stare only the dead could master, but then she’d open her mouth, and the most unearthly howl of pain would echo in her brain.

Kelly rubbed at her arms and sighed. No matter how good a fit Scott Williams was to being their killer, the hard evidence they needed to place him at any of the murder scenes remained frustratingly elusive. And none was more frustrated during that time than Nate.

Kelly would never forget the suppressed rage that was his constant companion. Taciturn at the best of times, Nate was like a volcano poised to erupt. She’d learned the hard way it was easiest to stay out of his way. It didn’t seem she could do anything right. When she’d complained to another colleague about his snappiness and boorish behavior, she learned his sister had been murdered six years before, and the murderer had gotten off due to lack of evidence.

It was no wonder this particular case got to him. Karma caught up with Thea’s killer, who died in a gang related shooting not long after, giving the family some semblance of peace. But peace seemed as elusive for Nate as the evidence they so desperately needed.

When they finally discovered the vital piece of evidence at the mortician’s last murder scene, everyone was jubilant. Finally, they had solid proof of Scott Williams’ guilt, and the city let out a collective breath.

He’d made a pitiful sight in court on the day of sentencing as he’d been led into the dock. As the judge passed sentence, gone was the smug confidence he usually wore. Instead, he looked thunderstruck and loudly protested his innocence. When he didn’t heed the warnings of the judge to quiet down, the bailiffs dragged him out and back to the cells, his voice slowly fading into the distance. A week after being sent to prison, he’d committed suicide.

A fitting end, she’d thought at the time. Now, she stared blindly at the television and wondered.

“Bathroom’s free,” Nate called from the doorway and she looked up, startled. His gaze sharpened on her face then lowered to the remote clutched in her hand.

“Thanks.” She pressed the off button and the remote clattered to the table. She didn’t want to risk his recovery with the news just yet and she needed to get her head around all the ramifications.

Cocking his head to the side, he glanced at the television and back again. “Something upset you?”

“Oh! No. It’s silly,” she gave him a wan smile. “I know better than to watch a scary movie just before bed, that’s all.”

He straightened and narrowed his gaze on her. Then he nodded and gave her a slow wink. “Feel free to crawl into bed with me if you get scared during the night.”

Kelly groaned and rolled her eyes, “Thanks for the gallant offer, but I think I can manage the night terrors all by myself.”

“That’s a shame.” He flashed a wicked grin and eased off the support of the doorway. “Night, Kelly, sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight, Nate.” She watched him disappear down the hallway, his movements stiff and awkward. The stumbling gait was very different from the grace with which he usually moved. “Leave your door ajar so I can hear if you need me,” she called after him. He acknowledged her request with a raised hand and disappeared into his room.

Kelly sighed and headed to the kitchen. Her mind raced with questions. Through experience, she’d discovered, she’d be better to keep herself occupied and let her subconscious work on the puzzle.

She rinsed and stacked plates and utensils in the dishwasher, turned it on, and filled the sink to scrub the fry pan. While she worked, her mind drifted over the day’s events. The mundane task soothed her. First thing tomorrow, she’d discuss the news story that had so shaken her with Nate, and together they’d deal with what needed to be done.