Breath of Malice (16 page)

Paige ran through the park again, looking for Ivy, hoping and praying that Ivy was just late in arriving, but Ivy wasn’t there.

Paige returned to her van. Grabbing at any thread of hope, Paige wondered if maybe Ivy and Chad had taken a different route from the school and were still on their way to the park. As she drove up one street and down another, Paige continued to call Ivy’s phone over and over with no success.

Paige’s phone rang.
Sam
. “What did you find out?”

“I put out the alert. We’ll find her, Paige.”

Paige’s chest tightened. She felt as if she was going to be sick.

“Where are you now?” Sam asked.

“Swanson Avenue.”

“I’ve left the courthouse. I’ve put in a call to Chad’s parents. We’ll see if they can contact Chad.” Sam paused, then said, “Hold on. I have a call coming in.”

Paige waited out the silence. Her stomach was in knots. Finally, Sam came back on the line.

“That was the Kirk County sheriff’s office,” Sam said. “A convenience store owner on Church Street reported that two teens matching Ivy and Chad’s descriptions stopped by a short while ago. They bought snacks, and the man overheard the teens say they were going to the Main Street Theater.”

“How long ago was that?”

“The man pegged the time between thirty and forty-five minutes ago.”

“Thames could have driven them out of Kirk County in that time.” Paige fought panic. “I’m one street over. I’ll be at the theater in a minute or two.”

“I’m almost there myself. Wait for me.”

An instant later, Paige saw Sam’s truck come around a corner and then turn into the movie house. She turned as well. They parked beside a patrol car.

Paige leaped out of the van and ran toward the cop car. Ivy wasn’t inside. Paige flashed her badge at the young officer leaning against the driver’s door. “Did you see my sister and a boy enter the theater?”

“No, ma’am. I just got the call to stake out the theater to watch for anyone leaving.”

Sam joined her by the car. Paige turned to him. “They might not even be here. Thames may have nabbed them sometime after they left the store.”

Sam said to the officer, “Stay here and keep an eye out for anyone going in or coming out. Stop anyone leaving.”

“Yes, sir.”

Paige broke away from Sam. “We’re wasting time.”

She ran ahead. The marquee showed two movies on offer for the matinee. One was a foreign film with subtitles. The second was the new superhero movie. Both must have started because there wasn’t anyone manning the ticket booth.

She went inside to the attendant standing by the closed theater door. “Where are the lights? I need you to turn on the light inside the theater now.”

“I can’t do that. The movie’s started.”

Paige stuck her ID in front of his face. “Do it. Now.”

The attendant paled, then nodded briskly. Paige followed him into the theater, where he went to a covered electrical box. Using a key he had on a bungee cord clipped to his belt, he unlocked the box, then flipped a couple of switches. The theater filled with light.

“Hey!”

“What’s going on?”

Paige ignored the shouts from the few disgruntled patrons. The theater was by no means full, and Ivy, in her wheelchair, would be sitting down in front and at the end of an aisle. Paige spotted her sister near one of the exit doors and raced toward her.

Ivy’s eyes widened. Paige dropped to a crouch in front of her sister, gripping Ivy’s arms. Paige was shaking. She hugged Ivy tightly. “Are you all right?”

Murmurs and more raised voices came from the small crowd. Ivy pulled back from Paige, then glanced over her shoulder.

Paige cupped Ivy’s chin. “Ivy?”

Ivy swallowed. “Of course I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be all right? Paige, what are you doing here?”

Paige needed a moment to catch her breath, to find her voice. Fear had closed her throat tight. “I got a call.” Paige shook her head. “It doesn’t matter now. You’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

“I’m so embarrassed. What were you thinking, barging in here?” Ivy’s face was flame red. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I have to get out of here.”

She moved her wheelchair forward. Paige clasped the handles.

“Leave me alone!” Ivy shouted. “Just leave me alone!”

Ivy started forward. One of the wheels on her chair was stuck. When Paige moved to help, Ivy shouted again, “Just leave me alone!”

Ivy’s chair shot forward, and she headed for the door Paige and Sam had entered from.

Paige turned to the gangly boy with the red hair and shaggy bangs who’d been seated beside Ivy, presumably Chad. “It might be best if you went home. We’ll give you a ride.”

Chad stared from Paige to Ivy’s fast-retreating back. “Ah, yes, ma’am.”

Head down, Chad trotted after Ivy. Sam and the theater attendant were still at the door. When Ivy spotted Sam, she burst into tears.

Sam crouched in front of her. “It’s okay, sweetie.”

Ivy reached out to him, then clung to his neck, sobbing.

Ivy drove with Sam, not wanting to ride with Paige. Paige followed in her van while Sam drove Chad home and parked on the street as he spoke with the boy’s parents.

Back in the living room at Sam’s house, Paige went to her sister. “Ivy.”

Ivy glared at Paige. “How could you do this to me? I’ll be a laughingstock at school tomorrow. As if the kids don’t laugh at me enough already.”

“This was an emergency. I wouldn’t have come to find you if it hadn’t been. And what were you doing at the theater in the first place? You were supposed to be in school.”

“You wouldn’t let me go anywhere! I knew you wouldn’t let me go out with Chad, just like you wouldn’t have let me go to that class party. Ditching school was the only way I could go out with Chad. He is my one friend at school. Now, because of you, he will probably never speak to me again. For sure, he’ll never want to go out with me again. You’ve ruined my life. Again. I hate you! I hate you! I can’t wait until I’m old enough to get away from you forever! I’ll go so far away you won’t ever find me!” Ivy was crying so hard, she broke into hiccups. Her eyes were overflowing with tears. “I wish Sam and Jonah were my family. I wish I lived with them!”

She wheeled past Paige and into Sam’s guest bedroom. Paige released a trembling breath. Her own eyes filled with tears. Sam’s arms came around her, comforting and strong. Paige leaned into him, needing both comfort and strength right now.

“She wants you and Jonah to be her family and not me,” Paige said. “You can’t know what it does to me to hear her say that.”

“That’s the anger talking.”

“She hates me, Sam. I’ve done everything wrong with her.”

“No, you haven’t. She’s a fine young woman. That’s because of you.”

“She’s not like me. She’s everything that I wasn’t, that I’m not. She’s everything good. I was the one who broke curfew, ditched school because it was what I wanted, and to hell with what my actions did to anyone else. I pushed her to act out of character, to do what she knows is wrong. I pushed her to her breaking point.”

“Hey. Listen to me.” He tipped back her chin and then held it gently in his hand. “Stop beating yourself up. Ivy is okay, and she’s going to stay that way.”

Paige spoke over him. “This thing with Thames is all my fault. On that mountain, I set things up so I would put myself in his path. I went ahead of my squad so I would reach him first, on my own. I was so bold, thinking I would be the one to take down a serial killer. My actions have put Ivy on his radar. I should have realized he would use her to get to me.”

Sam cupped her shoulders. “You can’t know everything. He didn’t get her, and he isn’t going to.” Sam’s jaw hardened. “He’s fixated on you. I got the trace back on the call he made to you. It came from a disposable phone. The number was scrambled and led back to an address in Asia. We won’t find him that way.”

Paige dashed tears from her face. “He’ll use Ivy, hurt Ivy to get to me. I need to make sure Ivy is safe.”

“I’ll arrange for a safe house. It can be for both of you.” Sam’s eyes fixed on her. “It would be understandable for you to step back, Paige. Let me and our squad go after Thames.”

And if she went to a safe house? She released a shaky breath. “If I go into hiding, Thames will likely go underground.”

Sam’s hold on her tightened as if he would never let her go. A long moment passed before he loosened his grip.

Sam lowered his head and kissed Paige’s brow softly. “Go talk with Ivy. I’ll get everything set up.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

While Sam arranged for a safe house for Ivy, Paige went to speak with her sister. Paige closed her eyes. She hated that her trouble with Thames had touched Ivy. So much for giving Ivy a normal life. Paige scoffed at herself. Ivy’s life was not normal. Paige clenched her fists. She welcomed the anger over the despair she was feeling.

She hated that she was about to frighten Ivy, but Paige had no choice. She had to make Ivy understand the gravity of the situation. She had to protect Ivy at all costs. It was time she told Ivy about Thames.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked once on the bedroom door, then entered the room. “Ivy, we need to talk.”

Ivy was on the bed, her back to the door, curled in a ball. She didn’t turn at Paige’s entrance. Paige perched on the edge of the mattress, facing Ivy. Ivy’s face was as pale as her white pillowcase, her eyes red rimmed from crying. Paige linked her hands together to keep from reaching for her sister. “I need to tell you why I went looking for you today and why I panicked when I didn’t find you. Why I’ve been keeping you isolated.”

“I already know why. It’s because you hate me.”

Paige froze. “Hate you? Why would you say that, think that?”

Ivy turned her head and stared at Paige. “Don’t treat me like an idiot, Paige. I know that you got stuck with me when Mom and Dad died. You didn’t plan on having to raise a little sister, and one that couldn’t walk on top of that.”

Paige’s breath hitched. How long had Ivy been feeling unwanted? How long had Paige made her feel that way? Paige closed her eyes. Tears leaked through her closed lids. “I’m sorry. So sorry that I’ve made you feel—made you think that I feel stuck with you.” Paige’s voice was weak. She opened her eyes. Her view of Ivy remained blurred from the tears that continued to fall. “If anyone is stuck, it’s you with me. I’ve done so much wrong with you. More than even I realized if you doubt my love for you.”

Ivy looked away from Paige. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Ivy sounded defeated, deflated. Paige swallowed hard. “One of the things I’ve done wrong is not trust you. I’m going to change that right now. I’ve been keeping something from you. No longer.”

Ivy’s gaze returned to Paige.

Paige drew a deep breath and told Ivy about that day on the mountain. “Todd Thames has been hunting me. That’s why we left New York. That’s why we left Denver. Now he’s found me here.” Paige’s throat closed, recalling that horrific phone call about Ivy. “He called me. Told me he knew where you were. I was terrified that he had taken you.” Paige reached for Ivy. She bent over her sister and held her against her, though Ivy didn’t return Paige’s embrace. “This has nothing to do with you. This is on me. All on me.”

“This is because of what happened to you when you were an agent in New York?”

Paige heard tears in Ivy’s voice as well. “Yes.”

“This is the reason we left New York?”

“Yes.” Paige swallowed tears that threatened to choke her. “I’m sorry that our parents were killed. I’m sorry I was too self-absorbed to see anyone’s point of view but my own and that I didn’t make things right with them. I’m sorry, so sorry that now I’ll never be able to do that. But I’m not sorry that you’re with me. I’ve shut you out. Kept you all to myself. Not trusted you. Go ahead and doubt every decision I’ve made that involves you. But don’t ever doubt that I love you.”

Ivy’s tears soaked Paige’s neck, and Ivy wrapped her arms around Paige. They went on holding each other, crying. Paige would have liked to go on holding her sister, but there was more to be said and done.

Slowly, Paige drew back. “This isn’t over with Thames. We need to make sure you’re safe. We need you to be somewhere he can’t get to you. Sam has a place in mind. He wants to take you there. You’ll be with people Sam trusts.”

“You said he’s after you. What about you?” Ivy’s voice broke.

Paige’s eyes filled with tears all over again at the concern in Ivy’s voice. She could make this right with her sister. Please, God, give her the time to do that. “I’ll be staying here. I have to see this through with Thames.”

Her voice small, Ivy asked, “But what if he comes after you?”

“I’m a trained agent. I know how to take care of myself, and I won’t be alone. I’ll have Sam and the other agents from our office. I’ll be fine. Will you go to the safe house, Ivy? Please.”

Ivy’s chin trembled, then firmed. “I’ll go. Just get him, Paige.”

Paige’s eyes clouded as she took Ivy into her arms again. “I will. I promise. After it’s over, if you want me to, I’d like to get to know your friend Chad.”

Ivy drew back a bit and gave Paige a small smile. “Does that mean I’m not grounded?”

“Only until you’re forty.” Paige returned Ivy’s smile, then smoothed hair from Ivy’s tearstained cheeks. “Sam is waiting. Let’s gather your things.”

Paige did not accompany Sam and Ivy to the safe house. She couldn’t take the chance that she might lead Thames to Ivy. Ivy was Paige’s weakness. What better way to bring Paige to heel than through Ivy? No, Paige would not give Thames a weapon to use against her.

Sam had called Harry and Dom. Sam had asked Harry to wait with Paige at his house while he and Dom escorted Ivy to the safe house. Dom and a female agent from the central office would remain with Ivy.

“You’re going to wear a hole in that floor with your pacing,” Harry said mildly.

Paige realized she hadn’t been able to stand or sit still since Sam left. He’d told her he wouldn’t be back for several hours. Paige was beyond exhausted from the mental and physical strain.

She faced Harry. He was seated on the end of Sam’s couch, a deck of cards spread out before him on the coffee table in a game of solitaire. “I appreciate you being here with me.”

One corner of Harry’s mouth lifted in a smile. “We serve and protect.” He looked up from the cards, and his expression became serious. “And you’re one of ours. I’m not going anywhere until I get the okay from Sam.”

One of theirs.
She hadn’t ever felt that sense of belonging, not with her squads in New York or Denver. That had been her fault. She’d been aloof, kept herself apart from the other squad members, believing she was above them with her ambitions and strategies.

The time wore on. Harry fried eggs and ham in Sam’s kitchen and made open-faced sandwiches. He nudged Paige into taking a bite, but the food sat like rocks in her stomach, and she resumed pacing.

It was the middle of the night when Harry’s cell phone rang. He looked to Paige as he took the call. “Sam?”

Paige moved close to Harry but couldn’t hear Sam’s side of the conversation.

“We’ll be waiting,” Harry said. Before Paige could ask, Harry added, “Sam is on his way in. He’s pulling up to the house.”

A few moments later, Sam entered the house. Paige went to him. “How’s Ivy?”

“She’s fine,” he said gently. “Dom and Maggie Cole from the central office will protect Ivy with their lives.”

Paige prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

As Harry was leaving, Sam left her to have a word with Harry at the door. By this time, it was after three o’clock in the morning.

Sam returned to Paige. “We should try to get some sleep.”

But he brought his arms around her and drew her close. Paige went into his arms, taking the comfort he offered.

Being here with Sam was temporary. She was never more aware of that than in this moment. She blinked back the tears that flooded her eyes and melded her body with his.

“What’s this?” Sam asked, bending over her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and ground her face against his shoulder. “Thank you. Thank you for making sure Ivy is safe.”

Sam gathered her more tightly in his arms. “I’m going to make sure you’re safe, too. No more running.”

No, there’d be no more running. She knew what she had to do. From the moment she’d learned of the motion to overturn Thames’s conviction, she’d known—
she’d known
—that it was over for her. The dream of having a life here in Kirk, of having a life with Sam, was just a dream. There would be no life with Sam, no future with him. Now a woman was dead. Thames had taunted Paige with Ivy. Thames knew exactly where Paige was, and he would be coming for her next.

“You’re wound tight,” Sam said. “I’ll draw you a bath, then we’ll sleep.”

While Paige soaked in the tub in Sam’s master bathroom, he went to the bathroom down the hall to take a shower. The only bubble bath Sam had on offer was the children’s variety that Jonah used. Clearly, Sam wasn’t in the habit of drawing baths for women. Paige’s heart squeezed tight. Her life was a mess, and she was so in love with him.

He knocked once on the door, then strode in. A towel was wrapped around his hips, leaving his upper body and muscled legs bare. He was using another towel to dry his thick, dark hair.

He stopped midswipe and assessed her. “Okay?”

She nodded.

He crouched by the tub and reached out to brush his finger across her cheek. “When you’re ready, we’ll hit the sheets.”

“I’m ready.”

She put her hand in his, and he gently drew her from the water. His eyes burned on her, but he doused the flame. He tossed the towel he was using on his hair on the white counter, then took another from the cupboard below the sink and wrapped her in it.

She didn’t want the towel wrapped around her. She wanted him. Ivy was safe. Paige didn’t know what the next moment would bring with Thames. She wanted this time with Sam for however long she could have it.

She rose on tiptoe and looped her arms around his neck. Sam kissed her gently, his lips brushing softly against hers.

He raised his head to look at her. Gently, he lowered her arms from around him. He pressed a kiss to her palms. “Baby, as much as I want you, you look wiped.”

He was putting what he thought she needed before his own wants, his own needs, and she fell more in love with him. “I want this, Sam. I want you.”

To make sure he got the point, she ran her tongue over his lips. Sam’s eyes went dark with desire. He raised a hand to cradle one side of her face, then brought her lips to his. He kissed her gently, then lifted her. Holding her against his chest, he carried her to his bed. He set her down softly on the mattress, then stretched out beside her.

The blinds were open, and moonlight streamed across the bed, illuminating the tan bedsheets. The moon cast a small glow on their bodies.

Sam rose onto an elbow. He spread the towel, baring her. He kissed her neck, softly pressing his lips to the pulse in her throat. The kiss was so tender. Her heart stuttered.

Sam lowered his mouth to her breasts. He licked her nipples, then blew softly on them. He followed that up with a soft scrape of his teeth. Her nipples hardened to tight peaks. Paige sucked in a breath.

“You are so beautiful,” Sam said.

He tongued and sucked one breast, then the other, alternating between them. He moved his mouth on one nipple and ran his thumb across the other. Paige’s breath caught.

She could feel him against her, but it wasn’t close enough. She had to touch him. Needed to touch him with a desperation that bordered on panic. She reached out and ran her hands over his taut flesh, over all those hard, defined muscles, feeling the heat and warmth of him and the blood pulsing through him.

She yanked off the towel and bared his erection. He was ready for her, but she curled her fingers around him. Hard and huge. His arousal kicked in her grasp. She stroked him.

He gritted his teeth. “Paige.”

Sam lowered his mouth to hers in a kiss that was protective, possessive. Hot and scorching, his tongue delved into her mouth and took on the same rhythm as her strokes. She kissed him harder, wanting to remember the feel of him against her always.

He tore away. His gaze was white-hot. His breathing was ragged, but he touched her face with a tenderness that halted her own breath. “It’s okay.”

It wasn’t, and she didn’t know if it ever would be. All she had for sure was now. She reached down and grasped his erection again. With her other hand, she pulled him up all the way to his knees, then went to her own and bent before him. She took him into her mouth. She used her tongue and teeth in long, slow laps, then picked up the pace. Sam shook. His muscles tightened and bunched. She swirled her tongue on him, then took him as deep as she could.

“Baby, enough.”

Sam pulled her away abruptly. He lifted her off himself and onto her back on the bed. His eyes blazed and his grip on her shoulders was tight.

He moved above her to her entrance. He didn’t push inside her. He was breathing hard, and she could see he was trying to cool himself down. Paige didn’t want him to cool down. She wanted him mindless. She arched up, taking him into her body herself.

“Easy, sweetheart. Easy.”

Sam withdrew, but Paige lifted herself and took him deep again. This time, she could feel there was no going back for Sam. His control was at an end. He gripped her bottom with both hands and thrust harder, deeper. He pushed inside her, a powerful stroke that sent her up the mattress to the headboard.

Paige’s passion ratcheted up, and she was with him, matching him stroke for stroke, lifting and lowering her body in time with his.
This moment . . . this moment . . . this moment . . .
The words played over and over in her mind.