Heart Trouble (18 page)

It was more subdued back there than what he’d expected. He’d figured on absolute chaos, but nobody was screaming or bleeding profusely. People weren’t shouting or running back and forth, which might explain why Erin had the time to come up and visit his dad. Either that or she was at the end of her shift. His heart sank a little with that thought. If he had to drive to her apartment he would of course, but he didn’t want to wait a minute longer, not when he’d come to his senses
and
found his balls.

“Sean, what are you doing back here?”

He turned around. “Tess! Thank God. Where’s Erin?”

She got that look on her face again—the wary, reproachful glare that told him this wasn’t going to be easy, not by a long shot. “Why should I tell you that?”

Sean winced and rubbed his forehead. “Because I was wrong to say what I did to Erin that night in her apartment. I was hurt that she’d kept the information about my dad from me, and I lashed out, not considering her feelings, her job or…or that my dad might’ve asked her to keep his condition a secret. She went up to see him just now, and I walked in. I couldn’t find my tongue fast enough before she ran out of the room. It’s killing me that I’ve upset her again.
Please
, I need to apologize, Tess. I’ll get down on my knees and beg for her forgiveness if I have to, but I can’t do that if you won’t tell me where she is.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Promise you won’t hurt her ever again?”

“I swear I won’t hurt her ever again.”

He took her sigh as a sign of surrender. “Her shift’s over. She should be on her way home by now.”

Sean was already jogging out of the ER, tossing a quick “Thank you!” over his shoulder.

* * * *

Erin did her best to hold it together as she drove home.

Sean looked good, even rumpled with dark shadows under his gorgeous green eyes. He’d looked like comfort and safety and desire. Of laughter and all the other amazing things he’d shown her and made her feel in just seven rather eye-opening days and nights.

It would get easier. Time heals all wounds, or so they say. She knew that was a lie. They didn’t all heal. It might make them hurt less, yes, but not heal completely. Scars were souvenirs, whether you bore them inside or out. A mistake, a slip, an injury, a repair. Tom would have a nice one on his chest from his surgery, a visible reminder to take better care of himself. Erin couldn’t see hers, but they were there—old ones that still throbbed on occasion, and a new one that no amount of sutures could close.

She scrubbed her knuckles over her sternum as if that might ease the ache and glanced in her rearview mirror as she drove into her condo complex. The cop followed her around to the parking area in front of her unit, choosing the empty slot beside her assigned space. This time of the morning, most of her neighbors were either leaving for work or already gone to avoid the thick commuter traffic.

She climbed out of her car, and the cop followed suit, all stiff propriety in his dark blue uniform, crisp hat, and mirrored shades. He wore a belt lined with black leather pockets of different sizes and shapes, along with a gun similar to the one Sean carried. Erin thought he appeared rather annoyed at having to follow some chick home and babysit, whereas he’d prefer to be out busting speeders or eating a lazy breakfast with his buddies at a local diner.

She pasted on a fake smile and offered her hand. “Hi, Officer…” She glanced quickly down at the nametag above his badge. “Moody. I’m Erin Taylor. I appreciate you following me home.”

He shook her hand, giving her a stiff smile in return. “My pleasure.”

The sunglasses were a little aggravating and made him appear coolly indifferent to her plight. Oh well. She didn’t want him to hang out and socialize over coffee. All he had to do was make a quick check of her condo; then he could sit in his car and do whatever cops did while they waited for a crime to be committed.

Get in, get out, leave me alone with my misery and a hot shower.

After unlocking her front door, she stepped back out of his way so he could do his thing. He hesitated a moment as if he didn’t understand what she was waiting for. Erin raised her eyebrows and made an
after you
gesture with her hand. Wow, Luke had sent her a real winner.

“Oh, right,” he said, palming the grip of his pistol. “Wait here until I give you the all clear.”

“You bet.” Erin fought the urge to roll her eyes.
He’s here to help you, remember? Be nice.

He paused in the foyer, nodding once at the blinking alarm panel. “Might wanna turn that off before you get a call from the alarm company.”

“Of course,” she said, thumbing the code before stepping back into the threshold of the front door to wait.

He disappeared inside her apartment but was back in less than five minutes. Okay, her condo wasn’t huge, but when Sean had first searched it, it felt as though it took an hour for him to return and tell her everything was fine. Clearly, this dude had job burnout.

“Miss Taylor, I need you to take a look at something for me,” he said, motioning her inside.

“What is it?” Erin asked, anxious all of a sudden. Had someone broken in? She dropped her backpack in the foyer, making a quick visual sweep of the condo. She didn’t immediately notice anything out of place.

The door shut behind her; then the dead bolt clicked, making her spin around at the chilling sound. Fear poured through Erin’s body in a sickening rush as the cop swept his hat from his head and tossed it aside.

Spiky platinum blond hair.

She’d seen that hair before. Her heart began to thud so hard it hurt. The sunglasses came next. A memory slammed into her.

“What can I get you, sugar?”

“The bartender,” she said, her mind racing. What to do,
what to do?
Run? Scream? Grab something to use as a weapon?

He gave her a devil’s smile, all pearly-white fangs and evil dancing in his eyes as he took a measured step toward her. “Smart girl. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a doctor.”

He unbuckled the heavy tool belt around his waist, dropping it to the floor. The action was sexual in nature, as if he was starting to undress. Erin swallowed against the bitter bile that rose in her throat.

And he’d dropped the gun! Her gaze darted down to where it lay, still tucked inside its holster, thinking if she could just find a way to get her hands on it. While he kept his gaze locked on her, he reached down to slide his hand beneath his right pant leg, withdrawing a huge knife from inside his boot. The blade gleamed ominously in the sunlight leaking in through the windows.

She drew a shaky breath, trying to remain calm, but she could feel a tidal wave of terror rising inside her. Her eyes darted from the knife to his face, to the bar in the kitchen to her left, searching, searching, frantic and wild. “Please, you don’t want to do this.”

“Oh, yes I do. So much so that I killed a cop for the opportunity.”

Another cold chill raced down her spine.

So this was what real horror felt like, she thought, a thousand unpleasant sensations warring inside her body at once, each one fighting for dominance. Then a strange sort of clarity took over. The will to survive. Erin summoned every ounce of courage she had, along with the anger over what he’d done to all those other women. He would do the same to her too. But she wasn’t going down without a fight.

She backed up a cautious step, then another, luring him farther into the apartment and away from the front door. It was the only chance she had to try to escape.

His body tensed, and then he lunged, grabbing for her with his free hand. Erin darted to her right, into the living room, barely escaping his grasp. She swung blindly at a lamp, knocking it over in his path, then did the same to a second one. He swore behind her as he stumbled over them, kicking at least one out of his way. Glass shattered as it connected with something solid.

She made it to the front door, clawing at the dead bolt and the knob at the same time, but a hand wrapped around her ponytail, snatching her backward. Erin let go a blood-curdling scream of both pain and hope that someone would hear her. Stinging fire erupted in her scalp before he palmed the back of her head, and the wall rushed toward her face. At the last second, Erin twisted her head and closed her eyes.

Agony bloomed in her cheekbone, radiating in a white-hot surge toward her ear, into her eye socket, and down into her jaw. Her knees buckled, then hit the hard tile floor of her foyer. She blinked open her eyes, but unconsciousness was trying its best to pull her under.

No! You have to stay awake!

Erin shook her head to clear the fogginess the savage blow had caused. When she opened her mouth to scream again, his hand clamped down over it. He made her stand, pulling her up by the neck. The blade of the knife pressed firmly against her throat. A sharp sting told her it had broken the skin before she felt the trickle of blood crawling down her neck.

“Go ahead and fight, sugar. I love it when they struggle. Gets me hard faster.” His breath was hot and acrid across her cheek, his body heavy as he pushed the sickening evidence of his words against her ass.

Erin bit back a sob of helplessness while behind his clammy hand she struggled to breathe. She didn’t dare move for fear the blade would slice farther into her skin. Tears of pain made her nose stuffy, and he held her mouth so tightly her teeth mashed into the back of her lips. She was determined not to whimper at the throbbing in her head.

Her captor jerked her away from the wall and removed the knife from her throat. His hand left her mouth to land in a hard shove between her shoulder blades. Erin went flying forward, crashing into and over an end table in her living room. More pain erupted in her thighs and shins. She threw her hands out to try to break her fall and felt one of the bones in the back of her left hand snap seconds before she landed face-first on the carpet. Her teeth broke the thin skin on the inside of her mouth, and the taste of blood swirled across her tongue.

Then he was climbing on top of her, snatching her head up by her hair, forcing her to roll over. Dazed, limp with hurt, and fighting the blackness creeping into the edges of her vision, Erin felt the fabric of her scrub top give way as the knife’s blade sliced through it.

Oh God, I’m going to die.

* * * *

Sean parked behind Erin’s car. A JPD cruiser sat next to it, empty. Annoyance settled heavily in his gut.

On the way over, he’d checked in with Luke, only to find out about the most recent murder, and that Luke had sent a uniform to look out for Erin in the interim. The officer would be adequate at doing his job, but it still didn’t sit well with Sean’s overprotective nature when it came to Erin. Given the circumstances, there wasn’t much he could do about it. Until now.

As he walked past the police cruiser, something caught his eye and he backed up a step.

The right rear taillight was busted out—a definite no-no for a cop to be sporting on his work vehicle. And it appeared to be recently broken.

When he looked closer at the rear end of the car, there were several tiny dots spattered across the white paint of the trunk lid. Sean leaned down, scraping at one with his fingernail. It came off easily. Examining the speck further, he would’ve sworn it was dried blood.

The hair on the back of his neck rose.

The door to the cruiser was locked when he tried the handle, so he pressed his face to the window. In the front passenger-side floorboard sat a pile of clothing, one of which looked like a wadded-up dark blue sweatshirt with faded yellow letters.

“He had on a dark hoodie. It looked black, but I suppose it could’ve been navy blue, with something written across the front of it in faded yellow letters. I want to think it said Navy, but I can’t be sure.”

“Son of a bitch!”

His heart hammering, Sean ran back to his car and called for backup on his police radio, then drew his gun, flicking the safety off as he approached the front door of Erin’s apartment. Near frantic to get to her now, he unlocked the door with his key, easing it open with his foot.

Holding his gun out in front of him, he scanned the immediate vicinity. Erin was on the floor in the living room, trying to sit up. Blood was smeared across her neck, her scrub top splayed open to reveal her partially cut white undershirt.

“Erin!” He moved toward her, his gun still at the ready, eyes darting around the room.

“Sean, he’s still—”

At the sound of movement behind him, Sean spun around. The guy was charging him, a knife raised in his hand. Sean pointed his gun and fired, unsure of where the bullet hit, but forward momentum kept the man plowing toward him. They fell backward, crashing into a shelving unit. Picture frames tumbled down around them, shattering when they hit the floor.

As they wrestled for dominance, Sean felt the hot slice of the knife across his left biceps. Wedged between their bodies, he still held tight to his gun. He managed to free his hand, pressing the barrel beneath the guy’s left armpit, and pulled the trigger again. This time he hit something vital.

The man dropped like a felled tree, landing on his side, the knife bouncing out of his hand to the carpet. Sean kept his gun trained on him and kicked the knife farther away. He recognized him as being the leering bartender from Blue. Hard to forget that hair. He pressed his fingers to his throat, but felt nothing, so he secured the safety on his gun and tucked it into the back of his jeans.

Sean dropped to his knees beside Erin, sweeping her into his arms. “I’ve got you, love. It’s over,” he whispered. “You’re safe now.”

She wept softly against his neck. Somehow he got them both onto the couch, cradling her in his lap. God, he’d come so close to losing her. He wouldn’t have been able to live with it if he had.

Outside the open door of her apartment, sirens wailed and cars could be heard sliding to a stop. There were voices too, curious or frightened neighbors who had heard gunshots, and the officers telling them all to stay back.

Warm blood trickled down his arm, but he didn’t turn her loose. He just kept holding her tight, letting the tremors in her body subside, murmuring to her that she was okay, he had her, and he wasn’t going to let go.