Hunting (23 page)

He wanted his hands on
those breasts, his mouth on them.

He had not had such strong
feelings of physical lust for a woman in years. Her hands were
graceful as she finished undressing and he wondered briefly if
she’d taken a few years of dance lessons. She was quite elegant in
her naked state, and he found that fascinating. He could watch her
indefinitely.

Maybe he would.

Her legs were toned and her
buttocks the perfect heart-shape that many men favored. Pity she
hid it under those bulky trousers.

Dr. Julia Bellows also
favored stockings and garter belts beneath her clothes.

He straightened in his
chair, hand going to his zipper to readjust himself when the scraps
of fabrics were revealed.

She wore the tiniest pair
of dark panties that he suspected were black to match the garters.
Had she worn them for Malachi? Or for herself? Did they make her
feel sexy and wanton? She removed the garters in the sexiest
striptease he’d ever been privileged to witness.

He was quite disappointed
when she climbed into her tub and slid beneath the frothy bubble
bath.

A woman like her, with a
body like that, was meant to be revealed to only a privileged
man.

Malachi Brockman should not
be that man.

No, that privilege should
be all
his
.

He leaned back in his chair
and stroked himself as he imagined what he would do once he had
her.

But first, he would toy
with Malachi a bit…

The file was waiting on
Malachi’s desk when he arrived at PAVAD the next day. Inside it was
every detail about the Jane and John Doe brought in the previous
day.

He’d speculated that the
male victim would be reported missing by his female love interest.
That wasn’t the case in this instance.

Because the man’s wife was
the female victim.

He’d never taken two
victims together before. But then again, he’d never killed in the
same manner twice, either.

A chess piece—black
pawn—had been found in the man’s underwear when Mia Ripley had
removed the victim’s clothing.

The white pawn and a black
pawn, the woman found on Meredith Drive, the man Alexandra Avenue.
The woman dark haired, small-statured. The man, Malachi’s size and
general build and coloring. They had one child, a five-year-old
blonde girl. The woman was a physician, the man a psychiatrist with
a private practice in Chesterfield.

The similarities between
the victims and him and Julia were forefront in his
mind.

Where was she today? Was it
her day off? He sent her a quick text. Her reply came two minutes
later, and was full of irritation. No, it was still early for Julia
to be in. She normally came in by ten, and it was only nine. She
was probably just getting Ruthie dressed...

He could almost imagine the
scene. Julia fixing breakfast while dressed in a frilly pink
robe—the same one he’d seen hanging in her bathroom—and Ruthie
slurping back cereal milk. The only thing missing from that picture
was...

Him.

He felt a longing so deep
it actually hurt him.

He knew where he wanted to
be.

His phone pinged,
indicating an email. He glanced at it, not recognizing the return
address. But he recognized the attachment. The woman in the
attachment was half-naked, turned toward the camera, hand at her
waist to remove the trousers she wore. His gaze latched on to the
tiny tattoo he’d seen one time in South Dakota.

The pink frilly robe hung
on the door behind her.

He cursed, and grabbed his
desk phone, dialing the number he’d just texted.

“
Julia? Stay home. I’ll be
right there. And make sure your doors are locked.”

She put the phone down on
the counter, and grabbed her keys. The tiniest key fit the gun safe
by her bed. It was there she headed next. Ruthie was absorbed in
her morning PBS show—one of the few shows she was allowed to
watch—and wasn’t paying too much attention to what Jules was
doing.

Just as well.

She checked the weapon,
making sure it was loaded properly, and in safety. She wasn’t
taking any chances, not with her little girl around.

But she felt better with
the weapon strapped to her waist.

What had happened that had
him so tense? She flicked back the kitchen curtain; her security
detail was still camped out on the street corner—probably pretty
darned cold. But they were there.

The rest of the house was
undisturbed.

Had something happened to
Al or Paige? Ed or...Georgia and Matthew?

She couldn’t sit and relax,
instead pacing up and down the small hallway that connected the
kitchen to the bathroom.

How long was it going to
take him to get there anyway? How long was she supposed to wait
until she got some answers? Jules sucked at waiting; didn’t he know
that?

Finally, she heard a
vehicle in the driveway. She checked at the curtain.

He met her at the door. He
came in with purpose, pulling his hat and gloves—probably made by
his mother—off and tossing them on her counter as he did so.
“Inside.”

“
I’m inside. What’s going
on?” She closed the door behind him.

“
Ruthie, baby, I’m going to
take your Momma into the other room and have some grown-up talk,
ok? There’s going to be a red-haired lady come inside to sit with
you for a few minutes, ok? She’s been out in the snow for a long
time, and I bet she’d love to sit inside and drink chocolate milk
with you for a little while, don’t you?”

Whatever had happened, he
was bringing Agent Edmond to sit with Ruthie. Something
had
happened, then. Jules’ breath caught. “Georgia? Mattie?”

He held up a hand. “They’re
fine, sweetheart.”

They went to her bedroom.
With her home’s open floor plan, there was no place else she felt
there was good enough privacy. “What in hell is going
on?”

“
This.” He was looking for
something, and Jules took the phone he handed to her. Looked at the
screen. She squealed when she saw the image.

“
How? When? Oh my god, he’s
been in my house!”

“
Yes, he has.” His words
were grim as he poked in every corner of her bedroom. It was the
one room she’d decorated fully, and that she retreated to when she
just needed to be with her own thoughts.

He found something in her
copy of
A Lot Like a Lady
, a Regency she’d not yet had a
chance to read, and brought the book to her. “I spoke with
Marianna; she’s sending Cody and Kelly Reynolds over to check the
entire house—it’s their day off, and Ed authorized the overtime. I
thought you’d be more comfortable with keeping this as quiet as
possible.”

“
So one in my bedroom and
one in my bath. Where else? Ruthie’s room? Oh,
God
.” A
madman had been in her home. Possibly in Ruthie’s room. He really
was targeting her.

“
We’ll check. He had to
know we’d find these. This one especially was too easy to find.
When were you planning to read that book?”

“
This weekend. I have three
days off, and was planning on relaxing for once.” So much for
that.

“
How long has this book
been on this shelf right here?” It was right by her door, where
she’d sat it the day it had arrived.

“
Two weeks or so. It came
on a Saturday, but I didn’t open it until late that night. I put it
on the shelf with the others I received that day. I order books
once a month online, then read them on my days off. So he’s been
here sometime between yesterday and the first Sunday I went to
church with you.” Almost three weeks ago.

“
Yes.” He wrapped strong
hands around her shoulders and pulled her to face him. “You’re
coming home with me. Between Mick, Al, and your detail, I think
that is the safest option. Go pack you and Ruthie some things.
We’ll drop them off on our way to my parents.”

She didn’t argue. The
picture of her, naked, was still on the screen of his phone. Had
she ever felt that violated? “He’s a watcher, isn’t he?”

“
Yes. I think so. I never
put it together before, but what if he watches his victims for a
few days? The victims yesterday? Married couple. With a small
blonde daughter. He had to watch them for a while—or at least one
of them—in order to find people that resembled what he was looking
for.
Us.
”

“
So chances are good he’s
been watching you for a long, long time.” She shivered and
surprised them both by wrapping her arms around his waist. He held
her against him for a long time. “He’s someone
close
. Close
to you. I don’t think this is just some random guy you’ve
arrested.”

He stilled, then held her
tighter. “What do you mean?”

“
I think...this is someone
who knows you. And knows you well. Someone who knew you’d make this
very move. Someone’s playing you, because he knows just how to do
it. Knows exactly how to make you tick. I think he’s someone you’d
probably consider a friend...and this city has become the
board.”

***

She surprised him with how
docilely she followed his orders—for once. The photo had
disconcerted her far more than he’d expected, and he shamelessly
took advantage of it.

She grabbed her ready bag,
and a laundry basket. Threw things in it haphazardly. She grabbed a
second one and headed into Ruthie’s room. Emptied the little girl’s
dresser drawers into the second basket. The last thing she grabbed
was the bedding off the tiny daybed. And the half-dozen stuffed
animals that had been on the blanket were piled on top. “I’m ready.
Let’s go. I have twenty minutes before I need to be at
PAVAD.”

Malachi understood what she
wasn’t saying. She was putting her trust in him, and he felt every
bit of that weight. He wouldn’t fail them.

He and Agent Richards
carried the baskets to the back of the Bureau SUV. He’d be ferrying
Julia and Ruthie anywhere they needed to go until they caught the
bastard, but he’d have an agent take her car to PAVAD and secure it
there.

Forty minutes later they’d
safely turned Ruthie over to Malachi’s mother, and he was in the
CCU bullpen, catching everyone else up to speed.

Julia had scurried away to
her sanctuary in the annex the minute they’d entered the building,
and Malachi understood.

She needed normal, and for
her, cutting up the dead was normal.

“
She ok?” Hellbrook asked
when they had a moment of privacy.

“
It terrified her. Violated
her. When she’s had a bit more time to think it through, it will
piss her off.” Scared, raw, and then angry—that was how she dealt
with things.

“
Poor Jules. She keeps
drawing the short straw, doesn’t she?”

“
Not any longer.” He would
make damned sure of that.

“
So it blows that way, does
it?” Hell laughed, tapped against Malachi’s desk. “Kind of
suspected back at Thanksgiving.”

“
Gloating, my friend?”
Hadn’t they had this conversation before?

“
Just appreciating. And
empathizing. I’ve been there, remember?”

Yes, Hell had. “Right in
the middle of chasing a madman, even. I just want to catch this
guy, get it over with, then focus on other things.” He thought of
how Ruthie had silently accepted the change they’d thrust on her
this morning. How much fear she was probably feeling. “Important
things.”

“
Like your woman and her
kid. Strange parallels, my friend.”

And Jules had been a target
of Hell’s madman, too. “Any pointers?”

Hell turned serious. “What
did you do?”

“
Told her how I felt.
Showed her how I felt.” It felt awkward talking about Julia with
the other man. Malachi wasn’t one to share his feelings freely,
even with those he considered his closest friends.

But Hellbrook was one of
her friends, too, and was in the unique position of being married
to her closest friend—a woman whose background was similar to
Julia’s. If anyone could help him figure Julia out, it would be
Hell.

“
And she’s not
interested.”

“
Not exactly. I think she
is interested. But she’s also remarkably leery about it. And who
can blame her? It’s not like now is a good time for anything. I’m
trying to catch a serial killer who has targeted me. She’s trying
to bond with Ruthie. Neither one of us has the time to even blink
at each other in passing. So why?”

“
Shit has a way of
happening like that.” Hell stood, checking his watch. “That’s the
one thing I learned last year. I shouldn’t have been so blind to
the way things really were—to the woman right under my damned nose.
I’m just lucky things worked out for us the way they
did.”