Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] (36 page)

Red could find no motive for the attacks and there'd
been absolutely no trace evidence left behind at the scenes. Morgan hadn't even
found usable DNA
after her attack. Well, he
did, but there was no way to
determine when it got there.

No one was that good at killing. No one. Every
murder provided evidence. All you had to do was
look in the right place. Yet there'd been none that she could
tie to
Kane or anyone else for that matter.

She had scoured the crime scenes and the photos,
finding nothing for her efforts. It was impossible. It was
as if a ghost
had killed the women. Kane may be a
lot
of things, but he wasn't a
phantom. She had to keep
looking.

Red ran a hand through her hair, tugging out her
ponytail.
She rubbed her scalp, trying to sooth the tension
building steadily behind her eyes. Red couldn't take
suspicions and
speculations to Morgan. He'd laugh
her out of his office or worse
yet, run her out of town.
And who could blame him?

By the way, Morgan, I think your
cousin is the lu
natic
behind the murders. Proof? What's that ?

She strode down the hall, her body trembling to keep
her emotions in
check. Red hadn't come right out
and told the women that their granddaughters were
dead,
but
she might as well have.

She'd always been a terrible liar. Why had she thought
she could waltz
in here, ask a few questions, then
leave
untouched? It was naive at
best, unprofessional at worst. Red swiped a hand over her face and
rushed
toward the exit.

She threw open the door, relishing the feel of the dry
heat as it
greeted her. The sun hung low in the sky,
but it hadn't quite breached the horizon.
Sweat immediately
broke out over her skin, dotting her forehead
and trickling
between her shoulder blades. She walked a few steps away from the building,
needing
more space.

A breeze wafted over her, leaving a thin sheen of grit
and sand behind. There was no use trying to wipe it away, another would only
replace it. Taking several deep breaths, she managed to expel the urine scent
from her nostrils, but nothing could remove the pain.

She bent at the waist, her hands resting on her
knees, and wept for all the senseless destruction
of hu
man life, all the families that had been torn apart, never to
mend, and all the wasted futures that no
longer
existed. She pictured her mom, dad, and
little-
sister, imagining what they would've done given more
time. Such a waste. Sobs racked her body.

The violence never ended. She
might manage to
capture Kane, but there'd
be another to quickly take
his place. More
deaths, more loss. Morgan Hashed
into her mind, bringing instant
comfort, followed closely by another wave of sadness. She continued to weep,
this time over the impending loss of the only man
Red
could ever see herself loving.

chapter
twenty-one

Morgan looked up from what he was
doing as
Gina
entered his office.
Her hazel eyes were
swollen and rimmed with red, her normally clear
complexion blotchy. She sniffled, glancing around
in search of something. Morgan opened his desk
and pulled out a tissue, handing it to her as he
came
around his desk.

"What happened?" he asked, running his arms
over
her body. She didn't appear to have any injuries.

"I'm fine," she said,
taking a step away from him.
She didn't meet his gaze.

Morgan's gut clenched. 'Then why
have you been crying?”

Gina
sniffed again and turned her back on him. "I
haven't. It's from the dust."

She was lying, but he didn't
press. All Morgan wanted
to do was
pull her into his arms and comfort her.
Yet she didn't seem to want him to. His appre
hension rose.

"Where have you been? You
said you weren't go
ing
to be gone long." He didn't want to admit
how worried
he’d
been or that
he'd actually sent a deputy
out to find
her. When the man had returned empty. handed, Morgan had panicked and thought
about calling in the tactical team for assistance. He was glad now that he
hadn't, but it was a testament to how far under his skin she'd managed to
burrow.

Gina stood in silence so long that he began to fear
she wasn't going to respond. Morgan reached out, stopping short of touching
her.

"I needed to follow up on some information I
found in the files of the three murdered women." She turned and met his
gaze.

Morgan dropped his hand away. "Where exactly did
you go?"

"I went to the elder care center. Do you remember
a children's story that contained a wolf, a grand-mother, and a girl dressed in
red?"

He could feel the blood drain
from his face as his
gaze shifted to the
wall. Morgan knew the book she
was
referring to. It was his and Kane's favorite story
when they were kids and the reason they'd chosen
wolf DNA in order to aid their country during the war. A tat
tered yellow paperback copy currently sat in his
safe
next to Jesse's death chip recording, which docu
mented her time and cause of death and noted her
per
sonal belongings. He rarely got
the book out to read because it was so fragile. It was the only personal belonging
that managed to survive from his previous life.
"You're talking
about 'Little Red Riding Hood,'" he said finally.

"Yes, that's it." She nodded. "I
couldn't remember the name. Something about the photos reminded me of that
story, so I checked outside immediate families and found a connection. All
three women had grandmothers
staying at one time or another at the elder care
center.
Kane's linked to all the patients."

"That could be a coincidence. There are a lot of
el
derly people living there," he
said, not liking the direction
she was headed.
"Besides, he works there.
Kane's
checked on every patient in that facility. There have
been times when he's been the only doctor w
orking there. Without him, a lot of people would've died
."

He
could also get access to Jesse's room without anyone
seeing
him," she pressed on. "Who better than
a doctor who knows the care
center in and out?"

Morgan's stomach knotted. "I don't see how this
has anything to do with a child's story," he lied. How many
times had Uncle
Robert read that story to him and
Kane? More times than he could remember. That's why
he'd hung onto the book. Morgan had al-ways
hoped that he and Kane would read it to
their kids some day.

"I noticed something else about the victims. One
had her eyes missing, while another had her ears re
moved. The third had no teeth. Couple that with three
grandmothers
in the elder center. Sound familiar?"

"Sounds insane."
Morgan forced himself to breathe. "I suppose you think Kane is the Big Bad
Wolf." He was
...
but he prayed that Gina didn't know that.

Gina snorted. "Of course not. There's no such
thing."

He flinched. "So then why suspect Kane? What
motive would he have for killing these women or attacking you? Assuming you
think he is behind your attack."

Her expression dropped. "I haven't been able to
figure that out yet, but I will. I wanted to come
to you
first before I approached the team. I believe I have enough
circumstantial evidence to get a warrant issued."

Panic engulfed Morgan. "Did you find DNA? Prints?
Anything concrete?"

She hesitated. "No, not exactly."

"No? Or not exactly? Which is it?" he asked.

"No, I haven't yet."

"Then you have
nothing." he said. "You don't want
to drag Kane's name through the mud with suppositious and gut
feelings. This town depends on him. The whole damn republic counts on him to
keep the place running."

"He's the only one who connects to all the
victims, including me," she said. "I wouldn't have broached the
subject, if I wasn't sure."

"But you're not sure. You
said so yourself." Morgan
began to pace, his mind in a riot. If Gina called in the
tactical team, then their secret would be discovered.
He couldn't let them run a DNA test on Kane. He
had
to think of something. Come up
with some way to stop
her. Change her mind.

"Let me look into it," he offered, not believing
for a second that Kane was involved. Yet the seed of
doubt had been planted, rooting itself in his own sus
picions.
Gina had gathered enough information to give him pause.

"Like you looked into Renee Forrester's
death?" she tossed out. He tensed and slowly turned to face her. She
believed he'd covered up the murders. Hell,
he
had been covering them up, but not for the reasons
she suspected.

"Morgan, I'm sorry, but I have to do this."

"Save it." He shook
his head. "You don't have to do
anything."

"These women deserve justice."

"And they'll get it. All I'm asking is that you
trust me
on this."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You're
asking
me to turn my back."

"No." he pleaded,
"I'm not. I am asking you to leave
this
case to
me. Let me handle it in my own way."

"Which is?"

Morgan stopped and faced her. "Quietly. Without
the
eyes
of the world looking in."

Gina glanced away. "I don't think I can do
that."

Pain lanced Morgan's chest, shredding his heart. Why
had he expected
anything less? She didn't trust him
or believe that he'd do the right thing. How in the
hell had he
thought they could somehow work things
out and slay together? He'd been a fool. A fool who'd
marked and
mated with Gina. And now she was
going to destroy his world and his people unless he
gave her a good
reason not to.

There was only one thing Morgan could think to do.
He walked past
her and shut the door, locking it with
a soft click of a button. She still hadn't stirred,
but was watching his every move.

"I'm going to share something with you that I've
never shared with any other outsider," he
said, unbut
toning his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"There is something that you need to know about
me.
I
should've told you a long time
ago, but I didn't
know how. Now you've
left me no choice."

"Morgan?" She frowned.
"I don't understand. What are you talking about? Why are you
undressing?" She
took a step back.
"I don't think this is the time or the place for that."

"I'm about to trust you
with my life," he said, con
tinuing
to strip.

Red watched Morgan drop his pants.
Her gaze
strayed
to the front of his underclothing, but he wasn't aroused. Instead, he remained
tense, almost agitated as
he strolled behind the desk.

"Whatever happens, I need you to remain calm and
not run away," he gasped and clutched his chest. "Promise me,
Gina."

Welts rose from beneath his skin.

"Morgan?"

"Promise," he barked, an almost gutteral
sound coming from his throat.

Red jumped. "I promise." She couldn't seem
to look away as he contorted in pain.

Sweat ran down his body in rivulets and he dropped to
his knees with his head thrown back. A howl shattered the space, ringing out so
loudly that Red had to cover her ears. Bones popped and blood splattered the
wall. She stared in horror as hair covered Morgan's body. Talons sprung from
his fingertips and his amber eyes turned golden. His sensuous lips peeled back
to reveal jagged canines. Red took a step back, her hand reaching for her
gun—the gun she'd left at Morgan's home. She didn't dare take her eyes off him
for fear he'd attack.