Beyond the Shadows (19 page)

The hall led to her bedroom and he sat down on the edge of her bed to study it. Simple, but elegant furnishings summed up the woman he’d started to get a mental picture of. It seemed she also had a love of retro knick-knacks too judging by the alarm clock on one bedside table. Doilies prevented scuffing of the wooden furniture where objects sat proudly displayed on top. Seventies-fringed lamps and Disney snow-globes sat incongruously next to modern wrought-iron sculptures, but the strange grouping brought a smile to his face. It was fun and unexpected, and he suspected much like the woman he was about to meet.

He riffled through the bedside drawer, taking care not to disturb anything. His hands froze as he encountered a vibrator and a box of condoms and his lip curled.
This
was why. Here before him lay the proof of why God chose her for him to destroy next. Her angelic features must have been created by the Devil himself to hide her true nature as a fornicating temptress. And to camouflage herself as a good person—a cop—was the ultimate lie. A growl rumbled out of his chest. She would pay for those sins with her life.

He lay back on her covers and settled in to await her return. When she stepped through that door, she would be facing the wrath of God. Smiling at the thought, he allowed the quiet and warmth of the room to lull him into a sensual haze. He drifted off with a sense of well-being and anticipation, trusting his fine-honed senses to wake him once she entered the house.

****

“According to the coroner, the reporter’s time of death was estimated to be in the early hours of the morning on the day she was found,” Kelly recited, looking up from the report. “And you saw the shadow on the news bulletin of the night before. The theory, that you’re seeing the shadow at the time the killer decides on his next victim, looks pretty good, doesn’t it? He must have seen the same report we did.”

“It does.” Nate rubbed his chin, the subtle rasp of stubble sending pangs of lust through her body. As if he’d been imprinted on her body, she could still feel the warmth of him between her thighs. His knowing grin made her squirm. Those piercing eyes of his missed nothing including the sudden flush to her skin. He leaned casually on the back of her chair, his breath tickling the fine hairs at her nape. “But there’s something that looks even better right in front of my nose.”

Despite the horror of the situation and the corny line, Kelly smiled, inexplicably pleased and lifted her chin to kiss him. What was meant to be a peck on the lips quickly turned volcanic. For a time after leaving his room, she’d been afraid he’d revert into the man who was determined to keep her at a distance.

She twisted around and wrapped her arms around his neck, one hand buried in his hair to hold him close. Glorying in the feel of his thick, silky waves running through her fingers, she groaned and he thrust his tongue into her mouth, explicitly showing her what he wanted to do to her body. A ripple ran under her skin the length of her body but before it could get out of hand, she broke off and pushed him away.

“As much as I’d like to take this to its natural conclusion,” she ignored the comical waggling of his eyebrows, “delaying the work needed to find this asshole for pleasurable pursuits could get me killed.”

He sobered instantly at the reminder and straightened up. “You’re right.” He moved to the other side of the table and pulled out a chair. Ruffling the same patch of hair disturbed by her hands, he scowled down at the blank piece of paper before him and picked up the pen. Doodling pictures of crosses drawn with a heavy hand betrayed his tension. “If the key to finding him is the necklace and the shadow points to the timing…holy shit! Of course!”

Kelly jerked as his free hand covered hers and squeezed. “What?”

Excitement brought a wild gleam to his eyes. “I saw the shadow at the beach. If we follow the same logic—that bastard was there at the same time we were. Whether intentional or not, he was scouting for his next victim! We have a search area and time he was there.” In the next moment, the excitement died and his eyes turned bleak. “I could have saved her.”

Kelly shivered at the goose-bumps pebbling her skin. “No.” Her turn to squeeze reassurance, and his hand felt icy under her touch. “He’d already chosen her Nate. There was nothing you could have done to prevent her death.” Sadness pitched her tone lower. “Perhaps that’s not the point. The point is to catch the killer, not save the ones marked.”

His head whipped around. “Don’t you
dare
start talking like that. He is not going to win.” His teeth flashed in a growl. Nostrils flaring, he sucked in a deep lungful of air then let it out in an audible hiss. He drilled her with a stare until she felt like squirming in her seat. “Anyway,” he added in a calmer voice. “I have no intention of letting you out of my sight. Plus,” he added coldly, “we’re going to arm ourselves. There is no way in hell we’re going to be defenseless against such a man.”

She gasped. “But it’s illegal to carry a firearm! Even for us. Why don’t we just carry our Tasers instead?”

He snorted. “A fat lot of good it did me just over a week ago.” His gaze bored into hers. “And I don’t think now is the time to be worrying about keeping things legal, do you?”

She hesitated, hating that he was right. They were in too deep to back out, the target on her back an uncomfortable itch. She sighed in defeat. “Fine, but I’m not comfortable with it. And you’d better bail me out of trouble if I’m discovered with it.”

“Honey, we’re already in a world of trouble. It can’t get much worse.”

She bit her lip before giving him a nod. Without another word, he headed to his office. A couple of minutes later, he came out carrying an unloaded pistol with another in a holster. An ammunition pouch hung around his neck. A chill settled in the pit of her stomach as she accepted one, the steel cooling her warm skin instantly.

“Your police training would have shown you how to handle a standard issue Glock, right? Do you need a refresher?”

Kelly shook her head and held out her hand for the ammunition. When he placed it in her palm, she expertly opened the magazine and loaded the bullets. Snapping it shut, she aimed at the television, her finger resting beside the trigger, all within a matter of seconds. She’d enjoyed and excelled at the gun training, never imagining for a moment there would come a time when her life might depend on it.

“Good,” he praised and loaded his own. After checking to make sure the safety was secure, he tucked it into a holster and strapped it on, indicating she do the same. He waited until she strapped the holster around her hips and housed the gun before continuing. “I’d like you to keep it on you at all times, no ifs or buts. Okay?”

Kelly frowned. It all felt so unreal like she was stuck in someone else’s life. “It’s all a little bit Rambo don’t you think?”

In the blink of an eye, Nate seized her chin, his breath hot on her face, lips peeled back from his teeth. “This man isn’t your average garden variety scumbag in case you haven’t noticed. He’s seriously screwed-up in the head. Who knows what he’ll do to get to you but I’m not willing to find out without protection—are you?”

Tears came to her eyes and she twisted out of his grip. “Do you think I don’t know that Nate? I’m not some stupid bimbo without a thought in my head.” Anger heated her words. She spat them into his face as they boiled out of her. “Do you think I wanted this sociopath zeroing in on me? I feel like a sitting duck in hunting season.”

Finished her tirade, she glowered at him, fists clenched at her side. A faint smile touched his mouth. With dawning understanding, she realized he’d wound her up on purpose, to bring her out of her funk and it had worked. The bastard. Even the icy numbness had disappeared, leaving her free to breathe and think. Nate retreated and sat down, his gaze no longer remote. An emotion all too easy to read burned in his eyes. Fear. For her. He didn’t say anything further, but his very silence encouraged her to unburden herself.

The anger disappeared under his regard and she sighed. “I’ve always been the one in control. Look at me,” she spread her hands wide. “I’ve never been a shrinking violet in need of a man to protect her. But for the first time in my life, I feel helpless and scared of my shadow—excuse the pun,” she grimaced. “That’s not me and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“All the more reason to arm yourself then isn’t it?” he asked, his voice calmer but adamant. “Arming ourselves with information will help us feel in control too.” He paused and glanced over at her. When she nodded, he continued. “Let’s work on finding security footage of service stations and shops near the beach for our victim. From stories I’ve heard from colleagues, a trip anywhere with kids usually involves untold paraphernalia. I’d expect a trip to the beach wouldn’t be complete without an ice cream or some sort of treat. I know it’s time consuming, but it just might help us find a face to this scumbag.”

“Good idea,” she nodded and resettled herself at the table in front of the laptop. Truth be told, she was glad to have some mundane tasks to settle her mind. She slid a glance at him under her lashes. She suspected it was precisely why he’d suggested the idea. A smile touched the corners of her mouth. Warmth spread from the inside out, giving her hope she could reach him and reveal the compassionate man lurking underneath the gruff exterior. He glanced at her, and she averted her gaze to the screen. She didn’t want to let him know she was on to him—yet.

She searched a general map of the area and then refined her search. Soon, she had a list of shop names, service stations and phone numbers. Scribbling furiously, she divided the names between two separate notepads and gave one to Nate. “God bless the internet.”

“If I were a religious man I’d say, ‘Amen’,” he agreed and took the paper. “Let’s get to work.”

They sat at opposite ends of the table giving them room to spread out. With the low, sexy rumble of Nate’s voice speaking into the landline a pleasant background symphony, Kelly pulled out her cell phone and got underway.

In ten minutes, her jotting paper filled with graffiti-like doodles but few solid leads. It frustrated her how few shops she contacted invested in the valuable security measure of installing security footage. A false economy. New Zealand was still perceived as a safe country, a small community, but in reality, it suffered from its fair share of unspeakable crimes just like any other. The fact it surprised and shocked locals when bad things happened in their neighborhood gave her hope though. Generally, people were good and believed others to be too. But there was a fine line between positivity and naivety. She was well aware a lot of the good people suffered from that confusion, usually to their detriment.

She glanced over at Nate’s paper and noted his was still clean and crisp apart from three lines of enquiry. How symbolic. She worked best with a little bit of chaos, thoughts coming to her on the fly—while Nate was neat, methodical, and analytical, a master at planning ahead. Grimacing, she outlined a doodle on the corner of the paper with a heavy hand. That was exactly what had got them into this mess in the first place. Sometimes it was best to just wing it and see where things took you.

A smile crept across her face and her belly curled with heat as memories of where winging it had taken her last. She stole a quick glance at Nate and shivered.
That
had certainly been the best spontaneous act she’d ever been involved in. She’d long suspected he’d be one hell of a lover. The sensual mouth and dark intensity in his eyes had played out in her fantasies and dreams for as long as she’d known him, but the reality had far exceeded her expectations.

She bit her lip as another thought followed hard on the other’s heels. How would she survive when this fling—or whatever it was—was all over? How would she hide the heartbreak once he’d grown tired of her? The most prudent thing to do would be to nip this thing in the bud now. But whenever it came to Nate, right or wrong had never come into it. She’d selfishly take as much as she could and hope he’d at least look back on their lovemaking as a glimmer of light in a very dark time.

Her glance caught on the stack of files beside Nate’s left forearm and her mouth dried. Fear threatened to short-circuit her brain. The shadow decreed she didn’t have a future to worry about. Catching herself before she spiraled down into that black abyss, she straightened her spine. All this inner turmoil and inactivity wasn’t helping her from preventing it from happening either. Mouth tightening, she renewed her focus and savagely thrust thoughts of her mortality from her mind. Maudlin thoughts would get her dead.

She punched in the last number on her list, a service station farther up the road from the beach. Introducing herself, she explained they were investigating an active case and needed public help. Her mouth twitched at the excitement evident in the attendant’s voice. His voice had gone up an octave and he tripped over his words in his rush to get them out.

“So Chris,” she interrupted. “Can you give me the name of the person who worked the Sunday shift? They’re the one I really need to talk to.”

“Oh! That would be me. I’m taking on as many shifts as possible to pay my way through Uni. The fees are ridiculously expensive and I don’t have a rich mummy or daddy to help out like so many kids in my classes, so you know…”

Kelly allowed him to ramble, adding in appropriate sounds of agreement and sympathy, fostering their relationship in his mind. People relaxed and remembered more when they thought you were interested in them personally. She fired in another routine question when he paused for breath.

“So that evening—do you remember anything unusual? Any customers say or do anything that struck you as odd?”

“Well, yeah. We get odd ones all the time. Someone came in asking for a light for their smokes. One asked for directions to their relative’s house, like I’m a mind reader! And another needed the toilet. We have a policy not to allow the public to use the worker’s toilets. It’s just an excuse to scout the place or distract attention from the cash register. You know? I just direct them to the public one outside.”