Trace & Tori [The ShadowDance Club 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (19 page)

Laughing to herself, Tori remembered meeting Layla after work one night for drinks after the Blonde Tornado had blown “Stalkerman,” as Layla had dubbed him, right back out the front doors of the office building where they worked. Layla had grabbed the bouquet of flowers out of his hand and swatted him with them all the way out the front, leaving a trail of floral destruction in her path. When Tori had come down the hall just in time to see Gary stalking off down the sidewalk, she’d taken in the flower stems and petals littering the floor and had burst out laughing. Unfortunately that laughter had soon been followed by racking sobs. Layla had quickly gotten them both out of the building quickly, and a few minutes later they’d been sipping the most enormous margaritas Tori had ever seen. They’d talked late into the night about everything and nothing.
God I wish I had Layla nearby to talk to. Kat, Jenna, and Rissa would so love her…damn but we’d all have fun together!

Because of her appearance Layla was continually underestimated. The woman was a modern-day version of Marilyn Monroe, except for her Mensa-worthy IQ. Tori knew about all the hours her friend spent studying, she would be graduating Summa Cum Laude from The University of Texas in Houston with a Master of Science degree in Business this coming May. She was so proud of Layla. The woman was fierce in everything she did despite a very rocky history. Tori made a mental note to ask Mitch Grayson if there was a way she could securely e-mail Layla and invite her to visit after her graduation. Sighing softly, she tried to relax back in the warm water and consider all the ways her life had been affected by the relentless stalking of a man she’d only had dinner with once. Focusing on all the horrible things he’d done wasn’t going to accomplish anything. She needed to remember that without fate playing out the way it had, she would have never considered coming to Colorado when she’d received the letter about her surprise windfall. She would have never met Trace, and even though they hadn’t been together very long, her soul recognized him from the moment she’d looked up in to his eyes as she sat in the snow in front of that crazy bar. No, she wasn’t going to focus on what she’d lost, rather she would look at what she’d gained, and she couldn’t imagine her life without Trace in it.

* * * *

Gary George could smell lavender as he made his way through the enormous bedroom. Pausing beside the bed, he thought the top of his head was going to blow clear off as he envisioned Victoria giving herself to the fucking cowboy she’d sold herself to. Christ, didn’t the woman have any taste at all? Knowing she had been willing to share with this two-bit mountain man, what she’d denied him was infuriating. Deciding he’d need to add another “punishment” for that, but really, what did it matter? He was going to torture and kill her anyway. Keeping score seemed like a waste of effort when you looked at the large picture. He knew he was doing society a huge favor by taking women like Victoria Paulson off the streets.
Yeah, dick teases
—
all of them. The world is better off without them. Leaves righteous women like his sweet mama with more options, yes, that’s what it does. Hell, I ought to get a fucking Nobel Prize or something.

Putting his thoughts of her having sex in this bed aside, he moved toward the partially closed door of the bathroom. Standing to the side, he focused on her reflection in the mirror. She really was a beautiful woman, but his admiration didn’t earn her a reprieve from her fate. Several of the women he’d killed had been stunning, but their beauty was lost forever as soon as he took a knife to them. Their blood and screams and the stench of coming death had filled his senses. For a few seconds he was lost in the memory of how turned on he became each time he watched one of them take their last breath. Shaking himself out of his musings, he stood watching Tori for a few seconds, thinking about how satisfying it was going to feel as his knife sliced through that ivory skin. Fucking the women he’d killed had never been his driving force, it had always just a very pleasant side benefit. Feeling his body start to respond with arousal at the sight of Victoria lying back wet and naked, he shifted his stance to relieve the pressure of his dick trying to press itself through the zipper of his pants. As he moved to adjust his rapidly responding cock, his elbow bumped the wall, and even though the sound was barely audible, he froze in place. He barely breathed as he watched her face for any sign she’d heard him.

* * * *

Despite the fact Tori had been drifting in a sort of relaxed fog, the small thump just outside the door brought her instantly back. She barely managed to keep her eyes closed, and instinctively she knew staying calm and not letting an intruder know she was aware of their presence was her only advantage, well, at least until she could get her hand on the small pistol laying under her towel.

Running through the facts had always been Tori’s way of dealing with stressful situations, and this was no exception. First, she knew the alarms would have been triggered by his entrance into the house. She briefly wondered how he had gotten close enough when there were perimeter systems out there that rivaled top-secret military installations, but she quickly dismissed those thoughts as not useful at this point. Planning exactly how she was going to pretend to come awake slowly and then gracefully stand, letting the water sluice down her body. Hey a distraction is a distraction, and right now she didn’t have much to work with, so she’d use every trick in the book. She would reach down and palm the small gun in her right hand when she picked up the bath sheet. She wasn’t sure how she was going to conceal the fact he was holding a gun while drying herself, but she’d just have to wing that part.

Gary George was relieved when Victoria hadn’t heard the small sound his elbow had made when he’d bumped the wall. Christ but it had been a heart-stopping moment as he had held his breath watching for any sign the sleeping slut had heard him. When he saw her start to stretch and move, he decided to just let her give him a little peep show. Hell she’d be easier to handle if she wasn’t all slick and wet anyway. He almost laughed out loud at his own play on words.
Bitch, you are going to be slick and wet for me soon enough. As soon as I find a nice secluded spot out in those woods, we’ll be revisiting slick and wet, yes indeed.

* * * *

Creed had finally made his way to the house and was slowly moving up the stairs when he heard the distinctive sound of someone moving around in water. Rolling his eyes, he silently sent up a prayer that Tori would be covered by the time the prick who’d made his way into her home found his way to her. The thought of her being exposed to her stalker nearly made him hurl. Just as he hit the upstairs hallway, he heard a small gasp just before the sound of Tori screaming filled the air.

* * * *

Tori had palmed the gun and was almost dry when she looked up in the mirror and locked eyes with Gary George. Even though she’d known it had to be him, she was still so startled she gasped and screamed. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here! Get out!” She knew she was wasting her breath, but every second they spent talking was another second closer for the cavalry she knew must be on its way.

“Think you’re pretty fucking smart taking off, don’t you, bitch? I told you that you were mine and only mine. You’ll never belong to the hick cowboy you’ve been fucking.” His voice sent shivers up Tori’s spine, it sounded like something Hollywood would come up with for a demon. When he realized she wasn’t reacting, he barked, “Get your hot little body dry, but don’t use that towel between your legs. I want you to have to feel that wetness as you walk out of this place for the last time.”

“What do you mean the last time? I’m not going anywhere with you. I know you’re being watched. You’ve killed other women, haven’t you?” Tori knew she was poking the bear, but she had to keep him talking so she could get in position to shoot. Right now he was standing just enough around the corner that she wouldn’t have a clear shot, and she was certain she was going to get one…and only one chance.

* * * *

Creed couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Holy fuck, woman, don’t antagonize his psycho ass!
Before he could enter the room, he heard Tori speaking again and decided to hit his mic with the signal for Grayson to record. As he listened it occurred to him that she was not only stalling for time, she was getting a confession that would put the bastard behind bars for the rest of his life. Knowing he could only let it go on for a minute or two at the max before the house was swarming with his team, he decided to give the lady her chance. He could see George in the reflection of the mirror hanging above the headboard of the Bartells’ massive bed, and he didn’t have a gun trained on her, and Creed knew he would be able to take the bastard out before he ever drew his piece.

* * * *

Gary leaned against the doorjamb as if this conversation was an everyday occurrence and let his eyes trace over every inch of her exposed flesh before he answered. “You think you’ve got it all figured out, huh?” He paused for several long heartbeats before his eyes returned to hers, she shivered at their cold depths. She didn’t think she’d ever seen eyes that were nothing but pools of absolute nothingness, and Tori swore to herself she would remember that look as long as she lived _ which wouldn’t be long if he got his hands on her, she was sure of that. “You are the only woman I ever considered keeping. If you had just returned my feelings, you wouldn’t have had to go to all this trouble and I wouldn’t be here looking at your lush naked body and thinking about how great it’s going to feel to finally fuck you. Maybe I should just hang out and let lover boy watch, huh? Think he’d enjoy watching while I ream every hole you’ve got before I start slicing and dicing?”

Tori was shifting ever so slowly so she would finally be facing the pure evil that was Gary George. Pretending to stumble back in her nervousness, she used the cover of that move to mask the small snick as she released the safety on the small pistol she still hadn’t revealed. “I don’t understand. Why me? You’re a good-looking guy, you shouldn’t have any trouble attracting women.” Tori was enraged but had managed to keep her voice shaky so he’d believe she was nearly mindless with fear. He seemed to be the most relaxed and comfortable when he had the upper hand, and she wasn’t ready to play her ace just yet.

“Oh I never had any trouble getting any of the whores I killed to leave a bar or restaurant with me. You know, you are the only one out of a dozen that I even bought a meal? Christ you were one expensive date, and don’t think I didn’t know the minute you had discounted me either. Just before you ordered dessert, you decided I was just another rejected meal ticket, didn’t you?”

Tori was actually surprised that he had been that tuned in during their date since he hadn’t managed to stop talking about himself for more than thirty seconds during their entire evening together. She wasn’t about to admit to that he’d hit it so close to dead center, not just yet anyway. “That isn’t true, I really hadn’t thought about it until you took me home. You were just so forceful and sure of yourself, well, you kind of overwhelmed me.”

Deciding she needed to direct the conversation rather than just answering him, she quickly added, “Have you really killed a dozen women? How did you get away with it? You must be extremely intelligent to have eluded capture for so long.” Trying to interject a small amount of admiration into her voice had almost made her skin crawl, but she only needed to stall for one more subtle shift, and then she’d be ready.

He pushed himself from the door and took a step toward her before he spoke. “I am the police, you dimwitted cunt. Do you really think I wouldn’t know exactly how to direct and distract the investigation? Jesus, some of those detectives are as dumb as a box of rocks, I tell you. Stupid fuckers wouldn’t let me transfer to homicide because I didn’t have a fucking college degree, so I wasn’t as smart as them. Well, who’s the smart one now?”

Tori swore she saw his eyes practically glow as the evil inside him continued to spew forth. Just as she was ready to speak again, he raised his hand to reveal a wicked looking knife, the blade had to be at least seven inches long and reflected the light in ways that told her it had been sharpened to the point it would slide through flesh and muscle with ease. His feral smile let her know that the time for talking was over, even before he spoke “Move on out of there, let’s get going. I’m done answering all your ignorant questions.”

Tori watched his eyes widen as he took in the sight of the gun she had pulled from the towel while his eyes had been locked on hers. “Don’t move or I
will
shoot you.” Tori could tell by the way his eyes flashed and his lips twitched, he didn’t believe her for a second. She watched his eyes just as Mia had taught her to.
Wait for it…wait for it.
Oh yeah there it was, the small blink just before he lunged, and her reaction had been instantaneous.

Pulling the trigger was the easiest decision she’d ever made. There was not one single part of her that was going to allow him to hurt her or any other woman ever again. Watching as red bloomed across his chest and his expression went from anger to shock, she pulled the trigger again, placing the second shot right between his eyes. As he fell at her feet, the knife he’d been clutching skittered across the floor just as Jamie Creed burst in to the room with his gun drawn.

Looking down at the very dead man on the floor, Creed used the toe of his boot to flip him over and smiled. “Goddamn, Tori, nice shooting. Holy hell, if you weren’t already married, I’d propose on the spot.” Tori looked up at him with wide eyes, and he realized that she was rapidly skating toward a meltdown. Creed crossed the distance between them in a split second realizing she was a breath away from adrenaline crash. “Oh shit. Hey, it’s okay. You did great. You are kick ass you know that?” He quickly holstered his gun and wrapped her in the robe he found on the counter. When he had her covered, he scooped her up and moved quickly down the hall. Just was he reached the top of the stairs, Trace barreled through the front door.