Hide My Memories: A Romantic Suspense Thriller Series (Hide Me Series Book 1) (13 page)

Blaise fished a pen out of his pocket and poised it over the paper. “Do you know that for sure?”

Katerina squeezed her eyes shut, the images suddenly coming too fast. She couldn’t decipher them. “Maybe. No. I don’t know,” she said, her voice strained and tight. West scooted his chair closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. At his touch, a black screen dropped between the still-flowing images and the rest of her brain, letting her breathe. She threw him a grateful glance, not totally sure how he did it, but glad that he could.

Blaise put his pen back in his pocket. "He gave both the women the paralytic, then possibly raped them. Definitely while wearing a condom. Maybe after they were dead -the ME says he can’t be sure exactly when it happened - and then he washed the bodies. That’s why we can’t find any evidence.”

West leaned forward to ask something, but they were interrupted by Jordan leaping out of her chair and running out of the kitchen. Katerina blanched. “Oops, I forgot most people don’t like to talk about …” she flapped her hand at Blaise’s notebook, “dead bodies when they are eating. I’ll be right back.”

She ran after Jordan, stopping at the closed bathroom door. “Jordan, honey, are you OK?”

“No,” came the strangled reply.

“Sorry, Jordan. We weren’t thinking. Cops and paramedics … well, that kind of stuff doesn’t bother us. Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Katerina slowly opened the door to her tiny bathroom and found Jordan sitting on the floor next to the toilet. “Did you puke?”

“No. Almost.”

“Sorry.”

Jordan shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you’ve been dealing with all of this. No wonder you haven't messaged me." She looked at Katerina, misery on her face. "You're really in danger aren't you?"

Katerina nodded, her brain suddenly whirling again. "A lot of danger."

"I'm glad you've got West."

"Me too," Katerina said, sighing.
But for how long?
her mind added.

"Do you mind if I just take off?" Jordan asked. "I don't think I can deal with anymore talk about bodies."

Katerina pulled Jordan to her feet and hugged her. "I don't mind at all. Thanks for coming to get us tonight. You're a lifesaver."

Katerina took Jordan to the door. Jordan didn't even want to say goodbye to the guys. Katerina could tell Jordan was embarrassed so she walked her out, made sure she got into her car safely, then went back inside, locking the door behind her.

Again, the men were in deep discussion. West looked up when she came in and asked after Jordan. "She went home, she wanted me to apologize for her and say goodbye."

West nodded. "I was just telling Blaise about what happened today. He said he'll have to go out and look at my truck, then talk to the detective in charge of the case, then come back here and get our statements."

With Jordan gone, weariness and the severity of the situation settled in on Katerina like a heavy weight. They’d been shot at. By a serial killer. She was the target of someone who was killing women. And there was nothing she could do except sit around and wait for him to show up. What about work tomorrow?

Katerina felt a pounding in her head start just behind her left ear. Before she had even sat down to eat, it spread to the other side. She pushed away her plate of food and tried to focus on what West and Blaise were saying.

"He washed the bodies. That makes me think it's somebody who knows what they were doing. Somebody who knows what the cops will be looking for," West said.

Blaise shook his head. "These days, with CSI and all the other cop shows on TV, everyone knows what the cops are looking for. The most it tells us is that he was methodical. This was not an emotional killing. But that is how many serial killers are."

Blaise stood up. "I've got to cut this short. My boss is going to want to know what happened today. I'll be back in about two hours."

Katerina tried to get up, but she felt weak and lightheaded all of a sudden. She waved at Blaise and said, "Thank you for coming over."

West walked Blaise to the door and after a short conversation returned to Katerina. Concern lined his face. "Katerina, you don't look good. How are you feeling?"

Katerina shook her head. "Headache..."

West rounded the table and grasped her shoulder. "Why don't you go lay down? It's been a hard day."

Katerina nodded, feeling a bit better with West being close to her. She let him lead her to the bedroom. The bed looked inviting, and as she climbed onto the cool sheets, her headache abated somewhat. West covered her with the blankets and looked down at her with something like pity on his face. Katerina almost couldn't stand it. She didn't want him to pity her. She reached out and grabbed his hand. It felt cool, rough, and strong.

"Stay with me? Just for a few minutes?"

West nodded and sat on the bed next to her. She tried to pull him down next to her, but didn’t have the strength. She closed her eyes, trying to gather the courage to ask him to lay with her. But she couldn’t do it.

What if he said no?

West checked the lock on the door for the third time. Still locked tight. He was glad the apartment only had one way in and one way out. He couldn't shake the feeling that this man, whoever he was, was only going to get more aggressive in his pursuit of Katerina.

West couldn’t help but feel even more strongly that it was his fault. He’d been stupid. He’d made a colossal mistake. Katerina hadn’t said a word about it though. He paced restlessly through the living room, an ear cocked to the bedroom.

Katerina had fallen asleep almost instantly and hadn't woken when Blaise came back to get their statements. West had given his and Blaise had said that Katerina's could wait. But even though her sleep was long, it was restless. She muttered and moaned and rolled around constantly. Twice he had peeked in on her and she had kicked the blankets onto the floor.

West's heart ached for her. He couldn't imagine the strain she was under. He swore again to himself that he would keep her safe, no matter what. He already knew that this killer wasn't just trying to scare them. If the man got them in a compromising position again, there would be no second chance, no way to save themselves. West vowed to himself to strike back just as hard, if he got the opportunity. Maybe he could end this, once and for all. His thoughts turned to Katerina’s gun, and he wondered where in the apartment it might be. Maybe one of them should carry it from now on.

A shriek from the one bedroom interrupted his musing. He raced down the hallway, muscles tensing for a fight. But when he got to the bedroom, he found her alone, sitting up in the middle of the bed, her eyes blank and staring.

He grasped her upper arms and spoke softly to her. "Katerina, it's a bad dream, wake up."

She flinched and tried to pull away from him. Gently, he pulled her closer. "Katerina, wake up, baby." He balked at the endearment; it had just slipped out.

Katerina's eyes fluttered and this time she really saw him. She collapsed into him, breathing hard and trembling. He stroked her hair until he felt her body relax.

"Don't leave me," Katerina whispered. "Please? Stay with me?"

“I'll stay, I'll be right here," West murmured, lowering her back onto her pillow. He kicked off his shoes and scooted close to her, folding her body into his. He could feel her warmth and softness even through his pants and shirt. She reached behind her and found his arm, pulling it over her body, twining her fingers in his. Her hair tickled his face and he smelled the clean, vanilla scent of it.

His body responded to the feel of her in his arms immediately, and he cursed it, pulling back slightly so she wouldn't feel him growing hard against her back. She wriggled backwards until their bodies touched seamlessly again. West held his breath, waiting for her to pull away, or perhaps jump off the bed in disgust. After a few moments though, he realized she was asleep again.

He berated himself, cursing the male anatomy that would respond sexually even in the middle of a burning building. But the feel of warm, soft woman in his arms distracted him quickly. He lay behind her, listening to her long, even breaths and smelling her hair, and silently said a little prayer of thanks that he could be here for her. That she hadn’t rejected him. His mind turned to thoughts of Stephanie - of the last time he had held her. He said goodbye to her one more time and let her go. He would always love her and miss her, but he knew now that her memory was finally at rest in his heart.

***

West slept only lightly. Katerina lay limp and trusting in his arms, finally sleeping well and deeply. His thoughts, and the desire to be awake to protect her, wouldn’t let him sleep. They were supposed to work tomorrow but he didn't know if they should go. He also didn't know if he would be able to talk her out of it. His mind spun webs of possibilities of ways that the killer could get her at work. The idea that played front and center in his mind was a fake 911 call, calling them to an abandoned building somewhere. They walk inside and both get shot immediately, like the man had tried to shoot them as they left the forest today. He knew this was unlikely. The killer would have to have knowledge of how ambulance calls were dispatched and know what area of the city Katerina and West were assigned to. Even though it was unlikely, he still couldn't shake the feeling that it was possible.

Even in West's dreams, he found himself imagining the scenario over and over again. After one particularly bloody dream, he woke up swiftly, his heart beating wildly. He looked at the clock. 3:14 a.m. Both of his arms were asleep. As quietly as he could he pulled his bottom arm out from underneath Katerina and massaged it, rolling onto his back. A dull noise sounded from the living room and West realized quickly that he had been woken up by a noise just like it a moment ago. He held his breath and listened hard. Inky darkness filled the room; he couldn't see anything past the end of the bed.

He was just about to swing his legs out of the bed and walk down the hallway to investigate, when he heard a soft footstep a few feet away. West's heart leapt in his chest. There was someone in the room! Every muscle tensed and tried to push him out of the bed, but he forced himself to lie still and let his eyes fall most of the way closed. The only advantage he had was if the intruder thought he was asleep.

Under his lashes, West saw a dark shape approach the bed. His heart slammed against his chest and he wondered if the speed and strength of his heartbeat in his neck was visible to the person coming towards him.

The intruder took another step so he was only a foot away from West. Something cold and hard pressed against West's temple.

Now! West reacted, launching himself at the man. His hands flew to the gun and he wrenched it upwards as hard and as fast as he could. The intruder swore and West struck out with his knee, trying to connect with anything soft and yielding. The intruder swore again and grunted. West finally succeeded in ripping the gun out of his hands but it flew through the air and clattered to the floor. Go for the gun? Or fight?

The intruder dropped to the floor, his hand scrabbling for the gun. West moved to dive on top of him, but he stepped on something hard. The gun! He kicked it under the bed, then thrust a knee into the intruder’s back, his hands scrabbling to find anything to twist and rip and punch. "Katerina!" he yelled. "He's here! Get the gun!"

At these words, the intruder lurched out from underneath West and ran for the door. West followed, his stocking feet slapping on the wooden floor. Mere seconds ago he had been sleeping, but now he was racing down the hallway, intent on capturing this man. Hot blood pounded in his face.
Capture? Certainly. Disable? Absolutely. Kill with his bare hands? If he had to.
West wasn’t a street fighter, but he’d wrestled in high school, taken several self-defense classes since becoming a paramedic, and even a few karate classes with Blaise. He felt angry enough to kill this person who had broken into Katerina’s home. Violated her sanctuary. Killed three women. Put a gun to his own head.

At the end of the hallway the intruder turned right quickly, and was out the front door before West could get there. He heard Katerina yelling from behind him but he didn’t stop. He ripped the door open and launched himself through it, looking right then left. There! The man was sprinting down the stairs closest to Katerina's door. He moved fast for such a large man. He was tall, as tall as West himself, but had a bit of a gut. He wore a hoodie and gloves, so West couldn’t even see his skin color. West chased him down the stairs, ignoring the pain from the rough concrete steps on his stockinged feet.

The man reached the bottom of the steps and disappeared. West pushed himself faster, craning his head, trying to see where the man had gone. West jumped the last three steps and turned towards the building. He caught a glimpse of movement between the two apartment buildings. West ran that way but forced himself to stop before he got to the corridor. It was pitch dark in there and West couldn’t see a thing. The man could be waiting for him with a knife or another weapon. West didn’t even have shoes on. He was livid and pumped for a fight, but he wasn’t stupid.

West stared into the darkness, willing his eyes to see anything. Above him, he heard Katerina yelling, something about a man in her bedroom. She must have called 911.
Good
. A flash of movement at the far side of the corridor caught his eye. The man had just run out. West dashed into the corridor, then out the other end. A large, open lawn butted up against this side of the building. A glance told him it was empty. West looked right, then left, but saw no one. He thought the man had gone right, so he ran that way, past the end of the second apartment building, all the way into the parking lot. He still saw no one. He walked between the cars, his head swiveling right and left, looking for anyone crouched between two cars or hiding in a back seat.

West paced the rows, his sense of frustration deepening. He walked farther into the parking lot and finally abandoned it altogether, running aimlessly down the sidewalk in his socks. Finally, with a roar of frustration, he gave up the search and turned back towards Katerina’s apartment.

Just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, two police cars swerved into the parking lot, officers spilling out of them and running towards him. One had his gun drawn. West put his hands up and Katerina pounded down the stairs, her hands open in front of her.

"He's with me! He's not the one!"

As the cop closest to him relaxed slightly, West pointed in the direction he had come from. "I chased him that way, but I didn't see where he went."

"How long ago and what did he look like?" the closest officer asked.

"Just a few minutes ago, and he was tall, my height, wearing a gray hoodie and black gloves."

"You folks go back into your apartment, we will see what we can find," the officer said.

West and Katerina retreated slowly into the apartment. They watched from the doorway as the officers spread out and began the search.

West felt Katerina draw close to him. He looked down at her to gauge her emotional reaction. She looked stricken, but not falling apart. Her fingers crept around his waist. "You saved my life," she whispered.

West couldn't think of anything to say to that, and he didn't want to agree with her, didn’t want her to think about how near of a thing it had really been, so he stayed silent. He pulled her close to him and allowed her presence to calm him.

More cop cars pulled into the parking lot. West wished Blaise were here, but he knew Blaise was home sleeping. He wondered how early was too early to wake him up.

"The gun. What did you do with the gun?" He asked Katerina.

"My gun?"

"No, the guy, he had a gun. I kicked it under the bed."

Katerina grimaced. "It must still be there."

They retreated to the bedroom and, kneeling on the floor, West pulled the gun out with a hanger. He placed it gently on the nightstand.

"He was going to shoot us." Katerina said, her face white and drawn.

Again, West couldn't think of a satisfactory reply, so he stayed silent.

A knock on the door startled both of them. "Police," a man's voice called.

"Let me check it," West said and walked to the door. After looking out the peephole, he opened the door wide and invited the officer in.

The officer pulled his notebook out of his pocket. "They are still looking, but so far we haven't found any sign of your intruder," the officer said. West looked at his chest and saw his name was Bruegger.

"Thank you officer Bruegger, his gun is in the back bedroom. I knocked it out of his hand and he left it here."

The officers face showed interest at this statement. "Take me to it, and then I'll need to hear exactly what happened. You two were extremely lucky tonight."