01 A Cold Dark Place (30 page)

Cold mist clung to the mountains and drifted through the trees like cobwebs among the spindly branches.
He didn’t dare contemplate what he’d lost. But whatever they might have had together was dead. The only thing that mattered was getting the willowy brunette with the soft amber eyes safely through the night. She needed closure to move on with her life and he intended to provide that and at the same time give her the biggest break in her career. Capturing—dead or alive—a serial killer and a vigilante would look pretty fucking good on her résumé.

Assuming he found her before the PR-killer did.

He got to the hospital and found one of the men he’d assigned standing guard. He knocked on Kari’s door and the guy followed him inside.

“
Can we help you?” An older man in a blue button-down shirt climbed to his feet. A woman held Kari’s hand and a young man of about twenty sat on her other side.

“
My name is Alex Parker—”

“
You’re the gentlemen who arranged security?” the father asked. “The one who got her here?”

“
Yes, sir.” He hadn’t come for thanks. He looked at the bed. Kari’s head had been shaved and she was wrapped in bandages, tubes inserted into her nostrils, intubated. Her eyes were open and she watched him. “I need to ask you a question, if I may?”

She nodded
slightly and winced. Headaches. He could attest to the fact she’d have lots of headaches in her future. The bump on the back of his head throbbed but he deserved it. He moved closer and held up his cell phone with Leo Chance’s smiling photograph on the screen. “Is this the man who hurt you?”

Her pupils dilated and her pulse revved on the heartbeat monitor. The nod was unnecessary.

The father grabbed his arm. “The cops are going to catch this guy, right?”

“
Yes, sir. I have to go now.” Alex gently unhooked the man’s fingers. On the way out he showed Leo’s photograph to the man on the door and told him who he thought the guy was.

“He’s been by a couple times,” the bodyguard told him. His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t let him in.”

“Good.” Alex nodded to the guy. “Don’t let down your guard until this fucker is locked up or dead. Not until you hear from me, okay?”

“Sure, boss.”

Kari Regent was too vulnerable and had suffered too much for them to get complacent now.

He
had to get to Mallory. Right now she was probably sitting in her father’s house waiting for this bastard. He texted her the killer’s identity in the hopes she’d turned on her cell and then raced back to his car. Alex intended to be her back-up whether she liked it or not.

***

Did the killer know she was here? Had he stuck around or had he already run?

Mallory didn
’t know what else she could do to advertise her presence in the West Virginian community where she’d grown up. Maybe hire a marching band or place a flashing neon sign on top of the hills? Put out a newsflash on local radio?

Snow was falling
harder now, batted away by the wipers only to cling to the windshield again in icy desperation. She peered through the glass, keeping a slow steady speed along the unplowed highway. He had to be local. She didn’t believe it was Sean Kennedy—at least not acting alone—although to say her instincts were screwed was an understatement. She was in love with an ex-CIA operative who took out serial killers in his spare time.

Crap.
A serial killing cop was almost pedestrian in comparison.

Her meal from the diner sat in the passenger
seat, wafting out aromas that were overpowering enough to turn her stomach. Only the awareness that she needed to keep up her strength for the challenge ahead stopped her from throwing the lot in the garbage. She needed to eat, so she’d eat.

She popped a
French fry in her mouth. It tasted like salted cardboard.

She hoped Alex was okay. The motel staff would find him eventually and with luck he
’d have time to escape before Hanrahan tracked him down. The FBI would never catch him. Hell, if he was telling the truth about working for the government they might not even try. She needed to talk this over with Hanrahan. Needed to get a handle on all the smoke and mirrors that were going on with this organization, but not until Alex had a chance to get away. Inside she felt numb. Numb with grief over losing Alex. Numb for the life together they wouldn’t have. She touched her stomach. She had to put him out of her mind and move on, but that was easier said than done when she needed him now more than ever.

But h
er gun was a solid entity on her hip, her back-up weapon strapped to her right ankle. Her trusty Taser in her pocket. She was as prepared as she’d ever be. A damn sight more prepared than any little girl. She turned onto the family estate—the driveway had been plowed by some kind soul, probably the gardener—and drove up the long curved path to her childhood home.

The red
-brick three-story mansion was a dark hulking shadow, no longer familiar and dear, but creepy and secretive. The windows glinted malevolently as the moon started to rise above the trees. Snow covered the front steps. No one had gone inside that way since the snow had started to fall in earnest that afternoon.

She parked
the car, turned off the engine, and then looked up at the grand Georgian edifice that had witnessed so much drama. Officially it was still a crime scene but that worked for her. Fewer innocent bystanders at risk of being hurt. She grabbed her bag of food and got out, snow immediately covering her ankle boots and soaking into her black pants. She went up the steps, stomping off as much of the wet stuff as she could.

The front door was dressed in a wreath
which was strangely incongruous next to the crime scene tape. Taking her gun in hand, she unlocked the door and pushed it wide. The alarm system wasn’t armed. It didn’t seem to do much good anyway, or at least the killer sure as hell knew how to bypass it. Looking inside she didn’t know what to expect. Blood trails? A man standing behind the door with a meat cleaver?

The moonlight revealed the foyer
as its usual elegant and dignified self.

Taking her
phone battery and SIM card she put them back in her cell, only to notice the signal was non-existent. “Damn.” Must be the weather.

She flicked on the chandelier and remembered Alex
’s reaction to her family home. It tied another knot in her heart. Spying the landline her father still maintained she went over and called Hanrahan. He answered on the first ring. “Where the hell are you?”

“
Colby. Did you figure out who was working with the vigilante?”

“
No.” She could almost hear him scrubbing his face. “There were a few calls but the IT guy needs time to trace them and he’s been overrun by a pedophile doing live broadcasts. Priorities... Anyway, the worst that will happen is they’ll bolt and we’ll go after them. You with Parker?”

“
Yes.” Her voice cracked like a scratch on a vinyl record. Did Hanrahan know about Alex or was that just a normal question? “We’re just at my father’s house to check something and then we’re going to the hospital to see if Kari Regent remembers anything.”

“
She woke up?”

Mallory didn
’t know but she lied anyway. She was getting good at it. “We’ll wait there until she can give us a proper description.”

“Don’t do anything stupid, Agent Rooney.”

She looked around the empty house. Too late. “No, sir.” She rang off and ate a cold French fry. Bleh. She headed to the kitchen to reheat her food. She’d thrown down the gauntlet. Now she had to wait for someone to pick it up.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

M
allory sat on the kitchen floor, Glock beside her, staring at the table where she and Payton had often sat and begged cookies from the housekeeper. Loneliness crowded her. Her sister’s ghost had been with her for years. At school. On dates. All through her FBI training. On the gun range. Especially on the gun range.

But her sister’s spirit hadn’t
haunted her when she was with Alex. He’d taken away the grief that resided inside her heart like a cavity. She’d found peace with him in a way she had never known before. Now he was gone.

There
was a noise at the back door.

She wasn’t scared.
She picked up her pistol, relishing the cold weight of it in her hand. No, she wasn’t scared. She was determined. And deep down, she was furious. This guy had ruined her sister’s life and wanted to ruin hers.

What he didn’t know was her life was already in tatters. Nothing he did would change th
e fundamental truth that she could never have the man she loved. The knowledge made her want to fall to her knees and weep, but it wasn’t just her life at stake. And she wasn’t about to let this creep win. She wanted to make him pay. Quietly, she moved through the corridor into the mudroom and found the back door wide open. It had been locked so the bastard must have a key.

She poked her head out and looked around, drawing quickly back inside. But he wasn
’t going to shoot her. He wanted her alive. A single set of footprints headed to and from the woods.

Making a decision,
Mallory ran toward the woods—his domain. But she wasn’t an unarmed kid. She was a trained federal agent. She headed into the trees and along a wide path that white-tailed deer often used. Her boots were soaked through in seconds. Branches scratched her face. It was a clear night with a full moon and she had to concentrate on where to place her feet because the ground was rough and uneven beneath the snow, and she had no desire to twist an ankle. The tracks were easy to follow. Maybe too easy. She slowed, taking her time. Knowing she couldn’t plow into this guy head-on.

For the first time since meeting Alex she felt utterly alone. She wanted to tell him
about the baby, but couldn’t stand the look on his face when he realized he wouldn’t share their lives.

She finally reached the top of the hill.
Footprints were scattered. Too confusing to track. Her fingers were numb from cold as they gripped her gun. Temperature dropping rapidly. She looked around, just making out the roof of the property where the McCaffertys had lived. They must have got in his way somehow.

No one knew where she was going or why, she realized. No way would she let this guy get away with his crimes regardless of what happened to her. She was in a bit of a clearing and whirled making sure no one was creeping up behind her.

Her phone buzzed. She had a signal. She checkedand saw she had a text from Alex
.
“
Kari says
Killer=Deputy Sheriff Leo Chance
.”

Her first thought was relief that Alex had escaped the motel. Her second was the memory of meeting Leo Chance and not having a clue he was the man who’d killed all those innocent women.
Bastard was going down regardless of what happened in these woods tonight. Kari would have her revenge, and so would Payton, and Lindsey, and all those other girls whose lives he’d destroyed.

She dialed Hanrahan.

“Hello?” The line was terrible.

“
The name of the PR-killer is...”
shit
, she still had no solid proof except Alex’s word, which was probably gold when it came to this kind of thing. “Deputy Leo Chance. A local cop. I’m in the woods behind Eastborne tracking him right now.” She hung up before he could give her different orders, and slipped her phone into her pocket.

An owl hooted, sending a shiver through her body.

She started forward then heard someone cry out in pain. A woman.
Ah, shit
. She gritted her teeth as she inched forward, Glock in a two-handed grip. Heartbeat steady. Mind focused because being distracted now would get her killed. She dodged around a wide tree and froze. A girl with a rope around her neck dangled on tiptoes from the branches of the old American oak.

Mallory
’s heart gave a giant
whumph
. She knew this was a trap, she knew it was a distraction but there was no way she could leave that poor girl hanging there. And the bastard knew it. She ran over to the terrified young woman. Gagged. Bleeding. Hands tied behind her back, rope tight, scared to death.

“You’re okay.”
Mallory fought with the knots but they were pulled tight. She needed both hands. The girl coughed and choked and Mallory tried to support her with her torso as she fought to undo the ropes one-handed because no way in hell did she want to let go of her weapon. Finally the knot loosened and the girl dropped to her knees in the snow, gagging and breathing hard. A sound made Mallory’s heart clench. She got her gun up but was struck by a bolt of electricity that threw her to the ground. Her finger squeezed off a shot, but she couldn’t even see straight, let alone aim. The gun slipped from her fingers.

God, it hurt!
She writhed with agony that fused her teeth together, prayed it wouldn’t hurt her unborn baby. Snow was frigid against her face, in her nose and mouth, icy water trickling against the bare skin of her neck. She swallowed and turned her head slowly to come face-to-face with her sister’s abductor.

***

Leo couldn’t believe how easy it had been. Fucking amateur. As soon as she saw someone suffering she turned all weak and pathetic. Had she forgotten her last lesson so quickly?

Yeah, she had
.

Too bad it w
ould be her final one.

He searched her pocket
s, tossed a cell phone and Taser into the snow. He grinned when he saw the latter. Great minds and all that. It no longer mattered if they found the chamber. Part of him welcomed the idea. The horror it would evoke. The enormity of his deception.

He hauled Mallory over his shoulder and headed toward his cabin. The
waitress was curled up in a pathetic heap in the snow and would probably die of exposure before she managed to free herself. He didn’t care. His identity was out, but with Mallory in his possession he could get away like planned. He ran his palm over her ass. She was the exact same size and shape as Payton. He squeezed her tight. He had her back and he wasn’t ever letting her go.

He jogged around the
front of the cabin and dumped her into the trunk of his SUV. Back porch light was on and flowed over her features.
Payton
. He bent down to put her foot inside when she lashed out with her boot and caught him squarely in the mouth.

He staggered back.
And was looking down the barrel of another Glock.
Shit
.

“
Back the fuck up,” she demanded. He took a few steps away and she swung her legs out of the trunk, turned on her flashlight, and shone it in his eyes.
Bitch
.

“
Throw down the Taser and service weapon,” she ordered.

He did so, cocking his head to one side.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” he jeered.

She ignored the question.
“Get out your handcuffs and put them on.”

He put the cuffs on but was careful not to lock both sides.
“You going to kill me?”

“
Maybe.”

She even sounded like Payton and it gave a little twist in his gut.

He must have moved.

“
Stay where you are! You think I wouldn’t love an excuse to put a bullet between your eyes?” Her eyes went hard.

“Do it.”
He leaned toward her. “You think I give a shit? You think I can stand to live without your sister?” Her fingers tightened on the trigger because he’d just confirmed he was the man she’d been searching for all these years. So she hadn’t been certain. He filed that information away.

“
Why did you do it? Why’d you take her? Why did you kill her?”

“
I didn’t kill her, you stupid bitch. I loved her.”

A shiver wracked her body, teeth rattling like bones.
She didn’t believe him. “I want to know where my sister’s buried.” Skin was icy pale. Lips more white than pink, heading toward pale blue. “I want her back.”

A smile started inside him but he didn
’t show it. He needed a little more time for her reactions to slow further and he could get the advantage again. She wouldn’t shoot him. She was a federal agent with a stick up her ass. And she wanted to know where he’d buried Payton. He’d show her.

“
I’ll take you there but I need my flashlight.” She nodded that he could get it out so he did, relishing the feel of its weight in his hands. Despite playing tough cop she knew not to get close enough to allow him to overpower her. Meant she couldn’t search him and she wasn’t the only one who carried a back-up.

He started to walk, deeper and deeper into the
forest, following the trail he’d been walking almost daily for the last eighteen years. Trees cracked as the temperature dropped and he could hear her shivering. A branch snapped under his feet. If he could get her into the close confines of the chamber he had no doubt he could get the gun off her and subdue her.

“It was you who broke into my house in Charlotte, wasn’t it?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know who the other guy was though.” He looked over his shoulder. “Looked a lot like your boyfriend now I come to think about it.”

Her lips narrowed.

“I almost got you by letting the tires down on your car at Quantico too. Borrowed a recovery truck from a friend of mine to whisk you away but again you blew it for me.”

She huffed out a soft snort. “Sorry. My manners are dreadful when it comes to serial killers.”

His mouth firmed this time. He wasn’t some psycho asshole. He’d been looking for something—someone. And now that he’d found her he’d better figure out a way to turn this thing around.

“
Where are we going? How far is it?” she asked angrily. But there were nerves too. She shone the flashlight back in his face and the light burned his retina.

Bitch
. “It isn’t far. I’ll show you where she’s buried.”
Then I’ll end this thing.

“
I have back-up coming so don’t try anything.”

“
Sorry to break it to you, Special Agent, but I know you came alone.”

She stopped moving. Would she have the balls to shoot him in the back? He doubted it. He got to the woodpile, eyed the ax out of the corner of his eye.

He reached down to undo the bolt to the trap door.

“
What are you doing?” Nerves made her voice vibrate, along with the cold. Wouldn’t be long before she was incapable of holding the gun.

He had to get close
r. “You wanted to know what happened to your sister and where she is?” He flipped the trapdoor wide and shone his flashlight into the darkness.

He watched surprise then horror stretch her features.

“You kept her down there?” Her voice rose. “All this time?”

He didn
’t like her tone. “It’s not so bad.” Although at night it had a sinister feel.

“
It’s a dirty hole in the ground. It’s worse than a cage in a zoo. How long? How long did you keep her locked up like a dog?”

A vague feeling of shame wrapped around him and he didn
’t like that either. “I looked after her.” He carefully slipped one wrist out of the cuffs.

“
You treated her like an animal!” She shouted at him, out of control in her rage. He lunged, grabbing her arm and thrusting the gun sideways as she fired off a shot. He landed flush on top of her and it shocked him how much she
felt
like Payton. He smashed her hand against the ground until she dropped the weapon, then he held her immobile as she tried to fight him. Her angry eyes and spitting mouth told him she wasn’t really Payton but, if he closed his eyes and cut out her tongue... He forced his knees between hers and her thighs wide open, ground himself against her. She felt...right.

H
er breath was hot against his ear and he shivered with memory.

“
You disgust me.” She bit down hard on his lobe and he screamed.

He reared back and slammed his fist into her jaw.
“Bitch. Now you’re going to find out what the others found out. But no matter how much you hurt or suffer, I’m never letting you go. Never.”