Hunting (28 page)

***

He was watching her with an
odd expression in his eyes—odd even for him. There was tenderness
there, a softening toward her that she completely didn’t expect.
And that made her nervous as hell. What was he up to?

She hadn’t been kidding
when she’d accused Malachi in the past of being a master
manipulator.
He
was probably one hell of a chess player. And
the idea that he could somehow make her change her mind, even
including what had happened between them the night before, worried
her. He was starting to consume her thoughts. She didn’t like that,
couldn’t handle it. Not now. Not with so much else to focus on
right now.

Ruthie ran up to her,
wrapping skinny arms around Jules’ knees. She scooped her up and
held her tight. No matter what happened, Jules was determined that
this little girl would always remain safe. No serial killer would
ever
lay hands on Ruthie again.

If that meant shacking up
indefinitely with the devil that was Malachi Brockman, then Jules
would be right there and willing. She’d just have to guard her
heart against him somehow. Somehow.

Meredith was serving
dinner, and Malachi was probably surrounded by the warmth and love
that was his family. Did he even have a tenth of a respect for that
love? Did he understand how lucky he had been since
birth?

Selfish men like Malachi
Brockman rarely did.

Not that it mattered to
him.
He’d gotten over his own parents’ lack of appreciation
for him many years earlier. The two people responsible for bringing
him into the world had nothing to recommend them to the rest of the
world—there was no doubt about that in his mind.

But a large part of him had
always envied the Brockman children the closeness they’d shared
with their parents. Not to mention the wealth the Brockmans had
showered on their three offspring. They had always had the best
clothing, the newest toys, and taken the most interesting
trips.

His family’s idea of a
vacation had been a day trip to the nearest beach—which happened to
be the least welcoming beach in all of California.
He
had
deserved better.

He’d often tried to tell
himself his parents had done the best they could for him, but even
at the times, he’d recognized it for a lie. They hadn’t tried hard
enough to provide for him the way he was entitled to be provided
for.

And they’d always liked
Malachi Brockman; from the time they’d been in third grade
together, they had sung Malachi’s praises. Over and over again.
Why can’t you just be more like Malachi? It would make life so
much simpler for everyone!

He’d been the only one to
see that Malachi was just a farce. He was as imperfect as the rest
of the mere mortals surrounding him. Yet no one,
no one,
else had understood. The golden boy had done no wrong, had hurt no
one, had made perfect grades, had had millions of friends, and had
a perfect family home life.

It should have been
him
. He was far more deserving.

Thank goodness for Meredith
taking an interest in him.
She
had been his only source of
any type of maternal love. It was because of her he’d chosen his
profession, in the first place. All the good works he’d done, he’d
attributed to her. And he knew she was proud.

He’d never forget her
surprise and pleasure when he’d shown up at her new home in St.
Louis a few years ago. She, at least, loved him.

He could knock on their
door right now and be invited in to join them. Would be
welcomed.

That knowledge was highly
tempting.

He could step inside and
see just exactly how much Julia meant to Malachi. How deeply
Malachi had brainwashed her into thinking he was the epitome of
masculinity. And he could begin the process of pulling her regard
away from the imposter and to himself.

But that would bring too
much direct attention to him, if he was the only guest besides
Julia and her child. Would Malachi suspect that
he
was the
opponent?

No. No, he was not ready
for that yet.

But it
was
highly
tempting.

A car rolled by and he
watched for a moment, resisting the urge to smirk. It wouldn’t do
to appear too arrogant. But did they really think he didn’t realize
the car contained security agents assigned to watch
Julia?

Hadn’t Paige herself
reassured
him that all necessary steps were being taken to
keep Julia—and Malachi—safe?

From him?

Surely they realized that
the game had many more moves to be made before he would ever
consider
taking
the queen, or putting the king into
check?

That would be an amateur
mistake, and one he would not be making.

He tormented her just by
looking at her for the rest of the evening. They took Ruthie home,
watched a movie, and tucked her into bed like they’d done it
together for a thousand nights before.

It was starting to feel
real to her. Her, him, Ruthie, together. She had to come up with
another solution. She couldn’t stay at Malachi’s too much longer or
it would just be harder for her
and
Ruthie to
leave.

Jules didn’t know if she’d
have the strength to leave if she got too much deeper with
him.

He was waiting for her in
the living room, and she straightened her spine before she turned
off the television. “This was a mistake.”

He looked at her. “What
was? The movie? I think Ruthie enjoyed it.”

“
You know what I
mean.”

“
No, I don’t. I’ve heard
what you’ve said, but you’ve done the exact opposite. Have you
always struggled with making up your own mind? Or is it because of
me?”

“
Everything is because of
you!” She waved her arms around. “I can’t
think
because of
you!”

He grabbed her hand. Turned
it toward the light. His words were low, soft, serious. “I think
it’s because of him, rather than me.”

Him? What him?

Then her eyes landed on
what encircled her finger.

Her rings.

Oh, God. She’d made love to
Malachi while wearing the rings another man had given
her.

She’d made
love
to
Malachi.

When had things shifted in
her thoughts from just a quiet affair to making
love?

It must hurt him. It
would
have hurt him. She
had
hurt him.
Unthinking.

She hadn’t even realized.
How could she have been so thoughtless? “I…”

“
You see, Julia. I
get
it. I know he’s a part of you. A big part of you, and I
know he loved you. How could he not? But just because he’s gone
doesn’t mean
you
can’t love another man. Can’t build a life,
a future, with someone else.”
She toyed with the ring that matched her wedding set. Rick had
given her the third ring on their first anniversary. It was so
precious to her.

But to Malachi, it was a
symbol. A barrier.

Did she truly
want
to keep that barrier between them any longer?

She must have taken too
long to answer. “Honey, I won’t lie to you.
I
want what Hell
and Georgia have. And I think deep down, you do, too.”

“
I…”

“
I’m just asking you to
give
us
a try.” He kissed her, hard. “I’m going to bed.
You’re free to join me in my room, tonight and every night. The
decision is yours.”

God, she wanted that. She
did. The biggest part of her did.

She twisted the rings
around her finger again. “I…can’t.”

“
No. You just won’t. Good
night, sweetheart. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She watched him walk up the
stairs, Clark on his heels.
Lois stayed at Jules’ side.

It was then Jules saw the
box in the middle of the coffee table, right on the sweatshirt
she’d taken off during the movie. He must have placed it there
while she was upstairs with Ruthie. And she’d chased him away
before he could give it to her, could explain. Damn it. She opened
the intricate little box, and pulled out the note.

She’d recognize his bold
scrawl anywhere.

Sweetheart, I thought you
might like something to keep the rings Rick gave you close to your
heart. This was my grandmother’s—my mother’s mother. You remind me
of her. She’d smack me for being too ‘perfect’, too.

The gold necklace was an
antique chain, intricate and delicate all at once. It complimented
the rings almost by design. She wrapped it around her fingers and
stared at it for the longest time.

Damn the Fates, again. Why
did they keep doing stuff like this to her?

She grabbed a pen from the
holder on the side table and scribbled her response on the back of
the note, though what she really wanted to do was tuck the note
somewhere in her things where she could look at it again and
again.

I’m sorry. It’s beautiful.
But I just can’t, yet. I’m sorry.

She tucked the note and the
necklace back in the antique box, and placed the box carefully on
top of his stack of files on the kitchen table. Then she hurried up
the stairs to her borrowed room, knowing she’d done the exact
wrong
thing.

For all of them.

Damn him. And damn
her.

Damn her most of
all.

Malachi compared the men on
the list, running over and over the names for most of the morning.
He’d locked himself in his office, with orders not to disturb
unless it was extremely important. He needed the time alone to
think. To work things out for himself—both with the UNSUB and with
how he had pushed too far Julia last night.

He should have kept the
necklace, not offered it. She hadn’t been ready for that, and he
understood it. Intellectually. How could she? She was a reluctant
houseguest, in a situation where
he
was her main safety. She
was bound to feel unbalanced. It wasn’t fair to put that kind of
pressure on her. So he’d made a decision long after he’d gone to
bed. He’d focus on the threat to them both, then later, when she
was ready, he’d focus on
them
.

He forced his attention
back to the list in his hand. Twenty men, men he’d known, had
coffee or a beer with, played baseball with, or worked with.
Friends, people he’d known for at minimum five years. And here he
was having his people delve into those men’s lives, pick apart
their histories and their triumphs and failures.

All because of
him.

Would he ever forget that
whoever had orchestrated this bizarre and macabre game was
responsible for so many lost lives—and it was because the man had
some grudge against him. Why?

Was
it someone who
Malachi had put away years ago, and was back out on the streets?
With a grudge strong enough to create such hate?

Somehow he didn’t think
so.

No, this was someone a hell
of a lot closer.

He read the list again.
Rocky Hurt, Quin Bowman, Nate Collins, Greg Stout, Aaron Hubler,
James Bedford, Allan Knight, Jimmy Kedril, and a dozen others. Men
he considered friends.

How was he supposed to
narrow it down?

His phone beeped,
indicating a text.

Allan Knight, one of the
men on the list. Was it him? How was Malachi to talk to the other
man, knowing he suspected Allan? He read the text.

Another body. Think it’s
your guy.

Shit. Malachi grabbed his
gun and badge and hit the bullpen. His team was hard at work on
cold cases. Every unit had them, even PAVAD. It was the nature of
the job; yes, Malachi’s team had an impressive solve rate, but
there was always going to be cases that went unsolved.

This case was not going to
be one of them.

Julia and that assistant
that followed her everywhere were readying the M.E. van when
Malachi and his team made it to the parking lot. Malachi wrapped
his hand around Jules’ arm; she looked up at him with mild surprise
and irritation. But that was better than the way she’d avoided him
all morning, even while in the same vehicle. “What?”

“
What are you doing?” The
deal was she told him when she went anywhere, and that he went
with
her.

“
Agent Knight called. He
has a body for us. And last I checked, it was my job to collect the
bodies.”

“
Without letting me
know?”

“
I’m doing my job. That
doesn’t always include staying in the lab.” Her look dared him to
stay anything. He actually hesitated. This was territory they
hadn’t covered. Why hadn’t they? “Do you have a problem with
that?”

“
Not as long as you don’t
do anything stupid.” And he’d be staying at her side until she was
safely returned to PAVAD. He wouldn’t be letting so much as a
single honey-colored hair on her head be touched. Not on his watch.
“You stay by my side.”