Hunting (31 page)

Tomorrow was soon enough to
get back to the murder and mayhem that characterized all of their
lives.

He hurt like hell, but
Malachi was not about to move. Not with Julia curled up against
him, her fingers wrapped through his. So small to carry the world
on her shoulders like she did.

And now that the pain
killer was gone from his mind he was free to focus on the dirty
truth. Someone had aimed for
Julia
. It was only
his
good fortune that he’d been able to protect her. A bullet going
through her smaller body would have had a greater chance of doing
more significant damage than it had done to him. And at the angle
she’d been at, that fact was a given.

Who? And why?

Was it just someone not
wanting her to find something on that particular victim? They had
been in the roughest part of an extremely rough city. Or was it
something else? Something intended for him? Was
she
the next
chess piece, perhaps? They knew a move was going to be made against
her, how could it not? She was far too important to him not to be a
target. Was he grasping at straws here?

What was he supposed to do
next?

“
Do you hurt?” Her voice
was husky with sleep, sexy and perfect.

“
A bit. Feels like I’ve
been shot.” He wanted to tighten his arms around her, but she was
already pulling away from him. Were they doomed to repeat that
cycle over and over again? Him wanting to hold her and her pulling
away? He wasn’t sure how long he could handle that.

“
Why did you go AMA? Do
you realize how stupid that was?”

“
So? I made you and Ruthie
a promise. And I was going to keep it. No matter what.” And he’d do
it again. They were his family now, and that was what mattered to
him.

“
Sometimes, stubborn is
just stupid.”

Her words had a finality
that worried him. “Sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Julia—”

“
Don’t
Julia
me.
You know I hate that name.” She stood and crossed her arms over her
chest, then stared down at him. Everything about her position
shouted defensive to him. Keep Out signs were almost visible for
him to see. “Listen…”

She stopped and he watched
her swallow and look toward the window. Morning light was
reflecting off the falling snow. He’d not closed his curtains and
they had a perfect view of the three acre back yard. It was
beautiful. Did she see that? Or did she just see the cold? She
turned back to him, her face closed tight. “Listen…I’m taking
Ruthie home today. As soon as I arrange something with Ed. We can’t
stay here. That’s becoming more and more clear.”

“
Now that’s what being
stupid looks like. You’re safe here. With me, Al, and Mick to keep
watch.”

“
Am I? Or am I target
because
of my association with you? We both know that’s a
strong possibility.”

“
But it’s not that you’re
running from, though, is it?” Malachi pushed himself into a sitting
position, despite the pulling of the staples on his front and back.
He hurt, but nothing he hadn’t experienced before. “It’s
me.
Because you know there’s something more going on between us and
you’re a coward.”

“
Yes! Yes. If that makes
me a coward, then so-be-it. We’re leaving as soon as I get our
stuff together.”

“
So you’re not even going
to attempt more? Just what? Go back to work and pretend nothing has
happened?”

“
Nothing
has
happened.”

“
And nothing ever will,
because you won’t let it. You’re just going to throw whatever this
is away and move on. I get it. Nothing—no mere
man—
can
compete with the Great Memory of Dr. Rick Bellows. Well, newsflash.
He’s gone. And if he loved you as much as you say he did, then
he would want you happy.
”

“
And who better to know
what makes me happy than me? Maybe I just don’t want to be with
you.
”

“
Guess that sums things up
nicely then, doesn’t it?”

He was greeted like an old
friend, by this, the final move he’d make against Malachi. Other
than the moves involving the queen and king, that was. He hadn’t
originally intended to make this man his final advance, but the man
was deserving of the role. And
he
needed to make an
additional move, after the failure of Malachi being shot. He’d paid
the gunman too handsomely for him to miss where he’d been aiming.
The shooter had been ordered to hit one of Malachi’s team, not
Malachi himself.

That had resulted in
him
needing to make an extra move. He’d spent hours devising
one, and had remembered
this
man and his closeness to
Malachi.

The piece even had the
perfect name.

“
How are you?” Allan
asked, handing him a beer. He opened the bottle and pretended to
drink. He’d never really cared for beer, but had drank it on many
occasions when out with friends. Paige, Alessandra, Malachi. And
this man a few times. No, he wasn’t looking forward to this man’s
sacrifice. But in every game, especially at the end, there were
painful losses for both sides.

“
I am doing well, you?”
They hadn’t spent a great deal of time together—mostly because
he
so rarely enjoyed spending time with other
men.

Men were far too
competitive for his tastes. Unlike women, who had no true hope of
competing with men in any arena.

“
What can I do for you
tonight?” Allan led the way through his small ranch house on the
outskirts of town. He didn’t have much money—his divorce had taken
that from him.

“
It’s actually what I’ve
came here to do for you.”

Malachi was sitting at his
desk, and cursing himself for being a stubborn idiot in more ways
than one. He should have stayed at home, in bed, and let his body
have at least one day to recuperate. Had it been anyone other than
Julia threatened and that might have been exactly what he’d have
done.

But at least at work he
wouldn’t have to look at her and feel the pain of everything he had
to lose. Everything he
had
lost. He’d thought that somewhere
inside Julia there was a strength to overcome. Apparently there
wasn’t. She was just going to spend the rest of her life hiding
from herself, from any pain. Any real love with a man. It was just
his
mistake that he’d allowed himself to fall for the broken
woman that she actually was.

He’d get over her. Somehow.
Someday. He didn’t know when, but just like the holes in his body,
he would heal. Scarred, but healed.

Hell yanked open Malachi’s
door. “Get your stuff! We just got a call.”

“
Julia?”

“
Safe in the morgue. She’s
not needed. Yet.”

“
A survivor?” They’d never
had a survivor or even a witness before. His heart rate picked up,
maybe they could get something to go on.

“
Apparently more than
that.” Hell hesitated. “Allan Knight. It appears he tried to commit
suicide. His team just found him—apparently one found him when he
didn’t show up for shift. Right now he’s in a coma.”

“
Dammit!” This was the
first time the victim had been a friend. Was this a precursor for
what was coming? Would it be one of his family next?
“Prognosis?”

“
Don’t know yet. But
Mal—Lorcan’s over there now. He’s found an incomplete chess set,
complete with board. And a letter, with chess notations and other
indicators of a master chess player. They’ve also found photos and
videos. Of you. And Julia. It looks like Knight is the
guy!”

Knight had been on his list
of final four candidates. And from physical description and work
history alone, had been at the top of that list. Malachi had been
organizing teams to bring in each of the four men for
questioning—something he had not been looking forward to. Was it
going to be this easy?

“
I need to get over
there.”

“
Thought you might. I’ll
drive.”

***

Two hours later Malachi was
convinced that it
had
been Allan Knight who had stalked him
for so long. Everything was arranged in a back bedroom of Allan’s
house. Photos of Malachi, Alessandra, and their parents were
everywhere on the walls.

Photos of Julia were
centered over the desk. Even a sheet of homemade business cards
with Julia’s name and information were there. No wonder Allan had
mentioned the business card in Malachi’s office that day. He’d
wanted Julia involved from the get-go.

Why hadn’t Malachi seen it?
Wasn’t he supposed to be a student of the human mind? Wasn’t he as
a profiler supposed to be able to
predict
human
actions?

He’d failed so badly with
this case he knew it would haunt him for the rest of his
life.

He and the rest of the CCU
agents present at Allan’s felt for the four members of Allan’s
team. They hadn’t understood or deserved what had happened, any
more than Roger Stephenson’s team had nine months ago. One team
member was far more upset, and Malachi learned she had been the one
to find her team leader, and to realize what was in the
backroom.

And to find the note she’d
bagged and given to Malachi personally.

It had said
simply,

Malachi,

I’ve grown tired of the
game, and made a careless mistake.

You were supposed to die
yesterday, at your lover’s feet. But I have failed.

Check mate. Game
over.

You win.

The Chessmaster.

(Good game, old friend.
Both of them.)

Malachi had checked the
game board that was set up in the midst of Allan’s kitchen table.
Several pieces were missing and he knew exactly where they were. In
the center of his desk, labeled and tagged neatly in Julia’s
handwriting.

The king—black—lay on its
side next to the wooden board. It had obviously been put into
check. By the white queen.

Hell came up behind him,
Georgia took the other side. They all studied the board for a
moment.

Georgia was the first
speak. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

Malachi nodded. “Looks like
it.”

“
I’ll call Julia. Let her
know she’s safe now.”

“
Yes. She’d probably like
to know.” To know that it was over, and that
he
would no
longer be there right in front of her, reminding her of what she
didn’t
want. Yes, she probably would like to know. “No. I’d
better call her myself.”

Jules took off a few hours
early after Malachi’s phone call; she’d go by Malachi’s and get the
rest of her and Ruthie’s things when he wasn’t around. He’d
insisted on returning to work, though everyone had cautioned
against it. He’d assigned Chalmers to shadow her everywhere, and
the man had driven her everywhere. He’d wanted to drive her back to
Malachi’s but she’d told him no. She needed the space for a little
bit.

She didn’t know where
Malachi had eventually ended up, but his vehicle wasn’t in its
usual parking spot. But someone could have driven him home. If he
was there and asked even one question she wasn’t sure what she’d
do.

The chain he’d tried to
give her still rested in the middle of his kitchen table, next to
one of her daughter’s stuffed toys. One he’d won for Ruthie at
Pizza Pit. Jules smiled, remembering how enthusiastically he had
approached winning tickets to get the familiar little stuffed
monkey.

Malachi approached
everything with enthusiasm. Appreciation for life. He’d made her
smile and laugh more in the last two weeks than she had in a long,
long time.

What was she
doing?

She took the chain out of
its box. Here was this beautiful man who wanted to be with her and
she was running away. Being the big coward she always knew she
was.

And hurting him in the
process.

Her fingers traced the tiny
intricate links of the antique chain. It was beautiful, and it did
complement the wedding set Rick had given her so many years ago.
Like they were meant to be worn together.

What would Rick tell her if
he could see her now?

Dammit, woman, take a
chance. Take what you want to be happy!
That’s what he would
say, and she could almost hear his voice saying just that. He’d
have liked Malachi—Rick had enjoyed tormenting her until she was
ready to scream, too. She smiled softly, a tender remembrance that
was more love than grief. Oh,
Rick
...maybe it was time to
say good-bye to that lifetime? Take a chance, like Georgia had.
Like Malachi wanted her to.

Why her? Why did a man like
him want a coward like her?

She twisted the rings on
her finger as she thought of the feelings Malachi had evoked.
Anger, passion, annoyance, laughter, tenderness, safety,
hurt...love.