A slow nod. "Got it."
He stalked toward the house. Her front door hung open, and light spilled onto the porch. Katherine was a silent shadow behind him.
He went in first, doing a sweep and keeping his gun up and ready. He saw the long-stemmed roses on her stairs, with the white box dropped next to them. Scattered rose petals trailed over the floor. He didn"t open the box. No sense contaminating the scene any further, and Katherine-she didn"t need to see that photograph again.
They swept the bottom floor first. Dane made sure his body guarded Katherine at all times. Into one room. Another.
No sign of an intruder. Nothing broken. Nothing disturbed.
Just a deadly present left behind.
Carefully they eased up the stairs. Two rooms waited up there. The first was filled with canvases, art supplies. Dark splashes of color-they almost looked like blood-coated the stark white canvases.
The second room-it was her bedroom. The scent of strawberries was stronger there. The four-poster bed waited inside. Her clothes hung perfectly in her closet. Her small bathroom shone with clean precision.
Again, no sign of the intruder.
At least, no sign he could see. Maybe the crime-scene team would have better luck.
The b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s not in the house.
But that didn"t mean the perp had left the scene.
Dane took Katherine back outside. They"d conducted the search in near silence. She"d been so close to him, her body had brushed against his with almost every step they"d taken.
On the porch, his gaze tracked along the line of trees. There were too many places to hide out there.
Dane wanted to race into the trees and find out if the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was still out there, hiding and watching, but he knew that keeping Katherine safe was the main priority. He couldn"t leave her, and in the dark woods, he wouldn"t be able to protect her.
So he kept her close, using his body as a shield, and he waited for his backup to arrive.
I"ll find you, b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I"ll stop you.
Shaking hands clenched into tight fists.
The detective wasn"t part of the plan. He shouldn"t be there. This wasn"t about him.
It was about Katherine.
Rage built, built...
Katherine had been so afraid. She"d run, nearly tripping and slamming into the ground as she fled from her house.
This time, she couldn"t pretend to bury her nose in the sand and ignore the death around her. This time, it would be up close and personal for her.
Every attack, every kill, every heart...for Katherine.
She wouldn"t be able to act like her hands were clean anymore.
They"d never been clean.
Police sirens howled in the distance.
Time to go. Time to start hunting again.
The kill had been so easy. The rush better than s.e.x. Life and death. Power and pleasure.
Pain. Fear. Release.
More, please.
The fun was just beginning.
Police cars raced onto the scene. Dane stepped away from Katherine. Almost immediately, she missed the warmth and security of his body.
She saw his partner emerge from a blue SUV. Uniformed cops swarmed the scene.
"There"s a package on the stairs." Dane"s voice rang out. "Don"t contaminate it. We want the crime-scene guys getting it in pristine condition."
And the crime-scene unit was already there. She saw them piling out and pulling on their gloves.
"You searched the scene?" Dane"s partner demanded as he loped toward the house.
"The house is clear, Mac," Dane said, but he pointed to the dark trees. "As for the rest of the place..."
"Let"s get teams searching the woods!" Mac"s order snapped out like a whip, and the uniforms scrambled to obey.
Dane grabbed the nearest uniform. Then he pointed at Katherine. "Watch her, got me? Make sure you stay with her, every d.a.m.n second."
He was leaving her? She blinked. "Dane..."
But he was already heading toward the woods. Going after Valentine.
The uniform took up his position beside her, his body trembling a bit. "Did you-" he began, but his voice broke. "Did you really find a box from the killer, ma"am?" Sick fascination.
Don"t feel. Don"t think. "Yes, I did." She recognized the box and the message it conveyed. The box and the flowers.
He wasn"t going to stop on his own, she knew that. He"d told her that.
I can"t stop. I have to kill. You understand...
She kept her eyes on Dane as he headed into the darkness.
No, I don"t understand. I never will.
Valentine might think she was his soul mate, but they were nothing alike.
Nothing.
She wouldn"t let herself be like him.
Katherine sat in the back of the patrol car and watched as the evidence team finally came out of her house with the white box and the roses bagged for evidence.
She turned her gaze away. The other uniforms were piling into their vehicles, and the blue lights no longer lit up the scene. They hadn"t found Valentine.
"What are you doing in there?" Dane"s voice. "Dammit," he said to the uniform-her guard-who stood close by. "I told you to watch her, not to shove her into a patrol car!"
"It"s okay, Dane," she said with a sigh. She was still in her c.o.c.ktail dress, and the headache that fear had scared away before was back now, pounding like a drum in her temples. "I asked if I could sit in here." She slid her legs out of the car. Showed the high heels she still wore. "My feet were killing me."
His gaze dropped to her legs. "You"re comin" with me," he told her, and his stare slowly rose to lock on hers.
Her brows lifted. "To the station? Tonight?" They"d been searching her property for hours. She"d been interviewed over and over again by Dane"s partner. She"d told him every detail about her discovery.
Dane caught her arm and pulled her from the car. "I"m not taking you to the station."
There was a tightness to his mouth that hadn"t been there before.
"He was in your house." He clenched his jaw as he said this. "If he"d wanted, he could have stayed inside and attacked you when you came home."
Valentine had never attacked her. "He never hurt me," she whispered.
"Before he didn"t, but how the h.e.l.l do any of us know what he"s going to do now? Every report I read said he was psychotic and that he was totally fixated on you."
She flinched. She didn"t want to think about that. Because if she did, then she"d feel the guilt again. So much guilt that it seemed to choke her some days.
"He targeted you tonight, and you are d.a.m.n well getting police protection."
Did he think she"d refuse? She wasn"t the crazy one. Despite what one of the profilers back in Boston had believed.
"Until we catch this b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I"m making sure that you have someone watching you, twenty-four seven." His eyes were lit with a stark intensity.
"Am I supposed to argue?" Katherine whispered. "I want him stopped. I want all of this to end." She"d told him that before. If they could catch Valentine, then she might be able to sleep through a night, just once, without the nightmares waking her.
"Good." He gave a grim nod. "Because your protection is starting right now." A brief pause, and the heat in his gaze seemed to burn brighter. "And you"re gonna be spending the night with me."
4 .
"I thought you said that you had an extra room." Katherine"s gaze swept around the small condo. She could see a kitchen. A den. And then...just one door that seemed to lead to a darkened bedroom.
She glanced over at Dane. Dark stubble lined his jaw. His hand rubbed across the stubble, rasping slightly. "I might have exaggerated on that," he said.
Katherine stared back at him. "Did you now?"
"Don"t worry, I"ll take the couch." He offered her a tired smile. "I do know how to play the gentleman."
Had she asked him to play a role? She didn"t like it when a man pretended to be someone he wasn"t. She"d rather see the frog, warts and all, than ever think she was with a Prince Charming again.
"Sorry you couldn"t get any clothes from your place," Dane told her. His gaze was so watchful. She knew the guy was trying to figure her out.
Good luck with that.
"But the techs wanted to be thorough."
Right. Because her home was a crime scene once again.
Katherine kicked out of her high heels. Her toes curled into the thick carpet. The condo was nice, clean, and dominated by a flat-screen TV. The guy had to be a Marlins fan. She could see one wall was decorated with caps and a signed bat.
It was odd being in a man"s place again. It was the first time since Boston that she"d actually gone inside a man"s home. She hadn"t even ever visited Trent"s apartment.
"You can borrow one of my shirts for tonight." He eased past her and headed into the darkened bedroom. Katherine followed him. The carpet m.u.f.fled their footsteps. "I"m sure the techs will have clothes for you by morning," he added.
"Or I"ll just buy something." She kept her voice calm. She"d been doing her best to hold onto her self-control ever since she"d found the package waiting for her. Don"t think about it. Don"t see that poor woman.
But she knew the image would stay with her. She never forgot any of Valentine"s victims. He wouldn"t let her.
Dane was rummaging around in a drawer, and he pulled out an old T-shirt. THE MARINES. She blinked. "I didn"t realize you were a military guy." The hair that brushed his shoulders sure hadn"t clued her in. But the alpha att.i.tude, yeah, that seemed to fit.
"Semper Fi," he murmured as he tossed her the shirt. "Uncle Sam paid for my college."
She caught the shirt, her fingers closing around the soft fabric. "In the marines...is that where you got the tattoo?"
He smiled faintly. "Yeah. I guess you could call it an initiation, of sorts." He lifted his sleeve to show her the twisting lines of a snake. "It"s to remind me that danger"s out there. And you need to be ready for it to strike at any time."
She didn"t need any reminder for that. "Valentine...he was also in the military." Michael had even gotten medals for bravery. He"d seemed to be such a good, honorable guy.
He"d taught her just how false appearances could truly be.
Dane lowered the sleeve. "Take the bed," he told her, voice deepening as he closed in on her. "I"ll bunk down on the couch." His body brushed against hers as he headed for the door.
At that light touch, she tensed, and her breath seemed to freeze in her lungs. Why was she so intensely aware of this man?
Her gaze lifted to meet his stare. His pupils were so big that his eyes looked almost black. And, suddenly, she had to ask the question that fear had made her forget before. "Why were you waiting outside my house tonight?" She wondered...had he been there to protect her? Or because he suspected her?
"I knew you were tied to my case." He lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. "So I wanted to keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."
Safe. That word again. She hadn"t felt safe in a long time. "So you were just waiting at my house? You didn"t see the killer come?"
His jaw hardened. "I wasn"t at your house all night. I...followed you."
Her heartbeat kicked up. "Me and Trent?"
"Um, yeah. I followed you and the boyfriend."