Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (5 page)

John glanced his partner
’
s way.
“
Make the call
. Bring them up to speed. Have a team go over every square inch outside and get them started on tracking the car
.
A
lso, check into where this particular brand of paper can be purchased in the area. It
’
s a long shot, but at this point I
’
ll take anything.
”
He waited through his partner
’
s scribbling then
faced
Anna.
“
We need to talk. Alone.
”

Chapter
Three

Anna
reluctantly followed
John
out to the back deck.
If
she
ever believed in bad karma, it was now. Facing the man responsible for feelings
she'd
hoped were
dead and buried. G
one for good.
They weren't.

She c
ould feel his
gaze
sliding over
her
body
,
familiar and
with as much power
as a caress. Just like those times in the past,
her
breathless reaction to John scared the hell out of
her
.

“
How are you, Anna?
”
When he spoke, the anger
she
’
d seen in him moments earlier was gone. The
quiet
, sexy
, gravely
tone replacing it was far more disarming.

Anna
whirled to face him.
“
How am I? How do you think I am?
”
He watched
her
silently, seeing more than
she
wanted him to see. In a half-baked attempt at self-preservation,
Anna
turned the tables.
“
I doubt you came all this way to ask how I was. Or to chase a note unless…there
’
ve been other
s
, haven
’
t there?
”

He didn
’
t try to deny it.
Dear God
,
why didn
’
t he deny
it?

Anna
forced words out on a shaky breath.
“
How many?
”

“
Two.
”
His eyes never released
hers
.

Just like before. Just like
with
Aaron. He saw
her
come to that conclusion.

Anna
untangled
her
gaze before
she
lost what little hold
on her nerves that
she
still laid claim to.
She
ran a visibly trembling hand across
her
eyes and stared out at the
late
morning
sun as it bounced along the ocean
’s calm surface
, blinding
her
for the moment.
She
shielded
her
eyes.

Exhaustion and fear kept
her
voice unsteady.
“
You told me you had the creep responsible for this. You promised me, John.
”

He didn
’
t react to
her
anger.
“
I told you we had the person responsible for Aaron
’
s death—
”

Anna
tossed an
angry
glare his way.
“
For God
’
s sake, don
’
t play
word games
. The person responsible for Aaron
’
s death is the same—
”

He shook his head.
“
No, it isn
’
t.
”
He confirmed with
a handful of
simple words.

Fear crept down
through her
like an electrical charge.
She
no longer tried to be strong.
“
I can
’
t go back to D.C. I won
’
t. I can
’
t go there, John.
”

He
’
d moved closer without
Anna
realizing it. John
was
just shy of six-four
and
extremely
fit
and devilishly sexy
. Against
her
wishes,
Anna's
mind took
her
to places
she
wasn
’
t prepared to go.
She
remembered all the times past he
’
d love
d
to
her
. The way his body
responded
beneath
her
fingertips. Inside
her
.
She
shuddered from the weight of those memories. The needs he
’
d ignited in
her
once more hurt physically. It was like being frozen solid then thawed suddenly. There was nothing comfortable about wanting John.

When he spoke,
Anna
could feel his
warm
breath caress the nape of
her
neck.
“
Anna…
”
His hands cupped
her
shoulders
,
drawing
her
back against him. All anger left
her
the moment his body
touched hers
.

“
Anna, I can
’
t let anything happen to you. I promised Aaron—
”

Anna
jerked from his grasp and rounded on him.
“
Don
’
t
.
”

She
lost
t
he
nerve
to continue
the second
she
saw the raw desire in John
’
s liquid gaze. Just as quickly as it appeared, the anger
her
accusations ignited tamped it out. He caught
hold of her
before
she
could move away.

“
Aaron was my friend, my mentor. My partner. I would do anything to protect him and you. Whatever happened between you and I didn
’
t take away my feelings for Aaron. I loved him
like a brother
.
”

“
Is that why you went after me? Because you loved him
?
You were jealous of him. You wanted what he had—
”

“
The only thing I ever wanted of Aaron
’
s was you. Just you, Anna. Only you.
”
He was inches away.
They
both were breathing as if
they
’
d run a marathon. His eyes softened as they slipped over
her
face, not missing any of the
desire, the confusion, the hurt
she
couldn
’
t hide from him.

W
hen her life had spiraled out of control, it had been John who was there to comfort her. Make her feel special,
needed,
desir
ed
again.  

“
John, the agents are here.
”
Neither of
them
realized
John
’
s partner
had joined them until he spoke.
They
jumped in unison and turned guiltily toward the younger man.

“
We
’
ll be right there.
”
John managed an answer.
Anna
could not. When the door slid back into place,
they
stood frozen side-by-side watching the man retreat.

That had been John a few years back. Cocky. Confident. In
c
harge. The man standing close to
her
now was the senior agent, just as Aaron had been. He
’
d changed.
Anna
could almost feel the weariness in him. Dealing with death had a way of doing that.

Anna
breathed in the ocean and fought for the calm
she
didn
’
t feel.
“
He reminds me a lot of you.
”

John turned to get a closer look at
her
.
He
suspected
she
was being sarcastic. After a moment, he nodded.
“
Yes. Although I can
’
t remember the person I was before Aaron
’
s death.
The baby’s.
Before I lost you.
”

While
Anna
tried to recover from those heartbreaking words, he stepped to the door and waited for
her
. Cool and professional
again
. For a
second,
she
believed
she
’
d imagined the whole thing, until
their eyes met
. The pain
she
’
d
glimpsed
in him from the moment he walked
back
into
her
life again was still there.

The secrets were all over as far as he was concerned.

*
*
*
*
*

“
John, this is Agents Brady and Hays.
”
Rick nodded
to
first one man and then the next, but it was easy to see who the senior agent was.

John was conscious of his partner
’
s curiosity. But he was more aware of everything Anna did.
She
’
d followed him back inside reluctantly. She hadn
’
t join
ed
in the introductions. She
’
d simply disappeared into the belly of the house.

Agent Hays appeared to be somewhere in his mid-forties
. He
carried his resentment and disappointment like a chip on his shoulder.

“
Agent Delaney. I
’
ve heard a lot about you.
”
He gave no further insight. John could only imagine.

John shook both agents
’
hands.
“
I take it my partner has brought you up to speed on the case?
”

Hays did the answering for the both of them.
“
Yes, we
’
re up to speed. It
’
s my understanding that you and your partner believe this case has something to do with the Rock Creek
k
illings
last
year.
That was your case, wasn
’
t it, Agent Delaney? I thought they had creep locked up in Petersburg, Virginia?
”

John ignored the taunt and the obvious challenge to his authority.
“
Until we have all the facts, we
’
re investigating this incident as a separate case. There
’
s no need in alarming the public until we
’
re sure. Do I make myself clear?
”

“
O
f
course.
”
Hays waved a careless hand.
“
But it
’
s only a matter of time before the press gets wind of this and someone puts two and two together.
”