Die for Me: A Novel of the Valentine Killer (20 page)

He had to make her relax, feel safe, and that wouldn’t happen if the profiler and the captain were breathing down their necks.

Harley gave a grim nod. “Do what you have to do.”

Dane knew the order for exactly what it was. But before he left the room, he had one more question for the profiler. “Why the fucking roses? What’s their message?”

Marcus rubbed his chin. “Originally, the roses could have been a sign of remorse. He’d taken their lives, so he gave his victims a token to remember him. But when he met Katherine…” Marcus shook his head. “Roses used to be her favorite flower, did you know that? She revealed that fact in her Boston interrogations. She even kept a small rose garden behind the house she shared with Valentine. When Valentine found out about her love for roses, the guy must have seen that as another sign that Katherine was perfect for him.”

Sick fuck. She
wasn’t
perfect for him and never would be.

With his jaw locked, he headed out of the room and went straight to Katherine.

Her shoulders were still hunched, and she looked so beaten. He hated that. He tried to control his rage as he reached out and touched her shoulder.

She flinched and jumped to her feet. “No!”

All eyes flew to her.

Her breath came fast and hard. Her eyes seemed desperate. Then she focused on Dane and gave a little shudder. “I-I’m sorry.”

He wanted her in his arms. Screw it, he pulled her against him. Held her tight and didn’t care who saw them. She needed him. She needed to know that someone was there for her.

And he’d damn well be that someone.

“I wanted to kill him,” she said, her stark whisper barely reaching his ears.

He wasn’t surprised by her confession. Full truth, he wanted to kill the bastard too. The badge was the only thing holding him in check.

“But he took the bullets from my gun. He figured out where I kept it hidden, and he took my bullets.”

The profiler’s words whispered through his mind once more.
I suspect that he has been watching her.
He had been.

Katherine stiffened in his arms. She shoved against him, catching Dane off guard, and he stumbled back.

“Stay away from me!” she told him as dark color flushed her cheeks. “You
have to
stay away from me!”

“Katherine?”

“If you don’t, he’ll hurt you, too.” Her whole body was stiff. Her eyes stark. “He told me. You have to stay away.”

The bastard thought he’d be afraid? Dane grabbed her hands. “That’s not happening. No one will keep me away from you.”

He heard a gasp, then looked to the side. Evelyn Knight had just been led into the bull pen. Her tear-filled gaze was on him. Katherine. Their linked hands.

Mac hurried forward and tried to steer Evelyn away, but she wasn’t moving. She just stared at Katherine.

Katherine pulled away from Dane again. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and rocked back and forth as if trying to soothe herself.

The silence in the bull pen was deafening. Dane cleared his throat. “Come on, I need to talk to you in interrogation.”

Katherine didn’t flinch. Didn’t even look at him. She just turned woodenly and headed for interrogation room one.

Evelyn was still there. Watching.

Katherine paused in front of her. “I’m sorry about Trent.”

A tear leaked down Evelyn’s cheek. “I don’t think you are, Kat.”

Dane stiffened.

“I’m not sure you can actually be sorry about anything, especially something as insignificant as another person’s life.” Another tear trickled down her cheek.

Dane stepped in front of Katherine. “Take her
out
of here, Mac,” he ordered.

Evelyn’s shoulders straightened. “Because I’m the one who’s out of control, right?” Her tear-filled eyes found Dane’s. “Why can’t you see what she is? Trent couldn’t see either. Now it’s too late.”

Then she was gone. Being led—pulled—away by Mac.

Dane turned back to Katherine. He saw a woman struggling to hold on to her self-control. Was she a monster?

No, he didn’t see it.

But he knew, based on his own life, that monsters could hide anyplace.

“I
need
to see him,” Evelyn said. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing. The detective named Mac was trying to force her out of the station, but it wasn’t happening.

She needed to see Trent.

One more time.

“He’s in the morgue. You don’t want—”

“Yes, I do.” She lifted her chin. “Someone has to identify the body, right? Or did Katherine do that already?”

“You ever been in a morgue, ma’am?”

“I’m a doctor—I have a medical license. I’ve seen plenty of bodies.” And she knew where the morgue was located. So she headed for the elevator. She couldn’t look at Katherine anymore.

The woman was standing there, offering her apologies.

I don’t believe her.

But before she could get in the elevator, the detective moved to block her path. “You can’t see him yet.”

“I
have
to see him.”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am, not yet, you don’t. Once I get the clear from the captain and the ME, then I’ll take you down. You should go home. Get some rest. We’ll call you.”

They’d call her to see Trent’s remains.

Trent. He’d been far from perfect, she knew that. But he’d also been her best friend.

“I’m not leaving until I see him.”

Mac swore. “Then go down to the lobby. Stay there, hit the cafeteria. Just don’t come back to the bull pen. I’ll find you.”

The elevator’s doors opened.

Mac walked away from her. Probably heading back to talk to Katherine.

All the cops wanted to talk to Katherine, but no one ever arrested her. No one seemed to see past her surface.

Only I do.

Evelyn’s steps were wooden. In a few moments, she was in the lobby, but she heard raised voices. She turned her head and watched the crowd through the windows.

Reporters. All pushing and asking questions of the uniforms outside.

She headed toward them and shoved open the doors. The sun was bright, shining.

“Is it true that Valentine has claimed another victim?” one reporter asked a cop who was heading toward his patrol car.

The cop didn’t respond.

Valentine.

The reporters just didn’t understand. Valentine was only part of the story. Katherine was the rest.

But no one knew about Katherine. Not the real Katherine.

Only I do.

Evelyn’s gaze swept the street, and she saw the news vans that were parked near the station.

Her heart began to beat faster. Maybe it was time for everyone to know the truth.

The door closed behind Dane with a soft click. Katherine took a slow, deep breath, then glanced toward the two-way mirror. “Who’s watching this time?”

“The captain and Marcus Wayne.”

She stared at the mirror. The numbness was starting to wear away. Now she just wanted to scream. To rage. To do
something.
“He was right there. Do you know how many times I’ve imagined what I would do if he was right in front of me?”

Kill him.

She’d wanted to.

Dane pulled out a chair for her.

She didn’t sit. She started to pace, her body far too tense right then for sitting. Now that the ice was cracking around her, Katherine’s whole body seemed filled with desperate energy.

“Did he look the same? Has he changed his hair or—”

She whirled toward him. “I didn’t see his face. He came up behind me.” Her hands lifted, curving around her body in mimicry of his. “He had his mouth at my ear.”

Dane stepped closer to her. “You’re sure it was him?”

“He was whispering to me. I remembered his whisper.” Because he’d whispered to her so many times before. Only she hadn’t realized that the one sharing his secrets with her was a
killer. “I had my gun, and I was going to turn and shoot him. But he’d taken my bullets.” She rubbed her temples. They were throbbing so badly. “I told you that, didn’t I? That he took my bullets?”

“Yes, you told me.” There was no expression in his voice.

Her hands dropped. She studied him, suspicious. “You believe me, don’t you? I had bullets in that gun! I was going to stop him!” Then she whirled toward the mirror. “Marcus! I don’t care what you think—I
didn’t
let him get away! I wanted to stop him!” She slammed her hand against the mirror. “I want this over.”

Then Dane’s reflection was behind hers. He reached for her again.

She whirled around to face him. “Don’t. I-I can’t!”

And that hurt. Because Dane…he’d been the one person she could touch without feeling the instinctive urge to withdraw. Only now…“I can still feel him on me.” It made her feel dirty. But what was new? Ever since she’d walked into that basement, she’d felt that way.

Nothing could change that.

“He’s not here, Katherine.” Dane put his hands on her shoulders.

His touch was warm and strong, and she wanted to shove him away. “He’s always here.” Didn’t he get that? “Always watching.”

She saw Dane’s gaze cut to the mirror.

“You need to get off this case.” She wouldn’t have his death on her conscience. “You need to stay away from me.”

He didn’t back away. He crowded in closer. “Why? Because Valentine might come after me?”

“There’s no ‘might’ about it. He said he would! He told me!”

Dane actually smiled, and the sight chilled her to the bone. “Good. Let the bastard come.”

“I don’t want any more deaths on me!”

His gaze searched hers. “That’s what you need to stop believing. None of the deaths are on you. They are all on him. Every single one.”

But Katherine could only shake her head. “Tell that to Trent. If he’d never met me, he’d still be living.”

“Still think she’s working with Valentine?” the captain asked him.

Marcus Wayne didn’t take his gaze off the couple before him. There seemed to be genuine guilt in Katherine’s voice. Of course, sociopaths were often skilled at mimicking emotions.

Michael O’Rourke was certainly skilled in that area.

“Katherine Cole is a very complex woman.”

She’d pulled away from Dane. It was obvious from his expression that the detective hadn’t wanted to let her go.

Like Valentine, he seemed to be getting pulled in by Katherine. Valentine wanted to protect his Kat. It seemed the detective wanted the same thing.

“I’d like to see the detective’s personnel record,” Marcus said.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the captain stiffen. “Why the hell do you want that?”

“Because Katherine just told us that Valentine may target your detective. It only makes sense that I learn everything I can about him.” The words were partially true, but more, he wanted to understand why Katherine was drawn to Dane Black.

First Valentine, now Black. Both men were highly protective and, judging by what he was observing, possessive of her. Did the men share other traits?

Perhaps he could actually learn about Valentine by studying Black.

“Katherine, look, I need to—”

The door flew open. Mac stood there, his face tense. “Dane, I need you. Now.”

Katherine stepped forward immediately. “Has something happened?”
Please, not another victim. Not another…