For All to See (Bureau Series Book 1) (12 page)

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ad
the ground spit into a gaping chasm on the island road in front of him, Nathan wouldn’t have been more astonished. He’d pried at her past for days and hypothesized about what could make a caring and vibrant young women hide from the world. Every scenario formed ice crystals in his veins, but none more than this revelation.

The words she and Chief exchanged played again in his mind.

“You may have seen a dead body at a funeral, but you haven’t seen one carved up. It’s a whole other deal.”

“Actually, Chief, I have.”

Nathan strangled the wheel, but otherwise showed none of the emotions cluttering his frontal lobe. Instinct overrode them all. His gaze flew to hers in the mirror. Damn the curving road. No passing cars lit the interior. The dim of night revealed only the outline of her forehead buried in quivering hands.

“Madelyn,” he whispered.

“Don’t.” Her shielded face, along with her quiet sobs, distorted the word. “Don’t say anything. Please.” The dog shifted in the backseat, splaying his body atop Madelyn’s lap. “You either,” she cried.

He pulled into the driveway at the back of her small house and cut the engine. As though it were the crack of a starter pistol, Madelyn took off. She untapped her seatbelt, wiggled out from Deacon’s weight, blew through the door, and bolted for the house.

“Fuck.” Nathan wrestled with his seatbelt and yanked the keys from the ignition as her brunette hair disappeared into the house. The oxygen level in his body hit a rapid descent. He slammed the door, locked the dog inside the car, and churned the earth beneath his feet.

The interior hung in gloomy darkness just like the night. His hand slid across the smooth wall in search of a light switch. A
boom
at the back of the house had him running blind through the space. He hit the living area and the tiny string lights from the back patio illuminated the space enough to see through her open bedroom door.

Light slipped beneath the bathroom door. A cry came with it. Not a sob, but an anguished, terror filled bay.

Nathan tore open the door.

“Get—” A violent roll of Madelyn’s stomach severed her protest. Her hands clenched the edge of the sink, while her bare back contracted. The shirts she’d been wearing lay in a small heap a few feet away.

He should turn and leave her to the business of dry heaving her emotions all over the bathroom, but he moved closer and closer still. Strands of dark, gentle waves curtained her face. He stepped behind her and swept the strands into his grip. His fingers grazed the chill on her skin. Yet the underside of her hair dripped with sweat. He yanked a washcloth from the shelf next to the sink and turned on the cool water.

After several heaves, Madelyn’s head hung, limp, between her shoulders. He rung out the excess water and dabbed at the perspiration gathered at her nape. The knobs of her spine made an elegant line down her back. Petite, corded muscles splayed on either side of the sweeping channel with only the tanned lace of a bra interrupting the flow.

He forced his gaze away from the perfect set of dimples at the small of her back, just above the round of her bottom. If ever there wasn’t a time…

“Please, go,” she choked.

T
he soothing washcloth
settled over her nape. His sure fingers skimmed the cloth and a tiny fraction of her skin. The shocking tenderness flooded her eyes.

Please don’t let him see me cry.
Please don’t let him hate me.

Her hair fell gently to her back and fanned across her shoulders. He retreated on silent steps. Only the
click
of the latch catching signaled his departure. The tears spattered the edge of the toilet and then puddled on the floor. Why did it hurt so much after all this time?

“Because you deserve it,” she whispered.

Madelyn plucked herself off the floor, flushed the meager remnants of her lunch, undressed, and turned the shower on as hot and as forcefully as it would go. The water washed away the vomit and sweat, but the blood still stained her hands. No amount of good deeds would take it away. No amount of self-pity would make what she’d done acceptable. So, she shoved the hurt deep inside, scrubbed away the evidence, and got the hell out of the shower.

After blotting dry and applying moisturizer, she wanted nothing more than to dive under the covers and forget about her punch-in-the-gut confession. A few things stood in her way. Nathan wasn’t leaving tonight. She needed to keep an eye on Deacon. Most importantly, she needed clothes.

Madelyn lived alone and had for her entire adult life. She’d been a nudist colony of one, plus a dog, all the way up until thirty minutes ago. With a huff and a tug she fastened the towel around her breasts and eased the door open a fraction of an inch.

“Here.” Nathan thrust a pile of clothes through the door.

She stifled a scream and snatched the stack before he came any farther into the room. Not that she expected him to breach her privacy. Though, a pair of teal thongs crowned the heap. “Thank you,” she squeaked.

Having little choice, she pushed the door closed with a hip and pulled on the panties and pink cotton boxers. But she considered the white cotton tank top clutched between her thumb and forefinger. She grimaced. If she wore the thing without a bra, he’d see the dark of her areolas and the peak of her suddenly stiff nipples. If she asked for a bra he’d snoop in her goodie drawer. She eyed the pile of discarded clothes and found the one she’d worn all day. The thing was as wet as if she’d taken a dip in the ocean.

“Damnit.” Madelyn held the towel to her chest, hid behind the door, opened it a crack, and peered out.

Nathan leaned a hip on the end of her bed. His big arms crossed his chest and a devious smile quirked his lips. With a wiggle of his middle finger her matching teal bra shimmed against his side. “I wondered whether or not you’d ask for it. Especially, with the wonderland that is your bra drawer.”

Madelyn’s face flamed as though the comment had come with its own flame thrower. She slammed the door and planted her back on the cool wood.

“Hey.” He knocked gently. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll let you look in my toy draw.”

Her uproarious laughter snapped her embarrassment like a number two pencil. In the close confines of the bathroom it
pinged
off the tiles. The absurdity of the situation and his ridiculous comments added a level of hysteria to the giggle.

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

She wiped her eyes and squinted through the crack of the door. “That was a yes, you’re insane.”

“If insanity makes you smile, I’ll plead it.” He winked and jangled the bra in front of her face.

“Looks like you have a lot of experience dressing women.” She snuck out a hand and snatched the undergarment.”

“I have more undressing them.” He waggled his brows. Then the playfulness faded. A seductive glint lit his eyes. “But I have to say there’s something sexy about knowing what you’re wearing underneath your clothes. Something intimate about touching it before it touches your body.”

Madelyn swallowed the lump in her throat and prayed it wasn’t her tongue. Her lips parted and then closed. She didn’t know how to flirt, but she wanted to and that was a major change in itself. The moment stalled.

“Think you can eat anything?” He took a step back and rubbed his palms over his pant legs.

“Maybe something small. I don't really know what I have.”

“I’ll take care of it.” He pulled the door shut and his heavy steps receded.

Madelyn clutched the bra and tank to her chest to mute the flutter that dove and twirled in her belly and around her heart. His caring, fun-loving nature—especially after he should’ve written her off as a psycho—loosened something inside her held captive, bound, and chained for so very long.

It warmed her from the inside, made her want to run for shelter and twirl in circles all at the same time. Mostly, in one of the darkest times in her life, it gave her hope.

She slipped her arms into the straps and fastened the clasp. The firm cups held her breasts high. Her beaded nipples pressed against the fabric. A shot of desire rang out and reverberated through her.

For a moment Madelyn closed her eyes and imagined Nathan’s hands cupping her breasts. The heat that had flamed her cheeks scorched her body as it scoured its way over her chest, across her belly, and gathered between her legs. The tingle of her breasts turned to an all-out ache. Her breath came in a rush and a gentle moan echoed off the tile.

Her eyes snapped open. This so wasn’t the time. Madelyn chewed on her lower lip. Sure, if she let her hands wander, an orgasm would ease her tightly-wound coil of desire. But she’d nearly lost another friend to a maniac and she’d just lost her lunch. While a release was normally high on her list of priorities, a few other things had bumped it down a notch…maybe two. She huffed, shoved her arms and head into the tank, and hurried from the bathroom before she changed her mind.

“How are you feeling?” Nathan leaned against her tiny couch much like he had last night, only this time Deacon was stretched out with his back against the man’s legs.

“Fine.” She curled her legs beneath her and sat on the rug near Nathan’s bare feet and Deacon’s head. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s a tough guy.” His big hand patted her dog’s belly. “Until you scratch the right spot, and then he turns into a pile of goo.”

Me too.

Madelyn forced a smile.

“You look a little flushed.”

His saying it certainly didn’t help the situation. She blushed to the roots. Her eyes darted around the room and settled on a plate with a toasted slice of her homemade bread and a small glass of clear bubbly liquid. “Is that for me?”

“If you can stomach it. If you don’t think you can, you can sleep and try tomorrow.”

“I can’t sleep yet. I have some questions and—”

“They can hold until tomorrow. I’ve already pushed you farther than I should’ve tonight.”

“Guess I’m not the only stubborn one around here.” She cocked a brow.

Nathan granted her a crooked smile.

She stroked Deacon’s head. “I need to know things to better protect myself and my dog.”

“That’s what you have me for.” He lit her up with the full wattage of his grin.

“So, Amadi, Ekene, Chief, and Hanri are what, suspects in your eyes?”

“If you want me to answer that, take a bite of toast.”

“What about you, have you eaten?”

“Always pushback with you.” Nathan’s disheveled hair flopped as he shook his head. “I ate, while you were in the shower.”

She smirked and snagged the bread for a nibble. It didn’t hit her stomach like an anvil. So, she took another. “Happy now?”

“Getting there.” He just studied her, his gaze roving her face, arms, chest, and then legs. “That’s better.” She opened her mouth to protest. “Another bite,” he ordered.

Madelyn snapped a large bite and set the toast on the plate. “Answer my questions, please,” she begged around the hunk of deliciousness.

“Yes, they’re all persons of interest. While I’m here, Agent Kepler is running background checks and combing through their pasts. Crimes like this seem random, but seldom are. There’s usually a common thread. We just have to find it.”

“I don’t know the bartender that well, but he seems like such a nice guy. Ekene is just a big bratty kid. Sure Amadi has the skills and size to do these things, but he doesn’t have the malice for it. He’s so in control and Zen.” She folded her arms over her chest. “And Chief is, well, Chief. He’s all about protecting and serving. Besides, he was born, raised, and married here, and will likely die here an old man.”

“There wasn’t a marriage certificate in his file and he didn’t mention a wife.”

“I don’t think they were married on the island. She’s from Miami, I think. And she doesn’t live here anymore. Hasn’t since I’ve been here. The gossip is she left him and moved back to the States because she didn’t like being stuck on an island.”

“And what about you?”

“I love it. It’s beautiful. Peaceful. Well, it was.”

“It will be again. Now, how about another bite of toast.”

“I think I’m good.”

“Then to bed you go.” He flicked his hand in the direction of her room.

“Excuse me?”

“You probably haven't had good sleep in days. Now, go get some.”

“I don’t do orders.”

A grin slowly formed on his lips. “I bet you would, if I gave the right ones.”

The desire she’d tempered with talk of murder suspects flared from his jibe. She jumped up and stormed to her bedroom door before she wiped that smirk away with her pussy.

Goodness, that man. And that damn dog.

Did he follow her to the bedroom? No. He lifted his head, snuffed, and then lowered it next to Nathan’s leg.

“Don’t get your feelings hurt. We talked earlier. I told him I was going to keep an eye on him tonight, so you can get some rest.”

She grabbed the edge of the door, ready to slam the thing.

“Door open tonight. Just in case. If you want to sleep naked, I won’t peek.”

H
er puffy
eyes squinted open on a new day. Sunshine billowed through the window. She rubbed both fists against her eyes and stretched her legs toward the foot of the bed. Her toes peeped out at the other end of the covers.

Madelyn shot upright. She always tucked the end of her sheets under the mattress with military precision. But now the entirety of the bottom edge hung over the end of the bed or in a heap over her ankles. Her gaze shot left and right, looking for what? The killer, who’d menacingly untucked her cover?

A hollow dented the pillow next to her and the cover had been ruffled back. In the corner a medium sized duffle bag yawned wide. Patterned blue boxers hung from the side.

No way. He didn’t.

She gasped and the delicious aroma of breakfast filled her lungs. Her stomach flipped, reminding her she’d gone to bed without dinner. But first she had some investigative work to do. She leaned into the pillow and inhaled. Nathan’s decadent scent shot up her nose. She melted, her face crashing into the pillow.

That dirty, rotten, sneaky
—

“You hungry?”

She rolled to the side to find his head peeking around the heavy wooden door. “Starving. Did you sleep in my bed last night?”

“You’re a good snuggler. Way better than Deacon.” He shrugged and vanished behind the door.

Madelyn launched off the bed and hurried to catch him. “You slept in my bed!”

“I couldn’t find any bacon or sausage. So, we have eggs, toast, and fruit.” He shoved a plate toward her and winked. “We might want to think about going to the store today. You have a good amount of vegetables and other fixings, but your meat supply is non-existent.”

“I would hope so. I don’t eat it.” She smiled, awaiting his reaction.

“Oh, no.” His eyes bugged and his upper lip curled.

“Oh yes.”

“Is this some kind of payback for sleeping in your bed?”

Deacon lay in the middle of the walkway between the island and the refrigerator. She squatted and rubbed his head. “You traitorous mongrel,” she cooed. “You could’ve given me a heads up.” He only blinked his big amber eyes. Madelyn hugged his face in her hands, and then sat at a barstool and took several bites. “I can’t believe you slept in my bed and I didn’t know it. That’s creepy.”

“You were zonked. And honestly, I gave the couch a try. But only two thirds of me fit on it. I slept on the floor for a few hours, but woke to Deacon’s butt in my face and a crick in my neck.”

“Fine.” She waved him off. “What exactly is the plan? And, are there agents watching the house? Because I didn’t see any on the way in last night.”

“If you saw them they wouldn’t do us any good. They are there. Well, their surveillance equipment, taking in every inch surrounding your house.” He snagged a banana out of the bowl and peeled it. “They’re in a villa a little way up the beach, monitoring. If anything larger than an iguana moves out there we’ll know about it. And the plan is to wait.”

He gulped down a bite and practically swallowed it whole. “It’s the hardest part of the job. The waiting game. Waiting for forensic analysis. Waiting for the bad guy to make a move or a mistake. Waiting sucks, but that’s what we’re going to do.”

She finished her food and summarized. “So, I just hang around and be the bait.”

He lifted his suit jacket and pointed to the gun tucked snuggly into its holster. “Bait with protection.”

She’d slept later than usual and missed her morning run and gym time. “Did you turn off my alarm?”

“Can’t go to the gym right now, so I figured I’d let you sleep a little longer.”

“Why can’t I go…never mind.”

“I’ll take those.” He grabbed her empty plate, put his banana peel on top, and scooped up her glass. “You don't have much time to shower and get to work.”

“School,” she croaked. The grisly scene flashed in her mind.

“You’ll get through it. I’ll help you.”