Hunting (34 page)

“
So who? Which of these
three men would be the best candidate?” Fin waved his prosthetic at
the white board.

“
I say we don’t worry about
choosing which one and send teams to all three.” Hell stood and
stepped toward Malachi. “We’ll find Jules, and we’ll find Paige, if
she’s even missing. None of us will stop until we do.”

Al held her mother’s hand
and waited for news from the surgeons. Or from Mal. When that news
from her oldest brother came, it was not good. And was a harder
blow.

Al squeezed her mother’s
hand, and then shifted her mom’s palm into her dad’s. She stood,
looked her brother straight on. “I’m ready.”

“
You stay here.” He nodded
toward their parents. “Take care of them. Wait on word of
Mick.”

“
No. I’m going with you.
That’s my
partner
who’s missing. And one of my friends. And
it’s my brother who was shot, too. Remember? No, I’m going. And
you’re not stopping me.”

Sebastian, her team leader,
patted her on the back, his green eyes filled with compassion and
understanding. “We’re rolling with Fin’s and Mal’s teams. Are you
sure you’re up for this?”

“
More than.” He better than
anyone, knew her capabilities as an investigative agent. It was why
she was his second-in-command. “Let’s roll.”

Her mother and father
understood, she could see it on their faces.

The bond between her and
her brothers was strong, but Paige was her partner, and Jules her
friend. There was extreme loyalty there, too.

And no one questioned that
Jules meant more to Malachi than just a friend and colleague.
Everyone looking at him could see that. Her brother loved Jules,
and that alone was enough for Al. That made Jules her family,
too.

She’d find her friends, or
die trying. It was as simple as that. “Let’s go.”

They were halfway out of
the hospital when Ed’s fiancé Marianna Glendower, head of the
forensics department, met them. “Sebastian! Agent
Brockman!”

“
What is it?” Malachi
asked. She had an envelope in her hands, and he could easily see on
her face that it was important. “What do you have?”

“
This! It’s your brother’s
shirt that was cut away in the ambulance.” She pulled on gloves
then slipped the envelope open. She pulled out a bloodied
undershirt. “We found
this
on the front abdomen. Do you know
what it means?”

She held the shirt up for
everyone to see. Malachi had no difficulty spotting what she’d
found.

Along the bottom of the
shirt’s front, beneath the large bloodstain was something written
in the blood. His brother’s blood.

N and C.

NC.

Nathanial
Collins.

Her ears still rang from
the knock he’d given her. He’d hit her hard enough to send her
sprawling back over his bed. She was dazed, and unable to stop him
from tying her left hand to his bed.

An iron bed almost
identical to Malachi’s, to the bed where they’d made love in this
past week.

Even his bed matched
Malachi’s. How creepy was that? “So are you trying to become
Malachi? Kind of like Edward Gein-ing him? What’s next, wearing
women’s skins to become
your
mommy?”

“
Do not be ridiculous, my
dear. Of course, I’m not trying to become like Malachi. We simply
have similar tastes and lives. Coincidence or fate, whatever you
wish to call it.”

“
I don’t think it’s
coincidence if you’ve been spying on Malachi. That’s stalking, and
it’s insane.” Jules kicked at him. She bucked, scratched with her
free hand. “I won’t let you do this. You will
never
replace
Malachi
with me. Ever.”

Definitely the wrong thing
to say to him. He smacked her again, a short, quick slap designed
just for chastisement. Jules covered her cheek with her hand. She
glared at him. “Don’t do that again.”

“
You’re confused, my dear,
in thinking you have any say in what happens next. I had plans for
you, and you ruined them. I am very angry with you.”

“
Well, la-
ti
-da.”
Jules wanted to bite her own tongue. Why was she antagonizing him?
He could kill her in a heartbeat. “You’re stupid if you think I’m
just going to meekly go along with whatever you want to
do.”

“
Julia, do you honestly
think you have a choice?”

It was the cold of his
words that struck her the most. He grabbed her blouse and yanked,
sending the tiny white buttons flying. His hands were firm and
determined, almost clinical when he touched her bare skin. “Yes.
You are a very beautiful woman, aren’t you? Pity my plans are
ruined. I would have greatly enjoyed having you as a
wife.”

“
Why do you need a wife?”
She tried to focus on anything other than the feel of the serial
killer’s hands on her body. “And why did you choose Paige and me to
fill that role?”

He admired her calm. Many
women when faced with what he intended for them acted either weepy
or vicious. A third of his victims had been female, though he had
had no romantic interest in any except the woman beneath him, and
the one currently tied up neatly in his guest bathtub. Those women
had been pitiful, either crying or cursing at all times. He was
intrigued that Julia acted neither.

She was resisting him, but
that was just the passion the woman possessed fighting to get free.
He’d witnessed that passion via the camera he had in Malachi’s
bedroom. Julia was a very passionate woman. Soon he would feel that
passion for himself. Her bra was no hindrance at all, she was small
enough that a single snap in the front was all that held the silk
together. With a flick of his fingers, she was naked from the waist
up. She screamed—no
yelled
—at him, calling him a full range
of foul names, ending with
looney tunes batshit crazy
bastard
. He found that mildly amusing.

He took the time to savor
the touch of her skin. His fingers actually trembled. He wanted
this woman so very, very badly; he would have her.

No, even though a great
risk would remain, he would keep this woman alive for a long, long
time. It could be done; the news was full of such stories recently.
And he was certainly smarter than those men.

He gave it a moment of
thought and the idea had definite appeal. With time, she would
react to him as passionately as she did that bastard Malachi. He
would keep her here, privately, and find himself another woman to
use as a public wife. He could not ever let Julia
go,
the
publicity would be too much of a nightmare. And there would always
be a chance of someone putting it together, but there was no reason
he couldn’t keep her in the basement of this place. It was
certainly big enough to support a small suite of rooms in the
basement. Yes, that’s what he would do.

He wanted her passion, and
he would have it.

He took his time enjoying
her beneath him. Sex was not something to be hurried, especially
with a woman like Julia Bellows. So he would appease himself with
just a few touches and tastes. A bite or nip or two.

She fought him, hard, and
after a while he backed away. She would wear herself out
eventually, and he had other business that had to be attended to.
He did not want her broken, just more cooperative. And if he forced
her now, it would break her spirit. It was best to give her some
time to adjust. To realize it was just the way things were going to
be from now on. Otherwise, he might have to hurt her more than he
anticipated. And that was something he did not want...yet. And he
had much to do this evening, if they were all to remain
safe.

Namely, the inferior woman
in the other room.

Paige was just stirring
when he checked on her. He knew she would have a headache, and he
felt a small moment’s regret at that.

He had intended to kill
her, but if he was planning on keeping Julia alive, why not Paige,
as well? He was certainly up to the challenge. He could spend time
molding her into the ideal woman, testing his theories and methods.
He would have Julia to compare his progress to. As a control
subject, for example. And they were close, it would give them each
a companion when he couldn’t be with them.

Paige was a very beautiful
woman, though she was not enough yet to excite him as quickly as
Julia.

But then again, Julia was
special.

Julia was Malachi’s. Or had
been.

Maybe that was what set
Paige apart from Julia? Paige had never been an object of sexual
focus for Malachi, so he had always found her lacking? It could
explain why he’d yet to feel true stirrings of lust for Paige.
Malachi had not lusted for her. And neither had Nathanial. It was a
possibility, and one he would entertain later. Perhaps he could
change that lack of lust with the proper training of
Paige.

“
Good evening, my dear. How
is your head?”

“
Nate? What’s going on? Why
do you have me here?” Paige was still befuddled, but he could see
her becoming more aware by the second. “What have you
done?”

“
Just implemented the next
stage of my plan. How do you feel, my dear?” He’d tied her much
tighter than he had Julia. Time had been a bit more abundant with
Paige than with the smaller woman, for one thing. For another,
Paige was a federal agent, Julia Bellows a doctor. One was trained
to kill, the other to heal. No, Paige would be a bigger challenge
than Julia.

“
Confused. And pissed.
Very, very pissed. What’s going on here?”

“
Simple. You’ve become the
black queen.”

“
What? Are you serious? You
shot Agent Knight, didn’t you?” Her eyes were wide and total shock
was on her face. It pleased him that he had fooled her for so long.
She was not an unintelligent woman, by any means. And he had kept
her in the dark as to his true nature. Yet again he’d
triumphed.

“
Him, and many others.” He
brushed that hideously chopped hair off her forehead, then leaned
down and kissed her. His Paige would make an exquisite creation. He
had no doubts about that. She fought the kiss much less than Julia,
the drugs no doubt still making her sluggish. Perhaps he had used
too much for a woman Paige’s size? Still, the drugs would wear off.
If not, he had a doctor in the next room. “I have not yet decided
just what it is I’ll be doing with you, yet. Plans can change,
after all.”

Jules fought the urge to
puke and cry. She could still feel his hands on her skin, his mouth
on her breasts, and the sickness it invoked was almost
overwhelming. She could not fathom him doing that again.

But she knew he would, and
would do something far worse next. She knew where he was now; she’d
heard Paige’s weak call, too.

What was he doing to
Paige?

Was he about to kill Paige?
Rape her?

What did he have planned
for the two of them? And how was she supposed to get away from
him?

First she had to get off of
this bed.

He’d tied her left hand—her
non-dominant—using what appeared to be a silk scarf. He’d tied it
tightly, but that didn’t mean it was tied well. Maybe she’d get
lucky, and he’d only tied her one hand loosely?

She rolled on her side,
reaching for the green silk. It took little time to slip the
material from her wrist.

Too easy. All a part of
this guy’s need to control her.

The door was locked, and
there were windows. He’d planned this well.

She tied the bottom of her
ripped blouse together to cover herself, and then grabbed her
cardigan. He’d taken her coat. She listened at the door for a
moment, then searched the room. There had to be a weapon of some
kind, even if she had to make it herself.

There was an attached
bathroom, and Malachi’s actions the last time flashed through her
mind. She didn’t have time to sharpen a blade or two from the
porcelain, but she could get a big enough chunk to wrap the silk
around as a handle. It was either that or peel some of the loose
trim off the wall in the closet, and hope it broke into a
spike.

She had no guarantee that
would work, so she’d stick with what she knew. She put the
porcelain toilet lid down on the comforter from the bed—the
comforter identical to Malachi’s—as the sounds of Paige’s yelling
and cursing grew more vocal. If Paige could just keep him
distracted for a little while longer...

She wrapped the blanket
around the lid, then kicked, ramming the heel of her shoe—small and
flat though it was—to the center of the lid. It took a few tries,
but she was finally rewarded with a crack. She pulled the edges of
the blanket back, and nearly cried when she saw not one, but two
pieces of porcelain big enough to do some damage.

Jules was more than
intimately familiar with the damage a blade or spike could do to
the human body. She’d autopsied more than a fair share of
impalement and stabbing victims. She knew where to aim,
too.