Killer Moves (21 page)

He pulled her close. “You’re right. I’ve been so worried about saving my own hide that I almost forgot we saved her. That’s worth a few uncomfortable questions, isn’t it?”

Unfortunately, the questions had just begun. The minute Ed arrived on the scene he took Kara and Davis aside.

“What do you think you’re doing conducting your own investigation in this case? I told you to leave this with us. You’ve only complicated things here. You’ve put yourself square in the middle of another crime scene, for God’s sake!”

“Ed, you know as well as I do that I’m not involved in this thing. Don’t you think if I were, I’d make sure not to leave any witnesses around who could identify me? That we found the victim alive is big. Hopefully, she can tell us something about the killer.”

“Whether or not I believe you’re involved doesn’t matter. I told you, you were off the case. Now, you’re not only off, you’re suspended.”

“Dammit, are you out of your mind? You can’t do this to me.”

“I just did,” Ed told him quietly. “Now go home.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“You are, or you’re going to be arrested.”

Davis stared at him in disbelief. “Ed, there's a diabolical killer out there. We don’t have the time or manpower to spare here.”

“I’m well aware of what’s out there. But right now, you just happen to be my number one suspect.” Ed released a harsh breath into the tense space between them. “Go home. Stay out of it. We’ll take care of this. All you’re doing now is further incriminating yourself. Don’t make me arrest you, Davis. Please don’t make me do that. Go home.”

Davis’s eyes locked with Ed’s in disbelief, before finally accepting the truth. He and Kara were in this alone right now. It would be up to them to prove his innocence.

“All right,” Davis said at last. He’d never felt so defeated. “Come on, Kara.”

“No. She’s not going anywhere but into protective custody.”

“What?” Davis and Kara said at the same time.

“I’m staying with Davis.”

“No, you’re not.” Ed spoke directly to Kara for the first time. “Kara, there’s someone out there trolling for you. You’re his next victim. There’s no doubt in my mind about that now. I have to put you into protective custody for your own safety. There’s no other choice.”

“Kara, he’s right,” Davis told her quietly. As much as he needed her with him for emotional support, he couldn’t risk her life because of it. She would be the Angel’s next intended target. Keeping her safe meant everything to him.

“You’ll be safer in custody. God only knows what might take place next. The girl looks like a lost cause. She won’t be able to tell us anything the Angel doesn’t want her to reveal, and I’m a mess. Go with Ed. He’ll take care of you better than I could right now.” Davis turned to Ed, searching for reassurances that he wouldn’t let him down.

“You have my word, Davis. She’ll be fine.” Ed’s gaze met his again. Something else was there. Ed was trying to tell him something. And then suddenly it all became clear. He understood. This—their public exchange—was part of something bigger.

“Can you give us a second, Ed?” Davis took Kara’s hand, his eyes never leaving hers as Ed nodded then stepped away.

“Kara, I know this is hard—”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“I know you don’t, sweetheart, but Ed’s right. The killer is after me as well and he knows how important you are to me. We can’t make this easy for him. If we’re together, we’re both vulnerable. Let Ed protect you.”

“And you? What about you? Who’s going to protect you?”

“Me,” Davis said with a twist of his lips. “I can take care of myself, you know?”

“Davis, you’re exhausted and you’ve hardly slept in days.”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“Are you ready, Kara,” Ed asked, close by, not giving either of them time to think about it. Davis could only hope that whatever Ed had planned worked this time.

He shook his head and turned to Kara one more time. Drawing her into his arms, he kissed her. There were no more reservations between them. No more hiding their feelings for each other. No more secrets.

“Take care of yourself. Please don’t let anything happen to you. Not now. Not after we’ve found each other again.” Davis smiled down at her for a moment, brushing back a strand of her hair before kissing her gently for the last time.

“I’ll be fine. You take care of yourself.”

“Davis, I need your weapon,” Ed told him quietly.

Davis released Kara and faced Ed. “You’re taking away my only means of protecting myself?”

“I don’t have a choice. I need your issued firearm.” For a second, Davis could only stare at Ed blankly and then it became clear. Of course, Ed would know he had more than one weapon.

Davis handed him over the gun and embraced Kara one more time, whispering against her ear, “I need the backup piece I gave you.”

She slipped him the weapon and Davis stuffed it inside his jacket pocket.

“Everything will be okay, Kara. Go with Ed. Let him get you settled in.” He stood looking into her eyes for a long time, hating that he had to let her go. He wanted to remember everything about her, in case this thing went south. Because at this point, both of their lives were in jeopardy.

Kara forced herself to let go of Davis’s hand, but it took all of her strength to let him go. For the life of her, it felt as if history was repeating itself. Only this time she might be forced to let him go forever.

She followed Ed to his car but stood watching as Davis headed for his own vehicle. Their eyes met and clung to each other as he drove away.

“He’ll be okay. Davis can take care of himself. He’ll get through this.”

“I hope you’re right,” she whispered to herself.

Dear God, she hoped he was right.

Ed didn’t press the issue. Once they were inside the car and away from the scene, Kara confronted the man who was supposed to be Davis’s friend.

“How could you do that to him, Ed? Especially in front of all his subordinates and the people he considers his friends? You all but accused him of being guilty.”

Ed glanced her way for a moment and then checked the rearview mirror. Kara found herself looking uneasily over her shoulder. There was nothing there.

“Why do you think I chose to confront Davis in public like that? Do you really think I believe Davis is capable of being involved in that type of brutality?”

It took a moment before the truth became clear. “You staged this whole thing to make it seem as if you believed the evidence against him for the killer’s sake. Do you think he was there watching somehow?”

“I don’t know,” he said without hesitating. “I hope so. I just wish we could find this Harrison fellow and prove Frankie Shepard’s part in this mess once and for all.”

“Me too. Did Davis know you were doing this?”

“No, but he’s too smart not to have figured it out by now. I taught him well, Kara. And he knows me well enough. He knows what’s going on.”

Slowly she looked away. “I feel so helpless right now. I can’t help myself. I can’t help Davis. I hate going through this again—waiting for the inevitable.”

“That’s not going to happen. I made a promise to Davis to protect you and I damn well plan on keeping that promise no matter what.”

“What about Davis? Who’s protecting him?”

“Davis, and of course Ryan. Ryan would do anything in the world for him.”

A sudden uneasiness swept over her. Something bothered her about Ryan. She didn’t trust him completely with Davis’s life.

“Where are you taking me?”

“There’s a hotel outside town. I’m putting you up there. I’ll have a couple of female officers outside our precinct who will be staying there with you.”

“I don’t want this. You know I don’t work that way.”

“Let’s get one thing straight right now, Kara. You’re not working. You’re off this case. As far as I’m concerned, you weren’t ever part of it. I don’t want the same freak show as we had the last time. Your presence here will only stir up the media frenzy of before. You’re not part of this thing. You understand?”

“You still don’t believe in it, do you, Ed? You never did. You resented having me as part of the team right from the beginning, didn’t you?”

“Of course. I see no reason to deny it now,” he told her without hesitating. “Oh, I don’t doubt your abilities. How could I? You’ve proven them to me. But as far as I’m concerned, an investigation should be about the physical evidence. Not what you do.”

Kara didn’t argue. After all, she’d been fighting this type of prejudice in the law enforcement field from day one. And she couldn’t care less about helping solve these types of cases anymore. Once this was over and done, she was finished looking into the dark side of a killer’s mind. She’d never let another one inside her head.

The hotel sat close to the Pennsylvania state line. Two police officers in plain clothes met her and Ed there. Kara wondered how they got lucky enough to end up with this type of duty.

But they seemed genuinely nice enough.

The officers had reserved a suite under an alias. Not that it mattered. He’d know where to find her. He was reading her thoughts even now, growing stronger as Kara’s powers became weaker with the sleepless hours and the emotional roller-coaster ride of the past twenty-four hours of this case.

The fear inside her continued to spiral out of control with Davis’s absence, all but guaranteeing a bad ending.

The officers led the way to the back entrance with Kara and Ed following.

“I’ll have someone bring you a change of clothes later,” Ed told her as he followed her into one of the two bedrooms of the suite. “Kara, don’t leave here. This is serious. We have twenty-four hours to figure this out before he comes for you. Do what the officers tell you to do and don’t contact Davis.”

Kara never felt more exhausted than she did at that moment, standing alone in a strange hotel room. She stripped away her clothing, which was covered in the young woman’s blood. How did this girl connect to Davis? Davis didn’t recognize her, and yet somehow their paths had crossed to seal her fate.

She stayed under the warm shower until the water turned cold before wrapping the hotel’s gift robe tightly around her body. Then she lay down on the bed and focused on Ava.

Tonight she needed Ava’s sweet innocence more than ever. Ava was safe, but she and Davis were not.

“Take care of Daddy for me, Mommie. He needs you now.”

“I will, baby,” Kara whispered into the darkened room. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to him.” Protecting Davis became her last coherent thought before sleep took over and she faced the shadowy person known as the Angel. Could the Angel have been Alec Harrison all along? Or someone else who’d been orchestrating this outcome from the beginning.

For once, she was the one hunting him.

One thought became clear right away. He was avoiding her. The girl’s discovery threw him off his game.

It wasn’t deliberate. He’d made his first real mistake. The hunter had gone on the defensive. Kara pressed harder.

“Who is she? How did you connect her to Davis?”

Her question startled him. Before he could hide the truth, his thoughts become clear. Kara saw the girl. She wore a uniform with a nametag pinned to it. Her name was Annabelle McIntyre.

She worked at the same convenience store where Kara and Davis had stopped to call his father, just around the corner from Kara’s old apartment. The killer was taunting them, reminding them he could take anyone at any time and the Bureau was powerless to stop them. Kara tried to find a crack in his confidence.

“You’re scared. You know your time is almost up, don’t you? This time it will end.”

He tried to shut her out but she pushed on, not allowing him time to regroup.

“You thought the truth about Frankie would never be known, didn’t you?”
Kara tried harder to focus on him. While she couldn’t make out his features, she sensed his fear very clearly. It drove her on.

“You wanted Davis to take the blame. You screwed up.”

“Ms. Bryant?”

He struggled to break her spell. In another minute, he was gone. Kara awakened before she could discover the truth. She sat up in bed, disoriented for a moment. Someone knocked hard against her door. Officer Geneva Soloman opened the door and asked, “Are you okay in there, Ms. Bryant?”

“Yes.” Kara forced the word out, annoyed by the interruption. She’d been so close.

“I’ve ordered room service. I thought you might be hungry by now.” Kara swung her legs off the bed and closed her eyes once more, trying to reach him but he was gone. She got out of bed and followed the officer into the living area.

“Where’s your partner?” Kara asked when the officer handed her a sandwich. Didn’t cops eat anything but donuts and sandwiches?

“Officer Blake went out to get you something to wear. We figured you could use a change of clothing since yours was covered in blood.”

Kara nodded without answering. The simple ham-and-cheese sandwich tasted delicious. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until now. A little more of her strength returned with the nourishment.