Theirs To Claim (Predatory Desires Book 1) (32 page)

Tara moved closer, and Lawton and Garrett gave her room. She watched as Emily slowly turned the pages, scanning for any change. All of the color drained from Emily’s face within the next breath, and Tara knew whatever she was looking at wasn’t good. Not at all.

“This is new, too,” Emily whispered. She ran her gloved fingers over a photo, hating how they shook in the moment.

“Lawton?” Gabriel asked, his anger clearly heard.

“Gabe, we saw that when we cataloged it. But we thought it was something her family had placed in the album. We had no idea it was a new addition,” Lawton swore.

“How could you know?” Emily looked up at him and smiled, though a single tear ran down her right cheek. “Don’t get mad at him, Gabe. This just proves someone’s been very close and that’s what you need, right? Definitive, tangible evidence?”

Emily looked back down at the photo which showed her sleeping in her own bed, curled up with her stuffed rabbit in her arms. A book lay faced down beside her, and her bedside lamp was still on. Whoever had been watching her, had stood at the end of her bed and taken the picture. Actually stood in her room and watched her sleep, and she’d never known they were there.

“I think I remember this night.” Emily tried to begin again, but her throat closed up on her. She coughed to clear the knot and Noah settled a hand on her back. He began to rub slow circles and she chanced a quick glance at him. He looked livid. More angry than she could ever remember seeing him.

“Tell us,” Noah said, his voice sounding very strained as well.

She nodded. “I was at a cook-out we’d had at the lake with the twenty and thirty-year-olds from church. Tara, you were there too, remember? It was almost… What? Ten, eleven weeks ago?”

“Closer to twelve, I think,” Tara supplied unsteadily. “You left early, because you weren’t feeling good. I offered to drive you, but you didn’t want to leave your SUV at the lake. So you came home, and called me to let me know you’d arrived safely.”

“What do you mean, she wasn’t feeling well?” Gabriel asked. His chest rose and fell sharply as his adrenaline began to flow. Oh hell, he knew exactly where this was going, and he wanted to deny what they were about to say. Deny that it could have happened when he and Noah were far away from Emily.

“Well,” Emily answered for Tara, “it was hot that night, and I honestly thought the heat had gotten to me. We hadn’t eaten dinner yet, but I’d had some lemonade. I was so thirsty, that I had three cups. After the last cup, I became so dizzy and light-headed that I decided I had better go ahead and drive myself, while I still could. And I did.”

“I called Tara after I was inside, took a cool shower, and slipped into that purple camisole. I even attempted to read a chapter, but I gave up after a few pages and just passed out. I remember I slept until one in the afternoon the next day, and I had trouble even then clearing the fog from my brain. It took a whole pot of coffee before I felt slightly normal again.”

“I thought all of my late nights spent writing were finally catching up with me, and that I was crashing hard. You’ve seen me do that before.” She looked from Noah to Gabriel, and almost leaned away at the sheer anger she saw in their eyes. Emily told herself not to back away again though, because they weren’t angry with her.

“You didn’t crash, Emily,” Gabriel finally managed to say. He ran a frustrated hand through his thick, black hair. “You were drugged that night. I’d bet my life on it.”

CHAPTER 32

“
What
?!” Tara all but shouted at Gabriel. She couldn’t process what he’d just said. Couldn’t fathom that Emily had been drugged right in front of her eyes, and she had been clueless. She remembered thinking that Emily had looked pale and extremely tired that night. But she had thought her friend was pushing herself too far with late night writing sessions and they had finally caught up with her – just as Emily had said minutes ago.

Tara looked from Gabriel to Emily, and what she saw there on Emily’s face took Tara’s breath away. Ethan and Lawton had talked with her about the stages of grief Emily would most likely go through, as she accepted all that had been done to her while new facts and evidence came to light. They’d said that no victim ever escaped unscathed, whether the criminal ever physically laid hands on them or not. Just the knowledge that another had sought to target them, could quite often undo a person.

And in that moment, Emily certainly looked close to coming apart at the seams. Tara had never seen her so pale, so fragile looking. As if a good strong wind would knock her over. Earlier in the den though, Tara would have sworn she’d never seen Emily so mad either. Her emotions were all over the damn place, and Tara wanted to comfort her in some way. Any way she could.

“Em?” she whispered and reached across the album to touch her.

Emily looked up at Tara and offered her the saddest excuse for a smile she had ever seen.

“I’m okay.” Emily whispered her fib with utter heartbreak swimming in her eyes. “But I, um… I need to wash my face again. May I?” She posed her question to the entire room and no one in particular at the same time.

“Baby, you don’t have to ask if you can wash your face,” Noah said and frowned heavily over the way she had worded her request. “Come on, let’s go freshen up. You and me.”

Noah unfolded himself from his position on the floor and took her hand in his. Gently, he pulled Emily to her feet and then slipped her gloves off. His landed on the floor beside hers a scant second later. He wrapped his hands around her waist and helped her navigate the piles they’d created on the floor, then draped an arm around her shoulders as they passed through the doorway.

“Do you want to go with them?” Garrett asked Gabriel.

“No,” he said quietly with a shake of his head. “I’m a little too angry right now, and that’s not what she needs.”

“Not at her, I hope?” Tara asked, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

“
Really
? Tara, you know me better than that,” Gabeiel sighed wearily.

“I do, Gabe. That was uncalled for, so I’m sorry.”

“One day, a long, long time from now, we’ll laugh over the fact that you just apologized to me, Tara.” His lips pulled up just a bit on the right side, but that was all the smile he could muster.

“You only get one from me in this lifetime, and that was it, buster,” Tara murmured. She reached out and touched his shoulder with her closed fist, and Gabriel grabbed it, patting her hand with his.

“Thank you, Tara.”

“You’re welcome, Gabe.” She drew her hand away and then reached for the photo album Emily had been inspecting. She lifted it to her nose and inhaled deeply, drawing in the cologne’s scent again. Tara repeated the motion twice more before she closed her eyes and concentrated.

“Do you recognize this scent?” Lawton asked as he studied her face.

“I’d like to tell you yes, but I don’t. Most of the guys around here close to our age or yours wear something akin to this. Whether it’s aftershave or cologne, I haven’t a clue. But I can say this: that of all the deputies you guys have named or seem interested in, Jasper, Eric, Andrew and Ryan always smell the best.”

“What in the hell does that mean?” Ethan asked before he thought better of it.

Ross started to chuckle, but Kaden smacked him on the back of the head, ending his light-hearted ribbing.

“Thank you, Kaden.” Tara nodded his way.

“Anytime.” He gave Ross a smirk. Ross just grinned.

“These guys wear something often. That what you’re saying, Tara?” Garrett asked, hoping to stop Ethan from having another outburst. He was not reacting to Tara as he typically did to a woman. Hell, neither was Lawton. It was amusing to watch, to say the least.

“They do, at least the times I’ve been around them. Eric and Jasper always smell the best, though.” She shrugged, unable to say more.

“Shit,” Lawton muttered under his breath. He narrowed his eyes at her and Ethan simply rolled his.

“But you don’t know who wears it,” Gabriel said, more than asked. He looked at the album and considered who might have been that close to her, in Emily’s house, just standing over her as she slept. His anger was a living, breathing thing in the moment as he also thought of what that person might have done to her while she lay unaware, drugged and unconscious.

“Tara,” he tried to begin again, “did you see anyone else leave the cook-out right after Emily made her exit? Anyone who followed her on purpose? Or someone who was there for the beginning of the event, but dipped out early?”

“Um… Let me think. This was months ago.” She looked away from the men and stared out the window, trying to see back to that night. Finally, Tara just closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could.

“Jasper,” Emily said from the doorway.

All heads turned in her direction, and Gabriel rose to meet her and Noah. She stared up into his blue eyes as he stopped right in front of her. Emily gave him a slow nod, and Gabriel reached out to cup her face, needing to touch her in some way.

He could tell she’d shed tears while she and Noah had been out of the room. Could tell that she’d been thoroughly kissed, as well, from her swollen lips. But she was still too pale for his liking.

“Tell us, honey,” he gently prompted her.

“When I reached my vehicle, Jasper caught up to me. He asked if I needed help, and I explained that I didn’t want to leave my car there. So he offered to follow me home. Eric came over and heard what we were saying, and he said he’d drive Jasper, because Jasper only had his patrol car out there.

They never came in my house, but Eric parked behind me in the driveway and Jasper got out and held my arm as I walked up to the door. He said he was worried, because I didn’t seem to be fighting off a simple case of fatigue. But I told him…”

Emily broke off and stared at Gabriel’s chest. Her bottom lip quivered terribly and he moved his hands down to cup her jaw and still the spasms. Noah stepped closer to her back and wrapped his arms around her waist, completely anchoring her to his body.

“What did you tell him, Em?” Noah asked and brushed his lips across her ear. “Don’t be embarrassed or ashamed. You did nothing wrong. You hear me?”

“I hear you,” she said with difficulty. “I told Jasper that it was normal for me to crash after many late nights of writing and researching in a row. I said it was
normal
. So he waited until I’d locked the front door and he left. I heard Eric’s truck start back up as I walked towards my bedroom.”

“You could hear his truck from inside your house? Soft purr of an engine, or loud rumble?” Kaden asked from across the room.

“Loud,” she replied.

“Definitely loud,” Tara nodded in agreement. “Eric has one of those really tall trucks with tires that are too big for the damn thing. Makes me think he’s compensating for something else every time I see him in it around town.”

Emily burst out laughing and dropped her head back against Noah’s chest. “I give up. Tara, I swear by all that is holy, your mouth is going to get you into some deep shit one day.”

“You said shit,” Noah chuckled and dipped his head to kiss her neck.

“You’ve heard me use curse words before,” Emily harrumphed, though she gifted Gabriel with a more genuine smile as she stared up at him.

“I love you,” Gabriel mouthed at her.

“And I love you,” she mouthed back.

Emily winked at Gabriel, and he felt something loosen in his chest. She was going to make it through this. He knew it. And that meant
they
were going to make it through too.

“Made you laugh, though, didn’t I?” Tara teased smugly.

“Yes, you did. And I thank you,” Emily chuckled softly.

She couldn’t see Tara or anyone else for that matter, because Gabriel was blocking the room from her view with his large body. She lifted her hands and let them glide over his ripped torso, not hidden at all under his long-sleeved t-shirt. The material clung to every dip and curve of his body, and made her mouth water.

Gabriel chuckled then too, and he blew her a soft kiss. Noah nuzzled her temple with his lips, and for just a moment, they were lost in their own little world. Emily could feel the same definition in Noah’s chest behind her, and her mind turned to one thing and one thing only. No thoughts concerning the current danger intruded, as she simply existed in their hold. It was peace and true, soul-deep comfort.

“I want you too, baby,” Noah murmured against her ear, so softly that only she and Gabriel were privy to his words. “So much I ache.”

“We’ll take a break in a little while,” Gabe said, paving the way for a possible exit from the others’ company.

He looked at Noah and the two did that little silent communication thing she’d seem them do time and time again over the years. No words were needed, just a simple flicker of the eye and they understood what the other was thinking. Came in handy during sex though, Emily thought.

“Come on,” Gabriel said, as he watched a blush spread across her cheeks.

He wondered what in the hell she was thinking. But whatever it was, he was just glad it was infusing some color back into her chalk-white skin. Emily had looked like a ghost when she discovered the picture, and he wanted that pallor chased far away. And if he could get a break from the others, Gabriel thought, he and Noah would damn sure put some color back into her skin. All of her skin.

They paused at the edge of the large, Oriental rug which covered a good portion of the study’s hardwood floor. Lawton and Braden were photographing the picture album and removing the recent addition. They fingerprinted it, and then bagged and tagged it, making sure the picture was properly cataloged as evidence. Then, they did the same to the album. The presence of a foreign odor made it evidence too.

“Not a damn print,” Kaden grumbled from where he stood watching their progress.

“Nope, not a one,” Braden agreed with a heavy sigh.

“This picture was taken with one of those old Polaroid cameras,” Lawton remarked. “That’s why we thought it was several years old, maybe taken by her grandparents.”

“Yeah, I get that. Sorry I snapped earlier,” said Gabriel.

“Hell, I don’t blame you,” Lawton replied. “I was mad too. Still am.” He gave Gabe a swift nod over his shoulder and then turned back to the task at hand.

“This is really good for us, actually,” Braden commented. “If we search our suspects’ houses, we can see who might have such an old camera. I doubt many people have held on to such an outdated piece of equipment.”

“Yeah, but that’s still circumstantial.” Garrett shook his head and leaned back on his heels. “Braden, start setting up your computers here in the study, and let’s get you on the electronic trail again. You said you had enough with that IP address to track who’s been looking in on Emily. Get on that now for us.”

“Will do,” Braden agreed without hesitation. He rose, yanked off his gloves, and headed up the stairs towards the bedroom he had claimed. Ross fell into step behind him, to help Braden retrieve his cases and bring them all downstairs. Braden normally ranked a room of his own if there was one to be had. The focus and hours he spent working online for them made a comfortable place to rest a must for him.

“I’m going to make contact with the agents in Virginia who were tasked to run Jonathan down for us and see what they’ve turned up,” Kaden offered.

“Yes, and I think Ethan and I need to go over the gym’s logs and timesheets we secured,” Lawton said, as they began to divide the tasks. “See who, from our possible list of suspects, might have also been there when Emily was. Look for other ways to connect the dots,”

“Gabe and Noah, you can go through phone records with me, if you want,” Garrett suggested. Normally, it would be Gabriel or Lawton handing out such assignments, but Garrett could see that Gabe was still working on letting his anger go. Every second of this case was personal for him and for Noah, and the rest of the team wanted to alleviate the incredible strain they were under, if at all possible.

“That’s a good idea,” Emily said to Gabriel. “It would be productive if the two of you had something you could actually
do
, a task that might yield results. I know you’re frustrated, because I am too. So go ahead, love, and Tara and I will find something else to occupy ourselves.”

“No, you don’t leave our sight, Em. We’ve been through this,” Gabriel protested.

She blew out a heavy sigh and turned to look at Tara. Emily arched an eyebrow at her and shrugged. “What can we do within sight of them?”