Kate was too emotionally exhausted to process any pain that comment might have dredged up.“But we are still partners, and you ofallpeople should know better than to suggest that I’m incapable of doing my job!”
Marcus lifted his eyes to hers.“You sure about that, Kate?”
Kate’s lower lip trembled.She swallowed to get it under control, then said in a soft, sharp voice, “What are your concerns, Agent Reid?”
Marcus’s expression faltered.His shoulders slumped, and he lifted a hand to his face, wiped it over three-day stubble, then let it fall.“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
That helped, but only a little.“And you think pulling me off the case is going to keep me from getting hurt?”
“Well… yeah.Cox knows you have a bug up your butt about him.He put it there.He knows he can lure you into danger because he’s done it already.He’s going to do the same thing, and you’re going to bite even though you know it’s bait because you need to know if he’s right about your father.”
Kate couldn’t avoid the pain that comment brought.It showed in her voice when she snapped, “Ineeda serial killer to stop killing people.”
“It goes beyond that with Cox, Kate.For you, it goes beyond that, and you know it.”
Kate nodded.Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes, but so help her, she wouldn’t let them fall.“So you told my boss I’m unfit for my job because you’re worried I might be too zealous when I try to do it?”
“Yes.”
Kate threw her hands in the air.“Jesus.”
“Yes, Kate, you might get overzealous!You might get some clue or some warning from him and fly across the country without telling me.You might ignore all of my calls and texts and try to stop him yourself.Or, you might imagine things that aren’t there and convince yourself that Cox is behind all of this even if he isn’t.And if he is… I can’t watch you die, Kate.I can’t lose you.”
“You already have.”
Marcus winced, and Kate almost regretted that statement.Almost.
“Let’s look at the photographs,” Kate said.“Maybe you’ll get lucky, and I’ll decide it’s a false alarm.”
“We’re never lucky, Kate,” Marcus said wearily.
He set the file on the desk and opened it so they could both look at the information they’d received from four different crime scenes in four different states.Four bodies in four different states in seven weeks.Cox had wasted little time getting back to work after breaking out of what was supposed to be the most secure prison in the United States.
No, they were definitely not lucky.
CHAPTER FOUR
“So we’re done, right?”
Kate bit her lip as she considered the photographs.She wanted to say they were done.She wanted that very badly.She wanted to tell Marcus that there was no possible way these scenes had anything to do with Elijah Cox and that they must belong to another killer.
But she couldn’t.Instead of wanting to see Cox where he wasn’t, she wanted to ignore him where he was.Or might be.
Oh, the irony.
“Kate?”
She shook her head.“No.”
“Why?No ciphers, no message from Cox, nothing that points to you or to Cox or any of his disciples.”
She gnawed on her lip some more.“Something’s not right.”
“Wonderful.And whoever takes this case is going to do an outstanding job of solving it.But you and I are finished.I have the Cox manhunt, and…” His voice trailed off.“And I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?”
Kate gave him a sour smile.“Well, siccing me on a case unrelated to Cox would be a nice way to keep me from pursuing him, wouldn’t it?It would also give you some breathing room in this office.”
"That's not what I… Well, the first part, yes, but not the second part.I still want to be your partner, Kate."
