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As the days ticked by and no progress was made in finding Dora, it was like his family died.
They were both alive and dead.
His dad went to work. He left early in the morning and didn’t return home until well after dark.
His mother puttered aimlessly around the house. Cleaning and re-cleaning it. Cooking and baking more food than three people could eat. Cooking and baking more food than three hundred people could eat.
And as for him, he didn’t do anything. He didn’t go to the park and play with his friends. He didn’t play video games or read or play with his toys or watch TV. He just hung around the house, unsure what to do or say.
Then came the phone call.
Dora’s body had been found.
She was a victim of the serial killer dubbed the Doll Killer.
And with his sister’s death, his family was changed forever.
Although he hadn’t known it at the time, his sister and the little boy killed alongside her were the last children the Doll Killers would murder. Their next victims were Clara Candella and Thomas Karl, the two children who had escaped. Then the killings had stopped—until now.
Was it fate that had brought Clara into his life when he was determined to fix the mistake he’d made back then? He couldn’t bring Dora back, but he could do everything within his power to make sure another child never suffered the same fate, and he could get closure for his mother by finding the people responsible for her daughter’s death.
As much as Clara was the key to all of that, what he felt for her ran a lot deeper.
Had it been a mistake to agree to her terms?
He wanted her. Badly. Almost more than he wanted to catch the Doll Killers.
But she said she wasn't interested. Well, more accurately, she had all but said that shewasindeed interested, but that she didn’t intend to do anything about it because he suspected her friend as the new Doll Killer.
Jonathon supposed he could understand that. This case was personal for her, too. She’d lived it firsthand. Lived it with Thomas Karl, so it made sense that her brain couldn’t fathom the thought that he was anything other than the same as her—a victim.
Just because he understood didn’t mean he agreed.
He admired Clara. He thought she was strong, and he respected her. He was certainly attracted to her, but he was not going to force her into a relationship she didn’t want.
He’d been there, done that, and it hadn’t worked.
His first marriage had ended in divorce; if he were to get married again, he wanted it to work. And if he pursued things with Clara and he was more into it than she was, then their relationship would be doomed.
Last time he’d gone in with blinders on. That had been a mistake. One he was determined not to replicate.
Garnet had been pretty and smart and sexy. Everything he thought he wanted, everything he still wanted, but there had been something missing. He and Garnet hadn’t been on the same wavelength. She’d wanted fun and adventure and excitement—a life of frivolity. He’d wanted kids, stable jobs, pets, a mortgage. Garnet had balked at the idea of so much responsibility.
So, their marriage had quickly started dissolving. She had yelled and screamed that she was young and beautiful and didn’t want to be tied down. He had sulked that they were married and all he wanted were the rest of the things that were supposed to come with that.
Still, despite the disaster his marriage had become, he had been shocked when Garnet presented him with divorce papers. She’d said he could have the house, the furniture, the cars—she just wanted out.
For a while he had considered fighting for their marriage, but what would have been the point? They wanted different things out of life. So, he hadn’t contested the divorce, although he’d moved out of their house. He couldn’t stay there; it was simply a reminder that he still didn’t have, and may never have, the family he wanted.
Jonathon still wanted it all. A wife, kids, dogs, cats, family meals, family holidays, little league and dance classes, sleepless nights, toddler tantrums, teenage dramas.
What was killing him about Clara was that he was pretty sure that she wanted it all, too. He’d only known her a couple of days, and they hadn’t even had a chance to sit down and get to know one another, and what he knew of her life was mostly what he’d gleaned from researching her for deciding whether she could be Thomas Karl’s partner. He couldn’t claim that he was in love; he wasn't. It was way too soon, but that connection was there, and he wanted a chance to explore it. He wanted to learn if he and Clara wanted the same things out of life. He wanted to see if they were compatible. He wanted to know if he could fall in love with her.
But the ball was in her court now.
What happened next was up to her, and he had to find a way to live with that.
It shouldn’t be too hard; right now the Doll Killer case would keep him plenty occupied. And to that end, he stood and stretched. It was almost six o’clock, no point in going back to bed, it was almost his usual get up time, and he’d managed to get a good few hours’ sleep before his nightmare. Instead, he dragged himself back upstairs to grab some clothes. He’d go for a run, then a shower, then breakfast, and off to work.
