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“Good.” He smoothed his hand over her silky dark blonde hair.
“Are you checking for similar cases?” she asked.
“As we speak.”
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “Tell people whatever you have to in order to get this monster. Just get him. Now.” She swallowed hard. “Cole, thank you for being so understanding about…everything.”
“Understanding? God! I’m amazed at the courage it took for you to live your life. For you to tell me what happened. And I thank you for trusting me enough to do this.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, as if that was all that was holding her together. “Will you let me know what’s going on?”
“Whenever I get a minute, I’ll call you. That’s a promise. I’ll be checking on you anyway, just to make sure you’re okay.” He cupped her chin. “And do not let anyone in this house except me unless I call you first. I don’t care who it is. I think we both agree you could be high on his list, and I don’t want to take any chances with you. I wouldn’t leave you now if I didn’t have to. As soon as I get to the office and see what’s what, I’ll get someone over here. In the meantime, stay locked up tight.”
“Got it, Sheriff.” She gave him a weak smile.
At the door, he turned to her, needing to touch her once more before he left. Her face was pale, the skin taut over her cheekbones, and her hazel eyes showed the fear she was trying so hard to hide. He stood with his hands on her shoulders, urgency pulling at him, but he allowed himself one last kiss. A deep one. A hungry one. She welcomed his tongue gladly and molded her body to his, her soft breasts pushing into his chest.
His cock swelled, and his balls tightened with need. He wished he could forget the ugliness he had to hurry back to, take her to his bedroom, strip her naked, and make luxurious love to her all night long.
With a tremendous effort of will, he broke the kiss. “I’ll be back sometime before the night is over.”
She touched her fingertips to her lips and pressed them against his. “I’ll be waiting.”
He leaped down the porch steps with one bound and jogged to his truck. In the midst of depravity and horror, his heart had tumbled right out of his chest and lost itself to that woman. Amazing, what life hits you with when you least expect it.
He was five minutes out from the station when Gaylen radioed him to change course.
“We found her.” His voice was heavy with sadness and anger. “Not too far from her house.” He gave Cole the address.
“Didn’t we search there first thing?”
“Right after we got the word. But it was still light out. Apparently, he waited until it got dark and then dumped her.”
Cole wondered if he’d ever get rid of the sick feeling consuming him. “On my way. Listen, do we have anyone you can send to my house?” He paused. “Dana’s there, and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to leave her alone.”
“I’ll do my best to cut someone loose,” the chief deputy said. “But you know how thin we’re staffed, and this new killing isn’t helping.”
“I know, I know. Okay. See you in a few.”
The area at the end of Gaby Marquez’s street was filled with cars and people. Scott, who was standing off to one side, motioned him over.
“I called the SAC and told him the shit has really hit the fan. He’s sending four more agents out here, two of them with a forensics van.”
“Good. Thanks. We can use all the scientific help you can give us. Mickey and Andi are good, but they’re only trained in the basics. Anything we can’t handle, we usually ship to Austin.” Cole took off his Stetson, raked his hands through his hair, and clapped the hat back on. “I hope to hell they get here soon.”
“Trust me. They’re probably driving like bats out of hell. I’ve ridden with them before.” The agent pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. “We got a fax back from Quantico with their preliminary profile. Want the short version?”
“Please.” Cole was listening but he kept his eyes on the activity around him.
“White male, probably between sixty and seventy years old. The age is based on the twenty-five-year span between crimes,” Scott explained. “He’s friendly. Maybe even very outgoing. He likes attention—the clown disguise fits his personality. Nice guy, kids love him, he’s well liked and well known in the community. He moves easily among the population without sending out any warning signals.”
“Jesus. That could be any one of hundreds of men in Salado County.”
“This one’s sexual needs give him a lot of repressed rage because he can’t satisfy them easily. He almost resents the victims for making him feel the way he does. That’s why he abuses their bodies so badly.”
“I wonder what started him off in the first place?’
“Good question. Usually people with these kinds of problems had a trigger in their early life. Something that still torments them and drives them. Could be a victim of abuse himself.” Scott shuffled some papers in front of him. “Listen, I hope you don’t mind, but I put one of your deputies going through the voter rolls pulling out the names of anyone we could remotely consider. He’d be more familiar with the people around here.”
