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Swiveling on his heels, he stood up from his crouch and tipped her chin up with his thumb so that she followed him up and swung her amber gaze around to meet his. “It’s me you’re talking to. Don’t bullshit me,” he said, calling her bluff. “As your commanding officer, I need to know you’re going to be able to handle this.” He watched her face for any telltale giveaways before continuing in a gentler tone. “But as your partner and lover, I also don’t want you to do this if you think it will endanger your mental state.” He was tempering his fear for her, couching it in terms they both understood and zeroing in on the core of the problem. Trusting her to face her demons alone was one thing, but she needed to be sure she could do this.
She began to pull away from him, but he trapped her face between his thumb and forefinger. “I love you, Lacey. You mean more to me than anything else in this world.”
“More than even the chance to save a girl’s life?” Lacey asked, disbelief clouding her eyes.
“If it came to that, then yes, more than that.” He watched her eyes to gauge her reaction to his admission. “You know I’d do just about anything to save that poor girl. But your safety means more to me than my career, or my reputation, or catching the bad guy.” How could he explain just how important she was to him? If he thought this mission was going to wreck Lacey’s still-fragile mental stability, he’d even be prepared to tie her up and hide her behind the nearest rock to keep her unharmed and face her wrath later if need be. Nico was more than prepared to take down Sandra on his own, if he had to.
“Wow.” She stared up at him, ignoring the rain that trickled down her face.
He watched her warily, half expecting annoyance or displeasure on her part; she’d made it abundantly clear on more than a few occasions that she didn’t appreciate him trying to wrap her in cotton wool.
Instead of an explosion, however, she merely stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss in the rain, her lips warm and reassuring against his. “I’m not going to lie,” she replied when she dropped back onto her heels. “I’m not happy about being up here. But I’m also a trained professional with a job to do. I came here to catch a murderer and save her intended victim, and I’ll do everything in my power to see that happen. The psych has given me lots of coping tools, but I’m hoping I won’t need them. What I do need is your trust,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I need you to trust me to do my job.”
Touché. She had him on that one. And he did trust her. Implicitly.
“I do,” he replied simply.
“Well then, shall we do this?” She shouldered her backpack a little higher and took a determined step backward. God, he was so in love with this amazing woman.
“I think we need to split up.” He didn’t like it, but they were racing against time, with a lot of space to cover, and this storm was going to make their job harder.
“I agree.”
“I’ll go to the right.” He pointed to the side of the plateau where it sloped down, hiding the landscape beyond. He had no idea if Sandra had chosen that direction but something told him that if she wanted to find another way off the bluff, then it might be her best bet. She might not realize he and Lacey were following her yet, but she also wouldn’t be stupid enough to retrace her steps when she knew most of the hikers had fled down the hill. “Remember, she’s armed and most likely desperate. Don’t underestimate her.”
“I’ll take the left.” Lacey smiled wanly. “And I’ll be careful,” she countered. Then she turned her hazel eyes on him. “Stay safe, Nico. Ineedyou to come back to me.” He saw the flash of torment in her face and knew she was just as worried about his safety as he was about hers. He’d been so focussed on his own need to protect her he hadn’t even considered she might be feeling the same. It made him all the more determined to get this over and done with so he could spend the night cocooned in her arms, and soothe away all her fears. Both of their fears.
Before he could come up with a suitable reply, Lacey had melted into the tall shrubbery around the perimeter of the plateau. He took a leaf out of his stubborn, valiant woman’s book and crept toward a pile of square boulders close by.
Mind now focussed on his job, he used the rocks as cover, while he mapped out his next move. Slowly and stealthily, he traversed the edge, flitting between the low ground cover and using craggy outcroppings to remain hidden, trying to stay on higher ground where possible. The wind was so loud, howling around the peak, that he wouldn’t be able to hear anyone if they were to sneak up on him. But then the reverse would be true as well, leaving him free to make more noise than he might otherwise have considered wise.
What was Sandra planning to do with Teresa? The other two murders had ritual and methodical planning involved. The manner of death—hanging by the neck—was clearly important to her. But this chase into the wilderness was spontaneous, and Sandra must be working on the fly. Perhaps she’d had some scheme plotted out to take care of Teresa once she returned from the hike, but as the police had begun closing in, maybe she’d decided this was her last chance to get to her last victim before it was too late.
There were no large trees up here, so how would she follow through with her murderous ceremony? She could just push her off the cliff. The fall would surely kill Teresa. But that idea didn’t sit right with Nico. It was too easy and didn’t track with Sandra’s psychopathic need for revenge. They were at least fifteen minutes behind Sandra, she could’ve done a lot of things up on the plateau in that time. Perhaps she was going to take her down the other side of the bluff to where the forest carpeted the foothills to find a suitable tree down there. If she had left the plateau, then their search up here was a wasted effort and they should be concentrating on trying to pinpoint her below. But if she’d descended again, which way would she have gone? Maybe he should be focussing his search on the cliff edge so he could see both down into the lowlands as well as up here on the heights. The heavy rain and eddying winds would make it almost impossible to spot her from this high vantage point. Was this an unfeasible mission? Was Sandra going to get away with murder yet again? He was so engrossed on trying to decide on his best option, he barely recognized that he was now standing in the open.
There was a scuffling noise and suddenly, a loud crack broke the air, and he was knocked sideways. Pain flared through his abdomen, taking his breath away. He groaned aloud and stumbled, falling to his knees onto the hard stone. Fuck, he’d just been shot. On reflex, he reached for his gun in the holster beneath his jacket, but a shout stopped him.
“Don’t move, or I’ll end you,” Sandra warned.
He almost laughed, she sounded like a cheesy biker from a B-grade TV show. But the pain in his side told him how real this was. He froze, hand stalled in the air as Sandra stepped out from behind a stand of scraggly heath. Shit, he’d just done the very thing he warned Lacey not to do. He’d underestimated Sandra, not believing that she’d really shoot him. Because she was a woman. And women didn’t shoot cops. Except this one had.
“I could have killed you if I wanted to, I’m a crack shot. I’ve been practicing for a long time at the gun range,” she said, calm as a cucumber. “But I’m not a cop killer.”
Small mercies.The pain in his side was excruciating, and he wondered if he might die anyway.
“Throw your weapon on the ground,” she commanded. “Then put your hands in the air.”
He only hesitated for a split second before he complied. She’d already shot him once, which showed she knew how to handle a gun. He didn’t doubt she’d do it again if he didn’t comply. Pain twisted his stomach and ricocheted down his thigh as he moved and he wondered how bad the injury was. He could see blood blooming in a red circle on his shirt just above his hip, but he didn’t have time to take a closer look. His gun rattled on the bare rocks as he placed it down in front of him.
“Where is Teresa?” he asked through gritted teeth. What had she done with the girl? Had she stashed her somewhere on this mountain top? Or had she already pushed her over the edge in her final vengeful deed? And where was Lacey? He prayed that she hadn’t heard the shot and come running, straight into Sandra’s trap.
Calmly, Sandra walked over and retrieved his weapon, putting it into her jacket pocket. She was well-dressed for the weather, Nico noted. Wearing a knee-length jacket over lightweight long pants and sturdy hiking boots as she studied him with shrewd eyes. Her long hair was tucked beneath a black baseball cap, the brim keeping most of the rain out of her eyes. Perhaps this had been the plan all along. Even if this trip had been unscheduled, it seemed Sandra was always well-prepared and well-organized.
Ignoring his question, she said instead, “I found you. Now, let’s go and find this lady cop of yours.”
“What? No. That’s not going to happen.”His voice came out as ravaged as one of those storm-ripped clouds above.He wasn’t letting this madwoman anywhere near Lacey.
“Yes, it is,” Sandra growled and shoved the gun into his injured side so he howled like a wounded dog. “I’ve done what I needed to do, and now as long as you two don’t interfere, my daughter will have her vengeance. Today would’ve been her twenty-first birthday. This will be my final present to her.”
