Before the Dawn(66)

She glanced down at her hands and saw they'd twisted in her lap.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Tucker exhaled slowly. "Malone is at Voodoo Tats. The crime scene guys finished up there, and I want to have another look around." He turned at the light. "After we talk to him, maybe we can see Rowan again. Provided the guy isn't still trying to smash his own brains out."

He sees you. "I think he knows the killer was watching me."

"Rowan could have been spouting pure bullshit."

"Or he could have been telling us the exact truth." Being high didn't mean he was wrong. "Is there...is there a way I could talk to him?"

He made another turn. "Considering how violent he got during the last little chat, do you think that's a good idea?"

"I think he's the one with the most information. The one that we need right now." She reached out and touched his hand as he gripped the steering wheel. "You would be with me."

He stopped at the corner. Stared at her hand. "I didn't do such a good job of looking out for you last time." They were just down the street from Voodoo Tats. "Maybe Bowen should be the one watching you. Maybe Samantha is right... I'm too close to you."

"I want you close."

His gaze jerked up to hers.

"I like you close." A hushed admission. "I don't know Bowen. I don't know Macey. I don't know any of the others. You proved to me before that I could count on you." He'd made the ultimate sacrifice for her. "I want you close," she said again.

His eyes glittered. "And the secrets?"

"We have to stop them. Both of us. It's time." Past time. If there was any hope of a future for them, they had to face their past-every bit of it. No more secrets. No lies. No ghosts.

His hand lifted and curled under her chin. "If that's the case, then maybe I should enjoy this while I can."

"Tucker?"

He leaned toward her and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. So very careful. "You may not want me near you much longer."

Not true. Hadn't he heard her? He was the only agent that she felt comfortable with.

His forehead rested against hers. "It scared the shit out of me when I heard that gunshot. I couldn't get back to you fast enough."

"I'm okay." Now she was the one to press a soft kiss to his stubbled cheek.

"I keep thinking...what if I'd gotten back to that alley and you'd been gone? What if he'd taken you?" His head lifted as he pulled away from her. "Or what if you'd been dead when I got back?"

She shook her head. "I wasn't."

"Samantha said she worried my control weakens when I'm around you."

Her lips parted.

"She's wrong, though. It doesn't weaken."


      ///
       
         
       
        

His face had gone so hard.

"It fucking shatters."





  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ANTHONY NODDED TO the uniformed officer as he left Rowan's hospital room. That dumbass kid had needed over twenty stitches in his head. And he'd been jerking like crazy, spasming as the overdose riddled his body.

He hated what drugs could do to a person. He'd watched his own mother battle addiction for far too long. He'd seen it eat away at her.

And kill her.

Drugs made you weak. Drugs destroyed your whole world.

"Tony!"

Anthony looked up and saw Torez hurrying toward him. His partner was the only one who got away with calling him Tony. "How's the kid?"

Anthony glanced back at the room. "Not exactly talking, but at least he isn't slamming his head into the nearest wall." That was progress, of a sort.

Torez shook his head. "You think we're gonna be able to get anything out of him about the killer?"

"Damn unlikely. On good days, eyewitnesses don't remember much, and on days when those witnesses are jacked up on some drug..." He let the sentence trail away. "No dice." Frustration boiled in his blood. "I hate that Dawn is at risk like this. What happened to Jinx...it can't happen to her."

They walked away from the room, keeping their voices low.

"The FBI team has taken over," Torez said and the faint lines near his mouth deepened. "Doesn't really seem right, having them running the show in our town, but Captain Hatch gave the order for us to follow their lead."

Anthony was so damn tired. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept. "I called the FBI in because I knew they were better trained to work with the serial. As soon as I saw the girl in that freezer, I knew we weren't dealing with a simple murder." He paused. "I thought they'd find him and stop him before anyone else was hurt, but it didn't go down that way. The profilers haven't done shit." His breath heaved out. "I don't want to be wrong about them."