Keep Me Safe(65)

The million-dollar question was whether he trusted his multimillion-dollar team of security experts, all versed in personal protection and services, or a bodyguard to keep Ramie safe at all costs.

He could drive himself crazy with second-guessing himself. He locked gazes with Eliza, who coolly returned his, completely unruffled by his apparent hesitation.

Fuck it. He’d made damn certain he and his brothers hired the best. Beau had overseen most of the hiring, although no decision was made until Caleb and Quinn both signed off on it.

“You’re taking lead on this, Dane and Eliza,” he said, including them both in his address. He’d never offer Eliza the disrespect of placing Dane above her. She was every bit as capable and cool under fire as Dane was. They made an excellent team and they were both natural leaders.

“I’m trusting you both to make sure nothing touches Ramie,” he said in a low voice. “Take on whatever you think you’ll need. This is why I pay my employees a salary instead of doing contract work. I don’t want guys who do a side job for extra money. I want unwavering loyalty and for them to be here whenever and however I call them out for a job.”

“She’ll be safe,” Dane said.

Though he directed his statement toward Caleb, he was looking at Ramie the entire time as if trying to offer her the same reassurance he was granting Caleb.

Ramie nodded her acknowledgment of his promise but she swallowed noticeably and she still trembled against him.

“How soon?” Caleb asked.

“Now,” Dane replied. “Detective Briggs wants us to meet him and Detective Ramirez there. It’ll buy us a little more time. Not much but it could be all we need. Nobody in the department is thrilled with having civilians on an unprocessed crime scene but at this point they’re willing to exhaust all available options.”

Left unsaid was the fact that they most likely had doubts about the validity of Ramie’s abilities even if the two detectives who’d visited Caleb’s home had witnessed Ramie’s accuracy in locating the body.

Detectives Briggs and Ramirez likely did believe Ramie’s capabilities but they were only two detectives in an entire department of skeptics. And the two detectives probably didn’t advertise the fact that they had anything to do with Ramie’s trek to an unsecured crime scene.

Caleb had to curb his mounting hope. How many times did the police ever have a completely sealed, by-the-books crime scene that hadn’t had relatives of the victim or concerned acquaintances stomping through the area before realizing what had happened and called 911?

“Who’s staying here with Tori?” Quinn asked. “Surely it’s not a good idea to leave the house so unprotected by sending so many of our men with you, Caleb.”

“Dane has it well in hand,” Caleb said calmly.

Then he turned to Ramie as the others prepared to depart. He pulled her into his arms, ensuring he was at his most serious as he turned her to completely face him. He framed her face in his hands, his thumbs feathering over her cheekbones.

“Promise me, Ramie. Promise me you’ll do exactly as instructed at all times and nothing more. Don’t try any heroics. Got me?”

She cracked a small, rueful smile. “We’ve already covered that I’m not particularly brave or heroic. So let me say that, while I may not be any of those things, neither am I stupid. I have no intention of doing anything that puts me or any of you at risk.”

“Let’s roll then,” Dane said.





TWENTY-SEVEN




RAMIE shivered when they pulled up to an overgrown single-wide trailer that looked as though it was falling down. They were north of Houston, right on the fringes of a rural community where houses were spaced large distances apart and big pieces of acreage were used in farming and to keep cattle.

It had taken them almost an hour to get there, though it wasn’t a great distance as the crow flew. Traffic in the bustling area called the Woodlands had slowed them considerably and all Ramie could think was that the killer had done it on purpose.

Nothing he did could be considered random. He thought everything out to the minutest detail and he planned for every contingency.

Why then had she even bothered to come? She already knew it would be too late for the victim. That the killer was toying with her in an effort to push her over the edge. The women he abducted were merely instruments used to torture her. Nothing else. Their only crime was their accessibility.

The killer wouldn’t have chosen someone who would pose a challenge to him. Because they weren’t who he was after. He would have needed easy conquests so he could act fast and then have the police involve Ramie.