His words ended in a whisper and he lifted his haunted gaze to Eliza, Dane and his brother. “I put her where she is right now. It seems all I’m capable of is hurting her. First Tori’s captor and all I forced her to endure so Tori would be saved and now I hand her over, bloodied from wounds I inflicted. How is she ever to believe I love her? Or that I’d never do something so horrific? How can I even believe it myself? Do you know how it feels to watch yourself do the unthinkable to someone you love and be absolutely powerless to stop it?”
Eliza’s expression softened, and a glint of sympathy flashed in her eyes. Beau’s face was a wreath of torment as he watched his brother completely break down.
Caleb didn’t bother to wipe the tears away. “I have to go. I can’t stay here. I can’t allow her to think even for a moment that I wouldn’t come for her.”
Eliza looked clearly torn but Dane shook his head at her. “Think if it were someone you loved, Lizzie. You wouldn’t stay back no matter what.”
Eliza sighed. “No, you’re right. I wouldn’t.”
“Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Caleb said in a tortured voice. “You can call the police for backup on the way, but I have to get to her first because they’re going to arrest me on sight. And I’m not waiting on them before we go in and take this guy out. He signed his death warrant when he used me to hurt the woman I love.”
THIRTY-SIX
IT took everything in Caleb’s power not to burst through the doors of the ramshackle cabin on an old hunting lease, thirty miles outside the Houston city limits. Only the knowledge that the killer could kill Ramie if he were threatened held him back.
He and Beau positioned themselves at the back door, making sure to keep out of the line of sight for any of the windows. Dane and Eliza took the front door because Caleb was sure the killer wouldn’t have stood anywhere in the pathway of the front. It was instinctual to fear entrance from there. And he wanted to be the one who came across the bastard first.
“On my count,” Dane whispered through the phone into Caleb’s ear. “One . . . two . . . three!”
Caleb crashed through the back door and straight into hell. His gaze found Ramie, who was tied in a grotesque manner to a metal bar suspended from the ceiling. Rope was wrapped tightly around her ankles, blood seeping from the abrasions, and her legs were secured at an odd angle.
Every time she strained against her bonds, the rope cut deeper into her flesh. Her head sagged weakly, her chin resting on her chest as blood dripped from her nose and mouth.
Caleb forced his focus away from Ramie and he locked on to her tormentor, who looked shocked to see Caleb standing in the open doorway.
“Didn’t think I could find you, you arrogant, sick fuck,” Caleb hissed.
A ghost of a smile glimmered on the man’s face. Then he laughed, the sound sending shivers down Caleb’s spine. It was a laugh that would haunt Caleb the rest of his days. The killer had laughed while Caleb had systemically carved Ramie up.
Dane burst into the kitchen from the living room, where he’d gained entrance, he and Eliza both holding their guns up and trained on the killer.
Dane and Eliza would want to do it by the book. They’d want to take the bastard in, throw him in jail. But Caleb knew that as long as this man lived, Ramie would never find peace. She would be forever bound to him by the psychic link connecting them. And Caleb would never know a night’s sleep. He’d forever live in fear of doing the unthinkable once again.
Caleb would already be arrested when the police arrived for attempted murder. He may as well go down fighting. He’d gladly sacrifice his life in prison if it meant Ramie would finally be free of a monster’s hold.
Caleb didn’t waver or hesitate. He raised the gun, ignoring Dane’s and Eliza’s alarmed cries for him to stop. He put a bullet between the killer’s eyes and watched without remorse as the man crumpled and folded.
Caleb stared for a long moment, tears burning his eyelids. He already mourned what had been lost. Ramie’s trust. Her laughter. Her love. He’d never find those things again.
He dropped the gun and ran to where Ramie was tied. Her bound wrists were bearing the brunt of her weight. She was literally hanging by them. Her fingers were white and bloodless. He lifted her with one arm, to alleviate the strain. With the other hand, he tore savagely at the ropes and then Beau was there, slicing through the bonds. Ramie dropped into his arms and Beau finished cutting the ropes around her ankles.
Caleb cradled her body to his chest, rocking back and forth as tears slipped hotly down his cheeks. He pressed his lips to her hair, his arms wrapped around her as though he’d never allow a single hurt to get to her.