She had been dealing with emotions in her dreams. Her fear for those boys, her horror when she thought of the terror they must have suffered at this monster’s hands. It didn’t bear imagining, and she couldn’t afford to let human feelings get in the way of analyzing the evidence. But for a few moments she sat on the edge of the couch and let herself do just that.
Feel.
For those boys, for their families, for their friends. For all the parents in this county who might be looking at their sons, wondering how to protect them. For all the people around here who must feel as if they were caught in a waking nightmare. She let it roll through her, searing, angry, despairing, unutterably sad.
She felt as if sheer emotion could rip her apart from the inside.
But then she pushed it aside, reminding herself that she had to keep her head clear for this job. Rising, ignoring stiff, aching muscles, she grabbed a change of clothing and headed for the bathroom.
“Coffee’s ready,” Cade called from the kitchen.
“Be there in a minute.” She wondered if his night had been as tormented as hers. Examining those files again last night had been even worse than the first time. Seeing it all through the lens of a man who was setting a stage of some kind on which to play out his sick fantasies and compulsions only made it worse. Every choice he made was part of his imagined ritual. Satisfying dark urges in himself that nobody would probably ever understand. Not really.
But it was all about compulsion and satisfaction, and probably power, and most definitely about the small details that aided him in finding his satisfaction. They’d studied the small details last night, every one of them, because it was doubtful that any were simply accidental.
They’d applied a magnifying glass to a sick psyche, and she wasn’t sure that they’d gotten anywhere. Maybe they should call in a forensic psychologist? Send the files for evaluation?
But that had been done when the first stash had been found in the woods, and they didn’t yet have much to add to what the psychologist had come up with then.
The shower eased her muscle aches. Toweling off made her skin feel fresh and clean. This wouldn’t last long. The whole case was making her feel sullied somehow. She’d had disturbing cases before, but this beat any of them. She felt as if it were tainting her.
She realized she’d left her clothes on the bed instead of bringing them into the small bathroom with her. Instead of being warm from the shower steam, they’d be chilled like this whole damn house.
Sighing, she threw the door open and saw Cade. He was bent over his own suitcase and looked at her. At once the air seemed to sizzle, and she saw it in his eyes. He wanted her.
As the recognition hit her, she abruptly realized that she was standing there stark naked. Not even holding a towel. Everything froze, an instant in time that suddenly seemed outside of time, an instant of recognition so basic it defied thought. Her insides seemed to melt, and a yearning so strong filled her that she felt her legs weaken. His eyes swept over her, taking in every detail from her puckered nipples to her hips and the thatch of dark hair they cradled. Her breath froze inside of her, overwhelmed by a longing so intense that it shocked her.
It happened fast but seemed to last forever. It was only a second, but might have been a lifetime until the world began to move again. He looked away.
“Sorry,” he said. “I needed something and didn’t think you’d...” Apparently he thought that better left unfinished. Without looking at her again, he hurried from the bedroom, pointedly closing the door behind him.