Page 23 of Lost in Bliss


  for hours. He loved her. Guilt festered like a sore. He was responsible

  for her. She’d let him take pleasure in her body and solace in her

  heart. He owed her protection, and he’d failed.

  He wasn’t going to fail her again.

  “And did you recognize the words?” Brad asked. Why was he still

  talking? His voice grated on Cam’s every nerve.

  “Not at the time,” Laura admitted. “Later on, I looked it up. It was

  right after I’d gotten to Bliss. I was in bad shape. I couldn’t get those damn words out of my head. I went into Stella’s and asked to borrow

  her computer. I told her I needed to look up something. It’s a quote

  from the Marquis de Sade.”

  “Donatien Alphonse François, the real Marquis de Sade had a

  philosophy attached to his methods. He was imprisoned several times

  for abusing prostitutes. One was said to have been held for weeks of

  torture before she managed to escape out a second story window,”

  Edward murmured. He spoke academically, as if he wasn’t discussing

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  the torture of a colleague. “He wrote a lot about sexual freedom.

  Some of his philosophies are very interesting.”

  “We don’t need a lecture, professor,” Brad grumbled. It seemed to

  Cam like the special agent didn’t enjoy having his spotlight taken

  away. And he was being rude. Back when Cam was in the unit,

  Edward hated to be called professor.

  Edward’s eyes narrowed on the junior agent. “I have a point. I can

  see where someone of our own killer’s persuasions would be

  interested in the Marquis. That isn’t surprising. What is surprising is

  the fact that he adopted the philosophies the press put upon him. I’ve

  been thinking about this for a while. It doesn’t sit particularly well

  with me. I would have thought he would be in control of his press, so

  to speak. I actually think this validates my own profile. The Marquis

  de Sade is immature, socially awkward. He’s probably making up for

  a very bad childhood and intense feelings of inadequacy.”

  “Or he’s controlled the press far better than we could have

  imagined. I can’t believe I didn’t think about this. I don’t believe the man is immature. He’s too smart, too in control. He would never

  follow someone else’s lead.” Joe leaned forward, a grave look on his

  face. “Who was the first reporter to name him?”

  Motherfucker. He remembered that first televised report well. It had been the report that made Jana Evans’s career. How long had she

  been talking to that son of a bitch? What clues had she hidden in her

  quest for a freaking local Emmy?

  “We should get her in here.” Rafe’s voice was tight with fury.

  “Jana would have told us if she was in contact. She wouldn’t let a

  killer roam free to get a story,” Laura said.

  For the first time since the interview began, there was a hint of

  emotion in her voice. It was a slight shake that had Cam reaching for

  her hand despite the obvious reasons not to. Jana had been Laura’s

  friend, but she’d betrayed her in so many ways. How long had she

  used Laura to further her own career?

  How had it felt to wake up after a nightmare and believe no one

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  loved her? She’d felt betrayed by Cam and Rafe and her oldest friend.

  For the first time, Cam really understood why she had walked away

  and what she had found here.

  “You know reporters and their confidential sources,” Brad

  murmured, making notes in his file. “We’ll have to bring in Ms.

  Evans and have a chat. It’s convenient that she showed up here in

  Bliss.”

  “Yes, it is.” Cam cradled her hand in his, satisfied that she didn’t

  pull away.

  Everything he learned pointed more and more to Laura being

  right. There was a leak in the unit, and that leak just might be the

  killer. He studied Brad, Joe, and Edward carefully. Maybe he needed

  to really rethink everything he knew about them. Maybe it was time to

  trust Laura’s instincts. Cam wondered how far Nate Wright would let

  him in. Would Nate allow him to use one of the computers to run

  checks on his former colleagues?

  “I would also like to talk to Mr. Wolf Meyer,” Edward said,

  staring down at his notes. “I ran a check on everyone in this town, and

  I don’t like what I’ve discovered. This whole town is full of misfits

  and riffraff. But Wolf Meyer interests me. He lived on a base close to

  DC right up to a few months ago. He took a trip back to DC at a time

  that places him in the area when the last victim was killed.”

  Laura’s blue eyes rolled. “It’s not Wolf, you idiot. He’s a SEAL.”

  Edward laughed, condescension dripping from his mouth. “Yes,

  because a military man would never kill anyone. He fits your profile,

  dear. I would think you would be thrilled I would consider him.”

  “You’re an ass, Edward,” Laura stated. “If you’ve successfully

  profiled someone before, it was because it was so obvious a monkey

  could have done it. Wolf has a core of integrity. He practically glows

  with it.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Cam grumbled. He really hated that guy.

  Laura smiled up at him. “He doesn’t have your sunny disposition,

  babe.”

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  Why did everything inside him clench when she looked at him

  like that? Why did his whole fucking world seem okay because she

  was accepting him? Sunny disposition? He had to smile back. He was

  a taciturn son of a bitch most of the time. God, he wanted to kiss her.

  He wanted to take her out of here.

  Laura turned back to the agents. “Please, feel free to talk to Wolf.

  I think you’ll find a conversation with him enlightening. I happen to

  know he spent an awful lot of time overseas doing things for our

  country you can’t even conceive of. Interview everyone in Bliss. I

  know you’re all damn good at wasting time.”

  “Insults aren’t going to get you anywhere,” Brad said, his

  composure slipping a bit.

  “She’s right.” Rafe’s hands slapped on the table. “We’re wasting

  time. She’s gone over everything. Why are we treating her like a

  criminal?”

  Joe sighed and rubbed a spot between his eyes. “I know she’s not

  a criminal, but she is a bit of a hostile witness. She left town. I can’t be sure she won’t leave again.” He turned his eyes to Laura. “If I offer you protective custody, will you take it?”

  “No,” Cam said before she could.

  If anyone was going to protect her, it would be him and Rafe. If

  witness protection got involved, they might or might not accept the

  two of them coming along, and Cam didn’t trust anyone else.

  “What he said,” Laura admitted with a weary sigh. “I firmly

  believe that de Sade is law enforcement. Given what you all now

  suspect about Jana, he might even be on this team.”

  “That is ridiculous,” Edward spat. “No one in the BAU is a serial

  killer. It’s preposterous. The Bureau has systems in place to ensure

  someone like that would never get in. What do y
ou have against men,

  Ms. Rosen? I have long suspected that you don’t like men.”

  Joe pointedly cleared his throat and stared between Rafe and Cam.

  Cam didn’t miss the way Laura’s mouth turned up.

  Edward shook his head. “I didn’t say she was a lesbian. She uses

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  men. Probably a very great deal of them.”

  “Says the misogynist,” Laura murmured.

  Cam turned to Rafe, who seemed just as lost. Cam had known

  Edward was an unctuous little prick, but not that he particularly had it out for Laura. Though now that he remembered back, he could see all

  the slight ways the senior special agent had tried to cut out the only female on the team. He was always putting down her intellect even as

  he praised her wardrobe or the way she wore her hair. Edward had

  tried to make her seem less than the men.

  Edward leaned forward. “You weren’t able to prove that claim,

  were you, Ms. Rosen? You tried to put a black mark on my record,

  but it didn’t work.”

  “Well, I did leave before my meeting with human resources. I

  guess that was lucky for you,” Laura replied.

  Cam leaned in. “What did he do to you?”

  “I’ve heard nothing of this,” Rafe said, standing up. Cam

  wondered if he was going to move his chair again. “Why is Edward

  being allowed to question a witness with an outstanding complaint

  against him? He can’t exactly be unbiased.”

  Joe’s bark quieted the room. “Neither can you, Kincaid. There is

  nothing normal or routine about this fucking case. It involves a

  woman who used to be one of our own. Will you all sit down and shut

  up, or I swear this is going to be a very empty room in two minutes. I

  will dismiss you, Special Agent, if you can’t keep your shit together.”

  Rafe’s jaw clenched, but he visibly calmed and took his seat

  again.

  “Brad, I would like to get this over with. Please continue.” Joe sat

  back, seemingly satisfied he’d gotten everyone back on track.

  Brad pinned Laura with his stare. “I only have a couple more

  questions for Ms. Rosen.”

  Cam was ready to get her the fuck out of here. “Make them

  quick.”

  Brad sneered his way. “You’ll be the first to go when we start

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  thinning out the room, Briggs.” He pulled a set of photos from the

  folder.

  Cam felt his stomach roll. He knew those photos. They were the

  same photos Rafe had been showing when Cam had found him in DC

  to tell him about Laura. They haunted him. Black and white. Stark. A

  woman in bondage, her unseeing eyes looking up at the camera. It

  didn’t matter that Cam couldn’t see the red of the blood. He could

  smell it. Acrid and coppery. He hadn’t been at the scene of this

  woman’s death, but he’d seen enough of this killer’s work firsthand to

  know what it had been like. Clinical and pristine, the Marquis de Sade

  didn’t leave evidence in his wake, merely death and heartbreak. Even

  prostitutes had people who missed them, loved them, mourned them

  forever. Cam had come so close to being one of those left behind.

  Brad’s voice cut through Cam’s introspection. “This is the woman

  we believe now to be a victim of the Marquis de Sade. You can’t see

  it in the black and white version, but she’s wearing the same lipstick

  he put on you. The same lipstick he puts on all his victims. This

  occurred after you left DC and refused to help further with the

  investigation. The Marquis de Sade is working again. Do you feel a

  certain culpability in her death?”

  Rafe stood and, before anyone could do a damn thing, had his fist

  on his partner’s face. He pummeled the son of a bitch, and chaos

  reigned. The room exploded in shouting.

  Joe yelled at the two men to stand down. Edward moved out of

  the line of fire. Brad tried to fight back, but Rafe was meaner and way

  angrier. The door to the room opened, and Nate Wright entered with

  his deputy, pulling the men off of one another. The room seemed

  overheated. It was too loud, too full of testosterone. Cam was just

  about to jump into the fray when he looked down and saw Laura.

  She sat as still as a doll staring at those photos. Her eyes were

  locked, her mouth slightly open. Guilt was easy to read on her face.

  As everyone continued to shout, Cam dropped to one knee. “No,

  baby, this isn’t your fault.”

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  She didn’t look at him, but a single tear dropped from her eyes

  and splashed on the table.

  Nate finally managed to pull Rafe off the man who would almost

  assuredly be his ex-partner as soon as the Bureau could fill out the

  paperwork. Logan, the deputy, got Brad to his feet.

  “I’ll call Doc. This one is pretty messed up.” Logan didn’t seem to

  be bothered by the blood. The big, might-be-on-steroids deputy

  looked down at Brad. “You talk to her like that again, and I’ll be the

  one fucking you up, you understand that?”

  “Logan.” Nate said the word between clenched teeth, and Logan

  walked out of the room.

  Joe scrubbed a hand through his hair as he stared at Rafe. “Damn

  it, Kincaid. You leave me no choice. You are off this case. You’ll

  catch the first flight back to DC, and I’ll deal with you when this is

  over.”

  Rafe didn’t even blink. He pulled his gun and badge out and laid

  them on the table. “I quit. You’ll have a formal resignation

  tomorrow.”

  Joe stared widemouthed. “You’ve got ten years in, son. Are you

  sure you want to do this?”

  Rafe swallowed once, but nodded. “One of us will be legally

  married to Laura as soon as possible. We’ll have full legal rights. You

  won’t be able to shut us out. If you try, I swear to god I’ll bring the

  press in, and someone out there will write a hell of a story about how

  the Bureau is harassing victims because they can’t get the job done.

  You will leave my wife alone.”

  Joe turned to Laura. “You understand what he’s trying to do? He’s

  going to bully you. He’s going to shut you off somewhere and hope

  this all goes away. It hasn’t gone away, and it won’t.”

  Laura turned those tear-filled eyes upward. “You want to use me

  as bait.”

  “That is not going to happen.” Cam stood and did what he’d

  wanted to do from the moment he’d found out the feds were in town.

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  He picked her up, hooking his arms under her knees and pulling her to

  his chest. She didn’t fight, but she didn’t exactly cuddle against him,

  either. “You can fuck yourself, Joe.”

  “You going to run away again, Rosen?” Brad asked. His face was

  still bleeding.

  Edward shook his head. “How many more women will die

  because you’re too scared to face him?”

  Rafe started toward Edward. Cam was almost to the door when he

  heard Laura’s reply.

  “I’ll do it.”

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  Chapter Thirteen
/>
  Rafe felt his stomach flip as he walked out of the interrogation

  room.

  He’d just quit his job. He didn’t have a job. He didn’t have a

  badge or a gun or a future.

  Cam turned, and Rafe saw the only things he had left in this

  world. Laura and Cameron. His family. Well, he wasn’t about to let

  the only thing he had left slip through his fingers. “You will not do

  this.”

  “Rafe, not here.” Cam turned again. “Let’s get her home, and we

  can hash this out without an audience.”

  God, where was he going wrong that Cam had to be the sensible

  one? His fist still ached from the battering he’d given Brad, but he

  would do it again. They had led her like a lamb to slaughter. He could

  see it now. They had beaten her down, gotten her emotional, and then

  pulled the final card out that sent her over the edge. They’d played her like a fiddle, and Rafe was ready to kill them all.

  What if one of them knew exactly what he was doing? What if

  one of them had been watching her with predatory eyes?

  “Kincaid.”

  Rafe turned at the sheriff’s sharp bark. Wolf Meyer stood beside

  him. Rafe had a sudden bad feeling that the sheriff had let the SEAL

  watch things play out. Despite what Edward had said, Rafe didn’t

  believe for an instant that Meyer had anything to do with this. “What

  is it? If you’re planning on telling me to get the hell out of your town, then you can think again.”

  To Rafe’s surprise, the sheriff smiled. “No, I was going to

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  congratulate you on growing a pair. You should have done that a long

  time ago.”

  “I knew he had a set when he took down that asshole. He was

  snooping around Laura’s cabin, and this guy here gets the jump on

  him before I could. That’s saying something,” Wolf admitted.

  The sheriff tilted his hat back and regarded Rafe with an assessing

  stare. “There’s a town meeting concerning Laura. You need to be

  there. Town hall, seven o’clock.”

  Wolf’s eyes rolled back. “Yeah, I have to go set up the computers.

  Just because mom and Mel are hiding out doesn’t mean they aren’t

  civic-minded. They intend to attend the meeting via the Internet, and