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