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  anything that’s for sale in the area. He needs to know that the place

  won’t be occupied. He would make sure of it.”

  The horrible noise coming from the bathroom stopped, and Wolf

  reappeared, his face a surprising shade of green. For the first time, the man didn’t look like the all-American hero. “Caleb needs the

  activated charcoal. Nate’s going to be fine.”

  Cam passed the mug. “We’re trying to come up with an isolated

  place within about twenty minutes driving distance. Do you know of

  any cabins that are known to be unoccupied?”

  Wolf passed the mug, but kept his eyes on Cam. If anything, he

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  got even sicker looking. “Wasn’t this guy at the town hall meeting?”

  Edward looked up. “Yes, we all were. Joe insisted on it.”

  “Then he knows about my mom and Mel.”

  Cam went still. “Where is this Mel’s place? Everyone is talking

  about the fact that they won’t come out of their bunker until the feds

  are gone. Joe has to know that.”

  “He laughed about it,” Brad interjected.

  “We need to get out there,” Rafe said, walking toward the door.

  “Mel’s place is a no-go. He has all kinds of whacked-out security,

  including cameras he can monitor from his bunker,” Logan said.

  “But my mom doesn’t. She refused to spend the money. She just

  planted beets everywhere. She thinks they’ll keep the aliens away.”

  Wolf took a deep breath and visibly stilled. He was back to being in

  control. “Her place is right on the county line. You can easily get

  there in fifteen minutes, and her closest neighbor is two miles away.”

  If Wolf was wrong, Laura could be dead by the time Cam figured

  out where else to look. He looked to Rafe. He stared at his partner and

  was suddenly so fucking grateful he wasn’t in this alone.

  “We’re going out there.” Cam turned because there wasn’t a

  moment to waste. “Edward, you wait here, and if Hope and Holly

  come up with anything, you check it out. Brad, you need to have the

  doctor check you out. Logan and Wolf are coming with us. ”

  “Stop.”

  Cam turned, and Nate Wright stood in the doorway looking like

  death warmed over. “Consider yourself on the clock, son. You do

  what you need to do and with the full weight of a badge behind it.”

  Cam nodded and they all hit the ground running.

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  Chapter Nineteen

  Laura came to with a splitting headache and terrible fear in the pit

  of her stomach. She tried to sit up, but her arms were held fast. Rope

  bit into her wrists. She was already losing feeling. God, where was

  she?

  Don’t let it be real. Wake up. Wake up and be back in the cabin

  curled up with Rafe on one side and Cam on the other.

  She forced herself to focus, to take in her surroundings. She

  couldn’t fool herself. She was in serious trouble. She was naked, her

  skin chilled. She hated this so much. She looked up at the ceiling.

  There was a wagon wheel that had been fashioned into an odd

  chandelier.

  God, she was at Cassidy’s. She remembered looking at that light

  fixture the last time she’d had dinner out here. Laura had been helping

  Cassidy and Nell on a project, and that was when she’d met Wolf. She

  remembered how she’d looked the gorgeous man over and all she’d

  been able to think about were Cam’s shoulders and Rafe’s dark eyes.

  Where were they? Did they even know she was gone?

  “Ah, you’re awake. I had to use the Taser a couple of times, dear.

  I hope it doesn’t have any lingering effects. I wouldn’t want to

  desensitize you.” Joe came into view. “You know who I am now?”

  A monster. “Yes. You’re the man who calls himself the Marquis

  de Sade.”

  He chuckled lightly. “He was an amateur, a fop who played at

  dealing pain. I am more than that. Still, he had a lot of interesting

  things to say. Did you get my present? Or did those idiot cops keep it

  from you? It was addressed to you.”

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  Jana’s body. God, had she ever known this man at all? “I got your

  message even if I didn’t see the actual package.”

  He pulled latex gloves over his hands. “But I did it for you, little

  rabbit. I cut out her heart. It was a little messier than I like to get, but I thought you should see that she actually had one. And I took it apart

  for you. You really are the only one who understands me.”

  Her first instinct was to scream her lungs out. Her second was to

  fight with all her might, but another thought skittered across her brain.

  Time. She needed time.

  “But I don’t,” she forced herself to say in a calm, even voice. “I

  think I understand parts, but not the whole.”

  He stopped and looked down at her, brown eyes narrowing.

  “Well, no one can comprehend all of me, but you came the closest. It

  was why I had to shut you down. You aren’t my usual prey. Not

  because I find women like you more worthy of life. I don’t. You’re all

  the same underneath. It’s just better to prey on the weak, the

  unwanted. I was making a statement. It was far more important that I

  remain unfettered to continue to speak.”

  By speaking, he meant killing. “Why did you stop after me?”

  He sighed and turned briefly, coming back with a small tray. “It

  was a close thing with you. Do you know why I left you, darling? It

  was rude of me, I know. I’ve always wanted to explain why I had to

  leave you there so very unfinished.”

  His words sickened her, as did the almost affectionate way he

  spoke. He didn’t sound anything like the Joseph Stone she knew. Still,

  if he was talking, he wasn’t stabbing her, and she needed to avoid

  that. They would come. This time they would come for her. “I did

  wonder why you left so suddenly.”

  “Well, my two worlds collided,” he explained. “I had been so

  careful to keep them apart, but you forced my hand. I thought I was

  the smartest guy in the world when I was able to fire you for talking

  to the very reporter I had set up as my mouthpiece. Do you

  remember? You introduced me to her at the Christmas party years and

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  years ago. It was when you were working in another department, but

  you would butter me up because you knew you wanted to be in the

  BAU.”

  “Yes,” she replied. He was talking. If he wanted to stroll down

  memory lane recounting all the ways he was smarter than the rest, she

  would go with him. “I brought Jana with me because she was more

  outgoing than me.”

  “She was a whore, dear. She hit on every man in the place. But I

  digress. I was able to fire you for talking about a case to the press. I thought no one would miss you for a night or two. I didn’t realize that

  you had made…friends with both Kincaid and Briggs. They went

  looking for you. When they couldn’t find you, they made a stink. I

  was called away to start investigating your disappearance. By the time

  I was able to get away from wo
rk, you had already made it out of our

  little hideaway.”

  A little sob threatened to escape. She’d always wondered why

  he’d left so abruptly. Cam and Rafe. They had saved her then, too.

  They hadn’t known it, but their need to find her had saved her life.

  She would live through this. She would do it because she loved

  them. She didn’t need survival instincts this time. She had them.

  “I think you’ll find the ropes are properly tied this time. The last

  time, I was a bit too eager,” Joe said, testing them again. He pulled at the ropes he’d tied. Laura noticed there was a sheet underneath her

  covered by a layer of plastic. It was like last time. He’d be able to

  easily destroy the evidence without leaving pesky blood or fibers

  behind. She wondered if his baldness was real or if he routinely

  shaved his head. Hairs left behind at a crime scene had gotten more

  than one killer caught. “Like I said, you were outside my normal prey,

  but so much closer to what I truly hunger for.”

  She shivered. “What do you hunger for, Joe?”

  He smiled. “I like hearing my name for once. I like hearing it

  coming from you. We’re close, you and I. To answer your question, I

  want someone soft and real. Those whores are close to death anyway.

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  Most of them thank me when I finally put them out of their misery.

  Not you. You fought like you had something to live for. It made the

  game so much sweeter.”

  “I’ll fight this time, too.” She would. And if he believed the

  experience would be good, maybe he would prolong it. She would

  survive. She would live through anything if it meant getting back to

  her men.

  He ran a gloved hand along her torso, obviously admiring the

  scars he’d placed there. “I read you lost your womb, dear.”

  Temper. She had to watch it. She wanted to spit on him. “The

  surgery to repair my intestines and uterus didn’t go well. I bled out,

  and they performed a hysterectomy. I was lucky to live.”

  And she could see that now. She’d been lucky. She’d lost

  something precious, but she hadn’t lost her life. Rafe was right. They

  could have a family if they wanted one. They could adopt. Their

  lifestyle would be a challenge, but she knew people who could cut

  through red tape. Stef Talbot had offered his help in the past, and

  she’d turned him down because she didn’t want to be a charity case. It

  wasn’t charity, she realized suddenly. It was love. It was caring. It

  was family.

  “You’re getting emotional, dear.”

  Laura felt the tears running down her face. She felt his hands on

  her body. It felt like the ultimate violation. She preferred his violence to this slow, torturous petting. “How are you going to get out of this,

  Joe? Rafe and Cam know the Marquis de Sade is someone in the

  FBI.”

  He chuckled and reached down. At least his hands were off of her.

  When he came back, there was a small brush in his hand. It was pearl

  handled and had old-fashioned bristles. Laura felt every muscle in her

  body tense. She remembered what he could do with that feminine

  looking brush. He’d beaten her with something very similar. In

  between “sessions,” he had used it to brush her hair.

  “You’ve made it impossible for me to continue, but I think you’ve

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  freed me in some ways, too.” He reached over and started caressing

  her hair with the brush. His motions were languid as though he deeply

  enjoyed this part of his ritual. “My time with the FBI is done. I have a car waiting for me. I’ll make it to Mexico and on to some friends in

  South America. I have an appointment with a plastic surgeon. Thanks

  to my dearly departed wife, I have quite a bit saved up. She had a trust fund, you know.”

  Just how long had Joe been killing? She’d written in her profile

  that there had to have been an inciting incident that started the killer on his path. “Your wife cheated on you.”

  Joe started. He stepped back, pulling the brush from her hair.

  “Yes. I gave the bitch everything, and she preferred the gardener. She

  even got herself pregnant.”

  That explained it.

  “Marla was just like my mother. Dear mother left me with an

  alcoholic, abusive father because she needed to follow her heart. She

  also left me with my idiot brother. He came in handy, though.” He

  took a step back, the brush at his side. “Now, little rabbit, it’s time for some punishment. Do you know what the Marquis used to say? He

  said it is always by way of pain that we arrive at pleasure. He was

  right. Your pain is my pleasure.”

  He snapped the brush back, and Laura cried out when she felt the

  sting along her skin.

  She tugged at the ropes, but they wouldn’t come loose.

  Another strike and she cried out again. Fire licked along her flesh.

  “We’re going to have a fine time, you and I,” Joe said with a

  ghastly smile on his face. “And I have a note written out for those

  dolts you call lovers. They weren’t smart enough to find me, and now

  they’re going to lose you.”

  “Think again.” Laura’s head came off the table at the sound of

  Rafe’s voice.

  Rafe stood in the doorway that led from the kitchen to the dining

  room. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her breath

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  caught. There wasn’t a single thought that he could be hurt. He was

  here to save her. Everything would be fine now.

  Joe shrank back. He dropped the brush, an almost bored look on

  his face. “I didn’t expect that.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t. You never expected anyone to put it

  together,” Rafe replied.

  A little smirk lit Joe’s face. “It took you long enough. Do you

  have any idea how much fun it’s been to watch you chase your tail?”

  Rafe ignored him. “Does he have a gun, bella?”

  Laura shook her head. “Not where he could get it before you

  could shoot.”

  Joe shrugged as though he’d been caught in a little lie rather than

  exposed as a serial murderer. “Well, I suppose you’ll take me in

  now.”

  Cam came in from the opposite direction, from the living room.

  Both of her men carried guns leveled at Joe. “That would be the

  procedure.”

  Cam looked down at her, his eyes seeming to take in every mark

  on her body.

  “And you’re a good little boy, aren’t you? Both of you. I’m

  counting on that, you know. Let me tell you idiots how this is going to

  go. You’re going to take me in, but you’ll find most of the evidence is

  utterly tainted. Good luck pushing through a case where the lead

  investigator is also the suspect. You won’t have a shred of evidence

  that will hold up. I made sure of it. I’ll get out on a technicality, and you should know, I’ll come for her again.” He smiled. “Perhaps this

  will be a fun little game, too. I know I’m smarter than any judge.”

  Laura wanted to be sick. He really would. And he was right. All

  of the evidence was contaminated.

  Joe re
ached a hand out for her. “You’re mine, little rabbit. Bars

  aren’t going to keep us apart. This game isn’t over until I hold your

  heart in my hands.”

  “We’re not playing games, Joe,” Rafe said, his eyes cold.

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  He nodded at Cam and fired. Her men fired one shot a piece. Joe’s

  body staggered under the impact. Two holes opened up in his chest,

  bright red blood blooming through his clothes. His eyes flared, and he

  looked down at her. He reached a hand out toward her.

  Rafe moved quickly, shoving the dying man away. “You don’t

  touch her. Not ever again.”

  Cam’s face came into view. “Baby.” He put a hand on her hair,

  and she could hear the emotion choking his throat. “Baby, are you

  okay? God, he hurt you.”

  She shook her head, wanting so much to get her arms around him.

  “I need a knife!” Rafe called out.

  Cam pulled off his own shirt and covered her with it. “Wolf and

  Logan are here, baby.”

  Wolf entered the room, looking down at the body on the floor.

  Logan followed after him. Wolf passed Rafe a knife, and he went to

  work on her bindings.

  “I’ll have you out in a moment, bella,” he promised.

  Logan was already on his radio. “Yeah, Sheriff, we’re going to

  need to call in some help. We found her. Laura’s fine, but Deputy

  Briggs and Special Agent Kincaid were forced to put the suspect

  down. He was going to kill her.”

  Rafe turned back and sent the deputy a grateful smile. He passed

  the knife across to Cam who cut through the last of her bindings, and

  she was free. Rafe pulled her up and into his arms. She was

  deliciously crushed. Even the pain from the strikes she’d received

  now just reminded her that she was alive and they were here.

  “Bella, I was so scared.” Rafe didn’t seem to care that her ass was hanging out, but Cam came around the other side and covered her

  with his body. His arms wound around her.

  “I was terrified,” Cam admitted.

  “I’m fine.” Laura sighed and let herself sink into their warmth. “I

  knew you would come for me.”

  She felt a tremble go through Rafe’s body. “Always, bella. Never,

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