Detective Gray turned on him. "Tell me again how you happened upon her in the middle of nowhere?"
"I told you already. I got a text from a blocked number saying if I wanted to see her alive again, to come to that location. It said if I called the police, she'd be killed immediately. I didn't want to risk it, so I came alone."
The woman took Ash's phone and dropped it in a plastic baggie as evidence.
After getting both of our statements, the police packed up and stood to leave. "I need to get back to the crime scene," Detective Gray said. "We'll dust for prints, collect evidence, try to make sense of all this and see if we can lay your parents' death at Lucky's feet as well."
"It has to be him, doesn't it?" I asked.
"It seems likely, but we just need to make sure it all adds up," he said.
I nodded and Ash wrapped his arm around me.
"I'm leaving Officer Larsen here until the medics arrive and check you out. If you need me, she can reach me," Gray said.
They left, and Larsen stood by the door talking quietly on her phone. I excused myself for the bathroom, using the privacy to clean up from my first sexual encounter. As the endorphins from my orgasms and the adrenaline from my capture left me, my body succumbed to all the aches and pains those chemical reactions had kept hidden, and I gripped the sink to keep from passing out.
Ash found me, pale and shaking, and called for the medics, who had just arrived. My breath came too fast and I couldn't get enough oxygen to keep my head from spinning.
Working efficiently, they laid me on a stretcher and rolled me to the ambulance. Their voices came from far away, and I heard Ash arguing with someone as they hooked me to oxygen and tested my blood pressure.
"I'm going with her, and you're not stopping me," he growled.
"Sir, there's no room. Would you prefer we lost a trained medic to give you space?"
The argument must have worked, because Ash's motorcycle engine revved, and the van door slammed shut.
The cool hand of a woman pressed against my head. "She's burning up."
A flurry of words flew over me, but I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to my time with Ash, the way his hands had known just how to touch me to bring me maximum pleasure, the way our bodies fit so well together.
I dreamed of this life with Ash, of making love every morning and falling asleep in his arms every night.
I woke to his voice, his face smiling down at me, his hand brushing through my hair. "Welcome back, Catelyn. You gave us quite a scare."
"What did I do?" I asked.
His eyes glossed over and his voice shook. "You almost died."
Chapter Thirty Four
Call Me Catelyn
"LUCKY POISONED THE knife he'd used to cut your neck," explained Ash. "While the wound itself was harmless, the poison had infected your blood stream and was working toward your heart. If the medics hadn't arrived… " His eyes filled with tears.
Smiling, I took his hand. "I'm fine."
Ash started to say something, but stopped as Detective Gray entered the room.
"Catelyn, I'm glad you're awake. How are you feeling?" Gray asked.
Ash took a seat next to my bed, still holding my hand, as I sipped water and answered the detective. "Like I've been poisoned, beaten and left for dead," I said honestly. Morphine dripped into my IV, and I pressed the button, giving myself an extra influx of pain relief.
"It looks like Lucky was the Midnight Murderer. We found evidence at his apartment of the other crimes, including DNA from his victims."
"How?"
"He took trophies."
I squirmed, refusing to imagine what that could mean. "Anything about my parents?"
He shook his head. "No, but we found the stationary he used to send you letters each year, and a closet filled with pictures of you. He'd been stalking you for years, documenting your every move."
I shivered at the violation, and Ash squeezed my hand.
"So it's over?" I asked.
"It's over."
"How did you find all this so fast?"
The detective looked at Ash, then back at me. "They didn't tell you? You've been unconscious for a week. Believe it or not, when we have something to go on, we can accomplish a lot in that amount of time."
A week? No wonder my legs felt like sandpaper and my mouth tasted of rotting cotton balls. "I'm going to need a shower, immediately."
Ash laughed. "I'll give you a sponge bath myself."
I blushed and looked back at the detective. "I still don't understand why Lucky did this."
"The oldest reason in the book. Revenge. Lucky was a diagnosed psychopath and had committed other crimes before the Midnight Murders. Your mother, who worked at the DA's office, had convicted him once for assault and sent him to prison. He killed her when he was released."
"How was he not a suspect back then?" Ash asked. "Surely your department looked into any released convicts Catelyn's parents had prosecuted."
"We did, but Lucky went under a different name at the time and had a solid alibi," Detective Gray said. "We're still not sure how he did it."