When Shadows Fall (Dr. Samantha Owens #3)

He certainly seemed open to the idea of being a part of Adrian’s world.

Adrian knew how much Curtis needed Doug. To watch out for them. To cover their backs. They needed someone on the outside to run the operation. He had a flask in his pocket, which contained a fine single-barrel bourbon. And a little something extra.

The kick that pushed him right over the edge. After swigging from the flask a few times, Doug was intoxicated enough to admit what was really the matter with him.

What he was looking for. Who he was looking for.

He was sloppy with it, the admission. And Adrian realized this was the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

They found themselves alone in a gorgeous park, the night breeze scented with the last bit of summer jasmine and honeysuckle. They walked along the path into the darkness, and talked about loneliness, and when Doug stumbled, Adrian reached for his old friend, brought him into his arms and bent his head to his lips. Doug only resisted for a moment.

*

Adrian’s head jerked suddenly and he realized he’d almost driven off the road. Lost in the memory of that night, he’d started to drift to sleep. It was a happy memory, though it had turned ugly down the road, when Doug hadn’t wanted to be their man, and Adrian was forced to show him the pictures he’d taken that night.

The photos were brutal, intimate and clearly showed Doug in the most compromising positions. When he saw them, he got right in line. He couldn’t afford for his life to be ruined, for his secret to get out. The police would drum him off the force if they knew. So Doug kept his head down, and worked hard to make the big leap into the FBI, the perfect place to cover all their asses.

Doug was a part of Eden, whether he wanted it or not.

What they weren’t prepared for was Doug being sent into Eden to investigate them. He sat down with Adrian and Curtis that first night and explained what was happening, how they were going to work it all out.

Adrian and Curtis had their first true disagreement over Doug’s plans. Adrian was all for taking his old friend into the woods and permanently removing him from their lives. Curtis, levelheaded Curtis, knew she needed to keep Doug around, and vetoed Adrian’s proposal.

Adrian had been right all along when he said they couldn’t trust Doug anymore.

He flipped on the radio, knowing the music would help keep him awake. But his favorite station wasn’t playing music. They were talking about a missing girl, and a ghost, resurrected from his past.

Kaylie Rousch was alive and on the run.

He slammed his fists into the steering wheel and screamed. He let the anger course through him, felt his control slide back into place.

Ten years ago, Doug had spent three months misleading them. He orchestrated the move to Texas, helped them with everything—everything!—and then he’d betrayed everyone by running away with the girl once she’d dropped her pod.

His brother, his lover, his friend—had betrayed them all for an inconsequential girl.

And now Doug was dead, the girl was alive and Adrian had to make this all right. He just wanted his old life back. The old rhythms, instilled by Curtis, based on centuries of belief and structure. The balance and harmony he’d grown accustomed to.

And the only way to do that was to find and silence the only person left who knew everything. He had to rid the world of Kaylie Rousch, and all the people she’d been casually touching since she came out of hiding. Her poison must be stopped.

And he knew just where to find her now. He knew she would be waiting for him. It was time for their decades-long dance to end, with her in the ground, where she belonged.





SUNDAY

“What would your good do if evil didn’t exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared?”

—Mikhail Bulgakov “Evil is the bane of the world, sayeth our Lord, the one truth we cannot escape. From the matter given by the stars on the day of our great birth to the dust it becomes as our bones rot in the ground, evil will be eradicated by love of the Mother. Do not fear your dark thoughts, my children. My love ensures that you will not succumb.”

—Curtis Lott





Chapter

48

Capitol Hill

Near the Longworth Office Building

FLETCHER WOKE TO the smell of coffee and bacon. Certain he was dreaming, or had simply caught a whiff of brunch from Bullfeathers, a nearby restaurant, he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Instead he fell off the couch onto the living-room floor with a thud.

It all came rushing back—the very late night, the beer, the horrible revelations. The fruitless search in the files for more information about where Eden was holding the missing girls, his gallant offer of his bed to the young FBI agent, who, to his everlasting shock, had said yes, because she wasn’t about to drive home after three beers.

He glanced down—yes, he was fully clothed. He gathered himself up from the floor and cracked his neck. He wasn’t dreaming. Someone was in his kitchen, cooking.