He continued to speak to Preston in calm, soothing tones, and his voice served as a beacon in a sea of darkness for her to focus on. She heard her name. Once, twice. The kitchen came back into focus, slowly at first, then in such sharp relief, it gave her a headache.
“Eva,” Cam said, “you okay? Eva?”
“Y-yes.” The knife bit into her skin, but seeing Cam acting so calm relaxed her enough that she was able to think again. Control. She needed to get control, even if it was only over the way she died. She swallowed, felt the knife’s edge dig deeper, and ignored it. “Yes, I’m fine. Preston hired our bomber. I think he may have killed Soup, too.”
“Damn junkie should have done his job in the first place,” Preston said. “All he had to do was get Camden out of my way. Instead, he took my money and ran. I couldn’t let that stand.”
Cam nodded. “Yeah, but like you said, Soup was a junkie. Nobody cares about him, right?”
“Exactly,” Preston said.
“The car bomb didn’t kill anyone and Gordon Dunphy will go down for that. You’re smart. We can’t prove you were involved in anything—except for this. Right here, right now. But you’re smart, right, Preston? You get that if you hurt Eva tonight, you will get caught. She’s a cop. Assault an officer of the law, that’s a long prison sentence. Murder an officer, that’s automatic life.”
“I’m not going to hurt her. I want her to make a decision. The right decision.”
“She already has.” Cam turned his pockets inside out and held up the ruby-studded ring. His gaze locked on hers. “She gave this back to me tonight.”
Preston’s breath grazed her ear again and she shuddered in revulsion. “Is that true?”
“Go ahead,” Cam prompted. “Tell him what you told me.”
She opened her mouth to play along, but stopped. There Cam stood, bare chested, his pockets turned inside out, the ring he’d bought for her in his hand, and a plea in his eyes. Outwardly, he appeared calm, but she saw the terror trembling through him—and she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t choose Preston over him, not even to save her life. She held his gaze, saw his eyes widen.
No, Cam mouthed. Don’t.
“I love you, Cam. I’ll always pick you.”
…
Oh fuck.
Cam launched across the kitchen as Preston let out an inhuman howl of rage, and the knife dug into her neck. Eva dropped to her knees and—
Blood. So much blood.
No, no, no. He couldn’t be too late.
Except she was moving, sweeping out her leg, knocking Preston’s from under him. He stumbled backwards, and Cam caught him in a tackle around the middle, shoving him into the scalding water in the sink. The guy screamed, the sound carrying up though the water and bubbles.
“Cuffs!” Cam said and Eva scrambled out of the kitchen, slipping and sliding until she hit the dry linoleum of the dining room.
Preston bucked, slashed out with the knife, and caught Cam’s bare chest with the edge, but he shoved the asshole’s head under the water again. He knocked Preston’s hand against the counter until the knife dropped, then kicked it out of the way and hauled Preston away from the sink, flattening him out on the kitchen floor.
Eva returned with the handcuffs, handed them over, then pulled her gun from her waistband and pointed it at the back of Preston’s head. “Don’t fucking move.” To Cam, “I called this in.”
“All right.” He snapped the cuffs around Preston’s wrists, but kept the majority of his weight on the man as he finally looked up at Eva. She had a decent gash in the side of her neck. Wasn’t deep enough to be life-threatening, but she was bleeding down the front of her soaked T-shirt. Her chest heaved, her entire body trembled, but she still managed to hold the gun steady.
She noticed him checking her over and her eyes softened. “I’m okay, Cam.”
Yeah. His strong, capable Eva—of course she was okay. Or at least she would be once she got that wound treated. He drummed up a smile. “Nice moves. Recognized that leg trick.”
“You should. I’ve taken you down with it enough.”
“Got it figured out now. You won’t get me next time.”
As sirens drew closer outside, she grinned at him. “Wanna bet?”
Chapter Twenty-six
“Lark’s missing.”
Eva released a pent up breath and wrapped her cold hands around the coffee Cam set on the desk in front of her. After giving her statement, she’d taken a hot shower in the police department’s locker room and changed into a fresh pair of clothes she kept in her locker, but she still couldn’t shake the cold numbing her to the center of her being. The news only deepened the icy feeling, making her shiver even though it wasn’t completely unexpected. She’d sent officers to Lark’s home as soon as they had Preston in custody. “I was afraid of that.”