‘I’m going to ask you a few questions,’ he said and she flinched back. His breath was foul. ‘How you answer me will determine how bad it will be for you. Tell me what I want to know and I promise not to hurt you. Much. Blink if you understand.’
She blinked, too terrified to do anything else. More tears filled her eyes, replacing the ones she’d blinked away.
Catching her wrists in one hand again, he plucked the rag from her mouth, making her cough loudly. Mama, please hear me.
But don’t come! she wanted to scream. Just call 911. Don’t come. He’ll hurt you too.
‘Where did your boyfriend go?’
She blinked rapidly, the answer on the tip of her tongue. Something kept the words frozen there. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, pushing the words out loudly with a great huff of air. Hear me, Mom. Please.
She cried out when his fist slammed into her face.
‘Don’t you lie to me, bitch,’ he growled, yanking her hair hard and shaking her head until she thought she’d vomit.
Vomit. Yes. That’s what you were supposed to do. Vomit on them and they’d leave you alone. But he held her hands. She couldn’t get her fingers near her mouth.
Help me. Somebody. She sucked in a breath and let out a loud scream, but he cut it off by clamping his hand over her mouth. Latex. He was wearing gloves.
‘Shut up,’ he hissed, smashing his palm into her teeth until she whimpered again, ‘or I will permanently shut you up.’ His eyes suddenly gleamed, his mouth curving cruelly. ‘Your mama can’t hear you.’ He leaned in closer. ‘Because Mama is dead.’
Her breaths grew shallow. Faster. Until her vision swam. He’d killed her mother.
No. She shook her head, denying it. He was lying. He had to be lying.
‘Oh, it’s true,’ he mocked. ‘Found her sleeping in her bed, that mask over her face. She didn’t wake up when I slit her throat. She didn’t suffer. But if you don’t start telling me the truth, you will. Where did your boyfriend go?’
Fury blazed through her, giving her strength. Baring her teeth, she sank them into his hand and he roared, trying to yank his hand free, but she bit down harder. He jerked his hand free and flicked it, trying to shake off the pain.
‘You fucking cunt.’ But she’d tuned out his words because she’d felt the pressure on her wrists lessen. He was going to hit her again.
She jerked out of his grasp in the moment he let her go. She tried to roll out from under him, but he grabbed her by the throat with the hand she’d bitten. She grabbed for his wrist, trying to pull him off her, the pressure on her windpipe cutting off her air.
All she did was manage to rip the glove. He flung it aside.
Then he smiled and she knew. She was going to die.
‘Yeah,’ he muttered. ‘You’re gonna die. And it’s gonna hurt.’
He abruptly went rigidly still, head cocked, listening.
A police siren. Getting louder. Help. Someone is coming to help. His hand tightened on her throat and black spots began to speckle her vision. Getting bigger until blackness was all she could see.
Hurry, she wanted to scream. Please hurry.
‘Fuck,’ he snarled and pulled his hand away.
Leaving. She gasped, the air scraping her lungs as she took it in. He’s leaving. She heard a rustle, felt the bed give as he got off. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to be okay.
She started to roll, to get to her mother. Mama. Opening her eyes, she looked up in time to see the knife in his hand.
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Sunday 20 December, 3.15 A.M.
He’s coming. He’s coming. The words beat in Meredith’s mind in time to the racing of her heart. Adam had texted he was on his way. She stared down at her phone again, checking the time. It was less than a minute later than the last time she’d looked.
‘Try to relax,’ Kate murmured from the living room sofa where she sat knitting, the old dog at her feet. But Meredith knew that Kate was aware of every creak of the house. Fully armed, she was ready to defend. ‘Adam will be here when he gets here. Go clean something. That always calms you down.’
Meredith did as she was told, but Bailey and Delores had done a thorough job earlier and there was nothing left to be done. With a sigh, she put on the kettle and sat down to wait.
At least her house was relatively empty. Diesel was sleeping in the basement bedroom and her grandfather was upstairs in the room that had once been her father’s.
They’d sent Kendra to stay with Wendi at Mariposa House. The old mansion was far bigger and required more eyes and ears than Meredith’s little house. That had been Kate’s idea and Meredith was grateful.
She loved Kendra like a sister, but the woman did not like Adam Kimble. Kate, on the other hand, seemed to know something that made her softer toward him, but all she’d tell Meredith was that she knew he was ‘working shit out’ and that he was stressed. Which made him no different than any of the law enforcement officers she knew.
The stress and strain of their jobs was more wearing than any of them let on.
She jumped when her phone buzzed in the pocket of her jeans, reading the incoming text with a calmness she did not feel. At the door downstairs. U awake?
Her fingers trembled as she typed her reply. Yes. Coming down now.
She turned off the stove, stuck her head in the living room to let Kate know that she was going downstairs, then took the stairs two at a time to let him in.
To hear his explanation. And hopefully to kiss him again.
He was standing with his back to the door when she got there, studying the backyard and the houses surrounding hers. Always vigilant, she thought.
She tapped the window, her breath catching when he turned. In the moonlight he was utterly beautiful, hard jaw, soft mouth, and dark eyes that made her desperate to know all his secrets. Quietly she opened the outside door, her finger over her lips.
‘Diesel’s asleep,’ she whispered, pointing at the closed bedroom door. She stepped back to let him in, all six-feet-two-inches of broad-shouldered . . . mine. He closed the door behind him and she caught the scent on his coat.
‘Fire?’ she whispered. Gripping his shoulders, she turned him so that she could study his face. He was grim. ‘What happened?’
He pointed down the hall to the TV room where she and her friends gathered for their wine and movie nights. ‘Let’s talk there.’
He took her elbow and walked her forward as her brain scrambled to make sense of his mood shift. There was no tenderness. No want. Just hard . . . business.
Once they were in the TV room and away from the room where Diesel slept, she switched on the overhead light. The shoulders of his black wool overcoat were covered in a light layer of snow. She brushed it off, then reached for the top button of his coat.
Then stopped, her hands stilling. ‘Are you staying?’
He nodded once. Swallowed hard. ‘Yeah. For a little while.’
Frowning, she unbuttoned his coat and slipped it from his shoulders while he stood like a statue. She sniffed at his coat and blinked hard, her eyes watering at the harsh burnt odor. ‘What happened?’
He’d tugged at his tie at some point, loosening it enough to undo the top button of his shirt. He looked exhausted.
Warily she lifted her hands to his face, cupping his cheeks. ‘Adam?’
He shuddered out a harsh breath and dragged her against him, his arms tightening so hard that it almost hurt. But relief kept her from protesting. This was where she’d wanted to be. Right here, in his arms.
Lifting on her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and stroked his hair, not saying a word. He buried his face against her neck, his breaths ragged. He was shaking.
Just like the last time he’d come to her.
Finally, he loosened his arms enough for her to catch her breath. Then he took it away again when his mouth took hers in a kiss that was nothing like the one in the kitchen. It was hard. Bruising. Almost punishing. Full of anger? No, she realized. Not anger.
It was fear. What the hell happened, Adam?
Abruptly he pulled away. ‘Dammit. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.’
‘You didn’t,’ she murmured, brushing her fingertips over his lips. ‘You wouldn’t.’