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“Do you recognize this?” Rafe asked, not quite able to look at
Laura.
There was a long, charged pause. “Yes.”
Edward sat forward now, pushing his glasses up his elegant nose.
“You were wearing these when the Marquis de Sade took you?”
“She said she recognized them,” Cam said with a frown.
“I need a formal acknowledgement that these belong to you, Miss
Rosen,” Edward said with his usual condescension. “There’s no point
in denying it. We’ll have DNA confirmation by tomorrow. There was
a drop of blood on the waistband and other biological excretions on
the lining of the drawers.”
Laura flushed, and Rafe thought seriously about putting the
Harvard-educated agent’s nose through the back of his head.
“They were mine,” Laura said with a huff. “I was wearing them
when he took me. He gave me some form of sedative. When I woke
up, he’d taken my clothes off. Hopefully the next package contains a
Michael Kors dress. I miss that dress. It made my boobs look
spectacular.”
It was all Rafe could do not to laugh. That was his Laura. She was
rebellious to the end. She’d faced de Sade and lived. She could
certainly handle the FBI. She didn’t need him to be her protector. Was
that what she’d tried to tell him by walking away? Had she really
simply not wanted him after he’d failed her so miserably?
“Why Brad? Why would they send it to Brad and not me or
Rafe?” Cam asked.
“Well, son,” Joe said, leaning forward. “I think this boy likes to
screw with us. He genuinely enjoys playing the game, and you aren’t
FBI anymore. I have to ask you something, Cameron. Have you
talked to that reporter at all? Have you mentioned Laura’s
whereabouts to anyone at all?”
“He barely managed to tell me,” Rafe muttered.
Cam’s face reddened, and Rafe didn’t miss the way Laura’s hand
tightened over Cam’s. She seemed to be reminding him he was on a
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leash.
Edward tapped his long fingers along the table. “Let’s not get
ahead of ourselves with accusations. The Marquis de Sade is nothing
if not organized. It wouldn’t shock me at all to discover he’s been
watching. This is all a game to him. He would keep tabs on the major
players. Despite Briggs leaving the FBI, I think the killer would still
watch him. After all, he’s a potential link to the most important
person in de Sade’s life—Laura Rosen, the one who got away.”
“It doesn’t make a lick of sense,” Cam said, his previous irritation
seeming to dissolve into frustration. Laura had handled him perfectly.
“He’s been quiet for years. He gets one sniff of her and he’s back?”
“It’s possible that the incident with me threw him off his game,”
Laura said. “Serial killers have been known to stop killing for years
and then start up again.”
Edward adjusted his glasses in that scholarly fashion that set
Rafe’s teeth on edge. He was always so far above everyone else. “I
believe he simply entered another portion of the game and changed
his tactics a bit. He’s smart. “
“Yeah, you’ve said that before,” Rafe replied. Edward had always
seemed fascinated with this particular case. Edward had also been the
one to declare that Laura’s profile was amateur and unworthy of real
assessment.
Joe sighed as he looked around. He finally focused in on Laura.
He pushed the folder toward her. “I would like for you to look at what
we’ve gathered since you left. I would really like your take on this.
You, of all the people in the world, know this guy. Help us. Help us
catch him.”
“She needs to stay out of this,” Cam said.
Laura let go of his hand. Her fingers crept across the table toward
that folder.
Rafe’s heart rate shot sky high. “She needs to come into protective
Laura’s eyes never wavered from that manila folder. Her hands
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caught it, and she slid it toward her. “I’ve tried hiding, Rafe. It didn’t work. What I’m rapidly discovering is that no matter how hard you
try to hide, your past always catches up to you.”
Joe’s face was in a brutal frown. “We need her, Rafe. You have to
see that. She’s the closest we’ve ever come to catching him. He wants
her.”
Laura casually opened the folder. “He’ll come for me.”
Cam looked at Rafe over her head. His blue eyes were practically
begging Rafe to do something, anything.
Rafe’s fists clenched into tight balls of anxiety. He’d brought her
to this. “You are not using her for bait. I won’t allow it.”
“You don’t allow or disallow anything, Special Agent Kincaid.”
The fine edge of authority bit through the air. Joseph Stone had been a
special agent in charge for a very long time. He hadn’t gotten there by
allowing his underlings to tell him what to do, but Rafe didn’t have a
choice.
“Nor does he have any control over me.” Laura’s voice had gone
cold, professional. She opened the file, and Rafe knew he’d just lost
this little war. “I’ll need an hour or two to go over this. I know this
isn’t standard procedure.”
“Letting a witness read confidential files?” Joe relaxed back into
his chair. “No, but you’re not just any witness. You know I never
agreed with the decision to fire you.”
She waved it off. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Joe and Edward got up.
“I’d like to be alone,” Laura said, never looking up from the file.
“Laura,” Cam started.
But Rafe knew she was done for now. He would have to find
another way to get to her. If he pushed, she would retreat even further.
It was time to regroup.
“Come on, brother,” Rafe said. “Let’s go see what’s going on out
there. She’s safe enough in here.”
The door closed between them. Rafe prayed it hadn’t closed
forever.
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Chapter Eleven
An hour later, Laura finally closed the folder and tried to take a
deep breath. It felt like the walls were closing in on her. Five years.
She’d hidden for five years, and in an instant, it was all coming back
to her. She’d been safe here, and now she had to wonder if he was
going to find her again.
She stood and smoothed out her shirt. She made sure the file was
in pristine order and turned on her heels to walk out of the quiet
interrogation room. She was pretty sure it had never been used to
actually interrogate anyone. Mostly Nate just locked people up and let
them go after he’d either calmed down or they had paid their
legitimate fines. The citizens of Bliss had quickly gotten used to the
sheriff’s temper. They knew if they were wrongly jailed there would
be a nice free meal and a beer waiting for them at Trio. Lau
ra had a
sudden desire to be there. She could sit at the bar and joke with Callie and Zane while she sipped the chardonnay Zane kept behind the bar
for her.
Why had this followed her home?
Laura stepped out of the door, looking for Joe. She knew he
wanted to ask her some questions. She wasn’t looking forward to any
of this.
A hard hand clamped down on her elbow, pulling her toward an
open door.
Rafe sent her reeling into Nate Wright’s office. He closed the door
behind her, the very discipline of his action telling her just how pissed he was. He shut that door with a quiet intensity.
Laura wasn’t having it. He’d been the one to pull her back into
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this world. Cam had explained his part. He’d practically tackled her
and begged her forgiveness. She believed him that he hadn’t sicced
the feds on her, but Rafe was another matter. Rafe was the one who
had always been devoted to the job. He’d been the true believer. At
the time, she’d seen his devotion to justice as something intensely
noble. She still did, but damn, if she didn’t wish he had been a little
more devoted to her. She would have enjoyed the chance to decide for
herself if she wanted to be a part of this again.
“What do you want, Rafe?” She was alone in a room with him. A
tiny room. A room that suddenly seemed far too small for two people.
His face was set in tight lines, his jaw painfully stubborn. “I want
a lot of things, bella. I doubt you’ll be willing to give them to me.”
There was no mistaking the hard edge of his tone—or the line of
his erection. Rafe was angry, and it was doing something for him. The
sad thing was it was doing something for her, too. “You can’t
seriously think I want to be alone with you.”
Where was Cam when she needed him? Oh, yeah. She’d told him
to leave her alone. Well, she’d gotten what she wanted. She’d claimed
she needed time to think about the new facts and the case, but what
she’d really needed was time away from both of them. Yet even as
she had sat there staring down at proof that her worst nightmare was
still at large and at work, she’d thought about them. When was she
going to learn?
“I don’t care what you want at this moment.” His back was to the
door, as though guarding it. Laura was suddenly extremely aware of
just how alone they were. “I’m going to talk to you, and you’re going
to listen.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like I have a choice.” She crossed her arms
over her chest and hoped she was giving him her absolute most
intimidating glare. He hadn’t been huge on giving her choices.
Resentment started to bubble up. “What’s wrong, Rafe? Are you
afraid if I’m given a choice and treated like an actual functioning
adult that you’ll lose out? You’re probably right. If you weren’t
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standing in front of that door, I would be out of here.”
His lips curled up in a bitter imitation of a smile. “Yes, bella, you’ve made that plain to me. But I do take offense to the accusation
that I’ve taken away your choices.”
She allowed her eyes to widen in suspicion. “Really? And what
exactly did you mean to do by storming into Bliss the way you did?
We have phones, you know. A simple phone call would have saved
all of us time.”
“Would it? Because you would have answered and been so
reasonable. If I am not treating you like an adult, bella, it’s because I haven’t known you to act like one.”
Her fists clenched. It was ridiculous. She was one of the most
responsible people she knew. She always made the responsible
choice. The craziest thing she’d ever done was sleeping with Rafe and
Cam, and it was clear where that had led her. “Fuck you, Rafe.”
She started toward the door, rage riding her. She wasn’t a child.
She didn’t have to stay here and listen to some lecture he seemed to
need to get out of his system. He would move out of her way, or
Laura would see if she remembered anything from martial arts class.
Rafe had her pinned to the desk before she could take her next
breath. Unlike her, it seemed Rafe had never stopped training.
He invaded her space, his big body holding her down. Though
he’d slammed into her, his hands had come around and taken the
brunt of hitting the desk. Even when he was being violent, he made
sure she didn’t get hurt. “Very mature, bella. I should have expected that. Let me explain a few truths of the world to you. Mature people
do not walk out of their hospital beds leaving everything they own
and love behind.”
“I didn’t give a shit about my belongings, and I sure as hell didn’t
love anyone.” She was lying, but she wasn’t about to admit it to him.
“I don’t believe that for a second,” Rafe replied, his voice low. He
was between her legs, and his cock jutted up as though seeking her
pussy. His hands gentled and smoothed back her hair. “You loved me.
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You loved Cam. But you were very angry with both of us. You chose
to punish us.”
“I chose to walk away from a life that didn’t work for me
anymore.” She averted her eyes. It was another lie, but Rafe wasn’t
completely correct, either. “What should I have done? I didn’t have a
job. I was completely free to do as I chose.”
“What should you have done?” He repeated the question as
though the answer should have been evident. “You should have
stayed. You should have fought.”
But she’d been fighting so hard and against so damn many things.
“You have no idea what he did to me.”
“I know what he did, bella. And I know you punished me by not
allowing me to take care of you.” He was unwavering. Rafe was the
rough one. If this had been Cam, Laura had no doubt he would
already be whispering to her, trying to soften her. Rafe seemed to
want her angry. “Ask yourself how you would have felt if Cam or I
had simply vanished without explanation. Be honest, bella. You
might not be honest with me, but be honest with yourself. If you loved
someone and they disappeared without a trace, how would you feel?”
Betrayed. Angry. Panicked. Sad. So fucking sad. She’d felt every
single one of those things along with an aching emptiness that she
was sure had never really gone away. She’d told herself at the time
that it was better to just leave. They obviously didn’t really love her, so she was free to go. Was there any truth in what Rafe was saying?
Had she punished them?
“Keep silent,” Rafe said, his fingers sinking into her hair. “I can
see it on your face, you understand. I also know that you’re
questioning everything. You’re wondering if I ever loved you. But
I’m not the one who walked away.”
This she could deal with. “No, you’re the one who threw me
under a bus at the first given opportunity.”
“I can admit my mistakes, but I was still there, ready to talk it out.
Cam and I called you over a
nd over again. You wouldn’t answer the
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phone. We intended to explain everything to you that night, but it was
too late.”
She shrugged. “Sorry I missed our little meeting. I was busy being
tortured.”
That was a direct hit. He actually eased up a little. “And you think
I don’t feel that every day of my life? If I hadn’t made the decision to go with Edward’s profile, you would never have been taken. But I
won’t allow that to hold me back another second. You are going to
listen to me. I’m putting aside this bullshit. You are going to go back
to your cabin and very quietly pack a bag. Tell Joe that you’re tired or you’ve forgotten something. I’ll drive you.”
She knew exactly where he was going with this. “And I suppose
once we have this little bag I’m supposed to pack, we’ll just keep
right on driving.”
“Yes. I will not allow you to be used in this fashion. I don’t care
that you don’t believe me, but I never meant for you to get involved in
this again. We’ll drive and call Cam. He can run interference for us
and meet us when we find a place to stay.”
Tempting. So tempting. But she’d done that once, and the past had
still caught up with her.
Rafe’s hands caressed the line of her throat. His eyes had gone
sleepy with desire. She wanted him. Bastard that he could be, she
wanted him. The last hour had shaken her to her core. She wanted
more than just Rafe. She wanted to feel grounded and whole, and she
wasn’t sure she could ever feel that way without the two of them in
her life. But if she ran with them, she would just pull them into her
trouble. Rafe couldn’t leave the FBI. It had become his home. Cam
wouldn’t be happy on the run, and that’s what they would be.
“You know I can’t do that,” she said as he pulled her legs up. She
didn’t fight him as he wound her legs around his waist, his cock
shoved against her pussy.
“I know you will do it, bella,” he replied, his voice deep in his throat. “I’ll make you do it.”
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His hips slid against hers in an easy, smooth rhythm. Laura had no
doubt of how he intended to impose his will on her. He would fuck