Chapter 27

He regretted his words the second they left his mouth. Knowing you were on some maniac’s list to be abducted would shatter anyone. And she wasn’t just anyone. She’d faced tragedy most of her life and lived in a nightmare few could imagine. Now he’d added another horror.

Her face was ashen, and her body quaked as if a strong wind would blow her over.

“Candace?”

She didn’t say a word, didn’t blink, didn’t acknowledge he’d spoken.

“Candace, are you okay?” Dumb question. After what he’d told her, what the hell did he think?

“I’m not sure. It’s a lot to take in.”

“I hate to ask, especially now, but this is important.” He sat close beside her, wanting to offer comfort, but afraid to take her in his arms. Afraid that wouldn’t be enough, that he wouldn’t be able to stop at just holding her, that he’d want so much more. “Is there anything new you remember about the attack the other night? Anything at all?”

Her brow furrowed. “I didn’t see his face, but he was taller than me and muscular. I think he had a beard, but I can’t be certain.” She yanked a tissue from a box on the coffee table and clutched it in her hand. “Maybe I imagined that.”

“The last time I was here, you received a phone call.”

If possible, her face paled even more.

The urge to take her in his arms and comfort her was overwhelming, but he fisted his hands and shoved them deep in his pockets and shifted a few inches from her. “Does the caller speak? Does he threaten you? Do you recognize his voice?” Whoa. Slow down. Don’t rush her. He’d been doing this job for years. He knew how to interview a victim of a violent crime. He had to tread lightly, speak softly, give her time to come to grips with the violence she’d experienced.

But that was the problem. She wasn’t just another victim. Not anymore. Right or wrong, he had a personal stake in this. His worry for her safety was making him go too fast, and he was overwhelming her with his questions.

She shook her head. “He doesn’t speak, but I know someone’s on the other end of the line, listening. I hear his breathing.” A shudder rippled through her slim body. “He called last night, and I told him if he called me again, I’d report him to the police.”

“You said him. Why are you so certain the caller’s a man?”

The furrow between her brows deepened. “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I have, but I suppose it could be a woman.” She leaned back against the couch, obviously exhausted.

He didn’t want to further interrogate her, not now, not when she was so fragile. But a young girl was missing, and Candace’s life could be in danger. The case was speeding up. He felt it in his bones. Every second counted. “You said you thought the man who attacked you had a beard. What made you think that?”

“I think I felt the brush of a beard against my hands when I was fighting him off.” She clutched the damp tissue in her hand and closed her eyes. After a moment, she opened them and met his gaze. Her vivid blue eyes glistened with fresh tears. “This is probably nothing, but a man was sitting in a gray truck several stalls over from where I was parked at the mall the other day.”

She inhaled a shaky breath. “I’m certain he was watching me. He had a dark, bushy beard, and he wore a black cap pulled low over his forehead. He looked like the man from Creighton Springs State Park.” Tears trembled on her long eyelashes. “Am I seeing boogeymen everywhere? Am I freaking out for no reason? Am I going crazy?”

He slid closer and pressed his hand on her warm, slim thigh to stop its shaking. “You have every reason to be spooked. You were attacked and assaulted, and you’re receiving prank phone calls. Only a fool would be complacent.” He forced a smile and attempted to lighten the tension that had her body strung tight as a bow. “You’re no fool. I knew that the moment I met you. You’re strong.”

Her soft lips curved in an answering smile.

For a heartbeat, he felt ten feet tall, like a hero in one of those old western movies he’d loved to watch as a kid.

In the next breath, her smile faded, and worry darkened her eyes. “Do you really think all these events are connected?”

His heart bled at her vulnerability. She was holding on by a thread, but she was holding on, showing an inner strength he admired. “I don’t know, but I promise you I’m going to find out.”

“What if—” Her slender throat worked. “—what if the bearded man abducted Amanda Jacobs?” Hysteria coated her voice. “What if he killed that poor girl in Lynn Canyon and attacked me at the college? And that girl whose bones we found in the cave? Maybe he killed her too.”

The panic in her blue eyes broke his restraint, and as if he were watching from a great distance, he saw himself gather her in his arms and hold her close. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re safe with me.” Even as he held her and whispered the soothing words, a feeling of impending doom filled him, along with the certainty the perp wasn’t finished with his crime spree, and more young girls’ lives were at stake.

Her narrow shoulders shook with sobs, and he tightened his arms. Only a stonehearted man would stand by and watch her anguish. He wasn’t stepping over the line, he was helping a traumatized victim deal with a crisis. All part of his job.

Yeah, right.

He pushed aside the snide inner voice. Wrong or not, he couldn’t ignore how good it felt to hold her. She fitted against his body like she was made for him. The sweet, floral scent of her dark hair, the silken wisps brushing his neck, the fullness of her breasts against his chest—

A loud ringing broke the moment of intimacy, and he dropped his arms and jolted to his feet. He sucked in several deep breaths and fished in his coat pocket for his cell phone. Glancing at the call display, he groaned. His partner had impeccable timing. “What’s up, Joe?”

“You need to get here now!”

“What’s going on? Where are you?” He shot her a glance.

She sat hunched on the cushions, her face buried in her hands, her quiet sobs filling the room.

“I’m at the precinct. Get your sorry ass over here. There’s something you gotta see.” Joe’s tone was crankier than usual. “You have ten minutes.” The line went dead.

What the hell?

He looked at Candace, and his heart lurched.

Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Every cell in his body urged him not to leave her, not like this, not when she was so frightened. Not when she needed him.

But did he have a choice? Joe’s tone made clear something big was going down. He ground his teeth until his jaw ached. He was a cop. He used to be a damn good one. He liked to think he still was. Heaving a breath, he stuffed the phone in his pocket, snatched his coat from the back of the couch, and shrugged into the suede jacket. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. Will you be okay?”

She sniffled and nodded.

His heart lurched. Her bravery nearly broke him, but duty called, and his career was important. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t leave the house, and don’t let anyone else but me in.” Wait! He was coming back? Tonight?

She rose and crossed to him, placing her hand on his arm. “Thank you.”

He blinked, stunned by the jolt of electricity that zinged through his body at her simple touch. “I’m just doing my job.”

Right. Keep believing that bullshit, and you’ll be in the same pot of hot water as you were in Seattle.

Her mouth trembled as she attempted a smile. “Thanks for being here, for telling me what’s going on. For understanding why I’m so upset…” She shrugged. “For taking me seriously. Not many cops—”

He cut her off. If she knew the effect holding her in his arms had on him, she wouldn’t be thanking him, she’d be calling Internal Affairs and reporting him for unprofessional conduct. “I’ll be back.” He sucked in a breath. What the hell? Was he determined to dig his grave? “I promise.” And there it was—the clincher. He might as well hand her the shovel and ask her to cover him with dirt.

Looking into her luminous blue eyes almost brought him to his knees, and more than anything in the world, he wanted to stay and protect her. Nothing else mattered. Not his career, not his self-respect. Nothing. Just her and her safety.

She smiled a tremulous smile. “I’ll be waiting.”

A wave of longing rushed through him, but he tore his gaze from hers, turned, and headed for the door. He fumbled with the series of locks, but finally had them all unlocked and wrenched open the door. “Make sure you lock up.” His voice was a hoarse croak.

Before he could make even more of a fool of himself, he escaped out the door and almost ran down the walkway to his car.