by Sophie Oak
Rafe didn’t look up from tying his loafers. “Yes, that’s what we
came out here to do.”
“You’re not telling me everything.” Cam could hear the hesitation
in Rafe’s voice. There was something the bastard was keeping from
him. Maybe he would have seen it before if he hadn’t been thinking
with his dick.
“I was supposed to bring her back to DC for questioning and, if
the SAC deemed it necessary, protective custody.”
Cam got up, clenching his fists at his sides. “And you didn’t
bother to tell me that we might have to drag her kicking and
screaming back to the city where she was nearly killed? There’s a
reason she was hiding. You know I didn’t want to tell the Bureau at
all. I didn’t see that we had any reason to. She didn’t do anything
wrong. If she feels safer in this tiny town, then what’s wrong with
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that?”
Rafe stood, his shoulders set for a fight. “What’s wrong with it?
First, she is not safe here. That lock on her door wouldn’t keep out a
toddler. Second, as long as that asshole is out there killing and
torturing women, there’s the possibility that he finds her. Do you
think he’s happy that she got away? This killer is obsessive. He won’t
be happy that she’s still alive. He’ll feel the need to tie up that loose end.”
Cam was sick of it. It was an excuse. An ugly suspicion was
forming in the back of Cam’s mind. “Don’t feed me that profile crap.
This is about getting Laura back to DC where you think you have the
advantage. If she goes into protective custody, where does that leave
me? I’m not on the payroll anymore. I guess it gives you a lot of time
with her.”
Rafe’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly are you accusing me of?”
“I think you know.”
“Are they going to hit each other?” A feminine voice spoke from
just outside the bedroom door. Holly stood there with Wolf. There
was a small loaf of bread in her hand and a worried look in her eyes.
Cam wasn’t sure when the bedroom door had come open, but he
was pretty sure those two had heard more than he wanted them to. “I
don’t have time to beat him up right now.”
“Like you could,” Rafe growled under his breath.
“Maybe you should put that on hold for a second. We have
another problem,” Wolf said. “Holly just had a woman knock on her
cabin door.”
Holly’s hair was up in a messy ponytail, and she gestured toward
her own cabin as she spoke. “She said she was with a news station in
Washington. I thought she was talking about the state and maybe they
had heard how great our coffee was here. It’s really good. Everyone
says so. There’s something about the way Stella…”
“Holly, stay on task, darlin’,” Wolf urged her.
“Oh, well, I started talking about how nice Bliss is, and how very
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few tourists have met grisly deaths. That part is totally exaggerated,
but then she started asking about Laura. She said she’d heard I was
her best friend and how did I feel about potentially being the target of a serial killer.”
Fuck. There was only one person that could be. “Skinny? Long,
flat blonde hair?”
Holly frowned. “I’m ashamed to say I barely got past her boobs.
I’m not interested in females, but those boobs were…well, I couldn’t
take my eyes off of them.”
Cam shuddered a little. “They’re fake. Yours are better.”
Holly’s smile lit up the room. “Thank you.”
Rafe’s mouth was a flat slash as he brushed by Wolf and Holly
and walked straight to his partner. Brad still had the ice pack on his
nose. He looked like an idiot. What had he been thinking, sneaking
around the side of the cabin?
Rafe’s hands came down on either side of the table, and he looked
at Brad the same way Cam had seen him look at a suspect. “What the
hell is Jana Evans doing here? Who gave her the tip-off?”
Eyes wide, Brad leaned back a little in his chair. “Now, Rafe, you
know I can’t stand that bitch. She’s always on us, calling us
incompetent fools. Why the hell would I give her a tip-off?”
“Someone is tipping her off. This was supposed to be a secret.”
Yeah, even for him. Cam didn’t like any of it. He really didn’t like
the fact that Jana Evans had shown up. That reporter was trouble. It
had been her story that led to Laura’s kidnapping. He could still
remember getting that note. It had been sent to the SAC, but he and
Rafe had been called in. The note had explained that de Sade was
angry. He was far smarter than anyone in law enforcement, and Laura
Rosen would pay for the insult.
That note had been the beginning of the worst years of Cam’s life.
Now the trouble with de Sade was all starting over again.
Damn. He wanted to be in bed again. He wanted to be snuggled
beside Laura in this quiet, safe place. He wished he’d never woken
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up.
He was wasting time. God, he was going to look like an idiot. His
day-old clothing was wrinkled and hadn’t managed a shower or a
shave, but he wasn’t going to let her face the unit alone. He was going
to have to suck up his pride and ask for a favor. He looked at Wolf.
“Could I get a ride into town from you?” Cam sure as fuck wasn’t
riding with Rafe.
Rafe sighed. “You’re going to play the wounded idiot aren’t you?
I told you I didn’t know they were coming. I didn’t cut you out of
this. I convinced them to let you come in with me.”
“And I found her. Don’t pretend like you were doing me a favor.”
“I’m going, too. I have banana bread. Everyone likes banana
bread,” Holly said. “From what it looks like, Laura hasn’t had any
breakfast. So, I’m coming, too.”
“Ma’am,” Brad began in that whiny voice of his, “this is serious
investigative work. Just stay in your cabin, and I’m sure there’s a
secretary who can keep you informed.”
Holly stared at him for a moment, then turned back to Wolf. “If he
touches my banana bread, I’ll kick him in the balls. Can we go now?”
Wolf nodded. “Come on, Cam. I’ll give you a ride in.”
Rafe pulled on his arm. “Don’t do this. The last thing we need is
to let this thing come between us. I never meant to leave you out. I
would think last night proved that.”
Cam wanted to believe him. He did. The night before had been the
best of his life, and part of that had been sharing Laura with Rafe.
Perhaps Rafe hadn’t lied to him, but he hadn’t been truthful, either. “I think you need to take a step back and decide, really decide, what’s
more important to you, Laura or your career. I know where I stand on
that. I’ll see you at the station. I understand that I’m not on the ‘team.’
I’m strictly there to provide support for Laura. And to keep that
fucking reporter off her back.”
“I’ll get rid of her,” Rafe promised. “I know no one in this room is
going to believe me, but my main concern is Laura. However, I
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believe the best way to keep her safe is to catch this killer. I’m going to do it. I’m going to do it because I know he’s going to come after
her, and I’m going to get to him before he does it.”
“Would he come for her here?” Holly asked, a little tremor in her
voice.
Wolf’s arm went around her. As far as Cam could tell, there was
nothing in his stance but friendly concern. Wolf Meyer seemed to like
to touch the women around him. As long as he kept those paws off his
Laura from now on, Cam didn’t have a problem with it. Holly didn’t
seem to have a man to watch out for her. In Cam’s mind, that meant
every man who knew her should watch out for her.
“Laura’s going to be okay. We’re having a town hall this evening
to discuss the situation. Stef called it.”
Rafe groaned a little. “There’s no need to bring the town into this,
Mr. Meyer. We’re working with the sheriff. He’ll keep you updated.”
“That isn’t the way things work here in Bliss,” Wolf pointed out.
He started to lead Holly to the door. “We’ll grab some coffee from
Stella’s. That crap Nate drinks is like motor oil. You coming?”
Rafe stood there, his eyes on the table in front of him. His face
was stony, but Cam could feel the anger practically vibrating off of
him.
He wanted to believe Rafe, but it had been one little deception
after another with him. How much was he supposed to take? When
would Rafe decide to fully cut him loose?
“Yeah, I’m coming.” He followed Wolf out the door. He had
enough problems to deal with without sorting through all the things
that were wrong between him and Rafe at the moment.
He’d woken up cuddled around the dude. That was just wrong.
“Shit, I take it that’s the reporter?” Wolf asked.
And there was another problem Cam didn’t need. Sometimes he
thought his life had been a fuckload easier when it was just him and
his computers. He’d had a promising career as a potential hacker. He
could have had all the Hot Pockets he could eat and all the comics he
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could read, but no, when the FBI had recruited him, he’d just had to
go. Now he had to deal with waking up with his dick on his best
friend’s thigh and catching serial killers and dealing with eighty
pounds of pure evil in designer clothes. Yep, he should have gone the
geek route.
“Well, if it isn’t the FBI’s least wanted,” Jana said with a wrinkle
of her cosmetically perfect nose. She’d once told him she had Reese
Witherspoon’s nose, Angelina Jolie’s lips, and Halle Berry’s chin.
She might have paid for all of that, but she hadn’t had to pay for
Hitler’s soul. That, she’d been born with.
“You’re going to get your ass thrown in jail for obstructing a
federal investigation.”
Jana smiled, but it was more like a snake baring its fangs. How
had Laura ever considered this woman her friend? She waved her
hand, and her cameraman appeared. He was a lanky guy with stringy
hair poking out of his baseball cap. He didn’t say anything, merely
shoved the camera on his shoulder and looked through the viewfinder.
“You should know I’m always rolling tape of one kind or another.”
Yeah, he knew that all too well. “Even when your best friend is
pouring her heart out to you? Tell me something, Jana, how do you
sleep at night? How do you rest knowing that your little story almost
got Laura killed?”
She shook her head, but her hair didn’t move. It was like the rest
of Jana, utterly and perfectly under control and potentially very fake.
“I didn’t kidnap her. I was trying to help the public. That monster had
been killing for years, and you guys couldn’t get your thumbs out of
each other’s asses long enough to find him. The public had the right
to know that there was important information the BAU was
overlooking because the profiler was female.”
“That had nothing to do with it, and you know it.” At least Cam
hoped it didn’t. Laura had always been treated like a valued member
of the team, yet Joe and Edward Lock, the senior analyst on the case,
had utterly discounted everything in her profile.
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Jana looked down at her nails as though the whole conversation
was boring her on a fundamental level. “Seemed like a cover-up to
me. It’s my responsibility to keep the public informed. The FBI sat on
Laura’s information because she’s a woman, or they hid it because
they were trying to protect their own. Either way, it was wrong. I got
her information out to the public. I did her a favor.”
Cam had to clench his fists to stop from winding them around her
neck. He wouldn’t need both hands. He could crush her throat with
one. “Yeah, I bet she felt like you had really helped her out when she
was fired and humiliated and then nearly killed because your fucking
news report gave out her address.”
Wolf was in his truck, revving the engine. Holly had been
perfectly still beside Cam, but now she took his hand.
“Come on, Cameron. I think you’ve said enough. Let Rafe handle
her.” Holly’s hand was shaking as she started to pull him away.
“Yes, Cam, run away. I don’t need you. I want to talk to a real
FBI agent,” Jana said. “You’re useless now, but then you’ve always
been useless unless someone needs their computer fixed or backup in
a bar fight, you hick.”
He followed Holly because she wouldn’t let go of his hand. There
was a rigid set to her jaw as she climbed into the backseat, leaving
him sitting next to Wolf. Wolf stared holes through the reporter, and
he hadn’t even heard everything she’d said.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that, Holly,” Cam said. Humiliation
flowed over him. “Uhm, I should have walked away. You’re right.
Rafe is the agent. He should handle her.”
She slapped at his shoulder. “Dummy, I wasn’t saying that. I think
Rafe deserves to have to handle her. She’s a horrible human being. I
needed to get out of there or I was going to stuff my banana bread
down her throat. And it’s good bread. It shouldn’t be wasted on
revenge.”
Cam felt a deep surge of gratitude for his woman’s best friend. It
looked like Laura had been much more fortunate in her choices of
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friends in this place. Even that kooky Nell seemed sweet and loyal.
Just a little insane.
His stomach was utterly in knots. How was he going to convince
Laura he hadn’t tricked her? He couldn’t lose her again, but how
could he keep her after this?
And Rafe. That son of a bitch. The betrayal burned in his gut. Had Rafe really used him? It would be easy to get rid of Cam once the feds
swooped down. Cam wasn’t on the team, and he wasn’t local law
enforcement. He had not one lick of clearance or standing when it
/> came to the case, and after this morning, he doubted Laura would
even consider him a friend. He could get frozen out entirely.
Cam looked out the side mirror back at the cabin where he’d
almost found heaven. Rafe was getting into their rented SUV. He
shouted something at Jana before slamming the door.
Cam forced his eyes forward.
He couldn’t think about Rafe now. Laura. Laura was all that
mattered.
And keeping her alive had just become Cam’s full-time job.
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Chapter Ten
Rafe got into the SUV and put it in reverse. “Is there a reason you
can’t take your own vehicle back? Won’t you miss it? Where did you
park, by the way?”
Brad frowned as he snapped his seatbelt closed. “Down the way a
little. I didn’t know what I was getting into, and you hadn’t been in
touch. I can get it later. Why the hell is News 9 out here?”
Rafe shot Jana Evans the finger as he drove by. The very sight of
her made Rafe want to put his fist through something. This had to be
one of Laura’s worst nightmares, and he’d brought it down on her
head. Now everyone was pissed at him. “That’s a really good
question, one of many I have to ask Joe.”
“Well, I have a couple of questions for you. You want to explain
to me why you were in the same bedroom with Cam Briggs?
Seriously? Give me another explanation, man. I knew you two were
close, but…”
“I don’t owe you any kind of explanation,” Rafe stated flatly.
He didn’t want to go into it. A couple of people knew he was
involved with Laura, mostly coworkers who had been around when
Laura was a member of the team, but he’d never talked about her with
Brad. Brad was his partner, but Rafe had kept his distance. He’d kept
his distance from everyone for the last several years.
Until last night.
Brad kept droning on about some shit, but Rafe’s brain had gone
back to the night before.
It had been perfect. He’d taken her, his cock sliding in and out
until he couldn’t tell where he began and she ended. He’d pumped
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into her, giving up his cum while his tongue slid against hers. He’d
tasted her at one point. Cam had held her, her back to his front. Cam’s