Page 47 of Locked In Ice

Mistake.I knew better than to touch her.But he’d done it anyway.Her gaze darted to their hands.Then back to him.

“How many people did he kill?”Lane asked.

“I first noticed the signature because I’d been hunting one of the people he killed.A guy tied to robberies that resulted in deaths.That string shouldn’t have been there.But it was.And it nagged at me.Two weeks later, I happened to be close when the body of a drug dealer was recovered.Same damn string.Tied the exact same way.No one had noticed the string before.Such a small detail.And like I said…I think some people looked away.”

He realized herlooked awaywas Ophelia-speak for…They weren’t trying hard to solve the crimes.

“Different vics.Different ages.Different sexes.Different parts of the country.So easy to miss the connection.A tiny piece of string.But I started digging.Trying to find any reports where someone else might have actually noticed the strings.I knew most hadn’t seen them, but some crime scene techs, some MEs, some detectivesmusthave commented on them.There had to be notations of them in some files, somewhere.”

A weight settled in his gut.“How many did you find?”

“Fifteen.”

Fuck.

“I know there were more.There had to be more.So many missed strings.”A weary shake of her head.“Now he’s back.No, nowsomeoneis finishing his work, and they want me to know.”Her hand tugged free of his grip.“Had to be watching me.”Her voice had lowered, and it was more like Ophelia was talking to herself than to Lane.“Could have followed me all the way to Thomas Bass.Could have seen us both.”Her gaze flickered to Lane.“When we turned away, he went after Thomas.Sending us a message…Sending me a message.”

Lane rose.

She backed up another step.Tipped back her head.

“Or…” He kept his voice flat.An easy task because he was always keeping himself in check.Except last night.With her.I let go of my control.Finally.And it had felt good.Better than good.

Hot enough to burn him alive.

What a hell of a way to go.

“Or…” Lane repeated.“The string means nothing.”

She shook her head.

“One of Thomas’s victims went after him.Or a cop who couldn’t stand what the man had done.Someone right in the station would’ve had perfect access to his cell.Would have known how to avoid the cameras and get to the prisoner.You don’tknowthat this is the same killer.Especially since you just told me that you put a bullet in his chest.”

“What else was I supposed to do, when he came after me?”

Lane felt every muscle in his body tense.“The bastard came after you?”A hot splash of red filled his vision for one moment.Rage.

“I knew what he was.I was building the profile.Everything was falling into place.I had to stop him.He’d been wrongabout his last victim.He took out a woman who had never committed any crime.He thought she’d set her house on fire and injured one of her kids.But it wasn’t her.”Her words came faster and hardened with intensity.“Her ex had been the one to ignite the place.Then her ex lied and put the blame on her.All she did was run into the fire and pull her son out.They both had burns.”A fast blink of her eyes.“They were recovering.But the media picked up the story about her being a suspect.Forget-Me-Not.He went after her and she was innocent.Hekilledher.A mom who burned to save her son.How many others were innocent?”

His chest ached.“Ophelia…”

“He came after me because I was stopping him.I survived.He didn’t.”Her gaze fell to the floor.“He didn’t survive,” she said again, as if convincing herself.“I was there at the funeral.I watched him get lowered into the ground.”

He wanted to take her into his arms.Hell.When was the last time he’d actually wanted to comfort anyone?But he wanted to hold her.Wanted to take Ophelia’s pain away.“Who was he?”She hadn’t given him a name.

Her lower lip trembled.She caught it between her teeth.“I trusted him.”

Fuck.He realized that this had been very, very personal for her.

“He was my supervisor at the FBI.He taught me almost everything I know about hunting predators.”A wan smile tilted the corners of her lips.“And in the end, he came to kill me.But I was faster on the trigger than he was.”

“Ophelia—”

She backed up.“I told you there were two guest rooms upstairs.”Ophelia turned away from him.“I should have mentioned that the one to the right of the staircase has a balcony that overlooks my back garden.Since you can’t stand being locked up, I think that is probably a better choice for you.When the walls start closing in, you can handle your claustrophobia by stepping outside into the night.That way, you don’t have to go on your stroll.”

“Who told you I have claustrophobia?”Lane didn’t confirm or deny it.

“You were locked up for months, Lane.In a six-by-eight-foot cell.You barely saw sunlight, and when you did, you were monitored all the time.When you weren’t in your usual cell, they put you in isolation because you fought so much.”

---