Page 87 of Firefly Effect

A flicker of pain flashes through her eyes. “You want my memories.”

I step closer, desperate to hold her, but stop in my tracks when she flinches. “I want everything.” My voice cracks with emotion. “All of you. Your memories included.”

“Why is J.D. hiding in his house? What is he afraid of?”

I take a long, deep breath, giving me time to reframe my thoughts to start at the beginning of my transfer to Bryson City. “Three years ago, I joined the FBI as a special agent. Dr. Rohls connected us. With my clinical-psychology expertise, my connection to the original victim, and my dissertation on the Firefly Man killings, the Bureau was interested in tapping into my knowledge to help build a theoretical profile on the killer.”

Evie’s delayed reaction makes me nervous, but when realization hits her, I see the color start to drain from her face. Her mouth parts ever-so-slowly, and her next blink is more like a flutter. “You’re in the FBI?”

I suck in a breath, hoping this confession allows me to feel relief at some point. “I’ve only been contracted to join the BAU for this job.”

Evie frowns. “The what?”

Cringing, I shake my head. “Sorry. The behavioral analysis unit. They investigate violent crimes. I’m a forensic psychologist on a task force. Anyway, until Lucy came into the picture, I had been traveling all over the Smoky Mountains with my partner, Dylan. You might have seen him lurking around.”

Evie sucks in a breath. “The man in the hoodie?”

I cringe again, hating how much I’ve had to keep from her. “Yes.”

“Was he the one who followed me to J.D.’s house?”

Taking a deep breath, I nod. “That’s him. We follow the crimes, investigate each murder, profile the people there, then move on. We were never in one town for more than a few months.”

“And when Lucy was born, you… what? Just stopped traveling?”

“Basically,” I admit. “I went on leave, and honestly, Evie, I wasn’t planning to ever return. Lucy was my number one focus. I had a new purpose. I was working on letting go of my past and everything I had been holding onto for so many years.”

Evie’s eyes search mine like her brain is working overtime to catch up. “Then that man was murdered three months ago a few towns away from here.”

Emotion swims in my chest. “That’s when I started to pick up on the pattern. It was the first time we were able to start looking at the Firefly Man’s hometown versus focusing on locations of upcoming killings—which are random, to an extent,” I explain. “He might choose a city, but it would be damn-near impossible to guess which campsite and which piece of land he will go to. After I offered up my theory of where he most likely lived, they asked me to rejoin the task force. We were able to confirm that the deceased man was a Smoky Mountain hiker who had passed through Bryson City not long before his death. That’s when we started talking to Jenkins.”

Evie’s frown deepens. “You were here in town before you moved here?”

I grimace. “Yes. Only because we were interviewing Jenkins. At first we were just talking to him about the hiker and the profile of the killer we had put together by then. We wanted to see if anything matched any of his patients.”

Evie’s eyes widen. “Did he identify anyone?”

Tilting my head, I tense. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“Evie,” I say, frustrated now. “I’m telling you everything I absolutely can without compromising the work we’ve done. You shouldn’t be involved at all.”

She glares at me, her chin quivering. “I’ve been involved ever since I found Carley dead. Her death is a part of me, too, Lincoln.”

A breath rushes out of me as my eyes close. “I know. Please don’t take this as me discounting your part in all of this. I’m just trying to keep you safe.” I hope she can see the plea in my eyes and hear the desperation in my tone.

“Safe from whom, Lincoln? If it’s someone close to me, I should know. Especially after the break-in. You can’t sleep outside the bar every night.”

Anger mixed with possession and love rages in my chest. “I’d rather you just move in with me, but we both know I already tried that.”

She scowls. “I can’t even trust you. Why the hell would I move in with you?”

My chest burns like she touched a torch to it. I deserve her anger. I deserve these words. “Fine. Hate me if you want, but that won’t keep me from loving the hell out of you. Until this evil son of a bitch is caught, I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep you safe. If I don’t have my eyes on you, then someone else does.”

I step forward again, closing the gap between us so I can stare down into the depths of her eyes, shining like swirling sapphires. “And when this is all over, I won’t stop until I make you understand why it all had to happen this way. Why I had to move here. Why I had to get close to you. Why I had to get you to talk to me. And why I couldn’t help falling madly in love with you.”

Evie flinches. “You can’t tell me you love me. Not right now. I’m too mad at you, Lincoln.”

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