Page 91 of The Dollmaker

She stood, set the file aside, and moved toward him. “Have you found Elena?”

“Not yet.” He flexed his fingers. “Madison dated Kara, Diane, and you.”

“He did not date me. I kind of had a crush on him, and he came by to see me several times after my accident. It was never romantic.”

“For you. You can’t speak to what he was thinking.”

“He never gave me any indication he was interested.”

“It’s a connection to all four of you. And until he’s found, I don’t want you going anywhere alone.”

“Anywhere? That’s kind of ridiculous. I mean, this is Stanford. The guy played cards and watched old movies with me while I was in a leg cast.”

“I don’t care if the fucker read bedtime stories to you every night. He knew all three victims, has professional artistic skill, and now has dumped all his work in the trash and vanished. We have no samples of his DNA yet, and until we do and can prove his innocence, you need to be on high alert.”

“Dakota—”

He captured her wrist with his hand. “You did a great job, Tessa. I listened to every word you said. Now it’s time for you to listen and let me do my job.”

She looked at his hand on her wrist. Laying her hand over his, she pulled his fingers free and took his other hand in hers. Her touch was warm. Soft. Somewhere inside him, he felt locks tumble free and a door open. Emotions raced toward the light.

“I’m going to solve this.” His voice sounded distant, hoarse.

“And then what?” she challenged.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb. After this case,wefigureusout.”

How could he make a promise to her he didn’t know he could keep? He was far from perfect, but he’d never lied to her. “None of our problems will be fixed by solving this case.”

“I don’t believe that. Kara’s case is the root of it all.”

“And what if it isn’t?”

She shook her head. “Did I ever tell you I had a little crush on you when I saw you that last Christmas? I tried to get your attention, but you didn’t see me.”

“I saw you.”

That prompted a nervous smile. “You did a good impression of pretending you didn’t.”

“You were seventeen. Underage. And I was home on leave. And it’s not acceptable to mess with your sister’s friend.”

“It was bad timing all around.” The words carried more meaning than they should have.

“We never really got the timing right.”

“No.” He tried to pull free of her touch, but her fingers tightened around him. How much of the past would have to be exorcised for them to now have a chance?

“After seeing Diane and her face destroyed, I understand better why you’re so driven. It’s one thing to believe in monsters, but entirely another to cross paths with a real one. It’s hard to know that someone is getting away with such cruelty.”

Anger burned in his chest. He broke their connection, his fingers flexing involuntarily. “This killer isn’t getting away with it.”

She took his fist and slowly uncurled his fingers. She traced the scar slashing across his lifeline on his palm. “Despite all our differences, I know you’re good at what you do. Without you, a lot of evil would be walking free.”

He looked at her long finger with its neat, trimmed nail circling the scar. She’d been so young when they first met, but each time he saw her, he was more drawn to her. He’d never made a single pass at her. And later, after they were married and mired in turmoil, when she told him she had to leave, he’d again taken that damned high road. Didn’t fight. Didn’t argue. Accepting. Alone.

At this moment, he was tired of walking the same lonely, shitty road. Righteousness didn’t welcome him home at night or warm his bed.

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