Page 25 of Haunted

He tacked her picture on the large corkboard alongside the one we had for Ashley Greer, keeping them separate from the photos of the other seven women we suspected had also been casualties of the Truck Stop Killer. They were all young—early to mid-twenties—with similar builds and dark hair.

“Have the profilers in Pittsburgh come up with anything useful for us?”

Koen was often the jokester of our group, but he knew when to turn it off. Right then, he’d transformed into the intense investigator, which had earned him a spot on Waverly’s team.

“We haven’t sent it to them yet.” Duncan glanced at Waverly, who gave him a discernible nod.

“Why the hell not?” I questioned.

He trudged across the room, clamping his hand on the shoulder of a nervous-looking Noah. “Because we don’t need input from the home office when we’ve got our very own profiler here in Huntington.”

“No-ah,” Lanie drew out his name. “You’ve got some ’splaining to do.”

“It’s about damn time you put that massive brain to use.” I smirked at my best friend.

“Yeah, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.” He swallowed roughly, glancing quickly at the board. “Now, I’m not so sure.”

“Bullshit. It’s perfect.”

Noah had dual degrees in psychology and criminal justice. I wasn’t lying about the size of his brain; the guy was genius-level brilliant. Thinking back on the other cases we’d worked on, it was clear to me he’d been profiling for years, just not in any official capacity.

“We’ll be speaking later about why you chose to keep this shit to yourself though.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Playtime’s over.” Waverly rapped her knuckles on a nearby desk, calling out as she disappeared back into her office, “Find this fucker.”

Cassie Engleson hadn’t disappeared from a truck stop, which was how we’d missed her in our original search. Like all the rest, she’d been traveling alone, except her car was found abandoned at a convenience store. The fact my father had killed my mother in the parking lot of a similar business wasn’t lost on me; nor was it dismissed by my fellow agents.

This motherfucker was taunting me.

Noah theorized Cassie’s kidnapping was likely opportunistic in nature, rather than something our killer had planned out. Or maybe he was trying to throw us off track. Whatever the case, we’d figure it out.

I’d texted Henley a few times throughout the day, just a couple words letting her know I was thinking about her. We’d left our plans kinda up in the air, given my job could be a selfish bitch, but I wanted to see her when I finished up, if it wasn’t too late. After the emotional conversation at dinner, I—once again—chose to sleep in my car next to hers. The subject of her possibly staying with Lanie didn’t go over as well as I’d hoped, however, she didn’t automatically say no, so I was counting it as a win. Hopefully she understood the offer was coming from a place of concern, not of judgment. Only time would tell.

Thinking back to the end of our date, I couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re really staying out here?”

“Unless you feel comfortable enough to use my spare room, then yes,” I told her.

“This is ridiculous, Keaton.” She stomped her foot. “I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

“Never said you weren’t, Little Bird.”

“Then go inside.” Her arm swung out; finger pointed at my building.

She was stubborn as hell, yet sexy-as-fuck when she wasall worked up. My cock was already hardening at the thought of other ways we could rile her, but now was not the time.

“Not happening.”

“You’re infuriating.”

We were locked in a stare down. Henley had her hands fisted on her hips, while I stood a mere two feet away in a more casual stance. The rapidly cooling temperatures shifted my attention to her mouth as I watched short puffs of smoke flow from between her lips with every huffed breath.

I’m uncertain who moved first or whether we converged simultaneously, but the space between us vanished in a heartbeat.

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, I grazed the back of my finger down her buttery-soft cheek. “You’re so damn beautiful, baby. May I kiss you?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

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