Page 46 of Devoted

He keeps hold of my wrist as I stand in front of him. "Starting them a little young, aren't you?" Iask.

He squints one eye as he looks over my shoulder at the girl. "I find that I suddenly have a very big affinity forredheads."

The bridge and adjacent roads are filled with law enforcement but it feels as if we're up on the bridge alone, just chatting about theday.

I lift my face and stare up at the metal beams that make up the trusses on the bridge. They've recently been painted a steel gray. The river flowing beneath us is swollen with early fall rain. It's at least a hundred foot drop to the water below. I look back at him. His gaze never left myface.

"This is the bridge, eh?" Iask.

He leans on the railing enough to send my stomach into one of those weird falling sensations. "This is it." He glances back over his shoulder. "See where it disappears around the bend? That's where the bodies always got hung up. I think his first plan was to send them out to the ocean where they would never be discovered. Then the first victim was found right on the bend of the river. Now that I'm older and can understand his motives more, I think he just kept dropping them off the bridge because he liked the notoriety it brought when another body showed up. It even earned him anickname."

Kane glances over at the people waiting anxiously for him to surrender so they can check off a law enforcement victory and get on with their day. "I think he was playing a game with the cops too. He was making it all so damn easy for them really, but they still couldn't figure out who was dropping the bodies into theriver."

"Sometimes we get it right and sometimes we blow it. Maybe your dad just never fit the serial killer profile. It threw them off." I know the group surrounding us are getting restless but frankly, I could stand and talk to him all morning. "Kane, what's happening here? I know that girl was not your actual hostage. I've seen people on first dates look more terrified than her. What are you doing? Were you trying to getcaught?"

His eyes are as blue as the sky behind him. "Caught? No. Noticed?Yes."

"And the blue eyed man is talking in puzzle pieces again. Even sober as a Sunday school nun, I can't understand you." The breeze pushes a strand of hair across my face. It sticks on mylips.

Kane moves slowly, not wanting to jar a trigger happy officer behind us. The eight scars stand out on his tanned skin as he reaches across to push the hair off my face. He makes a point to drag his finger along my bottom lip, staring hungrily at my mouth as he does it. Crazy as it is to feel aroused in front of an army of police, heat surges in mypussy.

"Well, Sweet Sin, it seems my touch still means something. I'mglad."

"Detective Tennyson"—Greene's voice is even harsher through a megaphone—"Can you give us an update on thesituation."

Kane is still holding my arm. I stare down at it and am temporarily transported to my posh bedroom in Lace Underground where I sat dressed in skimpy lingerie and leather cuffs waiting for him to come. There were moments when I was near tears in anticipation, waiting for the door to open and Kane to walk into theroom.

I swallow to relieve the ache in my throat and breathe in the musty river breeze. There's just enough brine mixed in to remind me that the ocean is just around the bend, the bend where the bodies ended up after their violent fall from thebridge.

"They're getting restless. What should we do, Kane? I'm sure you have your surrender planned to the minute like you do everythingelse."

Kane nods. "I do. You were part of the plan too. I just needed to see you oncemore."

"I'm afraid you'll probably see me in courttoo."

He shakes his head and releases me discretely so that no one else sees. "I don't thinkso."

Without warning, he hoists himself up onto the railing behindhim.

"What are you doing?" I move toward him but stop, afraid it might cause him to fall backward off the six inch wide rail. "Kane. Stop. You're scaring me. They only have scant evidence against you. Just get a goodlawyer."

I can hear feet moving behind me, slowly, cautiously, like we're trained to move in on a suicide attempt. But this can't be attempted suicide. I refuse to let it bethat.

I move closer. He doesn't flinch. But then he never flinches. "Just get down, Kane.Please."

I sigh with relief when he reaches for my hand. Before I can figure out my next move, he brings my hand to his mouth and kisses it. He releases me and pushes to his feet. "Remember Sweet Sin, reality is merely an illusion." He spins around andjumps.

My hands cover my face, stifling my scream. Clark's voice is the first familiarsound.

"Tennyson?" His hand lands on myshoulder.

I lift my face and hold back the tears. I'm a professional, but this isn't the way I planned to restart my career. At least six officers are at the railing staring down into the river. It takes all my courage to jointhem.

The drop seems impossible to survive. There is no sign ofKane.

Clark joins me at the railing. "It seems life failed him so often he just couldn't take it. I guess that's why he led us to thisbridge."

"The bend," I blurt and look ahead at the curve in the river. It disappears around a corner that is overgrown with trees. "We should head to the bend and see if we can find him." My entire body is shaking. After the long terrible night, it's one more blow to my composure. I'm finding it nearly impossible to keep it together. Clark sensesit.

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