Page 13 of Make You Mine

“He should die.” Plain and simple. “That’s a fitting punishment.”

“Trust the laws you serve and protect, Ford. He won’t get away.”

“He already did, and it’s been a week,” I manage to say while biting back the colorful variations of the wordfuckI want to add between every few words. “His victims will never hug their families again. They’ll never have a chance to get married and have kids of their own, and instead of bringing their memories justice, we’ve let them down. The possibility of a larger body count rises each second he’s?—”

My phone vibrates inside my pocket then, cutting me off. I’m glad for the small break in conversation; I need to get ahold of myself if I’m going to get out of this assignment. Pulling it out, I see it’s a text from my mother, but I don’t open it, choosing instead to put it on vibrate as I school my expression.

Mask how the guilt eats at me every single day that bastard is on the run.

Those bodies haunt me. Every life taken could’ve been prevented had I caught him.

However, after a year of following leads that led me to just within reach, he disappeared out of sight. Not a single trace for months. It’s as if the ground opened up and swallowed him, hiding the son of a bitch, only so he could reappear in Dallas after leaving another string of deaths at his heels between three large cities.

Texas. Arizona. California.

Perez exhales roughly, running a tired hand down his face. “We found another body that matches his M.O., and this death is being added to his grocery list of charges.”This is amotherfucking mistake; I should be out there hunting.“... and because of this, Ava will be staying with you in your apartment.”

Those words stop my train of thought, and my eyes refocus on Captain Perez.The fuck?“Sir, I don’t think I heard you right. Repeat that one more time.”

He can’t be…

Fuck. No.

“You did.” He picks up his coffee cup and takes a sip before sitting back in his chair. There’s an edge of exhaustion in his tone that matches the dark circles beneath his eyes. His accent also thickens the slightest bit, which is not noticeable to most, but after working together for so many years, I can pick up the Spaniard inflection. “Take that with you and study it front to back; it holds new sensitive-to-the-case information that few are privy to. I trustyou,Ford. I know that you’ll keep her safe no matter the cost. She’s too important—the only person that can identify him from that night.”

“Can’t Meyers or Anderson take this instead?” I try one last time. “I’d be more useful?—”

“I want you alone to handle this. Very few people…” he points at me “...know of her whereabouts outside of the ex-military guards driving her across state lines. They’ve already been instructed to deliver her to your home within the next six hours, Elijah, and we’ll be keeping it that way. End of discussion.”

“From Dallas?”

“Yes.”

“Why not a transport from our precinct?”

“Because she’s been in their protective custody since Ripley’s arrest.” Perez’s expression and tone are angry, almost matching mine. “They’ve kept her guarded while the state prepared for his trial, an advantage since I know people in her city.”

“Is there something I’m missing? It doesn’t sound like the HPD is on her protection?—”

“I asked two ex-Marines for help.”What the fuck?“And before you ask, this is both a favor from the two menanda concession the Texas DA had no choice but to make. I’ve known them for years—since their fathers were rookies—and they are trustworthy. More than passed the state’s vetting.”

“This feels personal, Captain. Why are you getting to choose where she goes?”Why my home?

“There’s a nationwide manhunt.” That’s all he says. No further explanation. Perez evades the first question, and for now, I let it go. Choose to fight a different battle.

“We don’t know if he’s heading this way, sir.Hedoesn’t know she’ll be here.”

“Unfortunately, we have reason to believe Jason has a tracker on Miss Perry. Someone is trailing her movements from within. That, and all departments are stretched thin looking for this asshole.”

“Then plant a decoy and send her far away. Alaska if necessary.” We know how this goes. The extremes to which officials will push themselves to catch a criminal, even using one of our own as bait if warranted. “This wouldn’t be the first time?—”

“That’s a territory I have no leverage over.”

“What does that mean?” There’s an icy edge to my voice, and I flex my jaw to keep in a few expletives. “I deserve a better answer than that.”

“It means, Elijah, that we do our job and keep that girl safe,” he says, matching my tone. The bottom of his mug cracks as it meets the edge of his wooden desk, and what’s left of his black coffee spills and falls to the floor. “You are my best detective and someone I trust. Prove me right.”

“Understood.” Because nothing I do or say will change her coming here. So, instead of losing my temper, I grab the file. Flipping open the first few pages, I read the basic informationon the perp again—because I know him—and at once, that same rage I experience when dealing with every homicide case fills me.

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