Page 333 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

His gaze remained steady on her. “I know all about you.”

Everything in Addie wanted her to look away. Break their stare down. But she couldn’t. He considered her of no more value than any of his victims—something she shared with them. They were nothing but an amusement to be used and then tossedaside when the fascination wore off. No one should ever feel like that. Which was the only reason she’d agreed to do this.

“You don’t believe me.” He paused. “But you’ll see.”

“You know my team?” She tried to brush it off. “I could say the same about you, for all you know.”

“Not your team. You.”

She lifted her coffee cup and took a sip, giving him a side view of her so he had a moment to seethe over her dismissal. Inside, she was the one seething. The FBI task force was a team. Why would he single her out? It made no sense.

The dance of this conversation had to be nothing but a curiosity to her. Though, she would never admit as much to her coworkers. They already thought she was a freak.

None of them knew why she didn’t want to do this.

“You cannot comprehend what I am.”

“No?” She glanced over her shoulder, but kept her body turned toward the counter.

If he wanted to make this about her, she would give him only what she wanted him to take.

Addie set her cup down. “You think I haven’t seen exactly what you are? That I haven’tlived ituntil I vomited up the taste of the foulthingthat you are.”

His jaw flexed. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

“Thatis why I do this job. So people like you can be caged where you belong.”

“All in reciprocity for the fact you were caged.”

“In a cabin, with a friend of mine. A very long time ago.” Words didn’t have power of their own; they were just sounds. Syllables, vowels, and consonants. Speaking them aloud was a kind of exorcism—the release of not holding back anymore.

That lifetime ago event had altered the entire course of her life. She didn’t even know who that girl was, the Adelyn Franklin she had one been, the girl who’d been so excited forthe homecoming dance. The moment the clock struck midnight everything had changed.

He saw through it. “One day, you will not be so brave.”

“Because you’re going to hurt me like you hurt all the others?” She held the mug in both hands. Anything to warm her from the chill coming off him. “Bury me in some unmarked grave where no one will ever find me.”

He stared.

“You don’t want anyone to find me.” Or the others.

After a moment of silence, he spoke. “Everything hidden will one day be revealed, and the lost will finally be found.”

She leaned a fraction toward him, not feeling any of the bravado she tried to show. “We’re going to bring them all home.”

He shifted then. Her earpiece exploded, but she raised two fingers for them to hold. William Benning lifted a folded paper from the inside of his jacket. He reached over and laid it on her table.

Addie stared at the paper, then unfolded it and stared at the girl in the photo. Not one of his victims.

Her.

He knew exactly who she was.

She was vaguely aware of him moving closer to her until he whispered in her ear, “This one will come home tome.”

Addie stood. The chair she’d been sitting on fell back. Coffee spilled across the table. She backed away from his smug smile, breathing hard.

The front door of the coffee shop burst open, and a swarm of agents rushed in. Guns raised. Her ears rang with the shouts.

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