Page 67 of The Sinner's Touch

“Have it your way, my angel. I can wait until all the feeling comes back into these lovely limbs. It will only be a few hours.”

She opened her eyes cautiously. His were hostile, but that was not what caught her attention. Her gaze traveled down his arm to his hand, to where his fingers were buried deep inside her. She gagged, and he only laughed, removing his fingers from her, licking them.

“You taste as delicious as you look, my angel.”

He got down on his knees, his eyes roving over every inch of her. He reached under her, unsnapping her bra and pulling it away from her and leaving her breasts bare to him.

“Cinnamon-colored nipples.” He twirled one between his fingers, tugging on it. “Most of my canvases have a shade of pink. Cinnamon is rare in my girls.” He leaned down, his lips closingover the bud. She heard the loud sucking noise but couldn’t feel it. When he sat up, satisfaction marked his expression. “So responsive. Look at how hard and erect that sweet bud is. Just imagine how good it’s going to feel later, my sweet angel.”

He flipped her so she was on her stomach then handcuffed one of her hands, feeding the other cuff behind one of the wrought iron rails before snapping the cuff on her other hand. She heard him moving, heard the metallic clink of the cuffs. He must be cuffing her feet to the iron rail at the bottom of the bed.

“There, now, my angel. You’ll get your voice back soon enough. Scream all you want. No one can hear you out here.” His thumb brushed her lips. “I’m going out for a while, since you refuse to play. I’ll be back soon.”

He stood and walked away from the bed, leaving Angel staring at the dirty, peeling wallpaper directly across from her.

And wondering if Kade would find her.

None of the other girls had been found.

But none of them was his wife. He didn’t love them.

He’d find her.

Please, God. Let him find me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The loud crack of flesh hitting flesh pulled Kade out of his misery. Viktor squatted beside him, his face grim. “You need to get the fuck up.”

Bailey’s shiny shoes came into view. “Kincaid, you know this case better than I do, and that’s saying something. Bradford’s not up to speed. Get your ass up and help me find your wife.”

“If you sit here and do nothing, she’s going to die.” Viktor locked eyes with him. “Is that what you want?”

“No.”

“Then get the fuck up!”

Kade took several deep breaths. They were right. No one knew this case better than he did. No one had sat for hours studying every scrap of evidence and information he had. None of them could get into the psycho’s head like he could. They weren’t trained to do that and he was.

He let Viktor pull him up. “Did Watkins find any video footage?”

Bailey answered him. “No. The restaurant doesn’t have cameras. There are three cameras back there, though. I have uniforms out collecting the tapes from the other stores. If he’s within range, we’ll find him.”

“He’s making mistakes.” Kade took another deep breath. “He’s unraveling. Something happened to make him speed up his timeline.”

“The ME confirmed the girl died of a heart attack. She had a pre-existing condition, and the stress was too much for her. He wasn’t finished. It was too soon for him.” Jeremy stepped up beside Kade. “We’re doing everything we can. I have uniforms out canvasing all the surrounding stores and the loading docks back here as well.”

“I shouldn’t have brought her out.” Kade shook his head, his vision clearing of the fog that seemed to have descended upon him. “I should have known better.”

“No, you shouldn’t have been out. It was a fucking stupid move,” Viktor agreed, making Kade feel worse than he already did. “That said, you had three of my best men with you.” Viktor gripped his shoulder. “She should have been safe. No one’s ever gotten the drop on them, but we weren’t counting on neurotoxins.”

“Neurotoxins?”

“Yes, Nik just called. The doctor said they’d been hit with some kind of home-baked neurotoxin. He didn’t give me too many details, only that it was a paralytic. Seeing as how Dimitri and my men are still out cold, I’m betting Angel is too.”

“That could work to our advantage.” His mind was whirling, processing every case he ever worked or studied. “Most serial killers want their victims aware. They want them to feel what’s happening to them.”

“Especially this one.” Jeremy spoke quietly. “These women suffered, and the ME confirmed with me yesterday they would have been awake and aware during all of it. She’s safe for a while, Kade. We have time.”

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