Page 48 of Colton's Second Chance
“I know the fact that he altered the case files is highly incriminating, but what if he’s just in league with the personkilling the women? He could be getting blackmailed by the real killer and altering the information to avoid being outed for something in his past. Or he could be covering for friend or family member.”
Eli’s only answer was a dispirited sigh.
Noelle pushed off the sofa and moved to the table where they’d set up her laptop. “This link to your aunt’s murder could point to someone that was associated with her killer. A family member of Caroline’s stalker wanting revenge? Could someone who worked on the old case have contacted Scott?”
Eli curled his fingers into his hair, growling, “Holy hell, I’m so tired of going in circles on this case! Every time I think we’re a step closer, a hundred new questions and possibilities come up.”
Noelle gripped his wrist. “Forget my last questions, then. Maybe I’m muddying the water, and we ought to stick with Occam’s razor. The simplest and most obvious solution is what we need to focus on.”
“Me being the common factor,” Eli said darkly.
Without directly answering him, Noelle mulled how to use her analysis software to help with this new twist in the case. “If we factor in everything we know about Scott’s contact with your family and add that to the analyses we’ve already run, maybe something new will pop.”
“How do you quantify his contact with my family?” Eli asked. “And how do we reconstruct every family member who has stopped by the office to see me and run into Montgomery?”
“Maybe we can’t.”
Eli twisted his mouth in thought. “But we can have Parker or Lakin pull records at the family’s business to see if Scott used RTA in the past. That’s a start.”
“Okay,” she said, making a note. “We’ll do that first thing in the morning.”
He dragged both hands over his face as he sighed. “I still feel like this has to be about me somehow. I was the one who went with my dad to my grandparents’ house that day twenty-eight years ago and found Caroline’s and her stalker’s bodies. I work with Scott, and I’m the one who got assigned to solve this case. Now we have reason to believe he’s tried to kill me and my partner, and he’s gone after you, my ex-girlfriend. But why? I just don’t see the reason behind it. What is his grudge?”
He stood up to pace, and Noelle moved to block his path and lay her hands on his chest. “Does he have to have a reason? Can’t it just be a matter of something sick and twisted inside him? If he learned about your aunt’s murder and already had psychopathic tendencies, he could just be killing these women and getting a thrill that you haven’t made the connection to your aunt yet. Maybe now that you’ve figured it out, he’ll stop killing and—”
Eli shook his head. “Serial killers don’t stop. They may lie low for a while or move to another state, but thewhatever it isthat drives them to kill doesn’t go away. We have to bring him in, sooner rather than later.”
Noelle stepped closer and pulled him into a hug. “Okay. Try this on for size. You should put a pin in all this for now and get some sleep. We seem to be going in circles without making any progress at this point.”
Eli’s expression dimmed. “How am I supposed to sleep knowing Montgomery could be stalking his next victim orkilling herwhile we dither around trying to figure out the connection to me?”
“I wouldn’t say we’re dithering, exactly. And the state and local police have issued an APB for him, right? We’ll look at it again in the morning with fresh eyes. Okay?”
He scowled, clearly unconvinced.
Stroking his cheek, she tried a new tact. “Sometimes, when I’m trying to fall asleep…” she took his hand and led him toward his bedroom “…or early in the morning, when I’m not fully awake, my subconscious speaks to me, and I see situations I’ve been debating in a whole new light.”
His eyebrow quirked. “That’s happened for me before.” He stumbled tiredly in her wake, and his head lolled in concession. “Fine. I’ll get some sleep…” he pulled her up short and wrapped her in his embrace again “…if you’ll join me. It’s late. Come to bed with me.”
His voice held a husky rasp, and heat rushed through her. Did he mean his request the way it sounded?
“To sleep?” she asked, her head tipped flirtatiously.
“At some point, probably.” He tugged his cheek up, flashing a devilish grin. “But…” he speared his fingers into her hair, combing it back from her face “…anything else that happens is up to you. I won’t press you for anything you’re not comfortable with.”
A sweet mellowness weighted her core. This sort of kindness and understanding had made her fall in love with Eli in college. Having evidence of that same noble character again was both a potent reminder of what they’d once shared and a warning that, by making love to Eli, she could easily get ensnared in levels of emotion and attachment that were unhealthy for her heart. Yet she wanted just a sip from the cup of passion he offered…
He held her in his blue gaze, his desire and tenderness as clear as the bright Alaskan moon.
Rising on her tiptoes, she pressed a kiss to his lips. “All right. Lead the way. We have unfinished business, you and I.”
Chapter 16
Walking backward as he kissed her, Eli drew Noelle into his bedroom. When his legs hit the edge of his bed, he toed off his shoes and pulled her shirt from the waist of her slacks without breaking the contact of their lips. His body was aflame, wound tight with a hunger he’d suppressed for years.
He’d been with other women since Noelle, but none had meant a fraction of what his intimacies with her had meant, and he’d quickly lost interest in pointless sex. When you’ve had something as rich and powerful as making love to your soulmate, anything else felt empty, even like a betrayal.
To have her in his arms again, to be able to touch her, kiss her, savor the sweet connection that two could share with their bodies and hearts joined was paradise to him. Maybe he could show her physically the truth that his words had not yet been able to convey. She belonged with him. There was no challenge or difference or past heartache they couldn’t overcome together.
