Page 10 of A Storm of Nightmares

Keith swears he never stopped looking into Betty’s disappearance. Taking him off of the case only hindered him slightly. Even when it was considered closed, and his fellow cops moved on, Keith kept digging. My eyes start to water in a mix of disbelief and awe. I had no idea anybody else thought Betty didn’t run away. For the past four years, I had felt so alone, but now I feel like someone is finally on my side.

Keith says he started getting notes a few months after Betty went missing. Threats to stop looking for her. Claims of Betty being dead. He eventually left the force because he didn’t trust anyone there. He thought someone on the force had to be in contact with Betty’s kidnapper because he only ever worked on her case while at work. No one in his personal life knew how dedicated he was to find Betty. He figured someone had to have been watching him.

Keith made copies of everything he could and continued working the case independently, but the notes stopped after turning in his badge. Which only reinforced his fear that a dirty cop was looking over his shoulder.

Two days ago, when Jess vanished, the notes started again. Keith didn’t think much into it at first because he hadn’t heard about Jess yet. He had no idea why the notes picked back up now, years after he had quit the force.

Apparently, Keith has kept tabs on me for some reason. Not gonna lie. Hearing that stirs something deep inside my broken heart. When he heard about me taking the case, it piqued his interest, and he decided to do some digging.

It turns out I was right about the similarities between Jess and Betty’s disappearances. Keith noticed them too. When he realized it was most likely the same person who took Betty, he came to get me. And that brings us up to now, with this hunk of a man standing two feet in front of me at five in the morning.

“Why have you been keeping an eye on me exactly?” I can’t help but ask. I’m sure it’s just because I’m the sister of the missing girl that he quit his job over. But a tiny part of me wonders if it’s something more than that.

“That’s all you have to say, after everything I just told you?” Keith stares at me, completely dumbfounded.

“I just want to know. Why me? My sister went missing four years ago. If I was going to vanish too, I’m sure it would have happened already. You don’t need to look out for me if that’s what you’re doing.”

“It’s not that I think you’ll go missing, Kat...” Keith shakes his head and bites his bottom lip, clearly at war with himself. “I’m completely infatuated with you. The night we met was probably the worst night of your life, but it was one of the best nights of mine. Because I got to meet the most beautiful girl that I’ve ever seen. I saw how hurt you were about Betty being gone and all I wanted to do was fix it for you. All I’ve wanted to do since meeting you was make you smile. A real, genuine smile. Not the bullshit ones you try to get away with. Because your smile lights up every room, you walk into. Everybody in the world should be gifted the pleasure of seeing it.” He reaches out and lifts my chin in his hand, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “But I failed you. I failed Betty. I don’t deserve to be the man that makes you smile, no matter how badly I want to be. So, I’ve stayed away. But as soon as I connected the dots and knew you were taking this case, I had to find you.” Keith slowly rubs the pad of his thumb across my bottom lip before lowering his hand. I miss the feeling of his fingers as soon as they leave.

“Keith, you didn’t fail. In fact, you did everything but fail. You kept looking for clues even though you were taken off the case. It’s not your fault that Betty is still missing. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I was right there. I was in the room next to hers, and I didn’t hear anything. If I had just noticed something sooner, maybe I could have fought this guy off or called the cops before it was too late. Or if I had just called my parents when Dan snuck in, they would have come straight home. Betty would have probably never spoken to me again, but at least she would still be here.” I stop to catch my breath after my sudden rant.

I didn’t expect to divulge all my inner thoughts to Keith, but it feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I’ve been blaming myself for four years, and I’ve never told anyone about it. I don’t realize I’m crying until Keith reaches up to brush my tears away with his thumb. He keeps his hand on my cheek and gazes down at me. His blue eyes search my face for a moment before they drop down to my lips. My mind is racing, and my knees are weak.

I’ve had a long and trying day, and my thoughts should be on this case. On finding Jess before it’s too late. But once again, I’m at the mercy of those piercing blue eyes. My mind turns into a jumbled-up mess of shame and desire. Ishouldn’tfeel this way. Ishouldn’twant him. But I can’t stop myself.

Before I can think a second longer about what I’m going to do, I take another step towards him so that our bodies are barely brushing together. Keith’s breathing hitches at the sudden contact. I take that as my go-ahead.

I grab the collar of his blue button-up shirt in both my fists and pull his face to mine. Our lips crash together, and my entire body comes alive.

Keith wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me flush against his rock-hard body. I gasp into his kiss and snake my arms around his neck. A soft groan falls from his mouth when I take his bottom lip between my teeth. I’m rewarded with Keith’s hands moving down to caress and squeeze my ass. His kiss is passionate and hungry, like he’s been waiting his whole life just to taste my lips.

When I finally pull away, Keith presses his forehead to mine and closes his eyes. His breathing is heavy like it’s taking every ounce of willpower for him to keep his mouth off mine.

Glancing up through my lashes, I take a moment to admire his sharp features. He opens his eyes just as I’m about to look away, but once our eyes meet, I can’t look anywhere else. His intense gaze is almost enough to make me drop to my knees and beg for more.Almost.

I could stand like this all day, our bodies glued together, inhaling his cologne. But we have work to do, and if I don’t back away now, I’m not sure I’ll have the strength to stop later if things get heated. Well, more heated than this hot and heavy make-out session I’ve just been blessed with. So, I reluctantly remove myself from the comfort of Keith’s arms.

Something flashes in his eyes when I start walking towards the other side of the room, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Keith follows me to the other side of the motel room in a hurry. “I’m sorry, Kat, I shouldn’t have done that. I crossed the line. I promise to keep things professional from now on... If that’s what you want,” he rambles.

“I’m pretty sure I kissed you, not the other way around. Don’t apologize.” I offer him a smile before kneeling to grab my notes from my suitcase. I walk back over to Keith, hand him everything I have on Jess’ case, and sit down on the bed. “As much as I’d love to do that again, and trust me, I really do want that, we should probably get to work. Sit.” I pat the space on the empty comforter right next to me so he knows not to leave a huge gap. He is not allowed to give me a knee-weakening kiss and then sit on the opposite side of the bed like I’m the damn plague.

Keith laughs and takes a seat right next to me, our thighs brushing together ever so lightly. My heart races at the physical contact, but I try to ignore it. How does he have this effect on me? I haven’t seen him in four years. I bite my bottom lip to keep from smiling. I cannot believe I kissed him. I feel so free. I want to stop time. I want to have this feeling forever. But Betty is still missing. Jess is still missing.

Unless I find out what happened to both of them, all I’ll ever be capable of is small moments of happiness, surrounded by the darkness that is my life. I can’t give my heart to Keith, or anybody else, because it had been broken four years ago, and I’m not sure how to piece it back together anymore.

Chapter 5

Keith and I go over every detail we know about Betty and Jess being taken. We talk, exchange notes, and come up with a plan to catch whoever this psycho is. But then we must have fallen asleep because all of a sudden, I’m opening my eyes to the bright sunshine coming into the window in this dingy motel room. It’s just as nasty in the morning as it was when I checked in last night.

I start to get up but stop when I feel the weight of Keith’s arm slung over me. We were not cuddling while going over our plan to track down a kidnapper. He must have pulled me into his arms after I had passed out. Or maybe his body just gravitated toward me when we were both sleeping. Either way, it’s a sweet gesture. I smile again for what must be the fiftieth time since he showed up knocking on my door. He has made me smile more in the few hours we’ve spent together than I have in the four years since Betty vanished.

I love the feeling of being safe in Keith’s strong arms, but I do not love the feeling of my bladder about to explode. I try to wiggle out from under his hold without waking him, and I’m honestly a bit surprised when I succeed. I wasn’t graceful or quiet while crawling out of bed. He must be a very heavy sleeper if the sound of me cussing at my hair being caught under his elbow didn’t wake him. I don’t even bother tiptoeing my way into the bathroom. I rush like my dignity depends on it because I’m about two seconds away from peeing my pants.

I avoid looking in mirrors as much as I can, but this freaking motel makes that impossible. Not only is there a mirror above the sink, but the wall to the right of the shower is furnished with a large, floor-to-ceiling mirror as well. Why on Earth anybody would want to see themselves completely naked as they got in or out of the shower is a true mystery. I can’t imagine that’s the most flattering view. I don’t care if you’re a drop-dead gorgeous lingerie model. Everybody has a bad angle.

Regardless of their reasonings, this motel is really making things difficult for me. I walk into the bathroom in such a hurry to empty my bladder that I forget to look down before my eyes catch my reflection.

The thing is, I’m used to seeing Betty looking back at me. I’m used to feeling a mixture of hate and guilt and sorrow when I’m reminded of all that I’ve lost. But today, something is different. Yes, I resemble my sister, but I don’t feel haunted by it. It takes me a matter of seconds to realize what it is.

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