Page 36 of His to Possess

I shuddered as an entirely different kind of vision flashed into my mind. I’d seen Max’s eyes in the bathroom. The change in them had been both erotic and eerie and so damn similar to whatever I’d seen in the forest. Or so I thought. The lighting in the dingy bar had certainly sucked, but I knew what I’d seen. There was something strange about the man and I was resolved to find out what.

I honestly couldn’t tell if Max had bought the entire concept of an animal attack. He didn’t seem swayed one way or the other. I was determined to prove a human was responsible. I was meeting him at my office in less than an hour. Sadly, I couldn’t spend the entire day on the case and I also couldn’t get out of the damn lunch I’d been wrangled into attending. The last thing I wanted to do was take any time away from hunting down the vicious killer, but the catered soiree was for my baby sister’s upcoming wedding.

And it was a family affair.

I slunk further under the water, suddenly hating my life. I wanted nothing to do with seeing my parents right now. My father would likely grill me on the case, as if I had a choice in working it. He was ashamed that I’d decided on law enforcement.

Damn him.

I wasn’t going to follow in his footsteps. I wanted nothing to do with my father’s company and no matter how often he ridiculed my job, I would never give in. I almost laughed at the thought. I’d wanted to join the police force for as long as I could remember. Too bad my father didn’t have a son to become his protégé, although he did have a second in command, a man I’d heard from my sister was one hot bachelor. Today would be our first meeting. How wonderful.

I grabbed the shower net, yanking a bottle of gel off the small ledge. This morning I had no time to lament over family issues. With the murders escalating, catching the fucker before another kill was a race against time.

As I began to scrub my naked body, my thoughts drifted back to Max. Our attraction was close to being feral, carnal in nature. I felt more alive this morning than I had in a long time and after no sleep. The nausea was gone, electricity soaring in my body. The sensations had to be about adrenaline and nothing more.

When I grabbed the shampoo, I allowed the naughty visions to filter into my mind, remembering his utter domination in the way he touched me. He’d held me as if I was a prized possession, a woman truly belonging to him in every way. While I adored powerful men in certain regards, his prowess was riddled with a dangerous quality that I couldn’t seem to process.

I took several deep breaths, finally relaxing enough to close my eyes as I rinsed my hair. After a few seconds of the water spray dancing off my skin, the stream became pinpricks, more discomforting than soothing.

“Ouch. Jesus.” The water was way too hot. Even reaching for the faucet moved from being uncomfortable to providing an actual hint of pain. I jabbed my hand at the lever until I was finally able to shift it to cooler water, staring down at my blotched skin. Great. Now I needed to get the water heater checked out. Granted, since purchasing the tiny cottage almost two months before, the one I’d promised myself I would renovate when I had time, I’d done almost nothing.

Including handling various maintenance projects that the inspector had said needed my immediate attention.

Or unpacking.

I’d purchased the home on a whim, resisting the warnings I’d heard from my family and my partner regarding the area of town. Maybe I wanted to be in the thick of crimes. Laughing, I turned off the water, yanking open the shower curtain and noticing the screen on my phone glowed with the tropical beach screen saver.

Someone had called once again.

Only I hadn’t heard the phone ringing.

Annoyed, I quickly dried off, reaching for my dress on the back of the closet door. The ring I’d chosen sounded again, now an annoyance. Another damn phone call. I caught it on the third ring, this time saying nothing when I accepted it.

Another round of silence coming from the other end. There were no call center noises or heavy breathing. Just a whole lot of nothing.

“Look, asshole. Take this number off your list. Got it?” I didn’t bother waiting for an answer before ending and tossing the phone. I wrapped the towel around my head, reaching for my makeup bag when a flash caught my eye. After grabbing my Beretta, I inched toward the window, darting a glance outside.

I’d never been a believer in ghosts or other fairytale monsters, but the case certainly had me spooked enough to think I’d seen something.

A figure standing outside my first floor window.

My cop instincts kicked in. After yanking the towel off my head, I rushed to the back door, quietly opening it and easing outside. In my opinion, I’d been lucky to find a piece of property close to the city with a small yard, massive trees surrounding me on three sides. The limited privacy had sold me on the little house, even though there were neighbors close by. At this moment, the shadows coming from every direction did nothing but creep me out.

The aging back deck steps creaked as I walked down in my bare feet, the moderate breeze tossing two limbs from one of my unruly trees against the gutter. I hissed, chastising myself for feeling jumpy. I was a big girl with an even bigger gun, capable of handling any perpetrator.

From where I stood, there was no sign that anyone had been in the back yard, clomping through the dense underbrush. I cautiously rounded the corner closet to the bathroom. There were no footsteps underneath the window or attempts to break in, but what did catch my attention was the pathway of broken limbs leading directly into the bank of trees.

With the gun in both hands, I inched closer, staring through the opening. “What the hell.” I moved carefully through the foliage, scanning from right to left the entire time, listening for any sounds. Other than the breeze, everything was almost as quiet as the phone call.

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves.Get yourself together.

My rational mind told me that a small animal, like a deer or a fox had run scared into the woods, even if we were in the middle of the city. My irrational mind told me otherwise. However, I wasn’t going to test my luck. I backed toward the opening, still searching the perimeter.

Crack!

The harsh snap was enough I almost lost my balance. I swung the barrel in the direction of the sound, sucking air in rapidly as the shadows of the trees became oppressive. Suffocating. Darkness enshrouded my periphery of vision until I was frozen.

Sometimes darkness is the only thing we see. Look beyond to find the light and the truth.

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