Fear For Me: A Novel of the Bayou Butcher(47)

The cop still had strong feelings for Lauren.

Join the club, buddy.

No, there was no club. The detective just needed to back the hell off.

“I brought some fresh clothes for you,” Paul said as he advanced toward Lauren.

Anthony scooped the bag of clothes out of his hands. “I thought you were staying at the scene.”

Paul’s eyes narrowed on him. “I needed to check on Lauren.”

“You need to find Walker.”

Paul bared his teeth in a tiger’s smile. “I thought that was your job, Marshal. Fugitive apprehension and all.”

Fuck this. Anthony’s hand fisted around the bag. “If you had let me take the shot, I would’ve apprehended the fugitive, and Lauren wouldn’t be in this hospital right now.” But Paul had jumped between him and his prey. “You pull that shit again, and I won’t hesitate.”

Paul swallowed. “I didn’t think you could stop him without hurting her.”

“You think she isn’t hurt?” His voice dropped but he knew Lauren could still hear him. “I had that bastard in my sights. Don’t ever stop me again.” The words came from him in a lethal snarl as Anthony fought hard for his control. He was walking a razor’s edge, and he knew it.

“Paul…” Lauren’s voice was quiet, a softness in the storm brewing inside of Anthony. “He knew about Jenny. He said he watched her die and that he knew where she was buried.”

Paul swore.

As he watched the detective’s reaction to the news, Anthony realized Paul knew all about Jenny Chandler. Lauren had shared her past with the cop, but not with him. That fact made his anger twist even more until he realized…

I never shared my past with her. He’d deliberately tried to keep their relationship only in the moment. No past. No future. That had been them.

The whole no-future bit sure had changed when he’d realized Lauren was facing death. Her future had become the most important thing to him.

Paul shook his head. “He was messin’ with you—” the detective began.

“Why does everyone say that?” Lauren’s voice rose, breaking. “He knew things about her…about what she said at the end. And his eyes…I believe what he said. I believe every word. He was there when Jenny died.” A sob took the last of her words.

It was time he took Lauren out of there.

“You can talk to her again tomorrow,” Anthony said, glancing between the profiler and the detective. “She needs rest, dammit.” He wouldn’t let her fall apart in front of them.

“Lauren…” Cadence hesitated. “Did he look the same as his prison photos? Has he altered his appearance?”

“I couldn’t see his face perfectly, not with the shadows. There was just a lantern in the cabin.” Her lips pressed together. After a moment, she said, “His hair was short. And I think he had a beard growing. Stubble on his jaw.”

“Did he mention the name of whoever was on the phone?” Cadence asked. “Did he give you any hint about who—”

“He never said his name.” Her breath sighed out as she looked up at Anthony.

“Are you sure it’s a he?” Cadence pushed her.

Back off. Anthony bit the words back.

“Walker said, ‘he.’” Lauren was adamant. “I know exactly what I heard.” Then she shook her head. Tears glinted in the gaze that she didn’t take from Anthony. “Please, I’m hurting. I want to get out of here. Dammit, I just—I can’t breathe in here! I need to get out of this hospital!”

Paul shuffled toward the bed. “You still can’t stand hospitals, huh?” His fingers brushed over her uninjured cheek. Anthony realized he hated that intimate touch. A touch that spoke of emotions and a shared past. “They still remind you of your mom?”

She gave a low nod. “After all the time I saw her wasting away…” The sound of her swallow was a painful click. “The place is just a morgue to me.”

Paul knew her well, too well, and Anthony felt a jolt of shame rock through him. He should be the one to know the private details of Lauren’s life. Her secrets should be his.

Not the detective’s.

“I can give you police protection,” Paul said as his hand dropped away from Lauren. “That room at my place is still waiting for you.”

It can keep waiting.

Anthony didn’t say the words because the choice wasn’t his. It was Lauren’s.

After a tense moment, Lauren shook her head. “Anthony’s promised to keep watch over me tonight. Dr. Davis gave him the okay to take me.”

I’ll watch over you, baby, all night long.

Her gaze stayed on Paul. “I want you to pull Jenny’s file. I had a copy at my house but...” She broke off and lifted a trembling hand to shove back her hair. “I can’t go there now. I need to see her file again.”

“I’ll need to look at that file, too,” Cadence added.

If Walker had been killing that long ago—and it sure seemed he had—then it would change the man’s profile. He would have been just a kid himself back then. A kid with a taste for death.

“If you need me,” Paul said to Lauren, as he leaned toward her, “you call me anytime.”