Fear For Me (For Me #2)(87)

The wrong way…

Because he purposely led us the wrong way?

The firefighters leaped into action. Patrol cars rushed to the scene. An ambulance raced up the road.

“Help!” Lauren called out when she saw the EMTs. “He’s hurt!”

Anthony tightened his hold on her. “Forget that.” He’d deal with the scratch later. He grabbed the first cop he saw. “We need to put out an alert for a Jeep Wrangler that left the scene.”

The fire reflected in the uniform’s wide eyes.

“The driver of that Jeep just tried to kill us.”

Could the driver be Wesley?

One way to find out.

“Get Detective Voyt on the radio. Tell him to head out to Wesley Hawthorne’s house.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to make sure the man’s not a f*cking killer.”





*


He raced from the scene as quickly as he could. The f*cking fire shouldn’t have burned him. He’d tried to keep the gas off him, but the shit had splashed back.

Now his fingers were blistered, red, and that was a condition he couldn’t easily explain away.

Shit, shit, shit!

He slammed his hands into the steering wheel. They throbbed even more at the impact. Stupid. He’d planned this so perfectly. Even let the neighbors catch sight of his vehicle…all so he could have his end game.

The DA wanted Walker’s killer stopped. The marshal wasn’t giving up the hunt until he had a body. Well, he’d intended to give them that body.

I still will.

He just had to find a way around his injury. He could make this work.

There was still time.

He could do this.

His fingers f*cking hurt.

The pain fueled his rage, and he couldn’t wait to get back to the victim waiting for him. He was so ready to kill.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN




After finding Karen’s body in her house, Lauren had known she’d never be able to live there again.

Now she didn’t have to worry about that. The house was gutted, the flames only now sputtering out thanks to the firefighters.

The fire had burned so hard. So fast.

He was there. He took my necklace. He’s tried to take everything.

She had the blanket around her shoulders, but she wasn’t cold. With that much heat in the air, how could anyone be cold?

Anthony had gotten patched up, only because she’d dragged an EMT over to him.

More cops swarmed the scene. Paul rushed up on his motorcycle. The guy always liked to ride it when he was off duty. He shoved down his kickstand and raced toward her.

“Lauren!” He grabbed her. Held her tight. The scent of smoke was so strong in the air. “What the hell happened?” He pushed her back. “Why are you even here?”

“She wanted her necklace.” Anthony was the one who answered. “Only the bastard was waiting for us.”

Anthony glanced back at the charred remains of the house. “Jesus,” Paul said.

“Did you find Hawthorne?” Anthony demanded.

Paul shook his head. “You can’t actually think he—”

“A Jeep Wrangler left the scene. Our killer knows the swamp. Hell, when it comes to the swamp, you told me yourself, no one knows the area like Hawthorne.”

Paul’s shoulders dropped. “He’s a friend. We’ve been friends since high school. We were on the football team together.”

“I don’t care if you were f*cking frat brothers together, I want to know where he is.” Anthony’s control was gone. Burned away.

So was the ice that had protected Lauren. She was raw and desperate.

Anthony was enraged and dangerous.

“I sent a patrol by his home.” Paul swallowed. “He wasn’t there. His Jeep was gone.”

“Where is he?”

“His boss said they got a report of some nuisance gators in the area. He thinks Wesley went into the swamp to check things out.” Paul’s words tumbled out fast. “He’s just out doing his job.”

“Is he?” Doubt was heavy in the two words.

Paul straightened. “I’ll find him. His boss is gonna page him. Gonna send some men to help me go out and meet up with him, but I’m telling you…it isn’t Wesley.”

“When we find him, we’ll know for sure.”

Lauren dropped the blanket.

“Look, the task force is meeting at the station,” Paul said. “The FBI agents want you both to come in, then we can figure out what the hell our next move is.”

Anthony wasn’t moving.

“You have to come in,” Paul said, his voice almost beseeching. “The police chief ordered us all back. After this…” He threw another glance at the fire. “He wants a full rundown of every detail Greg has discovered with his tests. Come in.”

“I want Hawthorne.”

“We’ll find him!” Paul backed up a step. His hands clenched. He was wearing his riding gloves. She saw the dark outline of the gloves when his knuckles curled. “But the chief wants us there within the hour.”

Anthony stared steadily back at him. “Fine. We’ll be there.” He took Lauren’s arms. “Let’s go.”