Secret Obsession (Carder Texas Connections #6)(43)

He shot a glance at Lyssa. She didn’t say anything but hugged her arms around her body and stared at the spot where Jack had died. She paused at the dinner table, still set in the corner, though a glass had broken and silverware had scattered, candles turned over.

Her tortured gaze met Noah’s. “We were planning a special night,” she said softly.

“I know,” he said, his voice full of regret.

“We’re going to get him, Jack,” she whispered into the empty room. “I promise you.”

“Just bedrooms upstairs?” Noah asked. “If I remember right.”

With a curt nod, she padded toward the stairs.

“The master bedroom?” he asked.

“Down that hallway. This floor.”

“A second entrance?”

“French doors in the master.”

“We need to make sure we have an escape route we can use, but that he can’t sneak in,” Noah said. “Let’s take a look there first.”

Lyssa paused.

Noah clasped her by the shoulders. “Only a few more minutes, Lyssa. Keep your eye on the goal.”

She led him to a closed door. Noah stepped in front of her. He used the scanner on the doorway. “Just checking,” he said.

Carefully, he turned the knob and eased open the bedroom door.

He stilled.

Lyssa leaned around him. “Oh, my God!”

“Out,” he shouted. “Now.”

A pair of severed feet sat in the center of the bed with one message painted on the wall. In blood.

You’re getting warmer.

*

ARCHIMEDES SPOONED A last bit of lemon gelato to cleanse his palate.

A small alarm sounded on his phone. He paused. That shouldn’t have happened.

He pulled out his tracking device. Alessandra was still near the UN.

He typed in a code on his phone. An image flashed on the screen.

Alessandra. Sitting by yet another man.

In the house.

He panned the camera. Noah Bradford stood nearby.

“I-is something wrong, sir?” Rose asked quietly.

With everything inside him, Archimedes struggled not to toss the table. He picked up a wineglass. The crystal shattered in his hand, slicing his finger.

She leaped from her chair, but he waved her off.

“We’re leaving,” he said, standing, throwing down two hundred-dollar bills. He escorted Rose out of the restaurant.

Noah Bradford had done this. He had no doubt.

The man wanted to try to outsmart him. They were in for a very rude awakening.

*

IF ANYTHING ABOUT this situation were normal, the house would have been swarming with cops. As it was, after scanning the perimeter, Noah had called in Zane. Rafe had made it back from New York in record time.

They were all inside, the gruesome evidence still sitting in the bedroom.

“I wish Elijah were here,” Zane said. “From what I can tell, it looks like the feet were severed while the poor guy was still alive.” He glanced at Noah. “Archimedes is a serious pycho.”

“He’s playing us,” Noah said, his jaw tight.

“Finish the photographs,” Noah ordered. “We’ll send them to Elijah. I need to check something out, then we’re out of here.”

Noah sent Rafe a telling look. One thing about working with a man for a long time, they could almost read each other’s minds. His friend distracted Lyssa and Noah eased past them, silently. He wanted a look in that cabinet.

He climbed the stool and opened the door.

A cookie jar. A couple of vases. One porcelain base was slightly off the circle of wood surrounded by dust. She’d moved it aside.

Noah shifted the piece, revealing two silhouettes surrounded by a thick layer of dust.

The print of a small shoe—a baby’s shoe, and right next to it the outline of a rattle. He stilled, his mind whirling.

She didn’t have a child. Not that he knew of.

He knew she and Jack had wanted kids. It was one reason his friend had put in for a transfer to a desk job.

But why remove them now?

Noah stepped to the ground. His phone rang and he glanced at the screen. His brother.

His gut sank. He had a bad feeling.

“What’s up, Chase?”

“Noah, Sierra’s missing.”





Chapter Ten

“Rafe, get in here!”

Lyssa jerked at the panic in Noah’s voice. She’d never heard that tone before.

Obviously Rafe and Zane never had either. They raced into the kitchen. One look at Noah’s face, expression frozen, but eyes...oh, God, his eyes. The pain hurt her.

He flicked on the speakerphone. “Say that again, Chase. I’ve got Rafe with me.”

“Our sister sneaked out and went to your place, Noah. W-we found her Jeep, but she’s...she’s just gone.”

Noah paced back and forth, and Lyssa could nearly feel his panic.

“Get away from there, Chase. Now.”

“I’m calling the police,” Chase said.

A beep sounded through Noah’s speaker. His hand tensed round the phone. “I’ll call you right back. Just don’t go into the house. Get the hell away from there.” He flicked the flash button. “Bradford.”

“This is Archimedes. You’re playing a dangerous game, Mr. Bradford. You’ve changed the rules.”