Into the Night(51)

Bowen didn’t speak until the lady had disappeared. “So Captain Harwell had a guilty conscience...” He craned his head to look at Tucker.

“Because he was involved in the crimes?” Tucker asked. “Or because they happened right under his nose and he didn’t see them?”

“Let’s talk to Harwell’s family. Find out if there was any connection between Curtis and the captain.”

Tucker nodded. “I’ll take care of it.” But his gaze was considering as he stared at Bowen.

Bowen frowned at him. “What?”

“I saw it, man.”

Bowen turned to face him fully. “Excuse me?”

“Heard it, too. So you’d better watch it.”

Bowen shut the door to the conference room. “Okay, you need to clue me in on what it is that you’re talking about.”

“I saw the way you looked at Macey this morning.” His lips twisted. “I know the look, man.”

Bowen shook his head. “You’re mistaken.”

“You often stare too long and too hard at Macey, especially when you think she isn’t watching.”

Bowen made sure his expression was schooled to give nothing away. “Tucker, you might know killers, but you have no freaking idea what you’re going on about right now.”

Tucker gazed at him, straight in the eye. “When you say her name, your voice changes. When you talk about her, your face changes. You need to watch those giveaways.”

Fucking hell.

“I’m guessing Samantha doesn’t know?” Then before Bowen could answer, Tucker shook his head. “Course not, she wouldn’t have paired you two together in the field. Although...” Now his brow scrunched. “Come to think of it, Samantha is engaged to her ex-partner, so maybe it’s another one of her experiments. The way she thinks all of us can hunt killers better because of our pasts. Maybe Samantha saw this shit between you and Macey coming, and she thought it might make you even better in the field.”

“You know the FBI doesn’t allow agents to become—”

But Tucker waved that away. “We’ve both seen Samantha say screw off to the FBI rules when they don’t match what she wants.” He flashed a cold smile. “One of the things I admire about the woman. So maybe she does know you and Macey are in a relationship.”

“We’re not.” Flat, cold.

Tucker cocked one brow.

“We are not in a relationship, so don’t go spreading that shit around.” They were just...meeting in the dark. “We were partners, that’s it.” But we’re not even partners right now.

That one eyebrow of Tucker’s slowly lowered. “Are you lying to me—or yourself?”

The guy could go fuck off—

Bowen’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, and glanced down at the screen. “Unknown caller.”

Tucker swore. “I’ll alert the team. Keep him on the line, got it?”

“I know the drill.” Just when I thought the jerk wasn’t going to call anymore.

Tucker pulled out his own phone and hunched his shoulders as he made his call.

Bowen let his phone ring again. Once more.

Tucker motioned to him. We’re set.

Bowen slid his finger across the screen, then tapped to accept the call. “Agent Murphy.”

“Sorry you lost a member of your task force.” The same robotic voice filled the room. Bowen had made sure the phone was on speaker so that Tucker could hear what the killer had to say. “But the guilty have to pay.”

“Guilty?” Bowen repeated. “Just what crime do you think Henry Harwell committed? The guy was a cop, he dedicated his life to—”

“He didn’t stop the crimes. He didn’t even see them. Those men died on his watch, so that made him guilty.”

“The fuck it did. He never lifted a hand to anyone.”

“Sometimes, the guilty aren’t the ones holding a weapon in their hands. They’re the ones who do nothing.” Static crackled. “But you think the same thing, don’t you? That’s why you went after Arnold Shaw yourself. The cops weren’t doing anything to help you. They knew women were dying. You blamed them. I know you did.”

“You don’t know jack shit about me.”

“I know you’re fucking your partner.”

Every muscle in his body locked down. His gaze jerked toward Tucker.

“And here I thought you’d love precious Cadi until the day you died. I’m disappointed in you, Bowen.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m disappointed that I’m standing here talking to some psychopath who murdered a cop. Who thinks he’s the freaking hand of justice when he’s just some delusional killer who needs to be put in a cage.”

“That’s not what you really think. You think Henry Harwell was a blind fool who was too worried about the tourist business and not worried enough about the people in his mountains. You think that Daniel Haddox deserved a painful death and that Patrick Remus had the send-off to hell that he had coming.” Robotic laughter. “You’re welcome, Bowen.”

“That’s not what I think. You don’t know me. You know—”

“You went into that alley intending to kill Shaw. You went there knowing he wouldn’t make it out. You even see yourself as a killer.”