Into the Night(79)

“You, too, Bowen,” Samantha ordered him. “Go get some rest. Tucker and I will take the night shift. If anything happens, if we get any news, I’ll call you both right away.”

Since Macey could feel herself bottoming out, she nodded. Walking away from the case wasn’t easy, but it was either walk or, if she didn’t get some sleep soon...

Fall.

*

SAMANTHA WATCHED AS Macey and Bowen filed out of the police station. Dr. Amelia Lang was still in the interrogation room, and Samantha knew she would be sending a patrol with the forensic geophysicist when Lang left the station.

“You think Wesley will come after Dr. Lang?” Tucker asked as he drew near to her.

“Not going to take any chances on that.” Dr. Lang had worked side by side with the missing man. Would he view her cooperation with the feds as some sort of betrayal? This guy seemed to judge everyone—and everything. And he finds us all lacking.

“If this kid is the one we’re after—” Tucker exhaled and his voice dropped, carrying only to her ears “—then I was wrong about Jonah.”

Her head turned and she met his gaze. “You were always against him joining our unit.”

“He avoided the field like the plague. I talked to other agents. They all warned me of the same thing. He wasn’t the type to have your back.” A muscle jerked in his jaw. “With our group, I couldn’t take the chance on having a weak link. We battle some of the most vicious criminals out there. A single hesitation is a death sentence.”

Yes, it was.

“But now I’m fucking second-guessing myself. With this news about Wesley Kaiser...” He exhaled. “I could see the kid wanting revenge. But hell, why not just go after Peter Carter directly? Why all of this other stuff? It doesn’t fit.”

“No, it doesn’t.” She began to tap her right foot. “Your instincts have always been good. You know I respect them, and you.”

“So did Jonah run?” Tucker demanded. “Does he know his ass is in the fire and he just vanished? I mean, maybe the perp didn’t take him. Maybe that’s why Bowen hasn’t gotten a call.”

“Is that what your instincts say?”

Slowly, he shook his head.

“Mine, too,” she told him. Samantha exhaled on a slow sigh. “You know, I think you had a point earlier. When you said it was almost like our killer had a split personality.”

His brow furrowed.

“A split personality, or maybe we’re just looking at two distinct personalities. Maybe we always were.” She hurried toward the conference room. “Make sure that Dr. Lang has an escort tonight—and that the cop stays at her motel to keep watch. Then come with me. We need to go over those files again. Every one. Because we’ve missed something.”

Or maybe not something, she realized, but someone.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

THEY HAD CONNECTING rooms at the lodge. Bowen’s gaze slid to that connecting door—and he wondered if Macey had already crashed. She’d looked exhausted, and hell, he understood. They’d been running on fumes for the last few hours. All day, they’d barely eaten. They’d barely stopped.

They’d hunted.

And the man they’d needed—Wesley Kaiser—had been right there. Under their noses at the cabin. He’d just slipped away from them. Vanished.

The guy knew the mountains. He knew the area too well. They’d searched but hadn’t been able to find him. The Smokies were just full of too many hiding spaces. The guy’s rented car had still been parked in the lot at the trailhead, and they’d left a guard there to see if he came out.

But so far, there’d been no news on him.

Bowen had showered, trying to wash the hell of the day off his skin and now, clad in a pair of loose sweats, he found himself walking toward the door that connected his room to Macey’s.

His hand lifted to curl around the doorknob. He unlocked the door.

She said I was her choice.

But he hesitated. He—

The door opened. Macey stood there, her hair wet around her shoulders, wearing a T-shirt with FBI written across the chest. The blue shirt ended at the middle of her thighs.

“I kept waiting for you to come to me.” She looked at the hand he still had raised. “Guess I should have waited a few more minutes.”

No, he never wanted her to wait—

“I want to sleep with you.” A faint smile curved her lips, but the smile never reached her eyes. “This time, I’m not here asking you to fuck me. I just want to fall asleep in your arms and know that, for a few moments, I’m safe. Because that’s what you are to me, Bowen.” Her smile had faded. “You’re my safety in a storm.”

He reached for her hand and his fingers feathered over her wrist. Without a word, he pulled her into his room and, with his hand still gentle on her, he guided her to his bed. She slipped beneath the covers, and he followed her, stopping only long enough to turn out the light.

When he was in bed, she immediately rolled toward him. She put her head on his chest.

“I like to hear your heartbeat,” Macey murmured. “So steady and strong. Just like you.” Then she gave a faint sigh. “No matter what you might say to the contrary, I know the truth about you. I’ve always known it.”