Dangerous Intentions (16 page)

I was, but I didn’t want to put it into words.

“There’s no other explanation. This has to be where he was hiding out,” Detective Rimes said.

“I never knew this place even existed.” I bit the corner of my fingernail.

“The son of a bitch kept a lot of things from you,” Dustin said, fuming. “Let’s go look in the basement. I’m sure what he wants you to see is hiding there.”

My knees almost gave way as we descended the stairs. They, too, were clear of dust and dirt. Jude must have climbed up and down them a lot.

The basement was divided into two rooms. We entered one. It was empty apart from a large metal table with a hard toolbox on top of it.

While I remained in the doorway, Detective Rimes stepped up to it and opened the box. “Holy shit,” he said, rubbing his beard. “These are surgery tools. How sick was this guy?”

Dustin went to Detective Rimes’s side and observed the contents. Neither of them reached for any of the tools, probably to avoid contaminating possible evidence.

Rimes pushed open the door to the second room, and all of us recoiled at the stench that slammed into us.

“What the fuck?” Rimes swung the door open wider. Holding a hand over his mouth, he entered, followed by Dustin.

The smell seemed to be a cocktail of chemicals and rot, and it made my eyes water. I froze in the doorway for a beat before following them inside.

The room was huge and painted all white. Shiny, white rectangular boxes lined its walls, some of them stacked on top of each other to fit the room. Nothing else was in there, just the boxes.

“Please tell me those are not what I think they are.” I clenched my fists so tight, my nails dug into my palms.

“I sure as hell hope not.” Dustin touched the surface of one of the boxes, then he and Rimes lifted the cover.

Dustin whipped around to face me. “I don’t think you should see this, Haley.”

“No.” My voice was weak as I covered my mouth with both my hands. “Please tell me those are not—”

“They are,” Rimes finished for me. “They are coffins… with corpses inside.”

“The women?” I backed away until I reached the door again, wanting to bolt even though I knew I could never get away from this nightmare.

Dustin closed the box again. “That man was worse than a monster. He even has framed photos of each woman inside.”

“I better make some calls.” Rimes pulled out his cell phone and left the room.

Blood rushing in my ears, I moved forward toward one of the open coffin.

“Haley, no.” Dustin reached for my hand, trying to stop me, but I shook my head. For some reason I felt I needed to see firsthand what Jude had done.

Dustin stayed close behind me, but he didn’t try to stop me again.

I raised my face to the ceiling and blinked several times before taking a deep breath and lowering my gaze.

The woman lay in a bed of silk and lace. Her eyes were open and dead, her skin shriveled and resembling leather, stretched over jutting cheekbones. She had makeup on her—ruby lipstick, mascara, and blush. The two pigtails of her long blonde hair were smooth and tucked into the crisp white satin sheet wrapped around her very thin body.

I spun around and dove for the door. I retched just outside the entrance while Dustin held my hair back from my face. Then I wiped my mouth with a napkin he pulled from his pocket. I reentered the room. I wanted to leave, and yet I couldn’t. The torture I was enduring now was nothing compared to what those women had gone through because of me.

I moved to an empty wall and sank to the floor with my head in my hands, too shocked and disgusted to do anything else.

“I’m sorry you have to go through this.” Dustin came to sit next to me and pulled me close.

I looked up and blinked several times to clear my blurred vision. “What does this even mean?” I gazed up at the ceiling and my eye caught a corner of something—a piece of paper, maybe—peeking out from between two coffins.

I pulled myself to my feet, and like a zombie, staggered toward it and pulled it out. My hands shook so bad I almost dropped it. It was an envelope with my name scrolled across its front, in Jude’s handwriting.

“Don’t open it,” Dustin said behind me.

Too late. As if my hands were working on their own, I unsealed the envelope and tipped it over so its contents could drop onto my hand.

A delicate antique silver necklace coiled in the palm of my hand. I touched it with the tip of my finger and my heart froze when I saw a tiny infinity pendant. “His mother… His mother wore this in the photos.”

I dropped it to the floor and fell to my knees, heaving.

Dustin gathered me into his arms and kissed the top of my head, careful not to hold me too tight as my shoulder was still tender. “He’s dead, Haley. Jude is dead. There was a body. He must have planned this before he died…” His voice trailed off and I looked up to find him reaching for the envelope. He pulled out a sheet of paper, glanced at it, and handed it to me.

I shook my head. “You read it.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve gone through so much already. Another blow couldn’t possibly worsen the damage.”

Dustin breathed in and out slowly as he unfolded the paper. He started to read.

My Haley,

Since you’re reading this letter, I guess our plans of a wonderful future together have been postponed. I’m probably in prison now for what I did to those prostitutes. Am I sorry? No. Everything I did, I did out of love for you. I will confess everything. They can throw me in prison, but I’m far smarter than the law. I will find a way out. I refuse to live my life without you, Haley.

I sent you here, to my childhood home, so you can see the lengths to which I’m prepared to go in order to get you back.

As you wait for me, wear my mother’s necklace as a reminder that our love will never end. Once I’m out of prison, I’ll find you and we will start a wonderful new life. Wherever you are, I will find you. The marriage vows we made to each other are unbreakable.

Till death do us part, my wife.

Yours forever,

Jude

Dustin dropped the letter to the floor and held me. “I guess he never considered the possibility that he might die. His sick mind must have also made him believe he was immortal. It’s almost as if he had a multiple personality disorder.” He smoothed my hair. “I’m glad he’s dead and can’t hurt you anymore.”

I pulled back from Dustin and looked him in the eyes. “Jude
is
immortal. He might be dead physically, but even from the grave he will continue to torment me. But I’ll find a way to live through it.” I moved forward and allowed Dustin to kiss me softly on the lips.

I wasn’t kidding myself. There were still a lot of hurdles to jump over before I could start again, but as long as I didn’t have to live in fear of Jude, I would find a way.

END OF BOOK 2

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Other books by Dori Lavelle

Moments in Time series (Contemporary Romance)

Learning to Live Again serial (Contemporary Romance)

His Agenda serial (Romantic Thriller/Suspense)

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