Forgotten (Shattered Sisters Book 2) (26 page)

“Is left-handed,” he said.

“That’s right. Every neck out here was cut right to left. Can’t be the same killer Ash. You're barking up the wrong tree, and I have better things to do than stand here and listen while you do."

She started for the door. Ash lunged after her, gripping her arm. She stopped, but refused to face him. "There is a connection and you know it. If it isn't you, then I have to find out what it is, or this lunatic will go on killing. Is that what you want?"

Her spine was rigid as she twisted her arm from his grasp. "I thought you knew me better. We dated, for God's sake. We were friends. You know, you're obsessed with this case. You were objective before
she
came into it. Now it's like nothing else exists. She's involved up to her neck, Ash, and you're scrambling to get her out. But it's not gonna work."

"She's not involved in anything."

"Tell it to a cop without instincts, pal. She's hiding something, and I'm going to find out what it is before you manage to pin this whole thing on me just to clear her."

He started to argue, but she whirled on him. "Don't deny you're trying to protect her."

"I wasn't going to." He pushed a hand through his hair. "But you can hardly blame me for wanting to look out for my wife."

"I can if she's guilty."

"I
know
she had nothing to do with the murders. I know it as sure as I know my own name, Bev. I wouldn't cover for her if I thought—"

"Hell, Coye, you're so head over heels in love with her you don't know what you're doing. But I'll tell you what you're
not
doing. You're not setting me up to take a fall, just to clear her." She shook her head slowly, turning again toward the door. "Must be nice to have somebody care enough to put their own head on the block for you. Does she know how much risk you're taking for her? Your career could be in the toilet, Ash. Is she aware of that?" She gripped the doorknob, yanked the door open. "Call me when you get your precious test results back. Then you'll know I'm not moonlighting as a crazed killer and maybe listen to what I have to say."

She stalked out into the night, slamming the door behind her. Ash heard her car start and move away a second later. He paced, rubbing one palm over his nape in a vain effort to ease the knot of tension coiled there. This was like beating his head against a brick wall, and he was beginning to doubt his skull could outlast the bricks. There was a kernel of truth to what Bev had said. If Joey turned out to be guilty and it came out that he'd lied for her, his career would be over. He might even end up serving time.

But it was a moot point since she wasn't guilty and had nothing whatsoever to do with the murders. Nothing.

He stopped pacing, sighed and felt his gaze drawn again toward the darkened doorway that must lead to the kitchen. Well, he was here. He might as well get a firsthand look at the crime scene, much as that thought disagreed with his stomach.

He approached the doorway with caution and reached through it to pat the wall in search of a light switch.

Joey had found Ted alone, watching television. She didn't even bother to knock. As soon as she saw him through the window, and her car nowhere in sight, she got out of there, found a quiet spot and called Radley Ketchum. The man had given her his home number when he'd asked her to keep tabs on Ash for him, and she was glad now that he had.

Rad answered in a sleepy voice, but came alert as soon as she explained the situation and asked for Beverly Issacs's home address. He recited it, and Joey hung up while he was still barking questions. Bev's house was only five minutes away. Joey skidded into the driveway in under three and a half.

The lights were on inside, but the house was silent. No car sat in the driveway, dammit. Joey walked around the small Cape Cod, peering through windows, searching for any sign of Ash or Beverly. Her heart plummeted...and then a tiny red light, flashing insistently, caught her eye. She did a double take. An answering machine? Seriously? Hell, it was worth a shot

She continued around the house until she found an unlatched window, pushed it up and climbed inside. Then she went directly to the machine and depressed the Playback button....

Bev's recorded message played, and then there was a beep followed by Ash's voice. The machine had still been recording when Bev picked up the phone to talk to him. It had recorded their entire conversation.

Twenty minutes later, Joey lurked outside the small house in Central Square. She'd shut the bike off and coasted down the last stretch of road, parking in the shadows behind a huge oak tree. No one would notice it there. She saw Beverly go inside, and knew Ash was already there because her car was parked by the curb. Silently, she crept closer to listen in.

Something in the center of her chest throbbed when she heard Ash defending her, and heard Beverly say he was too in love to know what he was doing. God, she wished it could be true. She knew too well, though, that it wasn't. Ash might be protecting her, but only because he thought she was his wife and saw it as his duty. When he learned the truth...

At least she knew he wasn't seriously jeopardizing his career by covering for her. She wasn't guilty, and she'd make damned sure no one else ever learned that he'd lied to protect her.

Beverly exited the front door, and Joey ducked lower in the shrubs. She breathed the scent of green leaves and night air as she waited. When Bev's car left, she waited some more, thinking Ash would come out a moment later, then worrying anew when he didn't.

She slipped out of the shrubs and peered through the window into the living room. Ash wasn't there, but a light glowed from another room. Shadows in there moved. She went around to the back of the house slowly, peeking through one window after another, her fear for him growing. The dark, clawed hand that had a grip on her mind tightened. She felt an instinctive panic bubbling up inside her and fought to keep herself rational, calm, ready. But her pulse accelerated and her heart throbbed.

Ash stood in the center of a small kitchen, his face twisted into a grimace. One hand rose to cover his nose and mouth, as he turned slowly, examining the room. Joey moved to the next window to see what he was looking at, then finally stepped right up to the glass panel in the back door.

Her breath caught in her throat. Dark stains marred the kitchen floor. Ugly spatters dotted the walls, and the fridge, taking odd, grotesque shapes, even seeming to move....

Wait, that one stain
was
moving.

No, not a stain, a shadow! An arm lifting, a slender pointed blade clutched in its fist as it came flying downward toward Ash’s throat.

Joey threw the door open, slamming it into the dark form. “Ash!”

There was a thud as the person hit the wall. Joey hurled herself at Ash, knocking him backward right through the doorway into the living room. They both crashed to the floor, Joey landing on top of Ash. Terrified, she scrambled to her feet spun around and faced the darkened kitchen. She saw nothing, only a darker shape amid the blackness. She stepped closer, put herself squarely in between Ash and that darkness.

"Come on, you son of a bitch,” she said. He chin came up, and her shoulders squared.

Ash got to his feet behind her. His hands closed on her shoulders, but Joey stiffened her stance, refusing to be moved aside. She focused her full attention on the dark form moving closer. One hesitant step, then two.

"Come on,” Joey said. “Yeah, that’s it. Closer.” She spread her arms as if to shield Ash. She was panting, and her heart thudded so hard in her chest that it made her entire body pulse with every beat. "You want him, you're gonna have to go through me. But the minute you touch me, I'll know who you are. I almost know now. I can feel it. That's why we're so connected, you and I. You're sick and evil, and I'm the one who's gonna stop you. I'm the only one who can. So come on, if you think you have time. Let’s wrap this up right here, tonight."

The figure froze in the middle of the dark room, but only briefly. Then it turned, and in a burst of dark motion, it was gone, through the back door and into the night.

Ash lunged to go after it, but Joey, gripped his upper arm and held on for all she was worth. She shook with reaction, every bit of that unexpected steely strength draining from her in a rush.

Finally, he gathered her to his chest and held her there. "You're insane, you know that?" He held her away from him, searching her face. "You okay?"

She nodded, then stiffened as something warm and wet touched her palm when she slid her hands around his neck. Her blooded rush to her feet. Dizziness swamped her, and she drew her hand away, staring first at it, then at the red stain on his throat.

"My God! Ash, you're cut!"

He touched his throat, gave his head a shake. "It's just a scratch. You pummeled that maniac with the door just in time." His eyes darkened, and a frown furrowed his brows. "You could have got yourself killed, Joey."

"So could you. Are you nuts, coming here alone in the middle of the night to meet a suspect?"

Headlights bounced through the front windows. Tires skidded, and a second later Radley Ketchum surged through the front door. "What the—?" He swore a blue streak when he saw the blood on Ash's neck and rushed forward.

"It's nothing, Rad."

"I saw her, Coye! I actually saw her, running down the street. Tall woman. Still had the knife in her hand. I thought you'd be dead by the time I got here."

“I would've been if it hadn't been for Joey." He slipped an arm around her and held her closer. "Which way was our Slasher going?"

"East, but she veered off into a backyard and could've changed direction. I called the cops from the cell."

Rad rushed into the kitchen, flicked on the light and ran cold water over a clean white hanky he took from his pocket. He returned, and Ash flinched when Rad pressed the cloth to his throat. He took the cloth out of Rad’s hand and held it to the wound himself. "So what are you doing here, Rad? How'd you know—?"

"I called him." Joey seemed to think it was her turn with the wet cloth. She shoved Ash's hand aside and held the hanky in her own. "I knew you'd gone to meet someone you suspected. I checked Ted's and found him home alone, so I called Radley to get Beverly Issacs's address."

Ash looked down at her. She kept her gaze on his neck. "And?"

She scrunched her eyebrows together, chewed her lip. "You're not going to like it, but then I didn't much like you slipping out and leaving my father to watch me." She drew a deep breath. "I sort of broke into Beverly's—"

"Sort of
broke in?"

"Well, the window was unlocked. I listened to your conversation on her answering machine. That's how I knew to find you here."

Ash shook his head, visibly upset. "And how did you know, Rad?"

"She sounded so upset on the phone, I decided to meet her at Bev's place and see if I could help. But by the time I got there, she was shooting off like a rocket on that Harley of hers."

"If you followed her, then what took you so long to get here?"

Joey started at the sound of suspicion in Ash's voice. She glanced up at him, worried that he was beginning to mistrust everyone he knew.

"Your lady love is hell on wheels. She lost me two miles back. I drove around for a while trying to catch sight of her, and then it hit me that I was near one of the crime scenes, so I figured I'd check it out."

Joey lifted the cloth from Ash's neck and shivered. The nick was small, not deep. But right above the jugular. If that blade had cut just a bit deeper...

"Can we just go home?” she asked. “I hate the idea of Caroline and the girls there with no one but my father watching over them."

Sirens sounded and grew louder as she finished the sentence. "You can go ahead if you want, Joey." Ash stroked her hair. “I'm gonna have to stick around and answer questions."

She gripped the hand that stroked her hair and held it still. "Dammit, Ash, don't you get it? There’s a serial killer after you. I don't want you out of my sight again, not even for a second."

She bristled when he smiled. "My little bodyguard, right?"

"This is no laughing matter."

"Who's laughing? You just saved my skin." His smile faded, and his eyes took on a serious gleam. "You did, you know. But if you'd been hurt doing it, I'd never have forgiven you. Or myself." He pulled her close, surrounding her with his arms.

“Hell of a woman, you got there, Ash,” Radley said. “You were that close, huh Joey?”

She nodded. “So close. I am so close to knowing who it is. It’s right there, it’s just...just barely out of reach.”

Ash held her tighter. "You were too close. Dammit, Joey, don't risk so much for me. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you."

The police came in, Bev Issacs leading the way. "I heard the address dispatched on the radio in my car before I got five miles away. What the hell happened?"

Joey and Ash exchanged glances, and she knew he was wondering the same thing she was. Had Beverly ever
really
left?