Hunting (33 page)

Mick’s blood still coated
her hands, though she’d wiped some of it on the leather seats of
the madman’s car. He wouldn’t like it when he found it, but it gave
her a small perverse thrill to know she’d ruined that leather. Her
DNA would be in that car for a long time, long time. Possibly long
enough for Malachi to know what had happened to her...and Paige.
Why had he hurt Paige?

He left Jules in his
garage, cuffed inside his car, garage door down, and engine running
while he carried Paige inside. Jules knew he was just toying with
her. Frightening her so that she would be more docile. He wasn’t
going to kill her in his car. He had other plans for her, and he’d
enjoyed listening to himself tell her all about those plans on the
ride from Malachi’s home to this place. His sick fantasies revolted
her.

Was it his home? It was
eerily similar in appearance to Malachi’s.

He looked like Malachi, and
he lived in a home similar to Malachi’s. And he was an adolescent
psychiatrist, while Malachi was a child psychologist. Had he been
mimicking Malachi for that long? Hadn’t someone mentioned he and
Malachi had grown up together?

That was more than just
sinister—it was bizarre. And sick. Very, very sick.

He came back for her, long
before the car exhaust would have killed her. They both knew that.
Yes, he was just enjoying toying with her. And he probably wasn’t
finished.

He uncuffed her and she
studied him. No weapon in his hands. He must think he had her
contained. Did he know she was an agent as well as a doctor, and
had gone through some damned rigorous training? No, she’d like to
think she was a bigger threat to him than he realized. But then
again...Knight had been an agent and a damned good one. A strong
one, too. And Nathanial had managed to get the best of him. And
Paige. How had he gotten to Paige?

“
Where’s Paige? Have you
hurt her? Why did you take her?”

“
Paige has an important
role to play in this game of ours.” He didn’t drag her into the
house, but the hand he had clamped around her neck ensured her
cooperation. For the moment. She’d need to find what he’d done with
Paige before she did anything.

She was not leaving this
house without her friend. Somehow, she had to find a way to get
them both out. Or neutralize this freaking bastard until Malachi
could find them.

And he would find them.
Hopefully he was already looking...

Jules knew he wouldn’t stop
hunting until he found her. She just hoped he’d found the second
message she’d left for him.

“
Where is she? What did you
do to her?”

“
It was a mere matter of
drugging her tea. You know she likes peppermint tea. I simply had
one already waiting on her when I gave her a ride home this
evening. Her car, don’t you know, has been giving her real fits for
several months now. And nothing the mechanics look at seem to be
the cause.” He laughed, and Jules suspected she was looking at that
cause.

“
What are you going to do
to her?” She had been incidental. He hadn’t meant to take her from
Malachi’s. Jules knew that. He’d said as much, several times. And
was angry that his plans were derailed. But what he spoke of told
her he’d definitely planned to take Paige today. “Are you planning
to kill her?”

“
Unfortunately, yes. For
though she is quite exquisite and I at one time intended to make
her my wife, my plans for her have had to change.”

“
Why?” Jules studied the
house as he pushed her ahead of him into a kitchen so eerily like
Malachi’s she wanted to vomit. Even the color scheme was similar.
“I thought the two of you were friends.”

“
Paige is one of my closest
friends. But sometimes in this
game
, you must make
sacrifices in order to accomplish checking the king.”

“
This isn’t a freaking
game
. It’s people’s lives. How many have you killed now in
this insane parody of a
game
?”

“
Counting Mikhail, whom I
really didn’t intend to use as a pawn, enough to win the game.
Thirty-two in our last game. And the eight pawns sacrificed for
each side. A few others who had special significance, such as Allan
Knight. How could I resist, with such a perfect name?” He pushed
her up the stairs, and into what she knew had to be the master
bedroom. It was as coldly put together as the man, though it did
resemble Malachi’s room. But Malachi’s had warmth, whereas this
room had none.

“
And me? What were your
intentions?” Why wouldn’t she have caught his notice? He’d been at
that damned party on Thanksgiving. He’d been with Paige in the
hospital when Malachi had slept in her room. He’d been with Paige
at church, even. And he must have seen her and Malachi growing
closer. And his biggest goal was hurting Malachi.

“
You. I was going to have
you taken, and kept for a week or two. Just long enough, you
understand, to make Malachi very uncomfortable. Then after you were
rescued—and I killed him—I was going to court you
myself.”

She choked at that. He was
more looney tunes than she thought. “Excuse me? You just thought
you’d do what?”

Her reaction angered him,
and for a moment she regretted it. Then she pushed that regret
away. She’d fight this freaking bastard on everything until the
moment he killed her. How could she not?

Jules was finished being a
coward. And now was probably as good a time as any to stop. “What
about my feelings on the matter? Did you stop to consider how that
would make
me
feel? Kidnapped
again
, the man I cared
about murdered? Do you think I would really have been ready for
another relationship? And what makes you think I’d have
what...courted...with
you
to begin with?”

He didn’t like to be
questioned. Didn’t like that at all. She was half afraid he’d hit
her, but he didn’t. Self-control, he had tons of it.

How could she use that to
her advantage? If she made him lose sight of what he intended it
would go either two ways—he’d kill her or he’d make a mistake. She
was hoping for the latter.

“
You would, of course, be
reluctant. But I am a charming man, and I know what you
like.”

“
Do you?”

He stepped closer, and
Jules fought the urge to step back. Only knowing that taking a
farther step away from him put her closer to the bed had her frozen
in place. His hand rose, and he stroked her jaw. Then her lips. For
the first time since he took her, Jules recognized obvious
real
sexual heat in his gaze.

And that’s when she
understood just what the first part of his plans for her were. He’d
take what Malachi had, and that included Jules. Especially
Jules.

He smiled, cold enough to
freeze Florida. “I know you love Italian food, and that after that
child goes to bed, you snuggle under a quilt Meredith made you and
read romance novels. I never would have expected such from you. But
you devour those books like candy. I know, my dear, how you love
soaking in a hot bath for close to an hour, but you only do it when
the little girl is asleep. I think you like the soft touch of the
water on that beautiful skin of yours...” He gripped her chin in
strong fingers. His eyes darkened with sudden hatred. “I know what
your body looks like when you are fucking Malachi
Perfect
Brockman. I know what it looks like when you orgasm underneath him.
And I don’t understand how a woman like you can be with a man like
him. He’s a charlatan, don’t you realize? He’s a statue, a
mannequin, an
act
who gets by on false charm and sleazy back
scratching. He’s earned nothing he has. Nothing. And yet he
has...you. He did. But now I do.”

He released her face, and
yanked the coat from her body. Jules fought, but he was a damned
strong man. He pulled the cardigan she wore to fight the morgue’s
chill next, popping the three blue buttons with little thought. Was
he going to strip her and rape her right there in his
bedroom?

He grabbed her, a hard arm
behind her waist and lifted her. Jules kicked at him, as hard as
she could. It did little good. He was just too damned big. And too
damned determined to have her.

He kissed her, grinding his
mouth against her lips until she tasted blood. He grabbed her chin
again, and pried her mouth apart, forcing his tongue inside. Jules
employed the only defense she could. She bit down, hard.

He would not rape her, not
without one hell of a fight.

Within heartbeats of the
cop’s bombshell, Ed Dennis sprang into action, commandeering a
conference room right there at the hospital. Malachi appreciated
the older man’s not wanting to waste time by rushing everyone back
to PAVAD. And it was obvious Ed understood Malachi’s conflicting
needs to be with his brother and family now, and his need to find
Julia.

His parents had arrived
moments after the chess pieces were discovered, and they’d brought
Ruthie. She’d rushed up to him and hugged him. Clung to him,
obviously sensing something was seriously wrong, and needing the
safety of the familiar. Now she was with Dan’s wife Ally, who
Malachi knew would take good care of her. Ally’s youngest child was
a little girl a year or so older than Ruthie. Ruthie would be fine
with Ally.

At least until he found her
mother.

Al was with their parents,
giving them as much comfort as she possibly could. They seemed to
understand that Malachi’s attention had to be on finding
Julia.

He didn’t know how he’d
survive if he didn’t.

Was this how she had felt,
seeing her husband die that day? Or was it so much worse because
she had built a life with that other man? He wouldn’t let that fear
and loss hit him, not until he had the answers he sought. And not
until he found Julia.

Marianna, Ed’s fiancée, had
coordinated with the local police via phone and video conferencing
to have all the physical evidence collected at Malachi’s house
taken to PAVAD headquarters after it had been photographed, and
photos sent to Malachi and the others. Hopefully in that evidence,
scant though it was, would be something to reveal just who had
taken Jules.

“
Other than Allan Knight,
did you have anyone in mind?” Ed asked, files spread before
him.

Malachi alternated between
studying the white board, and pacing. “A few. It had to be someone
who I had known, even peripherally, for the past five years. Since
New York. I was only there for a year. Allan and I worked a few
cases together—he was assigned Newark field office. And everything
else just seemed to fit him.”

“
Him and someone else.”
Lorcan pointed to the board. “You have other names here. Who are
they?”

“
Rocky Hurt. CIA. Also in
both New York and St. Louis near the same time periods. Quin
Bowman, New York and Kansas City field offices. We weren’t ever on
the same teams, but were in the same unit. And this one is a far
leap. Nate Collins. He was a childhood friend I lost touch with in
junior high. But he ended up moving to New York. He transferred
here about a year or so ago. But he’s not a work associate. He’s
really more a friend with my mother than me or Mick or
Al.”

“
That’s the guy who hangs
around Paige, isn’t it?” Lorcan asked.

“
He’s got a bit of thing
for her, I think.” Malachi honestly didn’t see it being any of the
three men on the board. They were all his friends. But it was
possible, wasn’t it? And if it wasn’t one of them, who had he
missed? It had to be someone close to him, right?

Wouldn’t a close personal
friend be able to do the things the chessmaster UNSUB had managed
without coming across Malachi’s radar simply because they were
friends? Because it was always harder to see the enemy within your
own camp compared to the one across the battlefield?

But which one, and
why?

“
Guys, has anyone noticed
who else is missing?” Ana asked quietly, drawing everyone’s
attention her way.

“
Who?” Ed asked, moving to
the woman’s side. She was the only female in the room, the rest of
the room consisted of Ed, Hell, Dan, Lorcan, Fin, and Malachi. The
top of PAVAD. Georgia was overseeing the waiting room crowd of
agents, prepping them to be deployed in any way that her father and
Malachi needed.

“
Paige
. Sebastian,
has anyone on your team heard from
her
?”

Lorcan shook his head. “No.
And we should have.
Dammit
. If she knew it was your family
in trouble, Mal, Paige would be right here in the thick of things.
Right by Al’s side. I should have noticed, dammit!” He grabbed his
phone and dialed.

But Malachi suspected they
all knew what had happened.

“
There were three pieces
found tonight...” Ana whispered. “Black pawn by Mikhail. White
queen
and black
queen
in the house.”

And they had never found a
piece without a body. Other than those at Allan’s house—they’d
confirmed the pieces were probably from a similar set as those
other pieces in evidence. Why hadn’t they noticed earlier? Put it
together and realized Paige was a victim as well? If she was...
“Julia isn’t the only one he’s got.”