If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense (21 page)

He frowned and sat up, raking his fingers through his hair.

“Lena,” he muttered and shook his head.

“What?”

He looked over at her and said, “I just thought of something.”

“The night she reported the screams.”

He cocked a brow at her. “How did you know about that?”

“I started going through some of the public records and archives, that sort of thing.” Shivering, she sat up and dragged the blankets around her. Her golden eyes were tormented, sad, and it only took a moment to figure out why.

“I think it was Joely she heard screaming,” Nia said quietly, staring at him. She swallowed and closed her eyes. When she looked back at him, her eyes were damp, but she didn’t let the tears fall. “I think Joely almost escaped, but he caught her. Lena must have heard her.”

Law nodded. “That makes sense. They looked around some, but it was late, dark. They came back out, did another go through the woods, I know that. There just wasn’t anything for them to find.”

“I was out there. Looking around.”

“Out where? In the woods?” Law demanded.

“Yes.”

Law closed his eyes. Told himself to count to ten—but he reached thirty and still hadn’t calmed down.

“Let me get this straight—you go into the woods where you’re pretty sure your cousin was killed, and you’re just merrily hiking along. Am I getting this right?”

She cocked a brow. “Yes. That’s about right.”

Long, tense seconds of silence stretched out between
them before he shattered it as he demanded, “Why? What in the
fuck
were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that he has someplace out there where he had her,” she snapped, shoving to her feet. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “And right now I’m thinking I don’t care for your attitude, damn it.”

“Too fucking bad, because I don’t care for the thought of something happening to you!”

Swearing, he turned around and started to pace, images of what could have happened running through his mind even as other thoughts swamped him, turning everything into a jumble.
Shit, shit, shit—

“What were you hoping to find?” he snapped. “A little treehouse with a sign reading
Serial Killer’s Hangout, please come in
?”

Well, one thing about that tone of his, it did a damn fine job of turning her uncertainty and fear into anger.

She sneered at him, torn between kicking him out and railing at him. The only thing that kept her from doing so was the fact that she had
known
going out there wasn’t all that smart—and she didn’t give a damn. She’d do it again.

“Look, hotshot,” she said, struggling to keep her voice level. “I know it wasn’t the smartest damn thing in the world, but I can’t just keep waiting around and doing
nothing
.”

“And what in the hell did you think you’d accomplish going out there?”

“Well … I certainly made somebody uncomfortable, didn’t I?” She glanced toward the window and suppressed a shiver. Wrapping her arms around herself, she retreated to the bed. She settled on it with her back pressed against the carved wooden headboard, knees drawn up to her chest.

“What am I supposed to do, Law?” She stared at him. “Just wait around forever when I know, in my gut, that the bastard who killed her isn’t dead? Because the sheriff can’t do shit unless he finds some kind of proof.”

“Damn it, Nia.” He swore and looked away, a heavy sigh leaving him. He dropped down onto the couch, staring at her with dark, worried eyes. The anger had drained away, as quickly as it had come, it seemed.

But he was still worried. She could see that.

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked again. “I
can’t
go back to my life until something happens here. I can’t. I tried. I’m too hung up on this, and if that makes me obsessed, then fine, I’m obsessed. If I run headlong into something and that makes me a fool, then fine … I’m a fool. But at least I’m doing something. I can’t
not
do something. Joely’s killer isn’t dead. And I can’t pretend like he is.”

Fuck
.

The longer he stared into her golden eyes, the harder it was to hold on to his anger—not that he was letting it go. He was still madder than hell about that—mad, terrified—shit, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been that scared.

Unless maybe it was when he’d been tearing through the woods after Remy, trying to track down Hope all those months ago.

This, though, something about it felt maybe worse. The thought of Nia going through the woods …

Stop. She’s fine. Focus on what in the hell she hoped to find—and next time, make sure she thinks to take you with her
.

Blowing out a breath, he locked his eyes on her face, tried to block the worry, the fear, all of that out. He needed to think now—needed to listen. “What were you hoping to find, Nia?”

“I don’t
know
,” she said again, groaning. She smacked her head back against the headboard, closing her eyes. “And hell, once I was out there, I started walking around, wondering … the cliffs. Made me think …”

Her voice trailed off and she looked away.

“What?”

Nia shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Nia …” Scowling, he shoved off the couch and crossed the floor, settled down on the bed, just in front of her. Pulling on her ankles, he eased her legs down, one on either side of his hips, then he curled his hands around her butt, tugging her into his lap. “What is it, Nia?”

When she remained silent, he nipped her chin. “Come on, baby. I haven’t thought anything you’ve said was crazy yet, have I? Other than you trampling around by yourself when you’re pretty damn certain there’s a killer’s hangout somewhere close by, that is.”

Cupping her cheek in his hand, he guided her face around until she was looking at him. Her eyes, darker with worry, fear, met his. Sighing, she dropped her head forward, resting it on his shoulder. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I think she died there, Law. Somewhere in those woods. I …”

She stopped, licked her lips. “I think she died there—was killed there. Somewhere close. I think he has a place in there.” She swallowed and lifted her head, stared at him. “I … you asked what I was looking for. I think … well, I think there might be a cave or something like that out there. There has to be
something
, you know. If she did die out there, it has to be someplace he can hide, because if there was a house, people around here would know, right? So underground, a cave, that sort of thing, it makes sense. I think he’s got a place, someplace where he kept her, held her prisoner.”

A cave—

A cave—

Law looked like she had smacked him across the side of his head with a two-by-four, Nia thought, staring at his face. His eyes were dazed, distracted, staring off into the distance. He muttered something, shook his head.

“What?”

He didn’t answer, though, just kept muttering.

She didn’t really get irritated, though, until he rather unceremoniously moved her off his lap onto the bed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone while Nia stared at him, trying to figure out just what in the world he was mumbling about.

“Law?”

He didn’t answer, still fiddling with his phone. Irritated, she clambered off the bed and stood up, getting pissed off. What in the world had she said?

“Damn it,” he snapped behind her.

Turning around, she looked at him as he stood up and shoved his phone into his pocket.

“What in the world are you mumbling and shaking your head and scowling about?”

“I’m not sure. Come on. We need to go back to my place—I need to check something out.” He grabbed his jeans, pulling them on without bothering to look for his boxers.

She stood there admiring the view, a little too distracted by said view for a moment to even realize what he’d said. Then she jerked herself back to attention. “Huh? Go where? Check what out?”

“Something. I’m not sure,” he said, that distracted look still on his face—distracted, kind of sexy, brooding. He had a faint line between his brows like he was thinking damn hard about something and despite her irritation over his suddenly strange behavior, she found herself thinking
about how damn gorgeous he was—and then she wanted to kick herself.

Crossing her arms over her naked breasts, she glared at him. “You’re not sure what we’re checking out?”

“No. That’s why we need to go home. It’s been a few years since I looked at all that shit.” He stared at her, frowned. “You’re not dressed.”

“No. I’m not. You haven’t told me why we’re supposed to be leaving or what we’re looking for.” Fucking strange—why hadn’t she noticed how easily his mind moved from one topic to another before now?

“Caves—you said something about caves,” he said patiently, like he was talking to a child. Like she could follow whatever very strange path his brain was obviously taking—the one she was having a very hard time following. “I need to look at my maps.”

“Maps?” She stiffened. Inside her chest, her heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah.” He looked around. “You need clothes.”

“Damn it, Law, what
maps
?”

Rummaging through Nia’s closet, he pulled out a black shirt. He tossed it at her, along with the bra that was draped over the foot of the bed. “The maps that aren’t here,” he said, trying to guide his brain back to the present, although it was racing just then—racing as a picture suddenly started to come into focus.

It wasn’t
caves
Nia needed to be looking for—although she didn’t need to be looking for a damn thing, and shit, he couldn’t exactly leave her alone, either. He saw a pair of jeans in a tangle on the floor and he scooped them up, dumped them in her arms. She was glaring at him, giving him the same irritated look a hundred other people had given him when his brain took a little side trip, but he wasn’t about to try to explain anything to her just yet.

Ezra needed to know this first. And Law wasn’t about
to tell Nia what he was thinking and then
leave
her here. So she needed to go with him, so she’d be kind of stuck with him—stuck, and safe.

While she stood there,
still
not getting dressed, and fuming, he gave her the smile that he used with others—sheepish, self-deprecating. “Look, I just need to look at a few things—you made me think of something, but I can’t entirely remember it, okay?”

Not a lie. He
didn’t
remember entirely … 
where
.

“So the sooner we get to my place and I look at the maps and stuff, the better, right?”

Her eyes full of suspicion, she turned away and headed to the bathroom.

Five minutes later, she emerged, dressed, silent, and still watching him like she didn’t entirely trust him.

T
HE DEPUTIES FOLLOWED THEM
.

Law wasn’t too sure how he felt about that, but he wasn’t going to throw a fit about it, either.

Right then, his brain was too occupied just trying to figure out what in the hell he was going to do once he told Nia what
was
in the woods. Not
caves …
but yeah, there was something underground. Or at least there had been. A long time ago.

Stands to reason it could still
be
there, right?

And if it was, what then? What then? Short of locking her up and throwing away the key, he suspected he didn’t have a chance at keeping her out of those woods.

But if the incident from last night had
anything
to do with what she was doing in the woods yesterday …

Shit
.

The drive home took too long, and yet, not long enough. He was still wracking his brain, trying to come up with ideas, plans, scenarios—things that normally never failed him.

For once, though, his mind was blank.

The silence between them was tense, heavy, as he parked behind the house, not bothering to put the car in the garage. He had a feeling they’d be heading over to
see Ezra sometime that afternoon, so what was the point?

He tucked the keys in his pocket after he unlocked the back door, automatically reprogramming the alarm system he’d had installed after what had happened months ago with him and Hope. Nia came in behind him, sauntering into the house with her hands tucked into her back pockets. As she moved over to the island, he shot a glance at the key rack where he kept the keys to the other cars.

Shit.

He grabbed them, tucked them into his pocket, too—he always kept the two spare keys there even though Hope had a set herself. Couldn’t make it that easy for Nia to take off running if she got pissed, right? Not that she’d ever do anything that impulsive, he thought sardonically.

She gave him a quizzical glance, which he ignored in favor of the liquor cabinet.

He needed a drink. A strong one. Screw heading over to Ezra’s—Ezra could come here.

“Want a drink?” he asked as he pulled the whiskey out of the cabinet.

“Sure.” She grimaced and said, “I’ll take the whiskey with some Coke, if you’ve got it. Whatever has your boxers in a twist probably isn’t going to improve my mood.”

He sighed. “Sorry. I … shit, my brain doesn’t track too well when I’m distracted. Gets worse when I’m worried or pissed. Right now, it’s both.” He fell silent as he made her drink, then his own. She got Coke and ice for hers—he drank his straight. It burned a line down his throat, but it didn’t do a damn thing to ease the knots in his belly.

“Come on,” he said after he topped his drink off. “Some of the shit is going to take me a few minutes to find.”

*   *   *

A few minutes?

Hell, Nia thought, two hours later, while she listened to a one-sided conversation—how about a few
hours
?

“You sure? Damn it, I thought I’d checked there—yeah, yeah, okay.”

He hung up the phone and sighed. “Hope rearranged everything, has my maps filed up in the attic.”

“We just spent an hour in the attic.”

He scowled. “Yeah, but I wasn’t looking in a file. Was going through the boxes where I’d dumped it all.”