Killer Love (25 page)

He knocked on her door. No answer.

“If you’re looking for Jenna, she’s not here.”

He turned. A young, dark haired girl stood outside an apartment a few doors down.

“Do you know where she is?” Luke asked her.

“Are you a friend of hers?” She eyed him suspiciously.

“Yeah. My name’s Luke Butler. Maybe she mentioned me?”

“No. She really doesn’t say much about her friends or her family.” She walked up to him. “I’m Ashley. Nice to meet you.”

“You, too. Do you know when she’ll be back?”

The girl shook her head. “Not exactly. She went out of town. Some kind of family emergency.”

Family emergency.
“Sonofabitch.”

He didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud until he saw the expression on the girl’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Sorry. I’ve got to go.” He stalked away, his mind going crazy with the possibility. Jade had gone to be with her friend. Back to St. Louis. He knew it in his gut.

He reached for his cell phone and punched in Jade’s number. Then he stopped. No way in hell she’d tell him where she was. He called Wayne.

“I need a favor, buddy.”

“Another one?”

Luke ignored his friend’s irritation. “I need you to trace a number for me. Find out where the cell is.”

“Look, this has gone far enough. You can’t keep fucking playing cowboy. You need to get your ass out of there and let the agents on the case handle it.”

“This is important. Stop giving me shit and trace the number.”

“You’re going to lose your job, fuck up the case and no telling what else. It’s over, man. Let it be. You’ve used up all your favors.”

“Listen, this is it, okay? Tell Madsen whatever you want. Tell him exactly what I’ve done. Tell him where I am. I don’t give a shit. This is the last thing I’ll ask but if you don’t do it, Jade could die. If you’ve ever trusted me at all, trust me on this.”

No response.

“Please,” Luke added desperately.

“This is it? You swear?”

“I swear.”

“Give me the number,” Wayne sighed.

Luke gave him Jade’s cell number as he climbed into his car. When he hung up with Wayne, he called Jade.

He listened to the phone ring, his chest tight with fear. What if DiMarco had already found her? Relief washed over him when she answered the phone.

“Where are you?” he asked, knowing she wouldn’t tell him.

“I’m heading home. I had to take care of something.”

“Like what?”

A heavy sigh traveled over the phone lines. “You know, it’s really none of your business. I’ve had a rough few days and I just want to get home. I need to go.”

“Wait.” He didn’t want to end the call. As if contact with her, even through the phone lines, could keep her safe. “I’m sorry about the Senator’s wife.”

“Thanks.” Her voice was thick with tears. She swallowed, then continued. “Are you as sure as I am that it was Bryce?”

“I’m thinking it’s a pretty safe bet.”

“What are we going to do, Luke?”

“I’m not sure, babe.” He clenched the phone, wishing he could tell her what she wanted to hear. He wondered when this had become more about Jade than Delia and he felt a twinge of guilt that it had. “All I can promise is that I won’t give up. Not ever.”

He hung up the phone, a desperate prayer buzzing through his brain.
God, please let me find her before DiMarco does.

Chapter Seventeen

Jade closed her cell phone and lay back on the motel bed, staring at the water stains on the ceiling. Luke would be furious if he knew what she’d done. That she’d gone back to St. Louis for the funeral. She had a feeling he suspected but what could he do? Tattle on her to the US Marshals? Not likely.

And, she’d managed to get away without Bryce knowing she’d been there. Her heart filled with guilt that she’d escaped when Katherine hadn’t. Jade was Bryce’s target yet innocent people were dying. People who were nothing but pawns in Bryce’s sick game.

Where the hell are you, Bryce?
If she knew, she’d be tempted to go to him. Sacrifice herself just to get it over with. Stop the insanity once and for all. She shuddered. God, she wasn’t sure she could actually do that. The man was a psycho...a freak...an abomination. The thought of being in his clutches...being at his mercy...

She forced the thoughts away. Alone in a motel in a strange town...not a good time to think about Bryce. About what he was capable of.

She was so very tired. She felt like she could sleep for days but she knew better. She’d be lucky if she slept at all.

She’d only made it halfway to Solitaire before she’d had to stop. She didn’t see the point of making the return trip at the same breakneck speed she’d kept up on the trip to St. Louis.

Melanie had loaned her a car and arranged to have the Mustang anonymously returned to the lot, along with compensation for the time it had been gone.

As glad as she’d been to see Melanie, as much as she’d missed her, she was just as glad to be going home.

Home
. When had she started thinking of Solitaire as home? Ashley, Jon, Cal. She missed them all.

Luke. Damn. She missed him, too. But it didn’t matter; he’d be gone by the time she got back.

She didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until she jerked awake. She tried to figure out what had awakened her. She didn’t remember hearing a noise, nothing other than the sounds of semi’s roaring by on the highway. And an overly exuberant lovemaking session somewhere above her head.

The lamp was burning. The door was locked. Nothing to fear. She looked at the clock. Four a.m. She’d been asleep for almost seven hours. A deep sleep up to now.

So what had awoken her?

Then she remembered. It was the dream. The one that was so real, it had her heart clamoring to escape her chest. The dream she’d had several times since the night Bryce had slit her throat. A wolf’s head coming at her from the dark. As it flew toward her face, fangs bared, the image switched from Bryce’s face, then back to the wolf’s. But this time...

Her breath caught in her throat. A torrent of chills raced over her skin. She pushed herself to a sitting position and dropped her head in her hands, rubbing the image from her eyes.

This time, her dream was different. This time, the wolf’s face became Luke’s.

****

Luke sipped the tepid coffee, then put it back in the cup holder. He squinted at the headlights of the oncoming traffic and turned up the volume on the radio.

Only a few more miles to go and he’d be with Jade.
Almost there, Jade. You’re not going to like it but I’m almost there.
The trace had shown her to be at a Travel Inn in Salina, Kansas. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact motel room but once he got that close, he’d find her.

What the hell had she been thinking? She’d wanted to be with her friend. She’d been close to Katherine Bomar, but good God, risk her life? If DiMarco found her...

No. She was okay. She had to be.

He cruised through the parking lot of the motel, looking for anything that might indicate which room Jade was in.

In a parking space at the rear, a man sat in a dark red Cadillac, smoking a cigarette. The car had Missouri license plates. It was four-thirty in the morning. Through the curtain in a room directly across from the Cadillac, the muted glow of a lamp burned. Jade was afraid of the dark.

He was pretty certain he’d found her.

He thought about going to the room, confronting Jade, telling her enough is enough. She’d screwed up by going to the funeral; DiMarco’s goon had found her. Now it was time for Luke to call the shots. She was going to listen to him...do exactly what he told her...

At that moment, Jade emerged from the motel room. She climbed inside a blue Camaro and headed out of the parking lot. Sure enough, the guy pulled out behind her. Luke followed them.

Jade drove a few miles down the service road and pulled into a convenience store, parking next to a gas pump.

Gassing up at this time of the morning? Alone? In a strange town? The woman was out of her mind. Terrified of a dark room but rushes boldly where angels fear to tread. If he could get his hands on her right now, he’d shake some sense into her.

The stalker pulled into the parking lot of a closed bank across the street. Jade’s back was to him while she pumped gas. The window of opportunity was small at best. Luke pulled in behind the guy, climbed out of his car and approached the driver’s window.

“Hey buddy, got a light?”

“What the hell...” Before he could complete the thought, Luke had him by the throat. Just enough pressure to knock him out. He quietly went to sleep. Luke dragged the guy from the Cadillac over to his car and popped the trunk. The guy was large and squarely built. His dead weight was difficult to handle but with a little effort and a lot of grunting, Luke managed to get him inside.

He drove across the street and parked at a pump next to Jade. She looked up and instant fury came over her face. Over her entire body.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Cold wind whipped her hair across her cheeks and she shoved it away. “How did you find me?”

“The question is, what the hell are
you
doing?” Now that he knew she was okay, his concern turned to anger. “Are you fucking out of your mind? Do you even understand the
concept
of the Witness Protection Program? It was set up to
protect
you. It’s pretty goddammed hard to do when you pull a stupid ass stunt like this.”

She thrust the pump into the holder and whirled on him. “Stupid ass stunt? Going to be with my friend who needs me was a stupid ass stunt? Apparently, I’m not as stupid as you think. I covered my tracks pretty well and Bryce didn’t find me so you can go straight to hell.”

She stormed around to the driver’s door and Luke followed. He grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face him. “Didn’t find you, huh? The unconscious asshole in the trunk of my car might disagree.”

“What are you talking about?” Her gaze flicked to the rear end of the car.

“Come on.” Luke tugged her arm. She jerked away.

“Leave me the hell alone. I don’t need you and I don’t need the Witness Protection Program. They might have protected me so far, but Bryce has been on a rampage, killing everyone in his path. What the fuck good does it do to stay alive when that sonofabitch takes away the people I love?”

“Getting yourself killed isn’t going to help anyone. We need to end this once and for all, but we need to do it together. Come on. Just trust me.”

Her laugh was bitter, on the verge of hysteria. She wiped at the tears in her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know what to do.”

She looked so lost, so beautiful. Luke wanted to take her away from all of this. He wanted to be her hero.

“Come on, hon. Come with me. Please.”

She shrugged, then looked down at her feet. Gas fumes drifted to him as he waited for her answer. He didn’t know how much force he’d be willing to use but he was determined to convince her to come with him. Finally, she looked up at him and nodded. “I’ll follow you. This is Melanie’s car. I can’t leave it.”

“Call her and she can have someone pick it up. Tell her you had an emergency. Just park it over there away from the pumps.”

“Where are we going?”

“You still have your room, right?”

“I was heading back to Solitaire.”

“Did you check out?”

“No. But I left the key in the room.”

“We’ll go back. You can tell the manager you locked yourself out.”

They didn’t speak on the way to the motel. Luke knew she had plenty to say but for now, she was silent.

He backed up to the door to Jade’s room and waited in the car until she came back with the key. The parking lot was deserted at the moment, he had to move quickly. He took a roll of duct tape from the trunk and shoved it in his pocket before heaving the man onto the sidewalk. Jade unlocked the door and held it open while Luke dragged him into the room.

When the door closed behind them, Jade shook her head, eyes wide as they went from the man to Luke.

“Jesus,” she whispered, as if she hadn’t really believed Luke until she actually saw for herself.

Luke propped the guy in a chair and handcuffed him to it. He filled the ice bucket with water and threw it into the man’s face, then slapped him until he moaned and his eyes flew open.

“What the fuck?”

The guy looked at Luke, then over at Jade. His broad face paled. He knew he was screwed when he saw that his quarry now had him captive.

“Where’s DiMarco?” Luke asked.

The man grinned beneath his fu man chu mustache. His bald head looked oily in the lamplight. “She’s right over there.” He shrugged toward Jade.

“
Bryce
DiMarco, asshole.”

He shrugged, then went mute.

Luke gripped him by the throat. “This can get ugly very quickly. Tell me where the fuck he is.”

“Go to hell.”

Luke relaxed his grip. “What’s your name?”

No answer.

Luke dug in the man’s pockets and found his wallet. He flipped it open and smiled. “Reginald Kenner. Okay, Reggie. You see, at the academy, they taught us that it creates an air of trust when you use a subject’s name. You trust me, Reggie?”

Still no response. “No? Well, maybe it’s because I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Luke Butler. I haven’t slept in almost twenty-four hours. I’m a bit cranky and I’m about to cause you a great deal of pain. You can avoid that by answering my question.”

“Go to hell,” Kenner repeated.

Luke slammed his fist into Kenner’s nose. His eyes watered and blood squirted from his nostrils.

“Luke!” Jade gasped. “For God’s sake.”

“Let me handle this, Jade.”

He went into the bathroom and got a washcloth. He shoved it in the guy’s mouth. Using the duct tape, he secured the gag. He dug in his pockets and pulled out a small pair of nail clippers. Flipping open the pointed nail file, he walked behind the guy and pulled his bound hands upward until he growled a scream through the gag.

He gripped one hand tightly. Then he looked at Jade. She had her fingers clamped over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with horror. And disgust.