Lone Wolfe Protector (13 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Maggie sat across the booth from Koda, sipping her wine and thinking about the T-shirt in her purse.
He must have fallen in the mud.

Zane had come over to Candi’s apartment covered in mud last night, and asked her to wash his clothes. Why?

Koda studied her over the rim of his beer mug. He set it down and licked some foam from his lips. “Want to tell me what you’re thinking?”

She smiled. The truth was, as much as she’d been looking forward to this dinner, she was having a hard time concentrating on anything other than her brief visit with Candi. What she’d said about Zane had left her off-kilter.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Koda frowned and reached out to touch her hand. She watched his fingers wrap around hers. His hands were sexy, the knuckles large and blocky, his fingers long and thick, with intricate blood vessels snaking underneath the dark skin.

“Nice try,” he said. “What is it?”

Maggie didn’t even know where to start. Tell him about the T-shirt in her purse? Voice her unease about what Candi had said this afternoon? Zane wasn’t a suspect, anyway. That was ridiculous… Or was it?

She lowered her head, unable to look at him. She didn’t know what to think. She was living in a constant state of confusion. But the fact of the matter was that something about Zane Wolfe bothered her. Something about his posture, his very demeanor. It was more than his cockiness, or unusually good looks. He was mysterious, too. And the reason he was mysterious was because as far as she could tell, no one ever seemed to know where he was or what he was doing.

He could be violent, too. His time in prison proved that. Still, Maggie hadn’t wanted to go there for some reason or another. Since she’d met Koda, Candi, and Ara, she felt inexplicably close to their family. She just hadn’t been able to think in those terms. Not seriously, anyway. But today…today when Candi had handed over the shirt, a seed was planted in Maggie’s brain. It was bitter, suspicious, and desperate. And despite her best efforts otherwise, was growing by the second.

“Maggie,” Koda said, squeezing her hand. “Tell me.”

“I really don’t know how.”

He held her gaze, watching, waiting patiently.

When Maggie looked up, it was with some of the stiff resolve that had brought her to this very moment. Didn’t she owe it to Aimee to explore every possible scenario? Falling for Koda shouldn’t change any of that. She couldn’t let it, even if it ended up alienating him. Even if it meant alienating his entire family.

“Remember when you told me I had to be open to every single possibility?”

“I do.”

She glanced around, making sure no one could hear them. Only one other couple sat a few tables away, and the waitress puttered near the register. The smell of meat cooking wafted to her and made her sick to her stomach. She swallowed hard, knowing this would be difficult.

And not wanting to hurt this man she could be…no, definitely, was falling for.

“My question is, are you?” she asked.

Very slowly, he removed his hand. Regret hurt her heart, but she had to keep going. Her words would set something in motion, a runaway train of hurt, denial and pain.

“Go on,” he said.

Her mouth went dry, and she took a sip of wine.

“Have you considered every single person in Wolfe Creek as a suspect?”

His eyes were dark, wary. “Within reason.”

“Koda,” Maggie said, wishing there was a comfortable way out of this. Any way out of this. “Don’t you think it’s strange that no one knows where Zane is half the time?”

“What exactly are you saying, Maggie?”

“I think…you need to consider everyone. No matter how you feel personally.”

The waitress came to refill their water, and he waited until she was gone to speak again. When he did, his voice was carefully measured. “You think my own brother could be responsible for what happened to Aimee Styles?”

“I don’t know what to think. All I can tell you is that I’m an outsider here, looking in. And I see someone who never seems accounted for. Who stabbed someone—”

“That was self-defense,” he snapped.

She composed herself before going on. “Who stabbed someone and spent time in prison. Someone who seems to show up out of the blue injured and dirty. A lot. Why?”

“Because he’s still a stupid kid,” Koda said, his anger a sudden wall between them. “He gets drunk and does things he wouldn’t normally do.”

“My point exactly,” she said quietly.

He glared at her and picked up his beer, never breaking eye contact. He drained it halfway and set it back down. Hard. “This is unbelievable. What in the world would make you think Zane is capable of murder?
Zane,
of all people?” He shook his head. “You know, maybe this whole thing was a mistake.”

She flinched.

“Maybe it wasn’t right involving you so much. You’re obviously too close to see things clearly.”

“Maybe you are, too.”

“What I am, is a little pissed off.”

“I know you are. I know how this must feel. But you have to look at it from my perspective.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. That I’m going to suddenly see my little brother as a killer because you don’t like that he bar hops and gets into fights?”

She plowed on, feeling sicker by the second. “Where was he that night?”

Koda’s face was stony, his lips almost white. “He was with Candi.”

Maggie remembered how intense Candi had looked just a few hours before when talking about Zane. How far away she’d seemed. Maggie’s gut twisted. When was this all going to end? “Would Candi lie for him?” she asked, numb, not wanting to believe that.

“Jesus Christ,” he said through clenched teeth. She hated how he was looking at her. And hated herself then, too. Hated this whole godforsaken situation. Hated Aimee for being so careless and leaving Maggie to pick up the pieces.

“Why stop there,” he said. “Why not suspect me, too?”

She reached for her purse, pulled out the shirt and tossed it on the table. “Candi gave me this today. It’s Zane’s. He stopped by her place last night. It was covered in mud and he wanted her to wash it. She said he was hiking up at Pike’s Peak.”

Snatching it, he eyed the faded Led Zeppelin logo on the front. “You think this proves anything?” He laughed bitterly. “All right. You got me. It’s proof my brother’s a pig and needs to do his own laundry.”

Maggie bit her cheek hard and leaned away from him. She wanted to believe in people again. Wanted to trust what they said, what they did. But Koda had no idea how that night had changed her. He hadn’t known her before, so he couldn’t understand that she was a different person now. A darker person, a more guarded person. That wretched weight had been lifted a little over the last few days, but it hadn’t disappeared. Not by a long shot. Until she found out what happened to her friend, it would always haunt her. Always.

“I feel like he’s hiding something, Koda. And I’m sorry about that. So sorry. But I can’t change how I feel.”

“No, you can’t.”

She stared steadily back, wanting to turn the clock back to a year ago. If she had only kept driving, Aimee would still be alive. And Koda Wolfe would never have been touched by this nightmare.

The waitress brought their food. Neither one spoke. Maggie had long since lost her appetite and Koda looked at his plate as if it were full of cardboard.

“Look,” she said quietly. “Let’s just be honest, okay? I can’t seem to look at anyone without being suspicious, and you can’t look at certain people and
be
suspicious. And that’s all right. That’s okay, because we’re talking about your family. I never should have brought this up with you. It was wrong and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I asked you to keep me so involved. It put you in an awful position. We got too close, and now…” She shrugged. “Here we are. I’m sure you’re regretting all of it by now. But I can’t be sorry, I
won’t
be sorry about needing to find out what happened. No matter what it costs personally.”

He leaned forward, furious. “You think I regret one second of the time I spent with you, Maggie? Is that what you think?”

“I—”

“You’re too wrapped up in yourself to see when someone truly cares about you. And it’s not just me. Candi does, too, and she’s not a liar. She wouldn’t lie about being with Zane.”

Maggie’s throat ached. “I don’t know her that well. It’s only been a few weeks.”

“Well I do. I do know her that well, and she wouldn’t lie. No matter how much she loves him.”

“Maybe she doesn’t think she’s lying. Maybe she thinks he
was
there with her all night. But people fall asleep, Koda.”

He placed his hands slowly, methodically in his lap, a gesture that was scarier than if he’d punched the wall instead. Angry blotches stood out on his bronzed cheeks. She caught her breath, wondering if he really wanted to reach across the table and choke her.
Please, please understand,
she begged silently.

“I don’t know what else there is to say,” he finally bit out. “If you don’t trust me, I don’t know how I can help you. Or how any of this can move forward.”

It wasn’t clear what he meant by “this,” but Maggie had a pretty good idea. She wanted to cry, to throw her arms around him and beg him not to leave her alone with all of this. But she was asking the impossible. She was asking that he consider the possibility his brother could have a vicious dark side. A side none of them had seen or even suspected before this. And Koda loved him too much. It was obvious. He’d always been Zane’s protector, his buffer against the world. And he wasn’t about to stop now.

And neither was Maggie.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Me, too.”

“What now?”

“Honestly?” His voice turned to ice. “I just don’t know.”

A minute passed. Then two, without a single word. Maggie pushed her food around with her fork and snuck a glance in his direction. He was staring at his plate, looking for the most part like he just wanted to get up and leave.

A second later his cell phone rang and he picked it up, glaring at the number. “Wolfe,” he said.

Maggie watched him warily.

“McCay. A little. What’s up?”

She’d talked to Trooper McCay plenty in the early days. Not so much anymore.

“What?” Koda said, his voice dropping. Something about the tone made her put her fork down. “When?”

A cold feeling, heavy as a lead blanket, settled over her shoulders.

“Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I’m on duty tomorrow. I’ll call you in the morning. Later.”

He hung up and looked at her.

“What is it?”

Koda appeared to be choosing his words very carefully.

“Another girl disappeared tonight.”

Maggie sucked in a breath.

“And this time we have a body.”

Chapter Twenty

Maggie moved her clothes from the Laundromat washing machine to the dryer like a robot.

Serial.
That’s the word Koda had used last night, speaking to her as if she were just another citizen now. Professional, but distant. The events that were taking place in Wolfe Creek had all the earmarks of being connected, he’d said.
It’s all speculation at this point, but I think it’ll end up being a serial case.

She’d sat there stunned, unable to believe what he was saying. Another disappearance. And this time the poor girl had been murdered and dumped in a creek two miles down the mountain. She hadn’t been from Wolfe Creek, but the fact that her body had been discarded so close was enough for everyone. Including the police. She’d been partially clothed but her bra had been missing.

Their heated discussion not five minutes before had been the proverbial elephant in the room. She wondered about Zane. He couldn’t forgive her. And that was that.

“I think you should leave now,” Koda had said. “It’s getting too dangerous here. I think we can at least agree on that part.”

She’d looked him straight in the eye. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving again.”

And that’s how they’d left each other last night. He’d been angry, calling her foolish. And maybe she was. But if this was the same person responsible for Aimee’s disappearance, he was getting savagely bold. That meant they were getting close. She could feel it. Even if it meant sacrificing her own safety, she had to see this through. She’d come too far to walk away now. They all had.

Her mother was beside herself, of course. Her whole family was. But Maggie had put her head down and dug in.

She’d argued to all of them, including Koda, that if this was a serial murderer in the making, there would be national attention now. And there was some security in that. He wouldn’t strike again so soon. And at that, Koda had slammed his hand down on the table last night, rattling the silverware.

“I’m not leaving,” she’d said softly.

His anger had actually been a comfort. Because even though he was now decidedly cool, and had made sure to point out that he was only doing his job by wanting to keep her safe just like everyone else, she knew he wouldn’t have been as furious with anyone else, either.

Twenty-four hours later, despite everything, despite promising him she’d stay indoors and keep visiting with anyone to a minimum, life plowed on, and she had underwear to wash.

She looked out the window to the misty fog rolling in, and touched the canister of mace in her pocket. There was still a full hour of daylight left and Ara had known where she was going, when she was due back. Koda was on duty, busy to the point of exhaustion with everything that was happening, but had made a point to check on her earlier.

“I’m fine,” she’d said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. “I’ve got the pepper spray you gave me and I’ll be on my toes. Promise.”

“I wish you’d go.”

“I know. But I can’t. I feel like I’d be failing her twice. And I can’t live with that.”

He nodded, hands in his jacket pockets, his posture aloof, which broke her heart a little. She didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to go back to where they’d been the other night. Folded in his arms, feeling his breath on her neck. But that seemed so far away now. Painfully far.

She wondered what it might be like with Koda without this black shadow hovering over them all the time. For just a moment she let herself picture a time, maybe in the not so distant future, where she could walk with him hand in hand down the curious sidewalks of Wolfe Creek. Sidewalks that used to represent a fear of the unknown, the unexplored. But were now possible pathways to another life. One where there was no murderer in their midst, or painful mystery refusing to be solved. For a blessed second, she envisioned the two of them not with dark days ahead, laced with fog and uncertainty like they so often were. But sunny ones, happy ones. Ones with a promise of warmth for them both.

She’d closed her eyes for a second, unable to look at him. It wasn’t smart to imagine these things now. It was dangerous to want something that may never be.

“As soon as I’m done here,” she’d finally said, “I’ll go back to the Inn.”

“Call me when you get to your room?”

“I will.”

He’d hesitated then, like he wanted to say something more but couldn’t find the words. She waited, watching the way his mouth parted slightly, then closed. She’d wanted so badly to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him. To feel his body against hers, so strong and reassuring. But she wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t have pushed her away, and at that moment, it would’ve killed her.

So she stood there, absolutely still except for her wobbly knees. She held her breath, hoping for a word or a touch, or anything that would make the ache in her throat go away. But whatever he’d been wanting to say or do, he thought better of it and took a step back.

She smiled to hide her disappointment. “So I’ll call you soon,” she’d said.

And then he was gone, pulling away in his SUV and leaving her alone in the empty Laundromat.

Sitting now in one of the flimsy plastic chairs, she stared at her clothes tumbling in the dryer. She’d finished crying ten minutes ago. Or so she thought. A few leftover tears made their way down her face as if to prove a long-standing point.
You’re not as strong as you pretend to be, Maggie,
they seemed to say.

Around and around her clothes went. They fell on top of each other, only to be tossed about again, a virtual tornado of cotton blends and polyester. One of her bras was briefly thrown against the glass before disappearing into the sea of other clothes. She shuddered, wiping her eyes. So the guy had a thing for keeping his victim’s bras.
Sick bastard
.

She hugged herself, lost in thought. Behind her, the door opened with a whisper of frigid air and she turned.

Zane Wolfe walked in, looking dark and out of place in the brightly lit room. He wore an old leather jacket and a black wool hat, which was pulled down low, half concealing his eyes. He stopped in the middle of the room, his chilly gaze intent on only her.

Her skin prickled, and she took an involuntary step back.

“Ara said you were down here.”

“Yeah.” She tried to smile, but couldn’t get her lips to fully cooperate. Her hands were sweaty inside her jacket pockets. “I couldn’t put off laundry anymore.”

“I’m surprised you’d come down here alone. Doesn’t seem very smart to me.”

Maggie looked beyond him and out the window to the foggy, deserted street. Not a soul out there. She was all alone. Alone with a man who could very well be a serial killer. A man whose expression could only be read as naked aggression.

She wrapped her fingers around the canister in her pocket and felt close to panicking.

“Just so you know,” he said. “I never thought it was a good idea for you to be hanging around here. But honestly, I never thought you’d stay this long. Be so persistent.”

She shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

“You’re determined,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Or just stupid.”

“Maybe.”

“My brother.” His voice was soft. “His judgment seems to be clouded at the moment.”

She gripped the pepper spray harder.

“He knows it’s not safe for you here. And he knew you’d bring trouble. That’s a fucking fact.”

“I don’t—”

“But now that he’s thinking with his dick,” Zane continued, “he can’t seem to remember that long enough to send you packing.”

“I can’t leave.”

“You should.”

“I can’t.”

They stared at each other for a long moment with the dryer whirring in the background.

Zane smiled, devilishly handsome. Maggie almost forgot she should be afraid of him.
Almost.

“Well, Maggie Sullivan,” he said. “I don’t know that you’re thinking clearly either.”

“I haven’t for a while now.”

He nodded. The tension between them was unbearable. Maggie’s heart slammed against her chest with such intensity, it was making it hard to breathe.

Behind them the door opened. An elderly woman shuffled in holding an armful of clothes. She gave them a toothy smile before making her way to a washing machine on the other side of the room.

Zane watched her pass and then turned his black eyes on Maggie again. The relief she’d felt was short-lived. There was something about those eyes. Something that made her want to cower like a small dog.

“Anyway,” he said shifting slightly and appearing to relax a fraction. “I just thought I’d come by to check on you. Make sure you’re okay, since you’re hell-bent on staying.”

She didn’t know what to say to that.
Check on her?
She stared at him, letting the words settle. Her pulse skipped in her wrists. Beside them the dryer whirred, an occasional zipper banging against the hot metal inside. And then, very slowly, what he’d said began to sink in.

He turned to go.

“Zane,” she heard herself say.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder. His long hair shone like the hide of a mink.

“Thank you.”

His face seemed to soften a little. Or maybe that was just her imagination.

“No problem,” he said.

Koda turned on his blinker and merged onto the freeway. He reached for his coffee, spilling some on his hand and letting loose a stream of profanities in the process.

He hated leaving town like this, even for a little while, but there was a possible lead in Splendor Pass that couldn’t wait. Patrol was beefed up in Wolfe Creek for the night, and people were being watchful, so that made him feel a little better. But not much.

He thought of Maggie and how she’d looked when he’d left her. So pretty, so full of love and life. The urge to stay had been practically overwhelming. The need to keep her close and safe even more so. But he’d had to remind himself that he had a job to do, and that a lot of people were counting on him. He told himself that with the precautions they were all taking, Maggie would be just fine, and that he’d be back in town in no less than an hour anyway. Still, an uneasy feeling kept nagging at him, making him shift in his seat repeatedly.

Picking up his coffee again, he blew on it before taking a sip. He’d been so angry with her last night that he’d shut off like a switch. Every time he thought about their argument over dinner, he’d block it out, feeling dangerously reactive. But now, making his way down the twists and turns of the mountainside, the nagging feeling continued, until it was like a couple of rough fingernails scratching behind his ear.

He knew Zane wasn’t capable of any of this. He knew it. Yet, Maggie’s doubt refused to give him any peace. Ever since she’d pulled out that T-shirt and set it on the table, Koda had been feeling off. There were questions where his brother was concerned that he’d been ignoring. Consciously or subconsciously, he’d been pushing them aside, choosing to let his love for Zane override his duty as a deputy. If it had been anyone other than his brother, would he have picked up the lighter from Candi’s floor that morning and put it in his pocket? He knew the answer to that, and it made him sick.

The reality was, he felt torn. Torn between loyalty to his baby brother, and the oath he’d taken to protect those who needed him most. And wasn’t Maggie at the top of that list? She needed him. Desperately. And he’d turned his back on her because he didn’t want to see what was right in front of his face. The fact that Zane had a history of less than stable behavior, and there was evidence now, circumstantial or not, that at least warranted some further attention. If he was Maggie, he’d be demanding it, too.

Koda’s duty belt dug into the side of his hip, and he shifted again trying to get comfortable. All of a sudden it felt too tight, and he wished he could shrug it off. Along with all of the pain and worry and responsibility he’d been carrying around since childhood. He loved Zane. But he’d never understand him. He’d never know exactly what was going on inside his head, and that thought made him shiver despite the warmth of the SUV.

He picked up his cell, and dialed A’s number, tapping his finger impatiently on the steering wheel while it rang.

“Hello?”

“A, it’s me.”

“Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine. But I need to talk to Zane. I’d try his phone, but he never has it on him. Is he around?”

“He was, but he left a few minutes ago.”

The darkening landscape outside the SUV passed in a foggy blur. The mist grew thick and watery against the windshield and Koda turned on the wipers with a sudden sense of dread.

“Where’d he go?”

“It was strange,” Ara said. “He went looking for Maggie.”

Maggie opened the door to the dryer and dug out the still-damp clothes. Stuffing them in her laundry bag, she looked out the window as if expecting to see someone standing there looking in. A shadow moved at the corner of her eye and she whipped around, but no one was there. Just like the last time she’d looked thirty seconds ago. She took an even breath.
Great. You’re seeing things now, Maggie.

With trembling hands, she stuffed the last of her clothes in the bag. It was getting dark now with the fog rolling in, and she had no interest in staying there past dark. She’d get back to the Inn, check with Ara, and head upstairs to call Koda. She could hardly wait for the comfort of her little room with the furnace blowing gently in the corner.

Balancing the laundry bag under one arm, she waved to the elderly woman who was engrossed in her needlepoint. Maggie opened the door and walked into the early evening mist, feeling its tiny beads of moisture cling to her face. The town sat quiet, unusually so, and the uneasiness she’d felt in the Laundromat followed her down the sidewalk.

By the time she reached the front steps of the Inn, she hurried to get inside. With one more look behind her, she shut the front door harder than she’d intended.

“Ara?”

The front desk was empty. Maggie walked past and looked around the corner into the dining room, but there was no one there either.

Clutching the bag of clothes, she headed into the parlor where the normally roaring fire was nothing but embers.