Promises of Mercy(Montana Promises-Book 1) (9 page)

“What you need is a six-pack of beer and a bunch of women to fuck.” Stone didn’t bother looking around to see a few heads turn.

“You know where I can find a few?” He was kidding, but it felt good not to have the blanket of hostility hanging between them for a change.

Ever since Emma Luther’s murder, his life had been hell. He and Stone shared everything, including women,
but of late Stone made sure their contact had been kept to a minimum. He knew what and who precipitated the change between them—Amber Delacroix—though even he could see his actions added to the divide.

Maybe if he got out and forgot about the case for a few hours, the lead that was niggling at him might surface.

“I know of one woman you might like.”

Cade bet he was referring to Amber. He couldn’t even entertain the idea. She was a suspect.

Even though he’d been distracted, Cade had noticed his roommate had changed. One-night stands had been the norm, but not recently. Cade sensed that ever since Stone had met Amber, he wanted more. Hell, Cade did, too.

Cade leaned back in his chair trying to give off an air of confidence. “I have to say I like the change in you. What happened? I thought you’d come in to punch me, not offer me some entertainment.”

His jaw hardened. “Amber is not entertainment.”

“Sorry.
I hadn’t meant to imply she was.”

Stone straightened. “I saw your face in the interrogation room and thought long and hard about it. You really don’t think Amber is guilty, do you?”

It was time to be honest. “No.” He dropped the façade and shoved a hand through his hair. “But fuck me if I can find another suspect. Amend that. There are about fifty people who are capable and have the ability to put someone out of his misery, but I don’t have hard evidence on any of them.”

“This might be selfish on my part, but I think you owe Amber an apology.”

He chuckled at that comment even though he saw no humor in it. “I don’t think Ms. Delacroix would let me get close enough to say I’m sorry. Besides, until I have the murderer in custody, I can’t say those words.”

“I figured you’d tell me that. So find the bastard.”

“Like I’m not trying?”

Stone shrugged. “I thought you should be aware that while you’re doing your job, I plan on being there for her.”

That wasn’t news, but there was an added cockiness he hadn’t seen in Stone before. Cade leaned closer. “You didn’t—” Asking his roommate if he’d slept with her within earshot of his colleagues wouldn’t be cool.

“Not yet, but when the time’s right, I will.”

Stone had lost his mind. “She just lost her brother.” Even if she killed him, which he seriously doubted, she’d still be grieving.

“That’s why I walked out last night. Just wanted to let you know you should hurry.” With that, he spun on his heels and strode out.

God help him if Cade didn’t crack this case soon.

Chapter Nine

Just knowing she’d soon
spend time with her friends for their weekly happy hour had kept Amber sane for the last few days. She hadn’t made the last two get-togethers, and she’d really missed the camaraderie. All of her friends, as well as Stone, told her having a routine would help her regain a sense of normalcy. So, here she was on her way to the weekly affair.

Not that she believed the grieving was over, but she was beginning to put a few things in perspective. Or at least she wanted to believe she was succeeding. For starters, she was keeping a more careful watch over her terminally ill patients. Any time a doctor came in, or a therapist showed up, she tried to
remain nearby. Having someone else die under her care would be too much to bear. She could only hope that Chris was the last victim.

When she wasn’t in protection mode, she thought of Stone. Yes, she was embarrassed for having propositioned him, but he’d been willing. In retrospect, he’d
also been right. She wasn’t ready to be with a man yet. But with each passing day, she’d felt a little more like her old self.

Stone called almost every night, mostly to talk, but they had gone out to dinner twice. Both times he’d brought her home
and made some excuse why he shouldn’t come in. He said when the time was right, he’d know.

Why
was he the only one to decide?

She parked on Second and Peak, a block and a half away from Banner’s Bar
, where she was meeting her friends. From the number of cars, it looked like it was going to be a busy night.

That’s it.
Jamie said something about the owners bringing in woman to teach line dancing. Amber hurried inside where the air smelled of beer and peanuts, and the noise and music were loud. She totally loved it.

Jamie waved. “Over here!”

She was with Becky Andrews, the nurse who often manned the desk on the third floor; Zoey Donovan, the hospital’s psychologist; and Melissa Williams from gynecology.

“Am I late?” Amber pulled out a seat. She poured herself a glass from the half-
empty pitcher of sangria sitting in the middle of the table then waved the container, “I can see I am.”

They chatted a bit and then
Zoey leaned forward. “I heard you’re dating Stone Benson. He’s such a catch, girl.” She wiggled her brows in an obvious attempt to keep the conversation upbeat.

A quick shot of jealousy filled her. “You’ve been out with him?” She wouldn’t have been surprised if the fiery redhead had.

Zoey dropped her chin and looked up at her. “No, but from your reaction you are rather far gone.”

Now she saw through the hospital psychologist’s ploy. Zoey was trying to take Amber’s mind off the recent tragedy. “Your shrink hat is on backwards. Stone Benson is… a friend.” Both Jamie and Becky cleared their throats. “Okay, he might be a bit more than that, but trust me, we haven’t slept together.”

On that note, she picked up the pitcher and noticed both her glass and the large container were empty. She hadn’t even remembered drinking hers. Abby, the waitress, came over with a refill. When had her friends even placed the order? She definitely needed to get her head in the game.

Becky looked up and nodded toward the entrance. “Okay, now there’s someone I could sink my teeth into.”

Everyone at the table turned, and Amber’s heart nearly stopped.

* *

Cade had needed to get away from the precinct. He was supposed to get off work an hour ago, but he went over the two cases one more time, searching for that elusive clue he was positive was there.

As he stepped into Banner’s Bar, lots of giggling, along with one big whoop, caught his attention. He spotted the owners, Justin and Brandon, moving some tables to the side. The big banner announcing Jillian Dwaine, the line dance instructor, glared out at him. Her picture looked hot. Usually the sight of something that pretty would have sparked his interest, but not tonight.

As he made his way to the bar, he let his gaze drift to the area where all of the giggling originated. The second he saw Amber Delacroix, a rush of emotions flashed through him—no doubt part was guilt, and some was from the connection he’d felt between them despite the bad circumstances. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was experiencing some honest to goodness lust, and he hated himself for that weakness.

Her chin lifted and when their eyes met, the distaste radiating from her doused his burgeoning erection.
Thank you, Amber, for that
.

He swiveled onto the stool and waved to Adam, the bartender.

“Long time no see, stranger.” Adam pulled the cloth from his shoulder and polished the wet splotch on the bar in front of him. “Where have you been, man? The dart games aren’t the same without you.”

“You hear about the murders at the hospital?”
He wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

Adam’s cheer disappeared. “A real shame, though if I were that far gone it might be a blessing in disguise to have someone help me reach the other side faster.”

Cade felt the same way, but the law didn’t think so. “Anyone else you know have that same opinion?”

His hand stilled. “Oh, fuck. You don’t think I had anything to do with those deaths? I haven’t stepped foot in the hospital since Brandon had an appendectomy three years ago.”

“No, but if anyone comes in bragging about helping someone bite the dust, let me know, will ya?”

“Sure.” Adam nodded to the table. “By the way, the pretty brunette over at the
big table has been staring at you since you walked in.” Adam leaned on his elbows and bent close. “I bet you could get lucky if you played your cards right.”

Cade glanced at the table to see if perhaps more than Amber was a brunette. Two of the girls were, but only Amber was shooting
him lethal stares. “Even if I had fifty-two aces in my hand, I bet I wouldn’t win anything with her.”

Another roar came up from their table. “How long have they been here?” From what Stone said, Amber rarely drank more than one glass of wine.

“About an hour and a half. So what can I get you?”

“Whatever ale you have on draft.”

“Coming right up.”

Against his better judgment, he twisted around and studied the room. The line-dancing instructor, who didn’t quite look as good as her picture, was speaking with Justin. From the way she was gesturing unhappily and pointing, Cade guessed it was about the music
that was rather loud. When he swung his gaze over to Amber, she was actually laughing. She looked real pretty when she had a smile on her face.

Two men walked in and looked around. Cade shot to high alert. One was Rob Gardner, who had a record for petty theft. The other “gentleman” was Sam Richland. If his ex-wife could be believed, he liked to sweep women off their feet with a lot of promises then abuse them. That sounded like Cade’s old man except for the abuse part.

Both cowboys were in the mid-thirties and appeared to be on the prowl.

“Here’s your drink, Cade.”

He wasn’t a beat cop anymore and should probably mind his own business. He spun back around and polished off half the glass in one long chug. God that tasted good. Maybe Stone was right—he should get out more.

The music struck up and the instructor invited newbies and experienced alike to come on up and try the line dance.

Adam served two more customers then headed back to him. “I still think you should ask the brunette to dance.”

“Amber would rather take on a buffalo than me.”

“Ouch. Sorry man. Didn’t know you knew her that well.”

Her laughter rose above the country music. He turned to
find Sam leaning over the table with Amber’s face tilted up toward him, a smile on her face.

Damn. Sam was a snake. He was tempted to grab the guy by the neck and toss him out, but so far he’d done nothing wrong, and Amber seemed taken by him. If Stone’s sister could be believed, Sam Richland was a good-looking man with the devil of a heart. Amber was too naïve to see what kind of man he was.

She scooted back her chair, and Sam grabbed her hand to escort her to the dance floor. For a second, Cade was tempted to ask someone, too, just so he could be on the floor with her. Amber needed the protection.

To hell with it. It was her life. She and Stone didn’t have a permanent relationship, so there was no reason to interfere. She was a grown woman and a professional to boot.

“Another one?” Adam asked.

“Sure. Why not?” He wasn’t on duty.

The song ended and Sam escorted Amber back to her table. Cade faced the bar again and had knocked back half of his ale when his cell rang. He debated not answering it, but his work ethic refused him the luxury. Slowly, he extracted his phone from his pocket, thinking it was probably Stone wanting him to join a few of the firefighters for drinks or maybe even a couple of games of pool.

Wrong
. It was Dan Hartwick, his boss.

“Carter.”

“Cade, I’m afraid one of the doctors at the hospital is certain one of her patients was murdered.”

Cade’s gut churned, and his anger grew as Dan rattled on, giving him the name of the patient and the attending physician.

“When did this occur?” His heart jumped around inside his chest like his ribs were playing hot potato.

“Forty-five minutes ago.”

“I’ll be right there.”

The ramification of that struck him hard. If this woman died less than an hour ago, and Amber had been at Banner’s Bar long before that, then she couldn’t have been the killer. It was possible she had a hand in the first two deaths, but that probability was slim.

This reeked of a serial killer.
Shit
. He’d been wrong. So very, very wrong. He doubted any words he said would appease her, but he had to offer them.

As he turned to find Amber so he could apologize, all of her friends were at the table, except her. His pulse spiked. Sam was gone, too.
Fuck
.

Cade reached into his pocket and dropped a ten on the counter for Adam. “When did Amber leave?”

“While you were on the phone.”

“Thanks.”

Cade slid off the stool and strode toward the door, his mind splintering. His attention raced between Amber and the recent death.

Hartwick’s words
continued to rattle in his brain. Rock Hard had its first serial killer—assuming the same person executed all three murders—and Cade’s blood ran cold. It was close to seven on a Thursday night. He could be so lucky the time frame would narrow down the suspects.

He stepped outside and turned left toward Peak where he’d parked. He passed Nancy’s Fabrics and halted. Two people were arguing a block and a half away. He didn’t have time to intervene, but when he drew closer and saw it was Amber, his blood pressure rose. As if the sequence of events were frames in a slow motion movie, Cade watched Sam grab Amber and shove her hard against the car.

“Sam,” Amber yelled. “Stop. Get off me.” She grasped his arms and pushed him, but the man didn’t budge. He outweighed her by almost a hundred pounds.

Cade went ballistic,
and he was beside her in seconds.

Without asking what was going on, he shoved Sam back. “What the fuck is your problem?” His breath rushed out, and he got in the man’s face. “When a lady says stop, it means stop.”

Sam held up his hands. “Easy, detective. Inside Banner’s, the little woman was asking for it.” He lowered his arms and faced her. “Next time, don’t act like you want a real man to fuck you then say no.”

He glared at Cade and stormed off. Cade returned his attention to Amber. Her arms were crossed and her gaze unfocused, as if she was about to break.

“You okay?”
No, dumb fuck. She’s just been attacked
.

“I think so.” She still didn’t look at him. His gut swam. She drew in a large breath. “Thank you. I tried to fight him off but he kept pushing me and I—”

“No thanks necessary. Keep breathing. It’ll be okay.” A strong urge to enfold her in his arms took over, but he refrained. She still thought he hated her. Making sure not to get too close, he opened her car door. “Do you want me to follow you home?”

When she finally made eye contact, her brows were pinched. “Why did you even stop? You think I’m a killer. Do you always come to the rescue of evil people?” Her voice had sharpened with each word.

He was pleased she’d snapped out of whatever place she’d withdrawn to.

“No. I stopped when I saw it was you.” He inhaled. “Listen. About my accusation and the interrogation. I need to apologize.”

“Hell yeah, you do.” Her body froze and her eyes widened. “You caught the killer?”

He wished with his whole heart that he could say yes. “No. There’s been another death at the hospital though.”

“People often die there.”

He placed a hand on the hood of her car, trying to decide how much to tell her. “One of the doctors believed her patient was murdered tonight.”