Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (23 page)

She
finally abandoned any attempt at conversation with the two agents and retreated to the bedroom
she
’
d shared briefly with John. Sleep would be impossible. The bed held too many memories for sleep. Instead,
she
curled up in the corner of the room as far away from the window as possible
, the Glock within
a
hand's reach,
and listened to the men talking quietly in the next room.

They hadn
’
t said more than a handful of words in
Anna's
presence,
but
with
her
gone, and presumably sleeping,
she
could hear bits of information about the case, along with innuendos.

John
’
s special treatment
of her
was getting some unwelcome attention. Samson and Henderson were new to the division.
Anna
hadn
’
t recognized either of them
, yet t
hey obviously
remembered
the case and
her
.

There
’
d been
rumors
about
John and
Anna's
relationship even before Aaron
’
s death. Afterward, no one dared mention
it or considered
sully
ing
Aaron
’
s name. Then, of course,
Anna had
left.
R
umors hadn
’
t died away in
her
absence.

Somehow,
she must have
managed to
fall asleep
because somewhere in the early morning hours
of the night,
she
was jarred awake by
Gemma
’s
low, fearful growl.

“
What is it
,
girl?
”
Anna
glanced around
the room
. Nothing moved in the darkness.
S
he
could hear the sound of voices still. Then lights flashed across the room. Someone was coming up the dead
-
end drive.

“
Wait here, girl.
”
Anna
grabbed the gun,
dropped
Gemma
on the bed and cracked the door. Samson and Henderson weren
’
t anywhere in sight.

Anna
tiptoed to the living room. The door stood open. The two agents were standing on what passed for a front porch.

Samson noticed
her
first.
“
It
’
s okay,
m
a
’
am. It
’
s just Agent Delaney.
”

Even though
Anna
was still groggy, it took only a minute to understand the implication. John
’
s return meant something had happened. Something important enough for him not to trust
her
safety to anyone else.

“
You should go back inside,
m
a
’
am
,
”
Henderson
encouraged
,
which
Anna
ignored.
She
needed to see John. Needed to see his face.

He got out of the truck and covered the space in just a few strides. While he spoke to the agents, his eyes were for
her
alone. It was like drowning in a vortex of emotions.

“
Something
’
s happened
?
”
Anna
forced
herself
to ask
,
and he was quick to reassure
her
.

“
No. Nothing has happened, Anna. I just wanted…
”
He caught himself before the words were out.
She
saw Samson and Henderson exchange a sneering look. They hadn
’
t missed the electrical sparks passing between John and
her
.

John turned to
Henderson
,
the senior officer.
“
Dave, I need you back in D.C. with Rick. Take the car
.
Thomas and I will stay with Anna.
”

“
O
f
course. Anything I need to know
?
”

John
’
s gaze slid
to Anna b
efore answering.
“
We
’
ll talk outside.
”

Henderson
followed John
,
and
she
was stuck inside with the junior officer Thomas Samson
,
who
’
d turned back into stone man.

Anna tucked the Glock into the pocket of the light jacket she wore and out of sight.
It took only a few minutes before
she heard a car driving
away.

John
came back inside the house
, the silence between
him and Anna
lengthen
ed
.
She
could see he wanted to tell
her
something, but with the stone man watching
their
every move, John kept his silence.

Gemma
yelp
ed
from
inside
the bedroom
and s
he
freed
the dog
from her prison.
Gemma
wouldn
’
t even look at
her, yet s
he all but jumped into John
’
s arms, further increasing Samson
’
s curiosity.

John chose to ignore Samson
’
s thinly veiled smirks
.
“
How old is that coffee
?
”

“
Old. I
’
ll make some fresh. I, for one
,
could use some.
”

John came with
her
into the kitchen where
they
at least had some measure of privacy.

“
Tell me what
’
s happened,
”
Anna
whispered urgently.

“
Nothing. At least, nothing of any importance. I just wanted to be here with you, okay
?
There
’
s nothing I can do in D.C. I wanted to be close to you.
”

Her
hands shook as
she
made coffee.
She
was barely hanging on.
She
couldn
’
t deal with this softer side of John.

He moved closer. His hands hovered above
her
shoulders.
She closed her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to be in his arms.
“
Don
’
t. He
’
ll see. He suspects something already.
We
can
’
t do this now.
”

John's
hands dropped to his sides.
“
Okay. But when this thing is over, Anna, we need to talk.
”

She
would never have that conversation with John.

If he
r time
with Henderson and Samson
stood still
, the
hours
with John
before dawn finally broke
were
even worse.
Anna
was aware of every little move he made. Every look. Ever
y
word spoken. John abandoned
trying to convince her to get some sleep
began to work the phone. From the scraps of conversation
Anna
managed to pick up,
she
discovered the name of
her
stalker was Jericho Lewis and that
they hadn
’
t found any real clue as to where
he m
ight be hiding. Which meant he could be anywhere.

Even
o
n th
is
isolated strip of
coastline
.

Anna
couldn
’
t handle the silence and waiting any longer.

“
Let
’
s go for a walk,
”
he
suggested
.

“
You think that
’
s wise, Agent Delaney?
”
Samson voiced the obvious
cautions
.

“
Probably not. I
’
ll keep my eyes open and we won
’
t go far. If you need me, use the walkie-talkie feature on the phone.
”
He didn
’
t give Samson time to argue.

She
snapped on
Gemma
’s leash and she
and
John walked
without talking f
or a long time
, b
ut it was okay. It was wonderful breathing the fresh
sea
air.

John
touched
her
arm to stop
her
.
“
This is far enough.
”

“
How are
Bev and
Ed?
Ar
e they holding up?
”

He touched her cheek, his thumb scrubbing back a straying hair.
“
They
’
re okay. They
’
re worried sick about you, but other than that, they
’
re fine.
”

Anna
closed
her
eyes.
“
Dammit, I hate that I
’
ve gotten them involved in this thing.
”

“
T
his is not your fault. You didn
’
t ask for this thing to happen.
”

Her
smile held bitterness.
“
Isn
’
t it? I
’
d say it
’
s my fault and yours.
”

“
You don
’
t believe that.
”
The anger in his tone was undeniable.
“
The only thing we
’
re guilty of is acting on
our feelings
.
”

“
You mean acting on our desire
s
.
”

“
No, that
’
s not what I mean at all. It
’
s more than that and you know it. You
’
re just determined to punish yourself because of the way Aaron died.
You and Aaron were
divorced
when we were…together, Anna. We didn't do anything wrong.
”

Anna
turned on him,
her
anger, fueled by frustration, matching his.
“
You don't believe that. The
re
’
s no way to dress it up as anything but what it was. Aaron trusted us. He deserved better
from his friend and wife--ex-wife
.
”

“
Did he? I doubt that.
”
His answer was like a kick in the gut. It threatened to confirm
all of her
worst nightmares.