not.”
“Dani was half of me.”
She followed the road for a couple miles, then pulled over to the side and parked. They got out and she led him across the lawn to the Michaels family plot. Jared didn’t say anything as she stood over Dani’s grave and felt her eyes burn. He just came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, setting his chin on her shoulder. They were there a long time, long enough for her to find her voice and tell him about the early-morning call that had irrevocably changed her life.
“There was talk of a boyfriend,” he said softly. “You didn’t know who he was?”
“Oh, I know him,” she said grimly. “I just don’t know his name. When Dani made it clear his identity was a secret, I knew he was someone familiar to me and she didn’t want me razzing her about him. That’s a big reason why I moved back to Lion’s Bay after she died. I wanted to figure out who he was and what he might know. I thought he’d come forward by now…that just looking at me every day would shake him up.”
“Do you know how fucking dangerous that is?” His voice was rough with fury. He turned her around to face his glare. “After what was done to her?”
She’d identified her sister’s body, although everyone in town had known who Dani was and one look at Darcy’s identical face proved it. The coroner had draped Dani’s body in a sheet from the neck down, but Darcy was aware of what the Prophet was known for…the sick mutilations he did to his victims’ bodies. “I can’t let Dani go while her killer’s still out there, Jared. And honestly, with her gone, I’m half dead anyway.”
“Bullshit. I’ve been inside you. When I’m touching you…fuckingyou…you’re so alive you burn me up with it. I see you trying to get out of this shell you’re just surviving in, living a life that doesn’t suit you one damn bit.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m going to get him, Darcy. He’s going to pay for putting that look in your eyes. I promise you that. Let me do my job. Let me keep you safe.”
Her breathing picked up. “You think he’s in Lion’s Bay, too?”
“I think it’s likely, yes. The candy shop—your sister have any connection with that?”
Darcy frowned. “She was a customer. Dani had a sweet tooth. She stopped by there almost every day to buy a dollar or two of candy to carry around in her lab coat. And we celebrated our twelfth birthdays there. Why?”
“Every place our torch has hit has been tied to your sister in some way. You being in Lion’s Bay
is
shaking this guy up, sweetheart. He’s systematically wiping your sister off the map. First by taking her out, then by taking out places associated with her.”
She caught him by the wrists. “If he wants Dani gone, why not take out the woman who looks like her?”
Jared’s gaze darkened. “If I’m right, he’s saving that pleasure for last.”
“ I KNOW HOW it sounds,” Jared muttered into his cell phone as they entered Darcy’s house.
She watched him cross through her kitchen into her living room, then begin to pace. Something inside her shifted as she watched him move, his stride powerful and predatory yet utterly silent. Armed and dangerous. A trained hunter. And he was now on the hunt for the man who’d killed Dani. The morass of emotions churning in her tummy had no outlet and she had no way of dealing with them. She’d never felt like this before.
Because he was also hunting
her
. Deliberately. Systematically. And he wasn’t going to stop until he’d captured her. She wasn’t going to let him stop.
Whatever it was she felt for him, it was important. With a little time, a little compromise, and with no effort at all, she could fall in love with him. And part of her really, really wanted to. Wanted to experience the magic she’d only ever felt faint echoes of. She could have it with him. He wanted it, too.
“What have you got on your plate now?” he asked his partner,
“Dani was half of me.”
She followed the road for a couple miles, then pulled over to the side and parked. They got out and she led him across the lawn to the Michaels family plot. Jared didn’t say anything as she stood over Dani’s grave and felt her eyes burn. He just came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, setting his chin on her shoulder. They were there a long time, long enough for her to find her voice and tell him about the early-morning call that had irrevocably changed her life.
“There was talk of a boyfriend,” he said softly. “You didn’t know who he was?”
“Oh, I know him,” she said grimly. “I just don’t know his name. When Dani made it clear his identity was a secret, I knew he was someone familiar to me and she didn’t want me razzing her about him. That’s a big reason why I moved back to Lion’s Bay after she died. I wanted to figure out who he was and what he might know. I thought he’d come forward by now…that just looking at me every day would shake him up.”
“Do you know how fucking dangerous that is?” His voice was rough with fury. He turned her around to face his glare. “After what was done to her?”
She’d identified her sister’s body, although everyone in town had known who Dani was and one look at Darcy’s identical face proved it. The coroner had draped Dani’s body in a sheet from the neck down, but Darcy was aware of what the Prophet was known for…the sick mutilations he did to his victims’ bodies. “I can’t let Dani go while her killer’s still out there, Jared. And honestly, with her gone, I’m half dead anyway.”
“Bullshit. I’ve been inside you. When I’m touching you…fuckingyou…you’re so alive you burn me up with it. I see you trying to get out of this shell you’re just surviving in, living a life that doesn’t suit you one damn bit.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m going to get him, Darcy. He’s going to pay for putting that look in your eyes. I promise you that. Let me do my job. Let me keep you safe.”
Her breathing picked up. “You think he’s in Lion’s Bay, too?”
“I think it’s likely, yes. The candy shop—your sister have any connection with that?”
Darcy frowned. “She was a customer. Dani had a sweet tooth. She stopped by there almost every day to buy a dollar or two of candy to carry around in her lab coat. And we celebrated our twelfth birthdays there. Why?”
“Every place our torch has hit has been tied to your sister in some way. You being in Lion’s Bay
is
shaking this guy up, sweetheart. He’s systematically wiping your sister off the map. First by taking her out, then by taking out places associated with her.”
She caught him by the wrists. “If he wants Dani gone, why not take out the woman who looks like her?”
Jared’s gaze darkened. “If I’m right, he’s saving that pleasure for last.”
“ I KNOW HOW it sounds,” Jared muttered into his cell phone as they entered Darcy’s house.
She watched him cross through her kitchen into her living room, then begin to pace. Something inside her shifted as she watched him move, his stride powerful and predatory yet utterly silent. Armed and dangerous. A trained hunter. And he was now on the hunt for the man who’d killed Dani. The morass of emotions churning in her tummy had no outlet and she had no way of dealing with them. She’d never felt like this before.
Because he was also hunting
her
. Deliberately. Systematically. And he wasn’t going to stop until he’d captured her. She wasn’t going to let him stop.
Whatever it was she felt for him, it was important. With a little time, a little compromise, and with no effort at all, she could fall in love with him. And part of her really, really wanted to. Wanted to experience the magic she’d only ever felt faint echoes of. She could have it with him. He wanted it, too.
“What have you got on your plate now?” he asked his partner,
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