When everything was in place, they all stood, in utter silence, staring at the horrific sight. It was as if evil had visited the room and was now alive and well. Lindsey wrapped her arms around her body, hugging herself as if she was cold. And as he let his gaze move back to the pictures, he couldn’t blame her. The sight before them was gruesome, the images showing obvious torture and violence. This guy had made these women suffer.
Kevin cleared his throat. “Damn,” he said. “I’m afraid this is bigger than we thought. What a sick bastard.” Then he exchanged a look with his partner. “Better get Bill.”
Mark tore his eyes away from the pictures and looked at Kevin. “I take it Bill’s your boss?”
He nodded. “He’ll want to see this,” Kevin said, looking back at the pictures as if still astounded by the magnitude of the scene.
Mark gave Kevin a steady look. “Tell me again how these attacks were dismissed as unrelated.”
Kevin leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his body. “Well, now, that does seem to be the million-dollar question, doesn’t it?”
Lindsey made a frustrated sound that drew their attention. “Yes, it is. Who’s going to answer it?”
Mark glanced at Lindsey with concern. Anger had returned some of the color to her cheeks, but it was clear she was a ball of nerves. He wanted to grab her, and comfort her. But he knew he couldn’t. Not here, not now.
Best to focus on catching a killer.
* * * * *
Stepping into the hotel, Mark by her side, Lindsey couldn’t sake her thoughts of Greg. No, that wasn’t completely true. Something else was bothering her. It seemed when it came to Hudson, she was damned if she did, and damned if she didn’t.
Had she just believed in herself, and him, in the past . . . well, a lot more than one woman was now dead because of her mistakes. She had been so freaked over the woman she thought Hudson had killed that she allowed herself to get off track. Now many more women were dead.
Her biggest failure had been to doubt her instincts.
But she couldn’t go back, and that was hard to swallow. All she could hope for was to save the victims of the future.
Mark unlocked the hotel door. “What an afternoon,” he said.
“It didn’t surprise me the local guys blame the missed connections on the New York officials and vice-versa,” Lindsey said.
Mark shoved open the door, and motioned Lindsey forward. “I doubt we’ll ever know the truth.” Entering the room, a burst of cool air washed over her skin, making her sigh with the sweet relief of being out of the heat. Lindsey couldn’t shake the feeling that Greg had somehow been behind it all.
She made a direct path to the bed, falling onto the mattress with a bounce. “I am so exhausted, it’s painful.”
Mark toed off his shoes, and walked over to Lindsey and took hers off. “Yes, but we accomplished a lot.”
Lindsey leaned up on her elbows. “Do you think we made the right decision, agreeing to keep this quiet?” She studied him, her voice full of concern. “Shouldn’t the public know there might be a serial killer on the loose?”
He spread out on the bed, and turned to face her, resting on one elbow. “I do,” he said, meaning it. “He’s in hiding right now, and we can’t risk letting him know we’re onto him.”
Lindsey’s put her hands under her head, staring up at the ceiling. “I suppose that’s true.”
Mark’s eyes narrowed. “What happened today? Why did you get upset?”
She rolled to her side, facing him, fingers fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. “Nothing, I’m just tired.”
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath before refocusing on her face. “As I said,” he paused a beat, “we both know better.”
Mark slid closer so that his thighs brushed her leg. Watching her distress, he traced her bottom lip with his index finger. “What’s wrong?”
Her lashes fluttered to her cheeks. “I don’t think I can talk about it right now.”
He was silent a long moment, his hand slowly moving to rest on her hip. “I won’t press you,” he said, and then he did just what he said he wouldn’t do. He pressed. “I’d like to think you’d trust me enough to share what’s bothering you.”
Lindsey wet her dry lips, and cleared her throat. It was hard talking about her feelings. She wasn’t used to it. But she found herself wanting to find the courage to tell him. Her voice cracked, but the words made it past her lips. “So many women are dead.”
Mark pulled her closer. “Please, don’t do this to yourself,” he said. “You’ve beat yourself up enough.”
Even though she knew he was right, she couldn’t quit blaming herself. The pictures of the victims wouldn’t leave her mind. “Why didn’t I think of the DNA being planted back then?”
His voice was a soft echo of reason. “It was a tough call. You were ready to be out. Besides, you handed over the case.”
She squeezed her eyes together. The images just wouldn’t go away. “I might have stopped so many women from dying.”
Mark leaned down and pressed his lips to her eyelids, one at a time. “A big maybe, Lindsey. Stop doing this to yourself.”
A large teardrop rolled down her cheek, and Mark wiped it away with his thumb. “I would have dropped Hudson, too.”
Her eyes popped open. “You would have?”
“Hell yes,” he said. “In two flat seconds. No hesitation. And I wouldn’t have questioned his guilt after that final victim was killed. I would have assumed it.”
She touched his cheek. “Thanks for saying that.”
“Don’t thank me for telling you the truth.”
She swallowed hard. “I have to catch this guy.”
“Catching the killer is not your job,” he pointed out in a tight voice. “Giving Williams the best defense possible is.” His expression was tense, his tone demanding. “You’re too close to this.”
Lindsey didn’t want to argue with Mark, but she also wasn’t going to agree to do his bidding. “And that can’t be changed.”
“Lindsey—”
Her hand cupped his jaw, cutting off his words with her action. She didn’t want to fight. She knew he was worried about her, but if he kept pushing, she was going to fight back. “Let’s drop this for now.” Then, in a lower voice, “Please.”
Lindsey turned and fell onto her back. “I can’t believe we have such an early flight in the morning.”
“We could take a later one,” he offered, his palm flattening on her stomach. “Better yet, let’s stay an entire extra day and just forget everything but you and me.” He closed the distance her move had put between them, his mouth near her ear. “What do you think?”
Lindsey laughed as he nuzzled her neck. “We shouldn’t.”
“No,” he agreed, and then pressed a kiss on her lips. “We shouldn’t, but ask me if I give a damn.”
Lindsey couldn’t stop from smiling. “What about the case?”
His knuckles brushed her cheek. “It’ll be there when we get back. It’s one day, baby. But it will be one hell of a good day, I promise.”
She crinkled her nose. “I swear, you make me lose my good sense.”
Mark smiled. “Is that a yes?”
“I don’t know. It’s tempting but—”
“No buts. You need some play time,” he said decisively. “And we need some time together. We’ll be more effective when we get back.”
“Objection,” she said in her best attorney voice. “Use of closing argument tactics in the bedroom considered out of line.”
Mark laughed. “That obvious, huh?” Lindsey nodded. Mark laughed, but then turned serious. “Look,” he said, staring at her with big, puppy-dog brown eyes. “I just want you to myself for a day. Is that so bad?”
Lindsey stared at him a moment, caught off guard by the raw emotion she saw in his eyes. God, what this man did to her. She would never say yes to something like this in the middle of a case. But then, she’d never experienced anything like what Mark made her feel.