Brave Love

by Allyson Simonian

Ethan surveyed the street. Hundreds of pine trees stood along the edge of the block. It was going to take quite a while to check them all. With determined steps, he walked to the top of the block and began.

  Two hours later, he’d carefully studied more than a hundred trees, but he’d found no signs of damage. That afternoon, he had a doctor’s appointment. He wasn’t worried about the appointment—the real test would come next week when he had an appointment with the department’s physician—but he’d promised to meet Paige for lunch beforehand. It would be tomorrow before he’d be able to continue the search.

  After sticking a branch in the ground to mark his place, he walked back to his truck.

  Chapter 44

  Originally the man had planned to simply take Paige. No one needed to know the Campus Killer was still alive. But building the new bunker was taking longer than expected, and it was becoming more and more difficult to keep his existence a secret. He wanted contact with Paige now, even before everything was ready. Her fear thrilled him, made him feel powerful and in control, and he craved that high, needed to get another taste of it.

  On the table in front of him sat her necklace, the one he’d taken from her neck after he’d taken her from her apartment in college. Reaching out, he fingered the pendant that dangled from it. Although he’d toyed with the idea of sending the necklace back, he wouldn’t be able to let this piece go. He’d collect another trophy from Paige, but this one represented her college days.

  He’d send a letter instead. Now, for the perfect wording . . .

  Chapter 45

  On Saturday morning, Paige came down to the kitchen dressed in a denim skirt. When she’d heard about Ethan’s search, she’d asked if she could help.

  Ethan set down his coffee cup and eyed her bare legs. “There’s a lot of brush out there.”

  She looked down at her skirt. “Do you mind if we stop by my place on the way? I’m running out of clothes.”

  They arrived at her place half an hour later, and Ethan picked up the pile of mail lying on her floor. He set it on the dining room table as Paige went to change.

  “Okay. I’m ready.”

  Ethan smiled when she walked back into the living room several minutes later. She had changed into jeans, which were much more suitable for their task today.

  “Let’s go.”

  He drove them to Garvin and parked on Fowler Street again in the same spot. Once he found his marker, he let Paige know what to look for.

  “Just shout if you see anything.”

  She nodded, then walked to the other end of the block with the intention of meeting him in the middle. Ethan began his search where he’d left off the day before. Twenty trees in, his heart beat hard as he spotted something. Not only was the bark gone from this pine tree, but he could also see flecks of metallic blue on the trunk.

  His gaze went through the woods, toward Schilling Street. If Bryan’s father had been hit here and then stumbled through the woods, where he’d been found made sense.

  Ethan dug an evidence bag and his Swiss Army knife from his pants pocket, then pulled his smart phone from his jacket. First he took a photo for evidence, then carefully shaved off a piece of bark and deposited it into the bag. While it wasn’t a huge sample, it should be enough for the forensics team. He took a few more photos for good measure, then looked down the street to where Paige was. She had her back turned toward him and was inspecting a tree.

  Ethan spent the next couple of minutes searching the vicinity for any more evidence before he made his way to her and showed her the bag. “I found something.”

  “What is it?”

  “Paint chips.”

  She blew out a breath and squinted at him in the sunlight. “You think they have something to do with the accident?”

  “I think it’s very possible. I’d like to take a walk through the woods before we take this in.”

  They walked back to the tree then toward Schilling Street, but Ethan wasn’t able to spot additional evidence in the woods. Disappointed he couldn’t come up with more evidence, he drove them to the Garvin station and gave the sample to Captain Robinson to log into evidence.

  “I think it’s possible he was jogging on Fowler when he was hit and that he was trying to make it home through the woods.”

  Captain Robinson’s brow raised. “We’ll get this to the lab right away, have them put a rush on it. Good work, son.”

  The county lab was half an hour away. Normally a report like this could take weeks. With a rush, they might be able to get the results within days. Ethan hoped like hell the latter would be the case.

  “Are you going to tell Bryan and his mom what you found?” Paige asked after they’d left the station.

  Ethan nodded. “They’ll appreciate knowing.”

  He turned the truck and headed toward the Potter home. Bryan’s mother opened the door when they arrived, and Ethan smiled at her.

  “We’ve found something.”

  Once Ethan had explained, Kathy bit on her lip. “You really think you’ll be able to find something from the paint chips?”

  Ethan nodded. “Forensics is precise. The team may be able to pinpoint the exact make and model. Assuming that happens, we’ll be able to visit all of the registered owners in the area.”

  • • •

  Three days later, the forensics division got back to the captain. The paint chips were from a blue 2012 Mazda CX-5. Captain Robinson had a list of registered CX-5 owners printed, and Ethan accompanied one of the Garvin officers to the first house on the list.

  A middle-aged woman opened the door. Her gaze went from Ethan to the uniformed officer. After Ethan explained the reason for their visit, she quickly stepped aside to let them in.

  “I’d be happy to show it to you.”

  “Are you the only one who drives the car?” Ethan asked as she led them to the garage.

  The woman nodded as she turned on the garage light. Ethan walked to the SUV. Crouching down, he ran his hand over the grille of the car. Other than scratches across the metal license plate frame, there was nothing out of the ordinary. There were no signs of body work having been done on the car.

  The other officer had a look too. By the time they’d finished, the owner had excused herself and gone back inside. She was standing at her kitchen sink, wiping her hands on a dish towel, when they walked in.

  “Thank you for your time, ma’am,” Ethan said. “We’re all finished here.”

  “Do I have anything to worry about, Officer?”

  Ethan was quick to dispel her worry. “No. We really appreciate your cooperation.”

  “Okay, then.” She gave them a smile before showing them out.

  Visits to the rest of the registered owners yielded the same results. There were no signs of body work on any of the cars. All of the owners had been calm and willing to answer questions. They seemed to be telling the truth.

  When they arrived back at the station, the captain told them a detective had visited the local body shops, but none had worked on a blue CX-5 in the past year. Ethan’s chest was heavy with disappointment.

  “I’d like to widen the search,” he said.

  The captain gave a nod. “I’ll have a report run for the whole county. It’ll be ready by morning.”

  So far, they’d only covered Garvin, Bennington, and Arden Hills. Maybe with an expanded list they’d have some luck.

  Chapter 46

  As Ethan sat in the department physician’s office the next day, the doctor prodded his wound with a gloved hand. The area was tender, but not painful, but Ethan breathed a sigh of relief when the man stopped with the poking.

  Stepping back, the doctor extended his arm in a backstroke. “Can you roll your arm like this?”

  With a grimace, Ethan imitated the motion.

  The doctor arched a brow. “Still hurts then.”

  “A little.”

  The doctor turned and pecked at a laptop that sat on the counter. “I’m going to recommend you take a
nother couple of weeks,” he said over his shoulder. “I’ll put your return date for fourteen days from today.”

  Ethan opened his mouth to protest and then quickly shut it. Maybe the extra time off wasn’t such a bad idea. He could continue working on the Potter case.

  Not wanting to disappoint them, he’d held off on calling Bryan and his mother with an update. Hopefully they’d find the driver in the wider search that was being run. He glanced at his watch, eager to wrap this up so he could head to Garvin to check the updated report.

  “You can get dressed now.”

  Ethan picked up his shirt as the doctor left the room.

  When walked into the Garvin station half an hour later, the new list was waiting. This time a different officer accompanied him to interview some of the car owners on the list, but they had no luck with this group either.

  • • •

  By the end of the week, they’d met with all of the county’s registered CX-5 owners, but there were still no leads. None of the drivers stood out. Although Ethan dreaded it, it was time to visit Bryan and his mother and update them on his lack of progress.

  Half an hour later, the naked disappointment on their faces twisted his insides. He felt as if he’d personally let them down since he’d been the one to get their hopes up. It was the same emotion he’d felt after James’s death—a gripping sense of frustration.

  “I’m so sorry,” he told them.

  Kathy seemed to sense his distress. Swiping at her eyes, she said, “Thank you so much for trying.”

  He promised her he wouldn’t give up on the investigation. At the same time, though, he had no idea how they’d generate new leads. Discontent rubbed at him as he said good-bye and walked out to his truck.

  Just as he was about to pull away from the curb, his phone dinged and vibrated with a text.

  Paige: I’m stopping by the duplex to pick up some things I need.

  He thought about it for a moment, and although he didn’t have an appetite at the moment, realized he might by the time she was done. Sending a quick text back, he pressed Send, then headed toward home.

  Ethan: Should I pick up dinner?

  Ten minutes later, his phone still hadn’t chimed with her response, despite the fact that he kept glancing at it every minute or two. He was on the freeway and near Paige’s exit, so after a quick internal debate, he detoured to her house. When he pulled up to the duplex and saw Paige’s SUV parked in the driveway, his edginess eased. Paige kept her phone in her purse; maybe she just hadn’t heard his text.

  The reprieve from his worry faded when she didn’t answer the door, and a sense of foreboding crept in. Could she be in the shower? Or was something wrong?

  He glanced toward Melissa’s side of the duplex, but there were no lights on there. His heart rate skipping faster than normal, he turned back to Paige’s door and knocked again. While he waited for her to answer, praying that she would, he went over his options. The window would be the most logical place to break in. He had a blanket in his car he could use to punch out the glass.

  He started down the steps to retrieve it. When Paige’s door clicked open a moment later, he whipped around to find her standing there, gripping the door frame. Blinking hard, he took in her appearance. She was deathly pale. He rushed forward and grabbed hold of her elbow.

  “Easy, sweetheart.”

  He walked her inside to the sofa. “I’ll be right back,” he said once she was seated.

  He ran into the bathroom, yanked the medicine cabinet open, and grabbed the pill bottle he’d noticed before.

  Maybe he wasn’t in the same state Paige was in, but his heart was still pounding wildly. Racing back to her, he uncapped the bottle and shook out a pill. “I’ll get some water.”

  He made his way into the kitchen, grabbed a glass, and filled it. Once he returned to the sofa, she took the pill and a sip from the glass as he watched her anxiously.

  He eased out a breath. “Is one enough?”

  Paige’s eyes closed as she nodded. Ethan remained in front of her, gripping her hand for several minutes until she finally seemed to relax.

  “Tell me what happened,” he said.

  Her eyes opened and she looked toward the dining table. Ethan followed her gaze to a pile of mail he’d set down several days before. Getting up, he walked over and lifted a postcard that lay off to the side. A wooded area was pictured across the front. He turned the card over and found a message scrawled on the back.

  I’ve missed you.

  Frowning, he looked at Paige. “What is this?”

  “There must have been two men,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

  Two men? He looked down at the postcard again, and noticing for the first time the word emblazoned in the corner, realized it was a souvenir postcard from Pennsylvania. Understanding dawned and he stared at her. “This is from the person who took you?”

  Chapter 47

  Paige put her head into her hands as Ethan studied the postcard. God, she couldn’t go through this again. The panic, the terror. For the past two years, in every nightmare she’d had, she imagined being back in that bunker. Now she couldn’t even console herself by reasoning that the killer was dead.

  Unable to stop herself, she stiffened when Ethan sat down beside her on the sofa and drew her into his arms.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Paige,” he said, “so don’t even think about trying to push me away.”

  An onslaught of emotions whirled inside her—fear, confusion, panic, and now with Ethan here . . . an unfamiliar sense of relief and comfort. Overwhelmed by it all, she tried but couldn’t say a word as her heart hammered inside her chest, her breaths coming in short, constricted pants.

  “You’re going to feel better soon.” The words were whispered softly, soothingly, as Ethan’s hand stroked up and down her back to calm her just like Melissa had. “Breathe, just breathe.”

  She inhaled several shaky breaths before finally pulling away to look up at him. God, the look in his eyes . . . the intensity there. Ethan wasn’t going anywhere—that much was clear.

  Her heart stuttered to a stop when he suddenly said, “I love you, Paige.” She stared at him, unable to believe what she was hearing when he added, “I’ve been in love with you for months now.”

  Stunned, she still couldn’t find her voice. This was like a dream—a very, very good dream, in stark contrast to the nightmares she’d become accustomed to having.

  Pulling her close again, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and whispered, “And nothing’s going to happen to you. I promise.”

  When her trembling abated and her breathing returned to normal, Ethan got up and retrieved a quilt from Paige’s bedroom, then silently urged her to lie back as he covered her with it. He went to the other end of the couch and lifted her feet, then sat down and placed them in his lap.

  As she lifted a brow at him, he picked up one of her feet and began to rub it gently. “Relax,” he said. “Try to get some rest. I’ll be right here.”

  Although he meant well, Ethan’s ministrations did anything but put Paige to sleep. She closed her eyes and tried to relax more, but the warmth of his calloused hands on her feet kept her attention. She lay there, the unreality of the postcard and what it might mean rolling around inside her head, until she finally sighed and sat up.

  Ethan’s hands stilled on her feet as he gazed at her. “Can’t sleep?”

  She shrugged as she picked at the quilt’s edge folded over her chest. “My stomach’s in knots, but we should probably eat something.”

  “How about I order in?” he suggested. “After all, I am a master at that, you know.” When she nodded, he added, “And after we eat, maybe we can talk some.”

  • • •

  After they’d picked at the pizza that was delivered to Ethan’s the night before, Ethan had gently questioned her, gathering as many details about her abduction as he could. Now the sun was up and shining brightly. He poured Paige a cup of coffe
e from the pot he’d made.

  She took a sip, feeling beyond weary. Like her, Ethan believed the postcard was from the killer. Before she’d gotten up that morning, he’d already been in contact with the FBI office in Pennsylvania. As soon as they could make the arrangements, she and Ethan would be traveling there so the FBI could interview her and examine the postcard.

  What Ethan had told her last night—that he loved her—still stunned her. She knew she should tell him the same, but he didn’t seem to expect anything in return. He had been so wonderful ever since she’d met him, caring and supportive and understanding, she couldn’t quite believe how lucky she was.

  What had she done to deserve someone as amazing as Ethan in her life? She watched him over the rim of her coffee cup as he bustled about his kitchen, pulling out some flavored creamer from the fridge to doctor his own coffee.

  He continued with his questions a few seconds later. “So the entire time you were down there, no one uttered a word.”

  She shook her head. “I never heard anything.”

  “And when someone was in the room, which side of the bed would he stand on?”

  “Which side?” She blinked rapidly. “Um, the left.”

  “The left side.” Ethan stood up and paced the length of the room, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the floor while he considered her answer. “Yet your right wrist was untied.”

  Paige frowned as the meaning of his question became clear. “You think I was let go on purpose?”

  Ethan stopped pacing. Meeting her gaze, he gave her a nod but said nothing.

  “But . . . why?” she asked.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, and she suddenly knew what he was thinking.

  “You think that was his plan all along?” she asked, her voice shrill as her throat contracted. “To let me go so that he could do this now?”

  Ethan pressed his lips into a tight line and looked away.

  Reading his expression, Paige shook her head. “My God.”

  The doorbell rang, jolting her, and she put a hand over her chest then said, “That must be David. I called him right after I woke up.”