Seductive Reasoning

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Everything was going fine until that woman exposed you as one of the investigators.”

  “I’m not one of the investigators.”

  He didn’t pay any attention. He just kept rambling on.

  “Of course, you are one of our smartest opponents. By the time they linked the killings in other countries, if they even did, we were long gone. Everything would have been fine if Stanton had not fixated on you. The moment he saw you, he could not stop thinking about you. He wanted to rub it in your face. Did you know, he wanted to be a member of Mensa, but they denied him?”

  Emma said nothing. She was trying to think of something, anything that would get her out of there. Or at least draw out the time. Del would be there any minute. She just had to hold on until he arrived. At the moment, she wondered just where the hell the building security was? There was a good chance that Morgan had done something to them.

  “He always thought he was so smart. He wanted people to understand that, and I think there was a part of him that thought if he could get away scot-free with you helping the police, it proved he was the smartest one around.”

  “What was the meaning of the tattoos?”

  For a moment, she didn’t think he would answer her. But he shrugged. “I told him that was a mistake, but he couldn’t let it go. That’s what you zeroed in on, wasn’t it?”

  She nodded then immediately regretted it. Pain exploded in her head.

  “I told him that would happen, but he would not listen.”

  “What did it all mean?”

  “You haven’t figured it out?” She said nothing. “Stanton had issues with women, that is easy to see. But he had more issues with his mother than Norman Bates. She was devout. She punished him for a being a man and told him that it was his fault for everything damned thing in the world. Men, you see, were the root of all evil.”

  “Ah,” she said. In her head, she was trying to figure out a way to get to the door but she didn’t think it was going to happen. She would have to inch close enough to kick him. A roundhouse kick might work, but her head is still spinning.

  “He became fixated on mythology then…I guess his way to rebel. Fucked up family if you ask me. He saw himself as the only one who could save their souls.”

  “And you stayed with him? He sounds completely nutters.”

  He smiled and evil lit his eyes. “He was, but I reaped the benefits. There he was, running around taking all the risks, playing God, killing his trinity, while I did nothing but took what I wanted.”

  Lord, the man was vile. There wasn’t a place deep enough in hell for him. But, she knew she had to keep him occupied. Del knew what was going on and he would be there soon.

  “So, what happened? You let Stanton reel them in? It was his job to get the women to come to you two?”

  He nodded. “Sad, lonely, needy women don’t see the monster beneath that expensive surface. They only see the man he presents to the world. But, the one in there lurking, it’s worse than anyone could even imagine.”

  She snorted. “I understand the situation now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You can’t get women on your own. You’re not that attractive, you’re not rich, and women want nothing to do with you. So, he abducts them, and that is the only way you can get a decent shag.”

  “Shut up,” he screamed

  “What?” she asked with a sneer, hoping she would drive him mad enough to lose what was left of his control. “Were you a virgin when you were hired? You stayed on all these years, because you know deep down, you could never get a woman to look at you, let alone fuck you?”

  The scream that released from his mouth sounded like a wounded animal. It still vibrated through the air as he jumped at her. She saw the opportunity, raised her foot, and kicked him right in the balls.

  “Fucking bitch,” he said, grabbing for her.

  She ran away, but still could not get to the door. If she headed that way, he would have her easily. Still clutching his nuts, he pulled out a rope and started to approach her. His eyes blazed with murder. She kicked him twice, just like Sean had taught her, but the third time, he caught her foot and pushed her down. She popped back up, adrenaline snapping through her, giving her the ability to fight back.

  She balled up her fist and punched him. But he caught her hand. With a gasp, she tried to pull her hand away, but he dug his fingers into her flesh. As she tried harder to pull away, he drew her closer. They stumbled out onto the lanai. She had worked her way around so that his back was to the edge. She struggled, trying to get away from him, but he yanked her closer. Her weight and his unsteadiness got the better of him. They both lost their balance and then, they were falling over the railing.

  Jumping over Emma’s damaged door, Del burst into the apartment just in time to see Emma and Morgan fall over the edge. In that one second, his world almost ended. He ran across the apartment. When he looked over, he found Emma holding onto a small railing.

  She was alive.

  He released a breath he did not know he had been holding and reached down to her. Relief coursed through him making him feel slightly dizzy.

  “Give me your other hand.”

  Emma grunted and raised her hand toward him. She was bloody, her face beat all to hell, but he ignored that. He concentrated on grabbing her other hand. He caught it, but he didn’t have a good hold on her. On top of it, he could feel that she was losing her grip on his hand. Panic had him shouting at her.

  “You hold on, oddammit. If you let go, I swear to God, I will come down there and strangle you, Emma. Do you hear me? I will make you regret letting go.”

  Just then, her fingers tightened on his, as he leaned further over. Marcus came running in behind him, and grabbed him by the waistband.

  “Pull her, Boss, just pull her up.”

  He used every ounce of his strength to tug her up and over the edge of the balcony. He knew she probably scrapped her legs on the concrete, but at the moment, he didn’t give a damn. He set her on her feet. Cupping her face, he kissed her gently, his heart still beating out of control against his chest, and his head spinning from the fear that was still pounding through him. When he pulled back, he smiled at her.

  She smacked him on the back of the head. He blinked.

  “You’re going to strangle me? Seriously, Del, why I love you is beyond all reason. You are a freak.”

  He was so stunned by her comment that it took him a moment to recover. A bubble of laughter escaped as he pulled her closer. “Well, that makes two of us, love. I guess we’re stuck together.”

  He heard feet pounding with the arrival of Marcus, this time with Cat and a few EMTs. They approached him, and he thought he heard Cat sigh.

  “Good to see you’re still alive, Emma,” she said, her voice a little shaky.

  Emma smiled, then winced. “That wanker split my lip.”

  “Del, the EMTs need to check her out,” Cat said.

  He nodded and picked Emma up to carry her to the couch. He settled her there, and stood back as they examined her.

  The first thing the EMT did was check her eyes. He glanced at Del. “I think we need to take her to the hospital. She has a slight concussion from the looks of it.”

  “I don’t like hospitals,” Emma said, and he heard the panic in her voice. She had issues with hospitals but she needed to go.

  “I’ll go with you. They will let me ride in the ambulance, and I am sure they will give you excellent drugs when we get there. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

  If he repeated it to himself enough times, he might really believe it.

  It took over an hour to get her settled in her room at Tripler. She wasn’t happy about being there, but the doctor had insisted. Del knew he had work to do…that he should be doing, but he had left Adam in charge and had gone with her to the hospital.

  Thankfully, he used his badge for the privilege of being in her room. He was damned if anyone was going to push him out.


  “My mouth tastes purple,” she said.

  When they’d gotten to the ER, the doctor said she wasn’t concussed, but he thought she should stay for observation. The pain had been immense, and she had a gash on her head they had to stitch up. She’d also strained her wrist when she caught hold of the railing as she went over with Morgan. So, they had wrapped it, and put her arm in a sling to stabilize it.

  “You’ll feel better soon.”

  “I feel well now. Very well. Like floating off the bed well. It’s just that my mouth tastes like purple. It was an observance, not a complaint.”

  He smiled at her. Emma on painkillers was a new experience.

  “Are you sure I look okay?”

  This was new too. Emma rarely worried about her appearance, but she had a gash on her forehead and bruising on her face. Her lip was swelled up from the smacks the bastard had given. Morgan should be happy he was now burning in hell. If not, Del would have made sure he begged to go to hell by the time he was finished with him.

  He looked at her battered face and smiled. “You’re beautiful.”

  That seemed to ease her worries for the moment.

  “Hey,” she said scooting over and patting the bed. “There’s enough room on here for you.”

  “I think you need to rest.”

  She pouted, and Emma never pouted. She demanded, complained, and knocked him upside the head. She never pouted. “I need some spooning.”

  He opened his mouth to respond, but Sean’s loud voice echoed down the hall outside her door. Fantastic.

  “I’m looking for my sister, and I want to see her now,” Sean shouted loud enough for people on the mainland to hear.

  “Uh oh, Sean’s here,” Emma said. “Why’s he being so loud?”

  “I think he’s worried about you.”

  She rolled her eyes. He wanted to laugh, but it just wasn’t in him at the moment. Now that he had gotten her there, and she was safe, he started thinking about what could have happened. He almost lost her, and he didn’t know what he would have done if he had. There was a good chance that he would have found the bastard and shot his corpse.

  The door burst open. Sean stood there, his face a mask of anger, his eyes blazing. He looked like some kind of avenging angel.

  “Sean, hey,” Emma said.

  His eyes widened and his skin paled. “Oh. My. God. You look horrible.”

  Emma looked at Del with a narrowed gaze. “You said I looked beautiful.”

  “You are beautiful,” he said.

  “You’ve been beat all to hell, Emma,” Sean said, still talking much too loud for a hospital.

  Tears welled up in Emma’s eyes. “You lied to me. You said I was beautiful.”

  He really did not know what to do. His youngest sister was like this, crying at the drop of a hat, but Emma, she was strong. She didn’t cry. She fought tears, and denied them when they were falling.

  Del tossed Sean a nasty look. “She is beautiful.”

  Randy and Jaime had finally caught up with Sean. He didn’t even want to know what they did about getting into Tripler, which wasn’t exactly easy to do. But, knowing the trio, they had their ways. And they probably had a few alternative identities to help.

  “Love, I think you need to tell her she’s beautiful,” Jaime said, humor lacing her words.

  “It does not matter because I am ugly,” she shouted between sobs.

  Sean’s face softened when he realized he had upset his sister. “I’m sorry. You are very beautiful.”

  “You’re just saying that because you are worried I won’t stop crying.”

  His lips twitched. “No, really. I mean it.”

  She sniffed. “You do?”

  “Yes.”

  She smiled and brushed her tears away.

  “Are you doing okay?” Randy asked.

  She nodded as she reached out for Del’s hand. “Del’s here.”

  Sean looked at Del and nodded. “How about we all stay here for a little bit? It will make me feel better.”

  “That’s good, as long as Del can stay.”

  “Don’t you need to get back to the office?” Randy asked.

  He shook his head. “Adam can handle it.”

  As they were settling in their seats, Elle poked her head in. “Oh, wow, you have a full house.”

  “Elllllllllle.”

  The doctor chuckled and stepped in. “I see you’ve had pain killers.”

  “Lots and lots of them.”

  “You had one dose,” Del told her.

  “Del, I hate to bug you, but may I have a word?” Elle asked.

  He nodded and leaned over to give Emma a kiss on her forehead. “Behave.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Remember Elle? She’s here and needs to talk to me. Sean will come here and hold your hand until I get back.”

  “Do you promise?”

  He heard the fear in her voice, knew that it was more than the incident tonight. Except for Sean and Del, she had always been left on her own, isolated. He hated it and knew they had a long way to go to settle her mind in that regard, but he could make sure that, at least at this moment, she understood.

  Del looked her in the eyes. “I will always come back for you, love. Just like when I first met you. Just like tonight. Without you, I’m nothing.”

  He thought he heard a sigh of appreciation behind him, and it was definitely female.

  Her smile turned into a grin. She was a mess, with the bruising and the swollen lip, but she was beautiful, and she was his.

  “Okay.”

  He kissed her forehead again and followed Elle out of the room. He knew this would not be pleasant.

  “How’s Jin?” he asked.

  “Shaky, but she’s resting right now. They’ve given her a sedative. I’ve fended off the news people, as Tripler is good about that, but I think we need to offer her some protection. This is different from other cases where we can keep the rape victim’s name out of the papers. Everyone knows it’s her.”

  He nodded. “And we might need her to testify.”

  She sighed and rubbed her temple. “I hope she can do it. It’s early, but she freaked out when she saw McGregor…and she knows him. He told me she’s tried to interview him a number of times.”

  “She has no family, right?”

  Elle nodded. “Mother and father are deceased, no siblings or extended family.”

  “I really appreciate you looking after her.”

  She shook her head. “It’s for the best. I’ve put in a call to the support group I work with. I still think it is too early to expect anything from her, but laying the foundation from the beginning will help.”

  He nodded.

  “I take it Emma is okay? McGregor related what happened.”

  “He’s still here?”

  “No, he left a little while ago.”

  Del nodded. “And yes, she’s fine. A little bump on the head, a gash, a swollen lip. Of course, she almost fell to her death, but hey, all in a day’s work.”

  “Don’t do that, Del. Don’t get mad at her.”

  “I’m not. I’m mad at myself.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t. It ruined my marriage and left me a broken shell. She beat the hell out of him before he fell over, from what I understand. She’s strong, and part of the reason she is that way is because of you.”

  Del smiled. “How did you get to be so smart?”

  “I survived hell, then dealt with a man who blamed me for it. Don’t do it to her or yourself. Be happy. Life is too bloody short for guilt.”

  He nodded, then gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

  Emma still felt as if she were floating above the bed.

  “When they let you out, you can come stay with us,” Sean said.

  He wasn’t asking, he was telling her. And he was ruining her nice little buzz the meds had given her. Wanker.

  “No.”

  “You can’t stay in your condo right now. It’
s a crime scene,” Randy said.

  Jaime remained silent, which meant she was going to make Emma tell them no again.

  “No. I am not staying with you.”

  “But—” Sean started, but he didn’t get to finish.

  “She’ll be staying with me.”

  All of them turned around and looked at Del. She smiled, then winced. Bloody hell, the drugs were definitely starting to wear off.

  “You didn’t do a very good job of taking care of her this time around,” Sean said.

  “Are you accusing me of putting her in danger?”

  Their voices were growing louder and starting to hurt her head. She knew it would only be a matter of time before an orderly showed up to say something to them all.

  “Shut up, both of you.”

  They turned to her. “I am staying with Del. He can take care of me.”

  “I can take care of you,” Sean almost shouted.

  “No offense, Sean, but I would rather stay with Del.”

  He frowned, but she didn’t miss a little hurt flash in his gaze. She held up her hand and waved him back over. He walked over.

  “Del will take care of me because he loves me. I want to be with him. I love you, but ya know, not that way.” Her voice came out in a stage whisper.

  Okay, the drugs were still not worn off all the way.

  “I guess I can let you go.”

  “I’m twenty-seven, Sean, I can go where I want. If you want to give me issues, you can bugger off.”

  He smiled and leaned down to kiss her nose. “I love you, kid.”

  “I love you too. Now go home. In a day or two, when they are still not allowing me to drive, I will need someone to rescue me and take me for sushi. I elect you.”

  “It’s a date.”

  Jaime and Randy turned to leave. Sean stopped in front of Del.

  “Take care of her.”

  “With my life.”

  He nodded and they finally left them alone.

  “Bloody hell. I thought they would never leave,” she said.