by Mary Eason
“Dammit, Kara, how dare you think that of me! I’m here because of Ava and you. I wanted to—” Before he could finish, his phone rang again, leaving Kara with the impression he’d been close to saying something important.
When he finished speaking, he appeared calmer. Davis sat down at the table slowly before saying, “Let’s just get one thing straight right now. There is absolutely no way I’m walking away from my daughter—ever. And you and I can either work together to bring up our daughter, or we can fight it out in court. It’s your choice. But I think you should realize your odds aren’t looking too good right now—not after keeping her birth a secret from me for all these years.”
Kara’s fingers trembled around the cup she gripped tightly in an attempt to hide her fear from him. Always in the back of her mind, she’d known this day would come.
“You’d take her from me? You’d actually do that?”
“If I have to.” His gaze never left hers.
“Kara, look, why don’t we call a truce for now,” he added gently. “Until whatever’s going on here with your friend and Maggie is settled, I think it’s best that we don’t talk about this. We’re both too emotional, and I can’t think about it and not want to wring your neck.” He stopped when he spotted her reaction.
“As well as Ava’s safety, the people you care about are in danger here. I need your cooperation.”
He meant he needed her help.
“I told you, I can’t help you solve Rachel’s murder. I don’t have the gift anymore.”
“You’re lying. Now is not the time to reject your gift.”
She moved to the window. She needed time to steady her frayed nerves. The waning full moon reflected back the quiet desert. Nothing stirred beyond the window. Not even Buster, who had moved beneath the kitchen table and lay listening to their conversation and occasionally growling at Davis.
“It’s not a gift, Davis. It has never been a gift.” She turned back to him, shocked by the tenderness in his eyes. She rejected it as just another ploy to gain her cooperation.
“I know you believe that. No matter how hard you try to deny it, or run away to the middle of nowhere to escape it, it exists still. Doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” she admitted at last. He got to his feet and came to her. Just for a moment, she let herself go into his arms, accepting his strength.
Neither said a word, and yet it felt right somehow. But she’d been on her own far too long to allow herself to lean on anyone. Certainly not Davis Martin.
Davis had thought about this moment many times. Through all the countless dreams about her, he’d ached to touch her for real just one more time. Now that he had, it wasn’t enough. He wanted more of her. All of her.
Seeing his daughter, his flesh and blood, looking like a miniature version of her mother with his eyes had shaken him to his core. It made him remember all the things he’d wanted long ago. Things like a family, children, a normal life. He thought he’d let that dream slip away.
Kara felt so good in his arms. He wanted to keep right on holding her, touching her forever. God, he wished he could stay there with her and leave the horror of death behind in DC. Believe that maybe it wasn’t too late for them after all.
“Kara?” His lips brushed against her soft cheek. He felt her tremble in response. The years had changed her. She’d grown up. Become more confident in her own skin. But here in his arms she was the same woman he’d loved in the past. The same woman he still loved.
She didn’t answer, but for the moment it didn’t matter. He just wanted to hold her. He could feel his body awakening to hers. And so could she.
She pulled away. Reluctantly he let her go. When their eyes met, there were tears in hers. Davis closed his against the raw pain he saw in them. The past had crept between them again.
“Kara, I’m sorry I hurt you. I know how difficult my decision must have been for you back then, but surely you realize with all the media that was focused on the Bureau after the Angel case, I had no other choice. It was all for show. To save the Bureau’s reputation.”
“Reputation?” She moved farther away. His arms fell to his sides as he faced her condemnation again. “Dammit, Davis, I should have meant more to you than the stupid reputation of the Bureau. You were everything to me! I gave up everything to be with you because I loved you and you couldn’t do the same for me.”
“I did do the same thing for you. What are you talking about? I told you what I was doing. I asked you to wait for me. But you ran away. You didn’t tell me where you were going. I assumed you never wanted to see me again. You weren’t honest with me either, Kara. You never told me about our child.”
“You gave me no choice! I certainly couldn’t count on you being there for me.”
“That’s a lie. You chose to run instead of waiting for me.”
“Because you were married to the Bureau, Davis. You still are. You eat, sleep and dream about it. No woman could ever compete with that.”
“Is that what you think?” he asked incredulously, taking a step closer.
Kara answered his move with one of her own, stepping away from him.
“It’s what I know.”
“You know nothing, Kara. I haven’t stopped loving you since the day I met you. I’ll never stop loving you. You’re all I’ve thought about for six years. And nothing can ever replace you in my heart. Nothing—especially not the Bureau.”
Chapter Four
Kara turned and walked out of the room without another word, before he could see how much his declaration of love unsettled her. She needed time to think clearly and she couldn’t while looking into his eyes. Davis could make her do anything he wanted with a single look. But it was too late for them. She couldn’t go back to that hurt again.
Ava must be the only thing that mattered to her. Ava’s safety. She would do whatever it took to stop that monster from hurting her child.
She sat down on the bed and watched Ava sleep. Her baby girl looked so peaceful, unaware of the dark things being discussed close by. Kara prayed Ava would enjoy the sweet innocence of childhood for a long time, but she knew one day, there would come a time when she would be forced to explain the gift to Ava. When that time came, she’d do her best to help her daughter see it as a positive gift, even though she herself would never feel that way.
“Is she okay?” he asked her quietly once she returned to the kitchen.
“Yes.” She poured more coffee, mostly because she needed something to occupy her hands. She could feel the Angel reaching out to her again. It took both hands to steady the cup enough and bring it to her lips. Silently Kara recited the familiar words of an old hymn her grandmother taught her years ago. Always her last defense against the horror.
The words of the hymn silenced the Angel’s dark influence.
“So Rachel is his third victim this time.”
She turned to see him smiling a little sadly at her. God, she used to love that smile. It promised so many things.
“I thought you didn’t have the gift anymore,” he said in an attempt to lighten the tension between them.
Davis grew serious once more. For the first time, Kara noticed he’d aged. Still just as attractive and seductive as before, but time and his ex-wife’s recent death had not been kind. She looked closer and saw that his dark chestnut hair showed hints of gray at the temple. Evidence of the horrors he’d witnessed. Fine worry lines fanned out around his eyes and mouth. The dark circles proof enough of the many sleepless nights.
But to her, he’d never looked more handsome than he did at that moment.
He sat down across from her. “Yes. He’s copying the Angel. There will be three more.”
She didn’t know how much to reveal to him. “He’s not copying, Davis. He’s continuing.”
“You still believe he’s alive, don’t you?” When she didn’t answer right away, Davis answered the question for her. “He still comes to you.”
“Yes.”
“You don�
��t believe we got him. You never did.”
“I don’t know anymore.” She looked into his eyes. “I don’t know, Davis.” Kara still resented the personal connection she had with the Angel, but she couldn’t deny it. In his mind, she belonged to him.
“Maybe it’s not the Angel at all.”
“It is. It’s him, Davis. You know it is. This feeling has been growing stronger. He’s back. I don’t know how but he is back.”
Davis ran a weary hand over his eyes. “The first murder took place on the anniversary of the original Angel killing. There’s been one on each anniversary date since. He’s repeating his past history.”
“Why now? Where has he been all this time? Serial killers rarely stop killing until they’re caught. They thrive on the publicity. He wouldn’t just stop killing, would he?”
“I don’t know. But I think we have to figure this out before the next anniversary. Because if we don’t, he’s coming after you.”
She fought back the nausea always there whenever she remembered that night and Kim, the woman who took her place.
The Angel had kidnapped Kara and taken her to the vacant building, and then out of some sadistic game, let her listen while he tortured and killed Kim Billings.
At the time, Kara hadn’t realized she was pregnant. She’d come so close to death that night. At times, she could still taste the fear as if it were only yesterday.
“It doesn’t make any sense. Were the other girls from wealthy backgrounds?” she asked.
Davis confirmed with a single shake of his head what she knew in her heart already.
“Then why switch signatures? It’s virtually unheard of.”
“I wish I knew, but none of this fits the profile. Which is why I think we have to start at the beginning. We missed something in Frankie’s past. Something important. We have to find it, Kara. Before it’s too late.”
“What do you want to do?” She felt dread and unwillingness well up inside at what lay ahead of them. She knew the answer already but she wasn’t sure she had the strength to go through it again.
“Start at the beginning—back before the killings started. We need to go back to the beginning, Kara.”
Something woke Kara from a sound sleep. She glanced down to see Ava had climbed into bed next to her in the middle of the night and she hadn’t realized it.
Quietly, she slipped out of bed without waking her daughter. It was just becoming light outside and she was dressed in only her bra and panties.
Davis. So many unwelcome memories came back to her as she searched around the room, looking for her clothes. They were lying neatly folded on her dresser.
Kara dressed quickly, shoving aside memories of the past when their lovemaking had always been so intense between them. Why had she expected their reunion to be any different?
In the kitchen, a fresh pot of coffee brewed but Davis didn’t appear to be anywhere in sight. A blanket had been tossed haphazardly over the back of the couch, indicating he’d slept there the night before. She listened to the silence of the house and heard the shower running in Ava’s bathroom.
Kara poured coffee while the pot still dripped through then walked out into a different morning. Everything appeared the same. The desert heat had already reached an unbearable temperature even at six in the morning, but everything had changed. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Buster joined her on the porch, lying next to her feet as she sat in her favorite rocker, the one she’d rocked Ava to sleep in as a baby each night while contemplating her future alone.
“What are you thinking about?” The intensity in his voice startled her. It didn’t belong here in her quiet sanctuary. She couldn’t look at him, but the scent of her shampoo that he’d used reached out to her through the distance separating them.
There were no secrets left between them. The final one disappeared last night.
And everything about him seemed familiar again.
“I’m trying to see the future.”
Davis sat down next to her. “I thought that wasn’t your thing.”
Kara reluctantly smiled at that reminder. Sometimes she used to wonder if maybe he didn’t possess his own version of the gift. He certainly understood her thoughts well enough.
She looked sideways at him. Seeing him in the faint light of morning, confirmed the truth. Yes, he’d aged. Davis would be thirty-eight by now. But he wore it well, she decided.
The hint of gray at his temples made him look more distinguished. A few more serious lines around those dove-gray eyes and the groove close to his sensuous mouth reminded her of the way he used to sometimes smile when he wasn’t being entirely too serious. She sensed that Davis didn’t smile all that much anymore.
“I really am sorry about Rachel. I can’t even begin to imagine your pain.”
“Yes. It was hard to get through. I identified her.”
Kara couldn’t keep her compassion from showing. “Oh, Davis. I’m so sorry.”
He nodded. “Even though we’d been divorced for years, we still talked quite often. I considered her my friend.”
This didn’t surprise her. She’d known how close Davis was to his ex-wife. She’d thought perhaps when he didn’t come after her that he’d gone back to Rachel. Maybe because Davis always seemed to be the type of man to stick with things until there was no hope left. She’d been the only exception that she knew of. Maybe Rachel was as well.
He read her thoughts as clearly as if she’d said them aloud. He didn’t like her opinion of him but he changed the subject without challenging it. Things were becoming too personal between them. Best to leave the past where it lay for now.
“Ava will be going with Maggie to a safe place. They’ll stay there until this thing is settled. Sheriff Hanson is taking Justine somewhere safe as well. And that’s all you should know for now.”
Kara didn’t answer. She understood the less she knew about their location the less she could reveal to the Angel.
“All right, I’ll tell Ava.”
Before she walked away, he said, “You’ve done a good job with her, Kara. She’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. We’ll figure this out. Don’t worry so much, babe.”
The tenderness in his voice brought tears to her eyes. Kara pulled away before he could spot them. She remembered past times when he’d called her by that pet name. She couldn’t think about those times.
She found Ava wide-awake and sitting up in bed.
Kara sat down next to her. “Ava, I have a surprise for you.”
“I know. I’m not going to school today, am I? I’m going to stay with Grandma.” Kara searched her daughter’s innocent expression before answering.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s because of him, isn’t it, Mommie?” For a second Kara thought Ava referred to Davis.
“No, no baby.”
“Yes it is, Mommie. It’s the man I told you about last night. The man from my dreams. The bad man.”
By Ava’s age, Kara had just started coming into her own with the gift. Her grandmother insisted on being honest with her about the gift right from the very first manifestation. But there had been many times through the years Kara wished she hadn’t been so open.
“Yes, it is. Baby, have you seen this man before?”
Reluctantly she confirmed Kara’s worst fears.
“How many times? Does he always come to you in your dreams?”
“I dunno. I can’t remember,” Ava added, growing more upset as she tried to recall.
“Baby, I need to know how he comes to you.” Ava’s five-year-old mind struggled to find the right words to describe her very adult gift.
“I dunno! He just does! Sometimes when I’m sleeping but mostly when I’m just thinking.”
“Can you tell me what he looks like?” she asked, then became aware of Davis standing in the doorway. Ava’s gaze went to his for a moment before returning to her mother. Kara had feared this moment for a long time. But Ava would
need to know the truth about her father.
“Ava, I want to talk to you some more about the man before you leave to be with Grandma, but first I need to tell you about our visitor.” She turned to Davis for help. She couldn’t do this alone. He moved to her side.
“Ava, this is Davis Martin. Davis is your father.”
Kara held her breath, waiting for her daughter’s reaction.
Please don’t let her hate me.
Ava struggled with this information for only a moment.
“I know, Mommie.” Her tentative gray eyes met Davis’s for a second then she climbed out of bed. Kara stopped her before she could leave the room.
“Ava, wait. Honey, what do you mean you know? How do you know?”
Ava took a baby step closer to Davis before looking him square in the eye. As Kara watched father and daughter assess each other, she was amazed at the similarities she’d never noticed before. The personality traits Ava shared with Davis were all there, including the stubbornness. The way they both looked so intense at times, as if the weight of the world rested on their shoulders alone. Even the way Ava stood now reminded Kara of Davis. She was her father’s daughter.
“I saw you!” Ava exclaimed, her solemn expression changing to accusation. “You were supposed to come before. I tried to tell you but you didn’t listen!”
Davis’s shocked gaze slipped to Kara’s as Ava ran crying from the room.
“What did she mean by that?” Davis sounded shaken.
“I-I don’t know…”
While Kara and Davis struggled to understand their daughter’s words, they could hear Ava’s reluctant footsteps returning to the room, carrying her stuffed dragon, Petie. Maggie had given it to her for her third birthday. Kara always thought it an odd gift for a child but Ava adored it.
“Mommie, I’m hungry. Can we make pancakes for breakfast?”
Davis’s stunned expression held Kara’s, then he chucked softly at the innocence in Ava’s request. In the middle of utter chaos, after hearing truths that would confuse most adults, Ava reminded them both that life in its simplicity still existed.
