Dangerous Intentions (His Agenda 2)

by Lavelle, Dori

  Dustin didn’t say anything. He pulled me to my feet and escorted me back into the bedroom. He pushed the newspapers out of the way and we both sat on the bed. “Did something happen?”

  I reached for today’s newspaper, smoothed it out on my lap, and pointed at the photos of the dead women. “I’ll never be free.” I paused to take another breath. “Dustin, I think Jude is the prostitute killer.”

  Dustin took the newspaper from me and his eyes pored over the article. “What?”

  “It all makes sense. The women are prostitutes, and if you look closely, you’ll see they all resemble me. When I saw… when I saw their photos in the kitchen, I got this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.”

  Dustin ran a finger down the page. “Their eyes were green and their hair blonde. That doesn’t have to mean anything. Don’t work yourself up like this. Think of the baby.”

  I took the newspaper back, almost frustrated that he wasn’t seeing what I saw. I lifted it closer to my face and blinked, looking for more proof. It didn’t take long for me to find it. I attempted to lower the newspaper to my lap, but it slid out of my hands to the floor. My eyes were still glued to the evidence as I recalled Jude’s words from the time I ran off to Serendipity and he found me.

  “When you push me away, Haley, people get hurt. Remember that.”

  He had meant every word.

  I felt woozy, but got to my feet anyway. I was suddenly very thirsty. I only managed three steps toward the door when my legs buckled. Dustin was close enough to catch me before I hit the floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I wrapped my hands around a glass of water and stared into the clear liquid.

  Dustin sat opposite me with his hands clasped in front of him. We had been sitting like this at the kitchen table for a long time, not saying anything, just listening to the clock ticking.

  Grace and Travis had already finished their breakfast. Travis had returned to work while Grace went to do some grocery shopping.

  I looked up again. Dustin’s face told me he was starting to worry that I could be right. That my husband was not only a murderer, but a serial killer.

  Dustin finally spoke. “Do you really believe that?”

  “I wish I didn’t.”

  “What more did you see in those photos?”

  “The women. They each had a mark on them.”

  “Yes, I read that. An infinity symbol and a number. What can it mean? How does that connect their deaths to Jude?”

  “It means everything. In the photos he showed me of his mother, she wore an infinity symbol necklace. In every one of her photos.” I licked my lips. “Infinity. Forever. That links the murders to Jude.”

  Dustin shifted in his seat. He looked uncomfortable. “You think it’s a message? We need to be clear about this if we want to go to the cops.”

  There was no way out of this. The clock was ticking. If Jude was going on a killing spree, I couldn’t afford to wait. Those women had died because of me. Jude was angry and he was lashing out the only way he knew how.

  “He’s trying to tell me that I’m his forever.” I sighed and took a sip of water. “When he proposed to me, he promised to never let me go. He told me that several times during the course of our marriage. He wants me back, Dustin.”

  Dustin sprang to his feet and paced around the dining room. “How does he expect to get you back by killing innocent people? What kind of sick person does that? And why prostitutes, anyway?”

  I turned my head and met Dustin’s eyes. “Not just any prostitutes… prostitutes in Serendipity, my hometown. I used to be a prostitute, remember? The message is pretty clear.”

  Dustin didn’t respond. He went to stand at one of the windows and leaned forward, clutching the edge of the windowsill.

  “Serendipity, prostitutes, the infinity symbol. All messages to me. He will kill until I return to him.” Instinctively I placed my hand on my still flat stomach, as if I could protect the baby that way.

  Dustin turned around, fire blazing in his eyes. “We have to nail him. We have to go to the police before he finds you. But let’s give Cole a call first. He might have something else we can use.” He came to me and cupped my face in both hands. “You’re making the right decision, going to the cops. I won’t let you go to prison. I promise you that.”

  “We’ll worry about that later.” At this point, prison was honestly the last of my worries. I just wanted Jude to stop killing. I only regretted not figuring it out sooner.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I was just about to call you two,” Cole said over the speakerphone.

  “Did you find out anything about Jude?” Dustin leaned toward the phone.

  “Yes.” Cole went quiet and a rustle of papers could be heard on his end.

  I shifted in the leather seat on the other side of Dustin’s ornate wood desk, my arms wrapped around my body.

  “We also have something to tell you,” Dustin said. “But you go first.”

  “During my investigation, I took a look into Jude’s past. You will not believe what I found.”

  “I’ll believe anything at this point.” Dustin pinched the bridge of his nose. “But go ahead. Don’t beat around the bush.”

  “Jude Macknight is dead.”

  The room went silent and my heart pumped blood in torrents. I froze in my chair, not breathing. He was dead? My worst nightmare was over? No. It was too good to be true. Surely it couldn’t be this easy. Jude wouldn’t give in to death so easily. In my mind he was immortal.

  “What do you mean he’s dead? Did the police get to him? Did he try to escape or something?” Dustin’s brows were knitted.

  “No,” Cole continued. “The real Jude Macknight is dead. He died fifteen years ago in Madison. The man we’re dealing with, Haley’s… husband, is not Jude Macknight. He’s someone else walking around with a stolen identity. The real Jude Macknight used to be homeless. He had no family and no friends. But when he died, someone claiming to be his long-lost stepbrother claimed his body.”

  “Fuck,” Dustin said and pressed a fist to his mouth.

  My insides froze. Oh my God. How many layers did we have to peel away before we got to the core? How could we destroy him without even knowing who he really was? “Do you know his real name? My… husband’s?” The stranger I had married.

  “Not yet, but I’m getting close. There’s one tiny truth in his history that matches the information we have about him in the press. He attended Rosebush High in Serendipity.”

  Dustin sighed and pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes. “Haley is my priority right now. She’s in more danger than we thought.”

  “Why? Do you have reason to believe he’s close?”

  “Have you heard about the serial killer roaming around Serendipity? The prostitute killer?”

  “Sure,” Cole said, “who hasn’t? It’s all over the news. The cops are all over the case. They called in outside enforcement to help catch… Wait… You can’t mean…”

  Dustin removed his hands from his eyes. “Haley found proof that suggests Jude might be the killer.”

  “What the fuck? Why would she think that?”

  We told Cole what we knew, and by the time we were done, there was total silence on the other end of the line. After a minute he whispered, “Bloody hell.”

  “We need to go to the police immediately before anyone else dies,” Dustin said.

  “You know what I don’t get?” Cole said. “Why is he in Serendipity? Why can’t he just look for you, Haley?”

  “I think he wants me to return to him willingly… once I get the message. He wants me to be so afraid I will never try leave him again.”

  “The man is a psycho,” Cole said.

  “We’ve known that for a while now.” The disgust was plain in Dustin’s voice. “He’s even numbering his victims.”

  “Shit,” Cole breathed. “Haley, how many days has it been since you left him?”

  I didn’t need to th
ink long about that. “A month and two days.” My throat tightened as the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. “Oh my God.”

  “He seems to be killing one woman a day until you return to him. Thirty-two women are dead.”

  “It has to stop.” I got to my feet, swaying a little. “I’m ready. I’m ready to go to the cops.”

  “Before you do, give me a couple of hours. I should know more soon. I’ll get back to you by morning.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The doorbell rang downstairs and I sat up in bed, my head swimming from the nightmare that still lingered in my mind. I couldn’t remember the details, but the traces of fear trickling through my veins, the bitter taste in my mouth, and the pressure in my gut were familiar evidence that Jude had played a part in it. After my horrific discovery yesterday, that was no surprise.

  With my eyes closed, I breathed in and out several times, trying to catch my breath.

  The doorbell rang again and I swung my legs out of bed, still feeling as if the roof were resting on my shoulders, and threw a satin gown over my matching pajamas. It was 10 a.m. and Dustin would probably be out of the house already. Grace had mentioned last night that she would be coming late to the house. We probably wouldn’t see her until late evening, since Dustin and I planned to leave for Serendipity at 1 p.m., whether Cole had gotten back to us or not.

  I reached the last step and hesitated. Cold fear showered my back. What if it was Jude, and he had finally found me? No. He would want to show up unnoticed; he would not walk in through the front door in broad daylight like a normal visitor. He most certainly wouldn’t ring the bell.

  I wiped the palms of my hands on the gown. Then I moved forward. Of course it wouldn’t be Jude. He was an animal that pounced in the dead of night. When he showed up, no one would notice, not even me. My stomach squeezed when I remembered the day he had followed me to the Drawbridge Inn, how I had woken up to feel him in the room before I even saw him. That was the kind of man he was. A shadow.

  Before I could open the door, I heard footsteps pounding down the stairs behind me. Then Dustin was at my side, wearing a charcoal suit and tie, reaching for the doorknob before I could.

  “Don’t open the door to anyone,” he said before twisting it open himself. “It could be him.”

  I moved back as he opened the door.

  A handsome man with reddish hair and pale blue eyes stood in the doorway. He wore jeans and a plain white t-shirt and carried a sleek black suitcase. No one needed to tell me who he was.

  “Cole.” Dustin slapped his brother on the back and pulled him inside. “You didn’t have to drive all this way. A call would have been enough.”

  “I needed to be here in person for what I have to say to you both.” Cole turned to me and pulled me into a hug. “Haley, so lovely to see you again after so long. I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances.”

  “It’s nice to see you again too, Cole. I appreciate your help.”

  “I wish we could reminisce about old times, but I’ve got some news about Jude.” Cole charged through the house toward the living room where he sank onto the couch and placed his briefcase on his lap before clicking it open.

  “Good news, I hope.” Dustin led me to the couch. I was almost afraid to follow him.

  “It could be.” Cole pulled an envelope from the case and opened it.

  I sat and bit down on my lip, afraid to move or even breathe.

  “What did you find out? We need anything we can take to the cops.”

  “Let me show you.” Cole removed a bunch of photos from the envelope and laid them out on top of his briefcase.

  I shut my eyes to gather the courage I needed for whatever lay in store for me. I opened them again to find Dustin already peering at one of the photos. “A hotel lobby? What exactly am I supposed to be looking at here?”

  “Maybe Haley can tell you. What do you see, Haley?” Cole handed me two photos.

  I gazed at one of them, my heart thudding. I immediately saw what Cole wanted me to see. Me, dressed in a black evening gown, hovering by the elevators, looking uncomfortable. Shame washed over me as I remembered that moment. Leon had been at the front desk talking to the receptionist while I waited, wishing I could disappear. “That’s me.” I didn’t look up, too embarrassed that my past was catching up with me this way to make eye contact with either of them. “The night—”

  “Exactly.” Cole stood and came to sit on my other side so I was wedged between him and Dustin. Dustin was still staring at the photo and occasionally looking at me. He was quiet, but I felt his fleeting glances on the side of my face. I knew what was going through his mind: He was still coming to terms with me having been a prostitute.

  Dustin finally cleared his throat and reached past me to hand the photo back to Cole. He didn’t look at the others, and neither did I. “How does this help us?”

  “Look closer, Haley,” Cole said. I wished I didn’t have to. I wanted him to just spit it out, to tell me what it was I should be seeing, what he wanted us to know. I gazed at the photo again and studied the lobby, the luxurious furniture, the bright lights, the elegantly dressed people. Then I saw it. And my blood went cold. I dropped the photo as if it had burned my hands.

  “You saw Jude, didn’t you?”

  I nodded and swallowed hard.

  Dustin shifted next to me and crossed his arms. “Jude owned the place, and Haley did bump into him the next morning. Of course he was there. I really wish you could tell us where this is leading. How we can get something to nail the son of a bitch.” He sighed.

  Cole spread out new photos in front of me on the coffee table. Since my eyes were downcast, I could see them clearly. The front entrance of the hotel, the lobby, a corridor, the elevators. I straightened up and looked closer at each one of them. “Oh my God.” I covered my mouth with my hand. “Jude is in every one of them.”

  Cole leaned back, satisfied with my answer. “Exactly. And he’s looking in your direction every time. In fact, he’s looking straight at you, watching you.”

  “What does this even mean?” I asked, breathless. My hands were shaking now.

  “He was watching you the whole time.” Cole paused. “I know we wanted to concentrate on the murders you say he committed, but when you told me about that night, I got thinking.”

  Dustin shoved a hand through his hair. “We don’t have time to think, Cole. We have to nail this guy, and fast. We’re taking the jet to Serendipity soon.”

  “What if I told you that maybe Jude also had something to do with this murder?” Cole pointed a finger at Leon’s face.

  I shook my head vehemently. “That can’t be. He wasn’t—”

  “Yes, he was. You saw him in all the photos. Who’s to say he wasn’t doing more than just watching you? What if—”

  “He set her up?” Dustin finished for him. “The bastard.”

  My throat went dry and I could hardly swallow. “Why would he do that? He didn’t even know me then.”

  “Maybe he did. Maybe he was already obsessed with you before you met. This was the perfect opportunity for him to trap you into his life, and then to keep you. There’s nothing as powerful as a deadly secret. If he was really responsible for this, it would make it so much easier for you to go after him.”

  Dustin twisted and turned so our knees touched. “Yes, yes. If he did this, if he committed this murder and made you believe it was you, you will have nothing to worry about, Haley. You won’t need to worry about going to prison.”

  Cole gathered up the photos and slipped them back into the envelope. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. My instincts could be wrong. I need to find more concrete evidence.”

  I heard the words Cole was saying, but my mind was drowning in waves of fury. The anger I felt toward Jude was so hot and unquenchable, I feared it might really burn me up. How could he make me live with the guilt of killing someone for years and not tell me? How could I have been so blind as to not suspect an
ything? “No.” I shook my head. “It can’t be. He can’t have done that. I don’t remember much, but I had the knife in my hand, I saw the blood on my hands, my clothes… It was everywhere.”

  “It’s simple enough to engineer something like that. From what we know so far, Jude Macknight is an intelligent man. It takes intelligence to get away with murder for as long as he has.”

  The blood drained from my face and I buried my head into my hands, my breathing fast and shallow. I felt a hand on my back. “I know you’re upset,” Dustin said, “but this is good, Haley. You can stop feeling guilty about the murder now. I’m sure the cops’ investigation will clear your name even further.”

  I sighed and looked up. I had no idea whether I should be afraid, furious, or even happy. Jude had played with my mind and emotions for so long. He confused me. But I knew one thing: Being a victim was no longer an option. “I’m ready. Let’s go to the cops.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “You’ll be all right.” Dustin led me up the police station steps past two cops trying to wrestle a drunk man down.

  I reached for his hand and clutched at it. I didn’t respond. What could I say? He knew as well as I did that after talking to the cops, we would not be able to predict how things would go. We would have no power over the consequences. But the consequences of not coming here weighed heavier on my heart. I had no choice but to do the right thing.

  We walked through the door. For a small town, the inside of the Serendipity police station was a bustle of activity. It was full of desks, each with a computer, a single lamp, a telephone, and stacks of folders.

  All desks except one were occupied. A policeman with a well-trimmed beard, glasses, and a widow’s peak sat behind it, leafing through a newspaper.

  He looked up when we approached. He had the smallest eyes I’d ever seen on anyone.