Hunted

by Cynthia Eden

  A soft gasp slid from Katrina’s lips. Her eyes closed.

  Casey’s hand curled around the hilt of that knife.

  “Did you know...if you take the knife out, she’ll just bleed out faster? I read that once—somewhere. If you leave a knife inside the person, they actually have a better chance of survival. It’s when you take it out—and all of that blood starts pumping so frantically from the body—that’s when the victim dies.”

  “I think she’s already dead.” Casey was pretty sure he’d stabbed Katrina straight in the heart.

  “Yes, you’re right.” And she heard a sound behind her, a long glide, almost a whish of air.

  Casey glanced back. He’d pulled a butcher knife from the block on the counter.

  “Got a new weapon,” he said, still smiling. “So why don’t we get this show moving?”

  Casey yanked the knife from Katrina’s body. The other woman didn’t move at all. She’s gone. Casey clutched the bloody weapon with her right hand—still wearing the handcuffs. She whirled on Tom. “Stay away from me.”

  “Can’t do that. You have to die, you see. Just as Katrina had to die. She was useful, for a time. After all, I needed someone to rent the boat for me so I could dump the bodies—couldn’t very well do the renting myself. That would have created a trail and just come back to bite me in the ass.”

  She thought of Chaz’s bloated body, washing up on the shore.

  “Katrina was worried the boat manager would tell the cops about her. He would have, of course, eventually. The guy obviously loved being the center of a story. It would have worked in with my plan perfectly, but she got nervous...and Katrina took matters into her own hands.”

  Katrina had killed Chaz?

  “Right now, your lover is finding the body of Kurt Anderson. Kurt has been quite shot up, by the way. A bullet went in and out of his right shoulder. And another—well, it was a gut shot. Highly painful. A terrible way to die, or at least, that’s what I’ve been told.”

  She backed away from the kitchen—from Katrina’s prone body—and tried to ease toward the front door. He followed her, stepping right over Katrina as if she didn’t matter at all.

  “Eventually, Agent Duvane will make his way back here. He’ll find the dead deputy in the hallway. He’ll find you, stabbed in this den, and then he’ll find me...grief stricken as I huddle over Katrina’s body. I had to kill her, you see. I came here, I realized what she’d done—I realized she’d been working with the killer all along—and I had to stop her before anyone else died.” He sighed dramatically. “I just wish I’d found you sooner. Maybe I could have saved you.”

  “You’re sick.”

  “No, I’m smart. I’m a man who knows how to create a killer story. When the situation presented itself, I had to act.” His jaw hardened. “It’s all Kylie’s fault.”

  Kylie? Kylie Shane? The first victim?

  “She recognized me. Can you believe that? It’s been years, but she knew it was me. Saw me on the beach while you were filming a segment. I looked up—and she was staring at me as if she’d seen a ghost.”

  Her lips felt numb as she said, “When she was sixteen, Kylie was attacked. Stabbed twice, by an unknown assailant.”

  His smile came again. “Not really unknown...but I did get away. I wanted to see what it was like, you see. To drive a knife into a pretty girl.”

  Nausea rolled in her stomach. He’d wanted to see years ago...and he was still stabbing women now.

  “I knew Kylie recognized me. I couldn’t let her talk. She had to die.” He took another step toward her.

  Casey took a frantic step back. The front door was locked—could she get it unlocked before he was on her? Could she stab him before he stabbed her?

  “But after Kylie was dead, well, I saw the interest buzzing in town. A new story. A better killer... So I found another victim, and I kept going. It’s easy to spot the wounded, you see. You just have to know what to look for.” He laughed. “Bridget still had a limp, courtesy of her hit-and-run. I met her at a club, asked her what had happened, and the woman just told me everything. I was a complete stranger. She should have been more careful.”

  It was hard to be careful with a killer.

  “And Tonya? Her scars were out for the world to see. I knew she’d be perfect.” His smile still curled his lips. “I knew about you, of course. I make a point of learning everyone’s secrets.” He glanced back at Katrina. “Like Kat over there? The woman has a bit of a drug problem. She’d do anything to get what she needed. Anything.”

  She was going to run for the door.

  “You had been attacked before. I understood how fragile you were. Sometimes, I could see you almost breaking in front of the camera. I think that was what the viewers loved about you—you weren’t perfect. You were weak, just like everyone is. Got to say, though, I never expected you to fight back.”

  Her hand was slick around the knife. “I don’t believe in giving up easily.”

  “No?” His brows rose. “Thanks for the warning. Now, sorry, but we really need to hurry along. Can’t have Agent Duvane arriving before you’re dead.”

  He rushed toward her. She spun and grabbed for the door, fumbling with that lock. She managed to get the lock to turn, managed to rip the door open—

  The blade sank into her shoulder. Casey cried out and her bound hands flew out as she whirled back to him—she stabbed at him, hitting his arm again and again with the blade. Hacking at him. He swore and jumped back.

  She could feel the blood on her back. Sliding over her skin, soaking her shirt. She rushed through the doorway.

  “Casey!”

  Josh was there. He caught her in his arms and stared at her with wide, blazing eyes.

  “He...he’s in there... Knife...”

  And she still had her knife, too. It was gripped in her hands.

  Josh pushed her behind him. He had a gun in one hand, and Tucker Frost—Tucker was right there, too. His face was just as grim as Josh’s.

  She looked back at the doorway. She’d expected Tom to follow her out. He hadn’t. What was he doing in there? The penthouse seemed dead quiet.

  And then...

  Laughter.

  The door was still open, just a few inches.

  “You’re back too soon...she’s not dead,” Tom called out.

  Josh’s hold on Casey’s hand tightened.

  “If you don’t all leave, I’ll kill her right now. I’ll slit her throat, from ear to ear.”

  What? She wasn’t even in there with him any longer. She was safe. She was—

  Josh pushed open the door to the penthouse.

  Katrina.

  Tom stood in the middle of the den, and Katrina was slumped in his arms. He had his knife at her throat. Her head was tilted down, her lashes closed.

  “I think she’s already dead,” Casey whispered.

  “Is she?” Tom shouted. “Don’t be so sure. Things aren’t always what they seem.” He jabbed the tip of the knife into Katrina’s throat.

  Katrina’s body jerked.

  Josh swore. Then he was shoving Casey farther back. “Sweetheart, get to the elevator. Go downstairs—get out of here—”

  “Don’t go anywhere, Casey! I’m not finished with you!” Tom bellowed.

  She froze.

  “Casey Quinn. Casey Too-Good-For-Me Quinn. But you weren’t too good for the agent, were you? The night I took you, I was watching when he brought you back to the hotel on his motorcycle. I saw the way you looked at him, the way you let him touch you. You played hands-off with me, but I saw the truth...and I knew you were going to feel my knife.”

  Tucker slipped into the penthouse. His gun was aimed at Tom. “It’s over. Let the woman go, now.”

  “Nothing’s over. It’s just beginn
ing. I’m beginning. And you’re the one leaving. You and Agent Duvane are going to walk out of this building. If you don’t, I’ll slit Katrina’s throat right here and now.”

  Casey knew he would.

  “You’ll walk away,” Tom continued. “Casey will stay. And then I’ll—”

  “You’ll kill them both,” Josh said, his voice a hard growl. “That’s not happening. You aren’t going to touch Casey again.”

  She trembled, her shoulder throbbing and the blood soaking her.

  Josh edged into the open doorway. He and Tucker fanned out a bit, closing in on Tom. Casey knew she should probably run, but...her legs trembled. How much blood am I losing? She grabbed on to the door frame so she wouldn’t fall. Her hands were bloody. She’d gotten Katrina’s blood on her when she grabbed the knife.

  “Casey!” Tom shouted her name.

  Her head whipped up. She stared straight at him.

  “This isn’t the ending I wanted.”

  She knew that. “You...you went to the prison. You’re the one who kept trying to convince...Theodore Anderson...to talk to me...”

  “I also convinced him that his son was an ungrateful failure who deserved to be punished. Theodore was all too eager to point the finger at Kurt. Everything would have been perfect.” He sighed and his shoulders slumped a bit. “But they came back too soon.” His gaze swept to Josh. “Couldn’t stay away from her, huh? Have to be close, every moment. There was another man who fell for Casey that way. Fell so deep and hard that he killed for her.”

  “I never wanted Benjamin to kill,” she whispered.

  “You’ll have to kill, too, Agent Duvane,” Tom continued. Katrina seemed to be a dead weight in his arms. “Because I’m not stopping. Casey will see you kill. She’ll know you’re just like the other one. She’ll turn from you. You’ll lose her as surely as if I put my knife in her heart.”

  “No!” Casey yelled.

  He looked at her. Smiled. “I chose the ending. It was my story, never yours.” His hand tightened around that knife, and she knew, she knew he was going to slit Katrina’s throat.

  Casey screamed and raced forward.

  Gunshots blasted.

  One shot hit Tom in the shoulder. The other...in the head.

  He fell back. The knife cut across Katrina’s neck, but it didn’t sink deep.

  Tucker and Josh both closed in. Tucker kicked the knife away from Tom, and Josh grabbed for Katrina. Casey’s breath heaved from her as she hurried to Josh’s side. The shot to head—it had killed Tom. She’d seen—no, she didn’t want to think about what she’d seen as that bullet tore into him.

  Josh was pressing his hands to Katrina’s wounds. Tucker was on his phone, demanding to know where backup was, and Casey—

  “It was my shot,” Josh said, not looking up as he worked frantically on Katrina. “My shot killed him. I did it.”

  “I know.” Somehow, she’d just...known.

  His head turned. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. He wasn’t going to hurt you again.”

  Her lips were trembling.

  “I’d do it again,” he said quietly.

  A tear slid down her cheek.

  I know.

  * * *

  KATRINA WELCH HADN’T SURVIVED. Josh stood in the condominium’s parking lot, the swirl of police lights illuminating the scene. A gurney rushed past him—Finn was strapped down and two medics were working feverishly on him. The knife was still in his chest, and he was still breathing, barely. Josh hoped the kid survived.

  There had been enough death.

  “No, no, I don’t want to leave!”

  His head whipped to the right at the sound of her voice. Casey was in the back of an ambulance. She should have been on the way to the hospital, but the woman was trying to push her way past the team surrounding her. She looked over at him. Their gazes locked. “Josh!”

  Instantly, he ran toward her. She’d been stabbed—her blood had soaked her clothes. “She needs to get to a hospital right now,” he snarled, glaring at the EMTs. “What are you waiting for—”

  “You,” Casey said.

  He shook his head.

  “I can’t leave without you.” She licked her lips. The EMTs pushed her back onto the gurney. “He was wrong. Tom was crazy. I don’t see you differently. You’re a good agent, Josh. A good man. I need you to know that.”

  His chest seemed to burn. He should stay at the scene, help Tucker tie up loose ends but...

  Casey.

  He climbed into the back of the ambulance. His hand caught hers. Did she get it? To him, Tom Warren had been a dead man the instant Josh saw the guy holding that bloody knife. Tom had come after Casey time and time again. Josh had never intended to let him walk.

  Did she understand?

  “I’m sorry—” his voice came out rough “—that you were hurt.” He looked down at her wrist. The handcuffs were gone and dark bruises banded her wrists. “I should have kept you safe.”

  He’d nearly lost her.

  “You can’t save the world.”

  It wasn’t the world that mattered to him right then. It was Casey. And when he’d raced back to the penthouse, so desperate to get to her, every instinct in his body screaming at him that something was wrong—to get to her...he’d felt something splinter inside of him. He’d tried calling the condominium’s front desk, but the line had been disabled. Before he’d gone upstairs, Tom had been busy. He’d taken out the phone line and even turned off the alarm so that he could access the top floor via the service elevator. Since he’d gone through the service area, the guard in the lobby hadn’t seen the fellow. Tom had been smart.

  Sadistic.

  Josh was glad he was dead.

  When he couldn’t reach Casey, Josh had tried calling Finn—no answer. He’d demanded backup at the condo building even before he’d rushed inside, but that backup hadn’t arrived soon enough to help.

  It had been him and Tucker.

  “He chose death,” Casey said. “That was on him. He did that. He could have dropped his knife. You were trying to save Katrina.”

  He stared into her eyes. Her beautiful, dark eyes. The woman had gotten to him. She’d gone far beneath his skin and straight into the soul that felt battered. “I didn’t want to lose you.” Even as he’d pulled the trigger, Tom’s words had echoed in his head.

  But he’d had a choice to make.

  There had been no going back.

  “You’re not going to lose me.” Casey smiled at him. The ache in his chest finally eased. “You’re going to get the chance to start over with me. No murder. No stories. Just us.”

  He wanted it to be just them.

  The EMT cleared her throat. “Uh, about the hospital...”

  Josh pressed his lips to Casey’s. “Something you should know...”

  She blinked up at him.

  “I’m falling for you, too, sweetheart.”

  Her beautiful smile stretched, lighting her eyes.

  “Uh, yeah, I got things here,” Tucker called out as he cleared his throat.

  Josh’s head turned and he found Tucker standing near the open ambulance doors. His friend gave him a little salute. “Why don’t you make sure Ms. Quinn gets to the hospital all right? I’m sure she would appreciate an escort. Hayden and I will handle everything at the scene.”

  He didn’t have to be told twice. Josh brought Casey’s wrist to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the bruised skin. He felt her pulse surge beneath his lips.

  Tucker slammed the ambulance’s back doors closed. The siren screamed on. Moments later, they were taking off.

  And Josh was holding tight to Casey. The woman he never planned to let go.

  Epilogue

  Josh Duvane broke from the surface
of the water, pulling the regulator out of his mouth and then shoving back his mask. He grabbed for the side of the boat.

  “See anything interesting down there?”

  He glanced up and straight into the sparking gaze of his new bride. She married me. She actually married me.

  Casey Quinn—now Casey Quinn-Duvane—smiled at him. He’d never get used to that smile, not in a million years. That smile lit her up from the inside out and it made him feel as if he were staring straight at a miracle.

  Maybe because he was. To him, Casey was a miracle. The dream he hadn’t even realized he had. The woman who loved him—bright spots and dark.

  And he loved her more than anything in the world.

  He carefully climbed aboard the boat, then he reached into his bag and pulled out the two perfect sand dollars that he’d just retrieved from the ocean floor. Casey laughed and crowded in closer to him. “Gorgeous!”

  He was staring straight at her. “Yes.”

  She looked up. They were on their honeymoon—sailing in the Florida Keys. The Sandy Shore Killer wasn’t in the headlines any longer. Both Finn and Kurt Anderson had survived. Casey had recently covered their stories in an exposé for her new television show.

  Kurt was getting counseling. He was putting the pieces of his life back together.

  And the town of Hope? It was finally healing. The monsters were gone.

  Josh pulled Casey against him. “I love you.” He’d never get tired of those words. When he thought of how close he’d come to losing her... Hell, no. He didn’t even want to imagine that life. Because his life...everything he wanted...she was it.

  She rose onto her toes and her lips pressed to his.

  * * * * *

  Don’t miss BEFORE THE DAWN—

  the next title in the KILLER INSTINCT series

  by New York Times bestselling author

  Cynthia Eden.

  Available wherever HQN Books are sold.

  Check out the previous books in the

  KILLER INSTINCT series:

  THE GATHERING DUSK

  ABDUCTION