Cole: A Romantic Thriller Novel (For The Love Of A Good Woman Book 2)

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  When I walked into the living room, I saw that Cole had pulled the blinds down and pulled the curtains. He knew that I needed it and he was proving that he could take care of me and make me feel safe. I sat down on the couch and waited for him to come back.

  “Sean is on his way over. He looked over your parents’ file and he wants to talk to you. Is that okay?”

  I nodded and saw that he had a file folder in his hand. “Okay, so what do you need to talk to me about?”

  He held up the folder. “This. Sean dropped this off to me about a week ago. He wanted help catching a serial killer that has been in the area for the past twenty years. His sister was taken, but she managed to escape after ten days. The rest of the women were all held anywhere from nine months to eighteen months.”

  “And you think it’s the same guy that took me?”

  “There are a lot of similarities. All his victims were tortured and starved over time. The coroner’s reports show that all the women died of starvation or their bodies gave out after months of torture.”

  I swallowed down the bile that was rising in my throat. If this guy had been doing this for twenty years, and it was the same man that took me, how had he gotten out of jail so long ago?

  “I was supposed to be notified if my parents’ murderer was released. If that’s the same man, it would have happened a long time ago. I would’ve still been a kid. Is it possible that he was released and I never knew?”

  “Sean should let us know when he gets here. He said he found out a lot last night after going over your parents’ files.”

  “Okay, so what do you need from me?”

  “Well, for starters, we need to go over all the information and see what matches up. I’m sure Sean will have details on the man that was sent to prison. You gave him a description, so we’ll go from there.”

  Sean arrived a few minutes later carrying a box of files.

  “Hi, Alex. Did Cole bring you up to date on things?”

  “I think I’m caught up.”

  “Okay, first of all, I checked around the station and no women have come in reporting a missing woman matching your description. It could be a coincidence, but it’s more likely that your captor convinced a woman that you were missing and he needed help looking for you. There’s no evidence that he has ever worked with anyone else and seeing what he does to women, I’m guessing he gave some sob story about the two of you being estranged and he needed to find you. I told a few of my buddies to be on the lookout for a woman knocking on doors, but chances are, she’ll turn up dead in a few days.”

  “Why would she turn up dead if he’s using her?”

  “Because she’ll most likely have seen his face. He won’t keep her alive and risk her telling anyone. Cole, I think you should come down to the station and sit with a sketch artist. If we can find her, maybe we can get some more information on this guy.”

  “Sure, I can do that. What about her parents’ murderer? Are these two the same guy?”

  “Wait, I already told you they were. He knew my name. He called me the same name he did twenty-four years ago. How could it not be the same guy?” My voice was rising as I spoke, frustration getting the better of me.

  Sean and Cole exchanged a look and dread filled my belly. This wasn’t going to be good.

  “I talked to the detective on your parents’ case, Detective Morris. He said the guy that was sent to prison is still there. He seemed pretty convinced that they got the right guy. He seems to think we’re looking at two different killers.”

  “But…how is that possible? I mean, his face was different, he had scars, but he called me the same name.”

  “There are several possible scenarios we need to look at. One, your guy is still in prison, but he sent someone to find you and told him what to say. However, this guy has been committing the same murders for twenty years. This guy likes what he’s doing.”

  “Okay, what else could it be?”

  “He could have framed someone else. Twenty-four years ago, it would have been a lot easier to frame someone. DNA wasn’t used in court until 1987, so in 1993, it was still fairly new. DNA testing has come a long way since then.” He studied her folder for a minute and then looked back up at her. “It says in the file that you couldn’t identify your attacker.”

  “No, I think I was too scared. I was eight and all I could do was watch as he murdered my parents. I didn’t want to look at the monster. I remember his eyes, the shape of his face, little things about him, but when they took me to identify him, he looked totally different under those lights. I couldn’t say for sure if it was him. When he took me again, I didn’t recognize him until he called me that name. Then I saw his eyes and I knew it was the same man.”

  “There is a third option. He could have paid someone to go to jail for him.”

  “Why would anyone do that?”

  “Sometimes going to jail is the lesser of two evils,” Sean said. “I’ll look into the man that is currently in prison and see if I can find any sort of paper trail.”

  Cole had been silent next to me for most of the discussion. I really wanted to hear more from him. He was the one I trusted. I reached over and grabbed his hand and felt him squeeze it in return. He grounded me and I would need his strength to get me through this. Cole seemed to be lost in thought, but then turned and gave Sean a questioning look.

  “Is it possible that they just caught the wrong guy twenty-four years ago? What was it about the DNA that had you suggesting this guys was framed or paid to go to jail?”

  “It was a fifty percent match and it states in the file that they didn’t get a large enough sample and therefore, couldn’t prove that it was him with DNA evidence alone. Detective Morris said that Henry Jones, the man they convicted, didn’t try to defend himself. That’s where my theory of him being paid comes in. If he had tried to get off, I would say that they caught the wrong guy, but it was as if he was resigned to that fate.”

  “And Detective Morris didn’t find that strange? Didn’t think it was worth looking into?” Cole asked in amazement.

  Sean shrugged. “I’m guessing he’s just a cop that doesn’t want to be corrected or admit he might have been wrong. I doubt he’d be much help to us now. He basically told me to look elsewhere because I wouldn’t get anything useful where I were looking.”

  Cole seemed to digest this and I could tell that something was bothering him about all of this. I turned to Sean, knowing that he came here to get my help.

  “Okay, so what do you need from me?”

  “I want to show you the pictures of the guy that was arrested for your parents’ murder. I need to know if anything about him is familiar.” I nodded and he took out the picture. I studied his facial features for about five minutes and tried to compare him to the monster that had taken me.

  “I can see how he could pass for my attacker. He has similar facial features, but thinking back, there are certain things that aren’t right. For instance, his eyes are shaped wrong. My attacker had crazy eyes. They were large and round. I swear I could see every bit of evil through those eyes. This guy’s eyes are too narrowed, more almond shaped. Also, the eye color is wrong. This guy’s eyes are medium brown, but they should be almost black. It also says his height is 5’11”. Now that I’m older, I can judge his height. This guy should be well over six feet tall.”

  Sean scribbled down notes and Cole brushed his thumb over my hand as I talked to Sean.

  “Sean, have you talked to Cara about any of this?” Cole looked over worriedly at his friend. Cara must be Sean’s sister.

  “No. I don’t want to bring it up to her. I don’t know that she’s in the right state of mind to talk about it.”

  I knew better than anyone that it wasn’t easy talking to people about being taken. It was another thing to talk to someone who had been through it and understood. “What if I talked to her?”

  “I don’t think having a kidnapped victims’ get together is going to make her feel better,” he
said sarcastically.

  Obviously Sean thought my help would be useless and I needed to shut my mouth. I hadn’t meant to be insensitive, but sometimes, talking to someone who understands can make it easier to heal.

  “Sean.” Cole’s voice was sharp and cutting. “I didn’t let you into my home to snap at the one person who can help us.”

  Sean rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Alex. I’m just very protective of her and I don’t want to put her through it. She hasn’t been doing well and I don’t know how to make it better for her.”

  “I understand, but it might be easier for her to talk to me. Not only going through the same thing, but possibly by the same man? You have to admit, she’s more likely to talk to me than anyone else. Besides, maybe if I talk to her, I could get her to open up some more about what happened and maybe we’ll find some details that match up. If we could link the two cases in that way, it would help a lot, right?”

  Sean nodded reluctantly and Cole gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. Sean gathered up his paperwork and said he would call when he set something up with Cara. After he left, I sank back into the cushions and laid my head against the back of the couch with my eyes closed. Cole sat beside me and then he hauled me into his lap. My head rested against his shoulder and I breathed in his scent, relishing in the comfort he brought me. It had been so long since I had relied on anyone else that I didn’t realize how great it would feel. I needed his protection, but it was so much more than that. He understood me and knew how to bring me out of a funk when my head went to crazy town. He held me when I needed comfort and his touch steadied me. He was like my own personal dreamcatcher at night that warded off my nightmares. This man was quickly becoming the most important person in the world to me and I knew it was beyond ridiculous to hope that he felt the same way. I had a feeling when this was over, I would be completely crushed.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Cole

  Over the next week, I lounged around the house with Alex. We slept in every morning and Alex took several naps throughout the day. I could tell she was starting to gain her strength back because the naps didn’t last as long with each passing day. I cooked breakfast for her every morning, while she sat at the counter and talked to me. We shared stories of our childhoods, mostly good. Alex didn’t talk much about her time in foster care, but told me a lot about growing up with her parents. She had been a daddy’s girl and she shared stories of things that he took her to do. He called her his little princess and she had wanted to marry him when she was four. He put on a fake ceremony for her and they took pictures of their wedding. All of her parents’ items, along with the pictures, were sitting in storage in her hometown and she hadn’t gone back to go through them yet. I told her that when it was safe, I would take her back.

  It felt very domestic to spend my days with her. I found a new sense of peace that I hadn’t even gotten from woodworking. I was hoping that soon she would be comfortable meeting my dad and maybe even my friends. I wanted to keep this woman in my life.

  In the afternoons, we lounged on the couch catching up on movies. Neither of us had really watched any movies in years, so we had a lot of choices. Sometimes we watched old movies. I really liked to watch old westerns and Alex had never seen one, so I introduced her to John Wayne. She really liked some, but others, she would fall asleep on me while watching. It was comfortable and I would run my fingers through her hair or rub her back. I felt a need to always be touching her.

  After our afternoon movie, we would search the internet for recipes we could make for dinner. My mom had offered to bring more food over, but Alex really wanted to feel normal, so she insisted that she cook for us. I told mom that she could help by bringing us more groceries. I even made a list of things that Alex would like for a recipe she had in mind. Mom was thrilled to help and brought the groceries over a few hours later. At night, we would lay in bed and talk. The night that she told me about her parents’ murder tore me to shreds. I had told her that if she ever wanted to talk about that night, I would listen.

  She did confide in me and it was worse than I could have ever imagined. After that monster found her and dragged her into the kitchen, she had watched as her father was stabbed repeatedly. First, in the stomach and then shallow punctures all over his body. It was enough to cause him pain, but what had killed him was the stab wound in his stomach. He had slowly bled out and she had to watch. The worst part was that the ‘game’ was her being asked questions and when she didn’t answer them correctly, her father was stabbed. I could tell that her father’s death weighed heavily on her shoulders. She told me that she knew it wasn’t her fault, but she couldn’t help the guilt that she felt.

  She had been saved when the police sirens sounded in the distance. They lived in the country, so the screams weren’t heard right away, but a neighbor had been out looking for his dog and had called the police immediately. Her mother had still been unconscious and he had slit her throat before running to the back door. Before he left, he promised that one day he would come back for her and they would continue their game. She had believed that she was safe because they had supposedly caught him and he was in jail.

  Alex had snuggled into me and wrapped her body around me that night. She was seeking my comfort and I was happy to provide it. I felt a change that night. I knew that night that she was no longer someone that I would protect, but mine to protect, and I would do everything in my power to keep her and help her heal.

  The next day, I took Alex over to Sean’s house to meet with Cara. She had always been so caring and full of life. It was hard to see her as a shell of her former self. She had hardly left the house since she was released from the hospital after her escape. She was afraid that monster would find her and take her away. It seemed Alex felt the same way. We had to find a way to get this guy or these women would never be able to live their lives without fear again.

  I was pretty sure my life would be forever changed also. I was finding it harder and harder to resist Alex. It had only been a few days, but she had gotten under my skin. She looked to me for comfort and protection. She looked to me to make things better, and I couldn’t fail her. I wanted to take care of her and take away her nightmares. No one had looked to me for anything in three years. I hadn’t wanted to be responsible for anyone or anything since I returned from war. I just wanted to be left alone to lick my wounds. Sebastian had been trying to get me to come work at his security company, but I wasn’t sure that I could handle a job that didn’t mean anything to me. I’d spent every day for years living as if it could be my last. Every decision I made would mean life or death for my brothers in arms and me. That’s why I built furniture with my dad. I created something and had a finished product in the end.

  Now I had found my new purpose in life and that was to protect this woman I had come to care so much for. I wouldn’t let her down. I would do everything in my power to keep her safe. For the first time in three years, I was doing something meaningful. I was protecting someone and I knew if I screwed it up, someone would die. It was strange because I didn’t feel any anxiety over taking this job because it wasn’t really a job. It was protecting Alex and I wouldn’t let her down.

  When we got to Sean’s, Cara was less than thrilled to be having company. She had become quite surly when her family and friends tried coaxing her out of the house. She didn’t want to leave and no one could understand her not wanting to leave all these years later. She started pushing people away and getting angry and now the only people that she really saw were her brother and parents.

  Sean greeted us at the door and we saw Cara walk around the corner and scowl.

  “What are they doing here? You better not have brought them by for me.” Cara huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Sean and I exchanged a look that said maybe this wasn’t a great idea. Then Alex stepped forward and I held my breath waiting for Cara’s reaction.

  “I’m Alex and I need your help with something. It’s something that only you
can help me with.” Cara looked at her with calculating eyes.

  “What could I possibly help you with? I haven’t gone anywhere in years, I don’t have advice about guys because I haven’t dated anyone since I was kidnapped, and I don’t have any recipes to share. Looks like you came to the wrong place.” She gave Alex an angry smile.

  “I came here because I need you to help catch my kidnapper.” That shocked Cara into silence. “I think that we were abducted by the same man. Only this man murdered my parents twenty-four years ago. I need your help stopping him so he doesn’t keep doing this. If I’m right, and this is the same man, we will never be free of him until he’s caught or dead.”

  Cara’s face contorted in anger and she was practically yelling at Alex. “How do you expect me to help you? That man ruined my life and I’m not doing anything that could put me back in his path. He’ll find me and I won’t survive that again. I’m barely surviving now.” She was shaking and Sean stepped forward putting his hands on her shoulders, running them up and down Cara’s arms.

  “Cara, this could stop him. If we can figure out who this guy is, we can find him and stop him. You would never have to worry again. I need my sister back and she will never return to me as long as he’s out there.”

  “It’s too late, Sean. You’ve already lost her,” she replied in a defeated voice.

  I was about to grab Alex’s hand and tell her it was time to go, when she got in Cara’s face. My eyes widened and I reached for her, but she shrugged me off. Fury blazed in her eyes as she started taking Cara apart piece by piece.

  “You’re a coward. That man had you for ten days. He’s murdered eight other women. He kidnapped me for five months and he probably is the same man that murdered my parents in front of me when I was eight. I barely escaped. You escaped by sheer luck. You and I are the lucky ones. We have scars, but we’re alive and we can do something to stop him.”