Sudden Danger

by Sharon Sala

  “This is Wade. I need a forensic team sent to the Mercury apartment building, Apartment 520—and make it fast.” Then he pulled her hands from her face and turned her around to face him.

  “Look at me.”

  When she didn’t respond, he grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “Look at me, damn it.”

  She lifted her head. The unfocused look in her eyes said it all—it was only a matter of time.

  “You’re coming home with me,” Scott said. “You’ll be safe there. He doesn’t know anything about me…about us. He won’t know where you are and it will buy us some time.”

  Kristie’s gaze wavered as Scott’s face came into focus.

  “Home with you?”

  “Yes, baby…home with me. Now go pack some things. We’ll leave as soon as the forensic team shows.”

  * * *

  Scott unlocked the door to his apartment and then stepped aside for Kristie to enter.

  “Home sweet home,” he said as he walked in behind her and then shut and locked the door.

  Gauging the degree of her lingering shock, he decided that a stiff drink and a long nap were in order. But getting her to agree to either was going to be tricky. The Kristie he’d known from before hated alcohol in any form. He set her bag down on the floor and then gently turned her around and helped her off with her coat.

  She acquiesced without comment, and when he led her to the sofa, she sat with a plop, as if the bones in her legs had suddenly turned to mush.

  Scott took off his coat and tossed it on the back of a chair before running his hands through his hair in frustration. He needed to call in to headquarters, but he hated to leave her alone. He looked at her again, seeing the muscle jerking in her jaw, and figured she was clenching her teeth to keep from crying.

  Impulsively he strode to a nearby cabinet, opened the doors and poured some bourbon into a shot glass.

  “Drink this,” he said, and thrust it into her hands.

  Kristie blinked slowly, then realized what he’d handed her.

  “I don’t like whiskey.”

  “I know, but drink it anyway.”

  She downed it as if it were medicine, shuddering as it slid down her throat.

  Scott knelt at her feet and began to remove her shoes.

  Kristie shuddered again as he slid his arms beneath her and laid her in a prone position on the cushions.

  “Are you going to seduce me?” she asked, and then laughed.

  To Scott, it sounded more like a sob and he wanted to sit down and cry with her.

  “Not right now,” he said, pulling the afghan from the back of the sofa to lay over her. “I’ve got to call my lieutenant. Close your eyes. I won’t be far.”

  Kristie looked up at him, studying the steady gaze and the firm jut of his chin, and knew he meant what he said.

  “Okay.” She dutifully closed her eyes.

  Scott watched her just long enough to see tears seep from the corners of both eyes before exiting the room to make his call.

  Kristie heard the angry stride of his footsteps as he left the room, then the low murmur of his voice from another room. Secure in the knowledge that now she was as safe from the stalker as she would ever be, she let herself relax. Within moments, she was asleep.

  * * *

  The police were everywhere, banging on doors in the apartment building, questioning everyone in residence. McMartin had seen them drive up. But they could look forever and never find him—not in a million years. It hadn’t been easy getting out of the elevator shaft ahead of the police, but he’d done it. He still couldn’t believe his luck when he’d seen Kristie standing alone in the parking garage.

  For a moment he’d thought about grabbing her there, but the chance of being discovered before he’d had time to enjoy her had been too great. Almost immediately, he’d realized that his chance to make contact with her again would have to be the elevator, which he knew how to disable. It had been a race to get back into the building and to find just the right moment to hop on the car. It was dangerous as hell, but something he and his friends had often done when they had been teenagers. The high for him had come when the power had gone off and he’d heard the fear in her voice. He was still rocking from the adrenaline surge.

  Of course, there had been that brief moment of insanity when he’d considered jumping down into the car with her. She wouldn’t have been able to see him and he wanted to put his hands on her, to see if her skin was as soft as it appeared, and how quickly her flesh would yield to his knife. But reason had overcome the urge and he’d escaped from the shaft just ahead of the arrival of the police.

  The rain had stopped and he was back on the streets and walking briskly while trying not to strut. Just to prove to himself that he was invincible, he found a pay phone, stepped into the booth and dropped in the necessary coins.

  He waited in anticipation, expecting to hear Kristie’s voice or at least her answering machine. But when the phone rang and rang without an answer from either, he hung up in frustration. So she’d turned off the machine. Picturing her holed up in her apartment alone and frightened was enough for now. He’d pay her a visit later, when he was certain there were no police around. Maybe tonight was the night he would finish what he’d started. He thrust his hands into his pockets and pulled the collar of his coat up around his ears as he exited the booth. A coffee shop across the street beckoned him with the enticing scents of freshly brewed coffee. The thought of a cappuccino and some biscotti sounded good, especially after the strenuous day that he’d had.

  He darted across the street, dodging a pair of cabs that seemed hell-bent on racing to the next red light, then winced as water lapped at the tops of his shoes as he stepped into a puddle at the curb. The thought of biscotti was making his mouth water as he moved toward the coffee shop. A young couple was exiting as he reached the door. The woman smiled at him. He looked at her mouth as he smiled back, wondering if she was a screamer, or if she was one of the women who froze from fear. The man with her nodded cordially, then held the door open for him as he moved inward. He didn’t bother to acknowledge the young man’s deed as he strode past on his way to the counter.

  Chapter 5

  Scott had gotten the okay from his lieutenant to finish out the day with Kristie, but tomorrow would be another matter. He was going to have to go back to work and he wasn’t certain she was going to be able to stay alone. Whether she knew it or not, she was still in shock. There was a wide-eyed, almost-blank stare in her eyes and a muscle jerking at the side of her mouth that had yet to stop. He was a little uneasy about taking her out of the apartment in full view, but he figured that even if she’d been seen leaving with him, no one would ever imagine that he’d taken her home. It was his ace in the hole to keeping her alive until the stalker was caught.

  He’d put her bags in his bedroom and decided he would be sleeping in the extra bedroom, which he used as an office/workout room. There was a twin bed in the corner of the room, though he knew from experience that his feet would hang off the end. However, discomfort didn’t matter as long as he knew Kristie Ann would be safe.

  Now here he was, sitting in the living room in a chair opposite the sofa where she was sleeping, studying the shadows on her face and remembering when they were teenagers and the way she’d come undone in his arms when they’d made love.

  When her lower lip suddenly trembled, his gut knotted. Damn the sick bastard to hell and back for scaring her this way. He didn’t want to think about what he would do when he caught him. For now, making sure she was safe was enough.

  And then in the middle of his reverie, he realized that Kristie was awake and staring at him. He jerked, surprised that he’d missed the moment of her awakening and wondering what she’d seen on his face in the unguarded moments. It was when she sat up from the sofa and came toward him that he knew she’d seen all the way to his heart. She held out her hand without speaking and then pulled him to his feet.

  “What is it, h
oney?”

  “If I asked you a favor, would you grant it?”

  “Anything for you.”

  “Make love to me, Scotty. Today I thought I would die. Now I need to remember what it feels like to be alive.”

  The shock of her request ricocheted through his mind as he opened his arms and pulled her into his embrace. There was no thought of refusing her or himself. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t dreamed of doing this very thing since the moment she’d walked back into this life, but he hadn’t planned it quite this way.

  He didn’t talk, and neither did she as he took her by the hand and led her to his bedroom. She paused just inside the door long enough to see the king-size four-poster with the plain blue spread, before she started removing her clothes.

  At that point time stopped and then began to rewind. It was as if they’d both stepped backward to the innocence of their youth when loving each other came easy and the future extended no further than tomorrow.

  Scott undressed right beside her, stopping often just to touch her or to help her off with a particularly stubborn bit of clothing. She accepted his help as if they’d done it countless times before, but when she started toward the bed, he turned and scooped her off her feet, then carried her the rest of the way.

  Scott laid her down and then stood for a moment, staring at the lushness of her body, admiring what maturity had done for her.

  Kristie was oblivious to the breadth of Scott’s shoulders or the hard, flat planes of his belly. She didn’t see anything but his face and the hungry look in his eyes. It was a need that mirrored her own. She reached for him then and he came to her, stretching out beside her. Almost frantic, they reached for each other and then suddenly, they paused. For a few silent moments their gazes were locked as they lay face-to-face, without moving, barely breathing. Then Scott touched her hair, letting his hand trail through the soft auburn curls.

  “You were always pretty, honey girl…but the years have been good to you. You are so, so beautiful.”

  The chill that Kristie had lived with for so long began to melt under Scott’s tender gaze. She took his hand into hers and pulled it to her lips, gently kissing his palm, then the tips of each finger.

  Scott inhaled sharply as he rose up on one elbow.

  “I’m so sorry that this is happening to you, but I will be forever grateful that you came back into my life. Once we had something really special. I’d like to think that there’re enough feelings left between us to build on.”

  “You want that?” Kristie asked.

  Scott sighed. Admitting it left him wide open to hurt, but he didn’t have it in him to lie. Not to her. Not ever.

  “Yes, sweetheart, I want that very much.”

  Kristie curled her fingers around his neck and pulled him close—so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath against his cheek.

  “So do I, Scotty, but you have to keep me alive to make that happen.”

  Scott’s expression darkened. “Count on it.”

  “I am,” Kristie said. “And I’m counting on you.”

  The weight of his promise rode heavy on Scott’s heart as he took her into his embrace. At first their touches were tentative, as if testing to see if their memories of each other were still the same, but within minutes of the first kiss, their embraces reached fever pitch.

  Kristie felt as if her skin was on fire. Every touch of Scott’s hand on her body was almost painful, but not nearly as painful as the ever-tightening coil of heat between her legs. She’d forgotten how swiftly he could make her come undone.

  She wanted him. Now. Hard and fast. All she had to do was catch her breath long enough to tell him.

  “Scott… Scotty…”

  The desire in her voice was but a shadow of the need in him and he’d almost waited too long to maintain control. Hurriedly, he raised up and then lowered himself between her legs. Before he could think past the next breath, she had wrapped her legs around him.

  “Please, Scotty…in me…now.”

  He made one tentative move at the apex of her thighs and then slid inside.

  Kristie inhaled slowly and closed her eyes, knowing that what she’d been feeling was nothing to what was about to come next. She wanted it—and him—and when he began to move, she knew joy and a wonderful, settling peace.

  For Scott, thought ceased. He was operating on instinct, lost in the heat and the motion. Time passed in excruciating sweetness as they made new memories from an old love.

  One minute they were locked in a rhythm and the next it was as if they’d come to an impenetrable wall that they couldn’t go past. They both hit it at once, shattering every ounce of cognizance they’d had in the blinding heat of climax. A few moments later they lay still and mindless within the warmth of each other’s arms, waiting for their breathing to steady and their heartbeats to settle into a normal rhythm.

  But as perfect as it was to savor the aftermath of their lovemaking, Scott knew he couldn’t stay here forever. Finally, he rolled off of her with a groan, then took her with him. When she would have gotten out of bed, he pulled her against him instead, spooning her against his body and then closing his eyes.

  “Don’t move,” he begged, then pulled covers up over them both. “I just want to hold you.”

  Kristie sighed, then pulled his arm around her as if it were a blanket and settled. It had been so long and it still felt so right.

  Within minutes they’d both fallen asleep. When they woke it was evening. To be exact, it was ten minutes after five on December twenty-seventh.

  Kristie opened her eyes, felt the weight of Scott’s arm across her belly and smiled as she turned to face him.

  “Hey, you,” she said softly.

  Scott’s eyelids fluttered and then opened. He lay for a moment, savoring the sight of this woman in his bed and knew he would be a lucky man if he could wake up like this for the rest of his life.

  “You all right?” he asked softly.

  She nodded, then smiled.

  “We’ve still got it going on, don’t we, honey?”

  She sighed and then nodded again.

  “Don’t you have anything to say?” Scott asked.

  “You didn’t just get older, you got better?”

  He laughed and then raised up and kissed her soundly before rolling out of bed.

  “Where are you going?” Kristie asked.

  “To shower and then get dressed. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

  Kristie sat up in bed, unmindful of her nudity, and watched him disappear into the bathroom.

  “Scott?”

  “Yeah?” he yelled back.

  “Are we having pizza?”

  He stuck his head out of the bathroom and grinned. He knew that some people had a good smoke after sex. They’d always had pizza.

  “Don’t we always?”

  “Thin crust supreme?”

  “Is there any other kind?”

  “Hurry,” Kristie said. “You’re making me hungry.”

  “You want to call it in?” he asked.

  She nodded, smiling to herself as he winked at her and then disappeared. Moments later she heard the water running and knew he was taking that shower. She smiled to herself as she got out of bed, then caught herself choking back tears. This had been too sweet—too perfect—and maybe too late. She couldn’t quit thinking about all the years she’d spent alone, wondering why she had never been satisfied with the men that she’d met. Now she knew. All this time and it had been Scott who’d still had the claim to her heart. Only a relationship with him wouldn’t be as simple this time. A stranger stood between them and happiness and until they found him, her life was in limbo.

  But for now, she wouldn’t let herself dwell on the hopelessness she was feeling. By some strange twist of fate Scott was back in her life, and she was going to do everything in her power to keep him there.

  She found a phone book in the bedside table, looked up the number to her favorite pizza parlor and ca
lled in their order. Delivery would take about forty-five minutes. That was just long enough for her to clean up and get dressed. Tonight was going to be all about them. Tomorrow would have to take care of itself.

  * * *

  It was three o’clock in the morning when McMartin reached Kristie’s apartment. His pulse was pounding as adrenaline shot throughout his system. The high he was on was not chemically induced. It came from the power he had over her life. He knew she was afraid. Her screams in the elevator had been a big turn-on as had the fear in her voice when he’d talked to her on the phone. Now the only thing separating them was this door and he was about to make quick work of that.

  Glancing up and down the hallway to make certain he was still unobserved, he took a lock pick from his pocket. In seconds, it was open. Thinking he would have to cut the chain that she always put on the door, he took a small pair of bolt cutters from his pocket. However when he turned the knob and pushed, the door swung inward. Startled, he paused on the threshold and stared into the darkness of the foyer. When he was satisfied that he was still undetected, he slipped inside the apartment and shut the door behind him.

  The thrill of the hunt was upon him. He knew the layout of the rooms from being in here before, so he started forth with cool assurance. His thoughts were racing, picturing Kristie in her bed, imagining the fear on her face when she saw him standing in her room.

  Kristie…my Kristie.

  Giving the living room and kitchen only a cursory glance, he continued down the hall to her room. The door was ajar. The room, as the rest of the apartment, was dark. His heart skipped a beat as he put the flat of his hand on the door and then pushed. The door swung inward, revealing the interior of the room. Her bed was against the wall to his left and there was a faint glow from a night-light in the adjoining bathroom. Enough light to let him know the bed was empty.

  She was gone.

  The knowledge hit him hard, like a fist to the gut. This was to have been the night—his night—but once again she’d messed up his plans.

  He turned on the light and quickly searched through her closet, then moved on to the bathroom. From what he could see, a few things were missing that indicated she was somewhere overnight, but he didn’t think she’d be gone for long. Her toothbrush and toothpaste were gone, as was a hair dryer and hairbrush. He knew because they’d been here before when he’d left her the little message on the refrigerator. He had no way of knowing what clothes she had taken, but it didn’t appear to be many. Also, the full-length blue coat that she usually wore to work was nowhere to be found.