by Jaci Burton
Dante put his arm around Anna's shoulder. She felt the sting of tears and blinked them back.
This wasn't about her grief. This was about finding a killer. Her pain could wait. "We'll go do that before I head back to do my report."
"I'll get started on the list," Roman said.
She nodded. "I'll meet you back at the station."
She turned and they all watched as Jeff's body was loaded into the transport van.
Anna pulled Roman into a hug, squeezing him tight. She pulled back and searched his face. "You be careful. You know what's going on here."
He gave her a sober nod, then his gaze shifted to Dante. "You look out for her."
"Not going anywhere."
Telling Ellen was about as horrible as Dante predicted it would be, and had to have torn Anna up inside. He felt Anna tense up next to him when Ellen sobbed and turned her face into Dante's shirt.
Anna remained stoic, did her job, gave her sympathies and let Dante handle most of it. Dante had put his arm around Ellen and held her when she would have crumpled to the floor. He knew how she felt, knew every kid who'd stayed with her was like one she'd given birth to.
"I'll be in touch after the autopsy is completed and he's released to the funeral home," Anna had told her. The raw agony in Ellen's eyes was enough to make Dante tear up. And nothing brought him to tears.
They'd tried Gabe's phone a few times, but it had gone straight to voice mail. Dante wanted to deliver the news in person so he hadn't even left a message. He'd catch up with Gabe as soon as he could.
They left Ellen's and climbed back into Anna's car. She sighed and leaned her head against the headrest.
"What now?" he asked.
"Now I need to drop you off. Then I want to go to Jeff's place."
"Why?"
"I don't know where he was tonight, or where he was when he was taken to that alley. Maybe his house will give us some clues."
She picked up her phone and called for the evidence team, then called Roman and asked him to meet her there.
"I can drop you off on the way."
He slanted a look at her. "I'm not going home. And if you drop me off I'll just follow you."
The ride was silent, and he wasn't surprised when she pulled up in front of his condo.
"Thought you were going to Jeff's place."
She put the car in Park and turned to face him. "This has to be dealt with first. I want you to pack up and go back to wherever it is you came from."
He figured this was coming, knew she'd want to protect him.
"I'm not leaving, Anna."
"You have to."
He saw the fear in her eyes, the desperation, and knew he'd have to tell her everything in order to convince her he wasn't going to die.
"Let's go inside and talk about this."
"Fine. I'll help you pack and I'll escort you to the airport." She followed him inside.
Dante noticed her hand on the butt of her gun as he opened the door and flipped the lights on. He moved in front of her. "It's okay. There's no one here."
"You sure about that?" she asked.
After tonight he wasn't sure of anything anymore.
She shoved ahead of him. "I'm going to check your bedrooms if you don't mind."
He didn't mind, but he wasn't going to let her check them alone. He moved with her, his hand within reach of his own weapon. Once they cleared the house, she stood in the middle of the living room, her arms crossed.
"You have to leave, Dante."
"I'm not going."
"Are you insane? You realize there's a killer out there who wants all of you dead."
"Yes."
"So you're going to stay and do what? Paint a target on your back?"
"You want me to leave and let the other guys become targets? I can't let that happen. Not when I could stay and possibly do something to stop it."
She lifted her chin. "That's my job."
"Yeah, it is. And I can help."
"Really, how? You're not a cop. You don't have the resources available to you that I do. You might be able to ride along with me now and then, but frankly you hinder my investigation and it would be easier for me to do my job if you'd just get the hell out of my way. It would be one more person I--one more potential victim I don't have to worry about."
One more person--what? He'd like to know what she was going to say before she stopped herself.
"You can't anticipate what the killer will do, Anna. You don't know who he's going to target next."
"No, I can't. But I can sure as hell make sure it isn't you."
He wanted to explore how she felt about him. What had been about to happen before she'd gotten that phone call could have brought them closer together, at least physically.
He wanted to clear the cobwebs of the past. That's why he'd come back. He wanted to be sure Anna was okay, that they were okay.
Now no one was okay.
"I can take care of myself. And I'm not leaving."
He felt the boil of tension inside her as she stepped up to him and gave him a shove that was more frustration than anger. "Why are you being so goddamn stubborn about this?"
He slid his hands up her arms to wrap around her wrists, pulling her fully against him until her head rested on his chest. Holding her was killing him, making him want her. He wanted to wrap himself around her, inside her, until they both stopped hurting.
"My brother was murdered tonight. My foster father was killed a few days ago. There's a potential serial killer on the loose targeting the people I care the most about, including you. Do you really think I'm going to walk away from that?"
She lifted her head to look at him. "You walked away before."
The stab to his gut hurt like a cold, sharp knife. She'd said it to hurt him, to make him leave. And she was right. She didn't trust him to stay when she needed him. "I deserved that."
He saw the pain in her eyes and would have done anything to take it away. "Then leave now."
"No. Not this time. Not again."
"This is my job to do."
"This is more than your job now. And I'm not leaving you alone to fight this bastard."
She sighed. "He's going to try to kill you."
He nodded. "And probably you, too."
"You're not equipped to deal with someone like this. I can't let you risk it."
Dante's lips curled. Maybe it was time to let her know who and what he really was. "Honey, I've killed more people than this guy ever will. Trust me, I can handle this crazy fucker."
Eleven
Anna stared up at Dante in dumbfounded shock.
"What the hell are you talking about?" She pulled away.
"Let me start at the beginning. I told you I joined the army when I left. But I need to explain why I left."
She folded her arms. "That would be a good place to start."
"Twelve years ago when I walked out on you, it was because I figured I needed to get out of town fast. I wanted to separate us, Anna."
"Why?"
"I was afraid of the fallout from the murder, of anything tying you to me. I figured distance would help."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"Now, maybe. Back then it made a whole lot of sense to me. Anyway, during my time away, let's say I learned how to handle myself. And I can watch over you."
"That's what you mean when you said you killed a lot of people. You were black ops."
He didn't answer, but his eyes gave him away.
She backed away, irritation grating on every nerve ending. More lies. More cover-ups. More about him she didn't know. What else was there? "I don't need you to watch over me. I'm a trained detective. What's it going to take for you to realize I can take care of myself?"
"A little backup couldn't hurt. Not with some insane killer out there. Look at what happened to George, one of the smartest men I ever knew. He would have never let himself get blindsided like that. And Jeff wasn't exactly a moron. He knew to watch his back
. We came from the streets. It was tough out there. Instincts like that are never lost. We had just told him last night to watch out for himself and now he's dead. So whoever's doing the killing was smart enough to get the drop on him. They could do the same to you, so no matter how tough and capable you think you are, you can still be hurt."
Anna flinched. Dante knew he'd insulted her, but he needed her to see reason. This wasn't a game, and it wasn't a back-and-forth about which of them was better prepared to take care of themselves. It was life and death and they had to start watching out for each other.
"I'm moving into your place."
She looked horrified. "What? No."
"Until this guy is caught, I'm not taking any chances with your life."
"And I said no."
"You want to make sure I stay safe, don't you?"
"You would if you got the hell out of town."
"You need me."
She sighed. "Because you're some supersecret agent?"
"Not exactly, but that could work to our advantage, and it's the reason I didn't just spill to everyone about who I was. It's not something people are supposed to know."
"How can you help?"
"I can get information you can't. I have carte blanche in this country. Hell, anywhere, for that matter."
"Again, how?"
He hooked his thumbs in his jeans and gave her a smug smile. "Basically, I don't exist."
"So what you're saying is that you're above the law?"
"Pretty much, yeah. So let me help, Anna. You need all you can get on this, and I'm damn good at taking care of myself."
"You might be good at what you do, Dante, but just like you said to me, it still doesn't mean you can't be killed. Sticking around here thinking you're immortal cock of the block is the surest way to end up dead."
"I'm better than most at watching my own back. And people who do what I do know how easy it is to slip up and end up dead, so believe me, I know how to be careful. I haven't stayed alive this long by being stupid."
She wanted to believe him. But she wanted him to stay alive, too. And maybe she could use his help down the road, because bureaucratic red tape was the worst, especially once you got into the nitty-gritty of working a case. Brick walls were frustrating. If she hit one and Dante could help her bust through it, then he could be useful.
"Fine. You can stay in town."
He smirked. "I was staying anyway."
"Smart-ass. But you aren't bunking at my house."
"I'll just sleep in your driveway if you don't let me in."
"I'll have you arrested for trespassing."
"Won't stick."
She wanted to kick him. "Goddammit."
"Quit arguing with me. I'll pack a bag and then we can head over to Jeff's house."
"You can't just investigate this case with me. You're a civilian."
"I know. I need FBI credentials."
Her eyes widened. "What? You can do that?"
"Yeah. I can pull some strings and make it happen."
"Just like that."
"Not exactly. I've been working on it for a couple days now, figuring I might need them. It'll take some maneuvering and a few phone calls, but yeah, I can get FBI ID."
Who the hell was he that he could grab fake credentials? "You'll never get that bullshit past my captain. He'll want to verify you with the actual FBI."
"And he'll be able to--with the actual FBI. I work for people who'll clear it."
"Jesus, Dante. Really?"
"Really. Give me a few minutes to make a phone call and see if I can push things along. Then I'll pack a few things."
Anna was rarely impressed, but she was impressed. If he could pull off what he said he could.
After he packed, they went outside.
"I'll meet you at Jeff's condo. I have to go somewhere."
She arched a brow. "Supersecret black ops stuff?"
"Something like that."
She shrugged, figuring he could do what he wanted. She had a murder investigation. "I'll see you there. Or not."
He walked over to her car and pulled her against him. "You can pretend you don't care, Anna, but I know you do. If you didn't, you wouldn't have tried to boot my ass out of town."
She lifted her gaze to him, half angry and half scared to death. "I don't want anyone else to die before I get this case figured out. You don't mean any more or any less to me than the other guys."
His lips curled in a smile that told her he knew she was lying. "Bullshit." He pulled her against him and kissed her soundly. The emotion of the night got the best of her and she grabbed a handful of his shirt, held on and kissed him back, terrified she'd never see him again.
When she pushed away, his eyes had gone as dark as the storm churning within her.
"Do you always take without asking?"
He swept his thumb over her bottom lip. "No." He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers again. "No," he whispered against her mouth. "Want me to apologize?"
She shuddered against him, then pushed him away, not sure if she was more irritated at him or at herself.
"I'll see you at Jeff's. Be careful."
She nodded, and climbed into her car, her lips still tingling from his kiss.
Oh, sure. Become an FBI agent.
Great idea, Dante. It was a good thing he'd already set things in motion a couple days ago, because he needed it to happen now and it wasn't like he could pull this whole FBI thing out of his ass in an instant.
And speaking of his ass, his superiors were going to have his over this. The one thing he'd never done was abuse the power they gave him.
Until now, anyway. He was on vacation, and now he wanted FBI credentials. Sure, he could do almost anything, but he had some tap dancing to do to explain this.
First thing was to meet with a local contact, and since security was paramount he couldn't do it with Anna around.
A half hour after he left Anna, he arrived at a house in South County.
Nice neighborhood. Well established, with thick, full trees and well-maintained lawns.
And one expensive, big fucking house. Colonial-style, two-story, with those columns and big windows and a lawn that looked as if whoever lived here hired people to take care of it.
Dante went to the address he'd been provided and through the gate toward the side door to the garage. The garage door was open, so he walked in.
"Good thing my wife is in Tahiti with the kids," the guy said who greeted him.
He was in his fifties, slightly graying hair short in a military kind of cut.
"Sorry to bother you. This is kind of urgent."
The guy had a glass half filled with amber liquid and a couple ice cubes. "Whatever. Come on into my office."
Dante followed him through the garage and into the house.
He led Dante into a downstairs study, motioned for him to take a seat on the other side of his cherrywood desk.
"Someone will be here shortly with your paperwork."
"Thanks."
Dante looked around the room while his host worked on the computer. Military medals were framed on one wall, law certificates on another, political awards and the like.
He'd been out of the country for a while, but not too long to finally recognize who his contact was--he was influential and a big player.
This was going to cost Dante next time he got an assignment, which would probably end up being in some shithole he might have been able to turn down otherwise.
The man finished typing in his computer. "Background complete, without question."
"Thank you."
Someone entered the office and handed an envelope to the man, then left.
He removed the contents, reviewed them, then handed them over to Dante.
"These should be sufficient for your needs."
They were. "Thanks. Sorry to bother you."
"The request came from high enough up that I figured it was important for national security."
Oh,
Christ. "It is. Thank you. I'll get out of your way now."
The man nodded, led him back out the way he came.
"Stay safe, Dante."
"I will."
Dante got the hell out of there as fast as he could, grimacing at the cost of what he'd just done.
He tucked the badge into his pocket and backed out of the man's driveway.
Fuck it. He never called in favors or abused power like some of the other guys did.
This one was necessary, and worth it.
Now maybe he could do some good.
He entered the address to Jeff's house into the GPS unit in his car. Anna was waiting outside when he got there.
"Roman here yet?"
"He just called. He'll be here in five. And I assume you're now an FBI agent?"
He moved beside her. "I'm trusting you with some pretty sensitive information, Anna. Don't blow my cover when I could help you with this case."
She shrugged. "Why would I when it'll be so much fun watching you play secret agent?"
"Not a secret agent."
"Whatever."
"You can't tell anyone about me, not even the other guys. Not even Roman. As far as anyone knows, I really am an FBI agent. I was on vacation and when the murders started happening I decided to get involved."
"Uh-huh. And why the mystery beforehand? Why wouldn't you have just told them what you did for a living when you first got here?"
"I'll figure out some explanation for that. Hell, I'll lie."
"You are lying."
"I know."
She rolled her eyes. "However you want to play this, but you know what they say about lies."
"My life is a lie, Anna. I don't sweat it much."
And her life was all about the truth. He could see the mistrust on her face. They'd just taken two steps backward, but there wasn't much he could do about it. This was his life, what he did.
They lived in two different worlds.
Roman showed up along with two uniformed police officers. Dante took a step back to observe how this went down, mainly because he didn't want to get in the way, but also because he liked watching Anna work.
Flashlights in hand, Anna, Roman and the uniforms surveyed the perimeter of the house looking for signs of forced entry and for footprints.
"There's a window here over the kitchen," she said. "It's closed, but not locked."
"That could be an entry point," Roman said.
Anna nodded. "We'll have to dust it for prints and check for footprints." She shined the light on the ground. "Lots of bushes here under the window. I don't see any broken branches, but since this window is over the back porch he could have climbed onto the porch railing and lifted the window that way without rustling the bushes or leaving prints on the ground."
