“No,” I reply sternly, tightening my hold on her, and open my mouth to reassure her before the guilt swallows her whole and blind her to rational arguments, when Ella’s voice cuts into the misery.
“Or so we thought anyway.” We both freeze, Phoenix barely breathing in my arms from this weird statement, and dread fills me at this.
Whatever they have to say will bring more chaos in our lives and tangle this fucking web of deceit to a point it will be impossible to unknot.
She takes a tablet from her leather case and places it on the coffee table between us. “Phoenix, please look at this man. Do you know him?”
She twists in my arm and blinks, studying the picture of a smiling blond man waving at us with the ocean behind him. “No, it’s the first time I’m seeing him.”
“We thought as much.” Noah swipes to the right to show the guy, this time standing with a young woman as they kiss with the sunset beaming on them. “This is the real Rafe Baker and his girlfriend, Alexis. They are currently enjoying their vacation in Hawaii.” Phoenix jerks in my arms, wiping away her tears and sitting up straight but still not avoiding my embrace, so I make no move to free her. “They won this trip just a day before you were released from prison. How convenient, right?”
“I don’t understand,” Phoenix says with confusion in her voice. “How can that be Rafe?”
Ella pitches in, swiping to another photo displaying a good neighborhood with several suburban houses next to it and a green field with kids running around. “This is Sara’s real house where she grew up. After their parents died, Rafe just stayed there. We contacted him about it; he was shocked, of course. Since he promised Sara to take care of you, he planned to decline the prize and come get you. According to him though, on the same day, he received a message from Sara that you weren’t going to need his help.” Another swipe, and sure as fuck, there’s the message.
Phoenix blinks and then blinks again, before stammering, “So-so the Rafe that came to me—”
“Worked with the unsub. His real name is Brady, a very smart kid from an abusive household.” Noah clasps his hands. “He dropped out the same year you were convicted. We suspect that’s when he and the unsub met, which led to his decision. Based on the information we have about him from his professors, he was extremely gifted, so they were sad to see him go. This also explains the degree of skill shown in all these cases with manipulating the cars’ operating systems and hacking into them.”
All this information clicks in my head, connecting the invisible dots, and the beast inside me roars at the fact that I hadn’t double-checked the guy.
I hug Phoenix closer to me, hating the idea of this fucker, whoever he was, this close to her, even if he can’t do anything to her now. “And the apartment?” I hear Phoenix ask and glance down at her in the crook of my arms, but she looks at Ella. “Those were Sara’s clothes. Her room.”
“Did you see anything personal there besides the clothes? Pictures, diaries, photo albums?” By the way Ella words her question, I guess they’ve already searched the apartment and found nothing of the sort.
“Oh, God.” Phoenix exhales a heavy breath, lacing her fingers in her hair until she palms her head. “Oh, God.”
“Phoenix,” I say, pressing her to my side even closer, hoping that at least an ounce of my strength can be transferred to her so she won’t crumble under the horrific realization the serial killer played with her once again. With no care for her wishes or desires, he trapped her in this guilt-ridden emotion when he planned all this shit with Brady.
Any prey is irresistible to the hunter; the scent of it kicks in the survival instinct and they can’t wait to sink their teeth and claws into that prey, feeding on its flesh until the next time.
You chase and you eat, which means you live and you win.
But a scared prey, or even worse… the one who has gone insane—the direction the unsub is slowly pushing Phoenix with all his diabolical plans?
Oh, I bet it’s the fucking temptation none of them can resist.
She raises her eyes to me, sliding her hands from her neck until she rests them on her lap and takes a deep breath. “Is it weird that I’m relieved more than anything?” A single tear slides down her cheek, making her brown eyes glisten. “I don’t care that Brady was part of some kind of plan, although I do feel sorry for him.” Ah, my perfect girl who probably has already built a portrait of Brady’s character in her head and justified his deceit with the abusive household mentioned earlier. “I’m happy to know Sara’s brother is okay.”
I wipe away the tear, rubbing her cheek with my thumb before cupping her chin and tilting her head back. “No, it’s okay. But even if it was him, it wouldn’t have been your fault.” Our gazes clash for a second, mine confident and hers unsure, but she finally nods, and a loud clearing of a throat once again snaps my attention back to Noah.
He smiles at Phoenix and takes a handkerchief from the inside of his jacket, extending it to Phoenix. She snatches it as he reassures her, “Don’t worry. Rafe is completely okay, and this whole thing truly was paid in full. So no one harmed him, but for the sake of the investigation, we moved him to a safe location for the time being.” His gaze shifts to me. “The unsub knows them, and we don’t want to take any chances with their safety.”
“You think he will retaliate right now?”
“Well, after the internet blowing up with your engagement, it was inevitable the unsub would snap,” Ella says. “We believe he always planned to get rid of him.”
Phoenix straightens up, finally shrugging off my arm, and bends forward, giving the pictures one last look before she focuses her attention back on the agents. “The unsub is a woman, isn’t she?”
“Brady must have loved her. That’s why he listened to her.” I follow her trail of thoughts and curse inwardly that her suspicion came true.
After what I’ve done to Phoenix, I vowed to never harm a woman again, but fuck if fate is tempting me to go back on my word, destroying this soulless creature piece by piece.
Phoenix rolls her eyes. “With your logic, he could be a man too. It’s the way the unsub killed Rafe, without much suffering or blood. Even though he is raging right now, the crime is not violent.”
“At this point, gender is really irrelevant.” Noah rests his elbows on his knees and rolls back his shoulders. “However, he is losing control, and we can’t be sure about his next course of action.”
My brows furrow. “Meaning?”
“Since he is losing control, he might not behave in his usual manner. So his patterns might change, which is dangerous, because it makes it more difficult to catch him,” Phoenix says to me while rubbing her forehead, a small line appearing between her brows from the concentration. “Do you have a plan?”
The corner of Noah’s mouth lifts up. “Well, we figured we’d follow yours.” Phoenix’s cheeks heat up, and she groans into her hands while he continues, “I think it’s a good idea, and we need to flaunt this fact in his face. Preferably soon and where we can be there for it.”
“As in you’ll catch him in the act?”