“All right.Let’s go piss off a psycho then.”
They followed the sheriff down the hall toward the lobby.Along the way, Rafe cleared his throat as he walked next to Sean.“So, um, how was Suki when you spoke to her?Is she coming back to update the profile?”
Sean raised an eyebrow in curiosity and amusement.The other man definitely had a big-time crush on the good doctor.“She’s fine.And, no, she has no plans to come here.She can update the profile from her office.”He paused, then teased, “Want me to pass her a note from you at recess?”
“Fuck you, man,” he grumbled in a low voice.“She’s hot, and I liked the view.Nothing more.”
Uh-huh.Like Sean believed that—not.But as they hit the front doors leading out to the press conference, his mind returned to professional mode.
The parking lot was teeming with reporters jockeying for the ideal spot to capture the news conference.CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News were there.Hell, even a news team from the BBC had shown up.Dare County’s Seaside Strangler was now international news and fodder for true-crime fans.
Griffin took the podium first and released the name of the latest victim and some other information that was just a spin on what they’d released yesterday and the days before that.He then introduced FBI Special Agent Malone, and Sean stepped forward, placed his speech on the podium, and prepared to poke a rabid bear.
Chapter17
Driving to work, George couldn’t believe his luck.The karma gods must have been shining on him because the jogger who’d just passed him when he’d slowed while approaching a stop sign was none other than that fucking federal pig.He was certain of it after watching the news conference over and over last night, as his blood boiled with rage.
The fucking fed didn’t get it—none of them did.The cops, reporters, and the friends and family of the whores he’d killed would never understand.Why couldn’t they see he was making the world a better place by ridding it of worthless trash?
No, all they did was sit around and call him the same things that bitch had called him—a savage, a sadist, a barbarian.But this asshole had gone further—calling him weak, a loser, dysfunctional, and, worst of all, a coward.
He’d show them he wasn’t a coward—starting with the fed.Turning in the direction the bastard had gone, he knew exactly what he needed to do to prove his worth and get the pigs to see he meant business.
Sean’s pulse and breathing were in their target range as his feet slapped against the pavement while he jogged through the streets of Whisper.Two miles down, two to go.He wished he hadn’t unintentionally left his headphones and MP3 player at the sheriff’s department yesterday.After he’d given his speech at the press conference, he’d needed to shut everyone else out for a bit.The music had relaxed him as he’d read through all the reports from interviews that had been generated from the tip line.It wasn’t that he didn’t trust everyone to know their jobs, but he’d been hoping that something that had been overlooked might jump out at him.It had been a fruitless effort.
Taking a random right, he alternated his route as he usually did.It was a way to remind him not to be complacent.Passing the empty playground of the local elementary school, his mind drifted from the case to the woman who’d rocked his world last night and, hell, the night before that too!
It was Saturday, so the therapy center was closed, and she’d gone with Bonnie to a yoga class this morning.He’d invited her to go for a run with him, but she’d confessed running bored her to tears.She preferred yoga, aerobics classes, and swimming to keep that sexy body toned to perfection, which he thought it was.However, Grace insisted she was too curvy.Instead of arguing with her, he’d kissed, licked, and nibbled every curve of her body last night to prove it to her.It’d been one of the best foreplay sessions he’d ever had, and by the time he’d entered her, they’d been so primed and ready that she’d exploded within minutes, taking him with her.
Checking his watch, he upped his pace as another vehicle passed him.Easter Sunday, earlier in the week, drifted back to him.It was the first time any of the Malone brothers had brought a significant other to the holiday celebration—KC and Moriah had met only a few weeks after the holiday last year.It had been his Aunt Annie’s favorite holiday, next to Christmas, and in her memory, they’d always made a big deal about it.When the brothers were little, and their parents were still alive, the adults had made a plastic Easter egg hunt on the beach with loose change and the occasional dollar bill in them.Even when they’d gotten too old for the hunt, the big dinners had continued.Now with KC and Moriah expecting, everyone was looking forward to starting the egg hunts for the next generation to enjoy.
An image of what his and Grace’s children would look like scampering around the beach was interrupted by the sound of a revving engine.Some idiot was racing up the street behind him—in a 30 MPH zone, to boot.Glancing over his shoulder, he was about to wave at the driver to slow the fuck down when he saw the gray sedan was headed straight for him.
Without time to avoid the collision, Sean jumped and dove up on the vehicle’s hood before it could knock his legs out from under him.The impact stole his breath, and pain shot through the right side of his body.He managed to tuck his head in, avoiding smashing it against the windshield as the vehicle’s speed sent him flying back off.He landed on the asphalt with a thud that sounded like a sonic boom to his ears and rolled several times before coming to an agony-filled stop.
A screech of tires caught his attention, and he turned his head in time to see the sedan slow down and take a sharp right onto the next street.It was too far away and traveling too fast for him to note anything other than the color and the fact that it was a four-door Toyota Camry.His vision was blurred from the impact and pain, so he hadn’t been able to see the license plate or anything else that could be used to identify it.
“Oh, my God!Are you okay?”a woman yelled, her voice getting louder as she ran toward him.“Helen, call 9-1-1!Sir, where are you hurt?”
A middle-aged woman stood over him, and Sean tried to focus on her face, but darkness overtook him, and he fell into a blank abyss.
Bonnie held her niece’s hand as they waited for Sean to return from getting a CT scan.His dislocated left shoulder had been popped back into place, and a variety of X-rays were taken.The ER doctor didn’t think he had anything worse than a mild concussion, but because he’d passed out before the deputies and medics had arrived, it was better to play it safe.The only other injuries were bruises along his left side and some road rash on his arms and legs.
Deputy Montgomery immediately recognized the federal agent upon arrival at the scene and notified Sheriff Griffin and Brian, who in turn had called his uncle.Dan had closed up the hardware store, then hurried over to get Bonnie and Grace out of their yoga class.After getting an update at the hospital, Dan called the oldest Malone brother and filled KC in.Thankfully, it looked like Sean would be released as long as the CT scan was normal.He’d be sore as hell, but it could have been so much worse.
Grace had never been so scared in her life than when Dan had broken the news to them.Not even bothering to change out of their workout clothes, she and Bonnie grabbed their bags from the locker room and followed Dan to the hospital.Although he was banged up and in pain, Sean was alive, and that’s all that mattered to her.It had taken almost an hour for her heart rate to return to normal and the shivers of fear to dissipate.All she wanted to do now was take him home and nurse him back to health.
Griffin disconnected the cell phone call he’d been on and strode over to where Grace was waiting with Dan and Brian.“That was Brad and Rafe.There were only two witnesses—the woman who called 9-1-1 and the one who gave first aid.They’d been out for a walk and had just turned the corner onto that street seconds before Sean was hit.One of them is a volunteer with the local ambulance corps, so she knew what to do.They only confirmed what Sean told me earlier—it was a newer, gray Toyota Camry, four-door, with unknown North Carolina plates.They think it was a lone male driver but couldn’t be positive.One thing they were sure of, though, was that the driver sped up and drove straight at Sean.It was intentional.”
Running a frustrated hand through his hair, Brian cursed.“Shit.It had to be our killer.But how the hell did he know where Sean was?I freaking told him to let me do the press conference!”
Dan laid a hand on his nephew’s forearm.“Easy, son.There’s no point in being a Monday-morning quarterback.What’s done is done.Thankfully, Sean will be okay.”
“We’ve got an APB out on any gray Camrys with front-end damage,” Griffin informed them.“We’ll also get it out on the news.Obviously, this wasn’t how we wanted it to go down, but maybe the sick bastard finally made a mistake.”
The door leading from the waiting room to the ER opened, and the nurse who’d been treating Sean since his arrival by ambulance motioned to them.“He’s back from the CT scan.As soon as we get the results, Doctor Romansky will release him as long as it’s normal.You can come back and stay with him until then.He’s asking for you all.”
They found him sitting up on the hospital gurney wearing the fashion-less blue and white gown the nurses had put on him.The paramedics had needed to cut away his torn shirt at the scene to check for injuries.His jogging shorts were short enough to work around, so he’d still worn them upon arrival at the ER.
