“Yes,” Malloy affirmed. “Miss Best’s stunt was obvious to all as an invitation for the Copper Killer to make a move, especially since she’s his main obsession anyway.”
Well, hell. Heath calculated how many cops now knew he was in town. When would word get to Sheriff Cobb? How far was his reach? The walls started closing in, and only his training and strong sense of self-preservation kept him from giving away his emotions. “I’m so glad that we’re on your radar, Detective Malloy. I will take your advice and see how we can get Anya somewhere safe while we finish this op.”
She lifted an eyebrow that promised a fight later.
Malloy grinned again. “Good luck with that.”
They needed to get out of town and now. There was way too much focus on them, and Cobb and Madison might catch their scent. The op had just turned unsafe for all of them. Plus, Heath needed to get Anya out of danger so he could think again. His attention was too fractured. She could fight him all she wanted, but he knew when to go underground.
Now was definitely the time.
Malloy’s phone buzzed, and he drew it out of his jacket pocket to answer a text. The cop went stiff, from head to toe. His soft eyes went rock hard and sharp.
“What?” Heath asked. He looked around for a threat but didn’t see anything out of place.
Malloy glanced at him and held up the screen to show a picture of Anya near the Christmas tree in the corner, taken probably within the last half an hour. As Heath watched, the picture morphed into one of Special Agent Loretta Jackson, nude and dead on the barn floor.
Heath’s ears burned, and he quickly scanned the busy party. He went on full alert, adrenaline flooding his system.
Anya sagged into his side, and he tucked her close, fury slicing through him like a sharp knife.
“Lock the room down,” Malloy told his partner. “Now.”
Heath motioned for Ryker to hurry their way. “It won’t do any good. He wouldn’t have sent the picture unless he was walking out the door.” This time. The need to cover Anya, to protect her, was beyond overwhelming.
Anya breathed in as she allowed him to support her weight.
This was way too close. The fucker was definitely playing with them and had no problem involving the local cops.
Heath eyed the exits and tried to calm himself down. They had to get out of there. Now.
CHAPTER
27
Anya tossed her purse across Heath’s empty living room, her temper finally springing free after a too-silent drive home. She’d spent nearly two hours answering police questions while keeping herself from freaking out, and her nerves were beyond frayed. The killer had wiped the cameras from the party remotely, and even though the police were going through everyone’s camera phones, they hadn’t been hopeful. The killer had escaped. “We are not running away,” she hissed, fighting a very real urge to throw something at Heath’s stubborn head.
He crossed his arms, which did nothing but flex his impressive chest muscles. “I didn’t say a word about the op.”
No, but she could read his face as well as the tightness of his body. The image of Loretta kept flashing into her mind. Yeah, she was scared. But at the moment, she was more pissed. Loretta had deserved so much better, and that asshole had to pay. “So you’renotthinking of abandoning the op?”
“Of course I am.” His jaw appeared made from granite. “This guy is good—even better than I thought. He sent an untraceable text to a cop, for God’s sake. After disabling cameras and being within what looked like three feet of you.”
“That’s the point,” she spat. “He’s playing this game. He will keep playing until we catch him.” She put her hands on her hips. “He took an FBI agent. He won’t be able to keep from making a move on me, and that will make him sloppy.”
“This guy doesn’t get sloppy,” Heath returned evenly.
God, she hated how in control he was, while her temper was spooling completely away from her. Or was that fear?
It was true. The killer didn’t get sloppy. But he’d go kill some other young girl or woman soon, and right now they had a window of time when they might catch him. The only window. “All I’m asking for is enough time to play this out. We work in the fake offices, we sleep in the fake apartment, and we wait just a few more days. Stick to the plan.”
He swept his arm out to encompass the entire apartment. “All of this is fake,” Heath snapped, red spiraling through his high cheekbones.
The words were a slap, and she shocked herself by not recoiling. “You’re right. Every single bit of thisisfake.” The ring on her finger mocked her. But this was her one chance to avenge Loretta, and she was not quitting. It was her fault Loretta had even been involved. She’d have to live with that her entire life. Sherefusedto live with running and hiding. “I’m not giving up on the plan,” she returned, her voice lowered.
“I am,” he gritted out, “because while this damn apartment is fake, last night was not fake. You and me, it was real, and I’m not letting you be another fuckin’ failure in my life.” He reached her in two strides and grasped her biceps. “I can’t put you in the path of a serial killer smart and strong enough to take down an FBI agent and smart enough to say ‘Fuck you’ to all of us tonight. Don’t you get that?” The sparks in his eyes glowed hard and bright.
“No,” she all but shouted up into his face, twisting against his tight hold. “I’ll do this with or without you, Heath.”
