Tag: romantic suspense

Killer escalating again. Nurse and cop missing.

Garret wasn’t sure if the words were real, something he’d read or heard, or just something he’d made up in his own head.

Actually he wasn’t sure of much.

Only one thing registered in his mind.

Find Calico.

Get to Calico.

Sve Calico.

The killer had tracked them to his place, followed them as he was trying to get her to the police station. Slammed their car with his own, and by the time he woke, not only was he consumed with pain, but Calico was gone.

His Calico. She’d admitted as much. When he told her that nothing could make him leave her side, that being with her was exactly where he wanted to be, she’d told him she felt the same way.

But he’d failed.

Just like he’d failed Tony and Natasha.

Calico was gone. Snatched away from him. He’d broken his promise to her to keep her safe, and to remain with her.

Which is why he had to find her.

Something sharp scratched his cheek but he had no idea what it was. Had no idea where he was. Only that it didn’t matter that he was hurting because if he didn’t find Calico before it was too late there would be a permanent ache in his chest that would never heal.

He had no idea how long he walked, or how he was even remaining upright.

All Garret knew was that when his body finally gave out on him and he hit the ground hard enough to see stars, that he’d failed and Calico was going to pay the ultimate price.

Killer’s identity confirmed – hunt is ongoing.

That was the first that flittered through Calico’s mind as she tried to blink open her eyes.

The hunt was ongoing but Derek had been at Garret’s house.

There was ketchup on the door. A warning. Telling her he was coming for her next.

Pain burned behind her closed lids, and she realised she could not in fact open her eyes. It felt like they had been glued shut.

How …

Something niggled at the back of her mind but she couldn’t seem to grasp hold of it.

One thing she did know though was that something was wrong.

Badly wrong.

It wasn’t just the pain in her head that told her that it was the feeling of something being missing. Something important.

No.

Not something.

Someone.

Garret wasn’t here.

Calico had no idea how she knew that but she felt his loss like a severed limb.

Panic lit inside her.

Where was Garret? Why wasn’t he here? Where was here?

Even though she couldn’t open her eyes she felt someone approaching her. A hand smoothed down her hair and she knew.

Knew even before she heard his voice.

“My dead, sweet, Calico, I’m so glad you’re home now, back where you belong.”

Case is so close to being solved.

That was one of the latest headlines Garret had seen, and he was so proud of Calico for doing what she had to do to try to stop this killer, he was also terrified because it put her directly in the line of a man who was already obsessed with her.

Obsessed enough to start killing other nurses while he waited to make his move on the one he really wanted.

“It’s not blood, not blood,” he said as he buckled Calico into the passenger seat of his car, not sure if he was trying to reassure her or himself.

“Ketchup,” Calico whispered.

The fact that it was her ex’s personal quirk didn’t make the fact that it wasn’t blood smeared all over the door any better.

Rounding the car, constantly alert, waiting for Derek to come jumping out from the shadows and try to snatch Calico.

But he didn’t.

Garret got into the car, started the engine, and drove out onto the street, all without incident.

“He knows where I am, Garret,” Calico said softly.

Reaching one hand over he grabbed hers. Held on tight. “We’ll get you to a safe house until he’s found and in custody.”

“He knows you too. You’re not safe either. Are you … going to stay with me?”

The vulnerability in her voice had him lifting her hand so he could press a kiss to the inside of her wrist. As badly as he wanted to be out there hunting the man who had hurt his Calico, if she wanted him with her then that’s where he would be.

“Nothing but wild horses is going to tear me from your side, and there are no wild horses in the city, Calico Cat.”

“Thank you.”

Taking his eyes off the road, Garret shot her a smile. “Nowhere else I want to be than wherever you are,” he assured her.

“Good, because I feel he same way about you. Being with you is safe, peace, joy, it’s everything I could ever want or need.”

Before he could say more, the glare of headlights suddenly lit up the night, and the roar of an engine was the last thing he heard before another vehicle slammed into his and pain exploded inside him, tossing him into unconsciousness.

Police found link between current cases and old case.

That was the last headline Calico had read and as they were plunged into darkness she couldn’t help but feel like this link had come to late. Too late to save all those other women and maybe too late for her and Garret as well.

Panic immediately gripped Calico in an icy hold.

Darkness.

She’d spent days trapped in the dark when Derek had held her in his house. He’d wrapped a blindfold on her when he first grabbed her and he’d kept her hands chained behind her back the entire time.

Over the last twelve months she’d worked hard to overcome the phobia the ordeal had left her with, and now in just a single second all of that was undone.

Clutching at Garret now, she felt like a scared little girl, not a woman who had endured an ordeal and survived it, came out the other end stronger.

“I got you,” Garret murmured in her ear as he started moving.

“It’s him,” she whimpered, pressing her face against his neck. It had to be Derek, somehow he had followed her here, and now he was going to come after her and Garret.

“We don’t know that,” Garret said as one of the arms holding her disappeared, He was now supporting her weight with one arm under her backside, and her legs wrapped around his hips, her arms around his neck.

“Of course we do.” Who else would it be? Unless Garret also had a stalker.

“I’m armed, Calico, and I have no intention of letting anyone hurt you. We’re going to go outside, get into my car, and drive straight back to the station. Okay? No one is going to touch you.”

He sounded so strong, so confident, and she longed to believe him. If anyone could protect her from her ex it was Garret, but she was so afraid. She just wanted to be happy and move on with her life.

“I need you to trust me, Calico.”

“I do,” she said without hesitation. It was true. She did. This wasn’t an issue of trust just one of fear.

“You won’t regret it.”

Calico felt lips touch her temple, and then they were moving. Cold air washed over her as they stepped out into the night. Maybe she’d feel safe at the police station, she thought as she shivered.

Maybe.

A big maybe.

A curse falling from Garret’s lips had her lifting her head. Immediately she saw what had upset him. Something red was smeared all over his front door.

Two words.

You’re next.

As clues grow, are the police misreading them?

They wouldn’t be now thanks to the woman sitting so still and silent on the couch beside him. Calico had just broken this case wide open and now that they had a name hopefully it wouldn’t take the police long to find Derek Daniels and lock him up for good.

Who would have thought a small packet of ketchup would break open the case? If it wasn’t for Calico knowing that her ex loved the things and always had them with him, eating them as snacks, then it could have taken them weeks or even months longer to connect Derek to the crimes.

What she’d done today had taken a great toll on Calico though. She was bundled up in blankets despite the mild weather, and she was so withdrawn it hurt to look at her. She was not only reliving the worst thing to ever happen to her but she was also imagining all the terrible things that could happen to her in the future.

Her ex was dangerous and he had a grudge against her.

Not that anyone was getting to Calico on his watch. Whatever it took he was going to protect this woman who had burrowed her way into his heart and taken up residence there.

“They’ll find him,” he assured her, tugging her closer to his side.

“Yep,” she said, but there was no conviction to her tone. It made sense she didn’t have much faith in his kind right now, after all the cops had told her that her ex was dead when it was painfully evident that he wasn’t.

“Now they know he’s alive they won’t stop until they find him.”

“But will they find him before or after he for me?”

The fear in her tone gutted him, and Garret didn’t think, he just grabbed her and hauled her over until she was sitting straddling his thighs. “I won’t let him get you. You hear me? You’re mine to protect and I won’t fail you.”

He’d failed Tony and Natasha, but that wouldn’t happen this time. Couldn’t. Not when failing meant losing this beautiful woman.

A small smile chased away some of the fear in her eyes. “I’m yours, huh?”

“Any objections?”

“Are you also mine?”

“You bet I am.”

“Then no objections.” Leaning in she pressed her lips to his, and they both quickly sunk into the kiss.

As badly as he wanted to pick her up, carry her upstairs to his bedroom, and spend the rest of the night making sure she was thinking only pleasant thoughts, Garret knew they weren’t ready yet to take that step. Especially not under these circumstances. He didn’t want their first time tainted by her ex and his crimes.

“Garret, more, please,” Calico whispered against his lips as she rocked on his lap.

He groaned, his resolve weakening. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Who was he to deny this woman anything? Standing with Calico in his arms, Garret was just heading to the stairs when the power in his house suddenly went out.