Tag: suspense

He’s closing in.

Calico did her best not to let the latest headline about the nurse serial killer take away the joy she was feeling this morning.

Last night had been perfect.

Easily the best date she’d ever been on in her life.

Despite their slightly shaky start Garret was everything she could hope for in a partner and they just … clicked. Now that he was recovering, and had climbed out of the pit of pain and despair he’d been in after he’d been shot and almost died, she was starting to see the real Garret.

And she liked what she saw.

A lot.

Maybe more than she should given she hadn’t known him for very long.

But who cares? She’d been with her ex for three years before she realised he was a dangerous psychopath. Time wasn’t everything, and she really liked Garret.

That kiss …

Calico touched her fingertips to her lips. She swore even hours later they still tingled from the intensity of the kiss he’d given her on the doorstep when he’d brought her home.

They were seeing each other again today, Garret was going to bring lunch to the hospital and eat with her in her break, and she couldn’t wait until her next day off so they could go out properly.

Hanging up her towel, she hurried out of the bathroom. If she didn’t get dressed and out of the house in the next ten minutes she was going to miss the bus.

Grabbing her uniform, she tossed it onto the already made bed, then hurried to her dresser. Opening the drawer that contained all her underwear, it took her a second to register what she was seeing.

The drawer was empty.

All her underwear was gone.

Police profiler believe killer has next victim in his sights.

Not what Garret wanted to be reading when he was preparing to take Calico out on their first real date.

It had been almost a month since he was released from the hospital and although he’d seen her several times, with the serial killer stalking nurses several had quit their jobs meaning the remaining nurses were working overtime. Calico barely had time to eat and sleep let alone go on a date.

She was working herself too hard and it was showing. Dark circles under her eyes, losing weight, she needed time off and he’d finally insisted she deserved one night just for herself without worrying about everyone else.

Thankfully she’d agreed and tonight he got to take out the most captivating woman he’d ever met.

Tossing the newspaper into the backseat, Garret got out of his car and walked down the garden path to Calico’s front door. Her cottage was cute and had an amazing front yard, a riot of color with flowers everywhere and big shady trees. Everything about the house and garden screamed Calico.

When he knocked on the front door it took barely a couple of seconds for it to be thrown open. His breath caught in his throat when he took in the sight of the gorgeous woman standing before him.

So far he’d only ever seen Calico in her nurse’s uniform, but tonight she was dressed in dark blue jeans that molded to her long, toned legs. She wore an emerald green sweater that left her creamy shoulders bare, and instead of being twisted into a messy bun or braid, her long red hair hung loose around her shoulders.

“You are breathtaking,” he said, and loved that she blushed adorably.

“You clean up pretty good yourself,” she said, and his ego definitely got a boost at the hungry way her gaze traveled his body.

“Ready to go?” he asked, he’d planned a pretty simple date, because honestly he just wanted to talk to Calico and learn all the things about her. Sure he wanted to sleep with her when the time was right, but what he felt for her was different than anything he’d ever experienced with a woman before. Deeper.

Reaching over she grabbed her purse from a small table by the door, then took the hand he held out to her. “Ready.”

After she locked up they walked down the path back towards his car, and as they did so he couldn’t help but get the feeling they were being watched.

From the way Calico edged closer to him, her grip on his hand tightening, he got the feeling she noticed it too.

The words from the newspaper echoed inside his head. Did the killer have another nurse already in his sights? And worse, was that nurse Calico?

“She had a huge grin on her face.”

Calico’s heart ached as she read the latest headline about the nurse serial killer. There had been no sixth victim yet but it didn’t seem to stop the papers and the internet from talking about the case. It seemed to be the the only thing people wanted to discuss these days.

Or maybe it was just that she was a nurse, and she worked in a busy hospital, so of course people were always talking about the case.

Yawning as she headed for Garret’s room, she couldn’t wait to get home, soak in a bubble bath, then head to bed. She’d been picking up extra shifts this week because Nora had been out sick.

“Hey,” she said as she headed into Garret’s room. “I hear you’re getting out of here tomorrow.”

Almost two weeks had passed since he’d apologised and she’d accepted and things had been going well between them. She usually left going to him to the end of her shift and they’d talk a little before she clocked out for the day. She was going to miss him when he left.

“Yep, still got some rehab I’ll need to do but I’m ready to get back to work. I’m also hoping that once I’m out of here you’ll let me take you out on a real date.”

Calico felt her cheeks tint pink and she smiled somewhat shyly. They’d danced around the topic a few times but he’d never come right out and said he wanted to take her out.

“I’d love to,” she agreed.

“Perfect. Are you going to be in tomorrow? Will I see you before I’m discharged?”

“Yeah, I’ll be back in in eight hours.” Which would leave her barely time to get home, have her bath, have maybe five or six hours sleep before she had to come back.

“Go home, doll. We can talk more tomorrow, you’re exhausted.”

She was, and as much as she’d love to hang around for a while and talk he was right. She needed sleep.

“Alright,” she agreed. “I’m going to miss seeing you every day.” The admission was easier to make than she would have thought.

Garret’s smile was warm and he reached out to smooth a lock of hair off her cheek. “Me too. But if I play my cards right maybe that won’t be an issue forever.”

For the first time in almost two years a tingly sensation started between her legs. She was attracted to Garret, more and more as she got to know the real him and not the jerk he’d been at first.

Somewhat reluctantly she tore herself away from Garret’s room after telling him goodnight. If she didn’t leave she’d do something about the ache between her legs and she really did need some sleep.

As she stepped out of the hospital and started walking towards the bus she got the unpleasant sensation of eyes watching her every move.

Only when she looked around she couldn’t see anyone.

All this focus on the nurse serial killer was starting to get to her, messing with her head. It was nothing, she was sure of it, just her overactive imagination.

Killer has now been found to be stalking his victims.

When he’d read that headline, Garret had known he had to do something to make things right with Calico. Knowing he’d been deliberately nasty just because he was feeling sorry for himself had him feeling on edge, and he needed to rid himself of the feeling.

“I owe you the biggest apology. Despite what you’ve seen of me these last few weeks I swear I’m not usually this guy. Believe it or not I’m usually pretty easygoing,” he said, shooting her what he hoped was his most charming smile.

From the expression on her pretty face he knew she in fact didn’t believe him.

“You don’t know me. Or what I’ve been through in my life. I like to be positive, like to look for the good because I’ve seen enough bad to last a lifetime, but I don’t want it to darken all the color in my world,” Calico told him.

“I wish I could see the world the way you do,” he admitted. “I’ve also seen a lot of dark, and I never thought I would be the kind of guy who let misery consume me but …” he trailed off because that was exactly who he’d become. “I’m truly sorry, Calico, for hurting you and lashing out. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

For a long moment her green eyes studied him thoughtfully, and then finally she nodded and that bright smile he was so used to seeing on her beautiful face was back. “Life is too short for grudges, and you sound sincere, so apology accepted.”

For the first time in weeks a smile curled up his lips and he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“Thank you,” he told her. “I’ll try to figure out how to be my old self again.”

“It’s not easy,” she said seriously and he hated that she’d had her own brush with darkness. She was too good, too pure for that. “But I have faith in you. And … I’d like to meet the real you,” she added somewhat shyly.

Was she asking him out?

His smile grew bigger and wider. “I’m going to take you up on that, doll.”

As soon as he was fully recovered he was going to ask the gorgeous nurse out on a date. His mom always said everything happened for a reason, maybe the reason he’d almost died was to bring him in contact with a woman who could change his life.

Nurses need to be on alert.

Although Calico sat at the nurses desk the day after her confrontation with Garret staring at the latest newspaper update on the killer, she couldn’t think of anything but the pain his thoughtless words had caused.

He didn’t know what she’d survived.

Didn’t know that if she hadn’t managed to escape her two week long ordeal then she would still be kept prisoner locked up in her ex’s house.

Surviving his own ordeal didn’t make it okay for him to lash out at others. She’d been there, she knew the raging emotions you struggled to process, but she’d never once taken out those emotions on an innocent person let alone an innocent person who was only trying to help you.

“Hey, Cali,” Nora started in that overly sweet voice she used when she wanted a favour.

“No way, Nora. I’m not doing him today, it’s your turn,” she said without looking up. This person hunting nurses had them all on edge. Any one of them could be next.

“He’s asking for you specifically,” Nora told her.

Calico just shrugged. His words had cut deep because she did care about people, a lot, wouldn’t have chosen this job if she didn’t. Just because she tried to brighten people’s lives when they were going through a hard time didn’t mean she didn’t care deeply about her fellow nurses who had lost their lives.

“Fine, if you won’t come and see me I’ll come to you.”

The voice startled her and she looked up to find that Garret had left his room, something he hadn’t done once on his own other than for tests since he was put there after his surgery. There was an intensity in his gaze that rooted her to the spot when her brain urged her to get away from him.