Reese grinned. “You’re good.”

Tory tapped Reese’s chin with a fingertip. “You’ve mentioned that.” “I guess I better go find Nita,” Reese said quietly.

Tory kissed Reese, then took her hand. “Let’s go find her together.”

Ten minutes later Reese perched on the examination table, staring at the flat two-by-one-inch plastic case attached with a flexible band around her left bicep. She looked up, her gaze shifting from Tory to Nita. “How does this work?”

“It’s a remote wireless system—using technology a lot like Bluetooth, the device records pulse and BP and transmits it to me,”

Nita explained. “My laptop is the base station, and depending on how I program your particular unit, you may feel the cuff inflate regularly or intermittently. The results will be graphically recorded in a file that I can review.”

“And I don’t have to do anything?”

“I will set the upper limit parameters and if the device registers a reading above that, you’ll hear a faint beep.” At Reese’s frown, Nita said, “It will be a very faint five-second pulse. Unless someone is very close to you, they’re not likely to hear it. If possible, you should take note of what’s happening at that moment. Your level of activity, perceived stress, physical symptoms.”

“Okay. If I can, I will.”

“That’s perfect, then.” Nita made a note in the chart. “I’ll call you tonight after I review today’s data, Reese.” Then she smiled at Tory and Reese and left them alone.

Tory handed Reese her shirt. She was glad Nita was being so

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thorough, but just the sight of the device on Reese’s arm made her anxious. Irrational, she knew. Diagnosis was the first step toward averting more serious problems, but she wasn’t thinking like a physician.

She was thinking like a woman who desperately did not want anything to threaten her partner. “I love you.”

Reese stopped buttoning her shirt and opened her arms. Tory pressed close and Reese wrapped her in an embrace. “I’m okay.”

“You know,” Tory said softly, “it’s okay for you not to be a rock all the time.”

“A rock.” Reese lifted Tory’s chin and studied her eyes. “We both know I’m not.”

Tory stroked Reese’s cheek. “I just don’t want you to think you need to be—for me.”

“You have it backwards, Tor.” Reese cupped her face and kissed her softly. “You are my strength. You’re the foundation of my whole world.” She carried Tory’s hand to her chest and pressed it over her heart. “As long as my heart beats, I’ll live for you. You and Reggie.”

She skimmed her hand over Tory’s abdomen. “And maybe one more before too long.”

Tory’s eyes flooded with tears. She knew she was tired, a little bit scared, but mostly, amazed. She wrapped her arms around Reese’s neck and kissed her back. “You make me so happy.”

Reese grinned. “Love?”

“Hmm?”

“If you keep it up, the thingamabob on my arm is going to start beeping.”

Tory laughed. “Well, we’ll know just what to tell Nita, won’t we?”

“Why don’t we try some serious testing tonight?”

“It’s a date.”

v

Bri found Caroline on Rica’s back deck, curled up in a lounge chair, an untouched cup of coffee on the low table next to her. She looked fragile and pale in the bright sunlight. Tenderness, mixed with near-blinding rage, sluiced through her. Some low-life bastard had tried to hurt her, and Bri wanted to find the fucker and tear him apart. She

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had to be cool, though, stay steady for Caroline. Leaning down, she kissed Caroline gently on the mouth. “Hi, babe. How are you doing?”

Caroline wrapped her arms around Bri’s neck and arched up to kiss her harder. Then she slumped back and dragged Bri down next to her. “Mostly okay.”

“Mostly?” Bri traced Caroline’s eyebrow with a fingertip, marveling at her delicate beauty.

“I don’t want this to be happening again.”

“I know, babe. I’m sorry.” Bri remembered how helpless she’d been to stop Everly’s harassment the first time, and how the impotent fury had become a barrier between her and Caroline. She wasn’t going to let that happen this time. “We’ll get him and send him away again.

Until then we’ll just be careful.”

“I wish I could be the one to find him. I want to kick his ass myself.”

Bri grinned, loving the way Caroline’s eyes sparkled with righteous anger. For all her sweet softness, Caroline was tough and strong. More than her, sometimes. A lot more than her. “If I get the chance, I’ll kick his ass for you.”

Caroline cuddled closer, fitting her head below Bri’s chin. “You think you will? Find him?”

“Carter and I will be questioning a lot of people today, about another case. I’ll be asking about Everly too. It won’t take long to track him down.”

“Good. Because I really like Rica, and I don’t mind staying here for a night or two.” She kissed Bri’s neck and then sucked lightly until Bri squirmed. “But being company really cramps my style. I had big plans for you this morning.”

“Yeah?” Bri twisted to check the kitchen through the glass doors behind them. It was empty. She found Caroline’s hand and drew it to her fly. “Want to demonstrate?”

“Can you be quiet?” Caroline murmured as she pulled on Bri’s belt.

“Babe,” Bri said hoarsely, lifting her hips. “You oughta know by now. I can be anything you want.”

v

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“So what do we do now?” Ash murmured when Allie stirred in her arms. They’d fallen asleep together on the couch, and judging from the light outside, it was late morning. She still wore her shirt and nothing else. Allie was naked. Despite the stiffness and pain in her injured shoulder, and considering she hadn’t had much to eat or hardly any sleep for a couple of days, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this good. This right. She was terrified to walk out the door, terrified that when she did, the rightness would disappear and she’d never get it back again.

“You know this was a bad idea,” Allie said softly.

“Why?” Ash asked, her breath catching in her throat.

“Breakup sex is always a bad idea. Great while it’s happening but then it just confuses everything.”

“Is that what this is?”

“This is way past breakup sex.” Allie leaned up on her elbow, her thigh resting over Ash’s. Her breasts swayed gently and Ash’s stomach tightened.

“Maybe it’s something else,” Ash whispered.

“Like what? You left, remember? You said you didn’t want to get involved with someone so much younger. You told me I wasn’t ready for a serious relationship.”

“I remember.”

“So we’re over. We’ve been over for a long time.” Allie smiled wryly and cast her eyes over their joined bodies. “Except for this part, I guess. Or maybe this is really all there ever was.”

“No. It was more than just this.” Ash needed Allie to know that.

No matter what happened, she needed her to know that there had always been more than just this. That’s why she’d come that morning, not expecting anything at all. Just needing her to know. “We were always about more than this, baby.”

“Really?” Allie asked, sorrow in her eyes. “Then explain to me what happened, Ash, because I just don’t get it.”

“I was scared,” Ash said softly. “I knew I was falling for you in a big way, and I panicked.”

“What?” Allie couldn’t believe she was just hearing this now.

They’d argued. She’d cried. Ash had stonewalled. She’d sworn at Ash, railed at her, practically begged her for a chance to prove her wrong—

all to no avail. Finally—to preserve her pride and her dignity—she’d

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done exactly what Ash had insisted she do. She’d let Ash walk away, she’d dated other women, she’d slept with other women. She tried to convince herself that she hadn’t been in love with Ash. If Ash had once said that it’d been about her fears, and not about Allie’s age or Allie’s lack of experience or something Allie was lacking, then everything might have been different. “What are you saying?”

“I wanted you so much that I was afraid. Afraid that if I fell in love with you I wouldn’t make it if you left me.”

Allie sat up abruptly, furious and confused. “You broke up with me—you broke my fucking heart—because you cared about me too much? Is that what you’re trying to tell me now?”

“Something like that.”

“You need to go.” Allie jumped up, snatched her tank top off the floor, and pulled it over her head. Her panties were nowhere to be found, but at least now she didn’t feel so vulnerable. She just felt mad.

Raging mad, and she needed to stay that way—especially now, when Ash looked so fragile, so damn wounded. At least when she was angry at Ash, she could bear the pain of losing her. Ash’s confession had flayed her heart open, and if she lost her anger, she’d be left with nothing but tears. “You fucking coward. How could you have done this?”

Ash sat up and reached for her pants. She pulled them on and found her boots and socks. “It wasn’t about you. It never was.” She finished dressing and finally met Allie’s eyes. “It was always me.”

“That doesn’t help me right now,” Allie whispered.

“I know.” Ash feathered her fingers over Allie’s cheek and kissed her lightly on the mouth. “I love you, Allie. And I’m so sorry.”

Ash walked to the door and Allie let her go. When she was sure she was alone, she sat on the sofa, rested her hand on the spot that was still warm from Ash’s body, and cried.

v

He slept well, despite his missed opportunity the night before. He hadn’t expected her to be awake, and definitely not so feisty. Most prey ran. They never confronted the hunter. She’d taken him by surprise when she’d appeared, a small shadowy figure through the glass. He’d barely had time to back into the shadows so she couldn’t see his face.

He heard her scream, but she stood her ground. The suddenness of her

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confronting him, the shock, had been so exciting he’d almost been satisfied with that. Almost. But it hadn’t been her face or her scream he’d returned to over and over in his mind, lying in his rented room with his hard, throbbing cock in his hand. It had been the sensation of the blade severing tissue, the sound of life escaping on a wheeze, the convulsion of death that felt so much like coming. He knew the next time he hunted down his prey, he’d experience it all.

So he was feeling confident, invincible, as he strolled casually to the coffee shop after awakening around noon. The midday crowds were thin, and after a few blocks he became aware of more officers on foot and in patrol cars then he’d noticed before. He slowed and moved closer to the buildings, studying the activity, ready to duck up one of the side streets if he needed to. Then he saw the two officers standing in the doorway of the bar he’d been in the night before, talking to someone who was probably the manager. One of them had a photo in her hand.

He recognized her and she would recognize him, if she saw him.

Quickly he slipped down a narrow passageway between two buildings, unnoticed. He almost laughed out loud. He’d always been so much better than her. Stronger. More clever. He’d remind her of that, before very long. When he took what belonged to him. When he took the woman she thought was hers and reminded her just how wrong she was.

v

Carter got into the passenger side of the cruiser and said to Bri,

“So what do you think?”

“I think Agent Lloyd was looking for someone last night,” Bri said carefully, thinking this might be a test. “So far we can put him at the Governor Bradford, the Gifford House, and the Atlantic House.

Chronologically, it looks like his last stop was Good Times—that was only half an hour before the estimated time of death.”

“The timeline works, I agree,” Carter said as Bri drove down Commercial Street. “So what do we do with this information?”

“We go back tonight and talk to the night bartender and the regulars.

Find out who else was there. Ask if anything unusual happened.”

Bri shot Carter a glance. “Maybe someone noticed Lloyd leave with someone or right after someone?”

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Carter nodded her approval. “Sounds like a plan. In the meantime, let’s start on the B-and-Bs. We still don’t know where he was sta—”

The radio crackled to life.

“All units. Code five at Bayberry and Pilgrim Heights. Approach with caution, code two.”

“Felony fugitive,” Bri exclaimed. “Everly!”

“That’s right around the corner from my house!” Carter hit the lights but not the siren to avoid alerting the suspect to their arrival.