“I do,” Allie whispered, clearly starting to drift. Her fingers

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fluttered against Ash’s cheek and then her hand fell away, leaving Ash bereft. “I need…”

Ash swallowed her pride, buried her pain. “Do you want me to get Flynn?”

Allie’s eyes opened wider, and a small frown formed between her brows. “I can’t tell what it means when you look at me like that—with your eyes so shadowy and dark. Tell me.”

“I feel…” Ash lost her voice and struggled to contain the tears that suddenly flooded her eyes. She turned her head and wiped her face quickly against her shirtsleeve. She lifted Allie’s hand and kissed the back of her fingers. “I look at you and I want to laugh out loud I’m so happy you’re part of my life. I look at you and I’m excited to be alive.

I want to rush forward into a day, into a lifetime, filled with possibility.

I look at you and I feel like I could do anything.” She leaned down and kissed Allie gently. “I feel so damn lucky to have ever touched you, to have ever been touched by you. I cherish every second we shared. If I could have one wish, I’d wish to be with you forever. I love you. I love you so much.”

“You know what I wish?”

“What, babe?” Ash asked, no longer trying to stem the tears that streaked her cheeks.

“I wish you would take me home and hold me tonight. And that in the morning you wouldn’t say good-bye.”

“I can do that,” Ash whispered.

“Every night?”

“Every single one.”

“I wanted to stop loving you,” Allie murmured, “but I couldn’t.”

“Neither could I.” Ash settled onto the stool, leaned her forehead against Allie’s shoulder, and slipped her arm gently around Allie’s waist. “And I never will.”

“I told Flynn I couldn’t date her anymore.”

“You did?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Allie played her fingers through Ash’s hair.

“How come?”

“’Cause I really like her and my heart isn’t available.” Allie pulled on Ash’s hair until Ash looked up. “I was so mad at you this morning—

you were such an ass, deciding what I needed and what I would do. All on your own.”

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“I know.”

“But after you left I thought about all the other things you said—

about falling for me, and being scared. You never said those things to me before.” Allie’s eyes turned liquid. “I knew then you really loved me. And I still loved you.”

“I do.” Ash’s heart did a slow roll. She was almost afraid to be so happy. Almost. “What did Flynn say?”

“She didn’t seem surprised,” Allie said softly. “I think she was maybe a little sad, but she won’t be alone long. She’s…um…”

“Pretty special,” Ash said.

“Yeah. Gorgeous too.”

Ash laughed. “Not my type.”

Allie scowled. “You don’t have a type anymore, remember?”

“Oh, I remember.” Ash kissed Allie’s cheek. “I love you.”

“You said that already.”

“Can I say it again?”

Allie nodded. “As much as you want.”

“I want you a lot,” Ash whispered.

“That’s good. ’Cause you have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

Ash smiled, listening to Allie’s breathing grow softer and slower as she finally gave in to exhaustion and slept. Ash was content just to sit by her bedside. She couldn’t go back, she couldn’t undo the mistakes she’d made and the pain she’d caused. But she was home in Allie’s arms again, and she’d do right by her this time. She’d love her the very best way she could.

v

No police cars. No foot patrol. No one watching at all. He stepped confidently onto the flagstone walkway and walked purposefully, but unhurriedly, to the door. He knocked and heard the familiar voice call

“just a minute.” Stepping carefully to one side so that his face wouldn’t be visible to anyone looking out through the window in the upper portion of the door, he drew the knife from his pocket and flipped it open. He had a fifty-fifty chance that she would open the door without asking him to identify himself. Somehow, people were far less cautious in the middle of a bright sunny afternoon. They often opened the door without thinking, especially when they weren’t expecting any kind of

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trouble. And after all, why should she be afraid? She had no idea what was coming. He wasn’t disappointed. The door opened a few inches, she said, “yes?” and before she could react to his face, it was already too late.

She had a gun, but she had barely begun to raise it when he pushed the door wide, forced his way into the room, and buried the knife to the hilt between her breasts. Her eyes widened in shock and surprise, and as her deliciously warm blood cascaded over his hand, he smiled and whispered hello.

• 211 •

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chapteR twenty-fOuR

Carter pulled the cruiser off the road onto the shoulder and radioed her location. She sat for a minute letting the warm afternoon breeze wash away some of the tension of the last few hours.

When she’d realized how close Everly was to her house, to Rica, she’d had to exert every bit of her willpower to stay out on the street and do her job when what she wanted was to be by Rica’s side, protecting her.

As it turned out, Rica had never been a target. Feeling the dread lift from her shoulders, she stretched and got out of the cruiser, leaving the windows down to capture the last bit of afternoon heat in the stale interior. The radio chattered at her back as she walked up the path.

As she drew closer, she saw the door ajar. In an instant, her brief interlude of comfort was shattered and alarm bells rang. She jogged forward, her hand on the grip of her weapon. When she reached the door, she pushed it open carefully, squinting into the gloom. For half a second, her mind refused to register the sight of the body on the floor, and she stood frozen with the sun on her back and hell at her feet.

“Oh Jesus.” Carter pulled her weapon and quickly scanned the room. No movement, no sound. She shouted into her shoulder mic,

“Code eight. Officer down. Officer down. ”

Then she dropped to her knees and pressed both hands over the red fountain that pumped and splashed into the widening pool on the floor.

“Hold on, hold on,” Carter extolled desperately. How could there be so much blood on the floor and still so much gushing out? She heard a moan and looked up into terrified eyes. Bloodless lips, so pale they verged on blue, formed words she couldn’t hear. She leaned down

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closer, never taking her eyes away from those dark wounded ones. “I’m here. I’m right here.”

“…n…go.”

“No, no, I won’t,” Carter half shouted, hearing the fear in her voice and trying to contain it. “I won’t leave. Stay with me. I’m right here.

I’m not leaving you, so you stay here. You hear me, Allen? Marilyn, goddamn it. You stay here.”

Carter’s hands were sticky with blood and it kept coming. But not as fast now. She didn’t know if that was good or not. Jesus, God, where were the medics? Her arms shook, her vision dimmed, and sweat burned her eyes. Please, someone, please.

Sirens. Footsteps. Shouts. She couldn’t move. If she moved, the fountain would gush again. She had to hold it in. Had to.

“Officer,” Flynn shouted in her ear. “We’ve got her. Move. Let us take care of her.”

An arm gripped her shoulder, pulled her back, and she lurched to her feet. Her legs were wooden, numb, and she stumbled, falling.

“Carter!” Bri grabbed her around the waist. “Carter, you hurt?”

“No,” Carter gasped.

“Okay. We’ve got this. Come outside.”

Carter blinked, trying to focus on Bri’s face. “I can’t. I told her I would stay.”

“It’s okay. We won’t go far.”

“I didn’t clear the other rooms…I forgot…” Carter raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her face and Bri grabbed her arm, preventing her. Carter stared at a hand she didn’t recognize, covered in blood. Her hand. “Oh Jesus, Bri.”

Bri half dragged Carter over to a low stone wall and pushed her down onto it. “Stay here. Catch your breath. I need to check with Reese.

I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Carter nodded, still stunned. No amount of training could prepare someone for the sight of a fellow officer down in the line. If only she hadn’t taken that extra minute to let the breeze play over her face and chase some of her ghosts away. Now she’d have new nightmares to take their place.

v

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The phone on Tory’s desk rang and for half a second, she contemplated not answering it. She didn’t want to hear about one more problem. Nita had come in early for her evening shift and together they had managed to clear most of the patients who had gotten backed up when Tory had been diverted by Allie’s arrival. Now there was actually a chance that she would be able to get home in time to feed Reggie dinner and give her a bath. She couldn’t think of a single thing she wanted to do more than that. The harsh shrill of the phone’s insistent ringing interrupted her reverie, and with a sigh, she picked it up.

“This is Dr. King,” Tory said.

“This is Flynn, Dr. King. We’ve got a stab wound to the chest in full arrest. ETA four minutes.”

Tory straightened. “What’s the situation?”

“Female, approximately thirty-five years old. No pulse, no BP.

Massive blood loss. We intubated in the field and started CPR.”

Tory could hear the siren now. “Bring her straight back. We’ll be ready.” Her fatigue dropped away as she stood and hurried into the hall. She rapped on the closed door where Nita was seeing a patient and pushed it open a few inches. “Nita, I’m sorry, I need you. An emergency coming in.”

Nita’s expression echoed what Tory was feeling. Déjà vu. Madness in the air. Tory let the door close and pivoted toward the last empty treatment room. Allie was still under observation in the other one.

The double doors at the end of the hall opened and a tall, dark-haired woman in jeans, boots, and a blue blazer covering a navy scrub shirt walked through.

“Oh my God, I am so glad to see you,” Tory exclaimed.

“Hi, beautiful,” Dr. KT O’Bannon said with her trademark grin.

“Miss me?”

“You have no idea. What are you doing here?”

“Reese called me a couple of hours ago and said you were swamped over here. I figured I needed a little easy work and caught one of the puddle jumpers over from Boston.”

Tory didn’t even have time to consider why Reese had called KT, a trauma surgeon and long-ago lover of Tory’s. She was just glad she had. “We’ve got a stab wound arriving any second in full arrest.”

KT’s grin never wavered but her eyes took on the intensity Tory recognized. KT was ferocious when faced with a life-and-death

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challenge. There was no doctor she trusted more, and very few people she loved more.

“Guess I got my wish for something simple,” KT said as she flicked a lock of dark hair out of her eyes and pulled off her blazer.

“Just like old times.”

v

Carter didn’t know what to do about the blood on her hands. As it dried, the crimson turned a dull, lusterless brown, caked and cracked like barren earth devoid of life. Afigure blocked the sun and she squinted up, recognizing Reese’s broad shoulders and tapering torso.

“Any word?” Carter asked.

Reese sat down on the wall next to her. “KT and Tory stabilized her—the helicopter should be here any minute to take her to Boston.”

“What are her chances?”

“I don’t know. It looked bad to me.”

“I must have just missed him,” Carter said hollowly. “One minute earlier and I might’ve saved her.”

“One minute earlier and he might have cut her throat. Or yours,”

Reese said. “There was another door on the far side of her suite. He went out that way. So far, we don’t have any witnesses.”

“She was terrified,” Carter said softly. “She knew I didn’t like her, and I was all she had. I tried. I really tried.”

“I’m sure Marilyn knows that.”

Carter jumped up, suddenly too agitated to sit still. “What the fuck! What the fuck is going on here, Reese? Two federal agents down in two days? Jesus, what were the feds into over here?”

Reese shook her head angrily. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out. Marilyn only brought one other agent with her and he’s riding back to Boston with her on the medevac chopper. I doubt he would have told us anything even if I questioned him.”

“I’ve still got contacts with the troopers who liaise with the feds.

I’ll make some calls. My old partner might know something.” Carter knew the feds would not cut them in on the operation, especially not now when something had obviously gone very wrong. This chaos had all the markings of an investigation that had gone south, and the FBI