Page 29 of One Night Years Ago

She shook her head. “I’ll do it. Trust me, I’ve done it before.”

Hunter shrugged. She turned to him quickly, not wanting to give him the chance to change his mind, and firmly pushed at it with her thumbs until it cracked into place. Hunter didn’t make a sound, but his hands dug into his powerful thighs.

“God, how about some warning next time?”

She laughed softly. “It’s easier like this. Where else did they hit you?"

"Side of my head." She could see the goose egg behind his ear. She poured some disinfectant onto a piece of cotton and swabbed at the spot. It came back bloody. He clenched his teeth hard but made no noise.

A bit of blood seeped from his ear. "You should probably get a doctor to look at that eardrum, Hunter.”

“I said it’ll heal on its own. I’ve had this happen before.”

“Where else did they hit you?"

"My shoulder," he said, his voice a low growl.

"Let me see. Take off the T-shirt."

He looked like he was about to complain then thought better about it.

His chest and stomach were a work of art, skin stretched taut over sleek muscle. She saw the crude eagle tattoo that had haunted her dreams for so many years. She wondered how she ever could have confused it with the beautiful work his brother had.

She saw the bruise on his shoulder as well as a multitude of other scars. She recognized the puckered edge of a stab wound as well as some longer scars that could only have been made with a belt or a whip.

“What happened to you?”

He looked down at his bruised shoulder and rotated the joint gingerly. “I think it’s okay. It’s just bruised.”

“I meant …” her hand waved around.

“I know what you meant. Most of those happened in prison.”

“I’m sorry,” she said lamely. If she hadn’t blanked out the attack, she would have known Jesse wasn’t the one who hurt her. She would have been able to identify her attacker, and that person would never have had a chance to kill Lanie. A sob racked her body. She put her head in her knees.

“Hey, Natalie, please don’t cry. I’m the one who’s sorry. Please.” He kneeled down beside the bed and lifted her face up gently, until she was staring into his light gray eyes. He took her in his arms, his touch gentle. She understood he meant for it to be soothing. Just one human comforting another. He probably didn’t even realize what it meant to her. There was no way he knew that she hadn’t allowed any man to touch her in thirteen years.

She inhaled quickly, hoping to clear her head, but her nostrils filled with his fresh, male scent instead. She could smell him through the disinfectant. It wasn’t anything she could put her finger on, like it was literally just him.

She jumped up, spooked.

“I have to go. Come to town tomorrow at noon. I’ll be speaking to the townsfolk.”

She left him on his knees next to the bed and clambered down the ladder as fast as she could.

Chapter 12

Natalie

“So, you’re suggesting I reach out once we have another dead girl?”

Natalie slammed the phone down on her desk. Three pairs of eyes stared back at her.

“The county can’t help us, they claim. There’s no real proof the two cases are related, and only one death.” Natalie walked around the office like a caged tiger. “He’s going to strike again soon. I know he is. But we’re not going to let another girl die. Not on our watch.”

She walked over to a wall covered in case materials. At the center was a picture of Lanie taken from her junior year yearbook, her smile just short of radiant. It was the kind of smile that made one wonder what would have happened if the photographer had pressed the button a fraction of an instant later.

“Why did you go with him, Lanie? What did he say to you—” Natalie muttered. There hadn’t been any sign of a struggle on the body, not even on her hands or under her nails. Somehow, the perpetrator had been able to restrain her before she had a chance to react.