Lucian’s hand tangled in her hair, running the strands between the pads of his thumb and index finger repeatedly. A series of small beeps sounded for a moment, then ceased. Jaxon found her pager on the coffee table. “It’s the department, Lucian. I have to call in.”
“We have not had that discussion yet,” he said lazily, following her to the phone.
He walked so quietly, he gave her an eerie feeling. “What discussion?” She was punching in the numbers quickly from long habit.
“The one where you tell me you are going to quit the force and stay home with me.”
“Oh, that one.” She laughed “Don’t count on it.”
Lucian could hear the answer on the other end, the flurry of activity, then the captain’s booming voice. At once he knew something was wrong. He moved close to Jaxon, his large frame protective against hers, his arms circling her waist. “What is it, Daryl? Just come out with it,” she said softly.
Lucian could hear the words as if the man were in the room with them. Stark. Ugly. “I’m sending you an escort to take you and Daratrazanoff to meet us at your old apartment building. Drake struck again, Jaxx, and it’s bad.”
Lucian was in her mind, and he felt her go very still. Even the air around them stilled. Jaxon hunched into herself, trying to move away from him. Firmly Lucian locked his arms around her protectively, his grip unbreakable. He refused to allow her to escape him either physically or mentally. I am with you, angel. We can face anything together.
“Tell me,” Jaxon said softly into the phone, her fingers wrapping around the cord until her knuckles turned white, betraying her nervousness.
“Mrs. Kramer, Jaxx. Drake murdered her. And the couple in the apartment next to yours—Tom and Shelby Snyder. He killed them.” The captain cleared his throat. “He also took out the old man in the apartment two doors down from you.” They could hear his fingers snapping. “Come on, John, what’s the old guy’s name?”
“His name was Sid Anderson. He was seventy, and he wrote the most beautiful poetry I’ve ever read,” Jaxon supplied softly “Carla and Jacob Roberts? What about them?” Her voice was a whisper. She could hear screaming inside her head, over and over, yet her voice sounded as calm as ever.
“We’re looking for them now,” Daryl Smith told her in a tight voice. “So far we haven’t found them.”
“They’re alive then,” Jaxon said. “Drake would never change his methods. He’s very angry, and he’s punishing me. The message is, get rid of Lucian or he’ll take out everyone who ever mattered to me. Try Carla’s mother. They go there often. Put them in a hotel or something. Drake will go after them for sure. He likes things finished. Thorough. I’ll meet you at the apartment building.”
“Wait for your escort.”
I have my own personal security team. Tell him not to waste the manpower, Lucian said in her mind.
“Lucian has good people, Daryl. Don’t bother to send anyone over. We’ll make it without trouble. Fifteen minutes.”
“It isn’t pretty, Jaxx.”
“It never is.” She slowly replaced the phone in the cradle and turned to lay her head against Lucian’s chest. Closing her eyes, she stood quietly in his arms.
“Do not even entertain the notion that you should leave me, Jaxon. I feel your sorrow and fear in your mind. You believe if you leave me, he will stop. But it is not an option. It will never be an option. Drake is responsible for these crimes, not you.”
“He won’t stop, Lucian. As long as he knows I’m with you, he will keep on killing. Everyone I know is in danger because we’re together.”
He caught her chin firmly in his hand. “They are in danger because a sociopath is on the loose. It has nothing to do with you. He has fixated on you, but you are blameless. You cannot let this monster dictate your entire life. He’s baiting a trap, not punishing you. I will find him. I promise you, I will find him.”
Her large eyes searched his face for a long time. Tears shimmered in the depths, threatened to spill over, glistened on her long lashes. “He could kill a lot of people before we find him He’s highly trained, Lucian, and he’s cunning, very cunning. He blends in with his surroundings, he can wait for hours without moving just to get that one shot at his target. He doesn’t know right from wrong He’ll kill a child just as easily as a man or a woman.”