For All to See (Bureau Series Book 1) (17 page)

“
A
re the cuffs really necessary
?” Madelyn scoffed.

“He can cuff himself or I can hold a gun on him the whole time.” Nathan patted his side arm. “You pick.”

“Fine.” She released the cuffs and watched Nathan walk to Amadi and toss over the manacles. When they entered the house she pulled the Jeep into its normal spot, grabbed the waterproof bag, and hustled Deacon in through the back door. She needed underclothes before dealing with company.

Slightly more presentable, she practically ran into the kitchen where Amadi made her dining table look like a children’s toy and her big dog sitting on his lap look like a puppy. “Deacon, have some manners. I’m so sorry about that, and those.” She stared at the cuffs. Her pup huffed off to his bed in the corner.

The man’s brilliant smile lit the room. “I’m not. I’m glad he’s doing okay. And this,” he held up the handcuffs, “means you’re finally letting someone look out for your best interests. As long as they’re not permanent, I’m okay.”

“A drink? Food? Can I get you guys anything?” She sounded jumpy to her own ears and hated it.

“Water would be great,” Nathan whispered from just a few steps behind her.

She rushed through the kitchen, grabbing cups and filling them. When she sat down a sheen of sweat had formed between her breasts.

“How are you, Madelyn?” Amadi asked.

“Good considering my world has been turned upside down.” She tugged at the edge of her cover-up. “I have grieved for my friend, but now I’m focused on justice for her.”

Nathan pulled out the chair for Madelyn to sit with the table between her and Amadi, while he pulled a stool from the bar and perched on the edge, blocking any access Amadi might have to her. Her heart hiccupped at the protective gesture. “So, what do you need to get off your chest?”

Amadi’s bound hands sat atop the table. He rubbed his thumbs together and stared at them. “My father was a poor builder, but he was a great man. He taught me what it is to respect yourself, so that you can respect others. Even more than I’ve trained to be the best, I’ve trained to be the best man like my father was. While I could fight just about anyone and win, I’ve never been in a true fight. I’ve never hit someone outside the ring. I help people find the best of themselves.

“So, when I meditated on the southern mountains of the island four years ago I refused to believe what I saw with my own two eyes. Because I look for the best in people. That area of the mountains isn’t populated. It’s stripped of man’s sounds and nature takes over. Back then, I would go there once a month to be alone with my thoughts. But on that day I was not alone on the mountain.”

Madelyn’s pulse kicked up a notch.

Amadi lifted his head and stared at Nathan. “Grunts pulled me from peace. Curious, I moved closer to the noise. Concealed by the woods I watched as an ox-like man trudged his way up the incline. He labored because he carried something large over his shoulders.

“I left, immediately unsettled at the sight, and never returned to my mountain retreat. I pushed the image out of my mind. Just a farmer burying one of his fallen stock. I told myself it was nothing and of no consequence, but now I fear it is of grave consequence.” He bowed his head in disgust.

Nathan’s orders began, “Describe what he was carrying.”

“It was long and draped over his shoulder. A fallen soldier was the first thing that came to mind. It was covered in a dark blanket. The tips weren’t pulled tight, which is why I refused to believe what I know now that it was.”

She pushed way the glass of water, afraid she’d meet it again if she drank anymore.

“Did you see the man’s face?”

“No. He was moving away from me, farther south.”

“Skin color?”

“White.”

“Why didn’t you mention this sooner? Years ago?”

“Denial, I guess. Murders, things like this, don’t happen here.”

Nathan fired a barrage of questions and Amadi answered them all. They went over every detail of that day until Madelyn’s head spun. She stood.

“Are you okay?” both men asked in unison.

“I need to busy myself before I go crazy.” Though she had no appetite the thought of feeding people eased the quivering inside. “I’m going to cook something.” She piddled while they went over everything and more again.

“Can I help with anything?” Amadi asked some forty minutes later.

“You can eat some of this feast I’ve concocted.” She gestured to the vegetable fajitas, rice, beans, and salad cluttering her counter. Nathan stood in the threshold of the living room with the phone to his ear, peered at the spread, and smiled.

“It looks great, but I don’t think I can eat right about now.”

“I’m so sorry about all this.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

“He took your fancy bracelets off.”

“Let’s hope for good.” Amadi’s long fingers rubbed at his wrists. “I can’t help but think that if they find a body and I’m the one who told them about it, then I’ll be the one they lock up for it.”

Madelyn extended her hand across the island and covered part of his with her own. “No matter how well the truth is buried, no matter how secure the locks, it always finds a way to escape. Reality is relentless and so are we.”

Amadi folded her hands between his and bowed.

“It’s taken care of. You’ll meet them at the tent at dawn, take them to the site, and help with the search.” Nathan announced.

“I will,” her friend agreed.

“Sure you won’t stay for dinner? I have enough to feed at least the two of you,” Madelyn offered.

“Man, y’all grow abnormally large around here.” Nathan raised his chin to look Amadi in the eyes. “I’m not short, but if I stay here much longer I might develop a complex.”

“It’s all in the genes,” Amadi told him. “You know most of our ancestors were slaves in the cane fields.”

“I’ve learned a thing or two in Ms. Garrett’s class.” Nathan nodded.

“You all stay safe.” Amadi gave one last bow, and then left.

“I want eyes on him all night,” Nathan said into the walkie-talkie he pulled from his pocket. “Just in case.”

“Do you really think what he saw on the mountain has anything to do with our current situation?”

“We’ll know soon. The team will begin searching the area at first light.”

“Do you feel like eating?” She waved her fingers at all the food.

“Am I breathing?” he said in answer. “But you have to eat some too.”

“A little.”

They stood at the bar and picked from the platters for a while, both quiet and deep in thought. The drive to get each other naked had taken a backseat to reality. Just like she’d told Amadi, it didn’t take long for the truth to creep up.

Nathan covered the containers, shoved them in the fridge, and then grabbed her hand. “I want to hold you.”

“Isn’t that the girl’s line?” she joked.

“Probably, but I’m secure in my manhood. How about you?”

“Oh I’m very secure in your manhood.”

“
W
hy don’t
you pursue women?” The angel whispered into his ear. He sighed and pulled her closer. His lips found flesh and feasted. His angel giggled. “You may as well stop that. I haven’t had a shower and I have morning breath…bad. I can’t believe you let me go to sleep in my clothes.”

“Me either,” he mumbled. His hands skated up her thigh and beneath her wrap...cover...thingie. “I’ll rectify that mistake right away, ma’am.”

“No you will not.” She shoved at his hands. “In case you missed the first part, I haven't had a shower since you got me all hot and sweaty on the beach.”

“Mmmm, a dirty girl.” Nathan opened his eyes to the mid-day light pouring into the room and the woman who lit it up. He could seriously wake to that face every day and not get tired of it.

She snuggled close, fusing her body to his, and hiding her head beneath his neck. His arms tightened around her and she breathed him in. “If you stink, I stink,” he warned.

“I like your smell.” The words muffled against his shoulder. “So,” she levered back. “Why didn’t you pursue women?”

“Women tend to want commitment.”

“Commitment phobe?”

“No. It’s just… I’m committed to my job and that doesn’t leave room for other commitments.”

“Oh.”

“Now I sound like an ass.” He rolled them over and propped her on his chest where he could see her expressive face. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Ever wanted a husband, kids, the whole thing?”

“Just because I’m a woman, I must want all that, huh?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m asking.”

Her pointed lips shifted from one side to the other like she was measuring how much to say. “I’ve honestly never thought about it. I figured with my background I’d never trust anyone enough to have the whole thing.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I get why your job is so important to you.”

“It’s not just that. What I do is dangerous. My partner almost died on our last assignment. I couldn’t do that to a family, make them live with that fear. Every time I left the house they’d wonder if I was coming back. And I couldn’t give up what I live for. Putting bad guys away is all I’ve wanted for so long.”

Frown lines curved the edges where her smile had been only moments ago and he wanted to take back every word. But he wouldn’t lie to her. Not even to spare her feelings.

“Why’d you ask…the thing…” She gnawed on the side of her cheek for a second. “You know the thing about the baby…when we were on the beach?”

“I understand the possible consequences of having unsafe sex. I’ve never bent my rule on that. But looking at you, being with you… It just came out. And I would have gone all in to be with you. Does that scare you as much as it terrifies me?”

“Hell yes.” She nodded so vehemently her hair danced about her head.

“I think it’s time for a cold shower. A really cold shower.”

“You can have it. I’ll use the hot water. Thank you.”

He smothered her with a lip-lock, and then slipped from the bed. He was a professional. He had protected beautiful women before. What was it about her? He had to get control and stay focused on the case. If he didn’t stay focused they could both get hurt or worse.

The strident tone of his cell pulled him out of his internal lecture. He retrieved it from his pocket, hit the button, and held the phone to his ear. In seconds he replaced the phone and made it back to Madelyn.

He grabbed her with one hand and placed a finger from the other over her mouth, warning her to keep quiet. Her wide eyes blinked in reply. Sliding it off her lips, he placed it on the butt of his gun, which he’d snuggled last night. He pulled her to the bathroom and tucked her into the corner.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Deacon ran to his side, tail arching wildly through the air, curious to know what game they were playing. “You stay put too.”

Madelyn’s grip clamped onto his arm. “What is going on?”

“Someone’s approaching the house. I’m going to check it out.”

Her ornery jaw tightened along with her grasp.

“You’ll be fine.”

“I’m not worried about me,” she bellowed in a whisper.

He placed his hand over hers and pried it off. “You damn well should be! This isn’t a game. He means to kill you in the worst way possible. The last thing you need to worry about is me. I’ll be fine.” Her eyes rounded, but he turned away. He exited via the patio doors and rushed around the side of the house.

Nathan eased his body to the sand and removed the gun from its holster. He moved silently down the wall until he reached the front corner. Peering around, he found a male figure stood on the front stoop.

“Hands on your head. Knees on the ground,” Nathan barked.

“Holy shit, Agent Brewer, it’s me, Sauda, from Ms. Madelyn’s class! Don’t shoot me!” The kid’s hands flailed in the air.

Nathan holstered his gun. “I wasn’t going to shoot you.” He knocked on the front door. “It’s me and Sauda.” The boy used every second until she came to the door to regain the color that had drained from his face.

“Sauda, I hope he didn’t scare you,” she said, stepping out of the house.

“No, Ms. Madelyn, he didn’t.” The young man swiped his brow.

Never one to kick a man while he was down, Nathan let the lie pass with a smile.

“What do you need, Sauda?” Madelyn asked.

“Oh yeah.” He wiped his likely-sweaty palms on his shorts. “We were getting together a game, and wanted to see if you two would play.”

Madelyn looked at Nathan for approval.

“Sure,” he answered. “We’ll be down in a few minutes.” Nathan waved the kid off and turned to Madelyn. His smile faded, replaced by a glare so intense it moved her back into the house. Nathan’s teeth threatened to crack under the pressure of his jaw. She wasn’t one to back away, not until today.

He closed the door so hard the walls rattled. His anger backed her into the wall. When she had nowhere else to go he closed the gap between them. He grabbed the tops of her arms and lowered his eyes to hers. There was only fleeting air between them in a combustible blend of heat and anger.

His rough voice broke the silence. “Don’t ever put yourself in danger because you’re worried about me. It could get you killed. I am here to protect you. Do not worry about me.”

She tried to wiggle free, but he held tight. “But—”

“You’re the one in danger. I am here to protect you. Don’t worry about me.”

He ignored the tears and hurt in her eyes as he released her. She fled the kitchen. The bathroom door closed and the water turned on, drowning out her soft sobs. He couldn’t comfort her like he wanted to. He couldn’t hold her and love her like he wanted to. It was the only way to keep her safe.

N
athan played well
. Even the opposing team’s best player Mendel, a college player, could not keep up with his footwork. The sand didn’t slow him down. She loved to watch him work the ball, orchestrate his teammates for passes, and push them toward victory. Even if he pissed her off.

She sat under the palms with Deacon while the newest soccer star gave out strategies and pointers to the lot of boys and girls huddled around begging for his secrets. She couldn’t hear the details, but tons of ‘yes sir’s’ littered the air. They looked up to him, and she knew why, because she did too.

The crowd finally dispersed and they headed back to the villa.

In that moment, walking side by side in the sand, she fell in love with him. Her mind dared not believe what her heart felt, but she couldn’t deny it. Rough and angry or smooth and kind, she loved him.

Hard and fast she fell. She wanted him. Not for one night. She wanted him forever.

The notion made her week in the knees. She rubbed her palms together. What the hell was she thinking? She didn’t know how to act. She’d never been in love. So, she aspired for normalcy. “Thanks for taking time with the kids.”

“It wasn’t anything.”

“I know it meant a lot to them.”

“They’re good kids. I enjoyed talking to them.”

She felt a little embarrassed, but went ahead with the comment that had been floating in her head. “You’ve got some moves.”

“And you haven’t seen my best ones.”

Her face heated. While she quietly walked on, her mind reeled with the possibilities.

Madelyn could not stop thinking about him making love to her. Instantly she was back on the beach with Nathan’s firm, hot body on top of her, but this time there were no clothes or contraceptive worries to hinder them. She imagined his hands both generous and demanding over her naked body, coaxing her to do the most intimate things.

Nathan’s voice jarred her from her phantasm, before she got good and started. “State champs three years in high school and two in college. I had really great coaches who taught me a lot.”

Madelyn could not make her mouth move to comment. And when he turned a slight grin in her direction she knew he could read her mind and all its inappropriate thoughts.

“Are you hot?”

The mortification must have lit her like a Christmas tree. “Pardon me?” she squeaked.

“Are you overheated? You’re redder than a clown’s nose.”

Madelyn knew she had to recover for sanity’s sake. Taking a few clearing breaths she made her attempt. “It is a hot day today and that last game took it out of me, but I’m fine.”

Only part of it was a lie.

She hurried into the house and disappeared into the bathroom, totally ready for that cold shower Nathan had talked about earlier. Thirty minutes later she was cool and clean and no less in love with the man then when she’d hopped into the shower. She stared into the mirror. “How’d you let this happen?”

The women with wet hair plastered to her head didn’t have an answer. So she dried her hair, hoping the women with dry hair might have the answer. That chick didn’t have a damn clue either.

“You can’t love someone you just met,” she chastised.

“Madelyn?” Nathan’s voice rumbled from the other side of the door.

Her skin leapt off her skeletal system, and then snapped back into place like a gigantic rubber band. Oh God, had he heard her?

The doorknob twisted and she sprang for the towel she’d shed while under the unforgiving heat of her hair dryer. She yanked it in front of her as though he hadn’t already seen everything she had to offer. But that was lust, exhilarating and joyous. Love was worrisome and not an option. He’d said it himself. She’d said it…before he’d shown up and jarred her world.

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Like he wasn’t the whole reason she’d closed it in the first place. She nearly smiled at that, but strain around his eyes and the rumpled mess of his hair stopped her.

His hands disappeared into his pockets. “I was an asshole earlier. I just…”

I just love you and it scares me.
She finished the thought for him in her head.

“It’s my job to make sure you’re safe,” he finished.

Boom! That hurt.

It must have shown on her face because he stepped forward and pulled his hands out of his pockets.

“Stop,” she said throwing up a hand. “I understand. It’s okay.”

A lie with a drinking problem.

He grimaced, but stopped. “Whatever else is happening between us... Your safety is what’s most important right now.”

“A maniac with a thing for brunettes and gutting them like a game animal is a big problem.” And amazingly it seemed small in comparison to the shattering of her heart. “Anything else?” She wrenched the towel in her grip to keep from crying.

“Dick called. They found a body hanging on the south side of the island, forty yards from Amadi’s spot, up an old goat trail.”

“Who was it?”

“It had been there for four years in the elements. Part of it was obscured by vines, while the lower portion had been scavenged.”

“Scavenged?” Her stomach twisted.

“Stolen or partially consumed by animals.”

“Holy shit. Was it the same killer?”

“The method and materials, as far as they can tell, are the same”

“What does this mean for the case? And do you think there’s another one hanging around?”

“We don’t know yet. Dick’s going to keep searching and the techs are taking evidence from the scene. The body’s back at the lab. It could be his first victim. It could be he started here and now he’s returning home.”

“So it’s possible I don't know the killer?”

“Anything is possible.” He swallowed so hard his Adam’s apple bobbed.

Her chest constricted. “Anything?”

He sucked in a long breath and Madelyn held hers.

His phone split the silence with all the grace of a hatchet. She inhaled and readjusted the towel to cover her ass, while he answered the call.

“Yes, sir.” Nathan took a step back, and then another. ‘I have to take this,’ he mouthed.

While he hurried to the makeshift office he’d set-up on the kitchen island, she made use of the privacy and stood in front of her bureau. What the hell did one wear when something you never knew could exist died?

Her eyes fell on the skinny strip of vermillion covered in plastic at the far side. Half the island had been invited to Sylvy’s grand opening. Teacher clothes didn’t exactly go with Harvey Thompson’s ultra fancy restaurant. Since she and Nichole had planned to attend she’d splurged on the simply sexy, banded dress. But Jim had pitched a fit and they didn’t go to the party.

Madelyn waggled her mouth. She pushed the hangers aside and studied the artistry. Inspiration struck. She grabbed the dress, a pair of slinky black panties, and her phone, and then hurried back to the bathroom.

It took some pleading and quite a bit of make-up, but fifteen minutes later Madelyn propped her shoulder against her bedroom doorframe. Nathan leaned over a map on the kitchen table. Both his hands braced on the edge and he rolled a pencil between his teeth.

Why did he have to be so adorable and hot at the same time?

“Hey,” he said without looking up. “I’m sorry about tha…” He stood at attention. The pencil dropped from his mouth. He caught it deftly, and then tossed it onto the table. But it kept the momentum and rolled off the end. “You look amazing.” His gaze caressed her from peep-toe stilettos to the simple diamonds in her lobes. “And overdressed for the back patio.”

“We have reservations.”

“Oh?”

“To be accurate, I have a four-top reserved at Sylvy’s in forty-five minutes. Amadi and Ekene will be here in twenty to pick me up. I’d like you to join us.”

His arms folded over his broad chest and considered her for a long minute. “Why the sudden urge to go out?”

Because I don’t want to be alone with you all night and…

“A celebration of Nichole’s life, before the funeral.”

“You’ll be extremely exposed.”

“No more than yesterday.”

He coughed. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“If I’m going to die in a week, then I’m going to live while I can.”

His bare feet pounded across the room, rattling the window panes. She didn’t flinch. Worse, her panties dampened. He stopped inches from her sandals and she had to tilt her head back to look into his eyes.

“You’re not going to die in a week or a month or a year.”

“You can’t promise that. No one can. And I’m okay with that.”

His cheeks hollowed as though he’d retort, but he kept his mouth shut. He huffed, stepped around her, said something like, “I need more ammo,” and stalked to the bathroom.