For All to See (Bureau Series Book 1) (20 page)

T
he sweat beaded
and dripped off of their bodies. Their lungs heaved air in and out. They moved together in steady rhythm.

“I can’t believe you have the stamina for this after last night,” Nathan said.

“If you can’t handle it, just say the word and we can stop.” Madelyn giggled and picked up the pace.

A playful sting licked her bottom. She yelped. Then Nathan blew past her with that devious smile curving his cheeks. His long legs ate of the wet sand. Madelyn dodged the froth of a receding wave, and then—like a true sap—stretched her stride so her feet landed in the imprint of his tennis shoes.

Deacon galloped alongside her. A comforting sense of normalcy lightened her steps. “We’ll be all right won’t we, bud?”

He barked in answer and she took it as a, “Hell yes.”

“Good,” she breathed.

Before long the gym came into view. It struck her with all the heft of one of her stepfather’s fists. Her feet ground to a halt in the middle of the street. She rubbed a hand over her chest. Not so normal. Nichole wouldn’t be there.

Nathan skidded to a stop and hurried to her side. “Hey, if you’re not ready, we can go back or just run. Though, I vote for going back. I really want to try those beads on yo—”

She shoved his shoulder, but his tactic worked. A grin toyed with her mouth. He could have reiterated all the reasons he thought this gym excursion was a bad idea, which he’d done in earnest all morning. Instead, he helped soothe the ache. “You’re going to run out of playthings by tomorrow, if you keep it up.”

“No way, the internet is an amazing place.” He winked and grabbed her hand. “So, what do you say?”

Madelyn turned his hand and spread out his fingers. She brushed her thumb over the rough bumps, and then placed a kiss in the center of his palm. “If I don’t go now, it’ll only get harder, and I won’t let him rule my life like that. So, let’s go work out.”

He made a ridiculous version of a duck face.

“Then,” she added, “when we take a shower, I’ll do that thing you like so much.”

“I’ll follow you anywhere, sex goddess.”

“Come on.” She entered the gym with a smile on her face.

“Madelyn.” Amadi stood from the pretzel of a meditative position with grace a man his size shouldn’t possess. He crossed to her and bowed. “I’m happy to have you back.”

“I’m glad to be here.” She bowed.

“Nathan.” Amadi stuck out his hand. “Glad to see you’re alive. I though Madelyn would take you out the other night.”

Her lover chuckled and slid her those devious eyes. A surge of embarrassment crept up her face because she could just hear him say, ‘The other night? She nearly killed me
last
night.’ Thankfully, he just shook Amadi’s hand.

“So, are you going to get in the ring or take it easy today?” her coach asked.

“Y’all get started. I’m going to take a look around,” Nathan said.

“He’s not going to show his face around here,” Madelyn protested.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he answered.

“Here’s the key.” Amadi tossed a small key ring to Nathan. “You can lock the back door, if that will help.”

“I will. Thanks. Any other doors besides the front?” Nathan shoved the key into his pocket and she caught sight of the gun strapped to his waist.

“No.” Amadi said.

“All right.” Nathan looked at her. “I want you sweaty by the time I get back.” He winked, and then headed toward the back of the building. When her gaze finally left Nathan’s backside she looked at Amadi. One of his brows quirked toward the rafters.

“Not a word from you,” she warned.

“What? I was only going to suggest yoga.”

“Oh goodness,” she huffed. The boys only did yoga before a major competition to get centered or before a big date to get limber.

Well, he hadn’t been kidding. She and Amadi twisted and stretched through nature. Suns. Trees. Dogs. Pigeons. Eagles. Cats. Cranes. By the time Nathan came back in from his security sweep, she’d been drenched with sweat. Luckily, he didn’t come close enough to catch a whiff. He sparred with Ekene and a few other guys.

“You’ve got it bad and I haven’t seen you with it…ever.”

Madelyn whipped her neck around and eyed Amadi. He sat across from her with his back straight, both legs tucked near his bottom, and both hands resting palm up on his knees. “You’re supposed to be meditating quietly.”

“So are you, but with your neck craned like that and your mind racing a thousand miles a minute you may as well give it up.”

“I don’t have it bad,” she protested. “Agent Brewer is working. He has to be with me all the time until the Field-Dresser is caught.”

Amadi shook his head. “It’s not the fact that he is with you. It is how he is with you, and how you are with him. It is something real, whether either of you want to admit it or not.”

“It’s his job.”

He threw up his hands. “Fine.” Amadi hopped up and inclined his head toward the ring. “Come on. I want to see you two spar. That’s always the true test of love.”

“You’re crazy. I’m going to the ladies room. And then I’ll watch you two spar.”

Before he could say a word, she hurried down the hall. She shoved the door open with more force than necessary. It nearly slapped into the wall, but she leaped forward and caught it. So, maybe she was a little upset Nathan hadn’t declared his love during the night.

Madelyn closed the door gingerly and made her way to the sink, ignoring the two stalls to her right. She didn’t have to pee, only escape Amadi’s knowing stare. The faucet squeaked under her hand. She cupped several handfuls of water and splashed them onto her face.

A sharp sting—like the biggest mosquito in all the islands—jabbed into her arm. She wheeled around and collided with a wall of immovable flesh. The water thick in her lashes obstructed her view. Her gut twisted, answering the question her mind had yet to form.

She blinked wildly. A hand sealed over her mouth. One huge arm banded around her arms and chest. Her back hit the softness of a potbelly. The ground gave way. Her legs flailed in search of purchase. She thrashed. At least, she tried. An odd weight settled into her muscles. The edges of the mirror blurred.

In the clear center Adrian Tau nuzzled his face into her hair. His eyes were different. Detached. Deranged. She inhaled to scream, but everything went blurry to black.

“
G
ive me a minute
.” Nathan wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back.

“It was just getting interesting,” a bull-dog looking guy said from the ropes.

“Ah, if I beat him now it wouldn’t be fair now would it?” Ekene grabbed his sides and huffed. “Madelyn’s got him distracted.”

Hell yeah she had, twisting and contorting her lithe limbs in all those interesting shapes. But now her absence rankled more than anything.

“Can’t say I blame him,” another fighter added.

Good thing Nathan had more important things to deal with. Nathan headed for the bathroom. He’d seen her head that way three minutes ago. It wasn’t an unreasonably long time to be in the bathroom—especially for a girl—but he was on edge. The clock ticked on the Hangman’s timeline and on the identification of the newly discovered body.

He needed that body to prove Adrian Tau was the killer. Unless he was wrong. The identification could just lead to another dead end and more questions. Which was why when his phone rang he stopped in his tracks. The readout showed Artie’s number.
The results
.

He looked at the bathroom door, and then at his phone. He’d heard Amadi giving her a hard time. She was probably just getting over embarrassment. He decided to give her a minute or two more and take the call. Besides, she would want to know the results as much as he did. He answered the phone and put it to his ear.

“Give me good news, Artie.”

“We have an identification for the body.” Artie’s frantic tone pricked every hair on his body. “Her name was Kira Tau.”

“Thanks.”

Nathan ended the call. His fingers hovered over the number, ready to call Dick and work out the tactics for taking ‘Chief,’ a.k.a. Adrian Tau into custody. But, as far as he was concerned, Madelyn had been in the bathroom for far too long. He wanted to kick the door in. Instead, he strode to it and knocked forcibly.

“Madelyn?”

She didn’t answer in the two seconds he waited. He pushed through the door. Oh well, if she was still taking care of business.
He had to make sure she was okay.

His stomach churned and his blood vaporized inside his skin at the sight. The room was vacant. He checked the stalls and shower, without relief. She was gone.

He leaped, grabbed onto the ledge of the high windowsill, and pulled himself up. Shallow ruts gouged the gravel behind the gym and his heart along with it.

Nathan dialed Dick. The tone rang in his ear. Once. Twice.

Deacon trotted into the bathroom. The short hairs along his spine stood on end. He sniffed the counter, the floor, and then sniffed his way to the window. He raised his front feet onto the wall and growled.

“I know, boy.”

Dick answer, “Special Ag—”

“I thought you had Tau at his house,” he roared.

“He is,” Dick defended.

“Then how the fuck did he take Madelyn?”

“I thought you were with her?”

Fuck him. He should have been.

“She went to the bathroom at the gym. I didn’t think… Goddammnit.”

“It’s an island. He can only get so far.”

“Artie called. The body you found is Tau’s wife. We have cause. Get in his house and find out where he’s taken her.”

“I’m on it. What are you going to do?”

“Fuck if I know, but something.”

Nathan shoved the phone in his pocket and turned on a pin. He burst out the door and down the hall. Deacon stayed hot on his heels.

Amadi must have seen the raging horror on his face. The guy matched his stride. “What’s wrong?”

“Chief is the Field-Dresser. He has Madelyn. His wife was the first body, the one you saw.”

His fists clutched. He hated himself for letting her out of his sight. Now the bloodthirsty killer had her. Nathan shoved it all out of his mind. He had to focus. If he wanted to have any chance of seeing Madelyn again—alive—he had to think.

He was so out of the loop on the investigation. Hell if he knew where to start. Hopelessness sucked at his feet. He kicked it off.

Amadi had lived on the island his entire life. Maybe he could help. “Does Tau have any close friends, someone who would do anything for him?”

Amadi shook his head. “He seemed a nice enough guy, but he kept to himself.”

“What about his spare time, is there a place he hangs out a lot?”

Again Amadi shook his head. Deacon paced frantically back and forth.

Nathan dragged a hand through his hair.

A resounding click marked each minute as it past.

Son of a bitch! Think!

“What about his family?”

“Dead or moved off the island.” Amadi shrugged.

“Is there any significant place linked to his past where he might take her? It might be some place out of the way, forgotten.”

The big guy’s eyes brightened.

Finally, a break.

“Yes, his mother had a house at the base of the mountain where the latest body was found. It’s on the west side of the trail back in the woods.”

Before Amadi finished his directions Nathan was headed for the door. “Watch Deacon for me.”

He flew through the front door and leaped over the steps to the asphalt below. His feet stopped at the first vehicle he came to. He tugged on the handle. The sleek sports car’s door didn’t budge. Next to it a tan truck’s windows were down. He rounded to it, opened the door, and found the keys on the floorboard. With little thought he turned the engine to life and ripped out of the parking lot.

Every second counted
.

M
adelyn didn’t dare open
her eyes. Wooziness rocked her like a rough sea. One hint of light and she’d vomit for sure. Her hip throbbed as though it had taken the burn of some serious force. A twinge in her shoulder wrestled for her attention too. What the hell had happened?

Remaining still, she tried to recall her last memory. Her slushy brain didn’t cooperate. Visions of hugging a toilet bowl danced in her head.

Damn.

Her breaths came steadily and she focused on that. In and out. Nice and calm. The worst of the nausea dissipated. Adrian Tau’s menacing face flashed in her clearing mind.

She needed to figure out what was going on. With an extreme amount of focus, one lid opened a crack. Dirt and bits of leaves collected in the deep grooves of a vehicle floor mat.

Madelyn slammed her eyes shut. If she was in the front seat of a car, the driver couldn’t be far away. The truck stopped. Her mind projected all sorts of horror scenes from her past onto her closed lids. She reeled the thoughts in. She wasn’t a little girl any longer, and she wasn’t helpless.

Nathan had told her to fight. She could fight. She would fight.

The door across from her opened. Clothes rustled and the seat squeaked right by her head. Then the door slammed shut.

The realization that he’d been so close to her turned her marrow to ice. Gravel crunched as he circled the vehicle. The door creaked open behind her back.

He was coming for her.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic.

If she wanted to survive she had to control her emotions. She grappled for calm. He inched her off the truck seat and onto his shoulder. The air fled her lungs and shoved her stomach into her ribs.

She hung across him like a rag doll, swaying with his motion. With her head to his back, she chanced a look around. Her eyes actually worked. Survival mode took over. She looked for landmarks, escape routes, and weapons.

A house straight out of a ripper movie dangled upside down. Its wooded over windows, stripped paint, and dangling back and forth taunted her. Outside would be her best bet of escape. Once inside she would be trapped with him.

Before she went wild, Madelyn tested her legs to see if they’d respond to a command. Now that she concentrated a tightness restricted her ankles and wrists.

She had no choice but to play possum.

They entered the dark and dust laden shack. A rat the size of a child’s football scurried into the far corner. The furry creature was the least of her worries. When the room pivoted Madelyn closed her eyes.

She sought calm in the knowledge of the Field-Dresser’s ways. She knew he took his time with his victims. Not that she looked forward to that time. But time meant opportunity.

Her side met the floor with a dull thud. It took all her strength not to cry out or flinch. Her head pounded. Her knee and hip screamed. Yet she remained limp. Tau’s footsteps retreated to the door.

“Hold on, sweet thing. I’m going to get my bag and then the real fun begins.”

She tried not to stiffen at the sound of his voice or the message it carried. She must have done a good job because the door closed with a bang. A metal on metal scrape reverberated from the other side of the door.

A bolt?

Fear clogged her throat. She needed to look around, but it could be a trick. The last thing she wanted was to open her eyes and see him standing over her. She was helpless restrained like she was. Gathering every bit of courage inside her, Madelyn opened her eyes.

He was gone for the moment. She sat and tugged at the ankle bindings. The ropes nearly cut into her skin. Her nails dug into the tightly knitted fabric. Sweat—or maybe tears—slipped off her nose. It took a hundred years to free her left ankle.

In reality it had been less than a minute when the bolt screeched through the empty house. It was too late to play possum now. She clawed at the rope and freed her other leg from the binding.

Tau’s sinister form appeared in the doorway. Madelyn sprung to her feet. Cinched rope bound her hands in front of her. But she wouldn’t make this easy for him.

She craned her neck to meet his haunting stare. In the doorway he towered like a building. His width blocked the light from the morning sun. His eerie stare looked nothing like the kind man she had known as Chief Adrian Tau. He was gone. In his place was a seething, dead-eyed alien. She didn’t consider reasoning with him. And she wouldn’t beg him to release her, no matter what. That is what he wanted. Pleading. Crying. Begging.

Boards
covered all the windows in the small kitchenette. She wouldn’t take a chance getting trapped in the hallway and she had no idea where it led.

Madelyn squared up to the Field-Dresser and stood her ground. She read his body, waiting for the slightest tell.

As she had anticipated, he came straight in to grab her. Fluidly, she swung left, planting her foot to the side. Madelyn powered her right knee up and slammed it into his side.

A snap echoed off the peeling wallpaper. His arm swung wide. She jumped out of his reach. From the grimace on his face she’d taken out a rib or two.

“You stupid bitch! Oh, I’m going to enjoy gutting you more than fucking you. I’ll make you scream and beg.” His nostrils flared as his intake of breath increased. He cocked his head and stared at her with vacant eyes.

Her resolve quivered, then it bounced back. She was getting to him. Madelyn tried to move left again to work her way past him to the door. He moved in to counter. His heavy fist aimed for her jaw.

She stepped into his space, dodging his fist, and rammed the point of her elbow into his solar plexus. He grunted, but didn’t even stagger.

The monster charged full on. He caught her around the waist and battered her back into the wall. The flimsy thing looked like they should have crashed right through, but it held firm.

Wind swooshed from her lungs. Shooting stars zipped by. Still, she dug deep and rebounded. Taking advantage of the closeness, she drove down onto his spinal column just below his head. His knees buckled on impact.

The instant he went down he came right up. His head rammed into her jaw.

Darkness.