Deadly Lies (38 page)

“Did Beth beg?” Max asked because he had to.
They were watching.
He just wanted this over. Wanted it all over. Staring into Quinlan’s eyes now…
I don’t see the same man.
A stranger stared back at him with eyes that were too bright.

“Hell, yeah. She begged, she pleaded, and she promised me any damn thing I wanted.” His lips twisted. “But I just wanted the
bitch to die. This was my show, and she tried to screw with me—”

“A
show
?” Max’s stomach tightened. “Is that all this was?”
A show to prove that he was the best.

Quinlan’s left hand slammed onto the table. “The cops couldn’t catch me. The Feds couldn’t stop me. Those assholes begged
for their lives, but they weren’t worth enough.”

And how much was enough?

“What did you do with the money?” Max kept his eyes on Quinlan.

“I’ll never tell.” Quinlan slowly lowered back into the chair. Some of his rage seemed to have cooled just that
fast. “I’m going to get out. The shrinks will say I’m crazy, and I’ll get out.” A wider grin spread on his face. “I’ll get
out, I’ll get my money, and I’ll be looking for you,
brother.
”

And he realized that Quinlan had a plan. Had always had his plan. “All those times you cut yourself…”

“Ah, good, they know about those already.” Quinlan inclined his head toward the mirror. “I’m just a poor, sick boy, never
given enough attention, always having to compete with the killer in my own home. A killer.” He shook his head and pointed
at Max. “Not a very good role model for a guy, huh? I wonder…” Quinlan licked his lips. “Do you think your kids will be as
screwed up as me? I mean, with you as—”

The door flew open. “
Enough.
”

Samantha stood there, breath heaving and fire raging in her eyes. “We’re done here.”

Quinlan laughed. “Knew the bitch was there. I was hoping she’d come out to join us.”

Max’s vision went red. “
Don’t even fucking look at her.
”

“I’ll do more than that,” Quinlan promised.

I’ll get out….

“We’ve got everything we need, Max. It’s over.” She came toward him and took his hand. “It’s time to go.”

His fingers locked around hers. He rose, pulling her close. Her sweet scent filled his nose. Life. Hope.

So much more.

Love.

“Don’t trust him, sweetheart,” Quinlan taunted. “He’s playing innocent, but he knew what I was doing. Why do you think he
was at The Core that night? He was there to
meet Veronica, to set up the next vic. He might have been screwing you, but it was just so he could cover his own ass. He
didn’t—”

Her fingers brushed Max’s cheek. “He’s not worth it,” she said, and the words were clear, strong.

Silence.

Then Quinlan’s face mottled, and he yelled, “
Fucking bitch! You fucking bitch, I’ll slice you open! I’ll make you beg, make you scream, and I’ll make him watch!
” Spit flew from Quinlan’s mouth.

Max took her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Then he looked back at Quinlan. Veins bulged from his brother’s neck
and his eyes were wide, wild. “You’re not going to see daylight again,” he told him.

Quinlan glared at him, hate twisting his face.

“They’re going to throw you into a ten-by-eight room. They’ll keep you locked up like a dog, and you won’t get out.”
He’ll never touch her.
“But if you do somehow worm your way out of prison,” and Max moved, deliberately shifting his body so that Quinlan couldn’t
see Samantha, “if by some stroke of the devil, you get out, I will find
you.
And trust me, Quinlan, you’ll be the one who begs because I will
never
let you hurt anyone else I love.”

Max held Quinlan’s stare, needing to break through the madness and make sure his brother understood. “If I see you again,”
he said, “you’re dead.”

When Sam and Max walked outside, the wind blew her hair, tossing it around her face. She shoved it back and stared at Max,
aware that her fingers were trembling. “Max, the case is over now. We’ve got enough evidence
to keep Quinlan locked up for the rest of his life. You’re clear; you don’t have to worry.”

Silence.

“Kenton’s going to give a press conference with Hyde later today. They’re planning to tie up the loose ends.” She stepped
closer. “
It’s over.
”

“The case might be.” He caught her left wrist and chained her to him. “We’re not.”

The knot in her stomach seemed to ease. “What do you want from me?” As direct as she could be.

Those blue eyes, so intense, searched her face. Then… “Forever. I want forever, baby.”

And the fear melted away. Her lips lifted into a trembling smile. “So do I.”

His mouth took hers. Desperate hunger, need, lust. Love.

Max
.

Hers.

“Everything’s been so screwed up,” Max murmured against her lips. “Started it all wrong, then the case, Frank,
Quinlan
…”

Pain echoed in his voice. But she’d help him to deal with the pain, just as he’d helped her.

His head lifted, and he gazed down at her with gleaming eyes. “Can you be with me, knowing what he did, can you—”

“Try to stop me.” Max
wasn’t
Quinlan. “You saved me in that river. You came into the water and—”

“And I wouldn’t have come out without you.” Flat. “Don’t you know yet, baby? Haven’t you realized…?”

She waited,
waited.

“I love you.” Simple. Solid. His stare never wavered.
“I never thought I’d love a woman like this, but I swear, when I’m with you, I can’t even think straight half the time. I
want you, I need you, and I damn well love you more than anything in this world.”

She put her left hand on his shoulder. “And I love you, Max Ridgeway.” The stranger she’d taken to her bed. The lover who’d
comforted her in the night. The man who’d pulled her from hell.

They’d started fast, started red-hot, and gone barreling through the darkness. More darkness might come—that was just part
of life—but they’d be together.

She’d spent her whole life looking for a man like him. Someone to fight for her, someone to hold her, and someone to stir
her desire. Someone who thought she was worth fighting for, worth dying for.

Someone…
Max
.

She stood on her toes and kissed him.

Worth the world.
And more.

Six months later…

Quinlan Malone shuffled down the prison hallway. Catcalls sounded around him. Loud whistles and taunts were hurled from the
other inmates as he passed. The orange jumpsuit hung on his shoulders, and the shackles jingled a bit as he walked.

Keith Hyde watched Quinlan head to his new home, one that was a far cry from the mansion that could have been his. A mansion
that Max Ridgeway had recently donated to the American Cancer Society. It would be a haven for recovering patients.

The guard opened cell door number 185. Quinlan walked inside. He turned back and offered up his bound hands to the guard.
He knew the drill well by now.

Hyde stalked down the corridor. He glanced in the cell. A toilet. Two bunks. Quinlan would have company.

“Happy now, asshole?” Quinlan demanded. “You think this is the end of me? It’s not! I’m gettin’ out of here, you’ll see. My
lawyer’s working on an appeal.” He laughed,
shaking his head. “Haven’t you heard? I’m crazy! I should be in a mental institution, not jail.”

“Your psych sessions will start soon.” Because Hyde knew the truth.

Quinlan Malone
was
crazy. There’d been no remorse from him in the courtroom. No empathy for the victims. The guy didn’t seem to get that he’d
actually done something wrong.

And four days ago, they’d caught him in his cell cutting his upper arms with a shiv.

The guards would have to watch Malone. The longer he was in there, the more desperate he’d become.

“And if you ever do get out,” Hyde said, watching as Quinlan shifted quickly from foot to foot. “You won’t have a damn thing
waiting on you.” They’d recovered all the money from the kidnappings before the trial. Quinlan had kept the cash at one of
Malone’s rental houses, a little place on Sycamore Lane. A house that had smelled of bleach and death, but that had been stuffed
with a fortune.

“My brother will be waiting!” Quinlan snarled.

Waiting to kill you.
Hyde knew about that threat. There wasn’t anything that happened in the SSD that he didn’t know about. Hyde turned away.

“Peter and Jeremy were in on it,” Quinlan’s voice was nearly lost beneath the catcalls.

Hyde paused and glanced back.

“Didn’t realize that, did you?” Quinlan’s smile held a cocky edge. “Why do you think it was so easy to take them from the
bars? Pete just walked right out with Veronica. He thought it was a great damn joke, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands
on some of his trust fund money.”

Peter Hollings
. He’d been sent back to his family in pieces. Hyde stared at Quinlan and kept his expression blank. “If Peter was in on the
kidnapping, why’d you kill him?”

“Because his dumbass father wouldn’t pay.” Quinlan shrugged. “I told Pete that he’d die if the old man didn’t pay. But, damn,
you should’ve heard the way he started screaming when I pulled out my knife.”

Because Peter hadn’t realized just how deadly serious Quinlan had been.
Easy prey—he used his own friends.

“And poor Jeremy,” Quinlan shook his head. “He was so sure his father would pay for him. Jeremy already had that cash spent
in his mind. He was heading back to Europe.”

But he’d just gone to the grave. “And what about the others?”

Quinlan grinned. “Those assholes just pissed me off. I figured I’d give them a little payback.”

Sick sonofabitch. “Guess you’re the one getting that payback now.” Life in Wallens Ridge State Prison. This time, Hyde let
the icy façade melt, and he knew his disgust showed when Quinlan stiffened.

Then because there was no more to say, Hyde turned away.

He walked back toward the warden. Hyde didn’t usually follow the criminals to their cells after conviction, but this time,
he’d made an exception.

A man who should’ve had it all now had nothing.

One more killer off the streets. More victims buried in the ground. Not a fair score sheet. Not even close.

Not yet. But, God willing, soon.

We’ll stop them.

Because he’d made a promise a long time ago. A promise to a girl that he hadn’t seen in over thirty years.

The sunlight hit him when he walked out of the prison. So hot and clear. Hyde stopped just outside and pulled out his wallet.
He glanced down and stared at the grainy photo.

Some promises time broke. Other promises, the soul kept.

I won’t give up.

His daughter had been missing for so long, but one day, dammit,
one day,
he’d find the man who’d taken her away. And Hyde would make sure that the bastard paid.

Because he’d be damned if he let the monsters win.

S
o… are we gonna talk about it?”

Monica froze at the deep voice. Her notes were spread in front of her, the shade on her window firmly closed—because she really
hated to fly—and with only about ten minutes left on the private flight, it looked like Dante had decided to get chatty.

Great.

“I mean… we’re gonna be working together, and we can’t pretend the past didn’t happen….”

Sure they could. She spent most of her days shoving the memories of her past away.

Carefully, Monica set down her pen. Then she lifted her gaze. Dante sat across from her, his long legs spread out, taking
up too much room. He’d changed before they left, thankfully gotten rid of the blood, and now he wore loose khakis and a button-down
shirt.

Over the years, she’d tried not to think about Dante. Tried to pretend the fling with him hadn’t happened.

Tried and failed really, really well.

“Like what you see?” The words came out of his mouth sounding like some kind of sensual purr.

Asshole.

And, dammit,
yes
. Luke Dante was sex, he was power, and he was
temptation
.

A temptation she hadn’t been able to resist when she was twenty-two. But one she
would
ignore now.

Tall, muscled, with bright emerald eyes and sun-streaked blond hair, Dante was a southern boy with charm and a dimple in his
chin.

A long, thin scar marred his right cheek. She’d been there the day he got that scar. The mark didn’t detract from Dante’s
looks. No, the scar just made him look all the more dangerous.

She stared at him, trying to be detached. A strong jaw, wide lips, slightly twisted nose—he
shouldn’t
have been handsome.