Torn - Cynthia Eden Page 0,74
don’t know.”
Wade hated the fearful stutter in her voice. He hated for her to feel any fear at all.
The ambulance had left. Cops were still there, interviewing neighbors. Trying to find witnesses.
“No sign of forced entry,” Dace said. “No signs of struggle at all. Hell, from the looks of things, the guy just stood there and let the bastard slice him open.”
“I—I want to see the scene,” Victoria said, still with that tremble in her voice. “Can we come into the apartment now?”
Wade locked his jaw. What he wanted was for Victoria to get as far away from that place as possible. They needed to leave town, right the hell then, and he was sure that Gabe would back him up on that decision.
But Victoria . . . she was moving forward because Dace had given a grim nod.
Hell. Wade hurried to follow even as his suspicious gaze swept over the crowd once more. Was the killer out there, watching again? He’d watched while Melissa died, so it sure stood to reason that the guy would be close this time, too.
Once inside the building, he and Victoria were given gloves. They were also given soft covers for their shoes so they wouldn’t track in debris. They crept into the apartment, moving carefully.
Wade noted the front door—the lock didn’t have so much as a scratch on it.
Uniformed cops were scattered through the apartment. Wade and Victoria walked carefully inside, and Wade’s gaze swept the scene as thoroughly as possible. They were on the third floor of the building, so the killer must have gone in and out through that front apartment door. Maybe they’d get lucky. Maybe someone in the building had seen him . . .
They walked into a bedroom. One with white furniture and black and white photos on the walls. Photos of waterfalls and beaches.
A bed sat in the middle of the room. A bed that was covered by what looked to be a hand-sewn quilt . . . and a spray of red.
“The perp came up from behind him,” Victoria said. “Based on that spray . . . Jim had to be facing forward. The guy came up, sliced his throat . . .”
“And then sent you a pic,” Dace muttered. “So you’d be in on his fun.”
Yeah, that is fucking what it was like. The guy wanted to share with Victoria. Because he thinks they are so damn alike.
He was wrong.
“I—I’ll need to see Jim’s body.” Her voice was wooden.
She’s already talking as if he’s dead. No, baby, no. Have hope.
“If I look at the angle of the cut, I can give you an idea of the perp’s height. Tell you if he was right-handed or left and—”
Dace’s phone rang. Frowning, he stepped back and took the call. “What?” he barked into the phone. “Is he dead?”
Victoria’s gaze swung to meet Wade’s. Her gaze seemed so sad. Desolate. His chest burned as he stared at her. There was no hope—none at all—in her green eyes.
“You’re going to have to wait on seeing the body,” Dace said, voice sharp.
Victoria glanced at him.
“He made it,” Dace said, a wide smile splitting his face. “That kid made it to the hospital! EMTs say the knife missed his trachea, the cut wasn’t that deep, and the guy—hell, he’s lost a shitload of blood, but he’s in surgery. He might just pull through!”
Victoria’s eyes lit up.
Thank Christ.
“He can identify the killer.” Dace gave a quick nod. “When that kid comes out of surgery, he’ll tell us who did this to him! We’ll have that perp locked up before he can ever think of hurting anyone else!”
Wade’s gaze slid back to the blood-covered bed. A survivor. Hell, yes. That was exactly what they needed. The perp probably thought he was free and clear.
Think again.
The kid was a fighter, and they were going to find the man who’d attacked him. No more victims. No more games.
It was over.
WADE LOCKED THE B&B door.
“How long do you think the cops are going to keep my phone?” Victoria asked as she paced in front of him.
“Permanently.” He leaned back against the door and his gaze slowly slid over her as she turned toward him.
She rubbed the back of her neck. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“If any more texts or even calls come in from the killer, the cops want to trace them. They’re taking over the case now.” Dace’s captain had been clear on that. They’d barely had time to leave the apartment before Captain