Forbidden Temptation

Chapter Sixteen

Rose turned to look at Frank, feigning ignorance, even as her heart started galloping. “Sorry, did you say something?”

Frank dropped his gaze to the notepaper on the floor. It wasn’t much of a distraction, but Rose didn’t dare wait for a better one. She darted for the door.

Frank caught up with her in the doorway and jerked her to him. Rose brought her knee up, missing his groin but hitting his thigh. Grunting, he wrapped his fingers in her hair.

“Gotta do better than that,” he growled. His breath stank of black coffee and peppermint. “You all try to run.”

She slumped against him. He shifted to keep from overbalancing, giving her the opening she needed. She brought her knee up again, this time hitting him square between the legs. He grunted, his grip loosening.

She followed with a hard jab of the heel of her hand into his nose. He lost his hold on her, and she ran. He recovered quickly, gaining behind her.

She’d never make the front door, she realized.

But as she reached the door to Tina’s room, she heard Daniel’s voice as clearly as if he were beside her. Frank hated that room. Couldn’t bring himself to go in there.

She skidded to a stop, grabbed the doorknob and lifted a prayer. Then she slipped inside, slamming the door behind her.

“YOU WANT WHAT?” Captain Green sounded incredulous.

“An A.P.B. on Frank Carter.” Daniel parked at the back of Rose’s house, relieved to see her car in the usual place.

“Just because he’s not answering his phone?”

“The notepaper the killer is using to send notes to Rose is the same notepaper his sister used to use.” Outlining what he’d discovered at his mother’s house, he got out of his car. “I don’t think it can be a coincidence.”

“My God.” Captain Green’s voice came out strangled.

The block was dark; the power was out. He grabbed a flashlight from his trunk. “We can sort it out once we find Frank. Get the A.P.B. issued. I’ll call you back.” He hurried down the steps to the house and tried the back door. It was locked. He knocked hard, hoping Rose was still awake. When she didn’t answer, he tried her cell-phone number again. A moment later, he heard a faint ringing sound behind him.

He rounded the side of the house, following the sound. He caught sight of a pale blue glow a few feet ahead. His heart in his throat, he took another step forward and looked down.

Rose’s cell phone lay in the wet grass, still ringing.

TINA’S DOOR had a push-button privacy lock, but Rose knew it wouldn’t stop Frank for long. She pressed it anyway and dashed to the only window in the room. Daniel had said Tina used to climb through the window to meet him on the wraparound porch. She tried the window. It didn’t budge. On closer inspection, she discovered it had been nailed shut from the outside.

Slumping against the sill, she gazed toward the door. She could hear Frank’s shallow, harsh breathing just outside. But he still hadn’t tried the door.

She surveyed the room. Photos of Tina and friends lined the oval vanity mirror across from the bed. A shelf above the dresser held several awards-cheerleading trophies, certificates of merit, even a small jewel-encrusted tiara sitting atop a folded white sash.

Mama’s little princess, Rose thought, not unkindly.

“Come out of there!” Frank’s sudden angry bark ripped at her nerves.

She remained silent, wondering how long Frank’s fear of his sister’s ghost would keep him at bay. Sooner or later, he’d screw up his courage and burst through the door.

Better be ready.

She looked around for something to use as a weapon. A baton leaned against the closet door, a pitiful excuse for a weapon. A softball bat would have been a big help.

“Why couldn’t you have been a tomboy?” she muttered.

Her gaze settled on an old-fashioned princess phone on the bedside table. It looked heavy enough to hurt. Grabbing the phone, she missed, knocking the receiver from the hook.

And heard a dial tone.

BREAKING THROUGH Rose’s back door was depressingly easy. He turned on the flashlight and surveyed the kitchen. Objects lay scattered on the floor-a lipstick, papers and a billfold. Hands shaking, he opened the billfold with his fingertip. Rose’s driver’s license photo stared back at him from inside.

He pushed to his feet, his chest aching with dread. “Rose, are you in here?” He started searching the house, terrified of what he might find just around the corner. Halfway up the steps to the second floor, his cell phone rang. A local number, no name attached. It looked familiar, so he answered. “Hartman.”

“Daniel, it’s me.” Rose’s voice whispered in his ear.

He grabbed the stair railing to keep from falling backward. “Are you okay? I can barely hear you.”

“I’m in Tina’s room,” she said.

His legs gave out on him and he sat in the middle of the stairs. “Tina’s room?”

“Frank’s outside. I think he’s afraid to come in here.” Her voice broke. “Please come get me.”

Her plea tumbling through his mind, he scrambled to his feet and down the stairs, two at a time. “I’m coming. Just hold on!” He flew through the darkened house to the back door and up the sloping yard to his car. He cranked the engine. “I’m coming, Rose-can you hear me?”

“Frank’s the Southside killer,” she whispered.

“I know.” He peeled out of the alley onto the street.

“Tell me what to do.” Her voice was tight with fear. “He said I looked like her. Can I do something with that?”

Daniel couldn’t think. He should be able to think, damn it! It was his job. He was good at it. But now, when it mattered more than anything in the world, he couldn’t think.

“You said he’s afraid of her ghost.” On Rose’s end, Daniel heard the sound of a door opening.

His heart froze. “Rose?”

“I opened the closet. There are tons of clothes here. I think I can fit into something.”

Daniel took a curve too quickly, the back end of his car fishtailing. He dropped the phone to the seat beside him and steered out of the skid. He grabbed the phone again. “Rose?”

“I’ll call you back.” With a click, the connection ended.

He started to hit the redial button but stopped. The phone ringing might break through Frank’s hesitation. He couldn’t risk it. He punched in Captain Green’s number instead. Tersely outlining the situation, he asked her to send units to Frank’s address. “Approach with care. He has a hostage.”

Hanging up, he weaved through the traffic on Highland Avenue, willing Rose to call him back.

ROSE SMOOTHED the plaid skirt over her hips, checking her reflection in the mirror on the closet door. The tartan skirt and navy cable-knit sweater would give Frank the fright of his life if he decided to break through that door.

“You have to come out sooner or later,” Frank warned. “Mama nailed the window shut.” He laughed, low and harsh. “The window had let her little princess out that night. Bad window.”

Ignoring his taunts, Rose picked up the phone and dialed Daniel’s number.

He answered immediately. “Rose?”

He sounded so frantic, she thought, tears stinging her eyes. “He’s getting angry. He wants me to go out there.”

“Good. He’s still afraid to come in there.”

“Should I be talking to him?”

Daniel was silent.

“Daniel?”

His voice dropped to a growl. “I can’t lose you, Rose.”

She sank onto the bed, her heart contracting. Tears welled in her eyes, painting the room in hazy watercolors. “Daniel,” she whispered, her throat tight with emotion.

Her cleared his throat. “Don’t talk to him unless he comes in before I get there. Then, talk about the murders. He’ll want to tell someone what he’s done. It’ll buy you time.”

A bang on the door made her jump. “I think he’s tired of waiting,” she whispered. “I better hang up-”

“No, don’t hang up! Put the phone down but leave the receiver off the cradle so I can hear what’s going on.”

She put the receiver on the table as another thud hit the door, accompanied by the sound of splintering wood. She crouched behind the bed, peering over the edge.

The lock gave and Frank lurched into the room, a large knife in his hand. He stumbled to a stop and stared at her, taking in the sight of Rose in his sister’s clothes. His face blanching, he backpedaled into the door. “Tina,” he whispered.

Rose lifted her chin. “Frankie, what’ve you done?”

AS DANIEL SLAMMED to a stop in front of Frank’s house, he heard the sound of wood splintering through the phone. He parked at a haphazard angle, shut off the engine and scrambled out. Rain drowned out Rose’s end of the call, propelling him up the porch to the front door. It was unlocked.

It would be smarter to wait for police backup, but he didn’t have time. Pulling his SIG-Sauer from his hip holster, he slipped inside, leaving the door open behind him.

Rose’s voice drifted toward him. “I understand Alice and the others. They looked like me. But the blonde-”

“It’s Rose’s fault.” Bitterness edged Frank’s voice. “I thought she knew what I was supposed to do.” His voice dropped an octave. “But she lied. She didn’t have a plan.”

Daniel crept toward Tina’s room, his gut tightening. It had been a long time since he’d been in that room. Peeking around the door frame, he took in the lay of things. Frank stood just in front of him, wielding a hunting knife, his back to the door. Tina stood behind the bed, staring her brother down.

He blinked the rainwater out of his eyes. No. Not Tina. It couldn’t be Tina. It was Rose in a plaid skirt and navy sweater, a delicate jeweled tiara in her dark, wet hair.

Standing behind the shimmery figure of Tina Carter.

Rose’s gaze shifted to meet his. Her eyelids flickered but she looked away quickly, showing no other sign of recognition. If she saw the ghost of Tina, she didn’t show it.

Daniel flattened against the wall just outside the door, tightening his grip on the SIG-Sauer. His heart rata-tatted against his chest, his breath a distant memory.

A faint wail of sirens in the distance spurred him out of his paralysis. Once Frank heard the police approaching, he would be that much more dangerous.

As he started to move, Rose’s next words froze him in place. “Why did you kill me?”

“I didn’t.” Frank’s voice came out soft as a kitten’s mewl. “Not the first time. Just dozens of times since then.”

Daniel pressed his back to the wall. So he was right. All these years, when he’d been chasing Orion from state to state, he’d never been after Tina’s killer at all.

But he could live with that.

Daniel swung around the doorway, his SIG leveled at Frank’s back. “Drop the knife, Frank.”

Frank pivoted, staring at Daniel with hollow eyes. He put the knife to his own throat. “She’s here.” His voice shook.

“I know.” Daniel moved closer. “Put down the knife.”

“Put it down, Frankie.” Tina’s voice floated through the room, tremulous and soft.

Daniel sensed movement to his right, but he kept his gaze on Frank. Outside, sirens grew louder, then wailed to a stop. He heard the front door open.

“In here,” he called, holding Frank’s gaze.

“You heard her, didn’t you?” Frank whispered.

Daniel nodded. “Tina wants you to put the knife down.”

Slowly, the hand holding the knife trembled to Frank’s side, fingers loosening. The knife thudded to the carpet as police officers poured through the doorway behind Daniel.

As they wrestled Frank to the floor, Daniel holstered his gun and stepped aside, finally allowing himself to look at Rose. She stared back at him, her eyes glittering with relief.

The apparition of Tina was gone.

He held out his hand and Rose rushed to him, throwing her arms around his waist. She buried her face in his shirt, her fingers digging into his back.

“It’s over,” he soothed, stroking her damp hair. He breathed in her scent, lush and female and alive. His earlier doubts and fears had fled, driven out by one inescapable truth.

He was in love with Rose Browning.

“IT’S A SLAUGHTERHOUSE down there. We should have scads of forensic evidence,” Agent Brody told Daniel as he came back into the living room from a trip to the basement. He kept his voice low, but Rose heard him from her seat on the nearby sofa. She looked up at Daniel and saw him watching her, his gaze intense.

“What about Jesse Phillips? Has he said anything about Tina Carter’s murder?”

“He spilled his guts. I think he was relieved to get it out in the open. Real twelve-stepper about the whole thing-making amends and all that.”

“Did he say why he did it?” Daniel asked.

“The old ‘if I can’t have her, nobody can’ routine.” Brody grimaced. “Doesn’t explain why Carter killed the others, though.”

“To kill Tina all over again,” Rose interjected, remembering Frank’s words to Daniel during the confrontation in Tina’s bedroom.

Daniel looked at her, his eyes narrowed. He gave a slow nod. “I’d say that’s the underlying motive, yeah.”

“Well, whatever his reasons, we’ve got the evidence to put him away.” Brody’s words were laced with grim satisfaction.

So it was really over, Rose thought. All of it.

Daniel nodded toward Rose. “Can I take her home?”

“Yeah. We’ve got your statements. I’ll be in touch.”

Daniel crossed to Rose and held out his hand. “Want to change back into your clothes?”

“These are warm and dry. Unless you want me to change?”

He shook his head. “Warm and dry sounds good.”

Outside, the rain had stopped, fog setting in. Daniel tucked her into the passenger seat of the Jeep, then went around to the driver’s side.

“Did you really hear something?” Rose asked as he slid behind the steering wheel.

He looked at her, brow furrowed.

“You said you heard Tina tell Frank to put down the knife.”

Daniel didn’t say anything for a long moment. But as she started to look away, he said, “I saw her.”

She whipped her gaze back to his. “Saw Tina?”

He nodded. “Standing in front of you. Didn’t you?”

She shook her head, chill bumps rolling down her spine.

“I can tell myself I imagined it. I was under stress. It was her room, where I’d seen her a million times.” Daniel dropped his gaze. “But it was more than that. I don’t know how to explain it, but I saw her.”

She touched his hand. His fingers trembled under hers.

“Did she say anything to you?” she asked.

“She just told Frank to put down the knife.” Daniel smiled faintly, his gaze fixed on the fog-shrouded night visible through the windshield. “It’s okay, though. I think she told me what I needed to hear.”

“What’s that?” She ran her thumb over the back of his hand.

Daniel exhaled slowly. “It’s over. She can rest now.”

“And so can you.”

His gaze lifted to meet hers, and even in the dim light of the streetlamps, there was no missing the emotion shining in his eyes. “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”

She blinked back tears, her heart squeezing. He reached across the console and pulled her toward him. The gearshift pressed against her hip-at least, she thought it was the gearshift. The thought made her chuckle as he bent to kiss her.

He pulled back. “What is it?”

She started to share the joke when something shimmery began to form over his face. Her laughter faltered, eclipsed by fear.

Not a death veil. Not now.

“Rose?” Daniel’s brow furrowed beneath the shimmer.

Rose held her breath as the nascent veil coalesced into a face. She recognized the wide eyes and full lips.

They were her own.

Tears spilling down her cheeks, she cradled his face between her trembling hands. A shaky sob escaped her lips.

He covered her hands with his. “Do you see something?”

She nodded, her lips beginning to curve.

Understanding dawned. “It’s not a death veil, is it?”

She shook her head, laughter spilling from her lips.

He silenced her chuckle with his mouth. She clung to him, gathering strength from his kiss. Joy infused her whole body, until she felt more alive than she’d ever felt before.

Daniel pulled back, pressing his forehead to hers. “Let me clarify-it’s your face over mine, right?”

She chuckled, stroking his stubbled jaw. “Yes.”

“So we’re supposed to be together forever, right? That’s how it works, isn’t it?”

She thought of Dillon and Carrie Granville, a sliver of pain shooting through her chest. “It’s not a guarantee.”

He stroked her hair. “I don’t need one.”

She met his gaze. “I love you, Daniel. I didn’t know how much until I heard your voice in my ear when I needed you most.”

“I always want to be the voice in your ear,” he murmured.

“I always want to be the woman in your bed,” she replied.

He smiled. “That can definitely be arranged.”

A knock on the window behind her made Rose jump. She turned to find Agent Brody staring through her window. “You two gonna neck all night or can you get your damned Jeep out of the way?” he said through the glass. “You’re blocking the road.”

Laughing, Daniel started the car. “Let’s find a bed.”

Rose sank back against the seat as he pulled away from the curb, smiling at the darkness. She didn’t know if the true-love veils were back for good or if it was a one-time thing. Not that it mattered. She didn’t need a true-love veil to tell her Daniel was her soul mate.

That’s what her heart was for.