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  “We aren’t married. You can’t.” I blurt.

  His pissed off face eases into a smile. “Married? Who said we have to be married? You weren’t married to... him.”

  “Well... I’m all clean now... fresh... so... if I’m touched again by someone that I’m not married to, that will make me dirty again.” I stumble over the fabrication.

  He considers me, leaning over the tub and letting his hands dangle into the water. I hug my knees to cover my body.

  “You want to stay clean, pure for me? For our wedding night?”

  I can’t look at him. I can’t look at him.

  I look up, meeting his eyes in a facade of sincerity. “Of course.” I have to do whatever it takes to get home to Isaiah.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Isaiah

  So many tears. When I get back to the police station everyone is crying. My phone has been blowing up with calls and texts all morning, everyone wanting to know what happened.

  Every time I close my eyes, I see her laying there. Dead eyes, blue-gray, waxy skin, and her throat slit open.

  There was no blood at the scene, telling us that she was killed elsewhere. She was found in her front yard. Whoever did this wasn’t even trying to hide it. Seems he wanted her found.

  I shake the images out of my head, passing a lieutenant with damp eyes. He nods at me, I nod back. In all the years I’ve worked here, we’ve never had an officer die. She didn’t die in the line of duty, but to be so brutally murdered and left naked out in the open like that is just as hard to take.

  I walk into the CID door, slamming it behind me. I turn in the hall, to her office door. I told the FBI agent that I’d go through her office and recover anything that might be useful. The door isn’t locked, it never is. Julie trusted everyone. I walk into her office and I catch the faint scent of her perfume. Painful numbness settles over me, flashes of her dead body dance morbidly in my head as I move around to the back of the desk and sit where I saw her so many times before.

  I sit down and stare at piles of papers, folders, post’ it notes stuck all over with her spidery hand-writing.

  My phone jingles in my pocket. Pulling it out, I hope for Emily, its Billy. I hit ignore and dial Emily again. I called her earlier, but she didn’t answer. No answer this time either. She must be busy at work. Telling myself she will call when she gets time, I dive into the desk with a heavy heart.

  I toss anything in the file box that I think might be of use to the agent. I come across a legal pad in her top drawer, I lean back to peruse it.

  Noah’s name, my name, Emily’s name all jump out at me. I scrunch up my forehead and read further. As I read through the notes, I realize this is from her conversation with Noah, about my “abusing” Emily. I almost toss it in the trash, knowing that she didn’t do a real report. She was investigating this on the side.

  Then I see her scratched note.

  “Noah took Emily’s keys... he’s not her boyfriend. He lied about being her boyfriend to get her keys.” It’s underlined three times.

  My heart slams against my ribs. When did this happen? He got her keys? Why didn’t she tell me?

  Emily has my key, too.

  I jump up so fast the chair hits the wall, marking the sheetrock. I snap a picture of the legal pad with my phone and then close in on the note about the key, taking one more.

  I call Emily again as I run down the hall towards the parking lot. No answer. My hands start to shake as I slam out the door, running across the parking lot to my personal vehicle. She would know better than to let me call this many times without answering me.

  I rush into the CVS, startling the cashier at the front. “Is Emily here?”

  The old man blinks at me. “No, I don’t think so.”

  I ask for the manager, he directs me to a display where a man is stacking cases of Sprite.

  “Is Emily here today?” I ask him.

  “Um, no, not today.” He goes back to his work.

  I flash my badge at him. Now I have his attention. “Where is she?”

  “She didn’t show up for work. We called her and she didn’t answer. Is she all right?”

  I run a trembling hand over my face. “I don’t know. If you hear from her, call me.” I hand him a card with my office number on it after I scratch my personal cell on the back.

  He nods. “I will.”

  I’ve never driven like this in my life. I run every light, hit almost eighty until I see my apartment complex come into view. In the parking lot I see that her car is still here.

  Maybe she’s sick.

  Her dog jumps happily at me feet. “Emily, baby, are you here?” I call. My voice shakes.

  No answer.

  Room by room, I search. She’s not here. I fall onto the couch, tears in my eyes. Maxie jumps into my lap.

  I call her again. I leave a message.

  Emily is missing.

  ***

  Detective Patterson tucks a blonde curl behind her ear, staring down at the picture I sent her. She’s standing in my apartment.

  “So you just found out, right? Damn, I wonder why Julie didn’t say anything.” She mumbles, putting her phone back in sleep mode.

  “I know she was friends with him, maybe she was worried about what she would find if she dug too far? Maybe she was afraid of him?” I offer, pacing.

  Patterson watches me with sincere eyes. “We will find her, Isaiah. Her phone is still on, and it’s not here. Maybe he has it. Let’s get it located.”

  I nod, watching her call dispatch. She passes the number and the phone carrier info. “They are going to call me back. Let’s go check her house, go to his house, his work, and talk to some people.” She motions for me to follow her, surprising me.

  “You’re going to let me come with you?” Most wouldn’t want someone in their investigation that’s too close.

  She doesn’t look at me, just opens the front door. “Like me telling you to say out is going to keep you here. Might as well be of use to me instead of getting in my way.”

  ***

  Noah

  Idon’t know if it’s the right time to give her the ring. She’s so damn skittish. When she gets out of the tub she backs away when I try to dry her off. She asks to be excused so that she can dress.

  “Let me show you.” I take her hand and drag her out of the bathroom. Her hand is hot. I lead her into the closet, it’s almost as big as the bedroom itself. “These things are all yours.” I motion to the right side of the closet. My things are on the left.

  Lined with designer clothes, dresses, and a whole wall of shoes. She blinks, unspeaking. I pull out the drawers, showing her accessories. Jewelry, handbags, belts, everything she could ever want. She seems to take it all in slowly.

  “I did all this for you.” I pull her toward a section of dresses. I want to see her in the white gown, but I will wait. I have so many special things planned. “Choose one.”

  She reaches up and selects a yellow dress. It’s covered in small polka dots. Three quarter sleeves, soft cotton that will hug her curves. I lead her to out the door to the dresser, opening the panty drawer. I find the carefully selected items in a mess.

  “Is this how you put these things back when I told you to clean this up?” I raise my voice.

  She swallows, clutching the dress to her chest.

  “There are rules. You understand? You must put things away properly. I won’t tolerate mess, clutter. You won’t be allowed to live the way you did before. I have a maid that will take care of the cleaning, but you must be neat. Do you understand me?”

  She nods. “Yes.”

  I look down on her. “Yes, what?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Her voice trembles.

  Trembling is good. It means respect. Respect means she will do as she’s told. I nod, tossing the items out.

  “Do it again, properly.”

  I watch her re-fold, carefully place each item back in its place. I open each drawer one
by one and she does the same with each, crying silent tears the entire time.

  “Can I please get dressed now?” She sniffles.

  “Yes, then join me in the dining room for lunch.” I leave her alone in the room.

  I take my time setting out lunch for us on the elegant, black, glass table. I light candles, close the drapes to dim the room. I want it to be perfect. Our first meal together. The first of a lifetime. The phone in my pocket buzzes again. I check it.

  Isaiah. He’s calling Emily. I sigh, putting it back. I’m going to have to have her deal with this. I can’t have him calling every few minutes. I considered ditching her phone, but I decided it might be handy to have around, so I’ve held onto it.

  I hear the click of the door opening. Turning, I see her in the yellow dress. She’s wearing a matching silver bracelet and necklace, earrings. She’s put on makeup. Her heels click slowly on the floor.

  I suck in a breath. “Emily, you look beautiful.” The dress hugs her. Her hips sway as she walks, swishing the skirt around shapely legs. Her breasts heave in deep breaths as she approaches the table, avoiding eye contact.

  “Thank you.”

  “I appreciate you dressing for me. Sit down.” I pull out an upholstered chair. She sits, looking up at me with caution.

  I can imagine having her up against the wall like I did Julie. Her skirt hitched up, her panting as I grip her hips.

  I take in a deep breath, moving to my seat trying to push the image away. There will be time for that later.

  I can see she’s uncomfortable. She shifts, seems to be unsure of what to do with her hands. Her food has a cover on it. A glass of wine sits to her right. Water beside that.

  “Go ahead, eat.” I prompt, uncovering my own plate.

  She reveals the orange rosemary glazed salmon, asiago potato stacks and mushrooms in red wine sauce. “Noah, can I ask where we are?” She carefully forks at the potato.

  “We are at home, of course.” I stare at her across the table. She shifts again, glancing up at me.

  “This isn’t my home. I don’t know where I am. I live in Katy, Noah. I don’t understand what’s happening.” Her voice is strong this time, not trembling. She looks up at me, meeting my eyes.

  “This is your home now. You belong with me. I made this home just for you and I. Away from Houston. You don’t need to work anymore. I’ll take care of you. You have everything you need right here.”

  “But what about my friends, my... you can’t keep me locked up. Not if you love me.”

  I meet a defiant gaze. Bright brown eyes under even brighter red hair.

  “What do you think this is, Emily? Why do you think you are here?” I set my fork down and lean my elbows on the table.

  My question must catch her off guard. She looks down, forking a mushroom, adding some salmon to the bite.

  “I don’t know why I’m here.”

  “You called me and told me that you wanted to be my friend, didn’t you?”

  It takes a moment, but she nods.

  “I told you that I love you when we talked that day. Didn’t I?”

  Another nod.

  “You are here to be with me. Live with me. So that we can share a life together. I know you are confused but, in time, you will realize how much you love me and will see how well I can treat you. You’ll want for nothing, I promise you. In time, you won’t miss them.”

  She looks up with tears in her eyes. “Can’t I please go home?”

  Anger burns in my veins. I stand up, the chair falls behind me with a loud clatter. I move around the table and grab her by her hair, jerking her head back. She cries out, gripping her fork like a weapon. I force her eyes to mine.

  “You are home. You will not be leaving me. I fought to get you here. I did bad things to get you here. I spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make this home for you.” The words come out in a hiss.

  Tears flow from her eyes, her lips tremble. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “Don’t make me hurt you. You will follow my rules, yes?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You will not be a bad girl and make me punish you.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I lean over and touch my lips to hers. They are salty and taste of the sauce on the mushrooms. She doesn’t respond to me. I touch my tongue to her lips, they don’t part. I pull away. I grip her hair tighter and growl.

  “You will kiss me back when I kiss you.”

  She shakes her head, sobbing. I release her hair, only to give her the back of my hand. She falls in a tumble off the chair with a shout. Crawling backwards and holding her face. I crouch in front of her.

  “See? I don’t want to do these things, Emily. I adore you. You’re my angel.” I kiss her now puffy cheek. She stiffens. “You mustn’t make me so angry. I’ve waited so long to kiss you properly.”

  I take the fork from her hand and toss it to the table. “Now, kiss me.”

  I watch her eyes, not moving. She wipes her face with both hands, drying her cheeks. My heart rate picks up when she leans forward, touching her lips to mine in a soft, warm kiss. Not stiff like the last one. She responds this time when I push her mouth open with my tongue, allowing me access. I groan, she tastes better than I imagined. Her tongue tangles with mine, I hold her face in both hands and ravage the mouth that I’ve been waiting for.

  I watch her wipe her mouth, taking in a breath. I knew it would be like this. It’s going to be perfect.

  I just need her to do one more thing before things can move forward.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Emily

  Noah helps me up off the floor. I want to spit the taste of him out of my mouth, but now I know better. There will be better ways to deal with him that that. I’ll have to be smarter, do a bit of pretending. Maybe get him drunk or asleep and get out of here, find a phone. So yeah, I kissed him. I kissed him good. Now my damn face is throbbing and I feel like throwing up.

  He looks down tenderly at me. “Are you ok? I’m sorry that happened.”

  I nod. “I’ll be ok.”

  “Let’s finish eating.”

  I make a show of cleaning my plate, drinking my wine. I follow him as told when he leads me to a large living area. This must be some sort of condo or townhouse. It’s not massive at all, but he’s decorated immaculately. The living room is black and white. He really seems to have a thing for white. I guess with his fixation on being clean, that makes sense. He sits down on a rich black suede couch and I’m told to sit beside him. He pulls something out of his pocket, and I’m surprised to see that it’s my phone.

  I can see on the screen, seventeen missed calls from Isaiah.

  God, no. My face twists in pain as I suck in a jagged breath.

  Noah looks at me. “I need you to call him and end it.”

  I can’t hide my tears this time. Not like with the kiss. “What? Can’t we just... let him figure it out?”

  “No. He needs to be told. Call him and tell him it’s over. No games. He needs to know you are done.”

  I shake my head, a sob breaks out of my throat. “What if he doesn’t believe me?”

  Noah leans forward and pulls a hunting knife out a sheath on his leg under his pants. “Make him believe it.”

  Something cold settles in my veins. I don’t know if he means that blade for me or Isaiah. Surely, by now, he has it figured out, right? He never would’ve called me so many times if he wasn’t scared to death.

  He has to find me.

  I take the phone, eyeing the knife. It’s got a bone handle he grips in his left hand. His other hand goes easily around my shoulder.

  I hit the call back icon on the missed call screen, silently praying that he will somehow know where I am. Noah reaches over and puts the call on speaker.

  “Emily... Emily is that you?” His voice breaks.

  A sob breaks out of my throat. Noah’s hand squeezes the knife. His hand touches the back of my neck. “It’s me. Um, I’m sorry for just up and
leaving but I need to-”

  “Baby, are you okay? Just tell me if you are okay.” His voice has tears in it.

  God, he’s crying for me. Fuck. I don’t know how to go on.

  “I’m not hurt, Isaiah. Listen to me for a minute, okay?”

  He blows out a breath. “Whatever happens, whatever you are about to say to me, I have to tell you that I know, and I love you.”

  He knows? He knows what? Maybe he knows Noah has me? I leave the comment alone and struggle to find words that won’t get me killed.

  “I had to leave. Things were just moving too fast. I guess I shouldn’t have done it that way, but it’s for the best I guess. I can’t be with you anymore.” The words choke me.

  He’s silent for a moment. Noah rubs the back of my neck. “You left all your stuff behind.”

  “I know.”

  “Is there someone else?” His voice is thick.

  “Just take care of Maxie for me, okay? I’ll come back for her later. I’m sorry to hurt you.”

  “Are you? You make me love you and then just leave? Then you ask me to take care of your dog? Why should I?” he bites.

  Noah nods his approval at me.

  “Please, I... I don’t know what else to say.” The words break on sobs. Noah motions for me to wrap up the call.

  “Yeah, I bet. But you are okay, right?”

  “I’m not hurt Noah... I mean Isaiah. It’s over. Goodbye.” I hang up.

  Noah narrows his eyes. I toss the phone to him. “It was an accident, really. I was just thinking about you and it slipped out.”

  He pockets my phone. On impulse, I crash into him and kiss him, to keep from getting stabbed or cut with that huge knife. He instantly melts into me, moaning. He must have dropped the knife, because I feel him move me into his lap and hold my ass in his hands as his erection starts to rub against my thigh.

  God I’m going to throw up. I can’t do this for long, but if I don’t he will kill me. I just need to stay alive long enough for Isaiah to find me.

  ***

  Isaiah

  No sign of her at her house. Not a surprise. The place was just cleaned out and is ready to be put up for rent now.