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
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.
