Blake’s attention traveled to her hand on his sleeve before reconnecting with her eyes. “I guess you don’t need to meet with the sketch artist.”
“Right.” She released him in favor of cradling her torso. “I didn’t think I remembered his face, but that’s definitely it.” She tightened her arms around her middle, thankful to be at the sheriff’s department when a known serial killer was running around. A sliver of guilt wiggled through her. Not everyone was as safe as she was, surrounded by federal agents and local law enforcement officials. Another woman could be next. There were plenty of twentysomething blondes to keep Nash entertained. In fact, she had a sister who looked a lot like her.
Marissa pulled her phone from her pocket and gave Blake an uneasy look. “I’m going to call Kara and tell her to stay in today.” Hopefully Kara didn’t need the advice. Maybe she’d taken the news of Marissa’s attack to heart and planned a quiet day at home.
“Hello?” Kara’s voice trilled through the speaker.
A whoosh of relief swept from Marissa’s lungs. Kara was fine. “Hey, it’s me. Thought I’d check in.”
“Oh, hey!” The smile in her sister’s voice was contagious. “Why didn’t you call before bed last night? I was worried. Your phone was off. Where are you calling from? Did you get a new number?” Wind battered the speaker. Marissa’s attention jumped to Blake’s waiting face.
“No. Kara? Where are you?”
“Hiking. Why? Do you want to meet for breakfast? I packed a good one.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Listen, I need you to go home, or to Mom and Dad’s. Stay there today, okay? They’ve identified my attacker.”
“Is it him? The fugitive you said they were looking for?”
Marissa nodded, knowing Kara couldn’t see, but finding the words impossible.
“Holy crap,” Kara whispered. Marissa’s silence must have been enough of an answer.
“He’s still out there,” Marissa warned.
She thought she saw Blake wince, but his blank agent face was in position when she gave him a closer look. “Please be safe,” she continued to Kara. “I’ll call again as soon as I know something. Tell Mom and Dad I’m safe. I’m staying with the authorities for now.”
Kara swore. “I’ll head straight there from here.”
“Thank you.” Marissa’s eyes stung as she disconnected with her sister. “She’s safe,” she told Blake. “I sent her to our parents’ house.”
“Good. Why don’t you let me take you back to the hotel now?”
“No,” she blurted. “I’m okay here. I’m obviously safe, and you have things to do. I won’t get in the way. I can wait in the break room again.”
“Agent Garrett?” A man in a gray suit waved one hand overhead. His jacket parted in the front to reveal the FBI badge anchored to his sleek black belt. “We’re needed at the lake.”
“Take me.” Marissa’s hand snapped out to catch Blake’s. “Please.”
Blake ignored her. “What’s going on?”
The man gave Marissa a long look. “They say they found something. We need to get up there.”
Blake pulled his hand free from Marissa’s grip. Before she could protest the rejection, he pressed those same warm fingers to the small of her back. “Let’s go.”
* * *
THE DRIVE TO the lake was a blur. Partially due to Marissa’s hazy thoughts and morbid fears, partially as a result of Blake’s speed. The silence was palpable in the warm cab. Blake stole looks at her from the corner of his eye, but kept whatever he was thinking to himself. She wished he’d just spit it out. The silence crawled all over her skin like a nest of baby spiders. He might be calm and focused under this kind of pressure, but the worry was eating her alive.
The vehicle slowed as a pair of rangers came into view near the park entrance. A line of reporters yammered into microphones along the roadside, just outside the gate, using a Cade County National Forest and Road Closed sign as the backdrop to their story.
Blake flashed his badge, and the rangers motioned him to pass. The looks on the uniformed men’s faces suggested they knew more than Blake or Marissa, and it wasn’t good.
The truck rocked to a stop in the grass between two black vans marked Cade County Coroner. Blake released his belt and turned on the seat to face Marissa. “I don’t know what we’re walking into, but I’m guessing it’s going to be rough. I want to remind you that you don’t have to be here. It’s not too late to return to the hotel or go back to the station.”
Marissa’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and sweat pooled in her palms. The coroner’s vans weren’t there by accident. She didn’t want to see what the divers had found, but where else would she go? To a hotel room with a carousel of uniformed strangers all looking at her like she might break? Like she was a victim. No. She’d stay with Blake. At least with him, there was no judgement. He had other things on his mind, and she appreciated the room to feel however she wanted without those probing, curious looks.
“I’ll stay,” she said. She reached for her door, and Blake followed suit, rushing around the truck’s hood to meet her.
“You don’t need to be brave.” He moved into a broad shaft of sunlight with his jaw clenched, the expression flush with concern.
Marissa inhaled a steadying breath. She squared her shoulders, determined to be as honest as possible with a man whose mere presence seemed to put her at ease. “I’m not brave. I’m scared to death. I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here, but this is just the way it is. I want to be with you.”
Blake yanked his chin back. “What?”
She sank her teeth into the thick of her bottom lip. She hadn’t meant the words the way they’d sounded, but
