Cade leaned down and fit his mouth over hers. He kissed her deeply, with wet thrusts of his tongue, soft nips of his lips, all while cradling her head in his hands gently and lovingly. “Let’s go feed each other and dance our asses off baby.”
But as soon as they turned to walk up to the barn, Cade’s cell phone rang. He told Kres he had turned the ringer back on while taking pictures. Cade scowled at the number. It was Officer Shelton. She knew he was off duty for the wedding today. It must be important. “Hello? Hey Officer Shelton. What’s up? Oh, yes, the ceremony’s over. We’re heading up to the reception now. What’s that? Repeat what you just said, you’re breaking up on me.”
Kresley heard all of what Cade said, watching his face. She saw the panic and rage begin with in him as he listened to Officer Shelton’s words. His eyes moved back and forth between Kresley and the barn. “What in the hell? Are you kidding me right now? Where is he? Do we know his location? Why the hell not? If he comes near her, I will break him in half. How far out are you? Yeah, we’ll be in the barn when you get here. Come find me and Kresley when you get here and we will go from there. Okay. Bye.”
Kresley watched Cade take a few deep breaths and pocket his phone, then he fisted his hands and banged both of them on the side of the barn in a solid, united punch. “What was that about Cade? Tell me now. No more hitting things. Just tell me.”
Cade looked at Kresley, at her beautiful face and then down to her wedding band and engagement ring that he had put on her finger just a little while ago. “That was Officer Shelton. She’s on her way here. It seems that a partial print was found and identified from the weapon they found in the alley this past weekend. The partial print took a little while to go through the data base. They believe they know who the killer- rapist is that’s been terrorizing women and who killed Drake and Fiona.”
Kresley’s face went pale, and her hands shot out to grip Cade tightly. “Who, Cade? Tell me who.”
Cade looked angry, almost maniacal. “It’s Officer Sloan Smith. They believe he’s the killer. And he’s gone missing. That son of a bitch has been serving as an officer of the law, while raping and killing innocent women for years. And he knows the PD has identified him. So, now he’s on the run. And Officer Shelton is afraid he’s on his way here. They stormed his house and found a small room that had some disturbing stuff in it. Baby, I don’t know how to say this. I really don’t. I don’t think I can.”
Kresley took Cade’s face into her hands and brought his eyes down to hers. “Just tell me Cade. I can take it.”
Cade took a shuddering breath and stated starkly, “He has pictures of you and your sisters everywhere in that room. Also, of Grace. It’s like he’s obsessed with you all. Some pictures have red markings on them, like blood or cuts. Others it looks like he’s done other things to them, sexual things.” Cade breathed deeply and let it out slowly. “We need to get inside and let everyone know. I’ve got to inform Boomer. Then we need to corral all of y’all in the same place and keep an eye on you until we get through the reception. Then we’ll figure out things from there. I’ve got you baby. I’m not going to let anything or anyone hurt you. Ever.”
At that statement, the married couple walked through the doors of the barn, just as the music began playing for their walk through anyway. Kresley looked around, trying to smile for everyone, but she was actually hunting down her sisters and Grace and Jaxson to make sure they were okay. She could see that Cade was doing the same thing and saw him motion to Boomer to come to him at the end of their walk. The waiters began serving food to the guests at this time.
Hey, man, it took y’all long enough to come inside. I was just about to go and get y’all when I saw the barn doors open. Took a sec for a quickie?” Boomer asked with a knowing grin. Cade wished he could joke back with the man, but now wasn’t the time.
“Hang on one sec, Boomer," Cade stated softly. He looked up and motioned for Captain Gunnar Phillips to join them. When Captain Phillips walked over and stopped at their group, Cade gave a summary of what was going on. "We know who the killer rapist is, guys. I got a call from Shelton and she’s on her way here. It’s Smith. Officer Sloan Smith. He’s the bastard behind all of this. They found his partial on the weapon recovered from the alley. And he knows. He knows! Shelton thinks he’s on his way here. We’ve got to protect the girls. They found a room at his house full of pics of the girls and Grace. He’s obsessed it seems. Shelton thinks he’ll show up here. We need to get all of the girls in one place, one table and sit on top of them until it’s time to go home. I need you both.”
Cade could see the rage blooming across Boomer’s face. He couldn’t blame the man. He was feeling the same way. He looked over at his captain, stating, "I know this is my wedding day, but I want to be included in finding this son of a bitch." Cade looked at Kresley after saying that, silently asking for forgiveness for making a decision without her. They'd only been married an hour. Kresley put a hand
