Cynthia Eden - Before The Dawn

And now someone is here, using the Iceman’s MO. Dawn had to ask, “Was she dead when he put her in the freezer?” Or did she die in that cold hell?

Macey was watching her so carefully. “We don’t know yet. That’s one of the things we hope to learn soon.”

Sounded to Dawn as if they didn’t know one whole hell of a lot. “One more question...” She glanced over her shoulder, looking first at Anthony then at Macey. “Who’s been watching me?”

Macey’s eyes widened the smallest bit. “Excuse me?”

“Who’s behind the glass, watching me?” Because she knew someone was there. “Your partner?” In her experience, no FBI agent ever went into the field alone.

Macey shared a quick look with Anthony.

Her partner. Hit that one dead on.

“We thought you might be more comfortable speaking with a female agent,” Macey said, her voice smooth and her expression giving nothing away.

Sure, sometimes agents used that ploy, but...

They’re dealing with a killer who is acting like the Iceman. And one of the FBI’s own agents has personal experience with that SOB. Would the powers-that-be at the FBI have sent him in? Would they have thought he was an asset on this case?

Or would they have wanted to keep Tucker Frost far away from this scene?

“Tucker.” His name slipped from her, helplessly.

And there it was... Macey’s gaze jerked toward the glass. A fast glance, one that, if Dawn hadn’t been monitoring the other woman so closely, she would have missed. But in the last few years, Dawn had worked hard to stop missing things. To study her environment. To watch others. To learn their secrets.

Macey Night had just revealed one secret to Dawn.

Tucker Frost was in New Orleans. He was in the police station. He was behind that glass.

Her hand fell away from the doorknob. Slowly, she turned to face the one-way mirror, but she didn’t focus on her own reflection. Instead, she imagined she could see right through the glass. To him.

“Hello, Tucker. It’s been a long time.”

* * *

OH, HELL. SHE WAS talking to him. And he was just standing behind the glass in the observation room like a fool. He took a step back, then another. But...

On the other side of that glass, Dawn turned on her heel and grabbed for the door. She yanked it open and vanished from the interrogation room in mere moments. Macey spun toward the glass and mouthed, I’m sorry, because she knew that she’d given him away.

It didn’t matter. Dawn had always been smart. Once she’d realized what was happening, it hadn’t taken her long to realize that he’d been pulled down to the city.

And it had taken no time at all for her to run from him, just as he’d feared. He squared his shoulders and headed for the door, more than ready to get out of that damn observation room. He’d get Macey and they’d head over to see what the coroner had discovered. Then—

Before he could reach it, the door flew open.

“You can’t go in there!” A man’s desperate voice cracked.

But she was already there. Dawn stood just inside the doorway, breathing hard, her eyes locked on his face. “Found you.”

The uniformed officer tried to grab her arm. “I told you, Dawn, that room is off-limits. You know better—”

“Let her go,” Tucker said flatly. “We need to talk.” He leveled his gaze at the officer. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember the guy’s name. “Alone.”

“You heard him, Higgins,” Dawn muttered. “He wants to be alone with me.”

The officer immediately backed away.

Dawn took a step forward and she shut the door behind her.

Tucker kept his hands at his sides. He tried to figure out just what in the hell he was supposed to say to her. The silence stretched a little too long—uncomfortably long. Her gaze was on his face, sweeping over his features one at a time, and he knew what she was thinking.

I look even more like him now. Time had thinned his face more, hardened him, and when he looked in the mirror, most days Tucker swore he saw his brother staring back at him.

He cleared his throat. “You...you look good, Dawn.”

She blinked.

Shit. That had been the wrong thing to say. He wanted to yank his hand over his face or pace or do something to get rid of the fierce energy pulsing through him.

“That’s what you have to say to me? After all this time?” Her voice was still husky, but he could have sworn he heard an echo of pain in it.

He’d always hated her pain.

“Why didn’t you come in there to tell me about this case?” She put her hands on her hips as she stared up at him. “Why send in your partner?”

He wouldn’t lie to her. “Because I knew you didn’t want to see me.” That was the same reason he’d left her so long ago. Why he hadn’t talked to her in the last seven years.

“You know bullshit.” She shook her head. Her blond hair hit her sharp cheeks. “No, you just know your own fear. You don’t know anything about me or what I want.”

Her words surprised him and he took a quick step toward her. But...

She tensed. He saw it and the telling movement knifed right through him.

No, Dawn. I do know you. Better than you know yourself. I always knew you.

The problem was that she hadn’t truly known him. He’d been afraid for her to know the truth. He was still afraid. You won’t like who I really am.

“What’s happening in this city? Who killed that poor woman?”

“I don’t know.” He’d be finding out soon. “We thought you had a right to hear about the crime first, before any news leaked to the media.” He hadn’t wanted her learning about this killer when she turned on the five o’clock news.

“Maybe that’s true, but I also think you wanted to see my reaction. You know, just in case I’d gone psycho and started killing like Jason.” She pursed her lips, as if thinking about that situation. “What would that be? Some serious PTSD shit, right? Your buddy Macey sure acted as if it were a possibility.”

“Dawn...”

“He didn’t break me.” Her eyes glittered at him. “I get that you think he did. I get that you think I was so shattered by what happened that you left—”

“That wasn’t what—”

“But I’m stronger than he was. I’m stronger than you gave me credit for being.”

He’d always thought she was the strongest woman he’d ever met.

“I’m strong,” she said again, “and I want in on this investigation.”

It took a moment for her words to register. Then he could only blink and shake his head. “What?”

She pulled her ID out of the small bag that was slung over her shoulder. She advanced toward him and her scent—soft, vanilla—wrapped around Tucker, reminding him of things he should forget. Of things he had no business remembering right then. “I’m a PI now. A damn good one. I know this city, I know the people here and I want in on the investigation.”

He glanced at her ID, but he’d already known she was a PI. He’d researched her... He’d peeked into her life many times over the years. He’d always thought that, one day, he’d check up on her and discover that she was married. That she had a family. That she was happy.

He’d both longed for her happiness and feared it. Because I couldn’t imagine her with anyone else.

“I want in,” Dawn said again, her expression determined.

Tucker shook his head. “It’s a preliminary investigation. And right now, the local authorities are handling things. We’re here in a backup capacity, just in town long enough to prove that the killer isn’t Jason Frost...and to assist the NOPD in finding the man who murdered that victim.”

Her delicate jaw hardened. “What makes you so sure?”