Cynthia Eden - Before The Dawn

“I’m going to find the guy,” Tucker swore. “I will stop him.”

Her thick lashes swept down, concealing her gaze. “Right. That’s what you do now, hmm? No more out saving the world by fighting the secret missions you couldn’t talk about with me. These days, you go after monsters much closer to home.”

Because I had monsters in my home.

“I want in on this investigation.” She was still not looking at him. “I need in on it.”

“I get that you want closure.” Oh, hell, yes, he got that. “But the FBI doesn’t pull in civilians when—”

Her gaze flew up and he saw the anger burning in her eyes. “I’m not a civilian. I’m a PI. My specialty is missing person cases, and I am very good at my job.”

And I don’t want you in danger. Not on my watch.

“You’re going to say no again.” She backed away—no, pulled away.

His hands fell to his sides.

“Why can’t you see that I’m not the same broken woman you knew before?”

Her words pierced right through him. “I never thought you were broken.”

“Then why did you leave? Why did you leave me?”

He took a step toward her. “Dawn—”

“Someone has been watching me.”

For a moment, all he heard was the thunder of his heartbeat. Again, too loud. Drumming in his ears. Nearly bursting. Rage heated his blood. “What?”

“It started a few months ago. I felt someone watching me.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her with him, moving too fast, knowing that his touch was too rough, but not able to help himself. He steered her to the side of the building. The same spot she’d been hiding in before because that spot gave them perfect privacy. “Why the hell are you telling me this now? It should have been the first damn thing you revealed—”

“I have no proof. If I’d had proof, I would have brought the evidence to the police long ago. If I go to them with nothing, I’d look like the woman crying wolf. With my past, folks would jump to the conclusion that I’m suffering from PTSD. I have built a solid reputation with my clients. They know me. They trust me. If I start throwing claims of some shadow stalker without any evidence...” She shook her head. “I’d lose everything I’ve worked to build.”

His hands pressed into the rough stone on either side of her head. He wasn’t touching her then, he didn’t trust himself to touch her, but he caged her with his body because she wasn’t getting away, not until she’d answered all of his questions. “At the police station, you should have told me—”

“You keep looking at me as if you think I’m going to shatter. I didn’t want you to think I was crying wolf, either.”

Fuck. “There’s something you need to understand. Right the hell now.” He stared into her eyes. Got lost in her gaze, like he used to do. “I will always believe you. I have never doubted you.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “But I doubted you.”

Oh, shit. “That wasn’t what I—”

Her hand came up between them and her palm slid over the stubble that covered his jaw. He hadn’t shaved that morning. Deliberately.

Because if I have stubble or a beard...maybe I don’t look quite as much like him. Jason had always been freshly shaven. He’d always been so fastidious about his appearance. An organized, obsessive killer—

“It’s his face.”

Every muscle in his body locked down at her soft words. “His face. But I am not him.” He wouldn’t be, fucking ever. But had Dawn sensed the darkness in him? All that seething energy that he kept bottled up every moment? He wouldn’t let it out. He’d never let it touch her.

“It hurt me, at first, to see you.”

He knew that. When he’d tried to make love to her after the attack...

Her screams haunted him.

“But then you were gone—” her hand was still against his cheek “—and that hurt worse.”

What?

She swallowed. Her hand fell back to her side. “But that’s in the past. We both moved on.”

“Someone didn’t move on. Someone is out there, starting his crimes again.” And that had him breaking out into a cold sweat. “Why do you think someone has been watching you? Tell me everything, right now.”

Because he truly did believe her. He would always believe her.

Only you’re wrong, Dawn. We both haven’t moved on.

If only that part was true.

* * *

THE PLAYERS WERE TOGETHER. He’d waited. He’d been so patient. So careful. But now they were all there.

He watched as Dawn led FBI Special Agent Tucker Frost away from the coroner’s building. They’d been having quite the conversation moments before, but now they were hurrying from the scene. Did Tucker realize he had a tendency to stand too close to Dawn? That was a dead giveaway.

He knew plenty about body language. About the unspoken cues that could give away a person’s real emotions. People lied with words, but their bodies always told the truth.

Tucker still cared about Dawn. That was his weakness. But just how much of a weakness, well, that remained to be seen.

Tucker had left the scene. He and Dawn had vanished. He’d find them later. He kept his gaze on the coroner’s building. His victim was still in there.

Eventually, they’d find out who the woman was.

But he’d planned for that. Just as he’d planned for everything.

How much will you be able to take, Tucker, before you break? Because he knew there was a darkness inside of Tucker. And it was time to let that darkness come out and play.

I’ve been waiting for this moment. For a very, very long time.

Seven years, to be exact.

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