Book 5 - Page 131 (1/2)

15

Moving closer to the table, I set my hand on Gideon’s back and felt the tension there. His skin was so warm beneath the soft cotton of his T-s.h.i.+rt, the muscles stretched tight.

Chris came in from the kitchen with a tray bearing four steaming mugs of coffee, a small cup of half-and-half, and sugar in a bowl. He set it down near Michna, since the rest of the dining table was covered in pictures.

The detectives thanked him and each took a mug. Graves took her coffee black. Michna added a splash of cream and a sprinkling of sugar.

I’d only seen Michna in the course of the investigation into Nathan’s death. I knew Graves more personally; I’d sparred with her during Parker’s Krav Maga cla.s.ses. I believed Graves liked me or was at least sympathetic. And I was certain it was Gideon’s love for me that swayed her into closing Nathan’s case while she still had questions.

It comforted me to have them in charge.

“I want to be sure I understand,” I said, pus.h.i.+ng through the grief that had fogged my mind all day. “This man was stalking Gideon?”

My dad shoved the photos away. “Was Hall targeting my daughter or Cross?”

“Hall believes Cross betrayed him,” Graves answered, “by getting married.”

I stared at her. She wore no jewelry or makeup, yet she was fiercely compelling. Pummeled by the realities of her job, she still had a pa.s.sion for justice—even if it came outside the law. “If he couldn’t have Gideon, no one could?”

“Not quite.” She looked at Gideon. “Hall believes he has an ‘entwined destiny’ with you—some kind of cosmic pact—and that your marriage breaks this pact between you. Killing you is the only way to prevent his life from going in a direction he doesn’t want to go.”

“Is that supposed to make sense?” Cary asked, setting his elbows on the table and gripping his head in both hands.

“Hall’s fixation isn’t s.e.xual,” Michna elaborated, looking rumpled and tired from pulling an all-nighter. Still, he was keenly and disconcertingly observant. His partner zeroed in; he a.s.sessed the periphery. “It’s not even romantic. He claims he’s heteros.e.xual.”

Graves pulled another photo out of the file and set it atop the others. “You both know this woman.”

Anne. My palms were suddenly damp. Gideon’s body tautened like a bow.

“f.u.c.k me,” Cary muttered, his fisted hands dropping to the table with a thud that made me jump.