Hunted. Cynthia Eden

      She already had, hadn’t she? At least once? Maybe twice. But if they wanted to hear the story again... Casey pushed back her hair with a weary hand.

      Josh swore and he bounded into the ambulance with her.

      “Your wrists...”

      Oh, right. Those were bandaged, too.

      His hands caught hers, his touch incredibly gentle. His tenderness kept surprising her. He seemed so rough. Not a guy who could use such care, but when he touched her, he always seemed to handle her as if she were delicate glass.

      She wasn’t, though. Far from it. Her gaze darted to her bandaged wrists. “The rope was tight and when I cut myself free, I sliced the skin a bit.” She hadn’t even felt the pain at the time. Her gaze shifted back to his face. Her shoulders rolled back in a shrug, as if to say... Doesn’t matter.

      Josh glanced at the watchful EMT. “Give us a minute.”

      The EMT hurried out, but stopped to say, “I’m ready to take her to the hospital and—”

      “And I’m not done with my witness,” Hayden cut in. “You heard the agent. We need a minute.”

      The EMT nodded, ducking his head as he backed away.

      Josh’s fingers slid carefully over her hand. “Start at the beginning.”

      The beginning? She didn’t want to go back there. “He got away.”

      Josh just stared at her.

      “That means he’ll kill again.” She had to say those words. Her chest seemed to burn. “It’s what he does, right?”

      “You got away,” Josh pointed out. “You’re the first one, Casey. The only one who got away from this perp.”

      Because he’d killed the others. Dumped them in the ocean and hunted again. A shiver slid over her. “He said he’d been waiting for me.”

      Josh shot a quick glance at Hayden. The sheriff didn’t speak.

      “Is that what he always says?” Casey wondered. “Does he tell his victims that he’s been waiting for them? Because he...he acted as if I were special, somehow. Like he’d been...he’d been trying to get me for a while.” Nausea rose within her as she realized that, of course, they didn’t know what he always said. As Josh had just told her...she was...

      The only one who got away.

      “Go back to the beginning,” Hayden instructed her quietly. “I need to know everything about this guy.”

      She shivered. How was it so cold? “I was at my hotel. I’d just...I’d just gone inside after you dropped me off.” She nodded toward Josh and his jaw hardened. “I went onto the balcony for a moment.” Her gaze dropped to her feet. Her bare feet. “When I went back inside, the lights were off, and that was wrong because—” her head was pounding “—I’d turned on the light. It should have been on. I thought maybe there was a short, and I was going to call the front desk but...” Her gaze rose once more to meet Josh’s. She swallowed the heavy lump that had risen in her throat. “He was already in the room. He grabbed me.” Her fingers fluttered over her head. It was aching. Pounding. “He slammed me into the wall. At least twice, I think. I blacked out.”

      Josh swore, the words long and low and vicious.

      “I don’t remember how I got out here. I just woke up, and I was on the floor.”

      “I already sent a crime scene analysis team to your hotel,” Josh said, his voice flat. “Maybe the guy left evidence behind that we can use.”

      The FBI and the local authorities were already working closely together, so she wasn’t surprised that a team was already combing over her room. There was also a team at the scene there, going into the partially constructed houses, checking them one by one—starting with the house she’d been inside. Her chill got worse. “Do you think... Did he kill them all in that house?”

      Josh and Hayden shared another hard look.

      Maybe that look was answer enough.

      “There was plastic on the floor,” she whispered. “When I woke up, he had me in that upstairs room, tied up, and there was plastic beneath me.” Just like a scene from a horror show.

      “Are you sure you didn’t see his face?” Josh pressed.

      The pounding in her head grew worse. “He had on a ski mask. And the eyes—where the ski mask holes should have been, something like mesh covered his eyes so I couldn’t see them. I didn’t see his face. Didn’t see his eyes, but I—I did see his hands.” She eased out a slow breath. “He’s Caucasian. Big—over six feet. Strong. Not heavy, but muscled.” A killer in his prime. “His voice was rasping and low.” Her body swayed as the nausea rolled within her again. For a moment, she thought she might vomit right then and there.

      “Casey?” Josh’s hand closed over her shoulder.

      “She needs to get to a hospital!” The EMT was back. “The woman suffered head trauma. She needs medical attention and I am insisting, Sheriff, that you let her go.”

      Hayden nodded. “I’ll talk to you again, Ms. Quinn.”

      Josh started to back away. She tensed and actually thought about grabbing him and making him stay with her.

      But she didn’t. Casey let him go. Josh jumped out of the ambulance. The EMT hurried back in to her side.

      “You okay, miss?” he asked.

      She was so far beyond okay.

      Other reporters had already made it to the area. She saw Deputy Finn Patrick trying to hold some of them back so they didn’t contaminate the crime scene. His dark hair was mussed and he appeared shaken. Cameras were rolling. Cameras that would focus on her.

      I am the story.

      Would her past come to light now? Probably. When the right people went digging, it was easy enough to find secrets.

      But maybe...maybe someone already knew her secrets.

      The man who’d taken her. The man who’d gotten away.

      Josh stared at Casey a moment longer, then he slammed the ambulance doors shut. The siren screamed on.

      Her eyes closed.

      “You’re safe now,” the EMT assured her. Josh had pretty much said the same words.

      But she wasn’t so sure that she was safe.

      I think he’ll come after me again.

      * * *

      JOSH WATCHED THE ambulance drive away—the reporters had to clear a path so the vehicle could get by. The reporters were definitely already swarming the scene. Casey’s story would be huge.

      A survivor.

      His hands fisted. He’d wanted to stay in that ambulance with her. “Make sure that a deputy remains with her at the hospital,” he snapped to Hayden. “Someone needs to be with her every moment.”

      Hayden nodded. “Finn! Finn, get over here.”

      The young deputy rushed toward them. Sweat had already slickened the sides of his dark hair. “Sir?”

      “Follow the ambulance. Make sure that Casey Quinn is guarded at all times.”

      Oh, hell, he was sending the kid after her? The deputy rushed to his patrol car, and Josh muttered, “You think that’s the best plan? A woman survives a serial killer attack and gets the junior ranger for a guard?”

      Hayden lifted a brow. “You got a problem with Finn?”

      Yeah, he did.

      “He’s young, but he’s good at his job. Protecting her will be his priority—”

      “Sorry,