Fletch called Jade’s name again, but she didn’t move. Fear pulsed through him, and he leaned over the freezer and lifted her from the inside. She was limp, her face bruised.
But thank God, Halls hadn’t slit her throat.
Still, what had he done to her?
He carried her up the steps into the den and laid her on the couch, then checked for a pulse. Barely discernible.
But she was alive.
“Jade, I’m here. Help is on the way.” He quickly checked her body for visible injuries. Cut marks from a knife—no. Bruises—yes. Another blow to the head—yes.
He punched 911 on his phone, gave the operator the address and described Jade’s condition. “Hurry,” he finished. “Please hurry!”
Footsteps sounded outside, and he jumped up and checked the window. Relief hit him.
Liam.
He yanked open the front door. “I found Jade,” Fletch stammered. “And called an ambulance.”
Liam grimaced. “The smell?”
“A body downstairs.”
“Probably Halls’s wife,” Liam said. “No one has seen her in weeks. I’ll get the ME and a CSI team out here ASAP. Jacob issued a full-scale hunt for Halls.”
Fletch wanted to hear that the man was caught. Or dead. Not that he was still on the loose. Still a threat to Jade.
“We’ll catch him,” Liam assured him.
Fletch darted back to Jade while Liam made the call for the evidence recovery team and ME. She still lay unconscious, breath shallow, complexion pasty white. He dropped onto the sofa beside her and cradled her hand in his. “Jade, an ambulance is on the way.” She didn’t respond, intensifying his anxiety. He gestured toward the hallway as Liam ended the call.
“There’s evidence in the bedroom, too,” Fletch said. “Halls kept a photo album with pictures of his victims.”
“His souvenirs. Sick bastard,” Liam muttered.
“Yeah, and he has to pay.” Fletch gently brushed a strand of hair from Jade’s face. “Hang on,” Fletch whispered. “Just hang on, darlin’.”
JADE STIRRED FROM unconsciousness and gasped. A male voice, gruff and concerned, floated to her through the darkness.
The last thing she remembered was being knocked over the head and shoved into a freezer. She gasped again. She was suffocating. Lost in the darkness. She was going to die.
“Jade, it’s okay, you’re in the hospital now.”
The voice, gruff, worried, tender... Fletch.
She opened her eyes and couldn’t believe she was looking at him. “Fletch?”
A smile flickered onto his face. “Yeah, I’m here.”
Confusion muddled her mind, then a shiver rippled through her as she relived the horror of seeing Halls’s dead wife in that freezer.
“He killed his wife,” she said in a low whisper.
Fletch stroked her hair from her forehead. “I know, I found her body just before I found you.” He lowered his head and laid it against her chest for a moment, then lifted it again. “God, Jade, I was afraid I’d find you the same way.”
It was her turn to smile. She threaded her fingers in his hair, so grateful to see him that her chest ached. “No, not me. You know I’m tough.”
He chuckled. “Still, you had me worried. You shouldn’t have gone off alone.”
She licked her dry lips. “I didn’t want to cause problems between you and your brothers. I know how much they mean to you.”
His breath rattled out, then he kissed her hand. “You mean a lot to me, too, Jade.”
Her eyes flickered with surprise. “You know my name?”
He nodded. She longed to tell him that she loved him. But that wouldn’t be fair, not when he didn’t know the real Jade. “I remember now. I know what happened.”
He kissed her hand again. “I know who you are, about your undercover work.”
Her heart fluttered. “You do?”
He nodded, eyes searching hers. “Tell me what you remember.”
“Everything,” she said. “When Halls took me into that house, it all came rushing back. He was the couples killer. My partner, Louie, and I were undercover in that neighborhood to catch him.”
“And Halls made you two as detectives,” Fletch said.
She nodded. “Louie... He took a bullet to save me.”
Fletch gripped her hand. “Were you two...involved?”
Tears threatened. “No, just good friends and partners. He taught me a lot about detective work.”
Fletch nodded. “What do you remember about your personal life? Do you have someone special waiting for you?”
“You mean, do I have a boyfriend?” she said softly.
Fletch shrugged, but before she could answer, his brothers Liam and Jacob rapped on the door and stuck their heads in.
Jade clenched the sheets. “Did you catch Halls?”
FLETCH WANTED THE answer to his question to Jade. But first, he needed to know if Halls was in custody.
“Our agents caught up with him at the airport,” Liam said. “He was about to fly to South America.”
“So he’s in custody?” Fletch asked.
“Yes,” Liam said. “Thanks to you, Jade, and you, Fletch, for the evidence you collected, that bastard is going away for a long time.”
Jacob offered Jade a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry I had to arrest you.”
Jade’s mouth quirked. “You were just doing your job. I don’t understand where that evidence against me came from, though.”
“Officer Clemmens, the one who contacted me, was on suspension for accepting bribes, but apparently he’d hacked back into the station’s system so he intercepted the missing persons inquiry. Halls paid him to fabricate the evidence to frame you. When he was arrested, he spilled everything.”
“And the man on the trail, the bearded man I shot,” Jade said. “I remember him. His name was Otis Rigley. He was the man who killed my parents.”
“Right,” Jacob said. “Halls helped him make parole and offered him money to finish you off.”
“The man with the scar on his face,” Fletch interjected, “was a private investigator.”
“I think I met him before. Was he working for Halls?” Jade asked.
“No, it turns out the daughter of one of Halls’s victims hired him. He was onto Halls. Rigley killed him to get him off Halls’s scent.”
Jade ran a hand through her hair. “So it’s really over, then?”
Liam and Jacob nodded, and Fletch squeezed her hand. “It’s really over.”
“One more thing,” Jacob said. “Your commanding officer called. You’re getting a commendation.”
Jade shook her head. “I don’t want a commendation. I’m just glad Halls can’t hurt anyone else.”
“He said to tell you to take some time off,” Jacob added. “To come back when you’re ready.”
Fletch gritted his teeth. Jade was safe now. But her job was in Asheville. Would she return there now the case was solved?
JADE WAS SO relieved Halls was in jail she felt like sobbing. He had killed her partner and all those couples. And that private investigator. And his own wife...
“Are you okay?” Fletch asked gruffly.
She blinked back tears. “Just grateful Halls will pay for what he did.”
“Me, too.” Fletch looked down at his hands, then back at her, his expression more closed than it was before his brothers had come in.
“Fletch,” Liam said. “There’s more. That notebook and map you gave me. We got a hit on fingerprints.”
“Yeah, whose were they?” Fletch asked.
“Guy named Barry Inman,” Liam replied. “He was suing Whistler Hospital claiming negligence. According to the lawyer handling the claim for the hospital, Inman became unhinged after his wife’s death. Lawsuit was thrown out the day before the hospital fire.”
“Apparently Inman threatened revenge,” Jacob said. “We have a BOLO out for him now to bring him in for questioning.”
Hope flared in Fletch’s eyes. They finally had a possible lead on his father’s killer.
“Will keep you posted,” Liam said. Then he and Jacob left the room.
Jade tugged the sheet over her. “That’s good news.”
Fletch shrugged. “It’s a start.”
A heartbeat of silence fell between them. Fletch’s earlier question about her relationships taunted her.
He cleared his throat. “Congratulations on the commendation. I guess you’re anxious to return to your job.”
Jade twisted the sheet between her fingers. She’d thought they were on the verge of some kind of revelation about their feelings. But he seemed to be shutting down.
Was he ready for her to leave town so he could go on with his life?
“I think I’ll accept my boss’s offer to take some time off. It’s been a long few weeks.”
“That’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot.” He stood. “I guess I should let you rest.”
Jade watched him walk to the door with her heart in her throat. Was it really over between them?
Keep running, Jade. One foot in front of the other. You have to escape him.
That’s what she’d told herself over and over when Halls and his hired gunman had been after her.
But she wasn’t running from them any longer.
She’d had the courage to face her attacker. She had to have the courage to run toward what she wanted now.
And she didn’t want her relationship with Fletch to end.
He opened the door and started to walk out, and she called his name. When he turned and looked at her, longing burned in his eyes.
“You asked me a question before your brothers came in,” she said softly.
He released the doorknob and closed the door. “I did. But you didn’t answer.”
“Do you still want to know?”
A tiny smile flickered in his eyes. “Yeah, I do.”
Her heart fluttered. “I have feelings for a man,” she said quietly.
His eyes twinkled, although uncertainty flickered there, as well. “You do?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure he feels the same way.”
He walked back over to the bed and looked down at her. “Tell me about him.”
She tugged his hand in hers. “He’s brave and courageous. He rescues people in trouble,” she said. “He rescued me.”
Fletch sank into the chair beside her bed again, then leaned toward her, his lips inches from hers. “Actually, it’s the other way around. You rescued him.”
Hope overrode her insecurities. Maybe she wasn’t making a fool out of herself. “From what?”
“From living a life without love.”
Another heartbeat of silence stretched between them. “You have my love if you want it,” she said in a raw whisper.
Fletch brushed his lips over hers. “I want it, Jade. I want you.” He kissed her tenderly, then placed his hand over his chest. “I love you with all my heart.”
Hers burst with happiness. In the midst of a terrible blizzard, she and Fletch had found each other. They’d survived the elements and a murderer together.
No more uncertainty or holes in the past.
Now they could build a future based on the truth and on their love.
And maybe...she’d use her skills to help him track down his father’s killer.
Look for more books in
USA TODAY bestselling author Rita Herron’s
Badge of Honor miniseries later in 2020.
And don’t miss the previous book in the series:
Mysterious Abduction
Available now from Harlequin Intrigue!
Keep reading for an excerpt from What She Did by Barb Han.