Chapter Fifteen

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“This is hell,” Caroline heard herself mutter. “I’m in hell.”

She knew that she sounded on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. And she hated to worry Nash like that.

Hated to feel like this.

But she couldn’t stop herself from repeating that I’m in hell over and over while she pressed her hands to the sides of her head and tried to wrap her mind around what she’d just learned.

That Bodie wasn’t dead.

She’d been so relieved when she’d thought it was over. When she’d been certain that he’d never be able to hurt her or anyone else again. So relieved that she’d felt…alive. So whole. She hadn’t felt like a victim.

But now, all those old feelings had returned with a vengeance and were like a swamp around her. Hot and dirty, reeking of dark, dangerous things ready to rip her to pieces.

Yeah, that panic attack was coming, all right.

“Sit,” she heard Nash say, and that’s when she realized she had fisted her hands in her hair and was pacing. Not a slow movement either. She was practically running around the room.

Nash gently took her by the hand and led her back to the sofa. She sat because she wasn’t sure her legs could even support her at the moment. She wasn’t sure of anything except this rising dread that was coming on so fast that it was impossible to tamp it down.

“So, where is he?” she managed to ask. “If that’s not his body, then where’s Bodie?”

“To be determined,” Slade said.

Oh, God.

That was not what she wanted to hear. She needed him caught. She needed him dead.

Caroline tried to rein in her fears. Tried to focus. Or move. Or do anything that would help her fight this. But at the moment, it didn’t feel as if this was a fight she could win.

She had to change that.

She couldn’t let Bodie beat her. Not after she’d come so far in recovering from what he’d done to her.

Caroline forced her attention back to the drone feed, where she could now see Slade moving away from the body. He was no doubt hurrying to his vehicle so he could then go looking for Bodie. She prayed Slade or someone else would find him right away.

Maybe Bodie had stayed near the body, and Slade would spot him. But she immediately had to rethink that. There’d be no reason for Bodie to do that. In fact, there was an even bigger reason for him to be far, far away from the body.

So he couldn’t be caught.

If he’d simply wanted to see the reactions of the responders, then he could have set up a camera. And he might have done just that. He could be watching right now, just as she was.

“Is everything secure there?” Slade asked.

“It is,” Nash verified. “I’ll contact Ruby and get a team out—”

“No, I’ll contact Ruby,” Slade interrupted. “You take care of Caroline. How is she… Never mind. Stupid assed question. I already know how she is. She’s shaken to the core.”

Yeah. She was, and Caroline figured that applied to all three of them and soon to Ruby as well since she’d been worried for her daughter’s safety.

“Try to track down Jordana, Eddie, and Leland,” Slade advised. “Because either they’re targets or possible accomplices.”

Nash muttered a quick agreement and ended the call, immediately turning back toward her. “I want you to use the second computer on Slade’s desk,” he instructed, his words surprisingly calm. That calmness probably didn’t extend beneath the surface, though. “Spock will help you access the feed from traffic cameras and show you how to apply facial recognition.”

Caroline nearly asked him if this was busy work, something to keep her mind off Bodie being alive. But even if it was a task merely meant to stop her from panicking, it might help. It would especially help if she managed to spot Jordana, Leland or Eddie because Bodie might be near one of them.

Or after them.

Because Slade was right about them being potential targets.

“My guess is Bodie will try to kill Leland,” Nash went on, taking the words right out of her mouth.

He took hold of her arm and led her to the desk. He then eased her into the chair and moved a laptop in front of her.

“You mean because Jordana would then inherit everything, and then Bodie could kill her?” she asked.

“Exactly. Because I’m not buying that he’s in love with her.”

Nash picked up the laptop he’d been on earlier for the reports and moved both it and a chair next to her. She was glad he’d done that. Caroline wanted him close right now. Needed to draw some of his strength so she could focus.

“And Eddie?” Nash went on. “Bodie could plan to kill him, too. He set up that body for a reason. Probably to buy him some time. Maybe to get his targets to relax a bit and come out in the open.”

Caroline had to suppress a shiver at that thought. Bodie could have been waiting for them on the road when they drove here. Then again, maybe he’d been waiting in the other direction, which is the way they would have gone had she decided to stay with her mother. Perhaps Bodie decided he’d have a fifty-fifty chance of catching them, and if that was the case, it pleased her that he’d been wrong.

“Spock, load the live feed for any traffic cameras within a twenty-mile radius of Caroline’s house, mine, and here. Ruby’s too,” he added. “Put the feed on both the wall monitor and laptop number two.”

Caroline glanced at him, her eyebrow now raised. “For Bodie to cover all those places, he’d need help. More help than just Jordana.”

“He would,” Nash agreed, “but we don’t know if he’s getting assistance from someone like Eddie. Maybe another felon who thinks of him as fondly as Eddie does. Ruby did a report on all of Bodie’s recent visitors, and a couple of names popped of men who’d served time with Bodie before their releases. She’s trying to track them down.”

Good. Caroline wanted all angles covered. Anything that would lead them back to Bodie.

The traffic feed loaded on the screens. Not from just one camera but from four. The images were in a split view on the laptop, and Caroline started pouring through them. She’d never even seen footage from a traffic camera, but she could spot the vehicles in range of the lens.

“Focus on looking at the faces in the vehicles,” Nash told her. “Since we don’t know what any of them will be driving.”

True. So, that’s what she did, and the sea of faces sped by. She soon realized this was like finding a needle in a fast-moving haystack.

“I could easily miss one of them,” she muttered.

He made a sound of agreement. “You could, but the facial recognition program is engaged, and it’s checking, too.”

Caroline didn’t exactly relax after hearing that. Relaxing wasn’t going to happen until Bodie was found. But at least it didn’t feel as if spotting him was solely on Nash’s and her shoulders. Plenty of cops were looking for him. Leland and Jordana would be, too. But the traffic feed and facial recognition could cover a lot of ground.

Nash’s phone vibrated, and he muttered something about needing to turn the ringer back on. He did. Then, he frowned when he looked at the caller ID.

“It’s from the county sheriff’s office,” he relayed to her, and he answered the call on speaker.

“Mr. McKenna, I’m Drew Gomez, a dispatcher for the county, and someone is trying to call you. Eddie Mulcrone. He says it’s important. Should I put the call through?”

“Yes,” Nash insisted while he typed in something on his keyboard. “He might know where Bodie is,” he added to Caroline.

Seconds later, Eddie’s frantic voice poured through the house. “McKenna, it’s me, Eddie. I just heard that Bodie tried to fake his death. That’s he alive.”

“Where did you hear that?” Nash asked.

Eddie wasn’t so fast with a response that time. “Jordana. She called me, and it’s a big-assed understatement to say she’s upset. Bodie’s not answering her calls, and she thinks he might have found out about that picture of the two of us kissing.” He whispered that last part.

“And you think Bodie will now come after you and kill you,” Nash commented.

“Hell, yeah, that’s what I think,” Eddie snapped. “And he will. Your brother can be very possessive.”

A burst of air left Caroline’s mouth. A laugh but not from humor. Definitely not humor. But she knew plenty about Bodie’s possessive streak.

“Where’s Jordana?” Nash asked, obviously shifting the conversation a little.

“I have no idea. That’s the truth,” Eddie insisted when Nash huffed. “She’s not going to tell me something like that. She doesn’t trust me. She thinks I’d throw her under a bus with Bodie by trying to save my own skin.”

“And you would,” Nash said. It wasn’t a question.

“Hey, you’re trying to save Caroline’s fine ass so I’m not going to apologize for wanting to save mine.” He paused a heartbeat. “I just don’t want you ratting me out to Bodie. That kiss with Jordana meant nothing, and I don’t want to die because of it.”

Eddie ended the call, and Nash quickly checked something on his laptop screen. He dropped some f-bombs under his breath. “Eddie was using a burner. No immediate trace available on his location.”

She hadn’t even known he’d tried to do a trace, and she was sorry it’d failed. Eddie had made it seem as if he was scared, but that could have all been an act. Caroline couldn’t understand why

Though, since there was no way Nash or she would trust the man enough to give him any useful info. They sure as heck weren’t going to cover for him.

Before Nash had even set his phone aside, it rang, and she saw him visibly tense. His shoulders went back, and his jaw tightened. She had a similar reaction when he showed her what was on the screen.

Unknown Caller.

She suddenly didn’t have the breath to urge him to answer it. But she knew in her gut who this was.

And she was right.

Nash took the call on speaker but didn’t issue a greeting. He just waited for the caller to speak.

“Hey, darlin’,” Bodie said. “Surprised to hear from me? I mean, since you thought I was dead and all.”

Caroline took a moment. Regained her breath and glanced at Nash to let him know that she was going to respond. Hard to do, but Nash was trying to trace the call, and this time, they might get lucky.

“Yes, I did think you were dead,” she was finally able to say. Thank heaven her voice hadn’t cracked, and she sounded a hell of a lot stronger than she felt. “Why did you fake your death?”

“Oh, to buy me some time.” His dismissive tone set her teeth on edge. “Cops don’t look for dead men.”

“No, but they will now,” she was quick to assure him. “They know you murdered someone else and plastered a mask of yourself on him. So, no attempted charges this time around. It’ll be a full-blown first-degree murder conviction. Maybe you’ll even get a needle in the arm to end your worthless life.”

Bodie laughed. “Oh, boo fuckin’ hoo. Don’t feel sorry for the dead guy. He was a first-class dick. Barney Coltrain.”

Nash quickly put in a search on the name while Bodie continued his gloating and gushing.

“Barney had a rap sheet, well, as long as the beautiful scars on your body. I did a service to humanity by eliminating him. You can thank me since the asshole nearly killed you.”

“So, he’s the one who fired the shots at me?” she asked.

“Hell, yeah, it was him,” Bodie verified. “I only wanted him to flush you out with that tear gas shit, and he starts blasting away like some special ops sniper.” He paused. “He didn’t hurt you, did he, darlin’?”

Caroline tried to make her voice sound as flippant as his. “No. There’s not a scratch on me.”

“Good. Because I’m the only one who has a right to put marks on you, not asshole convicts who don’t follow orders.” The anger dripped from those last few words. Bodie clearly didn’t like being crossed or challenged.

Or dumped.

“What do you want, Bodie?” she demanded.

“Oh, I want so very much, Caroline,” he said, shifting to a sappy sweet tone that turned her stomach. Then again, everything about the man caused her to have that reaction. “So very, very much. But let’s start with a simple visit. You come to me, and you do it now.”

Caroline had an Oh, God moment of near panic before she remembered Bodie wasn’t right there in the room with her. He wasn’t standing behind her with a skinning knife, and he didn’t have control over her.

“And why would I do that?” she asked. “Why would I come to you?”

“Because of her,” Bodie readily answered. The sappiness went up a significant notch. “All because of her.”

“Who?” she snapped.

“Your mama, that’s who.” Bodie laughed long and hard. “I got her, Caroline. I have Ruby.”