“Agreed. She isn’t going to come easily, though.”
“Leave that to me. If I can break killers in interrogations, I can make her see reason.”
Bradley’s snort said he didn’t agree, but what choice did they have but to try?
Olin passed by the other man and offered a nod to Dean, who leaned against the opposite kitchen counter, watching over Kat.
“Hey there.” Olin took a seat beside the silent woman.
She didn’t respond, still staring at the cold drink.
“You can’t stay here,” he said, not bothering to ease into the conversation. What was the point? She knew what he was going to say already.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Why not?”
She swallowed hard. “I won’t get chased out ofanotherhome because of him.”
That spark was one of the things that drew Olin, but damn if he didn’t hate it right then. “It isn’t being chased out. It’s being smart.”
“If he wanted to attack me, he could have done it already. Clearly he’s known where I live. Even when I moved and changed my number, he still found me. What’s the point in hiding?”
“Just because he found you doesn’t mean he did it right away. If you lie low for a while, it’ll give us time to find him.”
“Time.” She huffed softly as if the word were a joke. “What’s the point of time? Just so more women can die? To postpone the inevitable?”
Her words cut at Olin. He was the sort of man who was used to fixing things for those he cared about. What use was he if he couldn’t even make her feel safe? If he couldn’t help her with this?
And despite all his best attempts, he didn’t seem able to fix it. He’d followed leads, done what he could, and none of it had helped in the least. Jerry was totally off the map and hadn’t left behind any evidence to tie these deaths to him.
It meant no matter if Olin knew who was behind it, he couldn’t do a thing to make it better.
Well, other than…
He set his hand on her forearm, and the touch seemed to shake her. She turned to face him, her expression one of fear and despair.
“I survived, right? I mean, I escaped him, I got away, so this is supposed to be over. Why isn’t it over?”
Olin rubbed his thumb against her warm skin. “It’ll be over, Kat, It just takes some time.”
“How much time? How many people have to die while I just wait around and hope it gets resolved? What is the point in running if it hasn’t helped so far?”
“Because it’s your only choice. Hiding means you can be alive to deal with it another day. Stay put, and he gets you? It’s over—for good.”
“Maybe that’s for the best.” Her voice came out a whisper.
Olin froze, somehow holding off on his initial knee-jerk reaction to ask her just what the fuck she meant bythat.He doubted snapping at her right then would do much of anything good.
Instead, he grappled with his own temper, reminding himself that Kat was going through hell. People reacted in all sorts of ways. “You don’t mean that,” he said.
“Are we done here?” She rose, as if to walk out, as if the conversation were over.
Olin grabbed her wrist to stop her, unwilling to let their talk end on such a note. “I promise, Kat, we’ll figure this out. You aren’t alone.”
She didn’t look at him, instead peering toward the front door, toward where the body had been left. “We’re always alone. Don’t you get that? At the end of the day, we’re all alone.”
“Kat…”