Eliza sighed. “No, you’re right. I wouldn’t.”

“Then let’s get the hell out of here,” Caleb said in a tortured voice. “You can call the police for backup on the way, but I have to get to her first because they’re going to arrest me on sight. And I’m not waiting on them before we go in and take this guy out. He signed his death warrant when he used me to hurt the woman I love.”

THIRTY-SIX

IT took everything in Caleb’s power not to burst through the doors of the ramshackle cabin on an old hunting lease, thirty miles outside the Houston city limits. Only the knowledge that the killer could kill Ramie if he were threatened held him back.

He and Beau positioned themselves at the back door, making sure to keep out of the line of sight for any of the windows. Dane and Eliza took the front door because Caleb was sure the killer wouldn’t have stood anywhere in the pathway of the front. It was instinctual to fear entrance from there. And he wanted to be the one who came across the bastard first.

“On my count,” Dane whispered through the phone into Caleb’s ear. “One . . . ​two . . . ​three!”

Caleb crashed through the back door and straight into hell. His gaze found Ramie, who was tied in a grotesque manner to a metal bar suspended from the ceiling. Rope was wrapped tightly around her ankles, blood seeping from the abrasions, and her legs were secured at an odd angle.

Every time she strained against her bonds, the rope cut deeper into her flesh. Her head sagged weakly, her chin resting on her chest as blood dripped from her nose and mouth.

Caleb forced his focus away from Ramie and he locked on to her tormentor, who looked shocked to see Caleb standing in the open doorway.

“Didn’t think I could find you, you arrogant, sick f**k,” Caleb hissed.

A ghost of a smile glimmered on the man’s face. Then he laughed, the sound sending shivers down Caleb’s spine. It was a laugh that would haunt Caleb the rest of his days. The killer had laughed while Caleb had systemically carved Ramie up.

Dane burst into the kitchen from the living room, where he’d gained entrance, he and Eliza both holding their guns up and trained on the killer.

Dane and Eliza would want to do it by the book. They’d want to take the bastard in, throw him in jail. But Caleb knew that as long as this man lived, Ramie would never find peace. She would be forever bound to him by the psychic link connecting them. And Caleb would never know a night’s sleep. He’d forever live in fear of doing the unthinkable once again.

Caleb would already be arrested when the police arrived for attempted murder. He may as well go down fighting. He’d gladly sacrifice his life in prison if it meant Ramie would finally be free of a monster’s hold.

Caleb didn’t waver or hesitate. He raised the gun, ignoring Dane’s and Eliza’s alarmed cries for him to stop. He put a bullet between the killer’s eyes and watched without remorse as the man crumpled and folded.

Caleb stared for a long moment, tears burning his eyelids. He already mourned what had been lost. Ramie’s trust. Her laughter. Her love. He’d never find those things again.

He dropped the gun and ran to where Ramie was tied. Her bound wrists were bearing the brunt of her weight. She was literally hanging by them. Her fingers were white and bloodless. He lifted her with one arm, to alleviate the strain. With the other hand, he tore savagely at the ropes and then Beau was there, slicing through the bonds. Ramie dropped into his arms and Beau finished cutting the ropes around her ankles.

Caleb cradled her body to his chest, rocking back and forth as tears slipped hotly down his cheeks. He pressed his lips to her hair, his arms wrapped around her as though he’d never allow a single hurt to get to her.

Dane squatted down in front of Caleb, his expression dim. “We’ve got a mess here, Caleb. That video was sent to the police. They’re looking for you even now. There’s three dead bodies at the safe house and now another here.”

“Tell me you wouldn’t have shot him too,” Caleb ground out. He rocked Ramie harder, holding her head against his chest as he buried his face in her hair. “As long as he lived, Ramie would also be connected to him. I would always worry that he was using me to hurt her. I don’t regret killing him. The only regret I have is that he didn’t suffer more.”

“He’s speaking the truth,” Eliza said grimly. “The only way to end this was with his death. That’s the only way Ramie or Caleb could ever be free.”

“I thought you’d done it,” Beau said painfully. “I actually believed my brother had done this.”

Caleb slowly lifted red-rimmed eyes to Beau. “I did do this,” he whispered.

Beau shook his head. “No. No! You didn’t. He did. You were merely the instrument of his choosing.”

Caleb ignored Beau’s outburst and resumed his rhythmic rocking.

“Caleb, we need to get her to the hospital,” Eliza said gently. “She’s lost a lot of blood and she finally passed out. Don’t have done all this for nothing and let her die anyway.”

Panicked, Caleb pulled Ramie back, allowing her head to loll and tip backward. He pressed two fingers into her neck, relieved to find a weak pulse.

Dane rose and reached into his shoulder holster to retrieve one of his pistols. He wiped it completely clean with a handkerchief and then picked up the killer’s hand and wrapped his fingers around the stock. He was certain to put one of the fingers on the trigger so a partial print would be found there. With his hand covering the killer’s but not touching any part of the gun, Dane lowered the hand holding the gun to the floor.