Page 71 of Only You

“Yeah. Now he has one uncle, right? The one that helped him get to detective?”

He sensed Mathers’ nod. “But there was another one, wasn’t there? He died a few months ago?”

“Yeah, it was the reason Bryan got detective, in a way. Spot came open and his other uncle pushed for him to move ahead.”

Eddie started to click through the files. Eileen shared some of the files with him, wanting his opinion. He pulled up the acquaintances of Norma. The moment he saw the name, ice coated his bones. “Fuck. We need to get people out to Fitzpatrick’s.”

He was calling Eileen when he heard the captain ordering units to the address. He just hoped that bastard wasn’t there yet.

Eileen woke around four,not sure what woke her up. Maybe she had started getting conditioned to early mornings. She and Eddie seemed to get calls a lot around that time of the morning. She turned her head and looked at Declan. He was sleeping, a big, sexy bear of a man, and he loved her. He looked so peaceful,his face relaxed. Trying not to disturb him, she slipped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She needed a drink of water.

She slipped on one of his t-shirts, then tiptoed to the kitchen. After grabbing a glass, she turned toward the refrigerator and opened it. Then, she sensed someone in the room with her—and she knew it wasn’t Declan. Don’t ask her how she did, but she knew.

“Don’t,” he said.

Eileen looked over in the direction of the voice. Bryan stood there, all dressed in black. It took her a moment or two to comprehend what she was seeing.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to save you.”

She frowned, thinking about what they had said about him wanting to guard her. “I don’t need help, but thanks.”

“You have no idea how dangerous he is to you.”

“He?”

“Fitzpatrick.” He spat out the word like it was poison.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You weren’t meant for him. We were meant to be together.”

“Again, what the hell are you talking about? We dated for a couple of months years ago. We were not right for each other.”

“We were perfect.” He stepped closer, and that’s when she saw the gun and the zip ties.

“No. Remember? You hated the idea that I did better than everyone.”

His face flushed with anger. “Yes, but that was before I knew about our connection.”

“You’re losing me again.”

“My uncle was who you were looking for. All those years, you’ve been searching for the man who killed Norma, and it was my Uncle Simon.”

In that instant, she remembered a rumor that Norma had known a cop, but there was nothing to substantiate the rumor. Simon Culpepper was Bryan’s uncle on his mother’s side of the family and had worked their precinct.

“So,” he gave her a smile. Eileen was sure he thought it was teasing, but every creep alarm went off in her head. “I gave you similar women. They were prettier than the ones Uncle Simon killed. And now you know we should be together.”

The nut job thought she would love the fact he was killing women who looked like her. Still, she had to reason with him. If she convinced Bryan that she would go with him before Declan woke up, she could protect him. She could not take a chance that he would walk out here. That might send Bryan over the edge.

“Yes,” she said, nodding and smiling at him. “Definitely we should be together.”

His smile widened. The demented look in his eyes sent prickles racing along her skin. He was insane. Truly. He actually thought she would be happy with all of this.

“I’ll need to get dressed.”

He nodded. “And I need to kill Fitzpatrick.”

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