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again.
    There was no chocolate in the box.
    She dropped it. Jumped back.
    Katherine whirled and ran for the door.
Get away, get away, get away.
    Because the nightmare of her past had found her once more.

    The front door flew open and Katherine ran down the steps.
    Adrenaline shot through Dane’s veins as he jumped from his vehicle. “Katherine!”
    She didn’t seem to hear him. She was racing toward her little car, and even though he shouted for her to stop, she just kept going.
    She jumped inside the small VW convertible. He saw the headlights flash on.
    Dammit.
    Dane leapt in front of her car, knowing the headlights would shine right on him. “
Katherine, stop!
”
    The car’s engine revved.
    He held up his hands. “Stop.”
    The motor died away.
    Slowly, Dane crept around the car. “Open the door.” He knew she could hear him.
    After the smallest of hesitations, she did.
    “What happened?” he asked. She’d said she wouldn’t run, but the woman sure seemed to be hauling ass.
    She climbed from the car—and threw her arms around him. Katherine held tight to him, felt right against him, and Dane found himself wrapping his arms around her.
    Pulling her even closer.
    Her hair brushed against his nose, bringing him more of her scent, and her body pressed perfectly against his.
    “Katherine…” He took a breath, almost tasted her. “What’s going on?”
    She tilted her head back to stare up at him, and, with the moonlight shining down on them, Dane saw the glint of tears in her lashes. “He gave me his heart,” she said.
    The shrink asshole? Or
Valentine
? He knew Valentine had been wild for her.
    She swallowed. “Not
his
heart, though, is it? It’s hers. The bastard left it on my stairs.”
    Understanding hit him.
Fuck.
He yanked out his phone. Called instantly for backup even as he kept a strong hold on Katherine.
Not getting away from me
. “What did you see?” he demanded as he waited for the line to connect. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe—
    “A box was on my stairs inside. The third step,” she whispered. “I opened it. Rose petals were inside. Rose petals and a picture.” She drew in a ragged breath. “It was a photograph of Savannah’s chest with a knife driven into her heart.”
    He glanced back at the house. The seemingly perfect house.
    The call finally connected. He immediately barked, “This is Detective Dane Black. I need a team out at two-oh-one Byron West, and I need ’em fucking
now.
”
    His gaze darted around the darkened woods.
No one close to hear the screams.
    If he’d just stayed at her house instead of following after Katherine like a lovesick teen with a hard-on, he would’ve had the killer.
    Had him
.
    But maybe the bastard had left evidence behind that they could use. Something that could help him track the guy.
    “It’s him,” Katherine said, her voice a bit stronger now. “He wants me to know
it’s him
.”
    Dane had read more of the Valentine files before going to Katherine’s. He knew Valentine had taken pictures of his victims. Pictures of their dead bodies, with knives driven into their hearts. Then he’d delivered the stark black-and-white photos. One had gone to a victim’s parents. One to her lover. One to the FBI.
    This time, the delivery had been made to Katherine.
    He twined his fingers through hers. “Come with me.” He had to search the scene. The killer could still be in her house.
    “No, I can’t go back in—”
    “And I can’t leave you alone out here!” Leaving her unprotected was not an option he would take.
    She swallowed and straightened her shoulders. “Right.”
    He pulled out his gun and tightened his fingers around hers. “Stay with me. Every step, got it?”
    A slow nod. “Got it.”
    He stalked toward the house. Her front door hung open, and light spilled onto the porch. Katherine was a silent shadow behind him.
    He went in first, doing a sweep and keeping his gun up and ready. He saw the long-stemmed roses on her stairs, with