ECHOES

BACKCOVER

Anna Patrick writes about Detective Nicholas Kraven who uses his special abilities to catch serial killers. One day the very handsome Detective Derek Angel shows up at her door to inform her that bodies have been discovered murdered in the same manner as in her novel Kraven Knows.

He calls himself Kraven and leaves the bodies to please Anna until the day he arranges to meet her face to face to receive his reward for all his hard work. When Anna is repulsed by him and rejects him he attempts to make her his next victim.

After being pushed out a second floor window Anna wakes from a four-week coma with amnesia. She can't remember this handsome detective who blames himself for not being there to protect her or her feelings for him.

Will Anna remember in time the serial killer who tried to make her his sixth victim? When news of Anna coming out of the coma reaches him he starts to kill again. Will she remember before it's too late?

You only think you are safe.

-Kraven

PROLOGUE

"We sat there and stared at her all night," Barbara looked up at Derek. "We figured when she woke up in the morning that she would just cry and hide and never want to leave the house again. But, that wasn't what happened. The doctors said she had post-traumatic stress disorder and that her mind had blocked everything out."

"What happened to him?"

"When they investigated him farther they found evidence of other women and other bodies that weren't as lucky as Anna. They didn't need her to testify, not that she could have because she didn't remember. And we thanked God every day that she didn't."

"You should have told me. The killer could be someone related to that case." Derek wanted to be angry at Barbara, but she looked destroyed that she hadn't told him earlier. "Is there anything else that you haven't told me?"

"No, that is everything I know."

Derek's phone rang it was Kay calling, "Hey what's up?"

"Derek," she sounded breathless and hard to hear. "Derek, she remembered. Derek, he's got her!"

Chapter One

"The book sold millions of copies worldwide detective I'm not sure how I can help," Anna said trying not to stare at his perfect chin and great smile. She assumed that he knew how attractive he was and he probably stopped at every mirror to look at himself. His icy blue eyes were mesmerizing and how he tapped his foot when he was stumped she figured he did without even realizing it.

He licked his lips and made the tiniest of sighs, "Miss Patrick, a woman is dead."

"I understand that detective, but I'm not sure how I can help you. It is probably a coincidence. I have a lot of fans and have sold a lot of books. It isn't like someone walked up to me and said 'hi, howya' doin' I'm a crazy killer, you got any ideas'." Anna was trying not to frustrate this detective with his warm looking lips, but she just didn't know how she could help.

"Maybe you can't help Miss Patrick, but I need you to keep yourself available."

Anna found it ridiculous that anyone would commit a murder based on something that she had written. Derek Angel was nice to look at, but she had things that she needed to do so after an hour of questions she escorted him to the door and wished she had met him under different circumstances.

Anna forgot about the meeting by the next morning because she was working on what her publicist was calling a strict deadline. It wasn't until Friday afternoon when she was at the market looking for something to make for dinner that she thought about it again.

"Nice produce," she heard from behind her. She turned around to see Detective Angel standing across from her behind the cantaloupe. He was wearing suit pants and a dress shirt that he had removed his jacket and tie from. He looked exceedingly handsome with his short brown hair and pouty lips.

"Nice melons," she said smiling, but she knew if he had tracked her down it wasn't a social call. "How did you find me?"

"I am a detective, the best detective most likely in this entire produce department," he said with a sly smile that made her weak in the knees. "But, to be totally honest, I called your office and your assistant told me that every Friday afternoon you come here because you want to have fresh produce and fresh flowers for the weekend."

"What can I do for you Detective Angel?" Something smelled really good, Anna tried to convince herself it was the produce.

"There has been another murder," he said with his forehead slanting into a stress wrinkle that would one day give his young face distinguished character.

"Another murder that is similar to one of my books?" she asked leaning her shopping basket against the tomatoes.

Was I wrong to dismiss him so quickly on Monday?

"Another murder that is identical to one in your book," he corrected. "I haven't read your books, but I am informed that you write about a detective who chases serial killers," he said not telling the complete truth because he had read Kraven Knows that week during his investigation.

"Yes, Nicholas Kraven is very unique." She held up her basket, "Would it be alright if I pay for these and we take this conversation somewhere else?"

"Of course," he said walking around the stand and holding his hand out to carry her basket. Without thinking she handed it to him and smiled.

What are you doing…don't smile like a stupid school girl and stop staring at his ass!

Anna paid for her groceries and Detective Angel took her bag from the clerk. He walked outside with her bag leaving Anna no choice but to follow where he was leading with her dinner.

"Where's your car?" he said looking up and down the street looking for the convertible that he knew she drove.

"You are the detective you tell me," she said feeling for the first time she had the upper hand.

"Ok," he said feeling up to the challenge and trying to find a way through the wall she had built around her. "I know you drove from your office today so you did have your car, however the market is just eight blocks or so from your apartment so I am going to use my superior detective skills and say that you parked and walked," he said sauntering toward his car knowing that he was right and with all intentions of chauffeuring her back to her apartment. Derek slid her shopping bag onto the back seat and then held the door open for her.

Anna watched him walk around the front of the car grinning at her as he did. Even when he smiled at her, Anna could tell that he had a lot of stress behind his eyes. Anna thought he looked tempting in his white shirt and gray slacks and for a second Anna let her mind wander to how he would look without them.

He pulled up on the side of her building. She waited for him to open her door and offer his hand. His hands were supple and gentle. Anna removed the keys from her purse and unlocked the security door into her building. The main entrance had a security guard who had to buzz in visitors. The garage door and the adjoining door to the garage took a special key because it wasn't in sight of the security guard.

The adjoining garage door led down the hall to the elevator. Derek looked up the hallway and saw there was a sharp corner that led around to the security desk and the front door. You couldn't see either from the elevator. Anna pushed the up button and stood there waiting. She caught him stealing a glance as they waited for the elevator. The door opened and he let her enter first.

A computer program had come up with Anna's name and her book when all the information about the murder was fed into it. Detective Derek Angel had never heard of Anna Patrick until five days ago, but standing with his arm brushing against hers in the elevator as they watched the numbers count to the ninth floor he wondered what about her writing inspired someone to kill not one, but two women in less than a week.

"Our stop," Anna said walking out of the elevator and walking down the brightly lit hallway.

Derek watched her push that long dark hair that came down almost to her waist out of her face so she could slide the key into the lock. He guessed she was about five foot seven inches tall with a slim figure and above average chest size for someone of her slim stature. She was appealing in her green sundress and matching flats. Of course he probably would have thought she was appealing in a burlap sack.

Derek thought that the building was quiet the last time he was here because of the late hour, but even today at only four thirty the building seemed deserted. He wondered if Anna liked her solitude while she wrote. The apartment looked the same as the last time he had been there with her office off to his left, the living room in front of him, the bathroom to the right and the entrance to what had to be her bedroom just passed the bathroom with her kitchen on the other side of the living room. The only difference in his view today was the sun shining through the windows. Anna's tan sofa with matching chair looked brand new like no one had ever sat on it. She had turned what should have been her dining room into an office with shelves and shelves of books from all genres.

Anna took the shopping bag from him and headed into the kitchen. Derek wandered into her office intrigued by this raven haired beauty. Her books were on a bookcase all by themselves just inside the door. He picked up Kraven Decides and flipped through a few pages before returning it to the shelf. She had her books sorted and each character had their own shelf.

She must have started at the top because the Kraven novels were on the third shelf. Above them were her novels about Secret Agent Christina Morgan and her unit. On the top shelf was her series about FBI agent Robert Buckland. The series had six parts and he remembered someone at the station saying that in the end she had Buckland imprisoned for a crime he had no choice but to commit. He guessed that left the series open for another novel, but she had left those and moved on to her secret agent and then on to Detective Nicholas Kraven who had abilities far above those of mortal men.

Derek heard her putting the food away so he took the moment to look over her mammoth oak desk. It was meticulous all except for her computer monitor which was full of post-it notes Gary Sunday and Maggie's birthday plus many others covered the sides of her monitor. There was a picture of her with a handsome fellow next to the phone in a very expensive looking frame. He wondered if this was the man in her life, perhaps he was Gary.

"Alright, you have questions for me?" she said standing in the doorway. The light was radiating from her and she looked like an angel standing in the doorway staring at him because he was staring at her and still had not responded to her question.

"It may take a while shall we sit in the living room?" he said already on the move toward her. As he passed her his arm grazed hers and she felt a flock of butterflies start to do laps in her stomach. She watched him sit on the couch and turned as though he was prepared for her to sit next to him and begin the conversation.

"Would you like something to drink Detective?" she asked because her mouth was feeling particularly dry with the anticipation of sitting next to him.

Come on Anna get a grip.

"I'm alright, but if you would like to get something," he said with that damn perfect smile. Anna swiftly made herself a glass of orange juice with a splash of vodka to prepare herself to hear how a serial killer had now murdered two women using methods from her novel.

She sat on the couch next to him. He watched as she kicked off her shoes before turning toward him and pulling her leg under her body.

"Anna, may I call you Anna?"

With those eyes you can call me anything. Are you two years old? Listen to the man.

"Of course, Derek."

"Anna, tell me where you get the ideas on how the characters in your novels are killed?"

"I guess the same way anyone else would, I research serial killers. I read a lot and I watch movies and so on and then I put my own spin on them to match the characters in my book."

"Do you ever base the villains on anyone you know or anyone that is involved in your life in some way or on a serial killer that someone may be able to relate to?"

"Do you mean, do I write a murder based on something Bianchi or Bundy may have done and make it close enough that someone who idolizes them would make it their mission to reenact one of them?"

"Yes."

She took a sip of her drink, "Derek, I write based on where I see my character going and what they can overcome, any murder or anything else that is similar to men like that are accidental. But as a homicide detective I know you realize that there are only so many ways to kill someone and also that the mentally ill can imagine almost anything even if the connection isn't really there."

Just ask my dad.

"I understand that," he said patting her hand. "And no one is blaming any of this on you. We just need to try and find out why your book." He hesitated, but she knew what he was going to say by his expression.

"You need to make sure I'm not in jeopardy," she said noticing that after he stopped patting her hand that he hadn't removed it. "Should I be worried? Has there been any contact from the killer?"

Derek was surprised that there hadn't been. "No, nothing yet, but I want to be positive he isn't obsessed with you, for your safety of course."

His hand was so warm against hers, she didn't dare move her hand for fear he would take his away.

He is saying you could be stalked and killed by a serial killer will you pay attention.

"My team and I need to look into your life and the people in it. He, she or they could be anyone from a best friend, to a jilted lover, to someone who saw you at an event from across the room and thought how elegant your dark hair was shining in the lights. We need to find out why he chose you and if you have any history with the victims."

"That is a lot of people, I do a lot of charity work and fundraisers, but I don't want to believe that someone I know would do this."

"Anna, just be extra careful. Make sure you are always aware of your surroundings and that no one is following you," he said with a look that made her feel that he was looking into her soul. "Tell me about the people closest to you, do you have a boyfriend?"

Is that a professional question Detective Angel, she found herself wanting to say but instead she gave him a meek little smile, "I spend most of my time alone with my writing."

"Do you have someone in the building that you trust, that you could run to in the event of an emergency?" If she didn't know better she would have thought that he just glided his fingers along her hand, but it was probably a muscle twitch or more likely her imagination.

"When I'm not at an event or at my office I like to be alone. That is why I chose this building. The other apartments on this floor all belong to me because I like my privacy and I really don't want to have any neighbors. The building is secure as you saw from the rather large door we came through and the apartment is secure."

She was so lovely and charming Derek couldn't imagine why she wanted to be all alone. He had left his hand on top of hers and she didn't try to pull it away so neither did he. Her dark hair accentuated her green eyes and perfect lips and he couldn't imagine why she wasn't dating someone, but he was excited at the fact that she wasn't. He was worried about her safety, but didn't want to frighten her because he had seen too many situations like this back in Boston and he knew that Anna Patrick has caught this killer's attention somehow and he wished he could see the killer's end game.

Derek knew that she would need time for all of this to sink in. He knew most likely she would be in denial because she had written down the example the killer was using. In time she would come to know it wasn't her fault, but for now maybe a little bit of denial would help her as long as she was still careful.

They talked about the other murder and the evidence that was left on the bodies and about where they had found them. Derek had reassured Anna that she would be safe and he watched her lips as she told him about her friends and acquaintances. Before they knew it, it was almost eight thirty.

Derek realized the time and he realized he still had work to do before he could go home, but he still had one more question he needed to ask her, "Anna, do you ever get fan mail?"

"Of course and along with those I get thank you letters from the organizations I help. They all go to my office and Charity takes care of them. All my mail goes there and she sorts it and pays my bills and so forth."

There was that wrinkle in his forehead again, "What does she do if you get odd fan mail?"

"Odd?" Anna asked shifting in her seat.

Derek repositioned and now his leg was against hers as he leaned in toward her, "Anna, do you ever get letters from admirers that might not be politically correct?" "Letters that might say embarrassing things or that may even threaten you or someone maybe saying they are watching you or wanting you?"

She felt herself tremble and she knew he felt it too, "I don't know, the only things I see are the letters that Charity picks for me to respond to." "She reads them and types a response and then gives both to me to read before she sends them out."

Derek had upset her and put thoughts into her head that frightened her and he knew it by the look on her face. He took her hand in his and held it tight, "Anna, I promise you that no one will hurt you."

"Derek, can we pick this up at another time?" she asked suddenly looking very tired. It was finally starting to sink in how scary this could get. She was going to have to accept that a serial killer had targeted her work and hopefully not her. She had never thought about the letters that she never saw. Anna had insight on the mind of the mentally ill and she wanted no part of that life.

He gently squeezed her hand, "I'm sorry that I frightened you."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help. I will contact Charity and find out what kind of mail if any I haven't been seeing."

"Anna," he said running his finger across the top of her hand, "I will call Charity and talk to her and if there is anything you need to see then we can look at it together---if that's ok."

She felt so much better thinking of him being there to help her. Their legs and hands were touching and his worried face made her more attracted to him. He didn't look like that woman chasing narcissist that she first made him out to be. He looked genuinely concerned for her safety. She thought for a second that he was going to lean in and try to kiss her. She was positive she would have let him and almost positive she would have let him do even more. But, he pulled back at the last second, "I better let you get some rest, I have monopolized too much of your time."

Anna stood up and walked him to the door. With her shoes off he really towered over her.

"May I call you tomorrow?" he asked with his hand on the doorknob.

"I will be available after three, but you can call Charity first thing in the morning."

"Thank you," he said with a deeper voice then he had used during the questioning and sprinted out the door.

Anna leaned on the door and listened to herself breathe. He was attractive and she hadn't had sex in a long time, but she had just met him. Under the circumstances perhaps her mind should be on helping find the killer anyway she could. Not on how much she wanted to stop him from walking out the door.

Anna didn't want to think about the real world and her responsibility to help the detective. The problem was that she had built her protective little bubble and had restricted access to most people and now not only was it possible that a serial killer was trying to get in, but she really wanted Detective Derek Angel to pop her bubble.

Derek waited for the elevator door to close and then he finally let out the breath he had been holding.

God she is incredible.

He couldn't imagine why some lucky bastard hadn't scooped her up and never let her go. She was intelligent and ravishing and too sexy for words. She has money and legs that go all the way to the floor. He could imagine their naked bodies entwined in that gorgeous hair of hers. When they had been talking it took great restraint for him not to reach over and run his hand up what he imagined was a smooth leg. He leaned against the wall of the elevator trying to clear his mind because he had work to do, but Anna Patrick had bewitched him. He knew his duty was to protect her and find the killer before he hurt anyone else, but he just couldn't get Anna out of his mind.

As the door opened he let his mind believe for just a second if he wouldn't have run out the door they would be making passionate love right this minute.

Get your fucking head out of your ass and get back to work.

Derek bolted to his car and was so busy concentrating on not becoming erect at the thought of her upstairs right now getting ready for bed that he didn't even notice the figure that was watching him from the apartment across the hall from Anna's…one of the apartments that were supposed to be empty.

Chapter Two

Anna was starving. She hadn't eaten since this morning so she made herself a sandwich and on her way to her desk to work for a few hours it hit her that Derek's interruption at the market had made her forget to buy her fresh flowers for her desk. Anna coveted her privacy, but she needed something alive and attractive around her while she was working. So every weekend she bought fresh flowers for her desk and on Thursday evening she would throw them away with the anticipation of getting brand new ones the next day.

Anna didn't usually watch any television at all, but she was up at eleven working on her novel with the deadline still looming. She turned it on and sat on the couch that she never used. She curled up where Derek had been sitting in order to watch the news. His aftershave lingered on the cushions.

She listened while they talked about a three alarm fire and an oil tanker that turned over on the beltway. She leaned her head on her hand as she listened to them preview the weather and she had almost fallen asleep when she heard, "Two brutal murders have police stumped as today the body of dancer Gloria Wilkins was found in Black Creek park." "Sources inside the police are telling eyewitness news that they believe it is the same person who murdered Coleen Burkhardt whose body was found Monday."

Dancer?

Anna hadn't thought to ask Derek what the victims did for a living. She turned off the television before the report was finished and walked into her office. She took Kraven Knows off the shelf and skimmed through the middle of the novel until she came across the page she was looking for.

Kraven could hear the hearts of everyone around him beating, everyone except Maria Donaldson. He touched her arm and he flashed as he always did on the last thing she saw before she died. In his ears he could hear her heart racing as her assailant tore off her clothes and then he lifted the rock and hit her and then there was silence once again as her heart stopped.

Kraven couldn't see his face, it was dark and she was terrified and it kept her from looking closely at him.

"She was a dancer at Jeune," Ricky said standing behind Kraven. "They say she made it a policy to never go home with customers and that she was extremely careful, but the park is less than half a mile from the club so who knows."

Kraven stood and looked around. He had the feeling that he was missing something.

And right now so did Anna Patrick. She walked over to her window and looked down onto the street and gave a big sigh.

Anna was not thrilled when her alarm sounded at nine, but she had promised her dad lunch. She had canceled the last two times stating her deadline as the reason, but this time he told her if she didn't show up he was just going to come to the apartment and make her lunch. Her father was a criminal psychologist before he retired five years ago. Since then he wanted to 'bond' more with her because he had been so distant all those years, working with all those inmates affected him. In order to protect his girls from his job and the sociopaths that he dealt with, he had been very distant from them. When Anna started writing the Kraven novels she had asked him many in depth questions to try and get into the mind of a serial killer.

David Patrick and his girlfriend had been doing a lot of traveling so Anna didn't have to deal with him. But they got back from seeing all the ballparks on the east coast about a month ago and since then he wanted to have lunch with her. She knew the real reason she didn't want to go was that dear old dad was going to tell her that he was going to marry Vivian. Oh you'll love her when you get to know her…Honey you knew I would eventually have to meet someone else your mom has been gone a long time… is what he was going to say and she knew it. She imagined him standing in front of a mirror practicing it.

Anna showered and picked out a nice cobalt sundress to wear. The drive was going to be forty-five minutes, but he was taking her to her favorite restaurant, another way to soften the marriage blow.

She would speed through lunch with dad and hit the office before Charity left to see if Detective Angel found anything. She loved Charity; Charity Harper did everything for her so that she could concentrate on her writing. Charity had a young son and she volunteered at his school all day every Monday so when Anna was interviewing her she asked if she could work all day Saturday and have off Sunday and Monday instead of Saturday and Sunday.

Anna didn't care because Charity worked so hard she always had everything done by midday each day anyway. As Anna unlocked her car she wondered if she could flatten her own tire and cancel with dad because she would have to wait for them to come and fix it, but she was sure this time dad was prepared for all excuses.

As the garage closed Anna put down the top on her convertible. She was very frugal with her money, but when she had seen this blue 1967 convertible mustang with white interior for sale she couldn't resist. She loved her car and she had developed many plot lines riding around the beltway with the top down and her hair blowing in the wind.

Anna was racing to meet her father and she couldn't hear her cell phone ring over the wind and the radio so it went to voice mail.

Charity shook her head at Detective Angel signaling that her second call just like the first went to voice mail. "She is probably on her way to have lunch with Mr. Patrick and if she has the top down on the mustang she won't hear the phone," Charity said trying to be reassuring, but she was worried too after Detective Angel and she had spent the morning going through the fan mail that Anna never saw.

The lock on Anna's apartment door clicked as it unlocked. He could smell her perfume lingering in the room. It had made things easier that Charity had keys to Anna's apartment and that she kept them in her purse in her desk drawer like so many other women did. He remembered he bought rope and a tarp while he waited for the man to copy all the keys on Charity's key ring. How lucky for him that Charity also had the master key that would unlock the rest of the apartments on Anna's floor. It made watching her so much easier.

That man had stayed for hours yesterday talking to his precious Anna, but then finally he left. She had scorned him and sent him away with his tail between his legs. Anna only had eyes for one person...Kraven.

He sat in her office chair and the excitement burned deep within him…her place, her smell, oh how incredible it was. He turned on her computer and typed in the password that she had on the post-it note on her monitor.

He had been planning the murders to please her and excite her from Kraven Knows. But with every chapter of the new book she finished he became more excited to commit the murders she was thinking and dreaming and fantasizing about now. But, he had to be careful because he didn't want her to know that he had been visiting and reading the new book. She would be so happy with him when they found the next body. She would know how much he loved her then. How much he enjoyed their team work and her directions.

There was a traffic light at the bottom of Anna's exit and when she stopped she heard her cell phone beep with the new voice mails.

"Anna, its Charity can you call me please when you get this message." The second message was from Derek, "Anna, this is Detective Angel could you please call me on my cell phone when you get this message...please Anna." He sounded almost desperate and it worried her that they had found another body or that he and Charity had found something in her mail. The way he said please Anna sounded like he was worried sick about her.

She hit speed dial one on her phone and Charity answered with not even half a ring, "Anna?"

"Charity, everything alright?" she asked as she pulled into the parking lot and she could see that her father's truck was already there.

Charity had a distraught pitch in her voice, "I'm sorry Anna---I---"

"Charity what is it?" she said getting rattled.

"Anna its Detect---its Derek, you alright?" She could hear that he was breathless and must have run over and took the phone from Charity.

"Derek, I'm fine," just saying his name made her inadvertently smile but he sounded worried to death.

"Anna, we found some things that you need to see. When can you get here?" he said sounding a little calmer knowing that she was alright.

"Less than twenty minutes, I am already on this side of town," she said already planning what she was going to say to her father as she started the engine and began backing out of her parking space.

"Drive carefully and come right here," he said in what she believed was his bedroom voice. She was excited to see him and even more excited that she got to get out of lunch. She tried to pretend that she wasn't worried about what they had found, but they both seemed terrified that she was in danger.

Am I?

He was relaxing on her bed. He had stripped off all his clothes at the door and dropped them on the floor. He was stroking himself looking up at her ceiling fan. Oh Kraven take me she would say, he was sure of it. She would beg for it, to touch him and to feel him inside of her. She would suck him as long as he wanted her to and then he would bend her over and fuck her up that perfect ass.

He heard the front windows rattle which snapped him from his trance and sprang up dashed to the window. But it wasn't her raising the garage door. When the garage door opened it shook all the windows on that side of the building which gave him fair warning that she was home.

But this time it was just that old couple with the yappy dogs. He noticed when he turned from the window that she didn't have any flowers on her desk. She always had fresh flowers to brighten up her dreary office where she worked her little fingers to the bone thinking about him and writing about him. And letting her juices flow as she thought about touching him and swallowing what he had to offer.

He wanted to sit exposed and thinking of her all day, but he needed to get some groceries and sneak them to the apartment while she was gone. He had chosen the furnished apartment because it was not only the most convenient, but he could watch her come and go. He always made sure all of his personal items were hidden just in case she came looking, but she never did. Her fortress of solitude had no room for those other apartments, but soon she would have room for him.

He figured he still had a few minutes. Her shower was still wet so he knew there was no harm in turning on the water. He liked it super hot and steamy. He grabbed her strawberry scented shampoo and filled his hand with it. He put one hand on the wall and the other was stroking hard and fast as he imagined Anna on her knees in the shower with him with her mouth open ready to catch and swallow his load. You ready baby? Open wide…oh…ooo…mmm…I can't wait to bend you over and spread those cheeks apart. He moaned and cried out her name as he exploded on the shower wall and down his hand. He smiled with satisfaction because he knew he would smell like Anna the rest of the day.

Anna was very quick and apologetic to her father and was very vague about the emergency and she hung up the phone before he could ask any questions saying that the wind was keeping her from being able to hear him.

Her heart went topsy-turvy when she saw Derek pacing outside the building waiting for her. He looked worried and almost like he was talking to himself. The street outside the building where her small office was usually jam-packed with motorists vying for a spot, but on this picturesque Saturday afternoon no one wanted to be at work so she was fortunate enough to get a spot right in the front.

When he saw her the relief in his eyes was unmistakable. He practically bounced off the curb and up to her car door. He had on dark trousers and a white dress shirt and tie along with his shoulder holster and gun. He had obviously been fidgeting with his tie. She could see his chest erratically rising and falling as he tried to calm himself so he could talk.

He didn't realize that he was holding onto the door and looking at her without saying a word until she smiled at him and said, "Would it be alright if I got out of the car?"

Derek snapped back to reality, "Oh sorry." There was that magical smile again as he opened the car door and offered her his hand. His heart was racing that he was holding onto her hand once again and she was safe. For a minute he forgot why he had summoned her and was just amazed at her beauty and his overwhelming desire to protect her.

The magic was broken by Charity barging out the door, "Anna I am so sorry---I didn't know---there was no way for me to know. I wouldn't hurt you for anything---"

Anna stood their looking at Charity's disheveled look. Her shoulder length red hair was usually immaculate and when she smiled you were drawn to the four small freckles around her nose. She was only five foot four, so Derek overshadowed her. Anna could tell that Charity was just barely holding back tears.

Anna couldn't understand a word she was saying because she was talking a thousand words a minute. She looked at Derek who still had hold of her hand and he smiled and with his charming wit and said, "I'll explain, let's go inside."

I will follow you anywhere Detective Angel…but what the hell did I miss around here?

They took the elevator to the second floor where Anna's office was located and Charity was still going on and on with her apologies. The office was on the small side. The front room is where Charity worked and sorted mail and Anna's office that she rarely used was through the door in the back of the room. Off to the side of Anna's office was a small kitchenette and restroom.

The carpet was a mixture of blues and grays that perfectly matched the gray furniture. The light beamed in through the large windows on the front of the building.

Anna was shocked at the mess when she went through the door. Charity usually kept everything immaculate, but now there were papers everywhere. The copies of the Kraven books that were usually in Anna's office were in a mound on one of the chairs in the corner. There were boxes of Anna's fan mail on the floor and next to them several piles of what looked to her to be emails that Charity had printed out for the good detective.

Charity saw Anna's disbelief and she commenced with the apologies once again. Anna took a breath and managed to squeeze out a smile, "Charity everything is fine, you can take the rest of the day off and I will see you on Tuesday." Anna put her hand up to stop the protest before it even left Charity's throat, "Everything is fine you go and spend some time with that great son of yours."

Charity smiled and grabbed her purse from her desk drawer and she nodded to Anna and Detective Angel and out the door she ran in fear that come Tuesday she might not have a job any more after Anna heard what they had found.

To Anna's astonishment before she could even turn around and ask Derek what was going on he clutched her arms and turned her around to face him. His worry line was bulging again as he scanned her face, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Please tell me what's going on?" She was in a whirlwind of apprehension, annoyance and sexual tension. "The two of you are scaring me half to death, not to mention how long it is going to take to make my office orderly again." She tried not to sound exasperated and failed and she was trying to ignore the butterflies that his touch was causing in her stomach and other places, but she wasn't used to all this drama and she just wanted to be told straight out what the hell was going on.

Derek let her go and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, he was going to have to start at the beginning and do his best not to frighten her, "Anna, can you sit down for a second?"

As Anna looked around her office and motioned that there wasn't a damn place left to sit his cell phone rang. He looked at the number she could tell by his face that it was a call he had to take. With a heavy sigh he answered it and started to shake his head. He held up his finger to her letting her know he would be right back with her as he walked out of the office door into the hallway closing the door behind him.

Anna shook her head looking at the mess. She sat her purse down on the floor and knelt down on the rug. She picked up a heap of emails that Charity had printed and started to read through them.

Your work is amazing can I have your autograph?

Thank you for the donation it will go a long way…

That olive dress was exqui...

She tossed that pile aside because there was nothing in that pile that could warrant this disaster area. Anna picked up the next pile as she heard Derek raise his voice in the hall, but she couldn't tell what he was saying. He was screaming at someone.

The hairs on Anna's neck stood up and her throat became very dry.

My dearest Anna,

Her blood runs red across the rose pedals and her wickedness is released. As the glow fades from her eyes I am empowered by the thought of how it will please you. Almost as much as being inside you will please me.

-Kraven

Anna couldn't breathe as her eyes darted around the room. She didn't even realize that she had stood, tucked her purse under her arm and was headed out the door still clutching the email in her hand.

Derek was pacing at the end of the hall and didn't turn around until he heard the stair door open and caught sight Anna going through it. "I'll call you back," was all he said before closing his phone and running after her.

She was at her car as he came out the front door, "Anna wait!" He saw the paper still clutched in her hands and his heart sank. He had left her alone in the room with the emails from him and she had found them. He could tell she was trembling even before he reached her side.

"I have to go," she said breathless and leaning against the car door. Her eyes were darting everywhere as her body planned an escape. She felt small standing next to him and she wanted him to hold her and at the same time let her go so she could run back to her sanctuary and lock out the world.

"Anna you can't," now he was trembling as he looked into her eyes. He didn't want to do it this way, but now he had no choice. "Do you know what an I.P. address is?" She nodded that she did as the air felt like it was being drained from around her and she couldn't catch her breath as tears stung her eyes.

He couldn't do it; he couldn't tell her without holding her. He pulled her toward him and held her close to his chest. Her smell awakened things inside him that he never knew existed. He had no idea that he was trembling along with her. "Anna---the I.P. address the emails were sent from---" he couldn't say it, but he had to she had to know. He held her close so that she couldn't run away, "Anna they came from the computer in your home office."

Her knees buckled and if he hadn't been holding her so tightly she would have fallen to the ground. Her mind raced, her sanctuary…the only place she felt safe. This …this serial killer had become obsessed with her and her book and had killed to please her. She couldn't take it she wept openly while clinging to him. Neither cared they were standing in the street.

He clung to her and whispered that everything was going to be alright until she stopped crying. When he felt her body relax he looked down and she met his eyes. "Anna, I won't let him hurt you," he said brushing his finger gently against her tear stained cheek. "I'm going to take you home and we are going to change the locks on your door and I am going to make sure that you are safe."

His face was so gentle and the worry in his eyes made her feel safer, even though she had only known him for less than a week she felt closer to Detective Derek Angel then she had ever felt to anyone. She didn't know which way to turn or what to do so she had to trust that he did.

How could he have gotten to my computer?

Derek put her in the passenger seat of her car and then he ran upstairs to lock her office. He had already arranged for the crime lab to come and take away all the emails, the letters and Charity's computer. He however couldn't arrange for someone to protect Anna because Kraven hadn't threatened her life and everyone was needed to try and catch this monster before he struck again. His chief said he could arrange for a car to drive buy several times a day, but he couldn't spare a man to be with her twenty-four seven. Derek knew the secure building and the police checking might have been enough for someone he didn't want to be closer to, but it petrified him what could happen in between the times the patrol car drove down her street.

As Derek walked toward the car he could see that she was distraught and lost. The exciting, enchanting women he had spent so many hours with the night before was gone, violated and scared. Derek promised himself that he would catch Kraven and that he would make sure that she would feel safe once again.

She didn't say a word all the way to her apartment, but she still had a death grip on that email. Anna had kept her eyes closed the entire way and had concentrated on how the wind felt against her cheeks. The bump at the end of her street from the street repair let her know she was home. She opened her eyes and her street seemed darker than it had ever been even though it was a bright sun drenched day.

Anna pulled the garage door opener from her purse and pressed button. When the door was high enough Derek pulled in too anxious to wait for it to totally open. He jumped out of the car and ran around to her side to open the door.

When she took his hand electricity ran through him. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her upstairs and hold her until she felt safe again. She was pale and had cried off all her make-up and she looked so lost.

"Derek, I need to be alone for a while." He was crushed and worried for her. She put her hand on his chest and looked into his wanting eyes, "I need a little time to work through all this, I will---I will put the chain on the door." Her voice faded into her own thoughts and he wanted to protest and demand that she let him stay.

He touched her cheek, "Anna."

"Please---I can't---I---" She started to shake, "Derek please."

He wanted to be her champion, her protector from all the evil in the world, but he had no choice, but to give in to her wishes. "Ok," he said it but he didn't mean it. When he realized that the killer had been inside her apartment he was petrified. And when the chief said he couldn't put someone on her he had decided he would stay and protect her, but she didn't want him there.

She walked away from him not saying another word. Derek didn't move until she had gone through the door that connected the garage to the main hallway and then he called information so he could get a cab back to his car. He had shopping to do at the hardware store and a killer to find.

Anna rode up in the elevator and she let her mind slip to the other times in her life that she had been terrified. When Tommy Dickerson pushed her down behind the bleachers in high school and wouldn't let her up. He had pulled it out of his pants and put her hand against it. Just then a group walked by and she pushed him away and ran.

When she was in college and Dana had too much to drink and was swerving all over the road and the headlights came out of nowhere.

Six years ago when she walked into her best friend's apartment and recognized the shoes along with the other clothes sprawled on the floor. When she gripped the doorknob to the bedroom she already knew who she would find in bed with Kim.

Then of course five years ago when…

The elevator door opened and she quickly walked to the door with key in hand. Safely inside she locked all the locks including the chain before she let herself breathe. She was shaking so much that the email dropped to the floor along with her purse. She struggled to calm her breathing and make the feeling that her chest was being crushed go away.

Anna's cell phone rang and she leaned over and pulled it out of her purse hoping it was Derek. Hoping that he knew how foolish she was and was refusing to leave her all alone. But it was dad and she couldn't deal with his drama right now. She tossed the phone on the couch along with her purse and headed toward the kitchen. Today she would add more than just a splash of vodka to her orange juice. Today she would try and forget that she had never been so frightened in her life.

…or had she?

Robert Cline and Elizabeth Masters were waiting for Derek when the taxi pulled up outside of Anna's office building. He paid the driver and pulled the key to the office that Charity had given him from his pocket.

"How many boxes?" Robert asked as Derek unlocked the office. Derek pushed the door open so his colleague could see the mess that they were going to have to fight their way through.

"A lot," Elizabeth said answering Robert's question.

"I started sorting them, but when Jonas called and told me the emails had come from Miss Patrick's home computer I stopped and tried to contact her which took a while."

Too long.

In forty-five minutes they had everything loaded into the van. Robert and Elizabeth hopped in and were headed back to the station. Derek was standing in Anna's office looking at the picture of her parents hanging on the wall. The room reminded him of Anna. It was warm and cozy and the furniture looked comfortable. There was no computer on this desk so Derek knew that Anna didn't spend much time here because she couldn't write. Derek touched the picture of Anna with her mom that was sitting on the desk and then he heard the front door open.

He instinctively unclipped his gun and then walked into the outer office. The young man jumped when Derek walked out of Anna's office.

The man was young with short hair. He was wearing sweats and looked startled when he saw Derek.

"May I help you?" Derek asked as if he worked there. There weren't many situations that he couldn't take charge of.

The young man's eyes darted around the office, "I was looking for Charity---"

"And you are?" Derek asked not letting him finish.

"Bruce," he said looking very nervous. Derek was wondering if he was nervous because he was caught in the act of something or maybe because some strange man walked out of Anna's office and is interrogating him. "Bruce Decker, I work on the third floor and sometimes Charity and I grab a bite before we go home on Saturday evenings, go home separately-not together or anything."

"She only worked half a day today," Derek said watching the young man. He was clean and looked to be around twenty-four. He didn't look like a serial killer, but he seemed to have easy access to Anna's office. "I'm Detective Derek Angel, Bruce have you seen anyone suspicious lurking around the office? In the last few weeks have you seen anyone who doesn't belong in the building?"

"No sir, I just usually see Charity---and that's all I swear." Bruce Decker looked like he was about to pee himself. Derek imagined if he would have said boo that Bruce would have taken off and left one of those gray clouds that the old cartoons used to leave when they ran faster than the eye could see.

"She'll be back on Tuesday."

Unless Anna fires her or the police arrest her as an accessory or something crazy like that.

Bruce looked like he was trying to decide whether to nod his head and run or to wave and run so what he did looked a convoluted mixture of both. And then he was gone not even shutting the door behind him. Derek pulled out the book he was keeping his notes in for this case and jotted down Bruce Decker.

Derek took one last look around the office to make sure that he had collected any evidence that might help with the case. He was going to get his guy no matter what it took. He had a few unsolved cases in Boston that still stuck in his gut and he would make sure this wouldn't be another one. Derek would make sure that Anna Patrick would be able to sleep peacefully at night knowing that she was safe.

He locked the office and headed to the precinct.