Claim (Fury Brothers #5)

33. Beau

33

BEAU

I stood in the computer room at Phoenix Security Services, my hands on my hips. One of Reath’s guys, Lincoln, was at Hard Burn with Bell. There were two more of Reath’s men outside, keeping an eye out for Carr.

It made me itchy to be away from her. God, I wanted to pummel Carr into a pulp. My anger was a hot, sharp ball in my gut.

Poor Karina. An innocent woman killed for some sicko’s pleasure. And to hurt Bell.

Carr had known this would devastate her.

“Bell blames herself for Karina’s murder,” I said.

Reath made an unhappy sound. “There’s only one person to blame—the man who killed her.”

“Carr wanted to hurt Bell, and he knew this would cut deep.” I shoved a hand through my hair for about the hundredth time. “Karina was sweet. She didn’t deserve this.”

My brothers all looked pissed. Colt leaned against the wall, the image of cool, but radiating energy. Dante sat in a chair, his face dark. Reath was by the computer, his arms crossed. And Kavner was perched against the desk.

“If it’s any consolation at all, Karina Merrick’s death was quick,” Simon said.

The detective had joined us, and wasn’t hiding his anger. I knew he hated losing a woman on his watch, and wanted this serial killer stopped. Probably even more than we did.

A muscle ticked in Simon’s jaw. “Carr broke his MO of spending hours torturing and raping his victim.”

“Maybe something spooked him?” Reath suggested. “Or he’s getting sloppy.”

Which meant he was taking more risks, and getting more dangerous.

“We have to find him,” I said, jaw tight. “Bell is his target. He got too damn close last night.”

“He’s clearly good at blending in,” Reath said. “He looks…normal. Innocuous. He’d also changed his hair and eye color, and used a fake ID last night. That’s how he ended up on the catering staff.” Reath’s jaw worked. “It won’t happen again.”

“He’s not just after Bell.” Dante looked up. “The boxing glove was a threat.”

“Oh, he’s welcome to come at me.” My hands flexed.

“You’ve got to keep your cool, Beau,” Reath said. “Don’t underestimate him.”

I blew out a breath. “I won’t.”

“He wants to hurt Bell,” Dante said. “Hurting you would do that.”

“How do we find the bastard?” I clipped out.

“I’ve given out his description,” Simon said. “If any cop in New Orleans spots him, we’ll know.”

“He’s probably changed his hair color again or is changing his appearance when he’s out in public,” Reath said. “If he changes his facial features enough, we won’t get any hits on facial recognition.”

“And he wears that damn clown mask,” I added.

“We did get a report of a guy matching his description staying at a cheap hotel near the airport,” Simon said. “He paid for three nights with cash, but left. There was no sign of him when my guys got there. The room was wiped clean.”

Colt nodded. “He’s probably hopping around cheap hotels who don’t keep good records. Just a few days, then on to the next place. It’s a common tactic for the guys I track who skip bail.”

“He’ll come at Bell again,” I said.

In my head, I saw her stricken face when she’d learned about Karina. For her, it was like losing her friend Allie all over again.

Then I pictured her trying to pack to leave.

Leave New Orleans.

Leave me.

My muscles tightened. Carr had to be stopped, once and for all. “I won’t let him touch one fucking hair on her head.”

“We know.” Dante rose and clamped a hand on my arm. “When our women were in trouble, you helped keep them safe, and we’ll do the same for Bell. We know how important it is. How important she is.”

I wanted to say that it was temporary, and to not read too much into it, but right now, I couldn’t.

Right now, all I could focus on was keeping her safe. And holding her close as she grieved again.

“When she heard about Karina, she fell apart.” My mouth flattened. “She wanted to run again.”

“That’s not going to dissuade Carr,” Simon said. “He’ll keep hunting her.”

“And we’re going to stop him.” I met all their gazes. “He’s going to feel the full force of the Fury brothers.”

My brothers all nodded.

“And you have my support,” Simon said. “I’m not going to let a serial killer run loose in our city.” Then he slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s likely that the best way to find Carr is through Bell.”

I stiffened. “Use her as bait? Hell, no.”

Simon held up a hand. “That’s not what I meant. But we need to prepare her for when he approaches her again. If we can, we can use her to get Carr out in the open. So we can finally stop him, and get Bell safe.”

Get Bell safe.

That was what I wanted most of all.

I nodded. “I’ll talk with her.” I already knew she’d fight. She had some decent skills from our training now. She’d do anything to stop Carr.

“We need to be ready,” Reath said. “This motherfucker isn’t going to go down easily.”

I made a fist. “His downfall will be that he’ll try to taunt and torment Bell. He can’t help himself. He gets off on it. We need to use that against him.”

And I needed to prepare her for anything. I’d do everything I could to make sure she wasn’t helpless.

Reath nodded. “Let’s take this asshole down.”

My brothers all nodded.

Watch out, Carr. The Fury brothers are coming for you.