Dark Nightmares Read online

  Dark Nightmares

  Dark Falls, CO Romantic Thriller Book 4

  Becca Jameson

  Copyright © 2018 by Becca Jameson

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-946911-40-7

  Print ISBN: 978-1-946911-41-4

  Cover Artist: Lori Ryan

  Editor: Christa Soule

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. And resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  About the Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Author’s Note

  Also by Becca Jameson

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank all the authors who made this project possible! What an amazing group of ladies. I’ve had so much fun plotting and working with them.

  The Dark Falls Series

  Dark Falls - Lori Ryan (Oct. 9, 2018)

  Dark Secrets - Savannah Kade (Oct. 9, 2018)

  Dark Legacy - Trish McCallan (Nov. 6, 2018)

  Dark Nightmares - Becca Jameson (Nov. 6, 2018)

  Dark Terror - Sandra Owens (Jan. 8, 2019)

  Dark Burning - Lori Ryan (Jan. 29, 2019)

  Dark Echoes - Savannah Kade (Feb. 26, 2019)

  Dark Memories - Sandra Owens (Mar. 26, 2019)

  Dark Rage - Becca Jameson (Apr. 23, 2019)

  Dark Tidings - Trish McCallan (May 21, 2019)

  Dark Obsession - Lisa-Marie Cabrelli (June 25, 2019)

  Dark Prison - Lori Ryan (July 30, 2019)

  About the Book

  Nicole Salway left Dark Falls eighteen years ago with no intention of ever returning. Destroyed beyond repair, she closed that chapter of her life for good. But nightmares have plagued her for two decades. Nonsensical nightmares that have kept her from leading a normal life. The Dark Falls police department failed her as a young girl, but now she’s a detective herself, and her hometown needs her help. Returning to the place where it all began could crack open her past and leave her raw and exposed if she’s not careful.

  Mason England isn’t fond of going undercover without his usual partner, but the state has assigned one of their own detectives to help solve a horrific murder. After all, the victim is the governor’s daughter, and all evidence points to a local club. Mason’s temporary partner takes his breath away the moment she enters the precinct. But Nicole is a conundrum. She guards her secrets close, so close that Mason realizes no one has ever penetrated her walls.

  Sharing her past with Mason, or anyone, isn’t an option. Nicole does not date. Ever. But Mason is persistent and patient. As Nicole’s past unravels, threatening to destroy her, Mason just might prove capable of grabbing the pieces as they fall and putting her back together again.

  Prologue

  Cold.

  Hungry.

  Alone.

  Scared.

  Nicole’s tears stopped falling so long ago, all that remained were dry streaks pinching her face. She didn’t have the energy to swipe them away anymore.

  So thirsty. Her lips were cracked. It hurt to move them. It hurt to swallow.

  She looked down at her filthy hands as they shook violently, seemingly detached from her body.

  Her gaze traveled from her hands to her torso. Her dress was torn in several places. She couldn’t remember what color it had been before…

  Her legs began to wobble, and her feet hurt. When she glanced down, she found she was barefoot. Where were her shoes? Blood stained her toes. The gravel beneath them cut into her tender skin.

  She jerked her gaze upward.

  Where was she?

  Renewed fear climbed up her spine, making her shudder as she wrapped her arms around her small frame.

  A glance in both directions made her heart race. She stood on the side of a highway. Nothing was visible in either direction except concrete, the gravel shoulder, the brown brush of fall. In the distance, there were mountains.

  She inhaled slowly. The air smelled of fall, dirt, and the faint remains of exhaust from passing cars.

  She scrunched her eyes shut, trying to remember how she’d gotten here.

  Nothing.

  Her mind was blank.

  Chapter 1

  Nicole Salway sat across from her captain, knowing it would be appropriate to nod occasionally while he spoke, but finding herself unable to force her head to comply with the demand.

  When Captain Mark Telford paused his explanation, narrowing his gaze, she finally licked her lips and found her voice. “Let me get this straight. You want me to go undercover with a detective I’ve never met in Dark Falls at a BDSM club as his submissive?” She shuddered for several reasons, not the least of which was that the mere idea of doing a job in Dark Falls made her sweat. And Telford was well aware of it.

  He winced. “Yeah. I know it’s not ideal, but I need you.”

  She’d known about this assignment for two days. At least the basics. But the shit had hit the fan as she was wrapping up her previous assignment, which kept her mind occupied so thoroughly that she hadn’t had a chance to fully consider the email she’d received from her boss.

  He had failed to mention the case was in Dark Falls, until now.

  In the end, she had left her partner, Pierce Titus, to finish the paperwork and wrap up their current assignment while she headed back to the precinct to start this apparently more urgent assignment.

  If she were honest with herself, she would have to admit she hoped the BDSM part of the email had been a typo. It had been a long shot, of course.

  Telford nodded.

  “Why me…exactly? I have no experience with BDSM, at all. And why is the state sending someone four hours away to Dark Falls to investigate the murder at a club? Why can’t local authorities handle it?”

  Telford glanced away, tapping his pencil rapidly against the desk until he lost control and dropped it. He still wasn’t looking at her when he spoke. “We needed a woman, for one thing.”

  “Uh-huh. I’m definitely not the only female detective you have. And I’m willing to bet Dark Falls has female detectives also.” Please, God. This could not be happening. Not Dark Falls. Not now. Not ever.

  “Yes, but, you’re, uh…”

  She groaned. “If you mention my looks or even insinuate I’m somehow better suited to this assignment than another woman because of them, I’ll personally strangle you.” She spoke through gritted teeth. She’d known Telford for five years. He knew her well enough to know she wasn’t serious. But dammit.

  He was also one of the few people who knew exactly why an assignment to Dark Falls would put her on edge.

  He cringed and met her gaze finally. “It’s not just because you’re…attractive. It’s also your age and the fact that I know you can do this.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. She’d
let the statement about her looks go. He was squirming in his seat at the need to answer that question. She could see how age would be a factor, however. One she couldn’t ignore. “What about Belinda or Tammy? They’re young.”

  “Belinda is in Denver in the middle of another case, and Tammy is on maternity leave.”

  Shit. She’d forgotten about that. Nicole had been in Falling Rock, Colorado, working undercover on a case for the government. She excused herself from forgetting about Tammy’s baby because the child had been adopted. It wasn’t as if Tammy had been wandering around the department for nine months with a huge belly that reminded everyone daily about her upcoming parenthood.

  Telford continued. “The victim was the twenty-year-old daughter of Governor Thompson.”

  “Shit,” she hissed under her breath. That explained everything. The entire state would jump through hoops to solve that crime. Obviously, she wasn’t so far out of the loop that she hadn’t seen the young girl’s picture on the news a thousand times in the last few days, but she hadn’t realized her next assignment had been to solve the murder of Cora Thompson.

  “Yeah. Now you understand why the state wants someone from Denver sent to help.”

  She pushed to standing and set her hands on Telford’s desk, hating the question she had to ask, but doing so anyway. “Who’s the captain in Dark Falls on the case?”

  “Eve Scanlon.”

  “Does she know who I am?”

  “I don’t think so. I didn’t tell her. She wasn’t there eighteen years ago.”

  At least one thing was in her favor. She shoved off the desk and held his gaze. “I assume you need me there yesterday.”

  Nicole had barely wrapped up the crime she was solving in Falling Rock late last night. She’d driven two hours to her apartment in Denver, slept three hours, showered, and arrived at the precinct by eight in the morning. It looked like she needed to drive straight to Dark Falls without going back to her place. Thank goodness she always kept an emergency suitcase packed in the trunk of her Honda Accord.

  “Yes. They’re expecting you ASAP.”

  She nodded and left his office without another word. There was little else to say, and she understood the urgency perfectly. Not that she considered any homicide to be more important than another. She took every case she was assigned as seriously as the next and made it her life. But, she wouldn’t lie to herself that she would have argued further about the need for her to be the one sent to this particular case if the victim had been anyone else.

  The moment Telford mentioned the victim’s name, she’d known it was time to shut her mouth and get moving. Governor Kenneth Thompson was a well-respected and beloved man. The publicity alone was crazy. Every news station in the country was talking about this crime.

  The death of the governor’s daughter was far more important than Nicole’s aversion to Dark Falls or her lack of knowledge about BDSM. She needed to suck it up. On both counts.

  As Nicole rushed through the precinct, grabbing her purse and briefcase from her desk, she tried to remember what she’d heard on the news. How much did the public know? She’d seen Cora’s picture dozens of times. In fact, she was glad she’d turned the TV on that morning while she’d gotten ready to leave. She obviously didn’t have the file yet, and wouldn’t until she arrived in Dark Falls, but she recalled hearing the body had been located and the family was not taking questions at this time.

  She took a deep breath as she unlocked her car and climbed inside. She had a thousand questions, but none of them would be answered until she got to Dark Falls.

  What was glaringly obvious was that the media had not been alerted about the location or state of the body. In addition, whatever had prompted the Dark Falls police department to decide to send two people undercover to a BDSM club was most definitely not public knowledge as of yet.

  Nicole palmed a Power Bar from the console and chose an upbeat radio station to listen to on the four-hour drive. However, as soon as she got on the interstate, her phone rang. The Bluetooth indicated it was her mother. Not a surprise. They hadn’t spoken in a few days.

  “Hey, Mom,” she greeted as they were connected, cutting her music off temporarily.

  “You’re driving.”

  “Yep.” Her mother hated it when she talked on the phone while driving, even though she’d explained a dozen times that it was connected through the car speakers and hands-free.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Dark Falls.”

  Her mother sucked in a breath. Not surprising. “Dark Falls. That’s…so far away.”

  Nicole rolled her eyes. Only her mother would ignore the elephant that was Dark Falls and choose to point out the distance.

  She surprised her, however, by adding, “You haven’t been back there since we moved to Denver, have you?” Her voice was soft, filled with concern.

  “No. But it’s been almost two decades. I’ll be fine. I go where my boss tells me.” Nicole didn’t feel half as comfortable with this plan as she wanted her mom to believe.

  A pause, and then her mother let it go. “Okay. How are you, hon?”

  “I’m fine, Mom.”

  “I don’t like it when you work such long hours.”

  Nicole loved her mother. She did. But sometimes the woman could be exasperating.

  “I hope you’ve made time for your therapist, dear. I know how you get busy and cancel your appointments.”

  Nicole sighed, trying not to be too audible. After eighteen years, a name change, and thousands of hours of therapy, Nicole considered herself to be a more well-adjusted member of society than most people. “Mom…” she warned.

  “I’m just saying. You know how you are when you get too tired.”

  As if Nicole needed the reminder. By the time she had finished high school, she was stable enough to go off to college and then go on to the academy. Her immediate supervisors were aware of her childhood trauma and the fact that she had changed her last name to protect herself, but she had wanted to be a detective for most of her life, and she’d worked twice as hard as anyone she knew to make that dream a reality.

  No one doubted her at work. She was professional in all things. Always. Every day. No exceptions. The secret she kept from nearly everyone alive was what happened to her at night in the dark. The nightmares had never subsided. Sometimes, she could go a few nights without waking up in a panic, sweating, and often screaming, but they always came back.

  They made no sense. They were filled with sensations and feelings. Fear. Hunger. Cold. Thirst. Filth. Nothing substantial that would give anyone enough information to figure out what had happened to her. Even she did not know. After eighteen years, it was unlikely she ever would.

  She realized her mother was still speaking, but she didn’t think she’d missed anything while her mind had wandered. “Are you sleeping?” her mother asked.

  “Yes, Mom. I sleep fine.” It was a white lie. She didn’t sleep fine or often. But her mother would freak out if she told her. “How’s Dad?” Hopefully if she changed the subject, she wouldn’t continue to get the third degree.

  “He’s good. Playing golf this weekend. As usual.” Her mother sighed as if this were a tragedy.

  “That’s good. Keeps him young.”

  “I suppose so. Well, I’m gonna let you go, hon. You need to pay attention to the road.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Tell Dad I said hello.”

  “Okay. Drive carefully.” Her mother hung up, and Nicole exhaled long and slow. She needed the next few hours of driving to relax her brain. She’d been operating at full-speed ahead for far too many weeks.

  She assumed she would have to hit the ground running when she arrived in Dark Falls too. This was not going to be an easy assignment, and she didn’t imagine she would be getting much sleep in the near future.

  Chapter 2

  Mason England was leaning against the back wall in Captain Eve Scanlon’s office, frowning when a woman who could only be Detective Nicole Sa
lway walked in. He’d gotten a two-hour heads-up about her arrival, and he was skeptical.

  He probably should have looked up her bio before she arrived, so he would have been more prepared for the bombshell that was Nicole Salway. Petite. Thick, smooth, dark hair currently pulled back at the nape of her neck. Tanned skin and brown eyes that suggested she had at least one grandparent who was perhaps African American.

  But Mason hadn’t had time to look up Detective Salway that morning. He’d been in a lengthy meeting with most of the department getting briefed on an ongoing arson investigation.

  Scanlon stood and reached out a hand. “Detective Salway. I’m Captain Eve Scanlon. Thank you for getting here so quickly. I understand they pulled you from another assignment to send you here.”

  Salway shook Scanlon’s hand as she responded. “That’s correct, and you’ll have to forgive me. I came straight here after meeting briefly with my captain, so I know very little about your case.” She turned toward Mason with a warm smile and reached her hand out again.

  “Mason England.” He wrapped his fingers around her much smaller ones, staring into her expressive eyes and venturing to guess that she had slept very little in the last forty-eight hours but wasn’t the sort who would complain or even inform them of that fact.

  Her grip was firm, and the muscles in her arms flexed. She was fit.

  She was also gorgeous, and he felt a zing of electricity rush up his arm at their initial contact. Did she feel it too? She held his gaze for a moment longer than necessary, licking her lips.