He grabs his phone, answering it with his last name only, and I sit up to kiss his shoulder as he talks.
“No, I’m at Lana’s house, why?”
He grows stiff, and I remove my lips from his shoulder. When he blows out a harsh breath, I run my hand up his back.
“Yeah. Come get me. It’s on the way. I’ll grab a shower and something to eat before you get here.”
He hangs up before turning to me, brushing his lips over mine just barely.
“Care if I use your shower.”
I roll my eyes. “You don’t even have to ask.”
“I’d ask you to shower with me, but we have another body. I need to be ready before Craig gets here.”
I gesture toward the bathroom, and he groans as he stands.
Following him in, I hop up on the sink, admiring the view as he strips out of his boxers and climbs into the shower, turning the spray on. I grimace. That has to be cold.
He doesn’t so much as flinch.
“I feel like you’re getting screwed out of all the good stuff and skipping right to the worst case scenarios,” he says over the sound of the water.
“I’m currently not getting screwed. Did he leave more messages?”
He grunts, and I watch as he tips his head back, running his hands through his hair to wet it. I think shower times should get watched from now on. This is hot. I want to video it so I can perv more later—after I buy a replacement vibrator.
“Just his media name and the words ‘You can’t’ were carved. Two bodies in two days is a rapid devolution. He’s getting too bold.”
I dropped two bodies in one day, but I hardly feel like now is the time to brag about my awesome efficiency.
“How’s he choosing his victims?”
We shouldn’t be talking about an active case. It’s against the rules. But this one actually concerns me, considering I’m probably a target. So that makes it…okay?
“He’s choosing mostly brunettes in their mid-twenties. All were low risk victims, but none were put on display until he came here. This latest one was found tied to the top of her car, and the car was moved to the middle of the street. That’s all I know so far.”
I think that over before responding.
“He’s feeling the high. There’s a certain feeling of invincibility when the killer finds it impossible to get caught. It probably turns him on more than the torture to see everyone quivering in fear. He’s also approving of his media name, adopting the persona. Everyone fears the Boogeyman growing up. Now he’s reigniting that fear in adults.”
He blows out a breath of agreement, and I try to think of something to say.
“You can’t? That’s an odd message.”
“Yeah. I’m sure it’s a taunt. Maybe he got interrupted before he could finish.”
Maybe…
When it grows quiet, I think of something else to say, just to make it look like I’m asking more questions than about the killer.
“Does it bother you that I didn’t tell you I was rich?”
“No,” he says immediately. “I like the fact you’re humble. My stepdad always said that those who strive to be humble detest the ways of the arrogant.”
I like that.
“And for the record, I can tell your past is a sore subject, so I don’t want to press for any information there either. I enjoy just getting to know who you are now,” he adds, causing me to smile and grimace at the same time.
He’s bringing back parts of me that I thought were dead, resurrecting my soul from ashes. But all the shadows that lurk inside me, hiding the monster within… Those are parts he can never see.
He shuts off the shower and steps out just as quickly, grabbing a towel from the rack. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t distracted by the way the water seems to follow all the lines of his abs to the towel as he conceals my happy place with the fluffy fabric.
An audible sigh escapes me in dreamy fashion, and Logan smirks, arching an eyebrow at me. I’m not even ashamed that I’m ogling him.
It feels good to crave someone and want them. I won’t take it for granted or be embarrassed.
He grabs a toothbrush from his bag—when did that get in here?—and sidles up next to me to start brushing his teeth.
We look like a Sunday morning special right now—instead of killer and hero.
As soon as he’s finished brushing his teeth, he slides my legs apart and settles in between them. I don’t protest at all when he kisses me, tasting minty and ultra fresh.
My fingers tangle in his hair as I pull him closer, savoring this while I can. There’s no telling when he’ll be back.
He laughs when he tries to break the kiss, only to be pulled back down by me. Unfortunately, his phone rings again, and I’m forced to let go.
This time it’s a text, and he reads whatever it says. He puts it away, his face expressionless as he looks up at me.
“I’ll take you on another date soon. And another. And another. I’ll make all this worth it. I’ll also be back here tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. It’s not much, but right now—”
“Stop acting like you’re not enough,” I tell him, kissing him again.
I want to tell him he’s too good for me.
I want to beg him to save my soul from damnation.
I want to plead with some powers above to take away the pain that drives me…
To let karma step in and handle the rest.
But I’m the only reckoning there will be.
“Scream for me, little Victoria. Scream loud.”
“Always knew you were a little whore.”
“Hold her down!” Kyle says, laughing as I struggle in vain, holding back the sob on the tip of my tongue, refusing to let them see me break.
“Leave her alone!” Marcus cries from behind me, and my heart clenches as excruciating pain slices through my body.
“Open your eyes, sweetheart. You don’t want to miss this.”
“Do it, Marcus. Do it or we’ll make it so you never do it again.”
Hours and hours and hours of taunts. The night I should have died is forever seared into my memory. Their sins stained my soul with so much darkness that their deaths are needed to cleanse me.
To make me feel whole again.
I need to replace their taunts and evil laughter with the sounds of their screams.
I sleep better with each new scream I get to add. The screams override the scent of their breath, the strikes of their hands, and their dirty, disgusting fingers.
They’ll never hurt anyone else. Even if they rise from the dead, they lost their tools of pain.
The rest will join them soon enough.
I can’t stop now.
Not even for Logan.
Chapter 6
The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
—Confucius
LOGAN
“All is quiet since that last kill two days ago,” Craig says, stating the obvious.
I nod, my mind buzzing a thousand miles a minute.
I’ve kept my promise, going back to see Lana, even though I spend all the time sleeping. She stays cuddled against my side, strumming her fingers through my hair, as though she has nothing better to do.
“He’s smart. Police presence has increased,” I say numbly.
I’ve never felt so personal about a case.
“What does ‘you can’t’ supposed to mean?” he asks, pensive as he studies the close-up of the writing on the body.
“I don’t know. You can’t stop me? I think he got interrupted.”
“Then there could be a witness. I have that press conference coming up in three hours. I’ll see if I can get anyone to come forward.”
I nod absently, running my finger over my lips. The director has put all our other cases on hold. This is currently our only priority, and we’re to treat it as though it’s our only case.
“Forensics came back on those fibers we found on the last victim’s body,” Hadley says, dropping a file to my desk. “I looked into it, and you can only find that type of thing in an old factory that was closed down four years ago. Homeless people shack up in it fairly regularly. He could be there and blending in. It’s about two hours from here. I’ll send the address to your phone.”
I’m out of my chair and grabbing my gun in the next breath, and Donny races to catch up with me as I head out the door. Hadley stays behind, but Lisa and Elise join us as we burst through the doors, practically jogging.
Donny makes the calls for backup, and I pull up my phone to see the address Hadley has already sent. He’d need a vehicle to get from there to here, so I call Hadley.
“What’s up?”
“You and Alan start sifting through any car thefts between here and there. He’s got wheels. I doubt he’s taking the bus after soaking in a blood bath.”
“On it.”
She ends the call, and I pocket my phone, rushing my steps. We better catch the son of a bitch.
Lisa and Elise take the lead in their SUVs, and I follow behind them with Donny at my side, both of us turning on our lights. “Fuck,” I hiss, whipping into a gas station when my low fuel light pops on.
I call Elise as Donny hops out to hurriedly push some gas into the tank.
“You’ll get there before us, but don’t go in until we’re on the scene. Got it?” I say the second Elise answers.