Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Box Set

by Willow Rose

  It had to be exhausting.

  Matt had been minding his own business, going through all the latest so-called sightings, and called back on several of them, when Carter had approached him and told him to grab his badge.

  “Something happened.”

  And now they were standing in front of an expensive white mansion in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods south of Miami… Coconut Grove. Patrol cars blocked the street, and the blue lights lit up the palm trees in the driveway. Carter pointed at the house next door, then mentioned casually that Bruce Willis lived there, according to his sources. Matt nodded, even though he had the feeling that Carter was just showing off. So what if he lived there? Celebrities didn’t impress Matt much.

  “Why are we here?” Matt asked. “What happened?”

  Carter signaled for Matt to follow him, and he did. The house was crawling with crime scene techs, and Matt was soon suited up and had put on gloves. A tech showed them inside, and they followed.

  The victim was in the kitchen, naked, tied to a chair. The body was drenched in blood. There were already flies in the eyes and the wound on the slit throat.

  Matt clasped his mouth, and for a few seconds, he couldn’t hear anything but the rushing of his own pulse in his ears.

  Chapter 39

  “Who is she?”

  Matt wanted to turn around and look away but managed to keep his cool. Carter stepped closer, grinning as he looked up at Matt.

  “I think she was more of a he,” he said and pointed down to the crotch. A penis had been split in half down the middle, and Matt almost threw up again, thinking about just how painful it had to have been. A knife had been secured as evidence. There was a trail of blood across the white tiles, where the body had been dragged. Matt wondered if she had been still alive, if the killer had dragged it out, just for the pleasure of it.

  “She,” Carter said, “is the owner of Hotel Ocean View in Miami Beach.”

  Matt looked away. “Could it be a hate crime?”

  Carter shook his head. “You’d think, right? But no. I have another theory. The detectives on the case called once they spoke to her secretary. Mrs. Moore here had a visitor yesterday at her office that might be of interest to us. They pulled the surveillance from the lobby as she entered.”

  Their eyes met, and Matt’s heart sank.

  “Eva Rae Thomas?”

  Carter clicked his tongue. “Bingo.”

  “Wait,” Matt said. “You don’t honestly think that…?”

  Carter bit his lip. “Oh, yes, I do. She was the last person to see Mrs. Moore alive. After her visit, Mrs. Moore told her secretary over the intercom that she was going home, then left taking the back door.”

  Matt could hardly breathe. This wasn’t good. This was going from bad to worse.

  “Why? Why would Eva Rae Thomas murder this woman?”

  Carter lifted his eyebrows. “That’s what we need to find out. But so far, she is wanted in connection with the murder. This gives us a lot more elbow room to work. I have asked for roadblocks to be set up around town. Cars will be searched, and that means she won’t be able to go anywhere without being discovered. The Miami-Dade chief is giving us extra manpower. He wants her caught yesterday.”

  “Okay,” Matt said and nodded anxiously. It was getting harder for him to hide his worry. Eva Rae was in serious trouble, and he found it difficult to see a way out of this. “I guess we have work to do then.”

  “It gets better,” Carter said, grinning again.

  “Really?” Matt asked nervously.

  Carter nodded. “There was another woman with her on the surveillance footage. You’ll never guess who she is.”

  Matt swallowed hard. “W-who?”

  “Kelly Stone,” he said, sounding proud, like he was the one who had made the discovery, when in fact, it was another detective who had contacted him and told him this.

  “Yes, the actress. The very one and only and get this. They’re sisters.”

  Matt lifted his eyebrows and tried to act surprised. He was never much of an actor or a liar, and he knew it would come off as awkward. He wanted to yell at this guy and tell him that he had known Eva Rae since he was three years old, and there was no way she would ever hurt another human being like this.

  Not Eva Rae.

  But, of course, he couldn’t say that. He needed to stay close to the investigation, and they wouldn’t let him if they knew the truth. So, he continued to play dumb.

  “Really?”

  Detective Carter nodded pensively. “Makes sense, right? Why we couldn’t locate them. She’s been living the life in first-class, letting her sister pay for everything. Meanwhile, we’ve been looking in all the wrong places. But that’s over now. We’re breathing right down her neck, and it’s only a matter of time before she walks into our net. And when she does, I am taking her down. She won’t know what hit her. There’s only one thing worse than a criminal, and that’s a criminal cop. I can’t stand that. It’s a dishonor to the badge. But I know how to get her now. I know exactly how to sniff her out.”

  Chapter 40

  “Did you go out last night?”

  Sydney and I had just gotten into the Mustang when she asked me the question. I paused before inserting the key in the ignition.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I woke up around midnight, and you weren’t there.”

  I shrugged. “I went for a walk,” I lied. I didn’t want her to know what I had been up to.

  “I see,” Sydney said and looked out the window.

  I turned the engine on, and the Mustang roared to life. I sensed that she didn’t believe me, but I couldn’t deal with that now. I had seen the cult’s symbol branded into the skin of that man in the truck the night before and I hadn’t been able to think about anything else since.

  I hit the accelerator, and we left the hotel’s parking lot, then drove into the street. I wondered about the night before and if the police had found the girls and taken care of them. All morning, I had been flipping through newscasts but hadn’t heard anything. I worried about those girls.

  “So, where are we going?” she asked and looked up at the sky above us and all the tall palm trees that were rushing by.

  “NYX headquarters,” I said and pressed the accelerator to make the car jolt forward.

  Sydney sat up straight. “Excuse me?”

  “I got the address from Lori Moore, remember? Well, I thought we’d pay them a little visit, or at least you would. I’m kind of exposed.”

  “You want me to walk into NYX’s headquarters and do what exactly?” Sydney asked, surprised, and maybe slightly appalled by the idea.

  “I want you to pretend like you want to take a course. I want you to ask questions and seem interested. I want you to go as you, as Kelly Stone, the famous actress, and let them know you’re interested. I want you to ask to see the founder, Christopher Daniels.”

  Sydney stared at me, mouth gaping. “Me? Why?”

  “You heard what Lori Moore said. They’d love to get their hands on someone like you. You’re just the type they want. And you’re an actress; you can easily pretend like you’re very naïve and gullible.”

  Sydney nodded. “O-okay, I guess I can do that. But what do I do when I get in? What if I get to see him? What do I do then?”

  “I don’t know,” I said and turned right on red.

  Sydney gave me a look. “You don’t know?”

  I exhaled. “I just know that somehow this Iron Fist is connected to the cult. I know they’re also somehow connected to the trafficking of young girls. I just don’t know how.”

  Sydney crossed her arms in front of her chest. “And just exactly how do you know this? Yesterday, you didn’t seem so certain. Did you discover this when out walking last night?”

  “You might say so,” I said and drove up another street and into a far more expensive part of the neighborhood. I drove up to the house I had seen on Google maps, then parked the car down the st
reet from the entrance so as not to seem suspicious or get caught on a potential surveillance camera.

  “Listen, Sydney. Just trust me on this. This cult, and probably its leader, is hiding something, and that something might have to do with my daughter. You’ve asked me a ton of times how you can help make things better; well, this is it. If you do this for me, it might help me get Olivia back. So, please.”

  Sydney looked at me, her eyes growing softer.

  “Okay. I’ll do anything for you; you know that.”

  I eased up and fell back in my seat. “Thank you, Syd. It means the world to me.”

  Chapter 41

  THEN

  The sex was intense. Christopher was insatiable, and it felt like he could continue forever. Helen was exhausted by the time he finally got off her, and she felt so embarrassed.

  She had wanted this to happen, a big part of her had, and she had let it, but at the same time, she felt like she had no choice. Christopher held that type of deep power over her so that she was incapable of saying no to him.

  He rose to his feet, ran a hand through his hair, then looked down at Helen’s naked body while getting dressed. The yoga mat underneath her felt sticky. His eyes glaring at her made her feel uneasy.

  He smiled like he enjoyed looking at her, and that made her blush. She felt like asking what would come next, what was expected of her, but she didn’t dare.

  The thing was, she enjoyed him and the way he looked at her. Somehow, she had known that she would from the first time when reading his book and looking at his picture. She had known that she wanted to sleep with him. He had that raw sexual energy in his eyes. But he still scared her slightly as well.

  Helen reached for her dress on the floor and was about to put it on when he stopped her.

  “Wait.”

  She paused and looked up at him. He pulled out his phone and took her picture. Helen froze, wondering what he was doing. He took another picture, then crept really close to her, spread her legs, and took a series of pictures of her vagina.

  “What are you doing?” Helen shrieked. She reached her hand down to cover herself up, but he laughed and removed it.

  “Don’t be shy. I’m just taking a few pictures of you.”

  “W-why?” she asked and grabbed her dress, then held it up to cover her body.

  He grinned and showed her a picture on his display of her vagina up close, then swiped so she’d see herself lying naked on the floor. Helen winced at the sight.

  “Why?” she asked again. “Why would you take those pictures?”

  He leaned over her, pushing her back, then kissed her intensely. As his lips parted hers, he looked into her eyes.

  “I call it collateral. Now that I have these, you won’t tell anyone what goes on here. I own you, and if you tell anyone about us or about what this group is, or if you refuse to do as we tell you to, then these pictures will be sent to everyone you know, starting with your parents.”

  Helen stared at him, eyes growing wide. She pulled away, appalled. It took a few seconds before she was able to speak again.

  “W-what do you want from me?” she asked while pulling the dress back over her head, her heart pounding in her chest. Never had she been treated in such a manner with so little respect. “Is it my money you’re after?”

  He smiled and tilted his head as she rose to her feet. He grabbed her by the shoulders, then kissed her again.

  “What is this?” she asked.

  “This is me taking control of you. You’re my slave now, and you do everything I tell you to, do you hear me? Everything.”

  Chapter 42

  The new girl, Tiffany, stayed close to Olivia at all times. It was getting slightly annoying to Olivia, and she often tried to lose the girl, to push her away, but Tiffany refused to let go of her side. Often, she clung onto her arm so tight, Olivia couldn’t use it.

  It got them in trouble at the factory that night, and after that, Olivia ignored Tiffany when they got back to the house. She went to bed, hoping that by giving her the cold shoulder, she might give up and finally leave her alone. Olivia didn’t have the energy to take care of anyone else.

  “I’m sorry,” Tiffany whispered later as they were trying to sleep.

  Olivia lay with her back turned to her, eyes open, but pretending to be asleep.

  “I’m just so scared,” Tiffany continued, her voice quivering. “And you remind me of my sister. I miss my sister so much.”

  Olivia exhaled. She really didn’t want to know more about Tiffany or her family. She didn’t want to know any details about this girl because that would mean that she’d have to care about her, and she didn’t want to. She couldn’t allow herself to do that.

  Yet she still sat up and looked at the girl, then smiled. “I have a sister too. And I miss her… a lot, even though she can be very annoying at times. What’s your sister’s name?”

  Tiffany wiped her nose on her arm. The stench from the factory and the dead chicken lingered in Olivia’s hair constantly, and she felt so sticky.

  “Her name is Ariana. She’s two years older than me,” Tiffany said. “She used to help me with my homework. She’s really good at math.”

  Olivia felt a knot in her throat. She had forced herself to not think about her family for so long, simply because it hurt too much to do so. She tried hard not to picture her mom because, if she did, she would see how sad and desperate she was, not knowing where Olivia was.

  There was nothing worse to Olivia than to see her mother cry. She didn’t want to think about it.

  “I used to help my sister with math too,” Olivia said, then chuckled lightly at the memory of her and Christine struggling over math problems. “She was terrible at it.”

  Olivia bit her cheek, realizing that she had spoken about her sister in the past tense like she didn’t expect ever to see her again. Did that mean that she had given up hope?

  Maybe.

  She had seen several of the girls die while she had been kept there. Only the toughest made it through to the next day. And so far, Olivia had been among the tough ones. But for how long?

  “Do you think we’ll ever see them again?” Tiffany asked, her big hope-filled eyes lingering on Olivia’s face.

  Olivia pictured her sister’s face, then her brother’s, and finally, her mother’s. Then a tear escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheek.

  “I’m sure we will,” she said. “I’m sure we will.”

  But they both knew it was a lie.

  Chapter 43

  Matt was staring at the whiteboard in front of him, his hands shaking lightly. On the board, looking back at him, was the surveillance photo of Eva Rae and her sister, taken in the lobby of the Ocean View Hotel. They had both dyed their hair, and Eva Rae was also wearing a cap and glasses, but he could still see it was her. He’d recognize that sweet face anywhere.

  Matt closed his eyes for a brief moment and pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning forward.

  What am I going to do? How am I supposed to get her out of this mess?

  As he opened his eyes, Carter stood in front of him, a file in his hand, and a smirk on his face. He placed the file in front of Matt.

  “Our little friend was busy last night.”

  “What do you mean?” Matt asked, feeling tense. Could it possibly be more bad news? He wasn’t sure he could take any more.

  Carter nodded at the file, and Matt opened it, then flipped through the top pages before looking back up at his partner.

  “There was a shootout at the harbor last night. Three men were found dead. Others were badly injured. No one is talking, though. Seemed to be gang-related at first. But get this, they found seven young girls in a container. All fresh in from Guatemala.”

  “Trafficking victims?” Matt asked.

  Carter nodded, grabbed a chair, and sat down. “Looks like an Eva Rae Thomas project, doesn’t it?”

  “But… what time did this happen?” Matt asked. “If we assume she was at Lori Moore’
s house, she couldn’t have been at the harbor too. She can’t possibly have been at both places?”

  Carter leaned back. “I had a feeling you might say that, but unfortunately, one doesn’t exclude the other. The medical examiner says Mrs. Moore was murdered between two and four a.m. The shootout took place right after midnight. It’s a twenty-minute drive. She could easily have performed both. No matter what, we’re looking at at least three homicides at the harbor, and then a possible homicide in Coconut Grove. We’re waiting for ballistics on the shooting victims. But I’d say we have ourselves a serial killer now. This is the big stuff, Matt. This is what can make or break a career.”

  “Except we have no evidence placing her at any of those scenes,” Matt said, his voice shivering in desperation.

  “Ha. That’s where you’re wrong,” Carter said. “Turn to the next page.”

  Matt did, his hand shaking so badly it was hard to hide. A surveillance photo of someone getting out of a yellow Mustang appeared. It was obviously a woman, a woman wearing a cap.

  “Taken at the port at exactly five minutes to midnight,” Carter said. “Notice, she’s wearing the exact same clothes as she was on the surveillance from the hotel earlier in the day, the last time anyone saw Lori Moore alive.”

  Matt’s heart sank. There was no way around this. It was her. It was Eva Rae in that photo, placing her right at the scene of a triple homicide.

  What the heck are you thinking, Eva Rae!

  Matt stared at the photo. Tears were welling up in his eyes, but he managed to stifle them.

  “Say… are you… you’re not personally involved with this woman, are you?” Carter asked, scrutinizing Matt.

  Matt sniffled and shook his head. “No. Of course not.”

  “It’s just… you seemed a little emotional there.”