He sprang from his chair and bolted toward the door. Dak rattled within him, suppressing an ungodly scream.
“What?” Green asked, slipping through the door behind him.
John shoved his phone in his pocket as he raced toward the exit. “That shithole has Tracy.”
64
Adonna slammed at Tracy’s chest. *I need. Why blocked?*
Tracy had no idea what Adonna meant. Her blouse slipped off her shoulder and fell to the floor as Sean lapped her neck and collarbone. She waited for the sensation of Sean’s entity entering her body to touch Adonna, but it didn’t happen.
Adonna’s swirl glided up into Tracy’s mouth and reached for Sean’s tongue as they kissed. The sensation tingled, driving the Ambient into a heated fury. Tracy slipped further away, trying to shut the flood of sensations out.
Straddling Sean, Adonna tensed as his jeans kept her from what she wanted. She fumbled with the button as he unclasped Tracy’s bra. His kisses deepened, became more demanding.
Adonna stretched, reaching into Sean. The deep, undeniable desire throbbing through the Ambient subsided before she sling-shotted back inside Tracy’s body.
The jolt knotted her stomach. Her breath hitched.
*No!*
Tracy’s hands shook and formed fists before pushing Sean back with such force that Tracy landed on the floor. Her bottom stung from the sculpting in the Berber carpet.
Sean wiped his arm across his mouth. “What’s the matter, darlin’? Things were just getting good.”
She dragged her fingers through her hair. “I-I don’t know. That wasn’t me. My entity, she pushed me off you.”
*He said stop. He said run.*
Who said? I thought this is what you wanted?
*Afraid. Leave. Now.*
Her heart began to pummel as Sean walked across the room to the desk he’d thrown his shirt on last time she was here. “I can’t believe your little gal pal changed her mind after all this.” He took something out of the drawer.
“Umm, well, she’s not interested anymore. I guess that means you and I are off the hook.”
“Really?” Sean’s body blurred as he charged toward Tracy. He grabbed her wrists and clamped them in cool steel.
Before she could even think of fighting him, he yanked her arms over her head and hung her on a peg beside the entrance. He kissed her cheek. “No, I think you’re definitely still on the hook.”
Her breath hitched. Adonna flexed and sank as Tracy pushed up on her tiptoes trying to release herself but the peg was too high. “What are you doing? Let us go.”
Sean grabbed for her legs. She kicked, slamming him in the face. Barely swayed, he laughed and held her steady with his shoulder while he bound her ankles with a zip-tie.
“What’s the matter, darlin’? Haven’t you ever tried anything a little kinky?”
Her stomach hardened, Adonna balled inside. This was far beyond kinky. Why hadn’t she listened to her flight instincts and stayed away?
“Sean, you’re scaring me. I really want to leave.”
He folded his arms. “So that’s it. You’re done with me? Just like that?” He walked back to the desk and fumbled within the drawer. He turned toward her before tucking whatever he found into his back pocket.
“I want to go home. Please.”
“I thought you were different. Maybe not.” He picked up a long, plastic-covered roll that had been wedged between the desk and the wall and stripped the wrapping. The packaging fluttered to the floor as he walked back to her. “You know, you are the only one who I told about my mother. The only one who listened, at least.” He picked at the end of the roll before unfurling a long sheet of opaque plastic.
Tracy’s eyes widened. A drop cloth? “Sean, this isn’t funny anymore. Please let me down!”
Stretching out a puddle of plastic beneath her, he tucked the tarp into a crevice in the wall. She tried to kick him but only managed a weak swing of her bound ankles.
The plastic crinkled as he began to draw the sheet up behind her. “Those midnight blow jobs went on for years, but when I was seventeen, I wanted more.”
She cringed as he kissed her cheek. The smell of plastic caked inside her throat as he hung the roll over two smaller hooks above her shoulders—hooks just the right size and spacing to hold the reel.
Her heart throttled. The plastic swished as she toiled with the hook securing her handcuffs. “Sean, please.”
His eyes finally met hers. “Sorry for the delay, darlin’. If I knew you were coming, I would have had this all ready for you.” He smiled, almost sweetly. “Now we can get on to the good stuff.”
He grabbed Tracy’s hips, immobilizing her as he nibbled at the tender flesh beside her nipple. Adonna trembled, an odd mix of yearning and fear quaked into a confused fury. Without Adonna’s desire flooding her, Tracy succumbed to a building horror mixed with the bewildering deluge of sensations erupting from her Ambient.
Sean stepped back as his gaze dropped over Tracy’s half-naked form. He smiled, dragging his palm over her bare stomach. “One night, when my dad was passed out drunk on the bed, I snuck into their room. Boy was my mother surprised to see me. She told me no—that I should go, but that didn’t stop her from spreading her legs with a big fucking smile on her face.” He moaned a deep guttural groan from deep in his chest. “Damn, did she scream when I fucked her. I loved it. Daddy never budged.” He kissed the side of Tracy’s neck. “Would you like that, Tracy? Would you like me to make you scream?”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Please let me go.”
“She said that too once, when I tied her up. She said she didn’t like it. She clamped her legs shut, so I hit her.” He slapped Tracy across the cheek.
Stars flashed before her eyes before the sting settled across her skin, searing even as he stepped back. The room fuzzed, and two Seans stood before her before molding back into one.
“She liked it when I hit her. She got so damn wet, writhing and begging for more. I gave it to her. I gave it to her good and hard.” He laughed, dragging his fingers through his hair. A hiss escaped his teeth. “Oh, it was soooo good.”
The entity quaked in Tracy’s chest. *He’s going to hurt you. This is my fault!*
Tracy shook the fog from her head. She needed to do something. She needed to gain control. “I’m sorry about what happened to you. I understand, you’re upset; but, please, let me go and we can forget about all this.”
Sean placed his hands on either side of her head, crinkling the plastic. “It was her fault, you know. For years, she sucked me off every night. By the time I was a man, I wanted it. I needed it. And I had to find new ways to make it more intense.”
His hand eased behind his back and revealed a long carving knife.
“Oh, God!” A cool sheen of sweat coated Tracy’s face. She pulled, twisted, and stretched against the hook holding her.
“She said oh God, too. She liked it when I cut her. Made excuses to her friends as to where the marks came from. It became a game between us.” He licked his lips. “Do you like games, Tracy?”
“Please, you don’t have to do this. We can get you help.”
“I don’t need help!” He screamed in her face before stepping back. A composed expression swept over his features. “We’re not so different from these things inside us, you know. We have needs, desires. We want to screw just as much as they do. We want pleasure.” He glanced at the knife. “Any way we can get it.”
“But our entities don’t want each other anymore. Mine wants to leave.”
A smile touched his lips. “The one inside me is begging me to let you go, but he’s lying. He’s got a little alien hard-on just thinking about us spreading your legs and pile-driving into you.”
Adonna shivered before thickening. *I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.*
Sean stared at the knife, tilting the blade to catch the light from the lamp beside the couch. “One night, I carved a heart on her chest. There was blood everywhere. She
moaned, twisting her hips with every turn of my blade.” His gaze traversed to Tracy. “I’d screwed her at least ten times that night. She smeared the blood all over her, begged for more. Yelled at me because she wasn’t coming. Blamed me for not being man enough for her. She begged for me to hurt her, to make her scream like never before.” His eyes darkened. “So, I plunged a knife into her stomach.” He mimicked the move, a look of pleasure coating his face. “Oh, she screamed. She cried, cursed me when I climbed on top of her, but she was wetter than ever before.” He licked his lips, his eyes wild. “Oh, how she howled as I screwed her. I liked that scream. It was different from the others. Real. Hard. Meaningful.” He pointed the knife at his chest. “I did that to her. I was man enough to make her scream like that.” He raised the blade. “So, I plunged the blade in her chest again and again until she stopped screaming.” He lifted his chin. “Then I knew I’d finally satisfied her.”
Tracy’s whole body shook, shouting at her to run. She yanked at the handcuffs above her. “Oh, God. Oh, God. You’re crazy.” Blood streaked her wrists.
“You like blood, too, I see.” His eyes glazed, looking at the shackles.
“No, I don’t. You killed your mother. You killed her!”
He shook his head slowly, as if they were discussing nothing more important than the weather. “No, my father did. The police found the knife in his hands. He was passed out drunk on the couch as usual. A crime of passion they called it.” A smile crossed his lips. “They were right about the passion part.”
“You’re sick. You are really, really sick.” She choked back a sob. “Please let me go. I can try to help you. There are people you can talk to.”
“Talking doesn’t help. My first foster mother tried to talk it out with me.” He feigned a pout. “Tragic the way the blood soaked her beautiful, blonde hair.” He took a step closer. “Someone broke into the house and killed her. Such a loss. They never found the guy.”
*I should have listened to you! Pull harder on the handcuffs. I’ll try to give you strength.*
Tracy tugged but nothing happened. A whimper escaped her lips.
“Don’t cry, darlin’. I won’t make you wait much longer.” Sean placed the blade under her breast. “Are you ready to scream for me, Tracy?”
His nose flared as he flicked his wrist. Only the sensation of cold steel touched her, at first. Then a stinging fury lanced across her ribs. She bit her lip, holding in tears.
There was so much she hadn’t done. So much she needed to do. Adonna had given her a second chance, and she’d wasted that gift. Her vision blurred with tears, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a scream. She wouldn’t be his plaything.
Sean ran his fingers through her blood, smearing bright crimson across her navel. “So beautiful. Do you know how beautiful you are when you bleed? Would you like to bleed more for me?”
She clamped her mouth shut and stared at the ceiling. I’m sorry, John. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I’m sorry I wasn’t more careful. She blinked the sting from her eyes. And I’m mostly sorry I never got to tell you I love you. Tears ran down her cheeks.
“You want me to cut deeper, darlin’?”
A sob broke free.
“Good. Let’s play.”
65
“I’m telling you the killer is not in Pitman. I gave you the goddamn address!” Green yelled into his cell phone.
The siren atop their car wailed as John turned the steering wheel, screeching around the corner.
“I don’t care that all available units have been dispatched. Reroute them here, now!” The agent threw the phone onto the center console. “Idiots!”
“I take it our friends aren’t going to make it to the party?”
“They think they have the killer cornered in that house in Pitman. Everyone else has been dispatched to a live shooter at Deptford Mall. How can there be no one else?”
John piffed. “Layoffs. That’s what happens without funding.”
John turned off his siren before pulling off the highway and into the residential section. The streetlights cast an eerie glow across the recently paved asphalt—a street Sean probably used every day—the road Tracy drove to meet him.
His knuckles whitened on the wheel. He had precious minutes, maybe seconds to get to her. He needed to keep his calm. He’d get there in time.
Dak roiled within. *Are you sure?*
“Of course, I’m fucking sure!” John blinked at Green’s wide eyes and parted lips before turning back to the road.
Whatever happened tonight, John was to blame. If he’d only pieced together the puzzle sooner…
No. Second-guessing himself helped no one.
Focus. Center. Detach. Keep calm, like any other take-down.
He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. I’m coming, baby. Hang in there.
After speeding past a Wawa, he turned down a partially-lit street and parked three houses away from the address. He opened the door. “You ready?”
The kid’s eyes widened. “We are not going in there without backup.”
John got out of the car and strapped on his bullet-proof vest. “Watch me.”
The agent muttered under his breath but grabbed his own vest and followed. The smell of damp mulch faded into freshly-cut grass as they moved in tandem toward the side of Sean’s porch.
Frogs chirped from the trees overhead, but the otherwise resounding silence vised through John’s resolve. What if he was already too late?
Dak jittered *Don’t say that.*
I don’t have time for you. Get scarce, now.
His friend faded and sank away. Tracy was fine. She had to be.
Green peered into the window and mouthed, “Can’t see.”
John pointed to the right and they darted past the bushes to a window on the side of the house. Inching up to the glass, John froze. Tracy hung like a piece of meat beside the front door. Blood smeared her stomach. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Agent Green grabbed his shoulder and whispered, “Focus. You’re no good to her distracted.”
John nodded, but clenched his teeth. Tracy was hurt, bleeding. The bastard would pay for this. Screw it if John lost his badge in the process.
Crouching, he followed the thin-framed agent back to the entrance. The kid wasn’t exactly the partner he would have asked for to raid the den of a killer, but Tracy could be dead by the time the cavalry arrived.
He settled himself with another deep breath, pointed to the agent, and held up two fingers.
Green nodded, raising his pistol beside his face. His gaze shot from John, to the door, and back. A bead of sweat ran down his temple.
Had this kid even fired a gun outside of a shooting range? Looked into the eyes of a killer? Made an arrest? John was running into an active crime scene with an unknown at his side. It was suicide.
A scream echoed from within.
It didn’t matter how inexperienced the kid was. They were out of time.
John kicked the door. The frame buckled but didn’t give. They’d lost the element of surprise. Dammit, Dak, where are you?
The Ambient spiraled down toward John’s ankle. His hip and leg heated.
Ignoring the lancing pain in his shin, John crashed against the panels again. The door gave, dropping him inside.
“Federal agent,” Green yelled. “Put your hands—”
A thudding clang cut him off. John pushed to one knee as Green crumpled beside him.
Shit! John ducked as an object passed over his head, barely missing.
“Police! Freeze!” John held up his gun.
Sean stood before him, bare-chested with red stains trailing down his right arm. Tracy’s blood.
The dickwad raised his hands, a mocking smile crossing his lips. “Hi, Inspector. I guess you finally got my invitation. So glad you could make it.”
John’s finger twitched over the trigger. He nudged the agent on the floor. “Green, you okay?” The kid’s hand lay empty. Where was his g
un?
A snicker echoed through the house. “Mr. Federal Agent seems to be unavailable at the moment.”
John glanced to the ground a few paces away from him. An iron lay on its side, water leaking on the black-tiled floor. A blunt force object. He’d slammed the iron against Green’s head and then thrown it at John. If John hadn’t ducked, he’d be lying beside his new partner.
The sound of tears permeated the still-open door shielding Tracy from his view. John kicked it closed, keeping his eyes on Sean. “Tracy, you okay?”
“Please get me down.”
“Hold on.” He gestured to Sean with his gun. “Put your hands on your head!”
Sean’s smile infuriated him. “Are you going to tie me up, Inspector? That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” He lowered his hands slightly. “Do you like boys, John? I haven’t tried it myself, but—”
“I said, put your hands on your head.”
Sean shrugged. “Can’t. Sorry. Not finished with your girlfriend, yet.”
The man became a blur, launching at John with unfathomable speed. John pulled the trigger but he doubted Sean was even still in his sights when the bullet left the gun.
Sean slammed John against the door, creaking the damaged wood.
The wind whooshed from John’s chest. Stars riddled the room. His gun bounced across the tiles.
Snickering, Sean backed up a step and kicked the weapon away. “We don’t need this, Inspector.” He held up his fists. “Come on. Whoever’s left standing gets to finish off the girl.”
Blood coursed through John’s temples as he swung. He was mildly conscious of Dak’s presence racing to his bruises and healing him. Sean ducked and backed away. His chuckle fueled John’s anger as he throttled the psychopath with successive hooks and uppercuts.
Sean stumbled and rubbed his jaw. He grimaced. His bruises didn’t seem to be healing as fast as John’s.
*Whoever’s inside him doesn’t like him very much.*
Remind me to thank him later.
“Give it up, Sean. It’s over.”
His maddening smile reminded John of Norman Bates. “Nah, I don’t think so.”
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