It was true that all of them had been barely out of college, young, adventurous, curious and naïve. A more mature woman looking for a threesome would likely go other avenues and not get herself murdered. This case was borderline, but she wanted her revenge badly.
Joanna had rejected her, only to hook up with the next bitch who said yes a few days later.
No one treated Grace that way.
No one.
Edward would have to learn it too.
“It’s too dangerous. Come on, lighten up,” he said, kissing her hard. “You pick the next one. The next two if you must.”
“I already did,” Grace said icily. “It only depends on how much of a coward you are.”
An instant later, she was holding her stinging cheek.
“Fuck you!”
“There’s no time. I want to be out of state by midnight.”
“Just this one, please!” Usually, she wouldn’t plead with him, or any man, especially after he’d just slapped her, but these were unusual circumstances.
She needed this kill.
Finally, Edward paused in what he was doing. There was pity in his gaze. Moments like this, she hated him with the same passion she had fallen for him.
“What?”
“It’s too long. We’d need information, her schedule, the usual. You know.”
“Yes.” A smile turned the corners of her mouth upwards. He had once called it cruel, and maybe he was right about it. She could still surprise him at times, and he had started killing long before her. “I got all of that.”
His eyes widened. “When did you do that?”
“When you were pissing your pants, afraid the police was going to get you. Relax. No one will. Just this one, and we’ll leave. I promise. It will be a fucking piece of art, just the way you like it.” She could already smell the black marker. Black. Crimson.
His smile matched hers.
“Let me hear it.”
Chapter Eight
Rue insisted on paying for the hotel this time, but she drove by each of their apartments to get clothes for an overnight stay. Premeditation, Joanna thought, amused. Happy. That was a scary, unusual place to be, but she couldn’t help it.
Rue also wanted to stop at a grocery store.
“Wait here,” she said to Joanna, “and whoever calls, don’t run away.”
“What’s the plan?”
“You’ll see.”
Joanna leaned back into her seat, listening to the wistful song on the radio. She realized she was smiling. If it wasn’t the end, it was at the very least a time-out from the ongoing nightmare. Dating somebody, for as long as this could possibly last…She had to think about cleaning up her home along with her mind, and making the bed sometime. What a prospect.
Rue returned fifteen minutes later with a couple of bags.
“I’m intrigued.”
“Good. Just let me take care of everything for now, okay?”
“I remember what you said about taking the lead. You weren’t kidding.”
“You okay with that?”
“Absolutely.”
That had been missing from her life for a long time, letting someone else take care of things, maybe since the moment Joanna had realized her mother wasn’t going to come back. She didn’t think it was more than a coincidence—or bad luck for Rue, it could still go either way—that she made that connection now. In any case, it wasn’t a good time to go back there.
She was an adult now, in what could at some point become a relationship—and Rue had a surprise for her. Joanna couldn’t complain about anything.
This hotel was quite a step up from last night’s accommodations, which reminded her once again that Rue’s career looked a lot different from the way hers had turned out. Once upon a time, she’d been used to being the one not only to hold doors open, but take care of the check at the end of a restaurant visit. She had enjoyed it. No woman she had seen ever questioned it. Joanna was questioning herself now, not sure she was comfortable with this new reality, or if this was the reason she had preferred one-night-stands and cheap hotels in the recent past.
“Don’t worry,” Rue said. “I can afford it. If I couldn’t, I’d make you deal with my bathroom situation, but I prefer to invite you into my home once it’s all functional again.”
“That’s okay. Maybe you’d like to come by mine sometime next week?”
“I would, totally. Now let’s check out this room.”
It was a junior suite with a king bed, a sitting area and an electric fireplace. The window was overlooking the park and the river in the distance.
Now Joanna actually felt ashamed for the place she had taken Rue to. It seemed tacky in comparison.
Joining her at the window, Rue wrapped her arms around her waist.
“Did you hear a single word I said two minutes ago? I want to be here. With you. If we’re on the same page, that’s all that matters to me.”
“We are,” Joanna said, surprised by the emotion creeping into her voice. She turned to kiss Rue, the need for closeness almost overwhelming all of a sudden.
“Just a moment,” Rue whispered. “There’s a little something I’d like to prepare. Can you wait here for me?”
“Barely.”
“It will be worth it. I promise.”
Moments later, she heard the water running in the bathroom, and then a multitude of other sounds, vague, dream-like. This was a dream. Joanna dreaded the moment she would have to return to reality.
“It’s ready,” Rue called from the bathroom. Sitting in the armchair by the window, watching the snowflakes fall once more, Joanna had almost dozed off. She got up to walk into the bathroom, her jaw dropping at the sight. The bubble bath she had expected, but not the battery-powered candles, and the tray with glasses of champagne, strawberries, whipped cream and chocolates. Rue sat in the tub, the bathrobe lying on the counter.
“When did you have the time to whip cream?” Joanna asked if that was the most pressing issue.
“I’m afraid it’s from a can. I hope you don’t mind, that’s the best I could do. Will you join me in here?”
“I can’t wait.”
It occurred to Joanna that this was the second time in less than twenty-four hours that she was stripping for Rue, and she didn’t mind a bit. There was something enticingly innocent and genuine about this scene, even with the clearly seductive theme.
There was comfort in trust, she knew. The time spent in prison had seemed less daunting by small degrees after she met Kira, and a lot worse after she left. Her friendship with Vanessa had done a great deal to help her settle into the new life, keep the bitterness at an acceptable minimum.
Normally, Joanna took her time, put the people in her life to a test. Suspicion came a lot easier to her than letting her guard down with someone she barely knew, but for some reason, Rue made it easy.
She took in Rue’s content expression, her smile full of excitement. “You came up with all of this today?”
“I knew I had to think fast, so you wouldn’t elude me again.” Rue leaned back, her gaze…self-conscious? Worried? “Is this, am I too much? I mean, maybe that’s why that person never showed up. I have this thing for wanting to create the perfect environment, because hell, you never know what’s going to happen, and with you it was just so…good. It didn’t want it too end, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“You’re not,” Joanna assured her. “In fact, this is so much better than what my evening was going to look like. I’m sorry for freaking out. Now that you’ve done your homework, I guess you can see why.”
“Yeah. I’m glad I could convince you.”
They both moved at the same time, meeting for a kiss that soon turned deep and hungry. Joanna closed her eyes as she felt Rue’s hand trailing down her side and between her legs.
The scents of chocolate and strawberry would be accompanied by interesting sensations in the future. She allowed herself to step outside of reality for a moment,
mistakes made, catastrophe scenarios for the future that were almost always on her mind, to just feel. Joanna hoped Rue would make too much of this, expect this to go somewhere, and then, for long perfect moments she didn’t care.
“Wow. You are good for me. I haven’t had a cigarette since this morning.”
Rue laughed. “I’m not sure what to make of that. Shouldn’t you be craving one now?”
“Funny, but all I’m craving is you.” She pulled her close again, intent on reciprocating, but Rue shook her head. “Let’s go to the bedroom.”
Joanna accepted the white towel Rue handed out to her and stepped out of the tub, following her into the bedroom. At this point, she would have followed her anywhere. Maybe it meant that she was learning how to trust again.
* * * *
Grace knew she would have to go back to the car, otherwise someone might notice her, and Edward wouldn’t take kindly to that, on edge as he already was.
She couldn’t help herself, even though the window was too high up for her to see anything, and she couldn’t even be sure which one it was. She couldn’t understand herself. One of them was like the other, usually, bodies to enjoy and dispose of once they were done. This one would be no different, or would she?
It wasn’t that she had romantic feelings for Joanna, or that she wanted to give up her life with Edward to do what normal people did, date, settle down, stop thinking about the image of a sharp blade breaking skin, blood welling up.
The salt of tears.
The remembered sensations excited her, almost making her forget that behind one of those windows, Joanna was probably having sex with the woman from The Copper Door. They didn’t even make the effort to pass it off for anything else, always going to a hotel. Well, Joanna couldn’t possibly bring anyone to that dump her apartment was, and Rue…Grace hadn’t been inside her place yet, but she’d seen the contractor’s van. She had to come up with a plan, and soon, before Edward changed his mind.
At least he had grudgingly accepted her choice.
Her right. Joanna was going to suffer.
Grace smiled to herself, thinking that this would be nothing new for her. She had accepted the martyr role years ago, a perfect fit. She finally got back into the car.
See you soon.
Chapter Nine
Joanna spent the next few days in utter and complete confusion. She had made plans to see Rue again in a couple of days, went through her work shifts on auto-pilot and spent most of her time at home cleaning up her apartment, save for the printouts regarding the case. To her surprise, Theo emailed her the old file under threats should she ever tell anyone about it.
She felt almost guilty for letting her mind drift to other things, as if it invalidated the speech she’d made to Christina. She was going to drop by after her work shift, before picking up Rue. The weight of the world didn’t seem all that heavy any longer, though it was scary to think that another person had the power to do that—what happened once she wasn’t in Joanna’s life anymore? Back to shots with Vanessa and the occasional awkward family dinner with Kira.
Kira had called and left a message, asking her how things were. Joanna didn’t want to tell her how things were, because she would completely misinterpret them.
Compartmentalizing was a skill Joanna had never been particularly good at. While she browsed the aisle of local wine at the liquor store, she wondered why the slasher was back after going as far as California. Had he grown up here? Made ties to the community? Coincidence? She decided against the latter. He had managed to evade capture for so long, it was unlikely that anything he did wasn’t meticulously calculated. Thinking of her former theories, it surprised her that he would take on a partner, a possible liability.
Who was she? And how disturbed was the woman to be in on the killings? How did he meet her?
What kind of wine would Rue like?
Joanna knew she had done a pretty decent job with the apartment—that didn’t hide the fact that it was tiny or hadn’t been updated in a while. She hoped that Rue wouldn’t pay too much attention and enjoy the company instead, like she had on Sunday afternoon.
The memory of Rue, shivering underneath her, had her stop and catch her breath. She was grateful to her in so many ways she couldn’t even convey.
Kira called when she was just inside the apartment.
“Sit down first please. I’m doing a spontaneous Christmas party this weekend, and no, you can’t say no.”
Joanna gave the bags on her counter a critical look. Some of the contents would have to go into the fridge.
“Who’s coming?” she asked, absent-mindedly.
“That’s your first question? I’m amazed. You did hear what I said, right?”
“Yeah, I heard you fine. I’m just in a hurry. I have a visitor and I have to prepare dinner.” She laughed at the meaningful silence. “Don’t get any ideas. It’s only dinner.”
“For someone you had sex with?”
“None of your business, and yes.”
“That’s great! Bring her to the party.”
“Kira, stop this! I don’t even know what her plans are.”
“Oh I knew it. This is the best news ever. You must bring her.”
Joanna realized that the course of this conversation was making her uncomfortable.
“No I don’t. I told you, it’s just dinner. It doesn’t mean anything.”
At least, if she believed that, the end of it wouldn’t hurt so much. Where did that come from? This was ridiculous. It was only the third time they met.
“Yeah, tell yourself that,” Kira scoffed. “Will you come anyway? Please.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay. That’s a lot more than I hoped for. I’ll see you Saturday, and enjoy dinner with your girlfriend.”
“Right.” If Kira had been in front of her, Joanna might have taken the childish route and stuck out her tongue.
For some reason, she didn’t mind the bantering. She felt a lot more relaxed than she had in a long time, even with that ever-present shadow over her head. It wasn’t going away anytime soon. She might as well stop feeding it.
Rue arrived right on time. Joanna took her coat and hung it on the rack. To pre-empt any judgment, she gave her an easy out.
“I know it’s not great, but take a look around if you like. I guess I should be thinking about renovations as well—or moving.”
“Don’t worry.” Rue kissed her softly, with enough underlying heat to spark recent memories. “I came here for you, not to be nosy. Besides, it looks great. I had to do with less space before I bought the condo.”
“I’m relieved. I think. I hope you’re a little hungry too, because I don’t cook all that often. Don’t be afraid. It tastes fairly good.”
“I’m sure.”
Rue’s eyes widened at the sight of the candle-lit table.
“What? I can be romantic too.”
“I never had any doubts.”
It couldn’t last, Joanna reminded herself. All of it, every moment, was too good to be true.
Nevertheless, she pulled a chair for Rue and served her some wine. “I’ll be right back.”
After dinner was on the table, they sat and ate in silence for several minutes before Rue laid down her fork.
“I’m sorry, but I was really hungry. Still am, actually. This tastes great.”
“Thank you.” Joanna didn’t want to go too creative when she hadn’t cooked for herself, or anyone in a while, but the baked chicken had turned out pretty tasty. More than the success, and the cozy warmth of the meal, it was Rue’s company that helped her relax in a way she’d almost thought was lost. She was in the moment, not obsessing about what could be, or could have been. This was different.
So, much later, when they had retreated to the sofa bed, she dared ask.
“Would you like to come to a friend’s Christmas party with me?”
“I’d love to,” Rue said without hesitation.
* * * *
Would he, would they come back for Christina? The question haunted Joanna as she lay awake, Rue curled up against her side, sleeping peacefully.
Most predators were cocky, narcissistic, and a victim getting away would hurt their ego. They would want to “rectify” what went wrong in their mind, and blame the ones they thought were responsible. Of course, in their minds, someone else was always guilty. Decker had taken out his anger for Mila, for daring to survive, on her friends.
The slasher and his girlfriend, where were they? Had they left town after the last murder, or were they still lying in wait?
In the early days, he had preferred college towns, graduate students and young professionals, but there were never enough similarities to create a pattern. It was rather easy to follow someone’s activities online if they weren’t particularly careful. Participation in memes and conversations would give someone like the slasher a glimpse into their personal lives, and if some shared personal information…She hated victim blaming, didn’t want to fall into that trap, but some people were too open and trusting with that kind of details.
Rue had researched her story online. Everyone left a footprint. Everyone. She wondered if Theo had thought of asking Christina about her online activities, then shook her head. Of course he had.
It was strange to think of herself at that time, younger, a lot more naïve and hopeful, convinced she could help rid the world of evil like that, one at a time. She had thought she knew better now, after that fateful decision, after those years on the other side of the walls and barbed wire.
Maybe she hadn’t changed as much as she imagined…underneath those experiences, she was still the same woman, struggling to make a difference. For what reason? When had she started giving a damn again? She hadn’t even bought cigarettes, or vodka.
Joanna cast a look at the woman in her arms, kissing the top of her head. Rue murmured something in her sleep, holding on tighter.
Oh, right. Damn.
* * * *
Killer Instinct Page 8