From now on, he’d be the hunter.
Reece stared in the mirror at the dark dyed hair and stubble he’d let grow out over the last few days. It’d been a while since he’d worn this look, but it fit him.
No one would ever mistake him for a druggie, but that hadn’t been his objective when he infiltrated gangs in Miami and South America. His claim had always been that he was a newb dealer, looking to score big. He’d even admitted to some of the thugs that he was a cop, but he was tired of watching all the money he confiscated end up in the pockets of city officials.
The department used the money for needed equipment in the war on drugs, but the low-level suppliers on the street didn’t know that. When he complained that higher-ups used the proceeds from confiscated sports cars, boats, and houses to throw elaborate parties where they snorted and smoked the drugs the detectives confiscated, the hooligans working the streets believed him.
He droned on at seedy bars how he risked his life, but couldn’t afford to pay his rent, and eventually, some loser would slither up to him, stating that he understood his plight. It took weeks sometimes, but sooner or later, the low-level dealer would offer him a job.
Reece pulled on a pair of black jeans and a dark gray hoodie. He glanced at the map. Over the last few nights, the local news had reported two more slayings, both of which appeared to be murders the rogue was using, as both deaths were by mortal wounds from a gun or knife.
He glanced at his phone; sunset wasn’t until seven, so he flicked on the local news.
A killer targeting criminals has authorities baffled. Your Channel-3 News team has been following this story. Jacob Cantwell is live in South Boston.
The screen split in half, and a young reporter standing outside the police department that Reece had left less than a week ago started speaking into a mic.
It really has, Steve. The Boston Police Department has been part of multi-agency taskforce trying to track down suspects, looking for a big break. Authorities have been slow to admit whether these murders are gang related or the work of a serial killer, but we have just received an anonymous tip that there’s been a common link with all the crimes.
The screen cut to an image of the creatus seal on the last victim’s head.
This might be the work of a cult, Steve. If any of our viewers have information on this symbol, please use our hotline listed below to leave an anonymous tip.
Had the rogue leaked it to the news? Frank wouldn’t have, since the last thing he wanted was for humans to know that a supernatural being existed. Sadly, Reece had known officers in the police department where he worked in Miami that would sell tips to the local stations, so more than likely, it’d been one of them.
Reece flicked off the TV. Time to go to work. Finding the rogue wouldn’t be like worming his way into a network of drug dealers to track down the supplier. He already knew who the top dog was. The question, though…was Jonas committing the crimes, ordering the hits, or was there a rogue within his band of misfits?
He couldn’t infiltrate their group, as they already knew who he was. If he’d immediately accepted Jonas’ offer, he would have looked too anxious. No…he had to be on the hunt for the same thing that the rogue sought: vicious crimes. He would have to go to the seedy bars, and yet, stay out of the range of whoever was doing these killings.
What prompted the rogue to kill just three humans? The first creatus kill was a man who’d been raping a woman, the second, a man abusing his stepdaughter.
That’s it, Reece said aloud in his tiny apartment. He darted to the map now pinned to the wall, glancing at the dates and times of the two slayings. The first rogue kill was the same night Victoria had moved him to the farmhouse. The time of death was late, around midnight, so it’d been after Victoria and he’d had dinner…and after the wine, after Michael tore out of the driveway.
The second slaughter had been in the morning, right after Victoria and he had kissed on the porch. Ten miles away from the farmhouse.
Then the third victim’s time of death was after he’d surprised Victoria in her office.
Michael had been in the vicinity during the first two murders, but then again, Jonas had been at the farmhouse the next day too, so more than likely he’d been there the night before, or someone had leaked the information to him.
Michael had been angry. Could he have taken out his sexual frustration at seeing Victoria with him against humans committing sexual crimes? Had he heard Reece’s sexual innuendos and taken them as sexual assaults?
It fit. Victoria was the trigger for the rogue killings…not the fake kills, which sadly, meant that Michael or Jonas were his number one suspects. Unless someone else was infatuated with her.
He needed to track Victoria. Or, even better, he needed to have another interlude with her…in plain sight.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Vic had stared at her laptop for six hours straight. There simply wasn’t enough to go on. She knew Jonas was involved, but she couldn’t find any outside connections to him, his brother, or their mother. It was as though the three of them were ghosts.
As much as Derrick and she didn’t want to believe it, as she’d suspected, everything led back to the same answer: someone they knew and trusted was helping Jonas.
She glanced at her watch. She’d been at the hospital for fourteen hours. Derrick had come by two hours ago and told her to go home, but she just glared at him. Home… Michael’s place wasn’t home, and tonight was the night of their ‘one night’ that she’d promised him. He’d asked her to be ready at eight o’clock and to wear something nice.
She sighed loudly. She wasn’t afraid of anything, and yet, she was terrified of being alone with Michael. All the more reason to get this over with.
She packed her laptop in her satchel, pulled her leather jacket off the coat rack, and locked up her office. Although no one but the hospital staff should be on this floor, the hospital was open to the public, so it was possible that a civilian could wander off. Technically, they were a clinic, but since they had the capability of housing patients overnight and provided specialized treatment, they considered themselves a hospital.
They mostly just used the first few floors of the six-story brick building, which saved in heating. The ancient structure was solid, but it’d taken a large fortune to get it up to code. Although they treated humans too—to help pay the bills—they were here for creatus around the state, so they were always busy. Vic knew they needed her, but just the sight of blood took her to the night where she’d failed, when she’d almost let Michael die.
Making her way to the private elevator, her mind wandered, wondering what she would do if this continued. What would she do with herself if she could no longer be a doctor?
She pushed the down arrow and waited for the archaic contraption to make its way to the sixth floor. Why hadn’t she just taken the stairs as she normally did? Her mind was a blur was why. She’d been walking around like a robot for days now, waiting and wondering when she’d see Reece again.
What would he think about her date tonight? Would he be upset? Jealous? It wasn’t as though they’d declared themselves; he’d just asked her not to make any decisions. As if that were even possible. If she could have decided whom she’d fall for, she would have fallen for Derrick years ago, and she never would have met Reece. Or a scarier thought, she would have fallen for Jonas.
What would have happened if she had fallen for Jonas that first night they spent together? Would he have stopped his attack against Derrick and Kris that night? Or would she have joined him in this war?
The chime finally sounded and the elevator locked into its position, the doors still closed.
She sighed… How did humans have enough patience to wait on these stupid contraptions? Deciding she didn’t want to be in that deathtrap of machinery, she turned and headed for the stairs, just as the doors creaked open behind her.
More than likely, she’d be in the parking garage before the elevator made its wa
y back to the lobby.
Vic pushed through the steel door of the stairwell and glanced over the railing. They weren’t supposed to drop to the first floor, in the event a human was there, but it was late.
She secured her shoulder bag against her side and hurdled the concrete wall surrounding the top level. She softened her knees as she hit, and as always, landed with no more sound than a cat would make. “Humph,” she said under her breath, “Wonder Woman and Cat Woman, eat your heart out.”
“God, you’re beautiful. Way better than any wannabe superhero.”
His smooth tone made her insides feel like jelly. She whipped around, launching into his arms, but then tottered backward when she saw him. It took her a second, but then she realized the voice matched the face, just the color of hair and facial hair was a shock. Of course, now, with his dark hair, there was no denying that Reece was a creatus. How had she not seen how much he looked like one of them, just because he had blond hair? His olive skin, his cheekbones, his build…everything about him resembled her kind.
“Nice greeting,” he purred in her ear, pulling her out of the direct light and up against the wall. His lips pressed against her neck, working their way up her jaw. “You can leap into my arms anytime. I came here to talk with you, though,” he said between kisses. “But every time I see you, I just want to attack you. A gentlemanly attack, of course.” He pulled back and looked at her face. The flecks of gold in his eyes shimmered in the dim light, as though he were looking at a candle flame. “I have a theory, but I need your help.”
“A theory on what?” she whispered, matching his low purr.
“Cooper has me investigating the murders. Your rogue isn’t killing all the humans; he’s using them.”
Vic nodded. He’d come to the same conclusion that she and Derrick had.
Reece kept his mouth close to her ear. Obviously, he was concerned that a creatus may be listening. “He’s only killed three, and I think I know how to catch him in the act.” He paused. “Or rather, how to entice him to kill again, but catch him before he does.”
“How?” she asked.
“You.”
“Me?” she said a little too loudly.
He pressed his fingers over her lips, silencing her, but also sending a rush of heat through her body. “You’re the key, Victoria. Each time he has actually killed, it was after you and I were together. After we drank the bottles of wine and were flirting…after our first kiss on the porch, your office. Each one of the victims’ times of deaths was within an hour of us being together.”
She shook her head. If that were true, it meant that it was Jonas—or Michael. No. It wasn’t possible.
“I’m sorry. They both seem like okay guys on the surface—”
“Both? How do you know…”
“Victoria, it has to be one of them. They’ve both made it clear that they want you.”
She released a breath and dropped her head against his chest. Her insides churned as though she would throw up any second. Those images. Had she been to blame? Because she’d come on to both of them.
“Hey…” Reece touched her cheek, and she felt her head lean into his palm at the same time warm water streamed down her cheeks.
Tears. She rarely cried. Not since her mom had died.
“Victoria, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. It’s not your fault—”
She nodded and inhaled deeply, attempting to pull herself together. “Yes it is. I’ve been confused, and I did…in a way…make both of them think I was interested.” She shook her head again. “But I never thought. I mean…I’m just me. All of them…Derrick, Michael, Jonas, and Ry. We’ve been friends since we were kids.”
“Ryan, Jonas’ brother, how does he fit in?” Reece asked.
“He’s two years younger than Michael, Jonas, and me. But since he was Jonas’ kid brother, he always hung out with us.”
“Is he capable of this? Have you and he—”
She stared up at him. “I know it’s hard to believe, Reece, since you come from the human world, but most creatus don’t make a habit of sleeping around. We fall in love, decide that we want to be with someone forever, and then we have sex—and then we…as we call it, fall. It connects us forever. Derrick and I thought we’d be together forever; we’d planned it, but it never happened. The only man I’ve ever slept with other than him was Jonas.” She dropped her head. “I was trying to forget. I was hurt, and I’d always known that he liked me. Ry joked with me when Jonas left our group, asked me when was I going to dump Derrick for him, but he was always joking.”
Reece rested his palm against her neck. “Are you sure? Maybe he’s just as infatuated with you as the rest of us are.”
She felt her cheeks get warm. Crying, now blushing, what the heck was wrong with her. “Yes. I mean, no. No one is infatuated with me… I’m just… There aren’t a lot of options if you want to stay near Boston. There are a few women, but most creatus choose a partner right out of school, or they aren’t—”
“You,” he cut in softly. “I’ve done my homework, Victoria. I kept track of all the comings and goings in that hospital for almost a month. There are plenty of females in your community. There just aren’t any like you.”
“No…that’s not what I meant.” She sighed again. “You’re not helping, Reece.”
“I’d say I’m sorry again, but I’m being honest. I told you how I felt from the first time we met. I never believed in love at first sight, but it happened.” He chuckled quietly. “And then you knocked my lights out.”
Love at first sight? She shook her head. It was a figure of speech. He hadn’t meant it the way it sounded. “I’m sorry for punching you…and holding you hostage.”
Reece shrugged. “I’m not. And I understand. I shot your best friend. Of course, I was trying to protect you, you know.”
“I know.” She moved away from him and leaned against the wall. “So what do we need to do?”
“We’re doing it,” Reece said, smiling. He reached up and brushed his fingers down the side of her face. “We need to be together. In public. And then watch.”
Vic felt her cheek lift. They could be together. “But what about Frank Cooper?”
He winked. “I’m infiltrating deep. I’m going to explain how I swept you off your feet, begged you to go out on a date after you treated me for food poisoning.”
“You’re awfully good at this lying stuff.”
“I’m a cop. They say the closest thing to a criminal is a cop. We have to think like the proverbial bad guys think, be able to lie as easily as they do. But don’t worry,” he leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers, “I’ll never lie to you.”
Could they really be seen together? Go out in public together… On a date. “Oh, no!” She’d completely forgotten. “Michael…we were…umm…supposed to have dinner together.”
Reece narrowed his eyes. “You’re staying with him…doesn’t that mean you have dinner every night?”
“Yeah…but…I sort of owed him a date.” She cringed, hoping he wouldn’t be jealous, even though, when she thought about it, she wanted him to be jealous. Just not creepily jealous. She laughed internally. Now she was acting like the college kid she’d fussed at Kristina for being. Technically, though, they were about the same age. Although she’d lived a lot more years than Kristina had, her body and mind were supposedly still that of a twenty-something-year-old human woman.
“You have a date with Michael tonight? But what if…” He leaned forward. “What if I kissed you again…but didn’t stop when you asked me to.”
Her heart leapt in her chest. “I might not ask. But then—”
“You wouldn’t be able to let me go,” he finished her words. “Would that be such a bad thing?”
She gulped, shaking her head. Every part of her body pulsed with desire…for a kiss. How was that possible? Sabrina had said she’d feel it everywhere else first, and she’d been right. She’d felt connected with Reece from the first night.
She smacked his arm. “I already told you. I don’t make a habit of sleeping around.”
“Oh…I wasn’t thinking sex. I don’t want you to kiss him.”
She couldn’t help but smile. He was jealous. It felt good. He didn’t ask her not to go; he just asked her not to kiss Michael. “Okay, Reece. No kissing.”
“Or sex.”
“Definitely, no sex. Mike has been around the block a few too many times as far as I’m concerned. He’d have to undergo numerous tests first. Creatus can get diseases too. Thankfully, because of our monogamous lifestyle, that’s an extremely rare cause of death.”
Reece nodded, seemingly content. “And tomorrow, we’ll start operation Victoria.”
She leaned in, and he took advantage of the position, pulling her up against him and burying his face in her neck. “I can’t wait until the day you allow me to really kiss you.”
“Me either,” she admitted.
But not tonight. Tonight, she had to meet Michael and tell him that though they never were, they could never be.
Reece was definitely the One.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
After Reece left the garage, Vic took her time before exiting the underground parking deck.
Even though she should be thinking about how to catch this killer among her kind or her evening ahead, the entire way to Michael’s loft she replayed her conversation with Reece. She kept stopping on his ‘love at first sight’ remark. It had been a month, and other than the last week, they’d seen each other almost daily. Of course, she’d fought with him and denied her attraction to him the first few weeks.
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