It was brutal.
It was damn-near torture, in fact.
But it was necessary.
“Agent Parotti, you can go in now,” the nurse said as she walked out. “She’s awake, but she’s not talking much.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking a deep breath and bracing myself, before walking in.
CHAPTER 9
THE FALLEN GOD
I didn’t plan on becoming a murderer.
I mean, one minute, there I was coming out of the auto parts store after picking up a part for my broken-down bike, and the next, I was sitting behind the wheel of my van completely fucking enchanted with two women that walked out of the salon next door.
They were twins, it was obvious. Same blonde hair, same smiles, same cute little button noses. At first, I just watched, but after a few seconds, something sparked inside of me and I knew what I was going to do.
Just for fun.
Jesus, I was dying for fun lately. Some kind of fucking stimulation, you know?
The way it used to be.
Before everything changed.
Before Asher went to jail and broke up the only family I had left. Before I was basically peer-pressured by the other guys to join up with this new club.
I mean, the Gods of Chaos are good guys, don’t get me wrong. Some of them are even slightly entertaining. Slade’s a fucking riot, for sure. But damn if they aren’t the most boring outlaw club I’ve ever seen. All this saving women and other do-gooder shit they do is great and all, but every now and then, I long for the days of knockin’ heads and breakin’ bones.
Hell, I’d settle for a good drug run.
Maybe move a couple of guns, or somethin’, you know?
I’d give anything for a little action.
Maybe I’d become addicted to it. Fuck — I know for sure it’s in my blood. The apple don’t fall far from the tree, that’s for fuckin’ sure. My old man was a sonofabitch. His face haunted me as I sat there, watching those two pretty fillies get in their little convertible Mercedes.
I mean, I knew what he’d do. I knew what he’d done.
Not just once, but seven times.
Shit, he’d bragged about it every time, coming home in the middle of the night with a new fucking notch in his belt, his heckles up like a proud peacock, strutting around like he’d done something.
Something big.
Something important.
As if his sins validated him as a man.
As if evil was the only true talent he had to offer the world.
For a long time, I’d sworn to myself I wouldn’t follow in his footsteps. That I’d be better than him, that I’d not stoop to his level.
And for fuck’s sake — up till now, I’d done a damned good job of that.
But, shit changes. Feelings change, people change.
Fathers change, sons change…
I’ve sure as hell changed since me and my buddies joined up with the Gods of Chaos. They’ve been generous and kind in ways nobody has ever been to me. But they expect things in return.
Things I thought would be easy to give, at first — like helping out with the construction of the new cabins, or dropping everything to go on a job when they got one of their phone calls. They were like a bunch of angels in disguise, they were so damned good.
I tried, I really did. I tried to do the right thing, live up to their expectations, tried to be good like them. I wanted it all to work out.
But a guy like me? That shit only flies for a little while. The itch comes back and it comes back with a vengeance.
And, apparently, it comes back when you least expect it, because as those two women drove off, I put my van in gear and followed them, because the urge to shake things up was much stronger than the urge to go back to the God’s clubhouse like a good little God.
I followed them home.
I grabbed an old ski mask and put it over my head.
I pulled out my gun.
I forced them into the van, knowing instinctively that the first twin I grabbed would never do anything to put the other’s life in danger and vice versa.
It was almost too easy.
I mean, they cried. They cried me a damned river, for fuck’s sake. And once I had them tied up in the back of the van, I realized I’d not even thought too much farther than the actual abduction. I drove around with them for a little while until I’d hatched a plan, wondering what my father would do.
What would he think if he could see me now?
I wanted to make it personal, you know? Because if I didn’t do that, then what was the point? I grabbed my battery-powered tattoo gun in the back of the van and left a signature, of sorts.
It was perfect, really.
Leaving their bodies buried on the Gods’ property turned me on, I gotta admit. I wanted to upset their perfect little world of saviors. I wanted to give them a problem they couldn’t solve. One that was presented to them too late, before they’d even become aware of it’s existence.
A person they couldn’t save.
Of course, I fucked up, though.
The girl that got away? I’d been sure she was dead. I’d strangled her till her fucking eyes rolled back in her head and she’d passed out.
But when I heard she’d run out of those woods like a crazed, deranged animal, falling into Slade’s arms? I’d been so pissed off at myself.
I knew I’d never make the same mistake again.
Next time, I’d make damned sure the bitch was dead.
CHAPTER 10
DONNA
“Hello, Valerie. My name is Agent Donna Parrotti. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
I hovered over her bed, staring down at her as she looked up at me, her eyes dead and lifeless.
“I’m with the FBI,” I continued. “We need you to answer some questions for us so we can find the person who did this to you and your sister.”
She blinked.
“I know this is difficult. I’m so sorry you have to go through this. But I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else and I’m going to need you to tell me everything you remember so I can do that. Alright? Can you answer some questions for me?”
She stared up at me stoically, her lips held in a tight line, her brow furrowed. She looked angry. That was good. Anger would heal her.
“Can you tell me what you remember about your assailant?”
Silence.
“How old are you, Valerie?”
“Twenty-four,” she whispered.
“Good, that’s a start, thank you,” I nodded. “And your sister? How old was she?”
“Twenty-four,” she nodded.
“You’re twins?”
She nodded again and I took a deep breath and continued.
“Has the hospital contacted your parents?” I asked, suddenly realizing I’d not seen any family lingering outside.
“They’re dead. They’re all dead. And now she’s dead, too,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
“I didn’t know, I’m so sorry,” I replied gently. “?Is there anyone else we can call?”
“Maybe Veronica’s fiancé? I haven’t called him yet. I can’t…”
She shook her head, the distance returning to her eyes.
“We can take care of that for you. Can you tell me what happened, Valerie?”
“It was two days ago. We’d gotten our nails done. Bubble-gum pink. Veronica had just gotten engaged, her ring was so beautiful. We went back home, and pulled into the driveway. We didn’t know he was there. It all happened so fast…”
She broke down, sobbing, the tears flowing down her cheeks. I sat down on the bed, my hand on hers, giving her as much time as she needed.
“And then what happened? What happened after you got out of the car?”
“He was wearing a mask. He had a gun. He held it to her head, he made us get into his van.”
“What kind of van?”
“I don’t know…”
“That’s
okay, go on,” I urged. “Was he alone?”
“Yes. He tied us up. He drove around, for a long time. Finally, he stopped and pulled us out. There was nothing around but trees. And then…”
She paused, gasping for air now.
“Take your time,” I whispered.
She reached down, removing the blanket covering her legs and lifting the hospital gown she was wearing, exposing a red, angry, crudely applied tattoo on her hip.
“He did this,” she said, pointing to it.
“He tattooed you?” I asked, miserably failing at keeping the astonishment from my voice.
“Yes, and Veronica, too,” she said.
I looked closer, leaning down and peering at the black ink. It looked like an infinity sign, a closed figure eight etched into her ski on her right hip bone.
“The infinity sign,” I said, my head spinning as I contemplated the meaning.
“Did the nurse take a picture of that?”
She nodded, pulling her gown back down over it and covering herself back up with the blanket.
“What happened after he did that?” I asked.
She looked up at me with wide eyes, her bottom lip quivering as she struggled to find the words.
“He strangled us. He thought he killed us and then he buried us. Left us all alone to die under the dirt.”
“Did he rape you, Valerie?”
She paused, looking up at me sorrowfully.
“Valerie? I’m so sorry, but I need to hear you say it so that we can charge him with everything possible once we find him.”
“No, he didn’t,” she said, after a moment, her voice a wisp in the air, barely audible. “He didn’t rape us. I don’t know why he did this. There was no reason to kill her!” She broke down, sobbing into her hands.
I took a deep breath, and then another, the only way I knew how to control my rage, at least while I was with her. The anger belonged to Valerie, and her alone. There was no space for my anger in this room.
“Do you remember anything about him? Did you see his face?”
“No,” she said. “He wore the mask the entire time.”
“Did he say anything?”
“He whistled.”
“Whistled?”
“A song, I think I’ve heard it before, but I don’t know where. He just kept whistling it over and over while he was tattooing us.”
“Can you imitate it?”
“No.”
“Would you know it if you heard it again?”
“I think so.”
“Valerie, you were taken in by a group of bikers that called the police after they found you. You were just outside of their property. Did they treat you well? Did you recognize any of them? Is it possible one of the men there was your assailant?”
“No, I didn’t recognize them. I don’t think so. They were all so nice to me. Especially the woman, Grace, she was very kind.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Just needed to ask.”
She nodded, tears continuing to fall down her face. She’d had enough for the day.
“Okay, Valerie,” I said, pulling out my card. “If you think of anything else, and it’s likely you will, please call me. With any little detail, even if you think it’s not important. Or, if you need anything at all, okay?”
She nodded and I laid my card on the table next to her bed, before turning back to her.
“This is a wonderful hospital and they’ll take great care of you. I’ll come back to see you soon, but please, don’t hesitate to call me if you need me before that.”
“Agent Parrotti?” she asked, turning the eyes on me that would haunt me for days.
“Yes?” I asked, swallowing hard, knowing what was coming. They always said it.
“You have to find that sonofabitch that killed my sister,” she growled, her haunted eyes now filled with rage.
“I plan on it,” I said, nodding determinedly.
I walked into the hall with a heavy heart, despite my best efforts. My phone rang and I answered it, grateful for the distraction from my feelings. The last thing I needed were feelings.
“Parrotti,” I answered.
“There’s been another body found,” Randolph’s voice said gruffly.
“Where?”
“Not far from the other one, just on the other side of the God’s gate,” he replied.
“Great, looks like we got a serial on our hands,” I said.
“Sure does,” he said. “Meet you there?”
“Alright,” I said. “See you in an hour.”
I hung up the phone and took a last look at Valerie’s closed door. It takes a special monster to brand their victims, and I knew we weren’t dealing with someone only mildly demented.
Whoever this was, he was playing games.
There’s only one problem.
He doesn’t realize who he’s playing with.
Because I may follow the rules, but I always play to win.
CHAPTER 11
NATE
None of us got much sleep, and it was apparent by the dark circles under everyone’s eyes as we sat around the elaborately carved table in our meeting room. Ryder sat at the head of the table, with Grace to his right, but all eyes were on her, as usual.
“We don’t know anything more than we did last night, except that the FBI will be back today and will want to question all of you.”
“What should we tell them?” Eli asked.
“Tell them the truth,” Grace replied. “None of us have done anything wrong. Neither have they, so far. I’ve just been burned before, so many times, so my trust is something that needs to be earned, at this point. Be polite. Be professional. Be patient. Answer whatever questions they ask, but don’t offer up information they don’t ask for. The less they know about the way we do business, the better. And keep a close eye on them, as much as possible.”
“How long do you think they’ll be here?” Crow asked.
“However long it takes,” she said. “A day or two, I suppose.”
Sirens sounded in the distance and Ryder and Grace exchanged a worried glance. Riot jumped up from his spot next to Ryder and headed for the door.
“I’m going to check the surveillance cameras,” he said.
We waited silently, and he returned within seconds.
“Bad news, guys,” he said.
“What?” Ryder barked, clearly irritated.
“They brought another medical examiner and a coroner’s van. Looks like they found another body.”
The stunned silence hung heavy in the air until Ryder broke through it with a mighty fist landed on the table in front of him.
“Goddammit!” He roared. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Clearly, someone’s trying to fuck with us,” Slade growled.
“What now, boss?” Riot asked.
“We watch and wait,” Grace replied. “Keep your guard up and your eyes open. That’s all we can do at this point.”
CHAPTER 12
DONNA
The Gods and Grace were all gathered around the front gate that led to their property when we pulled up.
“What a fuckin’ motley crew,” Randolph muttered.
“They aren’t so bad,” I replied. His head snapped over to glare at me.
“You aren’t getting soft, are you, Parrotti?”
“Fuck no,” I replied. “Of course not.”
“Good,” he said. “These people are not good people.”
“They don’t seem to be bad people, per se,” I said.
“They have pasts,” he said. “Maybe they’ve turned a new leaf, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still criminals. Don’t be fooled by all that righteous underground railroad shit. They’re still dangerous.”
“I hear you,” I replied, mostly to shut him up. Randolph liked to be right. He liked to pretend he knew everything, too. More than both of those, he liked to hear himself talk, so I’d learned how to keep his incessant chattering at a minimum by just agreeing wit
h him, even if I was lying about it.
I jumped out of the car before he could continue. Sure, these guys were hard. Sure, Grace had a reputation of being a bit of a bitchy trailblazer, but that earned respect from me, not condemnation. The Bureau, and every police department I’d ever had contact with, were all boy’s clubs. It wasn’t easy being a woman in uniform. Grace had stood up to them all, and that took something a lot of these guys didn’t have — balls of steel.
How could I not admire that?
She stood at the front of the group, her hands balled into fists at her side, as the cops taped off the new crime scene, this one just on the edge of their property, right by the front gate. Through the trees, they watched as the crime scene investigators did their job, gently walking around the loosely buried body and taking pictures from every angle. Others scoured the surrounding forest floor for evidence.
“Hello, again,” I said, walking up to them.
“Agent Parrotti,” Grace said, her lips set in a thin, firm line.
“Two bodies in two days,” I said.
“Looks like it,” she replied.
“I take it none of you heard anything? Saw anything?”
“Not at all,” Grace said.
“That’s too bad,” I said. “Looks like someone’s fond of your land.”
“Apparently,” Ryder said, gruffly muttering with irritation.
“I can imagine this must be very unsettling,” I said. “But unfortunately, we’re going to need to ask some more questions and take a more thorough look around.” I handed her an envelope.
“That’s fine,” Grace said as she opened it, though it was clearly not ‘fine’.
“Great,” I said. “That’s a search warrant, as you know. Is there someone who can give me a tour of your property?”
Ryder nodded, and turned to rake his gaze over the group of gigantic men gathered behind him.
“Nate,” he growled. “Show her around.”
One of the largest in the group took a step forward, bowing slightly my way as he stared at me with smoldering dark blue eyes. His darkness was the most striking thing about him. Dressed all in black, his large frame blocked out the sun as he stood in front of me. Soft black locks curled around his neck, escaping from the black ball cap he wore.
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