Coveted: Saint Cecilia Slayings Book Four
Page 8
“The main difference I can tell you from the memo that was sent out is that this victim seems to have been injured quite extensively outside of the wound to the neck.”
This time, my head whips around to him so damned fast I swear I see stars. “Excuse me?”
The Lieutenant nods grimly. “Her face is bruised on one side. Back of the head matted with blood, so we’re assuming there was a head wound, as well.”
What in the fuck? That’s new. As in “possible copycat killer” new. None of the Slayer’s other victims had injuries like that when found. None of the Slasher’s, either. “If you don’t mind, I think I might go ahead and check out the body until the rest of my squad arrives.”
The Lieutenant holds up the yellow tape to let me pass. “All yours, Detective. Have at it.”
Thanking him, I duck under the tape and begin making my way down the alley. It’s only a handful of steps later, with my phone flashlight aimed toward the body, that I notice the blonde hair.
It’s the first spin. The first disorientation of the world around me.
Heart exploding in my ears, I speed up instinctively, as if being pulled by the Call of the Void. That senseless impulse that hits when one imagines running their car into a brick wall or jumping off the side of a steep, life-threatening cliff.
I’m powerless to the call, pulled by this self-destructive, unimaginable force.
The black workout pants are bypassed.
The blood pooled everywhere under the body—another difference to the Slayer’s typical neat style—is ignored.
The blood on the back of that blonde hair doesn’t matter.
The giant bruise along the top of the forehead doesn’t.
Nothing does.
Nothing.
Only two things.
Two things that’ll forever haunt me.
Will forever change me.
A horror-filled reality I’m not equipped to face.
Knees weak I slam to halt right near the head—the tilted head.
For this latest victim wasn’t left face-down like the others. Her cheek is against the ground, bruised profile bared.
Bruised, familiar profile.
One I’ve looked at many, many times over the past two years.
The strength in my legs threatens to fail me and my hand flies up to cover my mouth as I finally admit to myself what I’m looking at.
Who I’m looking at.
The dead woman lying at my feet is my missing partner.
It’s fucking Ruby.
The Slayer killed Ruby.
To be continued…
Self-published author Dee Garcia was born in Miami, Florida. A voracious fan of romance novels and a long time lover of the written word, her mission is to craft unique, compelling stories that will give her readers a place to briefly escape the monotony of everyday reality. With fierce, headstrong heroine’s and swoon-worthy, possessive Alpha males weaved into her thrilling tales, Dee hopes to leave her mark on the Indie world, one decadent plot twist at a time.
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N. Isabelle Blanco is the Amazon Bestselling Author of the Allure Series, the Need Series with K.I.Lynn, and many others. At the age of three, due to an odd fascination with studying her mother’s handwriting, she began to read and write. By the time she’d reached kindergarten, she had an extensive vocabulary and her obsession with words began to bleed into every aspect of her life.
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