Blind: Killer Instincts (20 page)

“Just—stop, okay? Stop for a second?” He hung his head and slid his hand from her wrist to lace their fingers together. “You kept something important from me.”

“I did. Angry about that?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking pissed,” he parroted back once more.

“Well at least we know you can express your anger in a somewhat healthy manner. I don’t think the stonewall thing or the whole silent treatment really do much for you, but this was better.”

“Emma, what if this guy decided to kill you last night instead of Amanda? What then? Where would you be?”

“Well, either dead or in lock-up because I’d have killed his ass.”

“There haven’t been any defensive wounds on the victims. They don’t get the chance to fight back. He gets them before they know he’s there. He’s either someone you know and trust, or he’s that good at sneaking up on people undetected.” His voice cracked as he spoke. Was that emotion she heard?

“I made the wrong choice.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know I could trust you then.”

“And you do now?”

“Maybe. I can’t tell with you sometimes. You’re so closed off and distant it’s hard to figure you out. Are you here because you feel obligated? Is it the sex? Do you need someone to be pissed at? Or is this a hero complex at work?”

“I’m here because yes, I want to protect you. I’m not obligated to be here. I could have sent patrol to babysit you, but I chose to come here personally. Because, maybe this is crazy, but I care about you.”

“You have a fucked up way of showing it.”

“Yeah, well, you’re a hard woman to figure out.”

“What’s so hard? I like fast bikes, big trucks, barbecue, and sex. All I really know about you is that you love your family, you’re a workaholic, and you’ve got some anger issues. That’s not a lot to go on.”

The muscle on his jaw twitched.

For several moments they stared at each other.

“I hate Chinese food.”

Emma sputtered. That wasn’t exactly what she’d been looking for.

“Well that’s a start.” She couldn’t help cracking a smile, though he was still stone-faced.

“I like working with my hands. Brain teaser shit. Cooking. You.”

Staring into his eyes, she had to wonder if she weren’t in more danger from this man than the killer. She’d told herself this was a fling, but looking down the barrel of a determined detective, she wasn’t so sure.

“I’m the daughter of a drunk and a thief, sister to a felon and a hero, and I’ve got my own record.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not exactly an upstanding member of society.”

He shrugged. “Who said I was looking for perfect? Perfect is hard to match.”

What the hell was happening here?

Emma’s heart raced and she shifted her weight from foot to foot. They’d gone from picking a fight to...whatever this was.

“Look, this is a bad time to get involved, and we did it anyway. We’re going to catch TBKiller. After that, do you think we could maybe, get to know each other better?”

“Is this that date you promised me? I don’t really think asking me out for work, then bringing me over to work out your anger issues really constitutes a first date.”

Oh, what the hell. He’d wake up some day and realize she wasn’t good enough for him, but until then she could care for him. Love him if he ever tore those walls down far enough.

“Yeah.” Jacob chuckled. “What would you say to dinner and a movie? My treat.”

“How generous of you, big spender.” Emma’s smile was back. It loosened the tightness in his chest. A look from her and he felt like things might be okay. He was a goner.

“Before we plan out our first date in too much detail, I think you have something you need to show me?”

She quirked a brow at him.

“You’ve already seen my boobs.”

“Not that, though I won’t tell you to keep them to yourself.” He shook his head.

“You want the letter, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I think our FBI friends would appreciate it.”

“Fine. Give me a second?” She walked around him and to the laundry door.

He listened to the second door to the garage squeak. She must have left it in her truck. Sure enough, he heard the chirp of her truck lock before she returned to him, the letter in one of those plastic sleeves she liked to use.

“Here.” She thrust it at him and he held it up to the light.

I see you.

I will finish what he began.

TBKiller

“When did you get this?” He frowned at the text.

“Friday night. It was in my truck. My spare key had been moved.”

“Friday night? When you were at my house?” The copycat had been outside his house, while they’d been having dinner, or maybe even when they were having sex or sleeping.

“Yeah. And I know, I should have told you, but I didn’t want to be shut out. It was stupid, don’t say it.”

TBKiller wasn’t just flirting with him. Emma was involved all along. He wished he’d been wrong.

Emma not telling him was stupid. It was more than that. She was being irresponsible with her life. He inhaled deeply, the numbers one through ten racing through his mind. Someday that trick would work.

“Okay, I’m going to call Brooks and get this over to him. I’d like to go through the victimology of the original kills and the ones we’ve had so far, find the parallels.” But most importantly, how they connected to Emma. Again. They’d already been over it once, but that was before he knew the killer had made contact.

She nodded and retrieved the box from her bedroom. He went outside and had to wait maybe a minute before a patrol car rolled by. A short phone call later, he had the letter on its way to the FBI.

He might be off the case, but that didn’t mean his brain wasn’t working out the problems still. By the time he entered the house once more, Emma had each victim’s information sorted into different piles. Some were thicker than others.

“Okay, everything on the table is TBK. I’ve put out notepads for the new victims, one through four, and this,” she held up a yellow legal pad, “is for future victims.”

“Five. The finger. We still don’t know who that is. All the ME can tell us is that it was removed postmortem. Also, you and I go on this list.” He hated saying it, but they did have targets on them.

She merely nodded and jotted down their names.

“Five kills, three scenes we know about, one unknown. The unknown actually fits. There were a number of murders early on that we knew nothing about.”

“Yeah, the question is where, and who is this person?”

She shrugged. “No idea. Can we match the images in the letters with the scenes?”

“Maybe.” He jotted it down on a piece of paper he wanted to reserve for things they must tell Brooks.

“Okay, so the next murder will be a family of three, if he’s still going by the book.” Emma hugged the pad of paper to her chest. “I don’t think I know any families of three.”

“Derrick and Amanda weren’t a couple. He improvised there. We can’t rule out that he might look for a trio, people who live together kind of like a family unit, but aren’t a traditional family.”

“Like—three friends? Or a single mom, her kid and a friend?”

“Yes.” Jacob paced up and down the kitchen, his mind racing.

“Simon lives with two of the guys.” She shrugged. “A couple of my teammates have baby mommas, but they all have like, their kid plus another. I’m not close with them though. Shit.”

“Hasn’t anyone ever told them about condoms?”

“I know, right? God love them all.”

“We need to make a list. All of them. He could kill tonight.”

“Most everyone is out at the track.” She shrugged. “He can’t kill anyone I know tonight.”

Max snorted as he listened to the audio feed from Amanda’s house. Detective Payton and Emma thought they could guess his next move? Well, they were wrong. He was miles ahead of him.

Pretty little Emma had a larger circle of friends than she even realized. By the time they were aware of their misstep, his work would be finished.

Black Widow: Iron?

“Fuck me.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, willing the private chat box to go away.

Black Widow: Iron, you’re uploading right now. I know you’re there.

Iron: Bathroom. Whats up?

Black Widow: Just wanted to check on you.

Black Widow: I’ve seen the news coverage out of Oklahoma City.

Black Widow: You’re creating quite the stir.

Iron: Yeah well its what he would have wanted.

Black Widow: Are you sticking to your plan?

Iron: For the most part.

Black Widow: Good.

Black Widow: Did you get the ID for Acid?

Iron: In the mail.

Black Widow: Good to hear that.

Black Widow: Remember I’m here to help you.

Black Widow: If you need anything, let me know.

Iron: Will do.

Black Widow: Make sure your internet security is up to date. Someone’s looking for us.

Iron: Updated today.

Iron: Got to go.

Black Widow: Can’t wait to see your next work.

Max closed the window and shivered. He glanced in the mirror above his monitor to make sure there wasn’t anyone behind him. Mirrors weren’t just good decorating. If you hung them all over the place, you could see around corners, in blind spots. He still didn’t think it would be enough to warn him before Black Widow got him.

The cops were too slow, too stupid to catch him.

Black Widow on the other hand, well, he was skirting her rules. He’d been part of the club long enough that he’d seen several members suddenly go missing. He wasn’t stupid. His plan needed a certain level of flexibility, and they all evolved. He couldn’t be the same TBK that he’d been thirty years ago. If he stayed a dinosaur, he’d go extinct, and his spirit was too strong for that. No, he’d survive.

He gathered the rest of his kit. With three victims, he was traveling heavy tonight. There was a lot to plan for. He needed the camera battery charged, a couple spare changes of clothes. Three bodies could bleed a lot, and he could never have enough duct tape.

With the kill kit ready to go, it was time to make the trek to his next location. One step closer to his ultimate goal.

From: Black Widow

To: Mercy

Subject: Your concerns.

Hello Mercy,

I’ve spent quite a good deal of time going over Iron’s proposed plan and his portfolio of work. It’s substantial, but I’m seeing several deviations from what he pitched to join the club. I no longer feel he is on board with our vision. Please continue to keep me in the loop with his communications to you. In the meantime, I will take care of the attention he’s drawing and try to do some damage control. We want to complete our missions, not cause a stir. I know you understand.

If you have the time, I would appreciate a hand moving our servers and preparing the protocols. The new members haven’t experienced a shift yet, and we need to make sure they understand the rules. I’d like to not have another Slade incident.

BW

Emma massaged her temples.Scene break.

“Ugh, I’m exhausted. The words are all starting to blur together.”

“Let’s go to bed. It’s been a long day.” Jacob grasped her by the shoulders and pulled her against his chest.

“I feel like if I make one more list, I might understand it.” She leaned into him, reveling in the feeling that they were working together on this.

They’d gone through every single file, listed all the details, and made profiles of possible victims. Jacob said it was an unusual way to work, but they had extraordinary circumstances. She couldn’t shake the feeling they might stumble on a key that let them into the psyche of their killer. But it slipped away from her every time she almost grasped it.

“Nope. You are going to bed.” He steered her away from the kitchen and toward her room.

She wanted to whine, to say no she couldn’t, but exhaustion weighed her down. She allowed him to guide her into her bedroom, among all the boxes. She turned to him, studying his face. His features were softer, or maybe it was her imagination.

“Are you staying?” she asked.

“Do you want me to?”

Did she?

“I don’t want to be alone.” She wrapped her arms around him.

“You aren’t alone. I’m here.”

She stared at his chest. So far they’d burned up the sheets together. It was passion and immediate need. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, tugging her close. She sighed and enjoyed the simple pleasure of his arms around her.

“How about you get ready for bed and I do a circuit around the house real quick?”

“Sounds good.”

He padded out of the room and she went through the motions of her nightly routine, brushing her teeth, washing her face, and changing clothes. After everything today, she should feel more. Sadness. Remorse, maybe. Something except the numbness in her breast.

Jacob returned while she was still mulling her emotional state over in her head. She wasn’t sure what she wanted right now, but whenever her gaze fell on the man stripping down to his boxers, well, she had a one-track mind. She might be uncertain about where things were going with him, but she knew what she wanted from him right now.

“Everything is quiet.” He climbed into the bed next to her.

She didn’t expect TBKiller to come for her, not tonight. Everything Jacob had said, it all pointed to finishing off the ritual with her death, maybe Jacob’s involvement. Her knee-jerk fear was that this creep might get hold of her father. At least her brother was locked up tight in jail. It was about the only time she would ever be glad that he wasn’t around.

“Come here.” Jacob pulled her down to lay next to him, wrapping her in the comfort of his arms. But comfort wasn’t what she wanted. He’d given her that all evening and look where that had gotten her—frustrated with herself.

“Jacob?” She bit her lip and peered up at him. He’d left the bathroom light on as well as the kitchen so they weren’t really swathed in darkness.

“Hm?”

“Make me feel.”

E

mma stared up at Jacob’s face, cloaked in shadows. She wanted the numbness to go away. Was it wrong?

“What do you feel?” he asked.

She placed her hand against her chest.