Chapter 15 #2
“It has everything to do with your school.” I pull up a piece of paper showing the still I took of the camera hanging in the hallway of my building where our mysterious friend broke in to snoop through my files. “See this pin?” I point at an emblem on the bag. “Spine. Ridge. University.”
He snatches the paper from my hand to take an up-close look, and his face darkens in a way I’ve never seen before. Like he’s finally willing to face reality … and prepare an assault on justice itself just to protect his students.
“What the fuck does this have to do with that body?” he growls.
“Our little killer here stole some evidence from my office that pertained to other murders around town.” I snatch the paper back.
“There is an actual serial killer on the loose, Rivera. They are leaving bodies, clues, and obvious signatures. They want to be found. And they are on these grounds, laughing at our incompetence when we find their heinous crimes like it’s some kind of trophy to keep in their warped mind.
” I lean in to whisper into his ear. “They’re probably here right now, looking right at us, wondering when we’ll figure out the truth … and catch them in the act.”
My eyes dart to a drop-dead gorgeous woman with dark eyes, her black-and-green hair swiveling from side to side as she weaves her way through the crowd of students until she gets to the front of the crime scene tape and finds herself staring straight into the maws of hell, completely fearless.
We meet again.
I shove a bunch of papers in Rivera’s hands. “Sign this.”
He flips from the first page to the last. “What the—Forced police presence? On school grounds?”
I march past him, ignoring his complaints as I make my way to the girl in question, determined to find out if she might know more.
There’s a reason she came barging to the front, just like there’s a reason I found her covered in blood in these same blighted forests.
Maybe she’s the key to unlocking the truth behind these killings.
The moment our gazes lock, it’s as if everyone around us has disappeared as I step toward the crime tape. She stays put and stares me down as I tower over her while I tilt my head to inspect her reaction.
“Hospital girl …”
“Cop boy …” she rebukes.
“Atreus.”
Her eyes narrow. “Sunny.”
A smirk forms on my face. “That’s right. Sunny Reed. Daughter of Lana Rivera and Nathan Reed.” I glance over my shoulder at her uncle Felix, who is still vigorously reading through the papers I just handed him.
Interesting.
“You seem to know an awful lot about my family,” she says.
“Part of the job. Can you come with me for a second?” I ask, extending a hand.
Sunny glares at my hand, then pushes the yellow tape aside to step away without accepting my hand. So much for being a little grateful.
When we’re away from the crowd, I pull her aside so no one can hear us talk.
“You’re up and about, back into action quickly, eh?” I ask her.
She folds her arms. “The doctors did their job well enough. What else can I say?”
“I’m glad.” I smile. “Happy to see you’re healthy enough to come see what the ruckus is all about.”
Her eyes dart to the body on the field behind me and then back to me, and I wonder how much of it she saw before the blanket was pulled over his head. Too much perhaps … or too little to satisfy the questions probably burning in the back of her mind.
“A body,” she mutters under her breath. “Have you found any others?”
I merely smile. “I’m pretty sure you know I’m not going to divulge such information to civilians.”
She shrugs. “Didn’t hurt to ask.”
Her eyes scatter all over the area, homing in on two boys in particular who were found hiding in the forest to sneak a peek at our investigation, and I get the feeling the three are acquainted.
“Any reason in particular as to why you want to know?” I ask her.
“No reason. Just morbid curiosity.” She perks up her boobs with her arms, and I don’t know why I notice, but I do.
I lean in. “Morbid curiosity … to find out if the person who did this was the same one who was after you?”
She stares me down, face still as emotionless as before, but her eyes … something inside them just flickered.
“Nonsense.”
“Why?”
“Because they let me live,” she replies. “And the person who did this obviously wanted their victims to perish.”
I chuckle. “Astute observation.”
“Gruesome death?” she asks.
“Very. I’m impressed.”
She shivers in place, but I can’t quite tell if it’s because of fear … or because of the thrill.
“It’s not hard to see, judging by the number of police that showed up, this must obviously be a recurring theme.”
“You’re under the impression you know a lot about police business,” I muse.
She puts her hands against her waistline. “And you seem to think you know a lot about killers, yet you haven’t caught a single one.”
That … little … brat.
“Are you implying we don’t do our job well enough, Miss Reed?”
She raises a brow in a cheeky manner. “Now what would give you that idea?”
I lick my bottom lip. “You’re mad that we haven’t caught the one responsible for your misery.” I smile. “It would help if you could tell us more about your situation, what you actually remember, and why you were there to begin with.”
She smiles back. “I don’t need to tell the cops anything I don’t want to. Why I was there is none of your business. But I’m glad you and your men are doing their best to solve crime, however hard it is.”
My eyes twitch.
I have never met a victim of a crime more unwilling to talk than this woman.
What is she hiding?
“And thank you so much for saving me,” she adds with a wink.
Something about her annoys me greatly.
It’s not the fact that she’s trying to get under my skin … but the fact that I can’t seem to fucking take my eyes off her.
I pull my business card from my pocket and hand it to her. “In case you change your mind.”
She reluctantly takes the card and reads the details before slipping it into her pocket.
“I won’t,” she says.
“That’s fine,” I reply, narrowing my eyes. “We’ll find out one way or another.”
Her pupils dilate and then sharpen within an instant.
But I noticed.
And it makes me wonder …
If we’ve been looking at this the wrong way, searching for the wrong guy.
“Have a great day, Miss Reed.”
I wink, and she walks off again, back to the safety of the crowd, while I mutter, “I’m sure we’ll see each other again real soon.”
Who knows.
Maybe we should be looking for a woman instead.