6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
“ I ’ll catch up with you later,” Mila says as she gets out of the car.
“Sounds good. Be safe, girl.”
“Gunner has my back. I’m not worried.”
I watch her saunter off toward the main building and disappear through the doors before I exit the parking lot.
St. Valentines University freaks me out. I’ve attended for a couple of years now and I still get chills whenever I enter the campus. It’s dark and eerie with an even darker history.
Word is, there was some freaky shit happening behind the scenes involving a secret society and a bunch of the professors. People vanished and nobody seemed to know where they went.
If you mention any of this to the faculty, you’ll be told to shut up about it.
***
I’m definitely not in the mood to be shopping for a bed.
A couple hours later, I find myself the proud owner of a pillow top mattress and a new set of Egyptian cotton sheets. They waived the delivery fee and said they’d have it delivered by five at the latest.
Just as I’m pulling into the dorms, my phone starts to ring.
It’s Jude.
“Hello,” I answer, trying to stay as calm and collected as possible.
“Hey. How did the shopping go?” he asks.
“They’ll be here by five to deliver my bed,” I reply, the chill in my tone enough to sink the Titanic.
“You sound upset. Everything okay?”
“I don’t know—you tell me. Mila let me in on a little secret on our way over here.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Something about the St. Valentines Butcher? Which I now know is not just one person, but two!”
“Oh, that. Yeah.”
“Really? That’s all you have to say?”
“What else am I supposed to say? Now you know, which saves me from having to explain it.”
“You could have told me yesterday.”
“A lot happened yesterday. I didn’t think to mention it.”
“You know what this means, right?”
“Enlighten me.”
“I can’t be around you. Whatever…thing we had going on, has to stop now.”
“Does it? Let’s not forget why we were so busy yesterday. You’re just as guilty as I am. I may have killed more people but—”
“It’s not the same! It was self-defense!”
“Then why didn’t you call the cops? Why did you end up at my bar instead?”
“I panicked! It’s not like I’m used to killing people, unlike you!” I shriek.
“I have an idea.”
“What?”
“Meet me here at the bar in a few minutes. Gunner needs me to do something for him, then you can see what I do and why I do it.”
“Fuck that!”
“Veronica, please.”
I remain silent for a few long seconds, contemplating whether to trust him or not. If he was going to hurt me, he would have long before now. He still could, if he wanted to.
“I don’t trust you.”
“Give it time. I swear I’m not a bad person, Veronica.”
“Fine. I’ll grab a few things and then I’ll be there.”
“Thank you.”
“Should I call and reschedule the delivery?” I ask.
“I’ll have you back in time. This won’t take long.”
“I’m on my way,” I say, ending the call without another word.
***
When I pull up in front of the bar, I wait for a few minutes before Jude comes walking out the front doors.
“Hey, beautiful,” he says, approaching my window.
I’m still pissed at him, but his words make me blush anyway. “Cut the bullshit. What are we doing?”
“We’ll take my truck. I have to pay someone a visit.”
“Someone?” I say as I open my door to get out of my car.
“Someone Gunner needs me to have words with.”
“Words. Yeah, I’m sure.”
I hop into his truck and before I know it, we’re parked outside a house on the outskirts of town.
As soon as we park, I look around us for some indication as to who might own the place. Whoever it is, they’re extremely wealthy, judging by the expensive sports car parked in front of the garage and the appearance of the house itself.
“Where are we?” I quietly ask.
“Charles Jensen lives here.”
“Shit. Does this have to do with Mila?”
“Something like that.”
We walk up to the door and Jude knocks several times before someone finally answers.
“May I help you?” the man says, a snarky look on his face.
“Charles? I’m here to speak about your son. Can I have a word?”
“What about my son? Unless you’re going to tell me where he is, you can turn around and leave my property.”
“That’s rather harsh. I’m trying to help, sir. All you have to do is let me in.”
“Alright, but I don’t have a lot of time. I have meetings this afternoon.”
Charles steps aside, motioning for us to come in. We head into what I assume to be his office and he sits down behind a large wooden desk. Jude remains standing, leaning against the door frame with me right behind him.
“Have a seat,” Charles insists, pointing to the chair in front of the desk.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m used to being on my feet most of the day,” Jude laughs. “Now, about your piece of shit son…”
“Excuse me?” Charles goes to stand up in a fury, but Jude quickly pulls a knife out of his pocket and points it toward him.
“Sit,” Jude says with his teeth clenched together.
“What do you know? Where the fuck is he?” Charles stammers, plopping his ass back down in the chair.
“All I know is that he’s no longer a problem. My only job is to make sure you don’t become a problem as well.”
“I’ve already spoken to the girl. It’s obvious that she’s guilty.”
“You have evidence of this, sir?”
“Well—uh—no, but she was the last one with him.”
“Hmm. Sounds like you just want someone to blame.”
“She’s a liar.”
“Unfortunately, I have to live up to my side of the bargain here, Mr. Jensen.” Jude steps forward, close enough to make Charles wince.
“I haven’t done a thing,” Charles says, trying to reason with Jude.
“No? Threatening an innocent woman seems like enough reason for concern, doesn’t it, Charles?”
“I just wanted to talk to her.”
“I don’t have time to hear your excuses.” Jude reaches into his pocket and pulls out a jackknife, one much fancier than the one I own.
“Please—can’t we just talk about this? I’ll leave the girl alone. I swear!”
Jude doesn’t give him the chance to respond before he flips open the knife, spins it around with his fingers and plunges it into Charles’ throat.
Blood starts to spew out of the gaping wound as I stand back and watch Jude pull him out of the chair.
“What now?” I ask in a nervous whisper.
“He’s not dead yet. I have a few hours to kill after my meetings. Wanna officially meet the pigs?” he asks, with a sinister grin.
“Fuck yeah!” I exclaim.
“We’ll leave the mess to the building cleaning crew. I’m sure they won’t mind.” He laughs, dragging Charles out of the room by his feet.
Jude gets to the front door and glances outside to make sure nobody else is around before dragging Charles out to the back of the truck.
“Do you need me to help you lift him?” I ask.
“No,” he says, allowing Charles’ legs to slam to the ground. “I’ve lifted heavier men into the back of this truck myself.”
“Suit yourself then,” I laugh, opening the passenger door and climbing into the truck.
I turn my head to watch Jude pick him up over his shoulder like he weighs nothing, and my pussy aches at just the thought of how I wish he would toss me around like that.
I’m pretty sure last night was just a taste of what he has to offer.