Selfless.
He exhaled a long breath.
Romeo had brought darkness to Chad’s world.He’d corrupted him, made him lie and deceive.It was his fault the detective had been taken from Chad.If he hadn’t voiced his opinion on Vincent Whitehall’s undiscovered victim, things would’ve played out differently.
Chad wouldn’t have had to kill Lucinda Hastings.
He wouldn’t have lost his job or been vilified by the public, press, and his fellow police officers.
Let me go.
Romeo didn’t know if he could, but he could try—for Chad’s sake he could try.
But to do that, he needed a distraction.
One strong enough to push Chad from his mind.
Romeo opened his eyes.
He needed the monster.
****
Chad had always beensuper cautious about Romeo going out in public.
Romeo’s lure in the beginning, when he’d been The Countdown Killer, had been his attractiveness.He was well groomed, wore a smart suit, and presented himself as a handsome man in desperate need of help at the side of the road.
For some he was sexually appealing, others, it was what his clothing represented, his status that drew them to him.There were a few times Romeo was offered a ride by someone who eyed him with the desire to steal from him.Only one had tried, though, and the exchange ended with the guy receiving a black eye and Romeo strolling away as if nothing had happened.
Not everyone stopped for the attractive businessman in need of help.Many passed by, either convincing themselves someone else would help, he deserved whatever plight he found himself in, or simply been too distracted by their own lives to notice him waiting on the grass verge as they approached.
Romeo no longer looked like that well-groomed man.He didn’t resemble his mugshot anymore.His hair was long enough to tuck behind his ears, usually wild and unkempt from walking in the windy fields.It matched his rugged stubble.
A scar tugged at one of his eyelids, pulling it down, exposing the pink flesh of his eye socket.Sometimes that was enough to put people off looking too closely at him.
The suits had been traded in for t-shirts and a brown bomber jacket.
He was more muscular than he had been with thick biceps and thighs.
His jeans were dark blue, tight on his legs, and he wore walking boots most of the time.
Romeo looked different.He could see it when he looked in the mirror.He preferred how he looked now—it felt comfortable, felt like home.
It was Chad who panicked about him being recognized.Chad couldn’tnotsee The Countdown Killer and assumed everyone would see him too.
Maybe if they were looking, they would.
Maybe a permanently suspicious person like Ally would see through his new face to the mask he used to wear.
Maybe someone as protective as Josh would eye every man with a hint of skepticism.
But they weredetectivesclose to Chad.
Normal, average people didn’t notice.The taxi drivers hadn’t.The fisherman didn’t.Everyone he passed while he walked around the hospital had turned a blind eye.
And as Romeo climbed from the car, stepping out onto the pavement on a busy Friday night, not one person saw the killer.
And the monster relished that.
