Was it a deliberate ploy, or something necessary? Like some killers needed to take trophies. They were driven to document their sick accomplishments, even though keeping that evidence might unravel everything.
Kit leaned his head against the window, staring out at the other cars around them. “What’s your next move?”
“I’ll dig more into Ed, Joyce, and the other names from the victims’ close circle. Including your friend Holden.”
Kit glanced over sharply, then settled against the window again. He thought of those little flashes of coldness he felt behind Holden’s smile. Gone so quickly Kit might have imagined them. “That’s a good idea. He didn’t like how Marco treated Soraya, so it makes sense to look at him. To eliminate him or whatever.”
“Hopefully,” Bishop said. “What do you know about Holden Radley?”
Kit fell silent, off-balance.
He hadn’t even known Holden’s last name until this moment. All Kit knew was the way Holden’s excessive emojis made him laugh. The touch of Holden’s hands under his shirt. The way Holden made holding hands feel so fucking slutty.
“What do you know about him?” Kit asked instead of answering.
Bishop allowed the redirection. “He’s a fourth-year forensics major, which means he’d be on my checklist even if he hadn’t spoken to you. Minor in computer science. His family’s from San Diego.”
“I didn’t know those things,” Kit admitted, fingering the bruise on his neck. “I like him, but we both know I have the worst taste in men.”
To Kit’s surprise, Bishop chuckled. “I give him plenty of shit, but you could do worse than James.”
“...and Darius,” Kit added, trying to sound casual.
Bishop slowed at a yellow light, then stopped. When the light changed from red to green, Bishop asked, “AndDarius?”
“It’s not serious, probably. But yeah.” That didn’t feel true when Kit said it—about not being serious. But that wasn’t a conversation Kit needed to have with Bishop right now.
“It won’t be. Darius doesn’t do attachments.” Bishop’s jaw tensed. “I know I don’t have any right to say this to you, but be careful. I like James and Darius, but they’re complicated.”
“Thank you for the advice about my sex life,” Kit said sweetly, just to make Bishop’s jaw tense again. Delightful. Then he cut Bishop some slack, and asked, “What else did you find out about Holden? Anything interesting?”
Bishop half-grinned at that. “If I’d found anything interesting, I wouldn’t have let you walk into that library with him.” His grin faded. “Can I see your wrist?”
Kit froze. Then shoved up his sleeves. Turned both wrists over, to show off every angle.
“I spilled tea yesterday,” Kit said, feeling smug. Besides the fading scalded patch, there wasn’t a single mark.
“Is that Darius?” Kit panted, tried to catch a peek at James’s phone screen. His neck stung from the bruise James had been biting before his phone buzzed. James had been unexpectedly delighted by Kit’s hickey from Holden the other day—but even more delighted by deepening, intensifying the bruise. Making it his own.
Apparently, it was possible to have a sharing kinkandbe possessive.
And apparently, Kit was really fucking into that too.
“Do you want it to be Darius?” James asked, sitting up and holding the phone out of Kit’s reach.
Kit stuck out his tongue and flopped back on the bed. This was nice too. He has a perfect view of the phoenix rising across James’s muscular back. “Tell him to come over.”
That didn’t get the enthusiastic response Kit expected.
“Sorry, babe. He’s coming over later, but not to wreck your perfect little ass.” James tapped a reply, then set the phone aside. Fiery wings stretched with his every movement. “It’s time for a war council—Darius has an appointment with the client.”
The client.
The anonymous person who wanted photo evidence of Kit’s dead body.
James itched to play with Kit’s hair—or grope his ass—but Kit was nursing a mug of coffee from his seat on the opposite counter. All James could do was lean against the kitchen island. “I’m going, Darius. You said yourself, this is a two-man job.”
“Those two men will be me and Bishop,” Darius said calmly. “I’m only informing you because you’re involved.”
