CHAPTER 1
HARLOW
"Chef Stabby," Boner read proudly. "That's what they decided to call the killer of Harrison Frankel. Yes!" He fist pumped the air.
I slid a look in Cass' direction. "Did you have anything to do with that?" He was good with technology. If anyone could have dropped some hints here or there on a blog or…wherever, it would be him. Besides, he got a cagey look in his eyes when Boner started reading about Hypnos' death.
His smile barely contained, he said, "I might have. They would have figured it out sooner or later without any help."
"Of course they would have," Boner agreed. "Eventually.Hypnos was found dead with a bunch of chef knives buried in him.Someonewould have come to the conclusion, one way or another."
"I appreciate you both," I told them.
Did this mean I'd finally arrived? Real serial killer nickname. What more could a girl want? Okay, my four men, orgasms, and a tub of chocolate chip ice cream. Not necessarily in that order.
Jules, who stood near the window looking out at New York City, turned toward us.
"Only you four would celebrate the press finding out his killer was a chef. You think they aren't going to be keeping an eye on every chef in the city?"
We all turned toward Archer Hardwick, who was scrolling through his phone while slouched in a chair behind the dining table. He glanced up at us. His brow creased slightly.
"Just a moment." He tapped on his phone screen. "There's approximately seventeen thousand restaurants in the city. Many of those would have multiple chefs working there. Narrowing it down to one won't be easy."
"Zeus is the only person I'm worried might find me," I said.
Hypnos told me his real name before I drove his own scissors into his throat. I hadn't decided what to do with that information yet. I'd stewed on it since last night, trying to get my head around it.
I knew this for certain, I had to act quickly, before he acted against me.
Against us.
He would, it was inevitable, I didn't know when or how, but he would.
If we gave him the chance. Which we wouldn't, if we could help it.
"We found Hypnos. We'll find him too," Boner said, nodding confidently. He placed his phone down and wrapped his hand around mine. "I'm going to stick like glue to you night and day. No one's kidnapping my woman again."
I smiled, heartened by the determination in his striking blue eyes.
I refrained from reminding him we were gassed. Put to sleep so Hypnos could take me. Boner couldn't have prevented that. None of us could.
Unless...
I'd been too trusting of my new employee, Yvette. She was the one who placed the canister under the table for Hypnos to open before he slipped out the door.
I hired her because I thought she needed my help. A hand up, to get her life back on track. I'd given her an opportunity to better her circumstances.
She threw all of that back in my face by working against me from the beginning. Conspiring with her father, Hypnos.
Okay, I understood her loyalty. She'd believed the lies he spun about the kind of man he was. The things he'd done. She thought she was doing the right thing.
Because of that, she was dead. Another person gone because they were misguided, not because they were bad people.
I squeezed Boner's hand, but I still felt Detective Getzoff's blood on my palm. Slick between my fingers. Because of me. I might as well have been the one to pull the trigger. For years I'd tried to keep the innocent from getting hurt. Caught in the crossfire between my crusade and the predators I hunted.
I knew it might happen one day, but I wasn't ready for it. How do you prepare for something like that? You can't. I couldn't. I had to try to put it behind me and focus. Zeus was what mattered now.
"Are you okay, love?" Boner asked softly.
