Rodney’s eyes bulged. “That’s what you think. He lost his temper all the time.”
Good. More insight and possibly a note of contention. She snorted. “Maybe he lost patience with you because you were an idiot who couldn’t follow directions.” She was walking a fine line, trying to tick him off and keep him occupied yet not have him stab her with a knife or kick her again. Her leg was killing her, and her ankle was pounding.
Rodney ran a hand through his hair, sending spikes in every direction. “I was a good learner. He was just so picky. So demanding.” He said the last with a whine.
“How did he take an interest in you?” She feigned interest. Rodney straightened, and she leaned forward. “Let’s be honest. You’re not smart enough to really have contributed to his work in his true job as a lawyer. You probably just fetched coffee, right? Or did you serve him better in that taxi cab late at night? As a lookout and not a partner, of course.”
That was how Delaney had trolled for his victims. Nobody had suspected the classy lawyer to moonlight as a driver on the bad side of town in his old, dented yellow car. “I mean, I bet nobody at the firm thought you belonged there,” she murmured, her mind clicking the facts into place as she taunted him.
He took a step toward her, his fingers visibly tightening on the knife handle.
She looked him straight in the eyes, carefully avoiding glancing at the weapon. “Did you take a ride in his cab, Rodney?”
Rodney’s shoulders vibrated as red rose up his neck to cover his face and pound a deep and ugly crimson. “No. I gained an interview with him, and he hired me.”
She nodded. “I guess that makes sense. He probably recognized something in you.” She wished she would’ve had time to study Delaney, but she’d had no choice but to shoot him to save her mother, who he’d held captive. “How did you two agree to start murdering women?”
Rodney swallowed. “We just spoke over time. He’d been doing it for a while longer than even you knew. One day, he heard that my girlfriend had dumped me. I was so angry, and we just started talking about what a bunch of whores you all are.” He shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess it evolved from there. He told me how you all deserved to pay, and he was right. When you killed him, I wanted to kill you.”
She studied him. “But you didn’t, did you? You were kind of a pansy-ass.”
His eyes widened, and he shifted his weight, kicking her in the same shin as before. Agony tore through her leg, and she gasped, her head spinning. Even so, she forced herself to smile. “Again, Delaney never would’ve lost his temper like that. Do you like kicking women? Is that something new for you? In fact, if I recall, Delaney took his time with them. What? Seventy-two hours exactly? You can’t even do that, can you? You have no self-control.”
Rodney swore and stomped his foot on the cement. Ah, now she had him. Delaney had given him the same message, hadn’t he?
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed, spittle flying from his mouth. “I was ready to start helping in every sense, and you killed him. You didn’t give me my chance with him. He never got to see how good I am.”
“You disappointed him, didn’t you, Rodney? You just didn’t have the finesse or control. That’s why your timeline changed. You can’t wait the seventy-two hours.”
His shoulders hunched. “Yet I still headed your direction, now, didn’t I? Came in a nice little trajectory toward you. Delaney couldn’t catch you. I did. I win.”
She nodded. “You did, didn’t you?”
“You’re obviously not as smart as you think you are.” He smiled down at the glinting blade. “But I bet you’ll scream just like the rest of them.”
Chapter36
Seth had tried. He really had. For months, he’d tried to be somebody other than the beast at his core that had been forged in blood and death. But he was a killer, and he thought like one. Knocking out the FBI agent and tossing him into the truck had been almost too easy, and when Colbey had awakened on the ride back to the ranch, a sharp punch to the jaw had taken care of him for a few more miles.
The next time Colbey stirred, Seth let him sit up.
“What did you just do?” Colbey rubbed his jaw and then turned, facing Seth. “You are a dead man.”
Seth shrugged. “If something has happened to Mia, then you can put a bullet between my eyes.” He didn’t have a life before her, and he wouldn’t afterward, either. There was no breathing for him if she wasn’t alive and well. “I’ve tried, Colbey. I really have.”
Colbey turned to stare at the trees flying by so fast outside the window that even Seth couldn’t make out individual species. “You just committed battery and kidnapped a federal agent.” He spoke slowly as if still coming to terms with the situation. “Take me back right now, and I’ll try to help you.” His blond hair was ruffled, and his button-down shirt was wrinkled.
“Neither want nor need your help with my freedom.” Seth flicked him a quick glance, turning down his monstrously long driveway. “But you are going to help me find her. Willingly or not, it’s up to you.” He’d wanted them away from the station and that reporter hanging around. In fact, he’d wanted to get away from everybody before he did something he might regret. If Mia lived. If not, regrets meant shit.
Colbey reached for his weapon.
“It’s in the backseat,” Seth said almost absently. “Here’s the deal. I’m a killer. Was raised as a killer and then honed those skills in your military.” There was no need to look because he felt Colbey’s stare on him.
“You’re confessing to murdering those women?” Colbey reached for the glovebox, his voice rising.
Seth yanked the wheel to the left and knocked the guy against his door. “It’s empty. Leave it alone, and no. I’ve never killed a woman.” He spoke softly because there was never a need to raise one’s voice. He was contemplative right above a churning mass of fury and emotion that was becoming more and more difficult to keep at bay. “I’m trying to make you understand your position right now.” In addition, he was finally settling into exactly who he’d always been.
“My position?” Colbey snapped. “You’re the criminal about to be charged.”
