“Yeah, and what makes you so sure about that?”
Jules crossed her arms over her chest, straightening her spine before immediately curling in on herself. “I just am.”
She wasn’t lying. That was something I learned in the short time I knew Nurse Keller. I’d been right. She didn’t lie. She just didn’t always tell the entire truth. Lucky for her, all I cared about when my hands where covered in blood was the part shewastelling me. No one was showing up on our doorstep looking for the guy I’d spent the last few hours chopping up and sectioning out.
I rinsed my hands in the sink, tied off the black trash bag, and tossed it over a shoulder. I had some street dogs to feed. It was the best way to get rid of the organs.
It was also something Jules and I had in common. She wasn’t the only one who told the truth.Iwasn’t lyingwhen I said I liked puppies.
I made it to the bottom of the stairs, Jules trailing silently behind me before a knock on the front door had me glaring over a shoulder at her. She shrugged, her eyes wider than saucers as she shoved past me to peer out the peephole.
I released the bag with a loud sloshing sound and rushed after her.
Was my shirt still tacky with blood? Sure was. But one of us was good under pressure and it sure as shit wasn’t the one of us who’d flushed their insides down the toilet a few minutes ago.
The cop spun around just as I swung the door open with an easy smile on my face. Enough for him to think I wasn’t hiding anything but not enough for him to see Jules pressed up against the wall on the other side.
“Something I can help ya with, officer?” I called out over the sound of the sirens wailing in the distance.
He looked at me, at my relaxed posture, and relaxed himself before his glare hitched on my hand resting against the frame. I followed his line of sight, quickly lifting my thumb to my mouth and sucking it clean.
“Cranberry sauce.” I grinned. “Bitter but the wife loves the stuff.”
He watched me for another moment. Kid was young. Younger than me. Smaller too. He wasn’t looking for trouble any more than I was right now.
“Honey,” he replied, then quickly added, “My ma’s recipe. The only way I can stomach the stuff.”
“I’ll have to try that.” I nodded while doing my best not to appear too antsy. I glanced from him to the caravan of cop cars lining the street. “The parade coming early this year?” I said, and it seemed to take him a second to realize what I was asking.
“Oh, ah, no.” He removed his hat and scratched the back of his head as he took a few tentative steps forward. Which told me he’d been hoping I didn’t answer the door as much as I was regretting opening it. “I’m guessing you haven’t been watching the news?”
“Can’t say that I have. Too busy cooking up Christmas dinner.” I gestured a hand behind me. Towards the kitchen, where nothing was cooking but the BS I was spewing in this pig’s direction. “Would you like to come in? There’s more than enough to go 'round.”
“'Preciate it, sir. But you know how it is. Got citizens to protect and serve.” He tossed his hat back on his head and tipped the brim at me, before reaching out an arm to shove a flyer in my hand. “Just passing this along.”
My eyes bounced from the grainy face of the guy on the flyer to the stoic expression of the uni standing in front of me. “This something I should be worried about, officer?”
The kid appeared to consider his answer, his nerves having him balancing from one foot to another as he seemed to fight the urge to look towards the cop car idling behind him. “Ah, no,” he finally said. “Doubt he could make it out this far on foot. It’s just a precaution. You know, a reminder to keep your eyes open and give us a call if you see anything out of the ordinary.”
I shoved the flyer into my back pocket, never dropping my grin. “Will do,” I replied as I watched him turn around and make his way towards the next house.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
HIM
The moment the door clicked closed, I twisted the lock and latched the chain in place. No one was getting inor outright now. Then I pivoted on a squeaky heel. My sneakers covered in a mix of bleach and dried blood.
Thank fuck I didn’t have to lick those clean.I could still taste Robbie’s bodily fluids on my tongue, and they sure as shit weren’t as appetizing as his sister’s.
“Tell me I’m wrong, Jules.” I aimed my murderous glare at her. “Tell me you weren’t keeping shit from me again. Because unless I’m as dense as that fucker out there…” I threw an arm towards the window. The curtains drawn tight so that the only one who got to witness the full extent of my irritation was the girl chewing on her bottom lip like looking innocent was going to do her any good.
It wasn’t. We both knew it too.
“Unless I’ve really lost my goddamn mind and all this is a figment of my imagination, unless I’m not just seeingand hearing shit but feeling it too…” I extended an arm and touched her. “…you didn’t seem all that surprised to find a cop on your front step handing outthese.” I tugged the faded mugshot photo from my pocket, flattened it out as best I could, and shoved it in her face, tapping an index finger against my temple as I closed in on her. “Am Icrazyor does this guy look kinda familiar? And ya know what? His name sounds kinda familiar too?”
Without a word, she ducked under my arm and made a run for it. Leaping over the trash bag I’d dropped in the landing and sprinting up the stairs.I shook my head as I watched her go.
Never made sense to me why people did that in all the horror flicks. Running up the stairs instead of out the back door was no more useful than a rat placing its own tail in a mousetrap. But I wasn’t gonna complain when I was the guy with a rodent problem.
