What Are You Afraid Of? (The Agency #2)(97)

He’d hunted for the whore who reminded him of Carrie. He’d stolen the truck and lured her into the back. Then he’d raped her as she screamed in terror. And then he’d bashed in her skull.

It’d been extraordinary.

And watching the other Kill Club members live out their own fantasies had only added to his excitement.

He truly had been a god. A man worshipped by disciples as he determined who would live and who would die.

“Not only in Kansas,” he said, slightly disappointed she didn’t seem to know about his other trophies. “There are more victims in Baltimore. And here. I have the newest pictures.” He squeezed her chin until she cried out in pain. “Would you like to see them?”

Her hands moved to grasp his wrist, her eyes swimming with tears. But she didn’t whimper again. Instead, she sucked in a shaky breath, her eyes darting from side to side as she tried to think of how to keep him talking.

His lips twitched. He wondered if she truly thought he was so stupid he didn’t realize what she was doing?

Naturally, she was hoping she could distract him so she could try to escape. Or maybe she hoped that someone might appear out of thin air to rescue her.

Whatever. He was willing to play along. Now that he had her in his grasp, they had all the time in the world.

“Were you the one who cut my arm at the hotel in Kansas?” she finally asked.

“I couldn’t resist,” he admitted. “I’d been watching you on TV, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to see you in person.”

Her brows pulled together and he was sharply reminded of her mother. Mrs. Jacobs had never liked him. Even when he’d been on his best behavior. He’d always assumed it was because she suspected he was her husband’s illegitimate son. Whatever the reason, he’d taken great pleasure in blowing her face off with a shotgun.

“You hurt me,” she said.

He allowed his fingers to slide downward, lightly circling her throat.

“A promise for the future,” he told her.

She tensed at his unspoken warning, her face draining of color. Still, she didn’t give in to panic.

Instead, she met his gaze squarely. “How did you know I would be there?”

He shrugged. “The institute is filled with people who have interesting hobbies,” he said. “One of my fellow inmates happened to have some skills at hacking. He also has an addiction to painkillers. I send him a few pills and he keeps track of you.”

She didn’t look surprised. Almost as if she’d already suspected he’d been using a computer to follow her movements.

“How did you get out of the hospital?” she asked.

“My mother died.”

This time he did manage to shock her. Her eyes widened before she gave a slow shake of her head.

“I don’t understand.”

He released his hold on her chin and stepped back. He didn’t want her to see that he still suffered from the loss of his mother.

She’d lied to him. She’d forced him to live with that brute Andrew. And she’d put him in an institute. He should hate her.

But she’d also been the only one to love him. And in her way, she’d tried to protect him. When she’d died, it had stolen his last claim to humanity.

“I was never charged with a crime, so I could have walked away anytime I wanted,” he said, turning to the side to hide his expression. “But my mother never trusted my assurance that I was all better and would never hurt anyone again.”

“Your mother was right,” Carrie muttered. “You couldn’t be trusted.”

“She threatened to tell the authorities everything if I left the institute,” he admitted. “It was her last way of controlling me.”

“And then she died.”

Ronnie curled his hands into fists, stiffening his spine. His mother was gone. He’d mourned her passing and moved on with his life.

“And I was free,” he said, turning back to meet Carrie’s wary gaze. “My next step was to help my fellow Kill Club members to escape.”

She licked her lips, her gaze shifting over his shoulder. Did she suspect there was a horde of crazed killers hiding in the shadows? Probably.

“How many?”

“Don’t worry about them.”

She frowned. “Why not?”

He offered a taunting smile, reaching beneath his sweater to pull out a handgun.

“Because I’m killing them.”





Chapter Twenty-Four


Griff was crouched behind stacks of shingles, a bead of sweat trickling down his face.

He’d spent the past fifteen minutes inching his way through the shadowed warehouse, which had given him plenty of time to overhear the conversation between Ronnie Hyde and Carmen.

Now a part of his mind was struggling to process the fact that not only had Ronnie been responsible for killing those women and stalking Carmen, but he’d actually murdered her parents. It hummed in the background as he forced himself to concentrate on how he could get Carmen away from the crazed madman and escape without her being hurt.

From a distance he could see that Ronnie was holding something in his hand. Something that could be a weapon. Plus, there were too many towering racks and deep bays to see if they were alone in the warehouse. For all Griff knew there might be a half dozen bad guys lurking just out of sight.