by Bijou Hunter
“How did he grab Violet?” Maverick asks. “Taking a girl from the Boulders isn’t like grabbing a girl in a trailer park.”
“Here’s my theory,” Shelby says, running her fingers over the girl’s picture. “Her parents were gone for the weekend. The killer isn’t a redneck out in the sticks of Shasta. He’s somewhere close by. That’s how he knew she was alone. The fucker might have even been a friend of her parents. He shows up at the house, and she knows him. Maybe not well, but she isn’t afraid. He pulls a weapon and has her take some of her things from her room. Then he moves her to his house. Somewhere nearby.”
“Which of your suspects live in the Boulders,” Shane asks.
“Three of them,” Shelby says and points to the men. “I recognize two of them from my walks with the dogs. I’ve spoken to one. He babbled about his yard and then asked about my yard’s weeds. Either he was feeling me up for info, or he’s one of the most boring fucking people I’ve ever spoken with.”
“I don’t think we should assume Violet’s alive,” River says, and Shelby’s face drops into a frown. “I’m not saying he didn’t take her, but he could be fucking with us. Who knows when she touched or licked that envelope?”
“He might be killing her right now,” Shelby says, tearing up. “We’re losers. We’re letting this happen!”
I jump up to console her at the same time Taylor and Shane do. River’s ass also looks ready to leave his chair, and Maverick might be considering it. Still, I’m the one who gets to her first. Shelby launches herself against me and cries.
“He took her, and her parents died, and she’s in that house with that man. Or maybe she’s dead. We took too long. I should have tried harder.”
“You cared more than anyone,” I whisper in her ear while the others refuse to look away. I frown at them and growl, “You don’t need to stare.”
“No, it’s fine,” Shelby whimpers. “They're used to my meltdowns. Shit, you haven’t even seen me suffer from a migraine yet.”
Shelby hides her face against my chest while Taylor takes over. “We have a few people at the store, watching out for this guy. Once we get his picture, we’ll need to figure out how to hit his house.”
“And what do we do with Violet if she’s alive,” Maverick mumbles, frowning at the suspects on the board. “Does she have any living family? Her reappearance could bring the media here, draw attention to how the fucker died. We should prepare for the fact that saving this girl and killing the Shasta Slasher might put a huge target on the club.”
“Stop being rational,” Shelby hisses at him. “I’m looking for gumdrops and rainbow kisses, not harsh reality.”
“I’m just saying that we need to be prepared for everything. This guy’s house might be boobytrapped. It might be more than one guy. He might have a bunch of girls locked in his house. We don’t have a fucking clue.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll start working on those possibilities,” River tells his brother. “Shelby’s overwhelmed, and we can’t really do anything until we know more about the guy Dione snitched on. Once we have details, we’ll put together a plan, alert Ellsberg to possible hell raining down on us from the situation, and then we end the Shasta Slasher.”
Shelby smiles at her friend and then up at me. “I hope you get to rip his head off.”
“We all do, man,” Hugh says, and I flip him off.
Once alone with her in the creepy fucking basement that my woman turned into an office, I cup Shelby’s face and wipe the wetness from her cheeks.
She stares up at me, fighting more tears. “I don’t want our daughter born in a town where a man like the slasher still destroys lives.”
“We’ll find him. You’ve gotten so close already,” I say, gesturing to her whiteboards covered with pictures and writing.
“I might be completely wrong. He might not even live in Shasta.”
“Then how did he see Violet?”
“Maybe her volleyball team traveled to his area, and he spotted her. He could have just visited Shasta for his victims.”
“Nomp. You know that ain’t right. He grabs them here, and he dumps their bodies here. But you said he doesn’t kill them right when he takes them. He hurts them first. That takes time and privacy. You’re right that he’s here in Shasta. He’s probably one of these fuckers.”
“I love you,” she says, taking my hands and placing them on her belly. “I knew when I found my man that I would love him fiercely. That's how Campbells love, but I’m still startled sometimes by how much I feel for you.”
Her words make me uncomfortable. They’re too beautiful to be said next to a board detailing so much suffering and death.
“After we kill this guy, you gotta stop hunting monsters.”
“Never,” she says with lots of drama. “I won’t go soft. I have to be tough to protect the ones I love.”
“I can be tough for you.”
Shelby gives me a little smile. “You don’t want me too soft, Dean. It wouldn’t be me, and you love me.”
“You know I fucking do. More than I should.”
“You just feel overwhelmed because loving like this is new,” she promises and hugs me as well as she can with our kid playing blocker. “One day, you’ll be so used to feeling this love that you won’t fear it anymore.”
“We’ll see.”
“Yeah, we will,” she says, calmer now.
Though I’m still learning about Shelby, I know she’ll sleep better tonight if we hang around the house for a while. Our new place is just where we sleep and fuck. Here in this creepy fucking ghost house, she feels most at peace. As much as she wants to kill the Shasta Slasher, I’m more worried about her and our baby staying safe and healthy. They’re my future, and I’m not willing to put them in danger. Not even to stop a monster.
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE REAPER SHOULD BE FEARED
THE WEIRDO
One trip to the grocery store is all it takes to put a target on the Shasta Slasher’s back.
Barry O'Meara lived a block from the Victorian until a few months after Violet Navarro’s disappearance. Then he moved just outside Shasta to a smaller house on a larger lot. I tell myself that he needed more privacy. The first house was fine for killing, but he feared keeping Violet Navarro so close to her home. Out at the new house, if she escaped, she’d need to walk a mile to find help. In the Boulders, she could run right next door.
I want so much to believe Violet’s alive. Saving her will alleviate the guilt I feel for not saving those other women that people have forgotten so easily.
“You can’t come with us,” River says after his brother leaves to keep an eye on O’Meara’s house.
As soon as we got a photo of Barry and his car, I was able to ID him from the information in my office. The Fearsome Foursome, Maverick, and Goliath immediately started working out our plan. After stalking his house for two days, we plan to hit him in the morning. Now, River is ruining my end game.
“This is my thing. I made this happen,” I say and shove River.
“This asshole could be armed to the teeth. We can’t chance you being there.”
“You’re all going.”
Taylor hugs me from behind while Goliath tries his best not to freak out. He doesn’t want me going either. None of them do. Baby Kirby makes me a liability.
“But we’re a team,” I whine quietly, in shock that they would leave me behind.
Taylor whispers in my ear. “You can wait in the car.”
“No,” Goliath growls.
“Yes,” Taylor growls back. “She can’t sit in this house, worrying and waiting. It’ll agitate her. It’s not good for the baby, and stress can set off a migraine.”
River glances at Shane, who shakes his head. I realize they’re going to outvote Taylor and me.
“Please. I’ll stay in the car and wrap myself in Kevlar.”
Goliath makes the mistake of holding my gaze. I beg him to let me come. Shane can’t put me at risk. River will bend to Shane’s f
ear. Goliath has to be the tiebreaker.
If I had Goliath alone, I could convince him. Instead, we’re surrounded by people who prevent me from using my Shelby charms on him. Based on his expression, I know he won’t take my side.
Then he goes and shows I haven’t gotten him pegged yet by saying, “You never leave the car.”
“No,” Shane growls.
Goliath frowns at my brother. “At least in the car, I’ll know where she is.”
“You’ll know where she is if she’s in the house,” Shane says, scowling up at the bigger man. “She can’t go.”
“You took her to kill Swamp Thing and those other guys.”
“Yeah, but she wasn’t five months pregnant then.”
Seeing my chance, I point out, “But I won’t be doing anything besides sitting in the car.”
“You can sit here.”
Frowning at my little brother, I cry, “I can’t see what’s happening from here!”
“Once we’re inside, you won’t be able to see anything there either.”
“Shane, you got outvoted. Just accept it,” I say, frowning at my baby bruv. “I’m coming.”
“We’ll ask Maverick, and he can make it a tie, which means you don’t go.”
Hugging my brother, I sigh. “That’s not how anything works, Shane. It’s okay. I promise I won’t leave the car.”
“We’re sticking you right there in front of his house,” he says, sounding so young that I nearly give into him. “The fucking car is meant to draw his attention away from us attacking at the back. How is putting you there safe?”
“He doesn’t know we’re coming. It’ll be early, and he’ll hear a car out front. His mind won’t be focused enough to know what’s coming. Once you breach the back door, he’ll have bigger issues.”
Shane’s expression reminds me so much of when he was a kid. Right this second, he isn’t the Reapers’ VP or a husband and father. He’s my kid brother, afraid I’ll end up hurt again. Even after all these years, he can’t let go of the night when I called him, bloodied and scared.
“Do you swear on Mom’s heart and sanity that you won’t leave the SUV no matter what happens?” he asks.
I smile at him and then turn my gaze to Goliath. “I swear I’ll stay put no matter what.”
The men exhale in unison, both wanting to rethink their most recent decisions. Goliath especially worries that he made the wrong choice. Caring so much about someone is all new to him, and he’d keep me locked away if he could. But he also doesn’t want me to change because he loves this me. His head must be a confusing place right now.
THE GOLIATH
I’m in new territory. Normally when violence is on the horizon, I get dark inside. It’s a good feeling. I like killing bad men. I oughta feel fucking great during the hours before we hit Barry O’Meara’s house.
Except Shelby is so nervous that I can’t embrace the darkness. I gotta comfort her. Holding Shelby doesn’t allow the darkness to take hold. She’s so soft and warm. How am I supposed to enjoy her loving me and then get ugly inside for killing?
My mood is helped by the movie she puts on around eleven. The revenge flick with trippy fucking visuals leaves me wanting to kill monsters like Barry.
“He couldn’t save his wife,” Shelby says as we watch “Mandy.”
Nearby, Maverick sits crooked in a chair. I can’t tell if he’s napping or not. River went upstairs with Max and their baby. Shane left too. Taylor sits across from Maverick, watching the movie while texting someone.
Sighing, Shelby adds, “Revenge is all he had left.”
“Violet,” Taylor whispers, making me think that Maverick is asleep, “wasn’t yours to save, Shelby. You set in motion finding the man that took her.”
Shelby nods before pressing her face to my chest and crying quietly. She claims the hormones make her weepy, but I suspect she wants to be a hero like Kirk Johansson saving her mother.
I’m thinking about him later when I crawl through the fields behind Barry O’Meara’s one-story house. What did Kirk feel when he opened that box to find a young teenage girl looking back up at him? At that moment, she was his responsibility. I never had that burden with Lineke. She asked for her husband’s death. Not my help paying the bills or raising her kids. I never felt such a responsibility until Shelby. It’s my job to make her life better. That’s why I exist. I see the truth now.
Belly down on the cold ground, I wait for a signal from River. This stealth shit isn’t how I killed in the past. Instead, I’d walk up to a house, bust down the door, and kill whoever got in my way.
Of course, I didn’t care much if I died back then. I sure as fuck do now. Shelby is nearby in an SUV, waiting for Taylor to pull up to the front of the house. In her belly is my daughter. I ain’t dying today.
The back of the simple white house offers few windows and a single door. No fencing, no trees, no bushes. It’s barren, untouched. The front is tidier, meant to look appealing to people driving by. Back here, it’s obvious the guy doesn’t give a fuck.
“I see movement,” Maverick says through the comm in my ear. “A kitchen light came on.”
Ready to move, I hold my breath when I see in the distance the SUV turning onto the road. The vehicle disappears from view once it pulls in front of the house. As soon as we hear the engine revving, River begins the countdown.
I try to remember my job today. I’m not alone. There’s a team. They’ve got years of training together. I need to let them lead. My job is to bust shit up, watch their backs, and rip off the motherfucker’s head if I can.
River’s voice sounds so steady as he gives us the greenlight. My body is relieved to be off the cold ground. The brisk run toward the house warms my muscles and gets my heart pumping. The men around me are dressed all in black. I can’t tell them apart, but there’s no mistaking me as I reach the house.
I use every ounce of strength to slam the handheld battering ram into the back door. The thing crashes inward after the second blow. Maverick immediately throws in a flash grenade. River follows up with a smoke bomb.
The four of us move into the house with me bringing up the rear. I hear gunshots ahead of me. No idea who fired. The men don’t stop moving. Neither do I.
We enter a kitchen. Maverick pauses and yells at someone. I look down to find Violet Navarro crouched in a corner, staring at us with big eyes and mouth agape.
“Where is he?” Maverick demands, his face still hidden behind the mask.
Wearing a polka-dotted dress and heels, the young woman lifts her shaky finger toward a doorway.
“The basement?” I ask, and she nods.
“Is there anyone in there with him?” Maverick demands.
Violet shakes her head. Just then, River and Shane return, having cleared the rest of the house.
When I reach for the knob, my president slides in front of me and opens the door just enough to throw down a live grenade. The floor under us shakes while River signals for Shane to deal with Violet.
Once the girl leaves the kitchen, River opens the basement door wider. Smoke billows from the cracked door. Then he disappears down the barely lit stairwell. Maverick follows, gun at the ready, moving as if he’s barely touching the steps. Whatever he sees in the basement, he turns and heads back upstairs. I keep moving down to where River kicks away Barry O’Meara’s AR-15.
I stand over the dying man. He mumbles to himself while River clears the romper room turned torture chamber.
Barry’s gaze sharpens as he notices me.
“Where’d your legs go?” I ask him, smirking at how the grenade blew off everything below his knees.
The serial killer sneers at me. He tries to speak, but only drool and blood leaves his lips. I bet he wishes his body would go into shock to keep him from feeling so much pain. Instead, he shakes with rage, terror, and suffering. It’s a good look on him.
“Here,” River says, handing me an ax. “Take off his head and get upstairs so we can burn this fucking
place to the ground.”
I look over the weapon, liking the feel of it in my hand. Barry watches me, more afraid now.
“A bullet is too good for you,” I say and circle him. Leaning over, I look him in his blue eyes and smile. “Shelby Campbell caught you, motherfucker.”
The ax comes down on his tender throat. The first strike kills him. The second one fully separates his head from the rest of him. I throw the ax in the corner and look at the mess I made. Thinking of Shelby waiting for me, I kick the fucker’s head into the corner and return upstairs to a morning with one less piece of shit in the world.
THE WEIRDO
Taylor talks baby names while we wait in the car. I sit in the back seat for “safety reasons.” She sits in the driver’s seat, holding a gun in her lap and telling me how she wants a really butch name for a girl and a super feminine name for a boy.
“I’m leaning toward Cronk and Sweetpea.”
Despite smiling at her attempt to keep me calm, I’m so agitated that I nearly vomit. The morning is quiet, the neighbors up the road are still in bed, the world exists in a haze. I feel like an exposed nerve, though.
Over the comm, we hear the men breach the house. I’m shaking when Taylor reaches over the seat to take my hand.
“Breathe deep for Kirby,” she says, and I settle myself down.
I hear Maverick barking questions at someone. Are they in trouble? He rarely speaks. The other men are silent. Then I hear an explosion.
Rubbing my bump as if it’s a magic lamp and I’m looking to make a wish, I feel the baby move around inside me.
“Shane is coming out,” Taylor says and climbs out of the SUV.
I watch my brother walking briskly from the front door. I’m exhausted from a lack of sleep and too much worry. Why else does it take me so long to realize he’s walking with someone covered in a blanket? Taylor opens the back door, and the person slides in next to me.
With shaking hands, I lift the blanket to find Violet Navarro staring back at me. She’s wearing red lipstick. Her entire face is overly made up, and I notice her blue-and-white polka-dotted dress. She looks like a woman out of the original “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” from 1956.
