Virgo: Zodiac Killers #10
Page 16
“Excuse me, Nate. I need to see you.”
“Look, just chill out, okay?” he asked her with a pleading look. She stormed off and went to the makeup chair on the other side of the room. Nate sighed and turned toward Darek. “That one is causing trouble again. I should have known better than to make Ethan do this show. He never wanted to. I owe him a huge apology.”
Darek let out a deep breath, preparing himself to tell Nate, who Ethan had claimed was his best friend. He led him into the private room with the others and shut the door.
“Is everything okay?” Nate asked, seeing Raven across the room crying on Mia’s shoulder.
Darek knew there was no easy way to say it. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Ethan was stabbed while in the back room showering. I’m afraid he’s dead.” He let it sink in for a moment, and finally, it hit the other man.
Nate’s face twisted with confusion, then horror. “That bitch. She had it done. She had him killed.” He began to pace the floor.
“Please,” Darek said. “We don’t want to alert everyone here and cause a panic. I’ll make sure that Shannon is taken in for questioning, but right now, it’s important to avoid a big media clusterfuck. My partner is with him, and Bay. We found him about twenty minutes ago. I’ll walk you down there, but I need to find security first.”
Raven got to her feet and walked over to hug Nate. The two fell into each other’s arms. “Is it true?” he asked.
Raven nodded. “I’ve never seen so much blood.” She started crying hard again, and Darek had to get out of there. He looked at Marvin, who gave a nod, and Darek knew the man would keep them there.
He hurried out and went to the floor where Lane sat alone at their table, watching his girl up on stage. “Hey, I thought you all left. I can’t bail until Nona finished three more passes. This show is going to be the death of me.”
“Don’t say that,” said Darek. “I just found Ethan backstage. Someone stabbed him. He’s dead.”
“Fuck.” The color drained from Lane’s face.
“Yeah, and I need you to come back with me. I’m sorry, but my partner wants to question everyone, and since you were at our table, she—”
“Of course.” Lane got to his feet and rubbed his temples. “I can’t believe this is happening. I should have known there were too many of us here.”
“I know.” Darek didn’t think it was an appropriate time to point out that they were the only three left. He patted his back as they hurried backstage. “Don’t alert anyone. We’re trying to keep this as low key as possible. At least until we can lock down the scene.” Darek looked around before they left the main floor and didn’t see Max anywhere. Motherfucker. He didn’t have time for him.
As they went to the back, Darek brought Lane into the room with the girls and Nate. He shut the door behind him and walked over to Raven. “I need to get back to them. I’ll come back for you. I know you wanted to leave with him. I’m so sorry, Rave.” He turned to Lane, who walked over and hugged Mia close.
“Could you take care of them?” Darek asked. “I need to get out there. I want to take Nate to see him.”
Lane nodded. “Whatever you need me to do. You know, me looking after these girls is getting to be a habit, but we’ll be okay, just like before.”
Darek realized that he’d taken care of them after the shooting in New Orleans too. The little group had been through a lot together. “Thanks.”
He walked over to Nate, who stood against the wall looking like his life was over. In many ways, it was. “Come on. I’ll take you to him.”
He walked Nate out of the room, and they went down the hall quietly, hoping to avoid Shannon, who had already made her way out onto the stage. Darek let them into the hall and locked it behind them. Then they slowly made their way over to the bathroom as Bay burst through the other side with the paramedics and police. Lizzy stopped the men from entering at first, and Nate walked in and saw his friend.
The man backed away and hit the nearest toilet, the blood and circumstances all too much for him. “I’m sorry, Nate,” said Darek, walking over to the bathroom. He heard a faint gurgle behind him, and when he turned, he realized it hadn’t come from Nate. He rushed over to the body and knelt down.
Lizzy moved in on him. “Darek, you’ll contaminate the crime scene. I’ve got the crew coming in.”
Darek felt a slow pulse. “Paramedics! He’s got a pulse!” All of a sudden, the men in the hall pushed past Lizzy and got to work. Darek thought of all the precious time they’d wasted with him on the hunt for the others and Nate. All that time, he could have been getting help. He looked up at Lizzy, who had a confused look on her face. She knew she’d messed up.
“I didn’t feel a pulse. All of that blood? You thought the same thing.” She put her hands over her face and went to stand out in the hall.
Darek waited to see if Ethan would make it into the ambulance, and when did, he knew he had to go and tell the others. But as Bay walked by the door, he stopped and tilted his head. “Darek. Come look at this.”
Darek walked over, and in the blank space on the door where, there were three smudgy letters scrawled in blood. C-O-P.
Darek sank inside. “You were right.” He waved Lizzy over and pointed to it. “Take photos of that. It looks like Ethan was trying to tell us something.”
“I’m not leaving this scene until I know this is collected,” said Bay, glaring at Lizzy who stepped away to talk to one of the photographers. “Tell Mia to stay put.”
“I have Lane looking after her. But I’m going to go tell Raven the good news.”
Bay nodded. “You do that.” He clapped Darek on the back and then folded his arms as he turned and watched the forensic team in action.
Darek started away, but Lizzy stopped him. “Hey, where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back.”
“I need you on this scene!” she snapped.
“Raven and Nate are down there falling apart, thinking that Ethan is dead. I want to tell them that there’s hope.”
Lizzy sighed. “Hurry back.” She turned and went back inside the room with the others as Bay watched on.
Darek ran down the hall and to the room, trying to keep his cool and contain his excitement as he did. Not only did Ethan have a chance at survival, but the killer just might get caught. Every head turned when he walked in, and he stopped in the center of the room with tears in his eyes. “The paramedics came, and it turns out Ethan has a pulse.”
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief, and Raven ran across the room and into his arms. “It’s okay, Raven. He’ll be all right.” He cupped her face and wiped her tears.
“I need to get to the hospital,” she said, looking at Nate.
“Let’s go. You can come with me, Raven.”
Darek looked over at Mia. “You’re supposed to stay put, Mia.”
“I’ve got her,” said Marvin. “The rest of this place can go to hell for all I care. I just hope that handsome cowboy is going to be all right.”
“Me too, Marvin. Thank for your help.”
Raven and Nate walked to the door, and Darek followed them out, stopping when she turned around and hugged him again. “Promise me you’ll make sure that whoever did this is caught. I can’t go through this again.”
“I promise.” He looked into her eyes, and she held his stare a moment before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Then she and Nate made their way out front to the main exit.
Whispers were slowly making their way across the room, and Darek had a feeling that the news was spreading.
Suddenly, Shannon Steele pranced into the room, mouthing off about her heels slipping. That was when one of the girls pulled her aside and told her the news. Darek watched her reaction, a gaping mouth that turned into an ugly cry told him she had nothing to do with it.
The burning image of those letters written in blood was what worried him the most. He hoped they didn’t mean what he thought they did.
> Right under our noses.
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To be continued…
The Zodiac story continues with Libra
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About the Author
WL Knightly is a thriller/murder mystery co-writing pen name for USA Today Best Selling Authors Lexy Timms and Ali Parker.
When she’s not writing, Lexy can be found dealing in Antique Jewelry and hanging out with her awesome hubby and three kids.
Ali is a CPA turned fiction writer who is married to her best friend and travels the US as a nomad. She spends her days writing, traversing the city and chasing her last kiddo in the house, a teenage quipper with too much time on his hands!
The two friends met years ago when they both started writing and publishing in various young adult genres and needed a critique partner. The rest is history…
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Virgo
Zodiac Killers #10
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Copyright © 2018 by WL Knightly
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All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
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First Edition.
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Editor: Eric Martinez
Cover Art: Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design