Blood Indulgence: a serial killer thriller (Phineas and Liam Book 3)

by V. J. Chambers

  “No, it’s fine,” said Liam. “I’ll tell her. Or, can you text the location to both of us, Dawson and me?”

  “Sure,” said Hernandez.

  “Thanks,” said Liam. “That’s awesome.”

  Hernandez shifted on his feet. Okay, now I really have to go. But he didn’t make a move to go. He just gazed at Liam. What was it about him? He was cute, but he was older than Hernandez, and he had not treated him well, not at all.

  “You doing all right?” said Liam.

  Hernandez took his hands out of his pockets and folded them across his chest. “Did we break up?”

  Liam’s lips parted.

  “I mean, I just want to make sure. Since you’re ignoring me, I guess I can assume—”

  “Hey, Ricky, I swear it wasn’t personal. Everything has been so crazy lately. I’m sorry. I should have texted back, just to acknowledge I got the text. I promise to do better in the future. I really do want to be less of an asshole, I swear.”

  Hernandez laughed knowingly. “Right.”

  “Uh, so, yeah, I guess we broke up,” said Liam. “Because Haysle and me, it’s…”

  “So, it’s not just once?” Hernandez murmured.

  Liam looked at the floor. “I’m an asshole. I’m a huge asshole.”

  “Neither you nor Haysle thinks of what you and I had as meaning anything, because it’s not heterosexual,” said Hernandez.

  “That’s not true.” Liam spread his hands. “Haysle used to be a gay man herself.”

  “You were just marking time with me, waiting for her to get screwed-up enough that she was willing to lower herself to your level.”

  “I…” Liam wouldn’t look at him. “I know you’re hurt. I know that when I apologize, it doesn’t make anything better. But I’m sorry. And I wish I hadn’t hurt you, because you’re a really good guy and you don’t deserve that.”

  Hernandez flinched, because Liam being apologetic made it worse somehow. “You don’t have to feel sorry for me.”

  “No, it’s not like that. You’ve got your shit together, Ricky, and I clearly don’t.”

  “You’re not doing so bad these days,” he said.

  “If you want to me to admit that I maybe never considered our relationship as serious, you might be right,” said Liam.

  Hernandez took a step back.

  “But not because you’re a man,” said Liam. “Because you’re young. You’re just too young for me, and I’m in this other place in my life, and…” He rubbed his forehead. “This isn’t helping, is it?”

  “Not really,” said Hernandez. “So, I was just a fling? You were just marking time with me?”

  “Come on, Ricky, it was the same for you. You couldn’t have taken me seriously, not after the way I acted.”

  You wouldn’t think so, would you? He took another step back.

  Liam gazed at him. “Aw, hell. Really?”

  “Don’t.” Hernandez held up a hand to ward him off. “I told you not to feel sorry for me.”

  “I’m an idiot. I mean, we’ve already established that, but if I had realized that you were feeling… that it was really getting serious for you—”

  “You wouldn’t have done anything differently,” said Hernandez.

  Liam sighed. “Yeah, maybe not. I don’t know. I am a fuck-up.” He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He checked the time and then shoved it back into his pants.

  “Somewhere you have to be?” said Hernandez.

  “Actually, yes, I need to be getting on the road. I’m heading down to the prison to talk to Finn.”

  “Oh, wow,” said Hernandez. “All on your own, huh? I’m surprised Dawson is letting you do that.”

  “Well, she doesn’t know,” said Liam. “You know, she doesn’t need to go near him anymore. I need to do this for her. There’s not a lot I can do to protect her, but this is something.”

  “And who protects you?”

  “He’s not any risk to me right now,” said Liam, and it was funny, because Hernandez believed him. He could see it was different, that something had shifted in Liam. What was that? Why could he summon that for Dawson and could never have summoned it for Hernandez? “I mean, I used to blame myself for how I react to him, but now I know he’s just a manipulative asshole, and he just wants to use me, and I don’t know, it defuses it somehow. Plus, he’s kind of a mess. He’s kind of falling apart. So, don’t worry about me, okay?”

  “I should go,” said Hernandez. He turned to the door. He did need to go.

  “I really am sorr—”

  “Stop it.” Hernandez let out a harsh laugh as he gripped the door knob. He twisted it one way and then the other. Why couldn’t he open the door?

  Liam reached out and helped, opening the door for him.

  Hernandez flinched again.

  “Sorry. I mean, I’m sure you would have gotten it on your own there in a minute.”

  Hernandez hurled himself out of Liam’s apartment.

  “Ricky?”

  Hernandez turned.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No,” he muttered. He turned his back on Liam and hurried away.

  LIAM felt guilty about Hernandez. Really guilty.

  He spent the drive to the prison trying to figure out how he’d cocked that up so badly. What the hell was freaking wrong with him, anyway? Why didn’t he think about other people? Why hadn’t he been more careful with the younger man?

  He’d been selfish, and that was that.

  What if he was being selfish with Dawson? What if he was too selfish to be a father?

  Things you should have thought about before screwing her without a condom three times, he snapped at himself.

  When he got to the interrogation room where he was meeting Finn, he wasn’t in the best of spirits.

  Finn, on the other hand, seemed cool and collected, in possession of his characteristic charm. He was surprised to see him alone, without Dawson in tow.

  “Is she busy getting Destiny ready for me?” said Finn. “She promised I could confront her.”

  “We didn’t find Destiny,” said Liam.

  Now, Finn’s composure slipped. “You fucking kidding me?” His voice was rising. “If she moved on, it’s not my fault I didn’t know. I’ve been on the inside for six months. I did the best I could—”

  “It’s fine,” said Liam. “It’s not your fault. She was out of the house when we got there, and one of her people tipped her off, and she skipped out.”

  “Damn it,” said Finn. “Slippery little bitch.”

  Liam nodded.

  Finn leaned back in his chair, pulling his shackled hands with him. He settled them in his lap and looked Liam over. “So, then why are you here?”

  “I want you to give me every place you’ve ever seen her,” said Liam.

  Finn chuckled.

  “We need to have somewhere else to start looking,” said Liam. “I know she’s got more hidey holes.”

  “So, where’s Haysle?”

  “You and me can take care of this,” said Liam. “I don’t need you to be around her. She’s got enough to deal with.”

  “Aw, isn’t that sweet? You’re really stepping up to look out for our little tranny detective. What’s next? You two going to tie the knot? Raise rugrats?”

  Liam didn’t react.

  The nonreaction seemed to trigger something in Finn. “Wait. What are you saying?”

  “I’m not saying anything,” said Liam, annoyed with himself for giving Finn any kind of suspicion. “Look, when I left last time, you were insistent you wanted me to come back. So, here I am.”

  Finn considered this. “So you are.”

  “You wanted me here.” Liam spread his hands. “What do you want from me?”

  Suddenly, Finn sat forward, his voice going low and soft. “Let me see it.”

  Liam stiffened. “What are you talking about? If you think I’m whipping out my dick—”

  “Not your dick, your scar.”<
br />
  Liam swallowed.

  “When I stabbed you in the bunker in January,” said Finn. “Let me see the scar.”

  Liam’s fingers itched. Without meaning to, his hands drifted to the hem of his shirt. He seized it.

  Finn let out a breathy sound of anticipation. He leaned forward even further. His eyes danced eagerly.

  “No,” whispered Liam, but he was already pulling up the bottom of his shirt, baring his stomach.

  The scar was a pink line on the side of his abdomen. The skin there was raised. Liam lifted his clothes until it was visible.

  Finn’s sharp uptake of breath echoed in the small room.

  Liam somehow found control of himself and yanked his shirt back down. “Now. Tell me.”

  Finn laughed. “I never said it was a tit for tat, tiger.”

  Liam felt a chill travel up his spine. And just like that, I’m back under his thrall. I should never have come here alone.

  “Are you hard?” whispered Finn. “Did it turn you on to show it to me?”

  Liam got up from the table, pushing the chair aside with a clatter.

  “Oh, come on, tiger.” Finn cocked his head to one side. “Don’t go.”

  Liam turned his back on Finn and stalked across the room.

  “Hey, you want information from me, you know what I want.”

  Liam pounded on the door.

  “I want treatment. I’m ill, not a criminal!” Now, there was a thread of desperation in Finn’s voice.

  The guard on the other side opened the door, and Liam stumbled out of there, feeling half-drunk.

  When the door shut on Finn, he was relieved to be away from him.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  NO matter what Dawson said or did, she couldn’t get the woman in the facility to talk to her. She only stared at the wall and ignored her.

  Eventually, Dawson gave up.

  She drove back to the station, and she checked her email.

  There was something there from Worth. The message contained a link to a Zoom meeting. It had started five minutes ago.

  Damn it.

  She needed the IT guys on this.

  But if she wasted time, she might lose Worth entirely.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  She clicked on the link.

  The meeting opened. Worth was already there, but her video was turned off. “Detective,” she said. “I was beginning to worry that you’d stand me up.”

  “Where are you?” said Dawson.

  “You might want to plug in some headphones,” said Worth. “I don’t think you’re going to want anyone to hear what I’m saying, and I can see that you’re at work there in the police station.”

  Dawson turned off her video.

  Worth chuckled.

  “When we were all trapped in that room together with Finn, you told him that you wanted to see him and Liam together,” said Worth.

  Dawson’s face twitched. “Yeah, I guess I did, but that was just an attempt to trick him. It didn’t work.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Worth. “I could hear a little hitch in your voice when you talked about it. I could see how your whole body went tense… Did you enjoy the little video I sent you?”

  Dawson opened a drawer and got out a pair of headphones. She plugged them in to the computer and stuck them in her ears. Maybe she didn’t want anyone listening in, after all.

  “You want to see the action up close and personal, don’t you?”

  Dawson didn’t answer.

  “I do, too,” said Worth. “Well, not in person, I suppose. That would be impossible. But I do want to see it. You must have realized I had some reason for staying in touch with you.”

  “It’s common for serial killers to insert themselves into the investigation in some manner,” said Dawson. “Serial killers are often fascinated by law enforcement.”

  Worth dissolved into a fit of giggles. It was prolonged. It went on and on.

  Dawson didn’t see what was funny. She clenched her teeth, trying to think of how she could get in touch with IT. Maybe a text message? Where was her phone?

  “Oh,” said Worth, recovering, her voice still affected by her laughter. “I’m not a serial killer, detective.”

  “Fine,” said Dawson. “I’ll bite. What are you, then?”

  “I don’t kill people. That’s not who I am.”

  “I guess you don’t do it yourself,” said Dawson. “You make other people do it for you. You make them do it to themselves. But it’s your influence that makes it happen.”

  “A lot of the people who come to me for help are very troubled,” said Worth airily. “I try to help them, but I can only do so much.”

  “Yes, that’s why everyone in that house has either killed themselves or attempted it. Because they were all suicidal to begin with.” Dawson was sarcastic.

  “This isn’t why I wanted to talk,” said Worth. “Serial killers might do stupid things like taunt the police. They’re usually men, aren’t they? Almost always? I am not a man, and I am not stupid. I only stayed in touch with you because I wanted this from you. I was working on getting you ready, but you’re very hasty, chasing me all over the place. So, we’ll have to speed up the time line a little. I think you can make it happen easily enough. You’re taking Liam to the prison to see Finn, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” said Dawson, who just wanted to keep Worth talking. Worth was delusional, and she didn’t understand her own motives. Dawson wasn’t going to contradict her. It was more important to keep Worth talking. She didn’t need to put the other woman on the defensive.

  “So, you find some way to turn off the cameras in the prison, but you bring your own camera. Film them together. Send it to me.”

  Dawson couldn’t help but let out a disbelieving noise.

  “You can make it happen for me, detective,” said Worth. “And you will. Because you want it too. And because I always get what I want.”

  She ended the Zoom meeting.

  Dawson gaped at her computer screen.

  What the hell?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  IT was afternoon before Hernandez remembered to text Liam and Dawson with the location of the IP address.

  He got a text back from Dawson saying, What is this?

  He didn’t feel like getting into it with her, so he simply texted back, Talk to Liam about it.

  She didn’t respond, and—for some reason—this angered him. He didn’t mean to be angry at Dawson about the whole thing. It wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t made any commitments to him, and she hadn’t known that Liam was with him when she slept with the other man.

  Well, not the first time, anyway.

  She sure hadn’t wasted any time moving in on that, had she?

  Why was Dawson even messing around with Liam? She could do so much better.

  Hernandez considered this.

  Could she do better? He’d never asked questions, so he didn’t know how far she’d been into her transition as a man. She could have had surgeries. But if that was the case, would she really have bothered transitioning again? Even still, he had to admit that maybe dating was not exactly easy for Dawson.

  Whatever.

  He still felt like being annoyed with her.

  He should be annoyed with Liam, and not her. Well, he was annoyed with Liam. He was annoyed with them both.

  And Liam sure as hell wasn’t responding to his text either, despite whatever promises he’d made earlier.

  Hernandez was annoyed.

  And that was when he got a very stupid idea.

  He would go to the location of the IP address himself.

  It was completely out of character for him to have an idea like that. He would never do something like that. It wasn’t that Hernandez was a coward, he was just not stupid. He knew that he didn’t have the skills to fight bad guys and he was terrified of people like Destiny Worth. His job was to look into the fan angles of things and to consult. Consulting was an indoor job. It didn’t require f
ield work.

  But once he latched onto the stupid idea, he couldn’t let go of it.

  He had some stupid (extraordinarily stupid) fantasy of Liam rushing out to wherever he was and taking him by the shoulders. Don’t risk yourself like this ever again, Ricky. If anything had happened to you, I don’t know what I would have done.

  Yeah, right.

  What would be more likely to happen would be that Liam and Dawson wouldn’t even notice the text he sent saying he was heading out there, and that he would be shot to death point blank by Destiny Worth.

  Even if Liam did show up, he wasn’t going to fall back in love with Hernandez just because Hernandez put himself in danger.

  “Well,” said Hernandez out loud to himself, “I don’t want him to fall in love with me, anyway. If he did, I would tell him to fuck off, because he’s not good for me, and because I can do better.”

  Yeah, he agreed with himself.

  And then he got his in car and drove off towards the location of the IP address.

  After driving for nearly a half an hour, he realized that this didn’t make sense. He had been trying to talk himself out of coming out here. But now he was practically there, so he just pulled over and sent the text to both Dawson and Liam, telling them that he’d decided to head out to check it out, and that he’d text if he found anything. Don’t worry. I’ll stay back. I won’t go close to anything. I’m not interested in getting myself killed.

  He waited for a text back from Liam, telling him to stop, telling him not to be an idiot.

  There was nothing.

  This enraged him.

  When he did arrive at the location, he got out of his car immediately.

  There was nothing there except an old house with boarded up windows. It had been sitting empty for a long time. There was graffiti scrawled all over the siding and shutters. Gary and Anna 2-gether 4-ever, some of it read. There were a bunch of swear words, too, for good measure.