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wheezed a ragged sigh through her nose.

He brought the implement down, again and again, crosshatching the skin of her thighs, her breasts, with oozing red.

She would bear the marks too.

Satisfied, he tossed the whip aside and climbed between her legs, positioning his face above hers. Pancake makeup dripped down her face on beads of sweat.

Look at me, bitch.

She did as if she could hear his thoughts.

He ripped the tape from her mouth and thrust into her roughly, feeling the resistance that she couldn’t will away, even for the money he was giving her.

Pinpricks of crimson on her lips grew until the blood trickled down her chin.

“Please, stop—”

“Close your fucking mouth.”

“But—”

Robert only wanted the words of one woman. I forgive you, Robert. It’s okay, Robert. I love you.

“Please—” Her voice was nasal and petulant and vile. And she was not Hannah.

He backhanded her, the sting on his hand and the clack of her teeth offering some comfort, some consolation, though not enough.

“Anything else?” he said.

She stared at the wall.

Robert squinted, blurring his vision, so her thin face dripped away like a Dali painting, oozing, shifting, reforming, solidifying. Hannah. Dark hair swirled around her lovely face, the green of her eyes, pulling him into her.

She smiled at him. I forgive you.

He moved his hips faster, with renewed passion.

I can take the pain away. I can help you.

Over and over he thrust, feeling her, smelling her. When she moaned louder, the screams were Hannah’s as he brought her to the peaks of passion with him, rewarding her for saving him, for loving him, for releasing him from a lifetime of dread.

Shaking, he wiped tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. His knuckles burned. The whore’s sweat and blood clung to his skin.

He climbed from the bed and left the room, careful not to look at her. He did not want the reminder that she was not there with him.

“Soon,” he whispered.

She’d be with him soon enough.

29
Wednesday, November 25th

“They froze me out.” Petrosky resisted the urge to kick McCallum’s desk.

“I heard. How did that make you feel?”

“You know how the fuck I feel about it. They didn’t even call me. Just went out there themselves and ran the scene.” From what he’d heard, Alice Putrus had been found under a manhole cover, her stomach torn open, a dog gnawing on her bloody shirt. She’d been there for a few days, definitely killed before Everette. And his guy had done his homework—there was no way her name was a coincidence.

“Where’s Morrison?”

“Getting what he can from the brass. Or from his workout buddies.”

“He’s better with people, isn’t he?”

“Doesn’t take much to beat me at people-pleasing.”

“There’s some truth to that.”

“How insightful. Some shrink you are.” He paused. “I’m going to solve this fucker.”

“That’s why you’re here?”

“Yes.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “No other reason?”

“Goddammit, McCallum, knock it off. This isn’t about me. This guy is good. Meticulous. He might not be the best at dissection, but he’s certainly the best at getting in and out of there clean. Even used a rake to obliterate his footprints in that Lapeer field.”

“So, we’re left with what?”

“The type of victim. The poems.” The poems bothered him more than he cared to admit. Especially Campbell’s. Had their killer hidden the poem on purpose to throw doubt on his identity? If that was the case, why write it at all? Maybe he was messing with their minds. Or maybe, it was as simple as them missing the fact that they could move that brick.

“The other poems were hidden, too, but not nearly as well,” Petrosky said. “I mean, he actually risked bringing a large piece of equipment in to lift the cement and hide the paper. He used different restraints, too. There has to be something special about that killing.”

McCallum nodded. “I agree, though the reason it matters might not be as deep as you think. Have you found anything to indicate that Campbell knew any of the other victims?”

“No.”

Just her.

“McCallum tapped his pen against his desk. “If he hadn’t gone right back to the old pattern, I would say it was a sign of escalation, a game. But he just picked up where he left off, though he’s clearly accelerating his pace.”

Petrosky resisted the urge to grab the pen and hurl it across the room. The dull throbbing in his temples was turning into a full-blown ache.

“Anyway,” McCallum continued, “the similarity in the victims before and after continues to scream past slight. I would bet that Campbell’s death was for another reason. Either he knew something he wasn’t supposed to, or he was getting in the way somehow.”

Petrosky gritted his teeth. “How would he get in the way? He never did anything! He didn’t work and hardly left the apartment except to walk down the street to get cigarettes. He didn’t even have a car to get close to any of the places the killings occurred.”

McCallum shrugged. “Maybe he had something the killer wanted.”

“We’ve considered the money route, but the only people who would have benefitted are his ex-girlfriend and her son. They have alibis.”

“Plus, one of them is five.” Tap. Tap.

Joke it up, asshole. Petrosky clenched his fist to avoid shoving the pen through the doctor’s twinkling eye.

“Money isn’t everything. Your killer had something to gain by Campbell dying.” Tap, tap, tap. “Figure out what it is, and you’ll be one step closer to solving this case.”

“I’m doing my best.” Petrosky stood.

“Where are you off to?”

“Staff meeting.” He pulled his coat off the back of the chair and hauled it on, one of his shoulders creaking in protest. “Might as well make an appearance before Graves tries to throw me off the case altogether.”

“You and I both know that wouldn’t stop you, Ed.”

“Yeah, probably not. But it’d sure make getting into the donuts more difficult.”

Morrison was already in the conference room. Petrosky sat next to him and swallowed bitter precinct coffee, casting envious glances at Morrison’s stainless steel mug. He always brought the best joe from home. In the front of the room, someone had transferred the victims’ photos to an oversized corkboard, neon green sticky notes tacked beneath each picture, connections between victims outlined in thread. Next to the corkboard, the original whiteboard listed their victims:

Meredith Lawrence: October 1st

A boat beneath a sunny sky,

Lingering onward dreamily

In an evening in July—

Jane Trazowski, October 11

Children three that nestle near,

Eager eye and willing ear

Pleased a simple tale to hear—

Jacob Campbell: November 3

Long has paled the sunny sky:

Echoes fade and memories die:

Autumn frosts have slain July.

Alice Putrus: November 18

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,

Alice moving under skies

Never seen by waking eyes.

Bianca Everette:

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