“And the message was…?”
“Tell Joel the truth or I take someone that you value.”
“That’s…that’s a huge crazy jump. People don’t make jumps like that.”
She did. The killer did. “I took someone he valued. Joel was his experiment. I took him. Brought him here with me. But I kept the truth from Joel about what had really happened to him.”
His hand slid away from her shoulder. “So you’re telling me…you…you just gave up Joel to save my sorry ass? You made your big reveal to him, knowing he’d turn and walk away from you—you did that for me?”
“I don’t happen to think your ass is sorry. I’m quite fond of it. And you.”
“But you love Joel.”
Yes. She also loved Reese. Though…had she ever told him those words? Sometimes, they were so hard for her to voice.
“Fuck,” he whispered. “You did that for me?”
“For you and for him.” Two men that she loved, in different ways. Strange. Growing up, she’d always felt so cold. Like her heart was encased in ice. Nothing could get through the ice. Joel and Reese had. “He deserved the truth. The lie had to end. This man…he will come for Joel.” I have to be ready for him.
“You think he’s going to kill Joel? The way he killed Lucia?”
“Kill him or use him…”
“Use him for what?”
She thought of the words she’d said to Joel. He wanted to take something strong and break it apart. “He isn’t done with Joel.”
Because to be fully done with Joel, she thought the perp would want to conclude his experiment. To make a monster.
But I won’t let that happen. No matter what she had to do, Chloe would not let that happen to Joel. He might hate her, he might never want to see her again, but she would not stand back and let anyone hurt him.
“Step one,” Chloe said once more as her shoulders straightened. “I find out who triggered those bombs.”
“How do we do that?”
She’d noticed his not-so-subtle stress on “we” in that question. “I go and talk to some bomb investigators, and I see if I can gain access to the Serpent. You stay here with Marie. The cops aren’t going to be down with you appearing at crime scenes.”
“Hey, at least they know I didn’t set the bombs. I was in their custody while this craziness was going down. That should make me clear as a bell.”
She lifted an eyebrow.
“You can’t go alone,” Reese insisted.
Chloe sent him a gentle smile. “Who said anything about me being alone?”
Chapter Nine
He didn’t even know where the hell he was going. Joel drove hard and fast and tried to escape, but the truth kept pounding at him.
I murdered the wrong man. He’d used his fists. Used that damn shovel. He’d killed a man. And…
It wasn’t him. Joel had been so fucking wrong. All along. And Chloe had known. From the very beginning. When he replayed their conversations in his head, there had so many tells there. But he hadn’t seen them. First, it had taken him too long to truly understand Chloe.
With her, half of the time, what she didn’t say was more important than what she did.
And second, he’d been so certain. So sure that he’d stopped the bastard who hurt him. But…had he been so certain because it was easier that way? Easier to think the SOB was no longer a threat?
Yet, deep down, a whisper said…If you didn’t think he was still a threat…why did you have so many locks on your apartment in New Orleans? When Chloe had first met him, when she’d first come to his place, she’d seen the locks. She’d asked him—
He shut down the thought and braked his motorcycle. His hands clenched around the handlebars. He wanted to tilt his head back and yell. To roar his rage because the sonofabitch was still out there. He was still out there…
And I will fucking find him.
When Joel found him…
I will kill him.
Chloe was wrong. Rare, but shit happened. She thought that Joel hadn’t been broken by the bastard.
If only.
He’d been broken straight to his core. That was why he’d left her. He’d looked at his hands and known exactly what he would do.
Hunt. Find the sadistic bastard. Kill him.
Joel was broken, through and through, and he couldn’t be around Chloe. He was too dangerous. He was a monster. Chloe knew monsters. If she hadn’t already done it, she’d look at him, and she’d know…
She’ll see what I am.
She’d had to stop her own brother. End his life when he grew out of control. She’d killed the real Charleston Reese Hastings after her brother had brutally murdered Chloe’s mother and father. Chloe’s wealthy grandfather had made sure the truth of that nightmare was hidden from the rest of the world. And in time…
Chloe had found herself a new brother. A guy to take up the identity of her brother. A new Reese…one without the killing tendencies that her real brother had possessed.
Her real brother was out of control. A monster. He wanted Chloe to stop him. And she had. Even as a child, Chloe had stopped him.
Will I get out of control, too?
One man had long told Joel what he would become. One man had told Joel all of the signs were there. That Joel had to watch out for the breaks occurring in his psyche. That he had to be careful.
Joel hadn’t listened to the warnings.
Now it was too late.
His breath heaved in and out. In and out. Rage built and blazed, but he tried to push past it. He tried to think…
His hand was shaking when he hauled out his phone. He hit the contact for the person he needed. Waited impatiently for the call to be answered—
When it was picked up, he didn’t waste time with words. “I need an address. And I need it now.”
***
“I get this puts you in a difficult spot,” Chloe said as she held her phone near her ear. “But I need you to know what’s happening. I need your help.” She listened. “Thank you.” She slid the phone back into her bag and exited the vehicle. She stared at the house before her. Sagging porch. Faded paint. Steps that had warped from time. The shotgun house sat, waiting, for a second life. The houses around it had long since been updated. They were a vast array of colorful homes. Bright. Happy.
This house wasn’t happy. She didn’t know if it ever had been.
Her steps were determined as she headed for the front door. But she didn’t get a chance to knock. Instead, the door was jerked open before she could even raise her fist.
“How the hell did you find me?” Kingston demanded.
Her nose wrinkled as the fumes hit her. “Did you fall into a barrel of whiskey?”
“Cute.” He pointed over her shoulder. “Get your ass back in the car, Chloe.”
“I will.” A nod. “When you come with me.” Her nose twitched. “A good thing I’m here to drive. You are certainly in no condition—”
“I’m not drunk.”
“Oh, you just smell like—”
“Why are you wearing sunglasses?”
The abrupt question caught her by surprise. Chloe barely hesitated. “Because it’s incredibly bright outside. The UV rays will—”