Killer: A Bad Boy Romance (17 page)

Was Ms. McIntyre simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or are we dealing with someone who wasn’t as innocent as she looked?

Anger rose through me; I couldn’t believe how horribly the press had treated Chase’s sister after her murder. She was an innocent seventeen-year-old girl. She hadn’t even graduated from high school yet! My blood boiled as I read the rest of the paragraph, accusing Rose of abusing illegal drugs and hanging out with the wrong crowd. I swallowed a hard lump. Chase would never let his sister do those things; chances were he tried harder than ever to protect her. I did the math in my head. Chase was nineteen when Rose was killed, and he went to prison when he was 23. That meant he’d had four years after she died to really spiral off the deep end. But even before she died, he’d still been dealing heroin for that gang.

The Machetes.

The words jumped out at my off the screen and I blinked twice, rubbing my eyes. There was no mistaking it; the gang that was linked to Rose’s killing was the same gang that Chase had been dealing for. Suddenly, everything made a little bit more sense.

I had a horrible knotted feeling in my stomach, but I still wanted to read more. Closing out of the newspaper tab, I searched for The Machetes and their activity in Detroit. There were tons and tons of articles, but I kept seeing one name, The Manticore, jump out at me. Frowning, I clicked on the first one, titled
Manticore Gone Missing
.

The Manticore, one of The Machetes most ruthless and vile members, has seemingly disappeared from Detroit. How do we know he’s gone? For one thing, there haven’t been as many murders reported lately. For another, those murders have been tame compared to The Manticore. For those of you who were lucky enough not to be in Detroit last summer, The Manticore is thought to have killed over fifty men and women over the span of two months. Detroit clung to fear as The Manticore ruthlessly slayed citizens of all walks of life. Unlike most serial killers, The Manticore would attack anyone. Women, children, and men of all ages were slaughtered mercilessly in the most brutal fashion possible.

The Manticore often worked with other gang members, but authorities have reason to believe that he did a large amount of killing on his own. In addition to the gruesome hacking and slashing of last summer, The Manticore has branched out and committed many other senseless acts of violence. A gas station owner, Laurie Peters, was reached for comment when his store was robbed last year. Peters was quoted as saying, “This big guy came in with a gun, and just as he was about to rob me, an even bigger guy with a big knife slashed him right across the torso. I’ve never seen anything like it; it was absolutely horrific.” Well, we’ll have to take your word on that, Peters.

As for those of you who don’t know what a manticore is, it’s a mythological creature from ancient Persia. Manticores are creatures with the body of a lion, the face of a man, and the tail of a scorpion. While it sounds like a fearsome beast for sure, don’t forget how much more fearsome the real Manticore is.

Police are now actively seeking information on The Manticore and his hideouts. If you can help, please call 1-800-MAN-CORE. If you or anyone else you know has information leading to his whereabouts (or the whereabouts of The Machetes), know there is a $5,000 cash reward.

I closed my laptop and flopped onto the bed with disgust. Through the tiny, dirty window, I could see that the sun was setting. I yawned; I was really tired from not having slept very well the night before. Every time I’d heard a noise, I’d woken up, expecting to be in my own room. Every time it had taken me a few minutes to realize that the sounds were coming from the outside, and that I was miles away from home.

The bed smelled mildewy and old and I wrinkled my nose, trying to find a comfortable position. My allergy irritation hadn’t gone away either; it was so bad that I felt like there was still a dog in the room with me. I didn’t really want Peyton to come back, but being left alone there had made me so incredibly nervous. Through the wall, I could hear the cooks at the Chinese restaurant screaming at each other in bastardized English.

Closing my eyes, I thought about being back at home. I decided that as soon as Chase brought me back, I would take a long bath, then make some popcorn and watch movies all night. Or invite Jackie over for pizza and wine. Anything. I had to do something to cheer myself up; the silence was agonizing and depressing.

Suddenly, there was a rapid banging on the door. My eyes shot open and I shrank myself down into the smallest possible lump on the bed that I could. The pounding increased and I pulled a musty blanket over my head, screwing my eyes shut and hoping for the best. It occurred to me too late that I could have easily reached the weird knife or the gun in the bathroom. I heard the slam of the door banging against the wall and realized that my safe place had been breached. Slowly, I counted to five and pulled the blanket away from my head.

Chase was standing on the other side of the room. “Lacey?” He narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing under the covers?”

It was all too much. I burst into tears.

Chapter Twenty Three

“Chase!” I cried out, forgetting that I’d ever been so angry with him. “You’re here! You came back!”

He frowned at me. “Where’s Peyton?”

I jumped out of bed and ran across the room, throwing my arms around him. After thirty-six hours in a gross bunker, his smell of cigarettes was more appealing than ever. I buried my nose in his leather jacket and inhaled deeply. Chase had stiffened when I’d first thrown my arms around him, but he seemed to relax. I felt his weight shift as he moved an arm up and rested it on my shoulders.

Forcing myself to pull my face out of his jacket, I looked up into his scowling face. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “He left yesterday and never came back.”

Chase looked around and licked his lips. “I’m starving,” he said. “I bet you are, too.”

I nodded, feeling miserable. “I haven’t eaten,” I said. “He’s been gone the whole time, and I didn’t want to leave.”

Chase nodded. “Good girl,” he praised me. More of my anger towards him faded when I saw how concerned he was. “Grab your things, come on, we’re leaving.”

When I didn’t move fast enough, Chase grabbed my suitcase and carried it outside. Even though the parking lot still reeked of grease, it was delightfully fresh compared to the air that I’d been breathing. Greedily, I sucked in several mouthfuls. Chase made a clicking sound with his tongue and nodded his head at the passenger door. I grinned.

“Sorry,” I said, blushing. “It just feels good to be outside.”

Chase shook his head. “You’d last about ten seconds in jail,” he said ruefully. “It’s not a place for a cupcake like you.”

I rolled my eyes. He was so irritating, but it felt good to have the old Chase back. Together, we carried my things out to his car and he loaded up the trunk. I bundled myself in the passenger seat.

“What do you feel like eating?”

We passed a McDonald’s and I blushed. The last time we’d gotten McDonald’s, Chase had eaten the whole bag. We’d ordered a pizza and started wrestling before it arrived. Then I’d wanted to kill the delivery guy for interrupting us. Remembering that had me tingling between the legs and blushing madly. I looked out the window so Chase wouldn’t see my face.

“I dunno,” I replied, trying to sound as casual as possible. “Whatever you want. I’m sure anything would be good.”

Two minutes later, we were pulling into a parking lot. I read the sign.

“Applebee’s?” I wrinkled my nose. “Really?”

Chase shrugged. “I want a steak. This is a safe area. We’ll be okay.”

I remembered everything that I’d read online that afternoon. “I have some stuff to tell you, too,” I added. Chase looked at me with a funny expression on his face.

“What?”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you after dinner.”

A perky teenaged hostess showed us to a back booth. She gazed appreciatively at Chase and then gave me a weird look, as if to say, what’s
he
doing with
you?

I rolled my eyes at her once she’d walked way. “Did you find anything out?”

Chase shook his head. “Don’t bring that up here,” he warned me. “Just order some food and we’ll be home soon. You haven’t changed,” he added.

I felt myself blushing again. “Yeah,” I admitted. “The bathroom there was pretty gnarly.”

Chase raised his eyebrows and the light caught flecks in his light green eyes. Now that he was in front of me again, the resemblance between him and Rose was astonishing. Even though she had been slender and petite, I guessed that she’d been tall. They had the same straight, elfin nose, and slightly squared chin. Despite how over the top masculine Chase looked, his features could almost be called androgynous.

“We’ll get you home,” he repeated. The waitress came back with her eyes sticking to Chase like glue. He ordered the biggest steak they had with a side of mozzarella sticks, fried ravioli, and French fries.

“And for you?” She turned her perky, teenaged body to me with a demeanor that couldn’t have been less interested.

“I’ll have the same,” I said suddenly. “I’m starving.”

Chase burst out laughing and the waitress rolled her eyes, walking away.

“You’re hysterical,” he said once he’d calmed down. I smiled; I couldn’t help it, but something about the moment felt so carefree. It was a polar opposite from the last time I’d seen Chase. Now, I felt embarrassed at how clingy and sad I’d been when he left. Peyton and Chase both must have thought I was acting like a total idiot.

“Glad I amuse you,” I grumbled.

“I’ll be impressed if you can eat a quarter of that,” he said with a grin.

When the food came, we both tucked in heartily. I was dying to get back home so I could tell Chase about what I’d learned. Even though it was old news, I felt like it somehow might be important to him. I thought it might help with his search. Even though Chase wasn’t stupid, I could tell he wasn’t the guy who would sit around reading a lot of old newspapers.

I ate almost half of my steak and a few mozzarella sticks before I had to call it quits. Chase nodded approvingly, then reached across the table and pulled the rest of my food towards him. I watched as he devoured every morsel, like a starving man who hadn’t eaten in days. When he’d eaten the last crumb, he slapped a couple of twenty-dollar bills on the table and stood up, belching loudly. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

“You’re so gross,” I commented, playfully slapping him on the arm. I’d put a little force behind my slap but it did nothing. Chase glared down at me.

“You appreciated my energy once,” he replied, looking straight ahead. I blushed deeply, remembering just how much I had appreciated his energy—and his body.

We walked to the car in silence. I climbed in my side and turned to look at Chase.

“What would you say if I told you that I had news for you?”

Chase narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve been putting that nose where it doesn’t belong,” he said in a warning tone. “I thought you knew better than that.”

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t, I promise. I just Googled some stuff, that’s all. Should I tell you here, or at my apartment?”

Chase looked at me before turning the key in the ignition and focusing on the road.

“It’s about The Manticore,” I continued nervously, twining my fingers in my lap. Chase didn’t look up. “I think he’s somehow connected to Rose’s murder.”

Chase didn’t say anything. He grunted at me without turning his head.

“Chase, it sounds like he disappeared a few years ago, right around the time Rose was killed.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Lacey, it’s a coincidence, okay? Trust me, I’ve looked into it.”

I frowned. “Why aren’t you listening? I spent the whole day doing research, and something just seems really fishy!”

Chase shook his head at me. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said finally.

“I want to help you, though,” I persisted. “And I think I really could, but you’re not listening to me.”

“Drop it, Lacey,” Chase growled. I felt a touch of the old fear coming back but I didn’t look away. “This isn’t any of your fuckin’ business, you got that?”

“Fine,” I said in exasperation. “I knew you wouldn’t listen to me anyway. I don’t even know why I bothered.”

Chase let my remark hang in silence. He accelerated and the car shot forward into the darkening night. As I felt my frustration grow and grow, I looked out the window and sighed deeply. It was just like him to brush me off like this. And it was so typical of our interactions to be friendly one minute and snarky the next. The emotional rollercoaster that Chase had put me on was wearing me out, and I closed my eyes and lay with my head on the cold window glass.

The next thing I knew, Chase was shaking me roughly by the shoulders.

“You’re home, Lacey,” he grunted softly. The car was still running, and when I didn’t move, he reached across me and opened the passenger door. Arctic air filled the car and I began to shiver.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

Chase shook his head. “I have some things to take care of,” he muttered. “I’ll be around later.”

I realized he wasn’t going to help me with my bags, so I got out of the car and left the passenger door open until the last minute. Chase glared at me but showed no signs of being cold; I wondered if he even
felt
the winter chill through all of those muscles. He didn’t say goodbye, and as soon as I’d hefted my suitcase out of the trunk, he drove off.

For the first time in what felt like years, I was alone outside. Fear prickled the back of my neck as I quickly carried my suitcase up the stairs. On the inside, everything was thankfully just as I’d left it. If someone had been there while I was gone, at least I wouldn’t be able to tell.

I dropped my suitcase on the floor and flopped down on the couch. It felt like no time had passed since I’d been home, and already, memories of the creepy apartment were fading from my mind. I could smell cigarette smoke emanating from my clothes and with a disgusted groan, I headed into the bathroom and turned on the tap. As the steam surrounded me, I tried to breathe deeply and think about the situation at hand. I wanted to help Chase, but if he wouldn’t listen to me, I might as well not even try. I wasn’t sure if there was some kind of masculine pride thing preventing him from accepting my research, but it was infuriating all the same.

When the bath was almost overflowing with steaming water, I added some of my lavender bath salts and eased myself in, inch by inch. The hot water burned my skin but it felt incredibly good after not washing for two days. All of the carbs from dinner earlier had settled in my stomach and the combination of being full and soaking in a warm bath was heavenly. I decided that right after this, I’d go to sleep and come up with a solution in the morning.

But back in my bed, I couldn’t fall asleep. No matter how hard I tried, Chase lingered in my mind.

Chapter Twenty Four

Chase

I hated myself for doing what I was about to do. In prison, I’d sworn that I’d never deal again. Hell, I promised I wouldn’t even
look
at junk, much less sell it. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and this was certainly a desperate time.

Peyton had left a baggie for me in his apartment. I’d found it when I was carrying Lacey’s suitcase outside. He ain’t subtle; it was taped to a piece of paper with
Chase
written in big block letters. I spent the whole fuckin’ car ride worrying about whether or not Lacey had seen it. After all, in the parking lot, she told me that she had a lot of things she wanted to tell me. So I was on pins and needles during the whole meal; what if she’d seen the junk? What if she knew what it was?

I was both relieved and annoyed when she brought up Rose, and The Machetes. Sweet of her to try, but no thanks, kid. I can handle this shit by myself.

Now I was headed downtown to score a sell or two. I had bags of junk in my pocket and knew I could find some unfortunate assholes desperate for a forty-dollar hit. Peyton told me that the junkies hanging outside of our favorite bar had connections to The Machetes, and it was up to me to ease the information out of them. Just like he’d said, there was a crowd of three guys hanging around when I got there. They crawled up to me, looking desperate.