Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Meaning?” I ask.
“The decapitation occurred at or near the time of death,” Bill replies. “If the heart was still beating when the head was removed, there would be significant evidence of blood loss, which I’m not seeing here.”
“So Rouge strangled her first?” Alissa asks. “Are you absolutely sure about that?”
“I can only tell you what I’m seeing from a preliminary scan,” Bill says. “A more in-depth analysis will take more time.” He looks up at me. “How long do you have?”
I frown. “I mean, it’s obviously important to us, but it’s not like there’s a ticking clock.”
Bill cocks his head. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Maddox. If you’re on Rouge Montrose’s shitlist, it’s entirely possible that you could have a target on your back.” He puts May’s head back in the hatbox and places it in one of his refrigerated drawers. “Did anyone see you between now and the discovery of this young woman’s head?”
“No.”
“Not exactly true,” Alissa says. “We were stopped by a cop on the way here. And he noticed the hatbox. Asked some questions.”
“Fuck.” I rub my forehead. “She’s right. And the chief of police is a member of the club.”
Bill raises a hand. “I don’t mean to alarm you. It’s likely that a minor traffic stop won’t get back to the chief of police. And even if it does, if the police officer didn’t search the vehicle, they have nothing to go on. I will do my examination of the head as discreetly as possible, but I would suggest that the two of you keep a low profile over the next few days until things blow over.”
“Fair enough. We’ll do that,” Alissa says. “But will you be able to verify her identity? If we can learn her last name, maybe we can get in contact with her family. Let them know what happened to her.”
“Her teeth are intact, so we can try our hand at comparing dental records.” Bill jots a few more notes on his pad. “You said her given name was May, correct?”
I nod. “We don’t know her last name, though. But if you can figure it out, we might be able to dig up her immigration papers. From there we can at least tie Rouge into this as a person of interest.”
“You could,” Bill says. “But you two aren’t the first people who have tried to take down Rouge Montrose. A woman of her stature is too big to fall, no matter what horrible acts she’s done.” His lip twitches. “And that’s assuming that she had anything to do with this at all.”
My heart sinks.
We really don’t have much of a case. The only reason we found May in the first place is because of the riddle that got placed in my jacket pocket. We don’t know who the message came from. The only information we have right now is that May was suspended yesterday afternoon for breaking the rules, and sometime between then and now her head ended up buried in the green space by O’Hare.
We have that…and my memory of that dark day in the club when Rouge took me to her private quarters.
My memory that could be completely fabricated. I was on a cocktail of mind-altering drugs.
What I saw… What I think I saw…
If it was real, then Rouge is absolutely the one responsible for this.
But Rouge is also a genius. She’s exceptionally good at wriggling herself out of any bind. I’m sure this isn’t the first time someone has figured out what she’s up to—what she may be up to—and she’s probably got a plan for any given eventuality.
Which… Fuck.
She’s probably already aware that we have the head.
If she isn’t yet, she will be soon.
We replanted the bush as best as we could, did our damnedest to leave the picnic grove the way we found it.
But the moment she gets a whiff that something is up, she’ll be on those rosebushes like white on rice.
It’ll be a race to the finish.
And we have to win.
Because if we don’t?
Our heads will roll just like May’s.
8
ALISSA
We left the coroner. Rode back in silence to my apartment.
Maddox parks my car in the space behind my building, gets out, and opens the door for me.
I get out, look into his hazel eyes.
“Maddox,” I say. “Can you stay here tonight?”
He frowns, looks me up and down. “I don’t think we should have sex tonight given the circumstances.”
“I wasn’t saying that. I just…” I rub the goosebumps on my upper arms. “I’m scared. What if Bill isn’t as trustworthy as you think? What if he’s in Rouge’s pocket as well?”
“I trust Bill with my life.” He grips my shoulders. “You can, too.”
“But what if one of the Kings shows up to the picnic grove? They’ll know someone was there.”
“We did everything we could to hide the fact that we were there, baby. And no one will be checking that area out unless they have a reason to.”