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)
She widens her eyes. “So if we go to the cops…”
“Then Rouge will know for sure that we were the ones who discovered May’s head.” I swallow. “And if she knows that, then there’s no telling what she’ll do to us.”
4
ALISSA
My heart starts thrumming again.
Maddox is right. We’re in danger.
And we can’t go to the police.
We could bury May’s head back under the rosebush, forget any of this ever happened.
But that wouldn’t be the right thing to do. Now that we’ve started this awful quest, we have to see it through.
I rub at the goosebumps on my arms. “Are you sure you can trust the coroner? If Rouge has bought the police, who’s to say she hasn’t paid him off as well?”
Maddox shakes his head. “No. This guy is an old family friend. He personally did my father’s autopsy when he died. I trust him with my life. Bill’s his name. Bill Lassard.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
“I’d trust this man with my life and my death, Alissa. And believe me when I say I would never do anything that might compromise your safety.”
A warmth fills me despite the chill of the Chicago night. I want to kiss Maddox right here, but he’s right. We have to get moving. I break my hands away from his and cross over to the hatbox.
I don’t know why, but I lift the lid and look inside again. Maybe this was all a bad dream. The shock of seeing May’s head will force me awake, and I’ll look over and see Maddox next to me, snuggle up to him until he wakes up and makes me breakfast.
But this isn’t a dream. May’s head looks right back up at me from inside the box.
I gulp back the nausea and force myself to keep looking as I hold my breath to keep the stench of rotting flesh at bay.
This poor girl. She put her entire life on the line, moved to a foreign country, and worked her arse off at Aces Underground, just to end up like this.
She really was—is—a beautiful girl. There’s even still a hint of rose to her cheeks, despite her deteriorating skin. Even in death, her lips are full and her eyelashes long. I bring my fingers over her eyelids and close them as a few tears roll down my cheeks.
Dirty martini, she called me. The one time we spoke.
It’s what I had ordered from her the night before. She had no way of knowing my name.
I lean down and whisper to her. “Dirty martini is going to figure out what happened to you, May. And the person or people who extinguished your light will go to prison for a long, long time.”
I’m about to replace the lid on the hatbox when I notice something under May’s head. I take another deep breath and reach into the box, pushing her head gently aside.
And… Oh my God.
It wasn’t just her head.
Her hands are in here, too. The flesh is already pulling away from her light-pink nails, but there’s no denying what I’m seeing.
“Maddox!”
He rushes over. “What is it?”
I point in the box. “They chopped off her hands, too.”
“Shit.” He looks inside. “And they’re burned off at the ends. They destroyed her fingerprints. They’re trying to make it more difficult to identify her.”
“But they can still identify her from her teeth, can’t they?”
“I think so, baby.” Maddox darts his eyes around the area. “But we really need to get the hell out of here. Right the fuck now.”
5
MADDOX
I’m driving. Fast.
Alissa’s in the passenger seat, and the hatbox containing May’s head is in the back seat, buckled behind a seatbelt.
I thought about putting it in the trunk, but then I worried that it might tip over and spill its contents. The last thing we need right now is the sound of May’s head rolling around in the trunk. And we want to keep it in as pristine condition as possible so Bill can confirm her identity.
Alissa leans over and squints at the speedometer. “You’re going awfully bloody fast.”
“It’s Chicago. People never go the speed limit here.”
“But it’s the middle of the night. It’s not like you have to worry about traffic.”
“I have to worry about getting the fuck out of that damned park, Alissa. About someone following us. We’re not even close to being out of the woods.” I point my thumb to the rear of the car. “Just ask our good friend in the back seat.”
“Yes, but we’re also not going to do ourselves any favors if we end up in an accident.”
I don’t respond.
Maddox Hathaway isn’t driving, anyway.
Mad Maddox is.
I used to think Mad Maddox only came out when I was aroused.
But tonight, I’ve learned he comes out when my fight-or-flight kicks in. And truth be told, he’s been at the reins since I came face to face with May’s severed head.