Page 110 of Unholy Bonds

NEXT GIFT

THE STRANGLER

The woman behind the counter gave me a sweet smile. She was beautiful. “Here’s your order. Thank you for visiting Hot Cuppa.” There was a light in her eyes that wasn’t corrupted by darkness. Pure, angelic.

She would make a perfect second gift.

“Thank you so much,” I said, returning her smile. Today was such a glorious day. I had sent my first gift to Yara, but I wasn’t done yet.

I walked out with my coffee and took a seat on the wrought iron chair I had seen Yara sitting on one too many times. For someone so chaotic, she sometimes had her own rituals.

I watched as people moved in and out of the coffee shop. Everything was coated with the scent of coffee beans and useless chatter. I loved the scent of coffee beans but hated the human voices.

When I walked away, my mind was made up. Yara would soon understand that I meant business. This wasn’t a game. This was never a game to me. This was the most important thing in my life.

Why can’t you see it, Yara? You’re mine. Soon you will see that no one can love you better than me.

I picked up my other phone—the one I texted Yara with was a burner—and dialed the number with a frown.

“What is it?”

“I chose the next one. The barista from Hot Cuppa. She’s perfect. I love how beautiful her smile is. Can you get everything ready?”

“Another? You already killed… you can’t kill so soon after Daphne.”

“I don’t fucking care about any of that. As long as I get what I want… I’ll kill as many women as I want. It IS a fucking special occasion.”

“But…”

I couldn’t listen anymore. I hung up.

43

OUT OF CONTROL

YARA

My body was on fire. My back ached. Everything around me was a broken kaleidoscope, spilling a million colors, blinding me, distracting me. The voice inside my head was a loud wail. Time stretched. I couldn’t move. I didn’t move. The earth beneath my legs was shifting, moving. Dark brown, sticky blood oozed from the cracks in the ground until I was drowned in it.

Blood of every man I killed.

Here you are. This is your reckoning.

“Need a ride, Doctor?”

Startled out of the nightmare. I turned to look at Detective Rosario, my fingers trembling. I had to get my head in the game; losing it was not an option, especially when everything was hanging in the balance.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I was…” I looked at the detective with a sigh, and he gave me a nod, his eyes kind.

“I know, Doctor West. It’s disturbing.”

I gave him a nod as two men from CSRU rolled Daphne Morgan’s body past me in a body bag. She would no longer be Daphne Morgan. She would soon be a case number, a body. A body I had to cut and destroy to find the truth.

“I do need a ride.”

“I saw you coming in with…” the detective stopped with a frown. He must have seen Ryden.

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