Page 15 of Thorned Vengeance

The waitress returns with our burgers and fries. We eat silently for a few minutes before I ask the question that’s been bothering me ever since Kerry approached me in the police parking lot.

“Why are you helping me?”

She takes a deep breath. “Because I have a sister, and like you, I’d want to find the fucker if, God forbid, anything like that ever happened to her.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I smirk. “I won’t.”

We part ways after exchanging information. I doubt we’ll keep in contact, but it’ll be nice knowing someone in the police department.

After a nice hot shower to work the knots out of my back, I grab my laptop and get comfortable on the hotel bed. I glance over at the map that’s lying on the nightstand, right where I dropped it when I got back from dinner. My eyes shift from one colored dot to the next, and pieces start to fall into place.

“Son of a bitch.” I grab the paper. “It can’t be… There’s no fucking way.”

Instead of using the hotel WIFI, I turn on the hotspot on my phone and connect my computer to it. I search Google for the Phantom Strangler and the sites of his victims until my suspicion is confirmed: The red dots are every Phantom Strangler crime scene where a body was found.

There are green dots on Nashville, Seattle, Green Bay, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and San Diego. If the red dots are the murder sites, the green dots have to be…

Fuck.

They’re possible future kill sites. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

Looks like I’m heading to Nashville.

CHAPTER 7

THORN

“I don’t like it any more than you do!”

Malice is pacing the length of the conference room and has been since Apple’s upcoming concert was mentioned.

“Calm down, brother,” Soul encourages.

I inhale a deep breath as I watch Malice become even more unglued.

“Calm down?!” he shouts. “My ol’ lady is insisting on performing regardless of what I say, and she swears she’ll go with or without the club’s protection.”

“And we’re gonna protect her,” I snap and scrub my hands over my face. “Apple will be safe. You have my word.”

“Like your girlfriend was?” he counters.

My brain short circuits, and I lunge across the table and tackle Malice to the floor. Strong hands grab me by the arms to haul me off my VP, but my adrenaline is pumping so hard that I can’t be stopped.

“Thorn!”

Abyss’s voice cuts through the fog just as Malice frees one of his arms and launches his fist at my face. I barely register the pain in my jaw as I struggle against the hold my other brothers have on me.

“That’s enough!” Soul roars, and all movement stops.

I yank away from Abyss and Grim while Spike and Rogue haul Malice to his feet. Blood drips from Malice’s nose, and he wipes it on his sleeve.

Soul moves to stand between us, his gaze focused on our VP. “Mal, that was uncalled for,” he seethes. “Even for a ruthless son of a bitch like you.”

“We’re talking about my wi?—”

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