Page 2 of Vows From Hell

“Professor Peyton?’’

My eyes snapped back at the man I’d forgotten was even in my presence.

I cleared my throat and fiddled with my fingers on my lap, staring at the files in front of me.

“I apologize.’’ My voice was hoarse. “What exactly do you need my help with?”

“We’d like for you to become a consultant on this case.’’

A bitter laugh filled the room as my eyes widened in disbelief.

“Is it because of my personal connection to the killer?”

He nodded reluctantly. “Yes.’’

“Isn’t that a bit… insensitive on your part? My only qualification is that I was kidnapped by him. That’s hardly enough to capture him – if it really is him, that is.’’

“I understand why you’d be hesitant, but we truly need to put that man behind bars once and for all. And you’re the only one who can help us.’’

I leaned back into the leather chair and sighed, hoping he took my earlier reaction as an alarm at Micah being back, and not that I was worried about him being caught. “How can you be certain that it’s him? His MO is all over the place, from burning people alive and stabbing them to death to putting a bullet between their eyes. Not much of a connection. It could be anyone else.’’

“Yes, but–’’

“And from my research and experience, having someone so close to the case is never a good thing.’’

He took a deep breath, staring right into my eyes. His determination sparked something inside of me.

“All I’m asking is to look over what we have so far. Then decide if you’d like to help us out or not.’’

I took a deep breath.

Everything was happening too quickly.

When I received an urgent call to meet him, I thought he might’ve figured out that I’d killed someone. Instead, he was asking for my help. I didn’t know how to proceed.

On the one hand , it would be beneficial for me. I would finally be able to find out where Micah had been hiding for years, and start the little vengeance game I had planned.

I ended up taking the files, after all.

They were hidden in my closet for nearly a week before I got the courage to look through everything. After work, on Friday evening, I opened a bottle of wine and settled down to read through every detail.

I went down a rabbit hole.

I opened a can of worms I had no desire to close.

Apparently, Micah was everywhere.

The tabs I kept on him didn’t have nearly half of the information Kyle provided. His victims had nothing in common. Geographically, nothing aligned. It was as if he was picking random people off the streets and killing them in cold blood.

These people weren’t tied to Micah's sister, either.

It was odd. The more I was reading, the less I realized how much time had passed. I was absorbed by information I couldn’t obtain on my own. An exhilarating feeling burst in the pit of my stomach, and by morning, I’d read every single piece of paper Kyle had given me at least twice.

His latest victim was in Los Angeles. The one before that was in Portland. They were only four days apart and the number of killings reached nearly sixty in the past two years. He’d been busy, and now, I was getting suspicious.

It wasn’t strange for him to kill if someone pissed him off or got in his way, but sixty people? It was too much, even for him. And the fact that his face was never seen in any footage, or that there weren’t any witnesses, made me wonder.

Micah was incredibly intelligent, but even smarter people were detected. Given how long he’d been on the run, and not keeping a low profile, he was bound to be caught sooner or later. But even now, when so much time had passed, not a single trace of him, or any indication of where he’d be next.

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