Page 87 of Brutal Ice

“This shit isn’t a joke. The camera at the winery? They have a theory that it was set up because the perp wanted a replay of his crimes. They think you were at the winery the night of Violet’s abduction. And then, bam, you were there when Simone was killed at the service station. You had Simone’s blood all over you.”

Ah, yes, his bloody clothes. They’d been removed. Bagged and tagged as evidence. Now he wore some borrowed jail clothes. The kind of crap that they gave prisoners to wear in holding. Orange and garish. Royal looked down at the shirt in distaste. “Not really my color.”

“Blood isn’t your color?”

“No, this hideous orange.” His head tilted back so he could eye the detective. “You have five more minutes, then I’m calling my lawyer. I’ve cooperated, but my patience is at an end.”

“Fine.” A muscle flexed along Curran’s jaw. “Did you abduct Violet?”

“No.”

“Did you save Violet that night at the winery?”

“Do I look like a fucking savior?” His heart slammed into his chest. Has Violet revealed my secret? Did she tell them what I did that night?

“Then let’s switch things up. Are you the man responsible for subduing and restraining Everett Thomas and Owen Bell?”

Royal stretched out his legs beneath the table. “Refresh my memory. Who are they?”

“You know damn well who they are. Killers. Sadistic, twisted killers who had been murdering women. Cops and Feds couldn’t find them. But someone else did. Someone trapped them. Secured them. Put freaking bows around their necks and left them for the cops to pick up.” A long exhale. “Everett Thomas was called the Slasher because of what he did to his vics. And as for Bell? That freak was using horse tranquilizer to knock out his victims and make them helpless while he attacked. Two straight-up, real-life nightmares. Killers who were all but gift-wrapped for the cops.”

“Oh, right.” Royal smiled. “I do remember those stories. And you think I’m the one who stopped them?” He let his smile stretch. “I am flattered. Truly.”

“After some prompting and serious badgering from me, the Feds revealed there have been other killers who were…stopped.” Again, he glanced toward the one-way mirror. “Like a real bad piece of work named Will Kelly. He was found in Lafayette, Louisiana.”

“Huh. Will Kelly, you say? What were his crimes?”

“He abducted and murdered girls. Girls. Not women. Kids.”

Royal forced his back teeth to unclench. “I’m guessing he was found subdued and with a bow tied around his neck?”

“Subdued? Sure, you could say that. He was found with a bullet to the brain.” His eyes glittered. “Seem familiar to you? Because when I found you and Micah, you had your gun aimed at his brain.”

“Technically, I had my gun aimed in the middle of his face. Details matter.”

“This shit isn’t a joke. The Feds are trying to tie you to murder.”

“Seems to me like that prick Will might have deserved what he got. You shouldn’t hurt kids. They’re too breakable. Fragile.”

“And you don’t like it when fragile things are hurt, do you? Kids…and say…a certain ballerina. One that somehow worked her way beneath your skin. See, this is what I think happened.”

“Oh, yes, please, tell me what you think happened.”

“I think you’ve got a whole lot of rage and darkness inside of you, Royal. I think that darkness cut loose with Will.”

Still with the statements, not questions.

“But I think maybe…maybe you had some help on the other two hunts. Everett and Owen. Maybe someone stopped you from going too far. You subdued them. Didn’t kill them. Is that what happened? You have someone put you on a leash and yank you back from the edge?” His narrowed stare watched Royal like a hawk.

Royal looked at his wrist and the watch that wasn’t there. “I think those five minutes are up.”

“But last night, when the attacker tried to take Violet away—your new, fragile thing—you lost it, didn’t you? And you were going to pull the trigger and blow out Micah’s brains.”

Royal cocked his head and returned his focus to the detective. “Did you miss the woman who’d been savaged in the trunk? I counted at least ten deep stab wounds on her. And I saw the defensive cuts where she tried to lift her bound hands and stop her attacker.”

“I didn’t miss her.” Grim. “She’s burned in my mind.”

In Royal’s, too. “Some people won’t ever stop. Something is twisted and wrong inside of them. They do bad things and they never, ever stop.”

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