Page 95 of Ricochet

“It’s about time, jackass,” she says as she pulls back from their embrace and slaps him on the shoulder.

He chuckles. “Good to see you too, Lace.”

She turns to me, still smiling. “This must be Callum.”

I peer at Stone with another raised brow.

“What?” he asks with a shameless grin. “I can’t shut up about you. Are you really so surprised?”

Shaking my head, I turn back to Lacey with my cheeks a little warm. “It’s nice to meet you. I hope you haven’t believed everything he’s said.”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “He’s never lied to me before.”

“Just by omission,” Stone admits.

“See, even that’s the truth.” Lacey laughs quietly as she faces me. “He’s already told me what you came to hear.”

“What I…” I look between the both of them. “I’m sorry. What?”

“You know. About how he chooses his victims. Or, technically, howIchoose them for him.”

Holy fuck.

Well, if Stone was planning on dropping a bomb on me tonight, mission accomplished.

When my eyes find his, I see a familiar look in them. He’s watching me, studying me. Scouring through everything he seeswhile dissecting my reaction. I’m not sure what he witnesses there because I have no idea what the fuck to think right now.

Turning back to Lacey, I ask her, “You know what he does?”

She laughs again. “Of course. His first victims were the three men who assaulted me when I was nineteen. It made us both feela lotbetter.”

Now it’s just bomb after bomb. They’re exploding in my mind, and I have a feeling I’m going to be experiencing the aftershocks for a long time after tonight.

Lacey was the person Stone was talking about when he said someone close to him had been attacked. He spent a long time researching what comes after an assault like that. He killed for her. Hisfirstkills.

His protective instincts clearly didn’t start with me.

It warms my heart that he loves his sister that much. That he’scapableof that.

I admit I feel some relief.

The way Lacey speaks makes it sound as though it’s no big deal. I know that can’t be right. At the very least, she’s done a lot of healing. Maybe more than I have. It would be selfish of me to be jealous, so I focus on her last words instead. Sure, I don’t think it’s abnormal to rejoice in your assaulter’s demise. However, the pure delight in her tone makes me wonder if she could share some of Stone’s psychopathic tendencies.

But the biggest revelation is that Laceyknows. Not only does she know, but she chooses his victimsforhim.

“How?” My voice cracks on the one word. I clear my throat. “How do you choose them?”

“I’ll show you,” she says, sounding very happy to do so as she grabs my hand and pulls me toward her impressive setup.

Stone follows us, remaining silent.

Lacey plops herself down in her chair and rolls it until she’s in front of a different keyboard. She starts typing, theclacky sounds of the mechanical switches filling the room. The largest screen in front of us shifts between several windows and applications. Meanwhile, other screens appear to be running computer code or operating on their own.

“Here.” She points to one of the smaller monitors where mugshots are scrolling by along with names and information. “Registered sex offenders.”

“That’s it?” I ask, a little less impressed.

She laughs and shakes her head. “No.”

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