Page 12 of Sexy Killer

"Nigel owes me money. I've paid for…" Simon struggles to find the words and starts again. "I'm sorry that you were caught in the middle of this, Chelsea. Nigel wasn't supposed to be hurt this badly, and you … well, you weren't supposed to be there."

Chelsea shifts her murderous gaze to her father. "I only came because you called me into town. You said you wanted to take me out to dinner, that you had something to tell me."

Nigel's chest rises and falls. "You were only supposed to come find me, not walk in on the thing. The idiots he hired got greedy. They were stealing everything they could get their hands on, and when I told them to stick to the plan, they chose not to."

"Let him go, Chelsea," I tell her. Rage stifles us in this room as she turns to me like I've betrayed her.

"They nearly killed me," she replies angrily.

"They did, but you're not dead. Let him go. He'll get what's coming to him." I step in between Chelsea's knife and the man in her father's hospital room.

"That's a very dangerous position to be in, Detective," Chelsea hisses from behind me.

Again, I move my hand to steady her, holding her back to give this Simon guy enough time to leave. She turns to her father after the door closes with hatred in her eyes. But she doesn't say anything and leaves the room shortly after.

Nigel stares at me and says, "Go after her before she does something stupid."

A nurse pokes her head into the room. "Visiting hours have been over, sir. You'll have to leave or I'm calling security."

I flash my badge at her before tipping my head at Nigel and walking out of his room. Fortunately, Chelsea's standing in the hospital parking lot. Her knife is still clean, and she doesn't look like she's done anything stupid.

"I'm surprised that you're still here," I say quietly, stepping beside her.

"You're my ride." She smirks.

"Is he in my trunk?"

"Of course not. Why would I do something like that in a hospital parking lot with a dozen cameras looking at me at any given moment?" There is a camera on a few light posts that she points out.

"You can be impulsive sometimes."

"Impulsive means a bigger mess to clean up. I may be impulsive, but I'm not sloppy. I can't believe he did this. He used me." She sighs, slowly glancing over her shoulder. "He'll never use me again."

"Chelsea, he wanted to be sure he was found because somewhere in his gut, your father knew this would go wrong."

"So why did he do it?"

I hold a finger up to hush her and point across the parking lot. There, we see her father's visitor, Simon, skulking between cars and looking nervously over his shoulder.

"I have a feeling he's the answer to that question. Why don't we finish cleaning up this mess your father made?"

Chelsea nods. We step deeper into the shadows, get to my car, and follow Simon out of the parking lot.

9

CHELSEA

The pleas of a man begging for his life don't give me any sort of pleasure or high. There's no addiction to their pain for me. All I want are answers.

Simon blubbers and pleads in the middle of a plastic tarp spread out in the man's basement. We leave the lights off to ensure it looks like Simon never made it back home. The sound of his tears is muffled in the small basement. Granted, Victor doesn't like the way I test that theory out, but he stood outside for nearly twenty minutes and couldn't hear a squirm or squeal as I cut into Simon.

Simon's pleading for this to end. "I didn't know Kush and Hammer were going to take things that far. They didn't follow orders, and I'm sorry. You should have never been involved or attacked."

The sharpness of my blade as I clean it off on Simon's shirt causes him to whimper and sob loudly.

His words are barely audible as he begs. "Please…"

Victor sits on a stool in the corner, watching the spectacle with indifference. He blows out a breath and asks, "Why did your goons put Nigel in a coma? Don't tell us the same fraudulent insurance claim story. Tell us the truth, and you'll walk out of here."

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