Page 75 of Buried Beneath Sin

“The kids?” I ask, breathless and exhausted. “You didn’t…”

I can’t say the words. One, because they’re too horrible to even speak out loud but also because my ability to think and speak seem to have been rendered useless after being used so fully like this.

“We don’t kill kids, they’re too easy. They scurried into a closet when they heard the commotion, and I braced the door with a chair. Their parents will find them later,” Knox says as if this was obvious. His blue eyes pierce me with a speculative look before he gets to his feet. I don’t know what that means, but I have a feeling I’ve been deemed worthy in his eyes.

Worthy of what though, I don’t know.

29

ANGEL EYES

Red and blue lights bounce off the houses on this block as cops flood the scene. They’ve only just arrived. I’m impressed. Their response to the distress call made by the parents of the kids inside was swift. It must be a slow night everywhere else. As an ambulance pulls up, a rookie cop stumbles out of the house. I watch as he holds onto the door frame for balance. It does him no good. He lets go to stagger a few feet away from the entrance, bends over at the waist, and retches all over the front yard. A veteran cop comes to stand beside him. A few words are exchanged before the rookie receives a pat on the back and is left alone to throw up.

I can almost imagine what was said. It was probably something along the lines of “I know, it’s rough to look at. We’ll catch whoever did this.”

It’s what I would’ve said if I was still on the force and dealing with someone green behind the ears. Truth be told, they might never learn that Knox Keele, Thatcher and Sagan Hunt, and Beatrix Starr were ever here. They’re good, I have to give them that. Knox moved through the shadows and crept up the drain spout like a spider, quietly and efficiently, to let the others in—one through the back of the house and two through the front.Being six and half feet tall and built like a linebacker in my early years, I’d never been able to do something like that. After only twenty minutes, they’d re-emerged. First, one of the twins had slipped out of the shadows, returning with the car and pulling it up to the front. The two other men had made quick work of carrying the body out of the house and throwing it into the trunk lined with heavy plastic. Beatrix had exited the house last, scurrying like a quiet little mouse to the car where she then slipped into the back.

They were here and gone like ghosts.

Given that this neighborhood is all but filled with people that either work the nightshift or are constantly working doubles, it means most of the houses are empty and those that aren’t have residents sleeping soundly. There’s no one around or up to have noticed their presence. Yup, these guys are definitely going to get away with it.

Just like all the other kills they’ve committed since their arrival months ago.

Thisis what months of stalking young Beatrix has led to: a possession of her and all her worldly belongings. They’re settling down and making a life for themselves here, inmyterritory. Months of planning have certainly all come to a head. Good for them, I guess. They’ve gotten what they wanted. They worked hard for it. Not a lot of people these days understand or appreciate what can be achieved with patience and dedication. But I can’t be happy for them. Not when their chaotic, messy ways might interrupt the ecosystem I’ve cultivated in this city.

So, the mystery of why the Hunt twins are here has been solved. Too bad I was too late to realize what they were up to. Maybe then I would’ve stepped in and stopped them sooner.

The city of Chicago is mine, and if they think they’re going to rule the roost here, they’re sorely mistaken.

My cigarette sits between my lips, unlit. I don’t need it tonight. The slight comfort it brings is overshadowed by a thick, dark, and tumultuous stillness that envelops me. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way. If I was decades younger, I’d immediately lean into it and fall into old habits.Deadlyhabits. But I’m creeping toward seventy and my body doesn’t work the same way it once did. My bones crack when I sit down or stand up, my sight isn’t what it used to be, and my left hand has a slight tremor to it now. I need to proceed cautiously if I’m going to remove them.

Cautious doesn’t mean slow though. I do need to act, and soon. The longer they’re around, the more they trample through what I’ve claimed as mine. With a grunt, I reach into my front pocket and pull out my phone. It’s not my primary one. That one sits in the cupholder between the driver and passenger seat. It’s buzzed twice since I’ve been sitting here but I leave that phone untouched for the moment.

Me: I need a few old-school trackers. Think you can get me some?

Once I shoot that one off, I pull up a different contact and send another message.

Me: Next time I text, you’ll be given a location. Go to it and I’ll give you further instructions.

I start to put my burner away, but it vibrates in my hand before I can toss it aside. I flip it open and read the messages that’s appeared.

Jakob: U ain’t dead yet old man? I thought you was. Haven’t heard from U in foreva

Jakob: I ain’t UR bitch to control btw

I snort. Kids these days. They think with a gun and a handful of their toughest friends by their side they’re unstoppable. Too bad for them, that’s not the case.

Me: I have pictures of you and that special shipment that came last week. I can send it to the police if you’d rather end up behind bars.

Me: Or I’ll just take your little sister and show her that Angel Eyes isn’t just some ghost from the past

This time, I wait, knowing that will get his attention. The next message comes thirty seconds later.

Jakob: Send me the location and I’ll send it to my guys.

Content with that answer, I slide the phone back into my pocket. I turn my car on and pull away onto the road. I go unnoticed by the police as they study the bloody crime scene.

The drive back to Chasm is a quiet one, my mind no longer racing with annoyance. The stillness blankets the irritation. I’malmostfurious. It would be easy to lean into the molten emotion that sits just beyond that stillness. But I don’t. Now that I know what these parasites are doing, I know whatIneed to do. I won’t let them breed that pretty young Starr girl to make more killers.

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