Page 16 of Cruel Savior

At that time I could retrieve my bag that was still out on my bike which needed its tire fixed anyways. After receiving a thumbs up from Tel, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and stood. I'd seen a massive garage off to the side of the house before I'd gotten my bike tire shot out. There might be some supplies out there to help me fix it.

I glanced at the closed bedroom door and debated telling Mandy where I was headed. Since it was doubtful she'd care or want to know at this point, I passed by without knocking. Later, we'd come to a truce for the sake of the case. Once we'd both cooled off and level heads prevailed.

I yanked open the door and something white at my foot caught my eye. I looked down to find an envelope with the name Agent Kelly Smith scrawled in small, blocky, handwritten letters. What the hell? So much for keeping this place and her location a secret. If she was having official packages delivered, we might as well take out a billboard on main street giving everyone fucking directions.

Jesus Christ. I scooped up the envelope and headed back into the house. So much for cooler, level heads...

I banged on the door harder than necessary and gave no fucks about it. In fact, the muffled squeak I heard behind it made a smile twist at my lips. That's right, little dove. The big bad wolf has come to your door and he's about to get some fucking answers.

"Go away."

"There's a fucking delivery here for you. What the hell, Mandy? Why in the fuck would you give anyone this location? If you need anything, we have people that can bring it here without announcing that you're here."

"What are you—" She jerked the door open and saw the slim envelope dangling from my fingertips. "I didn't tell anyone I was here. You wouldn't have even found me if my father hadn't told you where to go."

Fat chance. She woefully underestimated my abilities if she believed that. "Well, someone knows something," I said, as the hairs on the back of my neck began to prickle. She reached for the envelope and I swiped it out of her reach. "You really aren't expecting this?"

"No, dumbass. I'm not."

I threw her a dark look. She had no idea how close she was to getting turned over my knee. I knew exactly what to do with a brat. "I'd be careful what you call me. If you think because we have history I'll let you get away with that kind of disrespect, you'd be wrong. No one talks to me like that."

She opened her mouth to say something smart probably and caught herself. Whatever had been on her mind suddenly seemed less important as she turned white as a sheet.

"What's wrong? You can dish it out, but you can't take it back?"

She shook her head. "Uhh—no. The envelope. I recognize that handwriting."

I turned it over and examined it again. "From where?" The raising of the hair on my neck had just turned into a full-blown itch. Somehow, I knew the answer before she actually said it.

"On the box that was delivered to the house. The one with the..."

She didn't need to finish that sentence. I dropped the envelope and rushed the front door, pulling my gun from my side holster as I moved. "Stay here," I said before I hit all the light switches and plunged us into total darkness.

"I'll check the cameras." She crossed the room behind me as I methodically went window to window checking to make sure all were locked and we weren't in here with an intruder. I wasn't about to get caught off guard again.

"This house is too fucking big," I grumbled under my breath. "It's a security nightmare to begin with.

"I've got something," she whisper yelled as if anyone within one hundred feet hadn't heard her. "Twenty minutes ago. Fuck. Whoever he is, he knows where most of my cameras are. I've barely caught more than a glimpse. A shadow basically."

I returned to the living room and crossed to her side to see for myself. "He probably doesn't care about them. He was in and out so fast, and he took care to keep everything covered, including his face and hands." Dude had fucking gloves and a face mask. Asshole. "I thought there were proximity alarms? Your father said this property was fully secure."

“The property is too big and too open. Those kinds of alarms work better inside of a fenced property.”

“This is bullshit. What’s in the envelope?” I turned and searched the room, until I spied it in the chair she’d dropped it in. “Here.”

She took it from me and ripped into it.

“Shouldn’t we dust it for fingerprints or something?”

“You saw the gloves, right? And I’d bet big money whoever delivered it wasn’t the actual killer. I doubt he takes chances like that.”

“You a profiler too?”

“Not technically, but I’ve worked enough cases over the years to get a sense. We aren’t dealing with a garden variety serial killer. This is someone with some serious anger issues who wants revenge. More than likely daddy issues too.”

“You guessed all of that from a box with a head in it?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but before she could come back with a quip, she pulled out a stack of eight by ten photos with a red circle on the first one. "Oh my God."

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