Page 21 of Savage Seduction

Anger pushes away all the complicated feelings I've been having. “I’m not crazy. He’s back and he’s fucking with me.”

“How can that be? Think about this logically for a second. You saw with your own two eyes. He was shot four times. At least two of those times in the chest. You said so yourself… you felt his body shudder each time the bullet entered his body. You felt the blood spatter on your face. Remember? How the hell could he still be alive?”

“They never recovered the body.”

“He’s fish food. You know the LA River was raging that night. His corpse washed out to sea where he was consumed by the bottom feeders, the ones that eat shit off the ground, and crapped out like the worthless piece of shit he was. End of story.” Her eyes are intense and filled with justifiable anger for what happened to me, her best friend.

I put a hand on her knee, and she flinches under the touch. “I wouldn’t have called you here if I wasn’t sure… or at least really hoping someone with your ability to find anyone… anywhere, could explain it away.”

She lets out a long sigh. “Okay, fine. Let’s hear it.”

“I think it’ll be easier to show you,” I say then stand and offer a hand to London to follow me. I lead her to the bathroom. “He left me his calling card.”

She steps into the small bathroom and quickly glances around the room. “I don’t see anything.”

I turn on the hot water and wait. The room quickly fills with steam, and I point to themirror. “Look.”

The image of the ankh appears as the steam reaches the mirror. London clears her throat and looks away. “There’s got to be another explanation.”

“Like what?”

She doesn’t speak, but I can tell by the way she crosses her arms and taps the heel of her shoe, London is working hard on a solution.

“Who else would do this?”

“I don’t know, Max. I watch a lot of true crime on TV and there is always some fucking psychopath out there who either wants to get attention or has fallen in love with a serial killer and they start doing copycat shit.”

I hadn’t thought of that possibility before, but it doesn’t negate the fact that someone who is crazy has been in my apartment and is currently taunting me.

Her shoulders slump. “I believe you.”

“There’s more,” I say. “A few nights ago, someone hung an ankh pendant from my driver side mirror at Taco Caliente.”

“On a chain? Because you specifically told me it was on…”

“Twine.”

Her face flushes red and she shakes her head. “This is some wacko shit right here, my friend. I am going to do some research and see what I can find for you. My guess is it won’t be as easy as checking up on my dates. If The Butcher is indeed alive, he will have gone deep underground.”

“And if it’s not him, then it’s someone who knows way more than the general public. They’ll probably be equally as hard to find.” I look away for a second while I gather my thoughts. “Someone is following me, showing up at school, Taco Caliente, and now my apartment. I’m freaked out.”

London rushes over and gives me a solid hug. She holds me like my Abuela always had, firmly and with a little bit of a sway. I soak in the love while Ican.

She pulls away but keeps her hands firmly holding my shoulders. “Don’t you think you should call the cops? I mean, they’ve got to be brought in on this at some point, right?”

“Not until we have more to go on. I can’t show up at the station and ask them to investigate the most notorious killer the city of Los Angeles had seen in its entire history based on a necklace and my bathroom mirror. They pretty much already think I’m the biggest loser there is for quitting the police force. Not to mention, my former partner who shot the guy dead has really benefited from the fact the serial killer is in fact dead. All of that would be questioned and no one would be happy.”

“Damn, I hadn’t even thought of that.” London sighs. “Dude, you’ve got a lot going against you.”

“I know.”

“One good thing though is you have me. And I’m not giving up on you… We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

“You can thank me with an iced coffee the next time I see you,” she says with a laugh.

“Deal.”

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