Page 76 of Savage Seduction

“Fuck. I knew it all along, but honestly hoped I was wrong.”

“I’m sorry, Max. I’m sorry I had to lie to you and that I wasn’t able to protect you and your friend when you were attacked the other night.”

“Did you know someone was after us?”

“I followed my intel to London’s home, and by the time Igot there the attack was in progress. My boss threatened to pull me from the case if I intervened, so I called the police.”

“Why wouldn’t your boss want you to help save my life?” I shake my head. “I don’t understand that.”

“Ever since The Butcher reared his ugly head, the FBI has been terrified of it getting out to the public. There’s been a huge and growing distrust of the Bureau as of late, and it seems they’ll do anything to save face.”

“Bastards,” I say.

“I did everything I could while still remaining in the shadows that night. My anonymous call to the police still didn’t get them there in time to help you though, and for that I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” I say. “Makes sense now why the cops showed up relatively quickly when we didn’t get a chance to call ourselves.”

“I tried calling you multiple times before the attack, but for some reason I couldn’t get through.”

I nod. “Yeah, our computers stopped working, our phones were useless. The thugs Viktor sent to kill us were using sophisticated tech and even London couldn’t keep them away. And she’s the slickest hacker I know.”

“What I can tell you is we know Viktor and some of his followers are after you. We don’t know where he is though. If we did, we would have already taken him out.”

“London and I have been trying to track him as well. Stumbled across an underground cult that we suspect he and his followers are a part of, but we think they caught on to us somehow. Ended up tracking us to her home.” I sit back and cross my arms. “I don’t know what I would have done if she or her nana were killed. I couldn’t have lived with myself.”

“Do you remember the name of the underground cult? It might give me something to bring back to the profilers. Possiblyhelp us track him.”

“Yeah, they call themselves the Followers of Kali.”

“Sounds creepy,” Bretton says.

“They are. Kali is a demon who literally drinks its victim’s blood.”

“I’ll take this information back to my people and see what, if anything, we can get from it. Thanks, Max.”

“Hey, if you can catch Viktor before we do, I’m all for it.”

“You’re still going after him? Even though the FBI are as well?”

“Damn straight,” I say. “You haven’t caught him yet and he’s been making contact with me for days now. No way in hell am I going to sit around and wait to get taken hostage.”

Bretton takes the last sip of his drink. “Fair enough. I imagine if I were in your shoes I’d be saying the same. I do have to warn you though, he’s as dangerous as they come. The profilers are saying that over the past couple of years he’s been stewing on his failures. Now that he’s reaching out and making his move, he’s all-consumed with his pride, desires, and rage.”

I think about his words and let them sink in. There wasn’t another choice. If I sat around and did nothing, I was inviting The Butcher to make a move on me. No. I was done being hunted. “Words of warning taken. I appreciate you doing what you can to help me.”

A silence settles over the table and soon our dishes had all been cleared away by the servers. I feel no ill-will, but there isn’t much more to say. It’d grown pretty late, and it made more sense to call it a night.

After leaving a hefty tip for Javier, I hug Bretton goodbye. “Thanks for suggesting we go for dinner. I’m glad you’re on my side in all of this.”

“See you at work tomorrow?” Bretton asks.

“Absolutely.” I get into my car and head home, thewarmth that settled inside me was more than simply the spicy salsa. It was time to figure things out with Ben.

The red light is the perfect spot for me to stop and send Ben a text:Can we meet up soon? I really want to talk to you about something important.

Almost as soon as I’d sent the text and set it down on the center console, my phone beeps with an incoming text. It reads:Are you able to meet me at my house tomorrow? How about 7:00pm? I have something important to talk about as well.

I’ll see you then.

---