Page 27 of Three for a Girl

“Yeah—”

“So he was similar to Marc.”

Chad bit his cheek. “He was nothing like Marc.”

“I’m calling it how I see it.”

Chad slammed his fist down on his desk. “You’re wrong. Romeo told me he had a need to kill from a young age, had tried to ignore it, but couldn’t. Once he killed five, he said he’d stop, move on. That’s what he needed to do to be free.”

“If it’s a need he had from birth, how could he ever be free of it?” Josh said, tearing another chunk out of the doughnut.

“He said it was a craving, and once he hit five—”

“I crave doughnuts, promise myself I’ll only have one, but here I am, on my third.”

Faye stood up. “Let’s calm it down.”

“I am calm.” Chad said.

Ally looked him up and down. “Really? Hate to see you when you’re holding your temper.”

“I was only suggesting Romeo could’ve been in the power category. That’s what Holly Stevenson wrote, he was trod on by his family, friends, his manager, and he snapped one day—”

“She doesn’t know anything about Romeo!”

Josh’s jaw dropped open, and Faye inhaled sharply.

Chad had no idea how to move on from his outburst. He rocked back on his heels, turned, and rushed out of the incident room.

He braced himself against the wall, breathed slow and deep, and waited for his heart to return to normal. The hairs on his neck tightened, and he turned to two officers on the stairs above, eyeing him.

“What?”

They disappeared out of sight.

The incident door opened and without looking over, he knew it was Ally.

“I’m fine.”

“Count to ten, deep slow breaths. Imagine someone you hate.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Just do it.”

He closed his eyes and pictured Marc. When he smiled, his sharp canines gleamed.

“Now imagine punching them in the face.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Punch that asshole in the face. Crush their nose, break their jaw.”

Chad swallowed. He couldn’t, even in his fantasy he couldn’t move.

Marc approached, scalpel at the ready and the only thing that stopped him was Chad opening his eyes.

“Better?” Ally said.

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