Page 34 of Three for a Girl

“Why?” Chad whispered.

“I know if I give in, if I don’t keep a tight enough hold on the chain, it would break you, and I can’t lose you.”

“Before you started killing, you had a normal life, a normal job.”

“On the surface, but not inside my head. The monster is my normal, the one I go against, and it’s not easy, Chad. It’s even harder now it’s had a taste of freedom.”

“I know,” he whispered. “I wish I could…”

“You could.”

“No, I can’t. I don’t know what I’d do if…” Chad scrunched his face, imagining what he’d do if Romeo started killing again.

Would he arrest Romeo to save the public? Speak to him once a week through a barrier all over again?

He couldn’t be without him. He wouldn’t be parted with the one person that stood by him.

Would he turn a blind eye and allow him to kill?

Chad kept shaking his head. The detective side of him couldn’t let that happen. His job was to solve crime, seek justice and keep people safe, not release a serial killer on them.

It left the only other option, throwing himself in the way of the monster, ending their messed-up love story, but he wasn’t ready for the end either.

“It’s okay, Chad.” Romeo whispered.

“I’m sorry. I…” He rubbed his eyes, cursing under his breath.

“Don’t be. We’re on a tentative … Acrobats wire, nine.”

Chad released a slow sigh. “Tightrope. That’s one way of putting it.”

“And I don’t think you’ll survive the fall.”

“I don’t want to fall. I want to get to the other side. The other side of this case, because if we survive one, we can survive any.”

“You, the star of the show, and me in the shadows…”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing. It’s just an observation—”

“Even the acrobat needs his team in the dark. He can’t do it without the man in the shadows.”

Romeo pressed his lips in a grim smile. “You have a team, and I’m not part of it.”

“Romeo—

“Just don’t forget about me.”

“Like I could.”

“And don’t turn on me.”

Chad shook his head. “What? You really think I could?”

Romeo tapped his head. “Yes. If I forced your hand. Talk to the delivery guy.”

“I’ll—I’ll tell him to leave the packages behind the hedge at the front of the dirt road. I’ll buy a shed or something, give him the combination.”

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