Page 38 of Edge of Control

“But then what’s with the poems and the wings?”

“Could it have to do with some Edgar Allen Poe obsession? Maybe they just want to be creepy.”

“That’s a lot of work to just ‘be creepy.’ No, something else has to be happening here.”

Caleb let out a heavy sigh. “You’re right. You’re right. Damn.” He turned his gaze toward Julie.

“One of the victims, Ricky, he was involved with someone named Gio. It sounded like he may have been the head of some dark shit. Maybe he’s the one running this blackmail ring. I think I need to talk to Ashton first. Find out if he’s been in touch with anyone asking for money in return for this tape. That could lead us in the right direction.”

“Think Ashton will even talk? He probably wants this buried deep.”

I shrugged. “Interesting choice of words.”

“Hah. Imagine the mayor being a serial killer… actually… what if he fucked all three of these victims, found out about it, and killed them for revenge?”

“Crazier things have happened,” I answered. Anotherbreeze drifted in through the window. The wings on Julie’s back rustled in a wave of soft black velvet. Something about it was so graceful. Morbid and dark, but somehow beautiful.

Fuck. This job could get so damn twisted. No wonder it changed people. I thought of my father, how different he was after a few years on the force. Witnessing some of the worst society had to offer. Being there on the front lines, just like this. Hell, even Caleb was changing right in front of my eyes.

I had to stay grounded. Had to stay focused. There’d been a lot that had me distracted lately.

Well, mainly one thing. One man.

Theo.

God, Theo.

He infiltrated my thoughts at every hour of every day. Even now, I found myself thinking of him as I stood in the middle of a cyclone of death. Even with a cold corpse only a couple of feet away from me, my thoughts still circled back to the man who had captured my entire attention and commanded every inch of my body, of my desire.

He had a hold on me that shouldn’t have been possible.

We had fucked until the sun came up, but we had also talked, gotten to know each other in one of the grimiest and most hopeless places in the city. That was the power Theo Glass had over me. He helped me forget everything. Whether I was in a dirty bathhouse didn’t matter. It was as if we were somewhere else. He had the power to transform time itself, make it crawl to a stop and push away all kinds of anxieties and worries and thoughts.

When I was with him, it was only him.

Only Theo.

Which was exactly why I had to let him go. I’d never fallen so hard, so fast for a man. I didn’t like that feeling. Giving him complete control of my heart, my emotions.

I wanted to test that. Wanted to try and find someone else who was able to pull me out of whatever spell this man had cast on me.

That would come later tonight, though. I had a random Tinder date who wanted to meet up for drinks in an hour. Maybe he’d be the fix to this sudden obsession I was developing. I wanted to keep it loose, wanted to keep my heart from getting involved. Random hookups were a way to do that. It kept me from getting hurt.

“Alright,” I said. “I’m going to try and get in touch with the mayor. Then, I’ll reach out to the FBI contact. Something here is beginning to crack. We’re getting closer.”

“I hope so,” Caleb said. “If you need anything from me, you’ve got my number.”

I couldn’t help but feel another subtext under that. Maybe I was just too focused on men, thinking anyone with a dick was hitting on me. That’s the kind of effect Theo had on me. Turned me into a wild, hormonal teenager all over again.

Had to cut it out. Couldn’t get so lost in Theo that I forgot about everything else.

No. That’d be no good.

No good at all.

Chapter 15

Theo Glass

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