Page 60 of Beg Me Angel

A few of the neighbors had tried to come and cozy up to me, but I cut that shit out quick. The houses around here weren't that close, it wasn't like my window faced theirs. There were miles of trees that separated each of us, that's one of the things that drew me in.

They made the mistake of thinking I might be interested in their small town shit. I wasn't. I wasn't about to sign up for the local crime watch brigade or take part in any of the carnivals they had during the year.

Fuck that.

They didn't realize they were inviting a trained killer into their world. They didn't know that at any moment I could snap and take them all down if the urge finally hit its peak and exploded.

In the end, I was protecting them.

I moved here for the quiet and that's exactly how I wanted to keep it. I wanted to be here and not here. I wanted to slip in and out unnoticed, come and go with ease.

I guess my first impression didn't bode over too well. But then again, I don't think I'd try and be buddy buddy with the asshole who held a gun to my face and told me to leave and never come back.

After that, it didn't matter who I ran into, they all gave me the stink eye and pretended I didn't exist. It was perfect.

Pulling the door open, my heart sank as my breath was cut in half, trickling out from my lungs in short bursts.

Fuck no.

No. No. No.

It can't be.

“Good morning, I'm sorry to wake you.” A police officer stood on my front step, another one directly behind him to his right. “I'm Officer Clark and this Officer Billard.”

Swallowing hard, I gripped the door with a heavy hand, digging my fingers into the wood. “What can I do for you?” I asked, trying to keep my body in check.

Inside my nerves ran and up down my muscles, hitting my chest and squeezing around my ribs. I never expected to have the police show up here, I never expected they'd wind up in my small halo in the woods.

Flicking a piece of paper in his hand, the officer pinched it tight, holding it up in front of his chest. “Well,” he said, pausing awkwardly like he was trying to flip through his pre-set lines he had been hand delivered to give. “We're out canvasing the area and going door to door, trying to see if anyone has any information. Have you seen anything that looks suspicious or out of place? Cars, people, heard anything that just didn't seem right in last couple weeks?”

My jaw cocked out to the side as I pretended to think. “No, I don't think so.”

Turning the paper to face me, I had to stop my body from reacting. Vera's image was staring back at me.

The picture sent my brain into spirals, making my heart hammer and my chest sting, sucking all the air right out of my lungs. Sweat beaded up on my forehead instantly, trying to inch its way down my skin.

My eyes were frozen on the paper, staring into the face of my angel. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, her eyes shaded in a golden sparkle, and a smile so large and pure it made my muscles seize.

It was the smile I've been seeing, the face I've been living with. The woman I was refusing to let go.

“Have you seen this girl?”

I stood silent, unable to project the words I needed to get out to make these two men go away.

The officer pushed the paper closer, bringing it right up to my face, holding it two inches from my eyes. “Well, have you seen her?”

I wanted to scream at the men to leave, to get the fuck off my property and never come back. My fingers clawed into the wood door, making every attempt to lurch forward and push the men back to their car.

“I—I—” Stuttering, I licked my lips, forcing my tongue to stop vibrating against the roof of my mouth. “I don't think so, why?”

“Well, she's been missing for over two weeks now, the car she was in was found not too far from here. We'd like to take a look around if you don't mind?”

Swallowing the huge ball that lodged itself in my throat, I did everything to stay still, and not give them a reason to be suspicious. But keeping myself in check was not something I was good at. I was a man who reacted.

And that's what I did, I reacted.

“I do mind. You got a warrant? Because unless you got a warrant, you're not looking around shit.”

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