Page 36 of Bleed for You
Jinx heard the engine rev and stepped back when Craig reversed the car. Before he drove away, he stopped and looked at Jinx, shook his head, then drove away from the cabin. “That could have gone better.” He tilted his head, watching Craig’s car shrink as the distance between them increased. Jinx could hear birds in the trees, the leaves rustle in the breeze. “Guess I need to do some damage control.”
Walking into the cabin, Jinx put his emergency plan into action. It was a good thing he kept his tools stored elsewhere and had left the cabin as it was. Opening the door to the basement area, Jinx jogged down the stairs and began to box up all his overalls, gloves, and boots and everything else he wore. Once that was done, he carried them to his van and stored them in the back. Next it was the items he used to clean and protect the room, then it was the equipment in the room itself. Lucky for him, he’d planned for this, and each piece could be easily taken apart.
Once all items had been put in his van. Jinx checked the time and found an hour had passed. Now he needed to do another clean. He did several in between kills because you could never be too careful, and now, he was glad. A final sweep over the rooms and up the stairs, then Jinx was sliding the cabinet back into the place. Checking the floor, he made sure there were no marks to show there might be a hidden room.
Outside, he locked up and set the alarm, then jogged to his van and got in. He drove away, seeing the cabin disappear, and headed toward a storage locker he had. It wasn’t in his name, so he knew it was safe from discovery. Once there, he unloaded his van, then cleaned it before driving home.
It was then, as he sat in his driveway, that he closed his eyes and felt the impact of Craig walking away. “Fuck.” He knew hewasn’t wired the same as most people, but he loved Craig. Had loved him from the moment they’d met. He swallowed several times, trying to force the emotions back. He wasn’t going to sit in his van, crying.
He knew this would happen if Craig found out about what he did. Craig was one of those good guys. Jinx had known that after the night they’d spent together, and he should have walked before it had progressed, but even then, he knew he wanted Craig in his life.
They fit, him and Craig. Fit with their humor, their sex life, their other life as Daddy and boy. They just fit, except for Jinx’s need to hurt, and so he’d found an outlet for it and one that was needed. The type of people he hunted didn’t deserve to be sent to prison. They deserved to have their lives taken away from them. They deserved to feel the fear, the pain, the terror that they inflicted on their victims, and Jinx had no issue being the person to do that. In fact, he loved it. There was nothing better than seeing a man’s crumpled body on the floor in front of him, blood seeping from the numerous wounds Jinx had inflicted.
But when he was with Craig, all of that disappeared and he felt total peace. He couldn’t lose Craig, but he knew that was more than likely what had happened. He didn’t see Craig staying with him when he was one of the monsters they saw on the news. Jinx had heard Craig comment numerous times about how those types of people needed to be sent to prison, not knowing he was in a relationship with one, sleeping with one.
Getting out of his van, Jinx trudged to the front door, opened it and let himself inside. Walking into the living room, Jinx slumped on the sofa and let his van keys fall from his hands. He exhaled, blinked, let the tears fall. He snorted at his own behavior. Crying over a man, but Craig wasn’t any man. He belonged to Jinx, or he had. He was fairly certain their relationship was over, and Jinx wasn’t sure how to handle that.He wanted to call Craig, but he didn’t know if he should. He did know that he had to make sure there was nothing incriminating in his house that the police could use against him. He knew there wasn’t. He was exceptionally careful, making sure that part of his life didn’t cross into this one, but you could never be too careful.
Standing, Jinx swayed in place, then staggered forward before stopping. The thought of his life without Craig in it had him lifting a hand and biting his knuckles. No, he couldn’t see it. He hadn’t lied when he’d told Craig he loved him. He might not be able to feel emotions for others, but Craig was his, and Jinx needed him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Craig staggered into his apartment, shutting the front door behind him as he slowly slumped to the floor. He stared at the cream carpet, his mind going over what Jinx had told him. He stalked men. He kidnapped men. He hurt them. Made them bleed. Jinx murdered them, then disposed of their bodies. And he enjoyed it. Swallowing, Craig closed his eyes and took several deep breaths that did nothing to calm his turbulent emotions or his racing heart.
Fuck, it hurt. Two years he’d been with Jinx. Two years, and all along Jinx had been torturing and killing men. He’d gone from that to Craig. Touched him with the same hands he’d used to kill, and what was worse was that Craig had no idea it was happening. At no point had he picked up that there was anything wrong with Jinx. That Jinx was a psychopath. He held down a job, a relationship, then followed men, kidnapped them and did what he did to them.
Craig pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. He rested his cheek on his knee and ignored the tears that slipped free. He didn’t want to cry over Jinx, but it hurt. He loved him. Had loved him for a long time and had wanted them to live together, to plan a future together, and all along he never truly knew the man he slept with. How much of their relationship was based on lies? Was anything between them real? And the worst thing was, Craig knew why Jinx did it.
He’d been seven when it had happened. A child. Left with his uncle. Left with a man who liked little boys. At first Craig hadn’t realized what was happening, how his uncle was grooming him. He’d thought he was the favorite nephew because his uncle wanted to spend time with him. Even when something had happened, he hadn’t understood. Not fully. He thought something wasn’t right, wasn’t how it should be, but he hadn’t known why, and by the time he did know, he’d been too scared to say anything.
He’d kept silent for two long years before he’d seen his uncle look at another boy and he’d known he had to tell someone or that child would go through what he had. It had taken weeks to work up the courage to tell his parents, scared they’d reject him. Scared they wouldn’t believe him. His parents had been shocked, then angry, but they had stood by him and Craig had begun the long journey of recovery.
Not long after it appeared their relationship was becoming serious, Craig had sat Jinx down and told him. Jinx had held him, loved him, and Craig had thought he had finally found a man he could trust, could lean on when needed. But it turned out to be lies. All lies. How did he move on from this? How did he rebuild his life and trust another man the way he had Jinx? He should never have told him. Should have kept what happened to himself.
Did he go to the police? Tell them what Jinx had said? What Jinx had told him he’d done? Would they believe him? The ex-partner saying the man he’d been involved with was a serial killer who kidnapped and tortured men? Craig rubbed his face, then used the door to stand. He stayed there staring down at his sneakers, then lifted his head and walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he grabbed a beer and opened it, drinking half of it in one go.
Wiping his mouth, he shut the fridge door and moved to the living room where he sat on a chair and stared at the wall. He breathed in and out, then closed his eyes. “Why?” he whispered. Shaking his head, he let the can of beer swing between his legs as he licked his lips. He ignored the tears because he wasn’t ready to face the reality of his relationship with Jinx. Wasn’t ready to cry over its demise. The reality was that he didn’t have one now. How could he when Jinx had a screw loose? He had to have one loose to do what he did.
Following men, tracking them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. That’s what Jinx did when he wasn’t working or with Craig. Doing horrible things to horrible men. Their crimes didn’t justify what Jinx did. In the cabin. A place Craig had no idea existed. How long had Jinx owned it? Had be purchased it for the purpose of taking men there to torture and kill? Why would Jinx do that? And what did he do with the body after? How did he dispose of it? Even with what Craig had told Jinx about his own past, there was no reason for Jinx to do what he said he’d done.
Did he actually believe Jinx? Craig paused when he considered that. The look on Jinx’s face as he’d told Craig what he did was one Craig had never seen before. The hard stare, the hard jaw. The eyes that tracked every move he made. Even when Jinx stood with his hands in his pockets, Craig had the feeling hecould explode into action with ease. Like he was a coiled spring ready to snap.
Leaning back in his chair, Craig bit his lip and blinked. Tears rolled down his face, and he put his beer on the floor so he could wipe his face. Not that it mattered. More tears replaced the ones he’d wiped away and Craig wrapped his arms around his waist, sobs wracking his body. He loved Jinx. Even when he thought Jinx might be cheating, he’d still loved him. Still wanted to spend all his time with him. Live with him. Build a future together, and now it was all gone. How could he stay with Jinx, knowing what he did?
“What do I do?” Craig spoke the question into the empty room. Did he go to the police? Did he report Jinx? Hadn’t he asked himself those questions already? Hadn’t he? Shit, it seemed like his mind was going round in circles, asking the same questions but not coming up with answers. In reality, he should go to the police. He should report Jinx, but he hesitated. Because he loved Jinx. He wanted him in his life, but that meant accepting a part of Jinx that should have Craig running for the hills and the police. The darkness that must be inside of him to do the things he did and enjoy it.
Exhaling, he leaned his head on the back of the chair and stared up at the ceiling, seeing a cobweb and chuckling even though he didn’t feel like laughing. If he believed Jinx, then Jinx was a murderer and should be reported to the authorities. If he didn’t believe him, then that meant Jinx was lying to him. Why would he lie? If he was cheating, he would lie, but then Craig would have to dismiss the complete change in Jinx’s demeanor when he’d found Craig at the cabin. The hardness, the remoteness, the way he stood and watched Craig like he was a man Craig didn’t know.
“What the fuck do I do? Do I go to the police or keep his secret?”
The thought of not seeing Jinx again cut him deep inside. Made his breath catch, pain stabbing him in the heart. It physically hurt thinking about Jinx not being in his life. Craig had made plans for them. Places they could go, restaurants where they could eat. The future with Cat and her baby and them being the best uncles ever. How did he move forward when all those plans lay in ruins around him? Shattered illusions of a future that now lay in dust.
His phone beeped, and he pulled it out of his pocket and stared at Jinx’s name on the screen. Licking his lips, he contemplated opening it, reading what Jinx had written. He couldn’t read it. Not just then. Not when it felt like his heart was breaking.
He sat still for a minute or so, simply staring off into space, then picked up his phone and read Jinx’s message.
I love you
Craig caught a sob, held it back, his hand covering his mouth. He shouldn’t cry, because if Jinx had been honest, then he was a cold-blooded murderer. It didn’t matter that he killed men who preyed on those who were innocent. He was a killer, and he should be reported to the authorities, but Craig found he couldn’t do it. He found he didn’t want to do it. Didn’t want to see him locked up, and what did that say about Craig?
