Page 46 of Blackstone's Heart
“Yes. He told me to come here the day I got that first letter, well he and Debbie told me, but I didn’t. I haven’t even told Jimmy or Cain about them. Oh I went to them as well as Austin PD about getting added security, but not WHY I wanted it.” Nick explained.
Keeping calm, Krista turned her attention to the package as Jimmy slipped the letter into an evidence bag. She pulled out her pocket knife and carefully cut one side of the wrapping. Once the wrapping was off and passed on to Cain, she stared at the plain white square box and fighting back her urge to throw up.
“Fuck that reeks!” Tony gaged, pulling his t-shirt up over his mouth and nose.
“It smells like rotting meat.” Lance stated as his eyes made contact with Krista’s for a brief second.
Though it was only a second, Krista was sucked into those piercing green eyes of Lance Archer. Like he was trying to tell her something, but she wasn’t reading the message right. She looked away first, and looked down at the box. More strange fluid had leaked out and both bottom corners were soaked through. She also found that her hands were shaking again. She nearly jumped when Ethan moved to her side and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"You want me to open it?" Ethan offered.
"No. No, I got this." Krista breathed, squaring her shoulders and forcing her hands to stop shaking.
Krista placed her knife on the table and closed her hands into fists. closing her eyes, counting to ten, she took a slow breath in and released. When she opened them again, her hands were steady as a surgeon’s. She cut open the box and looked inside. She frowned as she pulled out a smaller box. Licking her lips, she opened the smaller box, which smelled worse than the first and was even more soaked through. She was confused at what she was looking at. She looked up when Lanced moved to her other side.
"Holy fuck! What is that" Jimmy cried from behind Krista.
Ethan took Krista’s knife and cut away the sides of the smaller box to reveal what was inside. It was Cain who was able to speak first. “That looks like some weird ass Frankenstein organ or something.”
“It is an organ.” Lance said. “But it’s covered in so much stuff I can’t tell you if it’s human or not. It looks like it was put in jello or something.” Lance turned and hurried from the room and returned with a field medical kit. For several minutes he wiped the greenish gelatinous goo from the organ. Krista spotted it a second after Lance did. The four chambers. “Fuck. This is a human heart, Ethan.”
Just then, Ethan's phone rang. "Blackstone." Krista turned her eyes on him. "Fuck. When?" Krista gripped his arm, but he kept talking. “You sure it’s him? Okay, how long? Wait, his WHAT was missing? Oh shit. Wilson, you better get over here right now.”
“What is it Ethan?” Krista demanded, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.
Ethan opened his mouth, yet couldn’t get the words out. He closed his eyes, took a deep settling breath and tried again. “Krista, Wilson said that…fuck, there’s no easy way to say this. Jerry was murdered this morning.”
Krista froze. Her whole world just froze. “W…what?”
“I’m so sorry baby. The morning nurse came in to take his vitals and found him in bed.” Ethan said as he moved to her and pulled her into his arms.
“M…murdered? But…but how?” She stuttered.
Ethan glanced over her shoulder at his men. He looked from the heart on the table then back at them. He saw the instant they made the connection. “You don’t need to know…”
“Don’t.” Krista snapped and backed out of his arms. As she did, she bumped into the table. For the second time in less than five minutes her world tilted on its axis. One part of Ethan’s conversation came to the forefront of her mind,Wait, his WHAT was missing!“No. No.”
Ethan took a step toward her. “Krista…”
“Th…that’s Jerry’s…heart isn’t it?” She gasped.
Ethan sighed. “I…it could be. Wilson said that Jerry’s heart was missing.
“Oh god. Oh god. I’m gonna…”
Ethan knowing what was about to happen, managed to grab the small trash can near his board and got it under her head just as Krista became violently ill. He felt helpless. His woman was hurting and he had no idea how to begin helping her. Ethan held her hair back and rubbed her back while whispering soothingly to her. After a few moments, she sat back on her heels
"Jerry's parents, they're at his...condo. Have they been told? Are they alright?" Krista gasped out.
"Wilson has notified them. That's why he didn't call us right away. He had to notify next of kin. They are physically fine. He said both are in a rough shape." Ethan sighed. “They are still at the condo and Wilson has two men posted outside the building just in case, but he said Jerry’s mother was almost inconsolable.”
Krista couldn't take it anymore. Surging unsteadily to her feet she grabbed the chair she had been sitting in and with a scream of rage and pain hurled the thing across the room. Her vision tunneled as she screamed and cried, reaching for another chair. She was stopped when twin bands of hard muscle banded around her. She struggled to get free, to pound the hell out of something, but the arms wouldn't let her go.
"Sshh. It's okay Krista. I've got you. It's okay baby." Ethan whispered into her ear.
"He. Killed. Jerry." She sobbed. "I. Want him. Dead."
All Ethan could do was hold her as she cried. He looked up and met the eyes of Nick. The older man's eyes burned with rage. One by one Ethan looked at the other men in the room. Every single one of them looked ready to paint the streets of Austin red with Krista's stalker's blood. He looked down when he felt Krista go limp in his arms.
