Page 63 of Say My Name

“I jerk off to thoughts of your boyfriend fucking you, and then me coming in, pushing him aside, and showing you how it’s really done. What arealman can do. Fucking you so good you no longer feel him anymore.”

His hand abruptly leaves my backside, and I’m left gasping for air at his confession. He lowers my dress over my hips and steps back. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

It takes all of my willpower to stop myself from asking him to show me how well he could give it to me. This is an assignment, nothing more.

I regain my composure with two deep breaths and allow Devereaux to walk me to my car. He keeps his hands in his pockets as the brisk night air slaps me in the face, reminding me of what just took place.

Before I get into my car, I have to get his take on Brandon. “I have something to tell you.”

He stares at me like I could break him with just one word. “What is it?”

“Before she died, Luna told me she noticed Brandon driving down her block late at night,” I fib, because I can’t exactly tell him I have insider information that a neighbor told the cops they saw him driving by.

He stares at me like I’ve just struck him with a lightning bolt. “What?”

“Brandon. He has a black truck. She said she’d seen him doing a drive-by a few nights.” I chew on my bottom lip. “Also, Brandon and Sugar have something going on.”

“Like what?”

“Sexual.”

“Really?” He acts like I just smacked him. I’m guessing he has no clue Brandon’s doing anything with the Greedy Girls.

“Yes.” I hate lying about talking to Luna, but this is my job. I climb into my car, realizing Devereaux has zero clue what Brandon is up to.

That makes two of us.

“Where’d you get the dry erase board?” Ashley asks, before taking a bite of pepperoni pizza.

I laugh. “I picked it up this morning at a hobby shop. I need to get everything in front of me so I can see it all.”

I’m off work from Club Greed today, so I lured Ashley over with promises of pizza to go over some things about the case with her since she’s a neutral party. I know I shouldn’t discuss the case with her, but I need to get things off my chest. I need to look at things from a different angle.

I need to analyze.

Figure things out.

And quickly.

“Ok, explain it all to me.” Ashley leans back on the couch as I stand in front of the whiteboard, finishing my diagram of murder information.

“First murdered was Suzie Parks, stage name Scarlett. She started at the club when it first opened.” I use a magnet to put Suzie’s picture up. Her smiling eyes stare back at me. “Her boyfriend was out of town, and when he came home, he walked in and discovered his girlfriend’s dead body. Two shots to the head.” I hold up a hand. “And yes, he was one hundred percent on the flight. His alibi is solid.”

“Shell casings?” Ashley asks.

“None. The place was clean, so the killer picked up his shell casings and scrubbed everything down. There were no fingerprints on anything.” I stare at Suzie’s picture, wishing she could tell us who did this to her. “She knew whoever killed her because there was no forced entry.”

“Damn,” Ashley breathes out. “Did the neighbors see anything? A vehicle? Anything?”

I shake my head. “No. Nothing.” I move to the coffee table where my case files rest. “She had some regulars at the club, but she mainly hung around with the Chekov brothers.” I grab the first picture. “Dimitri.” I slap his photo to the board, holding it in place with a pineapple magnet. “And Vlad.” I pick up his image, putting it next to his brother with a banana magnet.

Ashley laughs. “Looks a little less professional with refrigerator magnets holding the photos in place.”

“I forgot to get magnets. So, fruit magnets will have to do.” I focus back on the board. “I think when Suzie died, the killer already knew his plan.”

“What do you mean?” Ashley asks.

“Well, the crime scene was immaculate. If he had accidentally killed her, there would be more of a mess.”

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