Page 26 of F*ck Steal Kill

“While you were out, I got a hit on the message board I posted on yesterday. It should catch the attention of our guy based on the type of people he chooses as his victims.”

“Good.” I nodded, trying to regain my leadership among them. “Set something up and let us know when it’s ready. In the meantime, we need to buckle down on the three suspects we have left. We can’t afford to let this person slip through our fingertips, not to mention the unnecessary deaths of the others if we can’t identify them.”

“Are you going back out tonight?” Quentin asked, his eyes narrowing at me with suspicion. I held them as I debated how to answer.

A fierce need to keep looking for her thumped heavily in my veins. I knew it was dumb, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. If I didn’t take her for myself, then I owed my team to find her. To unfuck the cluster I’d created. But that soured in my stomach; not liking the thought of not having her.

Both objectives warred within, and I didn’t know which would win out. I wanted her with a fierce obsession, a possessiveness I’d never felt. The fact she made me crazy and careless with my job should’ve been enough to keep me away. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to. She was too dangerous. It would be best to keep her away from all of us. She’d already cost us a day in our hunt; we couldn’t afford any more distractions.

I closed off my emotions, shrugging in response to Q’s question. “Doubtful. I need to finish the report to send to Jackson. In the hubbub of last night, I didn’t get it sent over, and now I’m on thin ice.”

“Hmm,” Quentin hummed, his eyes assessing me. Fucker never missed a damn thing.

“You?” I asked, challenging him to deny he wouldn’t be doing the same. We were both alike in that regard.

“I have a lead on Matt Donaldson, so I planned to check it out.”

The lie was delivered with such precision I almost bought it. Out of all of us, Quentin was the best liar, but unfortunately for him, I knew his tells. And right now, his pinky finger tapped a rhythm against his leg that could only mean one thing—he didn’t want me to know where he was going.

I held his eyes for a long moment, debating how I wanted to play this. I had my own secrets, so I knew it wasn’t fair to hold his against him. But if it involved her, how could I let him get closer?

No, I needed to be the one to find Holland and keep her as far away from my team as possible. Our lives, and potentially hers, depended on it.

CHAPTER 11

HOLLAND

The girls openly stare at me from across the table at our house, emotions I couldn’t decipher swirling in their eyes. We’d gathered around it to listen to the bug Lacey had placed on Grady—whose name we knew now thanks to the phone call with his boss, and it fitted him so much better than Bill.

“So, it’s clear to say they’re definitely an organization looking for the XOXO killer,” Joy said, her eyes watching me. “And that they know something about the Savages.”

“But it didn’t sound like they were okay with the Savages, more like they were enemies or competition?” Lacey asked, her brow furrowed. “I mean, they thought that you were a Savage spy, so it doesn’t sound like they’re in league with them.”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, tapping my fingers against the table. “I agree with that assessment. So who are they and the Savages to each other? And how did we get tangled up in their mess?” I queried, processing my thoughts out loud.

“I did some digging, and the Savages are a ruthless gang of mercenary killers. They will take any contract and have no morals, just as the girl said. There’s talk they’re looking to expand their reach and get in the, um, human trafficking business.” Joy grimaced, her eyes shiny with tears.

Bile rose up my throat as my stomach dropped. There was no way we could go up against someone like that. They’d kill us. We were amateurs at best, and they were professionals.

We were little girls playing at something we had no right to mess with.

The horror of our reality took over, and my vision blurred. Gripping the edge of the chair, I sucked in breaths as my heart tried to beat out of my chest. My lungs burned, and I couldn’t suck in any air quickly enough. Dots danced around my eyes as my vision blurred.

Something sharp struck my face, knocking me out of the chair and onto the floor.

“Ow!” I cried, tears running down my face as I glared up at my so-called friends. “Who did that?” I jerked back as I touched my face, the area hot and stinging.

“Me,” Lacey said, her face hard and unyielding. She bent down, offering me a hand. “You were having a panic attack.” This time her tone was soft and reassuring, and I placed my palm into hers.

Placed back in my seating position, a cold glass was pressed into my hands. I lifted it to my mouth, swallowing the cool liquid and letting it ground me back in the moment, the world slowly returning to me. I blinked and spotted both of my friends sitting next to me.

“Sorry, I…” I shook my head, attempting to dislodge the panic. It had been a while since I’d had an attack that severe. “Most days, I can ignore what we’re doing because the people deserve it. There’s that part of me that likes to punish those who pick on others and gets excitement from watching them squirm.”

“We feel that too. It’s why we joined you. It doesn’t make you a bad person, Hols,” Joy whispered, clasping my hand.

“I know. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You’re worried now that we have people coming after us. That we’re not safe,” Lacey said, wrapping her arms around Joy and me.

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