It was true. Everything he said. I would be missing for the whole weekend before anyone really got suspicious. Terrell wouldn’t send out an alarm until I didn’t show up to work on Monday. My tears burned. I’d be long dead by then.
Luke reached back and grabbed a knife, twirling it in his palm. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the movement.
“I admit.” He chuckled. “I shouldn’t have chosen you. But the moment I saw you, I knew I had to own your soul. I will, when I’m done, you know? I’ll own you. First, I’ll make you scream. I’ll decorate your skin with my art.” He tossed the knife in the air, the light glinting off the smooth surface before he caught it by the hilt. “Then I’m going to get a taste.” His eyes went to my pussy, and I did everything I could to close my legs. I couldn’t. I was bare and open to him. “And then I’m going to slit your throat and collect your blood for some later indulgences of mine. The rest you don’t need to worry yourself with. Suffice it to say, no one will ever suspect poor, sweet Luke of having anything to do with your disappearance. No one saw me. Just some nondescript man in a baseball cap, if that.”
Terror seeped into every cell in my body. My breaths were sharp and shallow. He was going to kill me. I had no escape. I struggled again, my body refusing to give in even though I knew all was lost. When my muscles ached and my hands and ankles went numb, I crumbled, hanging in the dead air.
“I saw it.” He smiled and walked to me before putting the tip of his blade at my nipple. “Right then. You just accepted it. I can smell it when they do. When they realize everything I’ve said is true.” He ran the knife lightly down my breast, the stinging pain putting everything else into sharp relief. “Look at me, Caroline. Keep looking at me.” He drew the blade to his mouth and licked my blood from the silver metal. “Let’s begin.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Wash
I had tried Caroline’s phone a dozen times on my way back to town. No answer. I finally gave up and called Toby to see if he knew what happened to her after the autopsy.
“I don’t know where she is, but I can assure you that you’ve royally fucked up with her.” Toby’s voice was stern.
“What?”
“She was upset. Said she’s going to put in her notice today, and I know you’re the reason. What did you do?”
“Shit.” I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. For a split second that morning, I’d thought I’d heard someone in the hallway when Trent was giving me his fraternization lecture. It must have been Caroline, and she’d likely heard the part about how I agreed to fire her. But if she was upset, she must not have heard the rest. Fuck.
“She didn’t give me details, but you need to fix it, asshole.”
I stomped the accelerator even harder. I had to get to her, to explain. “Do you know where she is?”
“No. It’s been hours since we left the hospital.”
“Did she say where she was going?” I would get on my knees at her front door and beg if I had to.
“No. I figured back to the office to pack her stuff.”
“She’s not at the office.”
“I really don’t know where she is, man. I did see her talking to someone as I was leaving the hospital, though.”
“Who?”
I don’t know. Some guy wearing a baseball hat. She took him back down into the morgue. I didn’t see them after that.”
Ice raced down my spine. “What did he look like? Do you remember?”
“Not really. Forties, maybe. Medium build. Seemed like he knew her based on the way they were talking. But there was nothing special about him.”
“Luke. It was fucking Luke.” Fear erupted in parts of me that I didn’t even know existed.
“Who’s Luke?”
“Toby, listen to me. Luke Graves is the Bayou Butcher. I need you to find him right now. I don’t care what it takes. I haven’t been able to get in touch with Caroline, and if you saw her with—”
“Whoa, slow down.” His voiced turned serious. “What? Who are you talking about?”
“Tyler Graves’s brother, Luke, aka Chip. He’s been playing us this whole time, and now I’m afraid he has Caroline. I’m ten minutes out. Trace her cell. Send someone by her apartment. I’ve already called the office. She’s not there. Please, Toby. Please find her. Go to his house, his office. Tear that fucking town apart until she’s safe.”
Toby paused for a moment and said with a sober tone, “Give me her cell. It’ll take a little while to get it pulled, though.”