Justice(77)

“I feel the same way about you, Detective.” He pauses again. “I’m so sorry you were dragged into this. I’m sorry it’s affected you so. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. To find him. I give you my word, and I never give it lightly. I will not let him harm you,” he says with utter conviction. “I swear it.”

Listening to those words with his severity, it hits me. There’s really a madman who wants me dead. He’s going to try to rape and burn me alive with acid. I’m a police officer, I know every day on the job I take my life into my hands. It could happen at any time. Leaving to interview a person, walking through a door even. I can rationalize it away. Most police barely draw their weapons in a career, let alone get involved in a shoot-out. But this…it’s inevitable. I know the man after me. He’ll battle his way through an entire legion of superheroes and police to get what he wants. Me. He can’t be stopped. He can’t be reasoned with. He is pure evil and he is coming for me. At some point in the near future, probably when I’m least prepared for it, I will be fighting for my life. The odds of coming out of it are against me. I’m living on borrowed time. I’m going to die.

I glance at Justice. “He’s really coming for me, isn’t he?”

The terror must have leaked through to my face because Justice doesn’t respond right away. “Not if I get him first.” Clearing his throat, he stands up. “Stay in the house as much as you can. Be surrounded by people at all times. Don’t go anywhere without the guards, no matter how much you dislike having them around. Keep your eyes open for anything suspicious.”

“I will.”

“Good. I’ll be watching. Be safe.”

“But what if I need—” I feel the whoosh of air beside me before I can finish. He’s gone.

The curtains inside waft in the breeze, but I shut and lock the door. It does nothing to stop the chills. I rest my head against the cool fabric and glass underneath, clutching onto the thin drapes as I push away the panic and desolation.

“Jo?” Justin asks behind me.

I give myself a second, just a second to rein my emotions in. They whip back into their prison, and I turn around to my friend with a small smile. “Hi.”

He’s in a white undershirt and pajama bottoms, hair messy from sleep. “Are you okay? I heard voices.”

“It was no one,” I say, walking toward him. “What about you? Are you alright?”

He shakes his head slowly. “No. Not at all. I could use a hug.”

“I think I can handle that.”

He opens his arms to me and I do the same, pulling each other close. I lay my head on his pounding heart and he rests his on the top of my head. For the briefest moments, wrapped in his arms, I feel peace. I hope he does too. Because I’m sure we may never feel that way again.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


FAULT


The ride to the church takes so long I begin to worry we’ll be late. Surely Reverend Matthews won’t begin the service without the guests of honor. We can’t help that crews are taking forever to clean up after Hexen’s latest bid for attention. I heard on the radio they’ve caught two of the unicorns he summoned on Infantino Avenue.

Three days. It’s been three days almost to the hour since I found them. It’s flown by, I’ve been so busy. Lucy handled the funeral plans, Shannon the work-a-day problems and I helped with both, along with fielding the press and a million phone calls from old friends. When I wasn’t glued to the phone, and he wasn’t asleep, I watched old movies with Justin and played pool. He’s been sleeping a lot. Close to sixteen hours a day. Mom did the same thing after Pop. I’ll start to worry in a week.

I have found tiny pockets of time for myself, mainly used to aid in the investigation whether anyone liked it or not. It’s hard to do when you can’t leave the house, but I’ve managed. The photographer sent me the pictures from the engagement party, and in the hundred shots, I found about six with Alkaline in them. He wasn’t speaking to anyone, but in each he was close to me, Justin, or Rebecca. Stalking us. I phoned the others at the party who claimed to have seen him, but like me they only noticed him in passing.

Cam’s been feeding me information. He and Mirabelle stopped by for a follow-up interview with Justin and me. As far as I can tell, they’ve garnered no new information. Three days and nothing. He checked out of the hotel and vanished. No more dead bodies, no more leads, just dead quiet. He’s biding his time, waiting like a snake to pop out of a hole and strike. Where better than his victim’s funeral?