I loved him either way.
The thought rocked me and I fell back in my chair.
Despite everything, I still loved him. Part of me had known that. But to think it as though I didn’t have a care in the world, it pulled me up short and made me think.
It brought up another question. With all that wealth, what were they able to hide?
But I knew the only way I’d get real answers was to confront him. I had to ask him directly and not let him evade.
As I trudged to my bedroom and finished grabbing what I needed to head to work, I wondered if I was really ready to face whatever answers he gave me. I had no idea what sort of Pandora’s box I would open.
But I was more determined than ever as I pulled out of my drive and headed to the precinct. I was going to get my answers, whether Nate wanted to give them to me or not.
I pulled up to the precinct, only to have Victoria waiting for me in the lot.
She slid into the passenger seat and gave me an address. “Drive. Our guy dropped another body.”
“Shit.” That wasn’t how I wanted to start my day. Especially considering I had hoped to clock out at a decent time and confront Nate. I really didn’t want to have to put it off until the next day. But I knew the job came first. It had to.
The whole way there, she didn’t say a word, letting me know she was still pissed off at me.
Well, then, fine. She wasn’t the only one who could give the silent treatment.
I pulled up to a house in a run-down neighborhood and shot her a questioning look. “You sure this is the place?”
All of the victims had been found in remote locations up to this point. So, finding someone in a neighborhood, even one as derelict as this one, seemed out of character for our killer.
She shrugged. “That’s what they said. And from all thecrime scene tape around that residence, I’d say we’re at the right place.”
I rolled my eyes at her and got out of the car, slamming the door. Pulling my badge out, I flashed it to the officer on the perimeter and walked into the house, wrinkling my nose.
The house was disgusting and it was obvious that it was from the way the victim lived and not anything the killer had done. Although, it could make finding anything the killer left behind all the more difficult.
“Well, this looks lovely.”
Victoria shot me a look as she shoulder checked her way past me.
“Tough crowd,” Ramirez joked as he came around the corner.
“You have no idea.” I sighed.
For the first time in a very long time, I felt restless. Maybe it was all the bullshit going on with Nate or maybe one person could only deal with so much death and murder before it really started to get to them.
Either way, I was starting to think I needed a vacation.
Areallylong one.
“Just as well,” he said with a shake of his head. “This one is baaad. The vic is actually up in his bed. But he wasn’t killed there. It’s definitely been staged.”
Fuck. I hated when we had to find a secondary location. Usually, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
“Not only that,” he continued, “the body is in really bad shape. Guy’s been brutalized. Half of his face is gone. Preliminary ID will be based on the homeowner, but we’ll need DNA and dental records to confirm.”
I blinked at him in confusion.
“Sick fucker. Our guy is definitely devolving and spinning out of control,” Victoria muttered, popping up from out of nowhere. “He’d been going months between kills, and now it’sbarely been a couple of weeks before another body dropped in our laps.”
I nodded as we walked from the foyer into the living room, my thoughts a million miles away. Things weren’t sitting right with me over this one. And it wasn’t just from the additional carnage done to the victim. Something about the guy sent off warning bells as soon as I’d walked onto the scene and heard about his body.
