Page 136 of XO Karma

“Oh, will you two stop it,” Lily snaps, then returns her attention to her brother as he drags his fingers through his blond hair. “What should we do?”

I open my mouth, and Lily silences me with a hand, whispering, “It’s his process, just wait.”

A moment later, Liam clears his throat. “Okay, here’s the story, and you both have to stick to it cause it’s my ass on the line. I’m going to call it in and say it was left on our front doorstep. I’m the lead detective on this case, so the assumption will be it was left for me.” He runs a hand along his tight jaw. “It’s a bit out of the ordinary from their usual MO, but at least we should be able to bring it in for evidence testing.”

Lily releases a heavy sigh, and I can see the weight lifting off her shoulders. “And in the meantime?”

He grits his teeth, glancing between us. “I don’t like suggesting this considering I didn’t even know you had a… boyfriend until three minutes ago. But you shouldn’t stay here alone. He needs to stay or you need to leave with him.”

“Liam,” Lily protests. “I’m not⁠—”

His eyes harden. “This is non-negotiable. We don’t know what this person wants with you, so until we figure that out, you will either be in this house with me or with this Clark Kent wannabe⁠—”

“Rude,” I scoff.

“Or,” he continues, “I can get you a police detail if needed.” Lily sighs, and I can tell she’s exhausted by the entire ordeal. “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” she grumbles.

Liam pulls a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket. “Did either of you touch this?”

“Only me,” Lily says, and I’m thankful I had the self-preservation to keep my hands to myself.

“Okay, good.” He grabs the head off the bed and returns it to the box. “We can check for prints and DNA fibers.”

A phone call and a few minutes later, he and the severed head are out the door, and Lily’s stripped the bed and thrown the comforter in the wash on the absolutely hottest setting with a gallon of bleach.

“So what now?” I ask, back in her room.

Strolling over to her desk, she grabs the file on top. “Guess I can’t avoid this any longer.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

As Liam told Lily, Violet’s file contains far more questions than answers. There are some unnecessarily graphic photos, courtesy of the Kodak Killer, which I removed before letting Lily see it. Liam’s a dick, but he was right. Seeing those won’t help her in any way.

In fact, not much from the folder helps at all. No wonder the Kodak Killer hasn’t been caught. If the evidence for all victims is like this, they don’t have jack shit to go on.

“Another dead end!” Lily shouts, tossing the folder across the room, pages flying out and floating to the ground. I crouch to clean them up. When setting it on her desk, I notice a small piece of paper rests on top of the pile.

901 Cedarwood Park - Abandoned

2093 43rd Street. Client? - Dead end

“What is this for?” I ask Lily.

“Addresses?” she says, taking it from me. “You check GPS, I’ll check the tax appraiser’s office.”

I grab my phone as she opens her laptop and begins clicking away.

“901 is an abandoned cabin in the middle of the Blackridge Forest,” I tell her.

“Yeah, and get this. It’s owned by Onyx Ares Inc., and only a few miles from the Westerfords’ place.”

“Isn’t that the same shell company that owned the crematorium?” I ask, searching the other address.

“Yep.”

“2093 is a high rise near the river,” I tell her, and the sound of clacking keys fills the room.