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Chapter Fourteen
Luna
Time stood still when Ransom’s lips touched mine.
We had done this a hundred times before, two years ago, but now, it was different.
Now, I was kissing Ransom, and he knew my secret. He knew I wanted to be a member of the Devil’s Knights, and he hadn’t laughed at me. He hadn’t told me I was a girl and that would never happen.
He basically told me he already knew what I want and to go for it. Who said things like that other than people who truly cared about you?
I delved my fingers in his hair, and he wrapped his arms around my waist.
It had been a long two years, but I was finally back in Ransom’s arms where I should have been this whole time—I had just been too stubborn to see it.
Ransom’s lips traveled across my cheek and down my neck. “You taste just like I remember,” he growled into my ear.
Every reason I had told myself for why I couldn’t be with Ransom was erased from my mind. I had been so good at building walls the past year and they had only made me miss out on something amazing.
Ransom’s phone rang, but he shook his head. “I’m not stopping.”
I laughed, trailed my hands down his back, and pulled up the hem of his shirt. “They can leave a message.”
“Exactly,” Ransom chuckled.
His phone stopped ringing for five seconds, and then, it started ringing again.
“They sure are persistent,” I giggled when his lips tickled my neck.
Ransom tugged his phone from his pocket and pulled back to look at who was calling him. “It’s the station,” he muttered. “Don’t move.” He kept his arm wrapped around my waist and pressed my hand to his bare back.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I whispered.
He connected the call and put the phone to his ear. “Ransom,” he grunted. He listened for a couple of minutes with grunts and short questions thrown in and then I felt his body go rock solid. “When?” he asked. His hand loosened around me, and he moved back. “Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be there.”
Oh.
Oh, no.
I guess this was part of being in a relationship with a detective, right? There were going to be times you were in the middle of something, and he was going to have to go to work no matter what time it was.
He ended the call, and his eyes connected with mine.
I saw anger in his eyes mixed with sadness. “What’s wrong?” I asked gently.
“I need to go to a crime scene, Luna.”
“Okay,” I said simply, but I knew he had more to say. I could feel the dread creep over my body.
“You know how you went to visit some of the girls today?” he asked.
I nodded numbly.
“The call came through from an address belonging to a Leo Banachi.”
My mind raced. There were a number of addresses that belonged to my uncle. It could be Wyndemere. It could be one of his storage buildings. Hell, the man had more budlings in Rockton than I knew about. “You’re going to have to give me more than that, Ransom. My mind is spinning some crazy stuff right now.”
“It’s a duplex over on the east side of town.”
My stomach dropped to my toes and a wave of nausea washed over me. “No,” I whispered.
Ransom closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, baby. I don’t know much, but it’s a female and she’s dead.”
It happened.
Again.
Ransom pulled out his phone and made another call. He held me in his arms, but I couldn’t comprehend anything he was saying to the person on the phone.
Why was this happening? What had any of these girls done to have this happen to them? So what if they worked at a strip club? Why was that such a bad thing to this psycho?
“Luna,” Ransom called.
I blinked a few times and tipped my head back to look at him. “Yeah?”
“Did you hear anything I just said?”
“Uh, no?”
He brushed my hair from my face and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Someone from the club is on the way over. I’m assuming it’s going to be King or your brother, but I honestly don’t know. I can’t leave you alone while I go to the scene.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I wanted to go with him to the crime scene, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I couldn’t see another one of my friends dead. Five was already too many.
“What about Bear?” I asked.
“I called him too, babe. He’s going to meet me at the scene. It’s bad this happened, but it’s good in the sense that Bear can be there in a fresh scene to help me find out who did this.”
I understood that. Right now, Bear had been working on crime scenes that were weeks old or they had been professionally cleaned up. “Okay. You should go now.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving until I know someone is with you.”
“I’ll be fine for five minutes, Ransom.”
He shook his head and pulled out of my arms. “I need to get dressed, Luna, and get everything I need. I won’t even be ready by the time King gets here.”
Ransom moved to the stairs, and I lunged to grab his arm.
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
Ransom looked down at my hand that had a death grip on his arm. “Babe.”
I didn’t know what I was feeling or thinking. All I knew was I didn’t want Ransom to leave my sight. “I’m coming upstairs with you.”
He nodded and threaded his fingers through mine to pull me up the stairs. I sat on the edge of his bed while I watched him change his clothes.
Everything was crashing down on me in that instant. I was losing my friends with no warning. Women I had known for years were dead, and I never got to say goodbye. They were mauled and murdered and were remembered for being one of the victims of this psychopath.
Life changed in an instant, and I was terrified I was going to lose everyone I loved before we ever figured out who this guy was.
What if something happened to Ransom or one of my family members? What if this guy decided to start killing club members? “You can’t go,” I gasped.
Ransom pulled his shirt over his head and glanced at me. “It’s my job, Luna. I need to go. I’ve got you and the club on my butt to figure out who is doing this.”
“I can’t lose you, Ransom. My friends are dying left and right. What if this guy decides to kill you or my family? You can’t go.”
The doorbell rang, and fear froze my body.
“Luna,” Ransom called.
I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t do anything other than be absolutely terrified. This wasn’t the first death. I had gone through this five times before, and each time, it didn’t get any easier. I had convinced myself the last time that it wasn’t going to happen. The girls were protected, and there was no way anyone would be able to get to them.
Six.
There were six of my girls, dead.
“Yo!” Pie called up the steps. “We’re here.”
Ransom shook his head and crouched down in front of me. “I don’t want to leave you, Luna. I’m gonna call in another detective and have him go over the scene.”
That snapped me right out of my fear induced stupor. “No,” I shouted loudly. Ransom needed to be the one investigating the scene. He knew how the past five girls had been killed. He knew the case and he needed to be the one to solve it. “You’re going. I’m more than fine.” This was not about me. I could have my freak out in my room later.
He laid a hand on my cheek. “I’m worried about you, babe. I can see what this is doing to you.”
It was killing me, but that wasn’t going to stop until Ransom caught the killer. “Catch the killer, Ransom. You have to figure out who is doing this.” I didn’t know how he was going to do it, but I knew that he could.
“I’ll keep you posted on things that I can. I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone, though.”
I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Go, Row.”
Ransom grabbed my hand and pulled me off the bed.
I followed him down the stairs and was surprised to see Pie, Bristol, and Zig. I had figured if Pie was here that he would bring Bristol with him, but Zig was the one who surprised me.
“We parked to the side of your car,” Pie told Ransom.
Ransom nodded and moved to the table. He gathered up the rest of his papers and shoved them in his briefcase. He set it next to the kitchen table and grabbed his badge and wallet off the counter by the sink. “I’m assuming I won’t be back ‘til late.”
Zig shrugged. “We’re here ‘til however long we need to be.”
The normal joking and banter were gone.
This was hitting everyone hard.
Ransom slipped on his shoes and then reached for my hand. I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t care who was looking.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and tipped my head back to look at him. “Be careful,” I whispered.
“I always am, babe.” He pressed a searing kiss to my lips. “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”
I nodded and he pulled out of my arms. He inclined his head to Pie and Zig, and then, he was out the front door.
Pie moved behind him and locked both the handle and the deadbolt.
Bristol wrung her hands together and shuffled her feet. “This is awful,” she whispered. “I don’t understand why this keeps happening.”
We all felt the same.
Pie put his arm around her shoulders. “We’re safe here, and Ransom is going to figure out who is doing this,” he said to the whole room. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Bristol moved into the kitchen, claiming baking would help calm her nerves while I sat at the kitchen table and just prayed.
Prayed that this was the last murder and prayed like hell I wouldn’t lose anyone else I loved.
Ransom included.
