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I raised my eyebrows, wondering if she was going to disclose that her brother was a cop.
”Ever since this started, I don’t really trust them.”
”That makes sense,” I said, crossing the space between us. She tilted her head up to look at me, and I saw a dried and crusted-over trail of dark red blood on her chin. It made me queasy, forcing me to look away. ”Listen. I have a proposition for you.”
She waited for me.
”It’s clear that you’re onto something with this,” I made air quotes with my hands, ”‘Orchid Strangler’.”
”You think so?” she said with a smirk, tilting her head as she did so, strands of curly hair falling on her face.
”Someone is trying to frame us and we need your help,” I replied, trying to ignore the way her smile played on her lips. ”What you do with the information you find is entirely up to you, but we need to find out who’s behind all of this.”
She considered this for a second. ”No,” she said. ”Why would I do that? I’m just trying to write a story, not get involved with a fucking gang. Uh, shit, no offense.”
She had clearly spoken without thinking, and it was incredibly fucking cute. ”None taken,” I said. ”But you said it yourself. You’re getting close. You’re obviously in over your head.”
”So what are you suggesting?”
I looked her up and down. It wasn’t a suggestion and she knew it. She didn’t have a choice. I, on the other hand, did. I could choose to humor her, to make her believe that there was a way she could turn me down. It didn’t hurt me any and it might’ve helped her feel a little better. ”You help us and we’ll protect you,” I said.
”And if I say no?”
”Dumb move,” I replied. There was only so much I could do for her. ”But you won’t say no, because if this strangler doesn’t kill you, then we might. And you don’t want your brother to get hurt, do you?”
”My brother?” she asked, then swallowed hard. ”He doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
I shrugged. I had to force myself to look into her eyes. The blood smeared on her face was a distraction I didn’t want to deal with. ”You might think that. I might think that. What makes you believe the killer will think that?”
She fell silent, her eyes narrowing as she considered my words. I watched as a myriad of emotions passed over her face, from fear to anger, and then back to fear again. It was clear that she was struggling with the decision, but ultimately, I knew what her answer would be.
”Okay,” she said, her voice quiet and resigned. ”I’ll help you. But I have conditions.”
I wanted to tell her that she couldn’t afford to ask for conditions, but I cocked my head instead and waited for her to finish her thought. She was spunky and I didn’t mind playing along. Sure, this was dangerous, but everything we did was dangerous. I had to admit to myself that I liked the distraction. Beautiful women were a dime a dozen, but her…she was different. She didn’t just want to be on the arm of a powerful man, she really cared about finding this killer. I cared too, because I wanted to make sure to get rid of him.
Obviously, her intentions weren’t entirely selfless, but I knew that a reporter was inherently more selfless than our gang. At the end of the day, she would simply expose him. We were definitely going to kill him.
”Of course,” I said smoothly, leaning in slightly. ”What are your conditions?”
She hesitated for a moment, her eyes flickering back and forth as she weighed her options. ”I want full access,” she said finally. ”To everything. Your operations, your meetings, your men. I want to see everything that happens.”
I raised my eyebrows. That was a tall order. We were a secretive group and we didn’t just let outsiders in. ”You can’t use our names,” I said. ”You have to ask what’s going to go in print before you put it in an article. And if you go to the police about anything we say, your brother will be the one who pays the price.”
She flinched at my words, but I knew that they were necessary. It was the only way that I could ensure her loyalty.
”Agreed,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
”We’ll hold up our end of the deal as long as you do,” I told her, sticking my hand out so she could shake it. She hesitated for a moment, her gaze darting between my stretched out hand and then ending on my face. Finally, she reached out and shook my hand firmly. . As soon as our hands touched, I could feel the electricity that passed between us. It was a dangerous game we were playing, but it was a game nonetheless, and I was determined to come out on top.
”Good,” I said. ”Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
She bit down on her lower lip, her eyes wide and her jaw trembling. She was obviously afraid–and there was a part of me that felt bad for her.
But not enough to make her feel better.
If she wanted to stay alive, she needed to be afraid.
Chapter Nine: Sofia
