AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If he operated based on his emotions alone, he wouldn’t have been able to do all these things to his victims for hours without anyone close by to save them. Sooner or later, they would have caught him since his unstable psyche would have pushed him to make a mistake.
However, he left no DNA, no footage of himself, and no living victim.
Sans one.
Santiago shakes his head at Remi. “We assumed he was in his thirties back in the day. What if he was younger?”
“What do you mean?”
“The blood…the way he killed people…his desire to show off to everyone.”
Florian shrugs. “He’s a narcissist. He craves an audience, even if their presence in his show will be short-lived.”
“Yes. But who has so much rage inside them and doesn’t mind murdering people at random with different weapons? His cruelty was very creative, which was one of the reasons the profilers struggled. They couldn’t figure him out since his killings were so different from each other.”
I lean my back on my desk, crossing my arms while we all seem to ponder his words or the implication that the Church Killer was a teenager, which means he’s around our age.
Fucking hell.
Remi snaps his fingers. “Santiago’s theory has merit, and it would explain all the missing pieces in this puzzle.”
“Except the fact that he let a girl live.” Florian finishes his drink and places it on the table, where it rattles soundly. “I think she’s the key to it all.” He gets up as our eyes trail him. “Whatever the terror she experienced and witnessed due to him was a pleasure he couldn’t compare to murders. Her pain sustained the sadist in him. Her suffering trapped her in a constant nightmare, and he basically tortured her repeatedly. For a narcissist like him, it’s the kind of drug that creates an obsession. To be the center of someone’s attention.”
My fists clench just thinking about her in such a way, vulnerable to the murderer who dumped her in hell on earth to amuse himself. The beast inside me roars, struggling to contain its rage and needing to sink his claws in the fucker and end his life once and for all so even his shadow doesn’t hunt her.
Or maybe it’s self-loathing filled with guilt.
Because if it hadn’t been for me…her family probably would have been alive.
“Maybe she moved on,” Remi says, “and he can’t stand it, so he resurrected and created another nightmare.” A beat passes. “He hates us, though, for what we’ve done all these years ago.”
Unbeknown to us, we connected our destinies on that night that changed everything, and in this he aimed his hatred at us because we managed to do the unthinkable.
Frame him for a crime he didn’t commit, and it was a blow a psychopath like him couldn’t forgive.
So he retaliated in ways we never saw coming, and his cruelty even made us pause.
Santiago clicks his tongue. “Except he murdered everyone. He'd leave a victim behind if he sought the same high.” He drills his stare on me. “If you knew all this, why didn’t you share it with us?” At his question, Remi’s and Florian’s heads swing in my direction as well. “Thirteen years ago, we made an agreement regarding him. You keep all the tabs and have access to the classified information, including the girl's name. And in exchange, you let us know if shit hits the fan so we can be prepared.” Anger crosses his face, and the tension rises in the air while I stand straight. “So why did you want to hide it?”
“Because the consequences of that night should always be mine to bear.” He opens his mouth, but my splayed palm stops him. “He’s dangerous and hungry for suffering. His hate is unlike anything we’ve faced before. We all have individual conflicts with certain people.” I shoot my gaze at Remi, who rolls his eyes, clearly not giving a fuck about how much trouble his constant back and forth with Lachlan caused us. Because he got obsessed with a woman he shouldn’t have. “However, we never dealt with someone who hates us all equally and wishes to see our downfall.”
“Exactamente. Por qué crees que es solo tu responsabilidad?” Annoyance coats his tone, and somehow, this sparks my temper which has been on edge all this time.
How can they not understand fucking why?
“I think it’s my solo responsibility because if it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened,” I spit, and now fury cracks through the tension. “So he’s my problem. You don’t have to get involved.”
“You do not make such decisions for us.” Santiago lifts his hand, his sapphire ring glistening as he taps on it. “We follow the rules and vows we’ve made on the day we put them on. We always vote.”
We operate with unity, creating a powerful front nothing can break, and in this, everyone stays away from us.
This means any small thing can shake the unity and bring the downfall to all four involved—one of the reasons we’ve agreed to vote on decisions.
If a vote is not in someone’s favor, it means one of the four is on his own and deals with his situation separately, never endangering anyone else.
“I have nothing to lose compared to all of you.” Disbelief is written all over their features. “I cannot endanger your families this way.”
“You’re a part of our family,” Florian replies harshly, and I exhale heavily because arguing with him over this is pointless. “And you have Estella.”
