AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s why I say it.” He starts to get out and I yank him back.
“Stay here. I’ll be five minutes.”
I jog inside and the music and the stench of liquor hit me like a riot.
I stop the first waitress I see and ask if Scarlett is working this evening.
“Scarlett doesn’t work here anymore,” she says as the smile glides off her face. “She missed three sets. It’s three strikes and you’re out. But don’t worry, honey”—she glides her finger over my cheek—“we’ve got lots of beautiful women here who would love to take care of the needs of a man like you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say as I head out and jump back in my truck. “She’s not there anymore,” I say to myself, stumped, but Jet is too busy scrolling through his phone to notice.
That conversation with Scarlett plays out in my mind once again. The guy with the red hood must be pretty important if he doesn’t want anyone to know who he is.
I nod as the pieces to the puzzle begin to fall into place.
I pull out my phone and scan through the plethora of material Fallon shot to Nikki and me, specifically the file from the Quantum Success program. I studied it as if it were my new Bible last night, and something struck me and I didn’t know why. I scroll through pages and pages until I find it.
Get ready to shed the shackles from your past. You stand at the event horizon of a transformative new beginning.
“Huh.” I stare at my phone in a daze.
I know why those bodies weren’t buried.
I know why they were circling Ironwood Springs like a calling card.
And I sure as hell know why the sheriff’s department hasn’t budged an inch on any of it.
Hale said that monsters like this prefer to leave their signature, as if their demented behavior is their pride and joy. I pull up the photo of that insignia branded onto the victims and I know exactly what I’m looking at.
His initials. One letter pointing the right way, one sits backwards.
Scarlett was right. The man in the red hood is pretty important.
My eyes dart to the entry of the seedy club before me. The other night at the diner, Fallon mentioned that we had spoken to Scarlett.
Ice runs through my veins.
I have a dark feeling I know why she missed her last three sets.
Then it hits me. It’s Saturday night. There’s a big hoorah down in Paradise.
Fallon’s truck was missing.
I shoot a look out the window.
She couldn’t be. Would she?
Why wouldn’t she tell me?
Then again, I have a feeling she doesn’t tell me a lot of things.
I call Hale and he picks up on the first ring.
“What?” he snaps with all the enthusiasm as my brother.
“We need to get to Ironwood Springs asap. I’m about fifteen minutes away. I’ll meet you there. Call Nikki and send backup. I know who the killer is and he needs to be stopped right now.”
We hang up and Jet catches my eye.
