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“I hurt myself.” She takes another step forward, stopping only when I wrap my hand around her arm.
I can’t tug her back and not risk toppling her to her ass, so I step forward too and glance up in time to catch Ethan’s furious stare.
“I hurt my knee.” Minka carefully shakes my hand off and pulls Ethan’s worshipping gaze up to hers. “But it’s nothing, really. Are you…” She takes another step forward. “What’s going on here?”
“I didn’t like that you shouted at me, Doctor Mayet.” He slowly drags the needle from Kernicke’s neck so it’s no longer nestled inside. A ball of blood races through the puncture wound and dribbles along the older man’s skin, stopping only when it absorbs into his sweat-soaked collar. “I was bringing you a gift, and you made me look like a fool.”
“I know.” Another step forward. My lips curl back when she places herself in no man’s land. “I know I shouted at you, and I’m sorry. I’ve been stressed in my new job, and this new case we were running scared me.”
“Scared you?” His voice quivers. “I scared you?”
“I mean…” Another step, but this time, she overshoots her landing and wobbles on her bad knee.
“Minka!” Ethan tries to rush forward, to save his heroine and become the knight in shining armor, but his position behind Kernicke stops that. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.” Her breath comes faster. Her hand, up to swipe her brow. “I’m fine. But this case,” she looks up and meets his eyes, “yourcase. It scared me. Because women were being hurt. And I’m a woman in a new city. It could have been me.”
“Never you,” he breathes. “I want to protect you.”
“Is that why you hurt Miranda?”
“She’s a bitch.”
“Yes.” Minka actually sniggers. But while she does, she moves closer so only four feet separate her and a killer. “She’s pretty nasty. I’m so glad you protected me from her vitriol.”
“Doctor Mayet.” I come a step closer when she gets too near him. “Back up.”
“Don’t tell her what to do!” Ethan screams. The pitch of his voice, the break in his tone, sends bolts of electricity into my eardrums. “You don’t deserve her! You don’t get to be near her.”
“Ethan.” Minka steps forward and places herself between me and him. “I like that you stood up for me with Miranda. And I like that you wanted to impress me at work. But I don’t like that you killed those other women.”
“They said bad things about you.”
“They—” Horrified, Minka falls back a step. “They said bad things about me, so you killed them? I didn’t even know them.”
“Kiera said you were datinghim.” His stare comes to me and flames with rage. “And Kylie said nasty, nasty things about you, and…” Again, his gaze flickers to me. “She said you… and he… so my mom told me to…”
“I don’t even know Kylie. I’ve never met her before.”
“That makes it worse,” Ethan barks. “She was telling rumors about you.”
“But you still can’t kill people, Ethan. You can’t—”
“We could be together.” Using all his strength, he pushes Kernicke forward a step. “You and me. And this house is all mine now, so we could—”
“No,” she murmurs. “We couldn’t. We can’t.”
“We could be together!” His voice grows shorter. Angrier. “We can work together like we do. Like a crime-fighting team who helps the city.”
“Ethan—”
“We could be heroes,” he presses. His eyes growing more intense, his stare so funneled and focused, I doubt he sees anyone but her.
Behind me, Aubree comes closer and wrings her hands. But she doesn’t intervene the way Minka does.
“Don’t you want to be a hero, Doctor Mayet? Isn’t that why you’re who you are?”
“I want to help people, Ethan. I want to—” Her face pales, and though her hands wrap around the handles of her crutches, they shake. “I want to help people. But not by killing others.”
