35. TWISTED GAMES

35

TWISTED GAMES

YARA

I slept so much better last night, all thanks to Ryden and our little rendezvous in the elevator. The next morning, I was humming when I entered Hot Cuppa. “Here’s your usual, Doc.” Smiling, Miranda slid my cup of coffee to me as soon as I reached her. “Want anything else?”

“That scone looks delicious. I’ll take two,” I said, rubbing my hands together.

“Want dark chocolate to go on top of it?” she asked, knowing very well how much I liked dark chocolate with everything I ate.

I nodded, sliding my card to her. “Thanks, Miranda. You’re a godsend. Make it to go,” I said, and she giggled as she placed my scones in a box, before squeezing dark chocolate on top of the already delicious dessert.

“There’s nothing like too many books or too much chocolate, Doc,” she said with a contagious laugh.

“You know it.”

“Have a nice day. You already look like you’re having one.” Her smile was knowing.

“Maybe,” I said with a wink. “Have a great day, Miranda. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I walked to my car and opened the door, still whistling. My whistle stopped when my phone vibrated with a new message.

TS: I enjoyed our little chat the other day. I will be sending you gifts for your birthday. I hope you’ll enjoy them, Yara.

My smile died.

Me: Tell me who you are.

TS: Do you think I am an idiot, Yara?

Me: You’re the one who wanted to play a game. It’s no fun when you’re hiding like a coward.

There was no reply.

“Did you find anything, Chen, on the number I sent you?” I asked as I walked into the computer lab filled with beeping monitors and massive CPUs. Senior Digital Forensic Analyst Anna Chen was one of the best in the field.

Chen shook her head. “The number is a burner phone, Doctor West,” she said, giving me an apologetic smile. I already knew it was.

“I did find something. I triangulated the signal when the message was sent and found the location,” Chen slid a paper toward me. “It’s Palmer Hills, Doctor West. You live there, don’t you?” She looked worried.

Sighing, I nodded. “Yes.”

“Are you going to the cops with this?”

I only told her that I received an anonymous threatening text. I didn’t say anything more about it. “Not yet. I think it’s just a prank.”

“I understand, Doctor, but if you receive another message…”

“I’ll report it to the authorities immediately.”

With a goodbye to Anna, I walked out of the Cybercrime unit. I was leaving the DPD when I saw Ryden walking out of the elevator, looking angry and agitated. When he saw me, he stopped.

His breath hitched, his pupils dilated, and then his lips pulled up in a smile that stopped my breath.

“Doctor West,” he said as he ambled toward me. Nervousness pinged inside me like multiple ping-pong balls when he reached me. I had no idea why the fuck I was nervous. “You look magnificent. You always look magnificent.”

“Thank you, Ryden.”

“Ah, so polite. You weren’t polite when you ordered me to my knees.”

The wickedness shining in his eyes made me want to drag him to some place private and then take him. He took another step closer until we were almost touching nose to nose.

“I wish we were alone.” His eyes twinkled as he grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a wall. “We’re alone now.”

“And? What are you going to do?”

“This,” he breathed out before he softly pressed his hand against my throat, and every ounce of worry and all my thoughts were replaced by only one thing now—hunger. I didn’t understand this unexplainable hold he had on me, and it unsettled me, but here it was.

My breath hitched, and his heart raced. His eyes were on mine, seeking permission, and when he knew I would always say yes to him, he slammed his lips against mine in a kiss that was searing, sending shock waves straight to my pussy.

“I wanted to do this for hours, Yara.”

“You could have. You knew where to find me,” I said.

“I was busy with a story, but I wanted to—I wanted to come and take you. I wanted to touch you and taste you again, just to make myself believe you did taste heavenly.”

“I do taste heavenly,” I teased, and he shook his head before bending toward my lips again and his kiss this time was wilder, harder, almost painful.

I moaned as his hands found my breast, softer, completely in contrast to his lips.

I touched him over his pants, and he grunted. “Yara. If you touch me here, we’ll both spend some time in jail for indecent exposure and public lewdness. To be honest, I don’t mind, but I don’t want you to be in a jail cell.”

I laughed, pulling away from him. “Yes, another day,” I said as we walked out of the building, both of us wearing a satisfied smile on our faces.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, looking up at him, and it didn’t take long for the smile on his face to fall. “If you don’t want to tell…”

“Detective Rosario said that he’ll arrest me for harassment if I go near him again,” Ryden said with a forced smile, shaking his head.

“Why are you harassing him? Is this about Victor again?” Frowning, I looked at him, trying to understand his unreasonable obsession with Victor.

I had run background checks on him and did a thorough investigation before I killed him. I didn’t find anything that would remotely connect Victor with Ryden.

“No,” Ryden said with a frown. “This is about another case.” His eyes were pensive as he stared into the distance, and I saw the darkness thickening around him like a veil. He was very much the man I saw that first night when he was killing Phil.

“Tell me,” I whispered, caressing the back of his hand with a finger.

“Nikki Singh,” he said in a voice broken by pain, and at that moment, it hit me like a bucket full of rocks.

The pain was real. The anguish in his eyes spoke volumes. He wasn’t another psychopath looking to feed his demons; he wasn’t like me. There was genuine concern in him. I, on the other hand, rarely felt that connection. Sure, the senseless loss of life angered me, and the absolute cruelty of some people infuriated me, but truly caring? Like him?

I don’t know.

Katelyn’s death was the last thing that affected me. Everything else was just another body, just another puzzle to solve.

The monsters I killed were just a means to an end. They were offerings and sacrifices to satisfy my demons. It was clear that Ryden didn’t think of it the same way. I understood why this— whatever the hell this was between us—was a wrong idea. Yet, I was already too far gone to turn back now.

I closed my eyes for a second, pushing away the random thoughts and concentrating only on Nikki Singh.

I remembered every dead person that had ever come to my table.

“Eighteen years old. From India. Hanged, but it wasn’t the cause of death. The ligature mark on her neck was different from the impression of the rope on her skin. I ruled out suicide, of course. She was strangled and then hung. Hyoid bone fracture indicated the killer was pushed by rage. There were petechial hemorrhages and abrasions along her arms, closer to her stomach. Scars on her body and broken bones indicated that she went through severe physical abuse, but I also found defensive wounds. The rape kit came back negative, but we found traces of dried semen in her clothing, and along her thighs. He tried to rape her, but Nikki was a fighter.”

Ryden didn’t say a word as he watched me, his eyes wide with wonder. “You’re so fucking amazing.”

I smiled a little, feeling proud. Praise never affected me. I didn’t care what a man thought about me, until Ryden Sinclair. God, he was messing me up. “It’s my job.”

“It’s more than a job, isn’t it?” he said softly. “You care.”

He was wrong, but I didn’t tell him that.

“The case is still open, isn’t it? So, what about Nikki Singh?” I asked Ryden.

“I think she was murdered by the same one who killed Sofia Martínez.”

“Sofia Martínez?” I asked, wondering why I did not know this girl. “Is it when Doctor Mikael was still here?”

“No. She was killed seven months ago. Three months before Nikki was murdered.”

“I was on personal leave. Doctor Tobias did the autopsy, I think. He’s… good, but he isn’t me.”

“What? He isn’t humble like you, Doctor West?” The teasing glint in his eyes made me shake my head. When he laughed, truly laughed, there were lines at the side of his eyes that made me want to lean closer and count them.

“So, you think it’s the same person who killed Sofia and Nikki?” I asked, suddenly curious.

I knew why I didn’t know Sofia and where I was. I was hunting the fucker who killed my best friend. The Strangler. I had chased him from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Cincinnati, Ohio. I had gotten very close, so fucking close, building a perfect trap, and then he slipped away from me, once again, into the fucking air. It was as if he knew I was there waiting for him. Perhaps he did.

“My instinct tells me so,” Ryden said, rubbing a finger against his stubble, looking frustrated.

“Science is not instinct.”

“I know, I know, Doctor West, but when you do what I do, chasing criminals for years, you’d know that this is not random. He chose both the girls for some reason.”

“The connection?” I asked as we reached my car. Ryden leaned against it, crossing his arms, looking very comfortable.

“Where were you hiding? Sofia’s case was popular. But the connection, I think, is a tattoo.”

“Are you sure? If the DPD had found the tattoos, they wouldn’t have stopped looking.”

“Sofia’s tattoo was… messed up, but I’m 95% sure it’s the same tattoo.”

“The remaining five percent?”

“Well, I could be wrong. I wasn’t stupid enough to not admit that.”

“I can take a look at Sofia’s report if you want,” I said.

His eyes perked up as if I had just offered myself to him on a silver platter. Well, I had done that a few times, and he hadn’t looked this excited then.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” he whispered.

“You can kiss me again and buy me dinner when you’re free?” I said with a smile, opening my car door. Before I could enter, he caught me by my arm, whirling me around until I was pressed up against the car. He kissed me until my legs became liquid. When he pulled away, I was leaning against him, my body seeking the support of his.

“I’ll always be free for you.”

That was… not something he should say to me.

“Do you want to come with me to the office? I’m free now, and we can take a look at both their reports.”

“You’ll do that for me?”

“As long as the girls get justice… I’ll do it. But Ryden, this has to be unofficial. If Detective Rosario knows, he will…”

“I know. It’ll be our little secret.”