Page 78 of Insidious Heart
I sing and chuckle to myself as I saw along the slit in his throat, my movements relaxed and precise even when I hit Salinski’s spine, and just when I grab the sides of his head to make sure it comes off clean, my AirPod starts ringing while Siri tells me Pope is calling.
“Mouth or ear?” I ask a beat after I tell her to answer.
“What?” Pope grunts, already very annoyed.
I grin as I lift Anthony’s head and look into his lidless eyes. “Mouth or ear, you walking blasphemy. It’s a pressing question that I need answered.”
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“Getting ready for the next time I see you and I want to know which you’d prefer to have my dick inserted in first.”
Pope huffs out a few choice words before asking, “Where are you right now?”
“Birch Creek.” I hold Sack-linski’s head with one hand then make his mouth move with the other. “Had I known you’d be hitting me up for a late night booty call, I would have stayed in Sabine Woods until—”
“We got a body so cut the shit.”
With a wet thud, I drop the severed head and straighten up, my senses back on high alert. “Where?”
“Behind the laundromat in Rolling Meadows. Edge of the tree line by—”
“The streetlight.” I nod to myself as I get to my feet, pulling the industrial bleach from my bag as I go. “Obvious but discreet.”
“Yeah.” Pope grunts again. “New patches got it protected for now but the sun is coming up soon. How fast can you get there?”
“You aren’t there yet?” Because it just occurred to me there’s only one laundromat in Rolling Meadows and it’s not actually meant for laundering clothes. It’s Demon Seeds’ territory and it’s used to clean dirty money, which also means it’s a hell of a lot closer to Stevie’s place than I’d like for it to be, and I’d feel much better if the unholy fucker was already on scene. Not that he or anyone else knows what I’m doing with my sweet little dove, but if that back lot was secured, I could rest easy knowing that at least. “Where are you?”
His eye roll is audible. “On the way. Chop, too. Call just came in and we’re moving as fast as we can.”
“Good.” Another nod as I start dousing Anthony in bleach. “I’m gonna be maybe a…” I glance around the bathroom then out into the bedroom.Fucking Sack-linski. “Maybe a half hour. I’m in the middle of something I have to finish but it shouldn’t take me too long to wrap it up.”
Hopefully.Because not only do I need to do what I usually do in here, I now have to search for bullet casings, clean and replace the gun, clean the floor where I bashed this chump’s head in, and make sure to get rid of any evidence of a struggle out there.
“Well hurry the fuck up. We aren’t that far out from sunrise and if you want to walk the scene before the cops find out there’s a body back there, I’d suggest youfinish upas fast as possible.”
Pope hangs up before I can respond and I glare down at my latest mark.
FuckingAnthony.
If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him just for complicating the fuck out of my night.
* * *
I whipmy car into the parking lot a few buildings away from the laundromat, all but fall out the door and barely remember to lock it becausehuman femur in my duffel bagas I start running toward The Ripper’s latest victim.
It wasn’t until I cleaned Salinski’s entire bedroom and bathroom, then positioned him accordingly amidst all of his bullshit in record time that the slim possibility this body could be my sweet little dove crossed my mind, and the absolute panic that created took hold.
Establishing that Stevie fits the victim profile was unsettling at best, but the more I thought about it, the more I dug into each of the women and their histories. I found more similarities between them and my baby dove, and it actually made me grateful she’s on such a short leash.
She wasn’t tonight, though.
Not completely.
Beau got so shitfaced at The Dollhouse that by the time he fought Marbles and had to leave I doubt the bastard had any idea his daughter was with him. And clearly she wasn’t being watched as closely as she usually is; otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be scolded by her before making her come all over my fingers.
If I’m lucky, Calvin took her home and put more morons on the house while he went to clean up the DSMC president, but I can’t be sure of that.
I can’t be sure of any-fucking-thing at this moment because I have no way of contacting Stevie and my only proof that she’s unharmed will come in the form of making a positive ID or not when I get to this damn body.
