Page 79 of Acceptance
Counting them, he shakes his head. “There are fourteen souvenirs.”
“They’ll never find the first bodies. it gets boring when no one starts searching,” the man says from the ground. “Trust me, this will never stick. You’ll never be able to pin any of this on me.”
This feels too easy. Aside from stabbing Undertaker, he didn’t even fight to get away. He should have at least tried to run.
“I want them,” Undertaker tells Grayson. “The dog tags.”
He nods. “I’ll make sure you get them.”
“This isn’t right.”
“What do you mean?”
“All of this… It feels staged. He had time to run, and I’m pretty sure someone did.”
Sighing, Grayson shakes his head. “I know it probably feels that way, but he’s not quite as smart as we all thought he was. He just knew how to pick people who could fly under the radar.”
No, that’s not it. But if he’s not the one who did this, or theonlyone, then who got away?
“Do you think this stuff is enough to identify his other victims?” Venom asks Grayson, joining them as Colt and TK try to help the woman who has since stopped screaming.
“I hope so. If not, the DA will probably make him a deal. No needle in return for giving up their identities,” Grayson says.
“Please, I don’t want to die,” the woman cries. “Don’t let me die.”
Did Nina know she was going to die? Is that why she asked for me when she talked to Marnie?
Thinking Nina knew she was about to lose her life unsettles Undertaker. If she knew, why didn’t she tell Marnie to call the cops instead? She didn’t need Undertaker to save herself. She didn’t have to end up a victim.
Flashing lights appear through the gaps in the boarded-up window, and Undertaker almost laughs. Who would think a bunch of bikers would call the authorities rather than run as fast as they could from them?
“Fucking media’s outside, too,” Brock says.
“I got it,” Colt says after the EMTs rush inside to tend to the woman. “Undertaker, you good? Do you need to go get stitched up?”
He shakes his head and follows him outside. “I’ll take care of it back at the clubhouse.”
Cameras and reporters stand on the edge of the scene as the cops try to push them back, and Colt smirks at the two men who show up in plain clothes.
“What happened here?” a reporter asks as one of the uniformed cops approaches the men.
“Has the De-Identifier been caught?” asks another.
“No comment,” the older of the two men says as he stares at Colt.
Instead of walking away, Colt shoots them a look of defiance. “I have a comment.”
“This is an on-going case, and we can’t discuss—”
“I don’t fucking work for you, Julian. Even if Travis tried to lure us in to do your job for you. Again.” Colt turns towards the cameras, not seeming to care he’s covered in blood. “Julian Black will try to spin this and say trash attracts trash, but the truth is, the Deranged Drifters were able to identify and apprehend the man we believe is the killer terrorizing our town while the cops sat with their thumbs up their asses.”
All cameras and lights turn towards Colt, and Undertaker wonders if pissing off the big wigs in the department is the best idea he’s ever had. Not that he’s going to question him now.
“The GBPD is full of incompetent figureheads who needed someone else to step in to pick up their slack. Julian Black had his best officer fired, and because of that and his ineptitude, there are fourteen murders that didn’t need to happen.”
“Are you the ones to thank for apprehending him?”
Colt shakes his head and points to Grayson as he talks to Alex McKenzie. “Grayson Tate became a private investigator as a result of Julian’s poor decisions. We couldn’t have done this without him, and because of his help, the last victim was found alive and is being brought to the hospital where she hopefully will stay out of the morgue.”
