Chapter 13: Chapter 13

FBI agent Sally Roux was disgusted at the scene before her. She had almost stepped in some kid’s vomit and now she was looking at a bloody corpse. This was the fourth victim. All of them had been women and all were found in the homes of families who were out of town and lived outside of the city.

“Now what kind of sick bastard skins the face off of his victim? You think he has a skull fetish?”

Sally turned her head to the familiar voice and asked, “What the hell are you doing here detective? Do I need to speak with your superior?”

Jerry Gonzales grinned and shook his head, “Now why would I want that? I just thought I’d stop by and let you know that a woman’s vehicle was vandalized tonight.”

Sally faced Jerry, “And you’re telling me this because?”

Jerry smiled at her. He knew he finally had her attention, “Because…it might be the handiwork of the same guy who did this.” He tilted his head to the dead woman on the bed and handed her a picture of Eva’s vandalized car.

It irritated her to say it, but she thanked him, “Thank you detective.  I’ll look into it.” She was about to speak with a forensics guy when she turned around, “Oh Detective Gonzales?”

Jerry grinned, “Yeah?”

Her voice didn’t match the sweet smile that she gave him, “Get the hell out of here.”

~AT THE HOME OF EVA LEWIS~

Detective David Wilson still couldn’t believe what the other officer had told him.

“It’s blood.”

David hesitated to tell Eva that the words on her car weren’t written in red paint like she thought they were. He didn’t want to scare her. He had told her it was some kind of prank but tonight’s incident plus the flower crown a few days earlier made him wonder if someone was really out to harm Eva.

“So are you sure that McDaniels guy didn’t vandalize your car? How well do you know him?” he asked her.

Eva sighed, “Not well at all. I don’t think he did it but I could be wrong.”

They approached her house. David got out of his car and began walking her to her door. He suggested that he go in and look around the house, “And before you go there, that’s not some pick up line. I just want to make sure that you’re okay and that everything is safe inside. Is Joelynn here?”

Eva shook her head, “She told me she was spending the night at her friend Jacob’s house.”

David nodded. They stood in front of her door. Eva was so tired from the last few days’ events that she didn’t even have the energy to unlock her door.

“Are you okay?” David wrapped his hands around both of her shoulders. He felt like he had been asking her that a lot lately.

She shrugged, “I guess I’m just a little rattled.”

“One of the officers told me you had an intruder at your house last night,” David gave her shoulders a light squeeze, “Do you mind telling me what happened?”

Eva shook her head, “It wasn’t an intruder. I had an unexpected guest stop by that’s all.”

“Who was it?” he asked quickly causing Eva to laugh. David realized his mistake and a corner of his mouth lifted in chagrin, “Sorry. That’s none of my business. It’s just that…you know I worry about you.”

“I know,” Eva said softly. She smiled, “You know Joelynn said the funniest thing to me the other day.”

“What did she say?”

Eva scrunched her nose, “That we should date.”

“How is that funny?”

“David, you don’t do relationships,” Eva reminded him.

David released Eva and took a step back, “How do you know what I do or don’t do?”

Eva felt the atmosphere around them change. It seemed colder. “I’m sorry David. I just thought-“

“Yeah I know. You thought that I just liked to sleep around. I get it. I’ll just look around and then be out of your hair, okay?”

“David,” Eva was shocked by his sudden anger.

“What?”

“Why are you so mad all of a sudden?”

David sighed, “I’m…I’m not mad. I’m just irritated.”

“Because of what I said?”

David looked away, “I get that the guys at the station think I’m some kind of womanizer but contrary to popular belief…I don’t just jump into the sack with anyone that asks. I have feelings too.”

Eva giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

She stepped closer to him, “You are. I always pictured you as this strong ladies’ man but really you’re just a sensitive guy, aren’t you?”

“No. You must be thinking of Gonzales.”

Eva laughed at David’s joke, “Yeah right. Detective Gonzales doesn’t have a sensitive bone in his body. You’re different David. I’ve always thought of you as my friend. My sweet friend.”

David frowned, “Just a friend?”

There was a moment of silence between them and Eva looked up into David’s face and felt intense gratitude to this man. She never seriously considered him a possibility because of the rumors that surrounded him but perhaps David wasn’t as promiscuous as she had originally believed. Didn’t he just hint that he wanted to be more than a friend to her? She had always been secretly attracted to him. Should she finally act on that attraction? To her, David was a sea of unknown possibilities and she wasn’t sure if she should dive in. A cyclone of emotions swirled within her and she could feel her pulse quickening. “Thank you for being there for me tonight David. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

He lifted his right hand and caressed her cheek, “Eva I’ll always be there for you. You know that, right?”

She nodded as his thumb was stroking her bottom lip. His touch sent a shot of desire through her. Eva closed her eyes and decided to dive in.

“David?”

“Yeah?”

“After everything we just talked about, it’s okay if you say no…but,” Eva paused and opened her eyes. She wanted to look him in the eye before she asked, “Do you want to spend the night?”

David stopped stroking her lip. He leaned down and let his mouth barely touch the corner of her lips before whispering, “What do you think?”

~IN HIS CAR~

Tom McDaniels watched Eva and that detective on her front porch. Tonight had been full of surprises. Earlier that day Tom had left a message for his secretary Stella, letting her know that he wasn’t going to be in. He had been so preoccupied with everything going on in his personal life that he was neglecting his work. He had asked the VP of operations to take over for him while he took a leave of absence.

Tom knew it wasn’t fair to his VP but he hired capable people for a reason.  He had decided to ask Eva for help again but she hadn’t been home, that’s when he found himself in front of her place of work. As soon as she had walked out of the building, he followed her but she wanted nothing to do with him. Maybe he should’ve approached her differently.  Tom had been shocked to see the writing on her car. Eva took it in stride so she must’ve been used to being harassed by her readers. He didn’t know how anyone could remain so calm about the situation, but Eva only seemed a little shaken. It was another reason he thought she should be the one to help him with the Demon King.

Tom watched as Eva and the detective kissed before she unlocked the door. Before going inside, the detective looked behind him and glanced up and down the street. Tom could’ve sworn that he looked straight at him and smirked before joining Eva inside her house.

~MEANWHILE~

Detective Sally Roux was sitting in her apartment after coming back from the Demon King’s crime scene.  She hoped it wouldn’t show up in her dreams tonight. Her heart ached for the family of the victim. They would be devastated to learn how she died. Sally poured herself a glass of red wine and stared down at the pictures of the four women that had been victims of the Demon King. They had to have been connected in some way because their body types and physical appearances were very different from one another. Hell, maybe that’s why he chose them.  By tomorrow, they should know the identity of the fourth victim. Maybe then it would all make sense. She had talked to the officer in charge of the vandalized car. They were going to run a DNA test on the blood that was found on the vehicle. Hopefully, that would get her a step closer to the monster that was murdering women. Sally took the final sip from her wineglass and put it down. Tomorrow she would have answers. Until then, she just had to wait.

~AT JACOB’S HOUSE~

“What? You signed up on a dating site?” Jacob was painting Joelynn’s nails a bright red color called Killer Crimson.

Joelynn laughed, “Yes and they had an app which I downloaded on my phone.”

Jacob was shocked, “You’re too pretty to use a dating site but good for you. You need to get laid.”

“Ja-cob!” Joelynn stressed each syllable in his name before laughing. The two were on his bed as he was giving her a manicure.

“What? How long has it been? Weeks? Months? Years?” Jacob was laughing.

Joelynn rolled her eyes, “Yeah Jacob, I’m practically a virgin again. It’s been months, remember?”

“Sorry,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t recall meeting your last boyfriend. You never even showed me a picture.”

Joleynn stuck her tongue out at him, “It’s just as well. He dumped me.”

“His loss. So did you get any bites?” he wriggled his eyebrows up and down.

“Bites?”

Jacob sighed, “Dios Mio…did any men want to date you?”

Joelynn laughed, “As a matter of fact, yes. One guy did seem interested but I don’t think I’m going to follow up. Online dating just seems weird.”

“Was he cute?” Leave it to Jacob to care about a guy’s looks.

“I don’t know his picture was of him skiing so I couldn’t tell.”

Jacob grinned, “That means he’s athletic…which means he probably has a nice body. I say go for it.”

“Nah I want to meet a guy the old fashioned way.” Joelynn had to use the bathroom. “Jacob don’t get mad but I have to pee.” She quickly got up before Jacob could stop her. He didn’t like to be interrupted when he was doing her nails. As she ran to the bathroom she shouted, “Sorry.”

Jacob laughed and glanced at her phone which was on the bed. He quickly grabbed it. “I’m doing this for you mi amiga,” he said. Jacob pulled up the dating app Joelynn had registered for and accessed the message from the skiing guy.

He read the message, “Hi. I think you’re cute. Let’s chat.”

Jacob smirked as he typed, “Did you want to talk online or in person?”