Page 2 of Some Saviors Can Break You

It was only nine-thirty, she’d drive around the city, checking random dumpsters, trying out some of the patterns she’d come up with to see if any of them played out, until midnight, then head home for a long, hot shower and a few hours sleep.

Not wanting to waste any more time in the dumpster than she had to, and seriously worried that her traitorous stomach might turn on her and have her throwing up the pizza she’d eaten for dinner, she hefted herself up and out of the dumpster,wishing not for the first time that she was taller than her five feet two so it wasn't so difficult.

Once she was back on the ground, she hurried a few steps away, wanting to put a bit of distance between herself and the atrocious stench while she bent down to pull off the booties she’d put on over her boots. Then she pulled off the gloves and the Tyvek suit. She’d bought a stash of both to use for dumpster diving so that if the killer had messed up—which sooner or later he would, they all did—no defense attorney could claim she had contaminated the scene.

She wore the protective outfit every time she went to check dumpsters—something she’d done a lot since they realized they were dealing with a serial killer. A couple of times she’d been spotted and had to pull out her badge to explain she wasn't a criminal disposing of evidence but a cop looking for evidence.

Today though, it was cold, and it had snowed earlier, and there weren't a lot of people about. The alley she was in was opposite a couple of large office buildings, the lights of which were all out as everyone had gone home hours ago.

Rolling up her used protective clothing, she tossed it into the very same dumpster she’d just checked then headed up the short alley to the street where she had parked her car. An icy wind had picked up, and it seemed to slice right through her jeans, sweater, and coat, making her skin break out in a mass of goosebumps as though she wasn't wearing any clothes at all.

She was just at the end of the alley when she noticed something white on the ground. Wondering what it was, Florence bent to pick it up, only to find that it was one of the gloves she’d just removed. It must have stuck to her clothing and not gotten rolled up and tossed away with everything else.

Annoyed that she’d have to backtrack to the dumpster, her stomach was already churning in protest, she was just aboutto straighten when the headlights of a car suddenly illuminated her.

An engine revved.

Tires squealed.

And Florence realized a moment too late that the car was coming straight for her.

9:36 P.M.

He paced his office feeling a little like a caged lion.

Someone had once likened him to a lion, an ex-girlfriend who wasn't happy that he’d broken things off. She’d accused him of being ruthless, powerful, accustomed to being top of the food chain, and then alternately lazy, letting the woman he was involved with do all the work in the relationship.

Was he ruthless?

He could be when the occasion called for it.

Powerful?

Yes. When you ran one of the world’s wealthiest real estate companies, you were used to people asking how high when you told them to jump.

Accustomed to getting his own way?

As the younger son of a wealthy and older couple, he had been spoiled rotten. His brother was the one being groomed to take over the business, he hadn't had that pressure to live up to, and had relished the role of carefree kid who had the world at his fingertips.

Was he lazy when it came to relationships?

No.

Well, not really.

He wouldn’t call it lazy, he’d call it bored.

As a rich, powerful, sexy, charming—with a healthy ego—thirty-year-old man, he had women falling at his feet. He liked women—liked sex more—but he was growing tired of women who were only interested in him because of his wealth and what they could imagine themselves doing with it.

Eli Lennox had found himself wanting more out of life.

His older brother had died almost a decade ago, ending his carefree years because as the only other child of Owen and Geraldine Lennox, he was now heir to Lennox Real Estate. Without the heart to rebel against the changes in his life, because he knew his parents’ hearts were already breaking as they struggled to deal with the sudden loss, he had worked hard in college, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard, and worked at his father’s side as he learned to manage a multi-billion dollar business that reached to the four corners of the globe.

Then eighteen months ago his world had tilted on its axis once again.

His mother—his beautiful, sweet, kind, selfless mother—had lost her four year battle to stomach cancer and passed away. While he was relieved she was no longer suffering, the loss had hit him hard, especially as he watched his powerful, strong father wither away as grief ate at him piece by piece.

Three months ago he’d lost his father, and alone in the world, he’d realized that he wanted more.

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