Page 60 of Devil's Work: Dark

“Brother?” I say as myhello. “Everything okay?” Reap knows I’ve got an injured woman. He wouldn’t be calling for shits and giggles.

“No. We need you now.”

“What? Where? Fuck, what’s going on?”

“Jayleen. She’s—fuck—she’s dead,” he says.

I expected a hundred things for him to tell me about Jayleen. That wasn’t on the list.

“Shit, fuck—what happened?”

“Bible Belt Killer.”

My entire body draws tight. I stop dead in my tracks. “Are you shitting me? Tell me you’re shitting me.”

“I wish I were, man. Vlad’s ordered all the lieutenants down to the crime scene. We’re not allowed in close, but this new guy in charge, Jamison, knows she belongs to us and that we’ve been helping with FBI investigations, so he’s sharing what he can.”

“Rae. The kids. I can’t leave ’em alone. She was attacked yesterday.”

“Got Winky on the way down.”

Reaper gives me the lowdown, where we’re supposed to meet. Not five minutes after, there’s a knock on the door. I scribble a note for Rae and tape it where she’ll for sure see it, then I take off, but not before giving Winky a warning.

“This is my family. Anything—anything—happens to one of them and I’m talking a sliver or hangnail, I’ll end you and I’ll make it painful.”

“They’ll be fine,” he answers quickly. I trust the kid. He’s watched over Rae before, but they mean even more to me now than they did then and if I admit it to myself, they meant a lot then.

The moment my ass hits my bike, I push all thoughts of Rae and the kids out of my head. Jayleen’s body was discovered inside her car, parked in the lot outside her apartment complex by a couple of women who were leaving a party.

She lived in Middleboro. It takes me maybe forty minutes to find the place. The sky is lit up like a beacon with flashing red and blue lights. People from town stand on the sidewalk off the property while those who live in the complex mill about, trying to get a good look.

I meet Vlad and Detective Jamison, a younger guy with visible tattoos where his sleeves are rolled up. One is of a Harley, so I know he’s not a complete asshole. The dick is going to allow me to see her without getting too close. They must really want the help if they’re letting us closer to the crime scene. They haven’t even removed her body yet. I throw my hand over my mouth. I’ve seen shit in my life, but never anything this bad. She’s been mutilated. RealJack the Rippershit. Tits gone. Pussy sliced to hell.Sinnercarved into her forehead, and her throat was slit.

This is…Fuck. I can’t believe it. I never loved her, but I liked her well enough. Fucked her several times. The news never gives out this sort of information.

I ask Vlad, who has already talked to Jamison, “How do they know it’s the Bible Belt?” He furrows his brows at me. “I mean, this is messed up, but what IDs this attack as Bible Belt, aside from he’s been in Kentucky? We all know copycats crop up.”

“The mutilation. One woman was a little on the heavier side. He cut out her stomach and tore out her mouth.Sinnerwas found carved in her forehead, too.”

“So this is like seven deadly sins shit? That’s how he’s choosing his victims?”

“It appears so. He makes his way across the Bible Belt killing women who he sees as committing whatever sin is on his mind.”

“Or whoever fits,” Jamison cuts in.

Or whoever fucking fits. This is the last thing we need with men making their moves on Rae. On Dela. “This is so fucked up,” I say because there’s nothing else to say.

Vlad and I leave Jamison to get back to processing his crime scene to walk over to the rest of our Horde lieutenants surrounding Sarge. He’s on a conference call with the rest of his old Raiders team, and Jack Dunham, who’s still here writing his story about us.

“How’s your woman faring?” Jack asks. “Heard she was attacked.”

“Yeah. She’s okay. Concussion. Got her home now.”

“You think about bringing her up to the compound? Might be easier to keep her safe.”

“Got the kids. Clubhouse is no place for them,” I reply and sigh, shaking my head at myself. I already feel like their parent. Protective. It crept up on me before I had the chance to fight it off.

“Can’t she hang out with Nic and Greer?” he asks.

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