Page 11 of Devil Inside: Green

“I know you’re not stupid, but we had a party last night and you disappeared. I need to make sure you didn’t drink.”

“Fuck—of course, I didn’t drink. You got on me last night for trying. Is this what I have to look forward to? You busting my balls every damn day about drinking?”

Danni snorts. Like any of this is funny.

“It was your perpetual bender that got you into your mess to begin with. I’m just trying to keep you clean. How’d you get there?”

“Caught a ride with that chick Danni,” I reply, hoping that I sound casual.

“You fuck her?”

“Pretty sure no fucking isn’t one of the conditions of my parole,Dad. But no—I didn’t fuck her. I caught a ride, of the in-a-car variety.” And I glance over to see her with her hand pressed to her mouth to keep from cracking right the hell up. Jesus, I hate that she’s hearing this.

“Just make sure you keep your dick away from her. That bitch is messed up. She doesn’t need your mess confusing her more.” Then before I can think of a comeback, he adds, “See you when you get back.”

That won’t be for a while, Vlad.

If he doesn’t want me even fucking her, he’s going to hate this.

5

DANNI

Two things happen after we reach the outskirts of Oak Grove. I hate that we had to wait for this morning to get going rather than leave last night when the idea hit. Though I don’t know that it would’ve mattered once we’re forced to stop by the long line of traffic being kept back by police cruisers up ahead.

That’s the first of two things. A bad feeling hits my gut. “We need to find out what’s causing the backup,” I say while unclicking my seatbelt and throwing open my door.

“The fuck,” Green mutters, throwing off his seatbelt as well. I take off, walking up the grassy shoulder of the road, feeling him fall in step beside me. We walk past at least fifty cars, vans, SUVs, and even a couple of motorcycles, only to be stopped by yellow police tape and a police officer shouting, “Don’t come any closer.”

“Sorry,” I say in my best cheerleader voice. Green says I’m a cheerleader. I might as well use it to my advantage. “We’ve been driving for six hours. I need to pee something fierce, so we were wondering what the holdup is.”

The police officer eyes first me and then Green up and down. “Your best bet is to turn around and head back to the first crossroad you come to. Turn right. Follow that to the bigger intersection about a mile up. Turn right again. That will get you into the city from an alternate route.”

“Thank you.” Then I point to the area beyond him. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“It’s bad,” he agrees.

I call up tears. “Is it… Is it…” I suck in a breath. “Is it that Bible Belt Killer again?” I ask then let out a harsh sob.

The officer’s face goes soft. “I can’t tell you that right now. But I can tell you if itwerethe work of the Bible Belt Killer”—he emphasizes the wordwere—“I’d suggest sticking close to this guy. Because we’d have no way to know if he’s still in the area.”

Green pulls me into his arms, letting me press my face against his chest. I look up for only Green to see me and nod almost imperceptibly. He nods back with more movement so it appears he’s answering the officer.

“I won’t let her out of my sight,” Green says, and with his arm still slung around my shoulders, he turns us to walk back to my car.

And that’s the second thing. We know we’re too late. He already struck. Maybe last night, but it’s more probable that he kidnapped this woman a couple of days ago. The sick bastard likes to play with his victims before killing them. But he always leaves them close by where he abducted them from. I have to figure out how that works. Biting the inside of my mouth, I tap my finger on the steering wheel while scrolling through the information I’ve already put to memory. Where is he taking them before he kills them?

Dammit, I hate hitting these walls. I feel so useless and like I’m letting my mom down.

Okay, shake it off, Danni. I’m disheartened, but at the same time, I know my system for narrowing down his locations is working. That’s something.

“Let’s find a place to eat where we can spread the atlas out on the table to track his next moves,” I say right before cranking the ignition to life. Once Green’s buckled, I back up as far as I can then cut the wheel to pull what ends up being a four-point turn and head back up the road, following the directions the officer gave us. Oak Grove isn’t a large city by any means. Maybe eight thousand people. We may be able to suss out some gossip while we’re stopped. Do the locals have any ideas about the victim?

It sucks even thinking this, but the victim’s name isn’t of real importance to our mission. She was a person with a life that’s now gone. Stolen from her. But knowing who they think she is might help us figure out how he’s choosing his victims. Is it really just random bad luck or is there more to it that we haven’t figured out yet?

Once the FBI arrives, I’m sure they’ll start shutting down any gossip as best they can, which means we need to strike now. This is our window. We need to stop him from taking another life.

I turn into the lot of the first place I see that sounds good, a Chinese food establishment located in the middle of a strip mall, then I look to Green. “This okay?”

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