Page 70 of Psycho
“Ten thirty. You?” Lucas asked, leaning in to trail kisses along August’s scruffy jaw.
“Not until one, but I have mentor meetings with my grad students starting at eleven.”
“Good, you have time to feed me,” Lucas said, catching August’s mouth in a lazy kiss.
“You keep kissing me like that and we’re not going to have time for anything but me throwing you on this bed and feeding you my dick.”
Lucas pulled back to look at him, startled by August’s words. They both burst out laughing. “I need coffee and a chocolate chip muffin the size of my face.”
August stood, pulling Lucas up with him. “You just want to stop and check on Cricket, don’t you?”
Lucas smiled. “Part of me hopes she isn’t there. She seemed pretty determined to not come back. But I’d also like to make sure there’s no souped up cars still parked outside my apartment. It worries me that they didn’t follow me to your place.”
“If I had to guess, it's because they already know you’re staying with me and somebody is already here, watching us.”
The thought made goosebumps raise along Lucas’s skin. August tried to rub them away. “Relax. We have an advantage. They don’t know we know about them. They still think you believe Kohn is a serial killer with a partner, not part of a larger conspiracy. By the time they realize what we know, it won’t matter.”
“I know you’re right. I just want to know the world is safe from these heartless pieces of shit.”
August gave him a reassuring kiss on the head, then they both finished dressing. When they were walking out the door, Lucas noticed August wearing an amused expression. “What?”
August’s smile widened. “It is somewhat amusing that these so-called skinheads all drive foreign cars, no?”
Lucas grinned. “Most of their gear is probably made in China, so...”
August locked the door behind them. “Let’s go get breakfast.”
* * *
Lucas was relieved to find there were no tricked out sports cars parked outside the coffee shop. He was less relieved when he realized every single parking spot was taken. It would be ironic if the bad guys couldn’t find parking for their stalker mobiles. But that also meant Lucas and August couldn’t find parking either.
From the outside, everything in the tiny coffee shop seemed calm. The lights were on, the sign in the window was flipped to open. Lucas couldn’t see inside with the tint on the windows, but he felt the knot in his stomach loosen slightly.
“Why don’t you just circle the block a couple of times and I’ll go grab our breakfast?”
August frowned. “I think I should go in with you.”
“I’m just going to grab our food, check on Cricket, and then we’ll be on our way. They’re not going to attack me in broad daylight in a wide open coffee shop.”
August eyed him warily for a solid minute before slowing on the street to let Lucas out. He leaned over the console to smack a kiss on August’s cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
Lucas jogged across the street, avoiding the few cars on the road, grateful their schedules allowed them to miss out on morning traffic. It was odd to be worried about taking down Nazis one minute and the flow of traffic the next, but it was just one more weird thing in Lucas’s life. If he had to make a list, the weird far outweighed the normal at this point.
When he pulled open the door, the bell overhead jingled as usual, but there was no shout of greeting from the back. The seating area was empty, but that was nothing new. Lucas moved forward, listening for any sign of life from the back. It was eerily silent.
“Hello?” Lucas called. “Cricket?”
Lucas crept closer to the counter, brow hooking upward when he saw her phone charging beside the industrial coffee maker. “Cricket?”
When she didn’t answer, he moved behind the counter, no longer worried about etiquette. Cricket’s phone was fully charged. It must have been there for a while. Her purse was tucked away in a small cubby beneath the pastry boxes, alongside her pale blue sweater.
When he stood, his gaze landed on something that made his blood freeze in his veins. A delicate gold hoop, covered in blood. Shock rocketed through him. Cricket’s nose ring. Fuck. He didn’t stop to think, just slapped his hand down on top of it, sucking in a sharp breath as visions assaulted him.
Cricket perched on her usual spot on the counter, listening to music, and a man strode in wearing ripped jeans and a yellow shirt withDon’t Tread on Mein black block letters sitting above a coiled snake. She pulled her headphones free of her ears, eyeing the man warily as he approached the counter. “Can I help you?”
“You know guys don’t like when girls add those crazy colors in their hair or do that weird shit with their makeup, right? In the animal kingdom, creatures who look like you are a warning, telling mates to stay away. Telling them they’re venomous.”
Cricket smirked. “Yet, here you are.”
