Slenderman Read online

  “Rian, come with me.” She led him into the kitchen where she flipped on the water using her elbow. Jo scrubbed her hands clean of Evan’s blood before turning off the water. Bracing her palms on the edge of the sink, she dropped her head between them.

  “I’m so so sorry, Jo—”

  “Just tell me why. Why would you and Evan do this, Ri?”

  “You weren’t getting anywhere. Then we heard on the IRC channel that Rott was dead—”

  “Rottensteer?”

  “Yeah, Serioulias told us. Evan and I knew we needed to help. Because there were fifty names on that list and one of them was dead.”

  She lifted her head and met Rhys’s gaze over the island that separated the kitchen from the den. His face was ashen, and his gaze held accusations Jo couldn’t interpret. Was Rhys angry with her? With Rian for going along with Evan’s plan? With both of them? She hadn’t talked to Rian about the case at all. No updates. No questions. Nothing, just as Rhys wanted. Why would he be mad? She did what he asked her to do and almost got Evan, Rian, and Lisa killed. Turning back to Rian, she slashed a hand between them. “Stop apologizing.”

  “We just never thought it would hurt us. Carl and Joseph said we were fortified—”

  “Except against a friend. Which you consider everyone in that channel.” Jo barely bit off the snarl.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you get how dangerous this is? My job is not something you ever toy around with. You’re a kid—”

  “I’m twent—”

  “Shut it. In terms of my job you’re not even a rookie, Ri, you’re a kid. You’re a baby, and you put all of us in danger.” She shivered at the thought of Rian being hurt. Rhys would never forgive her if that happened. Glancing at Rhys’s closed expression, Jo wasn’t sure he’d forgive her even now. “If Kyle hadn’t called me, we’d have been too late. Do you get that? After she killed Evan, she would’ve killed you and Lisa next.”

  “I know. She told us,” Rian’s voice was small, his shoulders hunched and the bright light that normally sparkled in his eyes was absent.

  “They’re in here,” Karma said leading the paramedics into the house.

  “Go check on your friend.” Jo motioned to Evan.

  Rian spun and fled as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels.

  Her hands shook as the adrenaline wore off. Jo opened the cabinet next to the fridge and snatched a candy bar to help with the crash. Jo turned to Karma. “Talk to me.”

  “She got away—”

  “The fuck. You and the feeb lost her? How?”

  Karma jerked her ponytail her expression a mask of rage. “Because she was wily and had an escape plan in place. Same as freaking Gravedigger.”

  “A ladder she flipped to the other side?”

  “Yep.”

  When Jo’s palm connected with the granite counter a resounding crack echoed through the room causing everyone to room jump but Jo and Karma. “The news just had to put that piece out there, calling it ingenious.” She raised her eyes. “Where’s Redden?”

  “He’s called in the cavalry to set up roadblocks and checkpoints, but I think he’s too late. She’s had a lot of practice getting in and out without leaving a trace.”

  “Years,” Jo added succinctly. Her thoughts were interrupted by the snapping of the stretcher being unfolded.

  “We need to get him to the hospital,” one of the paramedics said.

  “I’m riding with him,” Rhys stated packing up his med bag and setting it next to the couch.

  “Me too,” Rian piped up.

  Sighing, Jo stepped in. “I’m going too. Rhys needs to ride with the paramedics, Ri since he has medical power of attorney for Evan. We’ll follow them in Rhys’s Audi.”

  “I’ll bring my SUV in case anyone needs to leave early,” Lisa replied from the doorway.

  With a plan in place, they walked out of the pool house. Rhys never looked back at her, never acknowledged her. She didn’t know if their relationship would survive this. It was one thing for her to face a killer. It was quite another for Rian to play a superhero.

  ~ ~ ~

  Jo found a quiet hallway away from Evan’s room. Rhys hadn’t looked at her once in three hours they’d been there. Where she would have been next to him, in this instance, he was across the room holding Evan’s hand and offering comfort to Rian. It was as if a vast gulf had opened between them and it was her fault.

  If she had not left her office door open for Rian to see those pictures in the beginning, he would never have been involved. If she’d not asked for him and Evan for a list. Something innocent had snowballed into a nightmare.

  With her back to the wall, she slid down to the floor and rested her forearms on her raised knees. Tears pushed at the back of her throat, but she refused to shed them. Would Rhys end it? Walk away from her this time? She’d thought for sure after the Skinned case Rhys would leave her, but he’d stayed even after getting shot. The difference was Rhys had been in danger and not Rian.

  “What the hell are you doing down there?”

  “Go away, Karma.”

  “Yeah, because that always works.” Karma plopped down next to Jo and stretched her legs out. “Why are you out here and not in there helping your man?”

  “Rhys is going to leave me.”

  Karma jolted. “What? Why?”

  Jo raked her hand through her hair, dislodging several chunks from the twist she kept it in. “I got his brother involved in this case. It’s my fault Evan’s hurt and if Kyle hadn’t called me, Rian, Evan, and Lisa would be dead.”

  “Exactly,” Rhys said

  She jumped. When had he gotten there?

  Karma scrambled to her feet. “Well, you two have this in hand.” And she hurried down the hallway, giving Jo a thumbs up behind Rhys’s back.

  Rhys took Karma’s place. “Do you really think I’d leave you over this?”

  Jo ran a hand over her eyes ignoring the need to fall into his arms and release the tension that wound tighter and tighter the longer they were in this place. She hated everything about hospitals. The antiseptic smells, the constant noise, and all the eyes. Eyes that felt as if they were weighing her guilt and misery and finding her lacking in each. Needing to be honest with him, she ripped it off quick like a Band-Aid. “Yes.”

  His muscled arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. “Jesus hon, why? What have I done that would make you question my love for you?”

  “It’s not your love for me. It’s all the crap I’ve brought into your life since we got together.”

  “You mean all the laughter? The fun we have wherever we are even if it’s just driving to the grocery store and belting out whatever Halestorm song is playing? Your crazy family? You helping me to achieve my dream of becoming a Pediatrician? The amazing sex—”

  “No. Me getting thrown down a ravine and you having to take care of me while my arm healed. You getting kidnapped and shot and ending up in ICU for over a week. All the crazy stuff that happens when I’m working and even when I’m off the clock. Because a cop is a never-ending job, because there are always people who do bad things to other people. Whether I’m on duty or off.” She pushed deeper into him, absorbing the ocean and mint scent she associated with him. “Now, Rian—”

  “I don’t blame you for any of that.”

  She snorted, but it came out more as a sniffle. “After we found Evan, you looked at me as if I was shit on your shoe.”

  “I was in shock. And if you saw blame or accusations in my eyes, it was at myself, not you. I should have let you fill him in more. It was my blindness in thinking if he had no information, he wouldn’t do anything.”

  “That’s true. Your brother needs to see things through, especially when it touches on his fr
iends.” The tension slowly ebbed from her when she realized he wasn’t angry at her but at himself.

  “As for Rian, you did exactly what we talked about after he saw those photos. You locked your door, had Redden and Ian doing the same so as not to drag my brother further into this mess. You didn’t discuss the case around him or Evan no matter how many times they pressured you over dinner, breakfast, and any other time they caught you.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I played a part in this, but them setting Evan up as bait. That’s on them. Rian knows he’s in deeper than a night in the dog house. He’ll be lucky if he’s allowed to play a video game after I get done with him.”

  “He and Evan both need consequences.”

  “Yeah.” He dragged her onto his lap and nestled her against his chest.

  She peered up at him from under her lashes. “If you want me to quit my job, I will.”

  “No!” He shouted earning a scowl from the nurse’s station at the end of the hall. He lowered his voice as he continued, “You are not quitting over this. I refuse to entertain the idea at all.”

  His callused fingers tucked under her chin, lifting it until she met his eyes. “Do you know what I’ve been thinking about while standing there with Evan and Rian?”

  She shook her head.

  “If you hadn’t been the one spearheading this investigation, Kyle wouldn’t have been involved. Rian and Evan would have eventually been questioned and probably would have come up with this harebrained idea with none of us understanding the magnitude of the situation. The security would have been child’s play for anyone to have gotten in and Lucy would have killed them in that pool house.”

  She hadn’t thought of that. “So because Kyle called me and I reacted by racing toward Rian and Evan angry and terrified, you think it saved all their lives?”

  “I know it did because the second Rian saw you, he was screaming at you to hurry. Which sent Lucy into a blind panic and made her flee.”

  “I didn’t hear him.” She clutched Rhys’s shirt. “The blood was pounding in my ears, and I knew I needed to get to them before anything bad happened.”

  “And you did.” Rhys’s sigh was so strong as to part Jo’s hair. “Well, I’m not leaving you. You’re definitely not leaving me. We’re getting married in a few months. And we both agree Rian and Evan are grounded for the foreseeable future.”

  She found her first smile of the night. “Sounds like a deal I’d sign.”

  “Good.” His hands wrapped her waist and lifted her to her feet, and then stood. “Now I need to find a phone and call Evan’s parents.”

  “I already did that.” Jo brushed the seat of her pants and swiped at the few tears that had slipped down her cheeks as they talked.

  “You did?”

  “Well, yeah. You were busy talking doctor-ness which I could not do, and I’ve had to convey bad news a lot throughout my job as a detective.” She hated being the bearer of bad news, but it came with the badge. It wasn’t pleasant, nor easy. At least in this case, she could let them know even though Evan was hurt it was minor, and he was in good hands while he recovered.

  “How soon are they coming home?”

  “They aren’t.” Jo wrapped her arm around his waist and moved them toward Evan’s room. “I told them their house had been trashed and why. I told them Evan had been attacked but only needed eight stitches and if it were just the stitches, he’d be going home tonight. But he had a concussion, and the doctors wanted to keep him overnight.”

  “And they aren’t coming home?”

  “Heck no. It’s the first trip they’ve ever had alone. As long as their son is fine and we are taking care of him, then they wanted to stay.” It made her feel good to be trusted with their son, and they’d still wanted to get on a plane until Jo had them talk to the nurse and doctor. “Are you ready to head home?”

  Rhys shook his head. “Evan’s scared.”

  “Jesus, you didn’t tell the kid she got away, did you?”

  “No. But you remember what Rian was like after the kidnapping?”

  “Yeah.” Jo saw many therapy appointments as well as new boundaries with her work. “We’ll get them into therapy.”

  Evan’s quiet snores filled his room as they stepped in. “Are you staying the night?”

  “Yes,” Rhys said, pointing to a cot set up on the far side of the room.”

  “Okay. To be safe, Maker is going to hang out with you two tonight too. I want to help Redden hunt down Lucy since I know her friends, and I need to give a statement.” She pointed to each of them. “You all will need to give statements too, but it can wait until tomorrow.”

  “Can I stay?” Rian asked, still subdued.

  “Yeah. We’ll deal with yours and Evan’s punishment when he gets home. Because this cannot happen again.” Rhys turned a fierce frown on Rian.

  “I know.”

  Jo hugged Rian and then returned to Rhys for a kiss. “Makeup sex when you get home?” she whispered.

  “Heck yeah,” Rhys said, his moist breath ghosting over her ear made her shiver.

  She never wanted to lose him. If it came down to her job or this man, Rhys would win every time.

  Chapter 13

  Jo opened the door into the kitchen and punched in the alarm code. Resetting the alarm, she headed for the master suite, hoping Rhys hadn’t gone to sleep yet. It was after ten. Rhys would be in bed since his new residency started at seven in the morning. Though the doctors’ offices he’d eventually become a part of didn’t open until half past seven, they met early to go through the day’s schedule.

  “You’re back,” his voice reached out to her from the deepest shadows of the room.

  “I’ll be glad when Vice is done with this operation. These all days, late nights, and middle of the nights are killing me. At least with them in the mix we can split the hours better.” She undressed and tossed her dirty clothes into the bathroom hamper. In no time she was back and slipping next to Rhys under the warm sheets that smelled of them.

  He wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him. Tension knotted her shoulders and neck. Instead of peace, she wanted to cling to him.

  “What’s wrong, hon?”

  “Nothing.” She turned and snuggled closer to him, her finger lacing with his as they lay across her stomach.

  “Something.” His warm lips touched the back of her neck.

  Her mind swirled with doubt. It happened more and more the closer the wedding date came.

  “You’re still worried I’ll leave.” The rough stubble of his jaw scraped across the skin of her shoulder as he whispered in her ear. “Not happening. I have no idea how to prove it to you or get you to trust in me. But I love you, Josephine. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I love you too Rhys, but sometimes it’s not enough.” She hadn’t meant to say that. His love was always more than enough but things changed, people changed, and life got in the way. That was what was eating away at her-would his love disappear?

  “The hell it’s not. Why would you say that?” His arms were like steel bands unmoving when she tried to wiggle away. “Quit wriggling your ass at me and tell me what has you freaking out. I’m the groom, so technically I’m the one who’s supposed to get cold feet.”

  She found a lot of comfort in him refusing to let her go. “Do you remember Bobby? Carl’s older sister’s son?”

  “Yes, we talked about his wife changing her OBGYN last year at the reunion. Why?”

  “He’s on his second wife, and she just filed for a divorce.”

  “What? Sandra? Why?”

  Jo’s grip tightened on his fingers and dug her face into the pillow that smelled of his expensive sandalwood shampoo. “The job. He was shot while canvassing. Not life threatening since he wore his vest, but for Sandra, it was the
last straw. She wants a husband with a nine-to-five job who will be there every night for her and the baby.”

  “And she didn’t know this before they were married?” He made a disparaging sound in the back of his throat. “Please. My bet is she was all for the danger when they were dating, but it’s hitting her that her husband could die and leave her alone to raise their child.”

  Jo didn’t know what to think since she’d only spoken to Sandra briefly. However, this was the fourth person she’d come in contact with going through a divorce. The one thread they had in common was the spouses were in law enforcement. Was it an omen to her and Rhys’s future? He was as vital as the air she breathed, she couldn’t lose him. Her heart raced with just the thought of how empty he’d leave her if he walked away.

  “Here’s the thing. Her nine-to-five dream man could get hit by a bus, die in a car accident, or get killed a million different ways, even by a gun if he interrupts a robbery. She’s just looking for an excuse. Something else is pushing her.”

  “What if that happens to us? Brown’s on his third wife. Jones has been divorced five times. The only couple I know who’ve lasted is Terry and Sam.” She forced her greatest fear past the lump forming in her throat.

  “We talk. We fight for each other. I know what I’m getting into just like you know what you’re getting with me. My job will be tedious to you. Rian will annoy us. Like right now, we can’t make out in the den with Rian and Evan moving back in the house. We both know it’s temporary, so we talk about it when we the situation frustrates us. You share with me about the hard cases you take. The one where the teenager was showing off his dad’s gun and killed himself by accident. It hit you hard.”

  She shivered as the memory of that case hit her. God, the parents were devastated as they’d locked the guns up securely in their vault. But teenagers could be sneaky when they wanted something, and the kid had gotten his hands on the combination.